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Staying up till half 11 on a thurs night trying to botch together a hardtail makes you question why you do this sport. Nothing ever seems to fit, every brake has a different mount and the same goes for forks. Universal mounts anyone? Anyyywaayyy, after snapping robs fork axle (its in the post) and setting the record for the most rotors fitted in a night it was time to set off for Mss round 1 Hopton.....


After crushing Jeff in the back of the van with all our gear we naile dit up the motorway to burger king to stock up, and i have to say, mbuk has excelled itself with yet, another shocking issue! Gotta give it to the staff at the travelodge in Ludlow, not only did they make sam cry from laughter from their conversation with 'shelly' but the man there was like a walking toolbox! Cheers for the cable cutters mate.

In the morning it was off to little chef to savour the 'olympic' breakfast, which didnt really fill any holes to be honest. Swampthings or maybe spikes was the choice of tire for most over the weekend i think. With all the new regulations floating around about uplifts, saturdays wasnt the fastest of uplifts with most having to wait up to 40mins sometimes for a trailer. But this wasn't anyones fault really and it was all sorted towards the end for the day and throughout Sunday.

Now onto the track. From the mini hill at the top, which had a few of the smaller riders on there asses due to strong winds, you cranked down a muddy slope which resembled a 'slip n slide' and into the first woods. Over a small jump and rail two berms and hit the sunlight for a split second. Drop back into the woods and hit a short uphill section whihc throws you into a labryinth of roots. Float like a butterfly sting like a bee needed to be used to get through here smooth and the elites were looking rapid thorugh here all weekend. Dart through a couple more rooted truns and your out into the open, by now i had no chain so it was a hell of a long pump track to deal with. Skim the reall greasy roots n hit the two stump jumps into that tight right hander which caught even some of the best out this weekend. Pedal like crazy thorugh the next section, but the key was to keep it smooth through here i reckon to keep your speed. Out into the last open, you dart through some switchbacks and go for glory on the roadgap and pummel into those human size brekaing bumps. Ben Morgan in expert hit this the fastest out of anyone this weekend, landing preety much in the next corner and took half of the mud with it. Awesome. Hammer through the last switchbacks and pop over that greasy root on the last corner of the track which wiped the smiles off many racers faces, just in sight of the finish line. Pedal like a mad man through that greasy field and your home and dry.

Onto results and Irwin from monkeyspoon.com came in 47th with a 4.12
Josh, after having a nightmare with his bike came home in 30th with a 4.45
I pumped and shook my way down to 1st with a 3.47

I think jeff over at monkeyspoon took more pics than he can count and me and Sam got some awesome flukes (well mine were flukes) so ill get them up in the gallery a.s.a.p

Cheers to my dad for ferrying us around all weekend and to Rich Burgoin over at Burgtec. Shout out to Timmy over at nocycling.com who came 2nd in seniors who was flying all weekend.

The next round is over at Bringewood on the 17th/18th of Feb so we'll see you there with the full team this time. rumour has it Fabien Barel is even coming....

Morining Guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


HARDTAIL

1 1414 BOWMAN Joe www.dirtyhalfpipe.co.uk 3:47.583
2 1403 BEATTIE Jonathan 4:29.297
3 1402 LINES Jack 4:40.022

JUVENILLE

1 1303 PETFORD Sam Pearce Cycles Race Team 4:14.515
2 1305 PHILLIPS Tom 4:35.790
3 1301 GLASS Alex 4:36.632

YOUTH

1 1102 BREWIN Gareth Descent World 3:24.744
2 1115 KERR Bernard ExtremeMedics.com/Marzocchi/Bike Fairy 3:26.928
3 1144 MOLLOY Harry Muddy Fox/Lifestyle Ford/Resurgence.com 3:29.835

JUNIOR

1 903 DALE Sam Solid/Electric 3:17.817
2 915 SMITH Joseph Ancillotti UK 3:18.613
3 914 SHIELDS Bradley Pearce Cycles 3:28.888

VETERANS

1 817 HARVEY Trevor Aston Hill 3:45.572
2 809 RAMSAY Seb ticket2ride/descent-gear 3:51.361
3 805 SIMPSON Jono Pearce Cycles Race Team 3:52.678

MASTERS

1 600 BURGOIN Richard Burgtec 3:33.332
2 630 LEWIS Alun AW Cycles.co.uk 3:35.678
3 623 WILLIAMS Colin mtb-direct.co.uk 3:36.163

TOP 3 WOMEN

1 1513 DIX Aimee Team Skene 4:10.824
2 1500 HORRIDGE Emily Marzocchi UK 4:13.804
3 1511 MAHONY Sue Psyclewerx Bristol 4:28.416

SENIORS

1 266 GRIFFITHS Craig Brooks Cycles 3:28.043
2 255 PEARSON Tim nocycling.com 3:29.465
3 263 TAYLOR Adam mtb-direct.co.uk 3:34.047

EXPERTS

1 115 BRAYTON Adam Keswick Bikes 3:15.809
2 108 MORGAN Ben Pearce Cycles Race Team 3:17.782
3 102 DAVIES Jason Brooks Cycles 3:23.915

ELITES

1 1 BRAITHWAITE Tom Giant Racing 3:11.489
2 5 SMITH Robert Electric/TitaniumRacing/Airbrush 3:16.958
3 8 JONES Ralph Dirt Magazine 3:17.087