Racers Guild, August 2011. Ridge-Land

It seemed that everywhere got some rain on Saturday night apart from Stile Cop! As a result, the hill was so dry, following another rider down the trail was like riding in a dust storm!

Andy Hughes showing scant regard for the tricky conditions 

For this month we thought we'd use a line that doesn't get ridden that much; Starting at the top of the darkside and heading down the ridge before taking the left onto the top of Little Bringewood. Just past the gas line there's a line that heads down the hill towards Wonderland, joining that trail just before the jump/berm/jump section. Rather than the usual line down Wonderland, the trail pixies marked out a couple of lively sections to keep riders on their toes.

Also new for this month is a 'first run' listing on the timing sheet. It brings extra an element of fun and shows the times riders are getting without the benefit of 4 or 5 timed runs. RG has always been about the grass roots; chilled out but giving a taste of the DH scene and we think this feature adds some spice to that.

With a decent turnout of riders putting practice runs in, it soon became apparent how dry parts of the trail were. The switchbacks just of Bringe soon got badly blown out and seemed to be getting looser as the morning progressed. The conditions on that pat of the course were a mixture of loose pebbles and fine, silty dust-loads of dust. No time to worry about that because the start of the timed runs was looming!

After all 53 riders had their first runs, it looked like getting under a minute would be tricky. Chris Derry was the first to do so with a time of 58.9. No one else managed to get under the minute on their first run and for a while, it looked like it might stay that way.



By this point the course seemed to be constantly changing with new lines appearing, some of which were a little cheeky (trail pixies gonna get heavy with the tape for the next session!). Even so, this allowed a few more riders to improve on their first runs. Andy Hughes was piped by 0.3 by M Antrobus, who put in a time of 57.8. It was a mixed bag for everyone else though with some riders improving and others getting caught out. Fortunately there were no serious incidents this month but there were plenty of off piste moments. Thanks to Lance (your best edit so far!), Smudge, Dan and any other vid/photo takers for capturing many of these. Links can be found on the FORUM

The times amongst the seniors were in flux but the Youth and Veteran categories also saw changes. Kacper Wozniaks' first run of 1:12.1, in the Youths cat, was not bettered but Billy Netherton managed to improve his time by nearly 30 seconds to 1:18.8. Meanwhile, the top five Vets were only separated by 3 seconds. Mick Whyte managed a run of 1:00.9 but Craig Butler was nearly there with 1:01.7 and Gary Rowe on 1:02.1.

By this point most people were saying how hard it was to improve their times. Just the right time for RG Squadron rider, Andy Hughes to set a time of 56.6 then. Not content with that time, and much to the amazement of all watching, he then came down the hill, through the dust, to set a time of 54.7, showing no regard for the deteriorated course and the laws of physics!


It came as no surprise that no one recorded a faster time after that but at the bottom of the hill, it seemed like a great day was had by all. For those of us who help set up and run the sessions, this makes it all worth while.

Paul Fowkes heading into the dusty switchbacks


Special mentions to:

Mick Whyte for 'kicking a tree and getting away with it while throwing shape' of the day.

Rich Parsons for 'nearly going over the bars, saving it, quick thinking casual comment as if nothing had happened' of the day.

Thanks to all who helped on the day. Its always appreciated and if you want to get involved, either by helping out at the Guild sessions or by coming along to a dig day, keep an eye on the forum or get in touch. Thanks to everyone for coming along and we hope to see you next time.

Cheers, Chris