The newly built trail is tight and technical at the top with a good long pedally section littered with hazards in the form of stumps, roots and some twists and turns, after this it all goes natural with a rutted up, off camber line leading to a do or die jump that most were missing out on the day. The final stretch calls for every rider to summon up their best death grip and get loose as they dare as they slide down to the finish.
During morning practise the track is running surprisingly fast thanks to the new dirty Dan tyre on the front thanks to Wide Open Downhill Sheffield. This is the first time since the Peaty race early on in the year however that my legs have felt the burn by the time I'm about half way down. Birthday boy Dan has clearly over done the celebrating and despite being chuffed to bits to be riding his own bike for the first time, thoughts of a fastest time of the day have long gone. Myself, I hadn't had a full run down without crashing up to this point, although if I could just keep it together, I was feeling fast. My new nemesis Standards Down rider Scotty is full of the usual banter and we are hotly debating which is quicker, to hit the jump or dodge it and get a straighter line into the next corner. Feeling slightly unsure how the race is going to unfold we make our way up for the rider briefing.
On run one Jens comes flying down the top steep section but seems to struggle across the slop before ditching it on the evil roots ahead. As the juniors and seniors take to the stage its plain to see the times are not as fast as usual. Working my way down the track filming for my regular race edit I head over to the faster portion of the track, and here I see rider after rider fall victim to the nasty jump, it seems the kicker has got so sloppy that it is sapping speed on take off and causing the front end to come down too quick. As Dan Charlesworth comes into view he has no problem with the jump but as he fades out of view I see him clip a tree and loose his line. I later find out his run up top didn't go well either. As I come down on my first run the top doesn't seem to go too bad, but as I try to find my line round the tree and onto the off camber run in to the jump, i loose a foot off a pedal and struggle to get it back on, meaning I have to dodge said jump and clearly loose lots of momentum. Somehow though i manage to stay in the top five at the end of run one, it seems many have had incidents on route down the track.
The conditions have changed hugely since practise and the mud is no longer the fast slippy sort it was earlier, but the slow claggy sort that seems to suck every ounce of speed off you. With this in mind we all prepare to lay it on the line for the second run.
Jen's run goes much better and is enough to take her first win at Eckington, Dan the man manages to come back to life a bit by his second run and shaves a couple of seconds off his first run, we all know its not a track he was going to excel on though and 5th is still a decent result and good points for him and the team. So now my turn, after my shoddy run, nemesis Scotty took great pleasure in seeing himself 5 seconds up, for the first time since i started racing I feel the nerves on the start tower and as I launch into my second run I decide to throw caution to the wind, as I look for my line across the off camber roots I realise I'm safe this time and pedal like hell for the jump, landing smooth and carrying plenty of speed into the death grip zone, which also goes without incident. I cross the line and once my burning lungs manage to replenish my exhausted body with oxygen I see that I've took over 5 seconds off the first run and just pipped banter boy again. Despite still only finishing 5th I'm in no doubt that I couldn't have done much more, and managed the team's fastest time by 2 seconds. The competition in masters today is immense and although local boy Darren Wilson is not racing again and Davy Ledgerwood seems to have retired, the vacant spaces have been filled by some incredibly quick riders.
Winner from the last race Al Ward and 4x champ Martin Ogden take 2nd and 3rd but newcomer to the series James Risker smashes the rest with two runs only one hundredth apart.
In seniors local pinner Chris Jones wins and gets fastest time of the day with Steve Dawson who has just moved up to seniors in 2nd and Jonny Congreve in 3rd.
Eckington race series round 4 video edit
The following weekend saw the team down to just myself and Jen, this time back to Hamilton Hill Freeride park in Market Rasen for the annual Triple Treat race. The format of this race is slightly different, 3 short tracks with one run down each, the time is then combined. Each of the tracks has a different feel to it and they are all brilliantly thought out to maximise the fun factor, one slight mistake here can cost you the race.
The Friday night Halloween festivities with the Eckington guys meant that the planned practise on Saturday was a complete write off, although not entirely wasted as Jen got to pick up her newly built wheels, and I had mine trued and serviced courtesy of Ben at Fatality BMX.
The morning of the race we got to the little hill bright and early to rehearse the tracks and try and remember the old lines, we now only come over here twice a year to race and always leave wondering why we don't go more often. My first thoughts were that I shouldn't have left the spiked tyre on the front of our bikes from last weekend as the track known as old school was slightly different, it now had a long rock garden at the top after which two "lay it flat" berms led you to a long sprint to the finish, this sprint was an absolute killer with a brand new super tacky spike on, and with barely any wet to warrant it either. Track number two which goes by many names but I remember it as 48 was the track we used last time we raced there, all be it with a different ending, this time the ever so entertaining rhythm section led you off a size able rock drop and then to three large jumps, which in the mud were considerably hard to hit fast enough. Again I wondered whether the grip we had on the short loose section at the top was worth the effort of pedalling the slow mud tyres down the bottom. That just leaves the popular top track or "patio" which was fairly pedally although very flowy at the top and got faster towards the bottom with some fun jumps all along the way. Both of us felt happy with the tracks and could only hope that the forecast rain was going to arrive.
As Jen appeared in view on the first track it was clear she wanted the win, she knew both other girls were also keen, and she was going to need to fight for it. This track was always her favorite even though it was different back when this was our local, and she blasted through the rock garden with ease, all those days up at Wharnecliffe obviously helping. However once onto the flat it looked hard work for her to pedal the big bike to the finish and once all the girls had gone down Becci Skelton was ahead by almost a second.
On my first run the rocks seemed to go perfectly to plan and I got on the gas straight away pedalling with all my might to the finish. To my surprise I was the fastest in my category down track one with a good 1.7 seconds ahead of 2nd, that was good to know going into track 2. Once again Scotty and co were here and he was heckling away as expected, to be honest I had my doubts about beating him today but the first run did get me thinking "what if?"
This event as always was catered by the guys at RATZ better halves, and with soup supplied by Glorious and Lincolnshire's finest sausages on the grill as well as a couple of free burgers to all racers I got slightly side tracked and missed Jen's second run, just catching a glimpse of her sending it off the last table top. When rival Becci crossed the line she was up by a second again and I was now feeling guilty about leaving those damn tyres on. As I filmed Jodie Foster's run she landed awkwardly off the big rock drop and ate dirt just before the first of the big jumps, but in true Jodie style she got up immediately and pounced back on her short travel bike and pedalled to the finish.
As I sat atop the start tower listening for the timing beeps I once again could feel the pressure, I had done well on this track at the last race but knew that it was local Rick Lamyman's favourite and as always there was scotty yapping away in his south Yorkshire twang, not to mention various other quick riders after a piece in the masters category. Its easy to forget that you don't have a second run in this race and all it takes is a slip from pushing too hard and that lead would be gone. I was grateful for the spike as i ripped through the loose s bend at the top, my front end not budging a bit, I then hit the line perfectly through the rhythm section, but as I reached the take off for the last table top something went wrong and I veered off to the right which sent me through the huge mud puddle beyond and into a drift heading for a huge tree, that looked like it had my name written all over it. Somehow with one leg flailing around desperately I just managed to avoid it and scoot my way across the line. The mistake cost me and I finished 4th on this track with my lead reduced to about a second.
Time for the final track then, in my opinion there was one corner where Jen could win or loose the race on this track, about half way down a tight chicane where she struggled the previous year, it was very sloppy though and I hoped the tyre would gain her a second or so here. This was where I chose to watch and yell from, she certainly wasn't holding back as she got round the corner smoothly before sprinting to the famous patio jump and finding a good line to the finish where for a split second she slipped on the last corner before the Dirty Dan tyre bit. As Becci came into view on the last straight she was pedalling like a woman possessed, but unfortunately the wet corner at the finish claimed it's first victim and despite getting up and across the line quickly Jen had somehow clawed it back. I was relieved, it meant I was off the hook for the tyre choice. Jodie followed shortly after and it was possible she could take advantage of Becci's misfortune, but alas the corner caught her out as well meaning Jen took the win.
By the time it got to the masters last run things had taken a turn for the worse, the rain was now pouring down and it was getting dark with a mist beginning to descend. The track through the trees was now almost impossible to see and after trying in vain to stop my goggles steaming up I went for my final run. Half way down I had to strain to see through mud splattered eyes and felt my bars clip a tree, but somehow I hit my line right and crossed the line nearly 2 seconds ahead of 2nd and when it was all totted up I realised I had done it, taken my first win at the place I first learnt to ride dh.
The results were announced and Jen and I got our trophies before the usual bling raffle saw prizes a plenty being handed out courtesy of Superstar Components,
It is at this point I must mention that only three months after smashing his collar bone into 3 pieces a certain Veteran has returned and obliterated racers in every category, yes folks that's right Creaser's back!
Huge thanks to all the RATZ crew involved and all the sponsors of this fantastic event.
RATZ Triple Treat video edit
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