Aston Hill Black Run Race;

I went to Aston Hill on the Saturday with Oli and my Dad. We walked the course and picked out all the fine lines. A lot of work had been done on the course. Berms were higher, quite a few new corners had been introduced and the course as a whole flowed much better.

I did many runs on the Saturday. I was surprised to find as many different lines on the course. I think with my improvement from last year and over the winter I have a better eye for lines. Even on the pedalling section at the top I found about 6 different lines to make me carry more speed compared to what I have done over the last races there.

The weather was great and I managed a full run and spent the rest of the time just sectioning the course. I went back to Rich’s place pretty happy with what speed I was on the course. Rich had made by far the best lasagne I have ever tasted and probably will ever taste. After that we watched the new freecaster DVD which was pretty good. The way in which it is filmed is on another level completely.
After pretty much falling asleep at Rich’s we went back to our travel Inn.

I got up pretty early to have a shower and feel fresh for the race. Both Oli and I had small adjustments to make to our bikes so there was plenty to fill the time with. Here are some pictures of my new Lezyne Tools! Pretty pimp aye!




I did 3 runs in the morning. I planned to do just the 2 but I was asked to do a chest camera run which was pretty fun. Here’s a link; http://wideopenmag.co.uk/news/5181/video-harry-molloy-aston-hill-black-race-chestycam

My first race run went pretty well all the way to the bottom section. I lost some speed going up the final bus stop section and this is important as you need to carry as much speed into the finish area. I was in second place overall behind Nathan Vials. I was a second behind but I knew I could do better next time around. All I had to do was the same run but get the bottom section right.

My second run went well all the way down again and i made sure that I had the last section better and I carried that bit more speed through the last section of my run. I knew it was a bit faster but by how much?

I was pleased to see my time take the fastest time but far from relaxed as Nathan was still to come down. I saw the timer tick over and Nathan rolled through a few seconds later with mud on his shoulder. I thought I was a really good race. On the way down everyone was going crazy which was a really good feeling. Also myself Nathan and Oli were all just over half a second between our times. Here’s a link to a couple vids of the race; http://video.mpora.com/watch/Zb6IZj1Pf/ http://www.pinkbike.com/news/aston-hill-march-race-2010.html

The Last guys came over from Germany to ride and show off their new all mountain and free ride bikes in the week so it was good to be able to say I had just come from a race that I had won.

A huge thanks to Rich for everything from the race to food and hospitality! Couldn’t have done it without your help and certainly wouldn’t have had as much of a good time.

Here are some pics of the weekend;













- courtesy of dave frickersey
- courtesy of dave frickersey

Thanks to Last, Rezurgence, Lifestyle Ford, 2026 distribution, DMR, Funn, 661, Maxxis, KMC, Lezyne, Mojo suspension and Shimano.