26th /27th March – Aston hill Race
I went to the notorious Aston Hill black run race a couple of weekends back. It’s always a good race at Aston and the weather has been sunny for every race there for like 3 or more years now! I was full of cold, struggling on with some Lemsips and paracetamol, but it was all forgotten about when you fly down the track. Every hundredth of a second counts here, the tracks pretty full on and only a minute and a half long. First runs started off flat out as usual, I had a solid run down and sat into 4th place. Teammate Jack Geoghegan smashed his way into the leading spot so I knew I had to pull something off. I listened to a bit of heavy dub step in my car and got into the mood. I pushed hard all the way down and knew i had gone faster in a few sections but also over cooked a few. I came down into 2nd and got pushed back into 3rd when SPS rider Nathan Vials came down. Jack was still in the lead and came down and put another very respectable time down. It was a strong Elite podium for Madison/Saracen.
28th March photo shoot
After Aston Hill I went back to a hotel with Team Photographer Jacob Gibbins, to freshen up for a Saracen Arial Shoot the next day. We went to Woburn Sands to get some sick pictures of the new Arials in action, check these teasers out; I even got to test the team DJ hardtail;
29th /30th /31st March Nathan Vials house
I went to Nathan Vials house after the shoot for a few days to get some quality training in. We did all sorts of training; Nathan and I are pretty much the pinnacle of competiveness when we’re together so everything was a competition! We got the timing poles out a few times, hit his local DH, had a “see how far you can huck into a corner competition”, some hardtail riding action, hit the gym in a very big way, went ice skating, played squash, and did some super scrubs on MX vs. ATV Reflex!
1st,2nd,3rd April Pearce Race at Hopton
I am doing all but the 3rd round of the Pearce rounds, I haven’t done them in a few years and I had forgotten how awesome they are. Hopton is such a good track, you spend more time in the air than you do on the ground and it’s flat out. I loved Saturday’s dry weather and did about 10 runs. From Saturday night it showered really hard on and off all through the race. My first run was so much fun; I was a bit sketchy in sections and was doing some pretty different lines so I could hit the jumps faster. I did a big whip over the last tabletop and sprinted into the finish. I slipped as I went onto the grass and flew on my face through the finish with my bike in all the mud. It was pretty embarrassing but to be honest I was thinking well at least I am over the line. However... in the history of downhill racing, I have never seen what I managed to do. I had slid underneath the timing laser and as I was watching my time just tick away. When I looked up my time was running still and a few people began to shout go though the beam again but I didn’t want to mess up someone else’s run if it was just delayed or something. Someone leant over the finish line and swiped the beam to stop my time. From what people told me I came through in the 2min 21/22 seconds which was annoying as I ended up with a 28. I got the fastest speed trap and 2nd fastest split to Marc Beaumont in that run. In my second run i pushed in too much in a long right hander and drifted round in a circle. I carried on pushing it and the course was running slower and really muddy. I got a faster time than my first run by a second or so but all in all a racing disaster for me. Bring on the Moelfre BDS this weekend!!!
I went to the notorious Aston Hill black run race a couple of weekends back. It’s always a good race at Aston and the weather has been sunny for every race there for like 3 or more years now! I was full of cold, struggling on with some Lemsips and paracetamol, but it was all forgotten about when you fly down the track. Every hundredth of a second counts here, the tracks pretty full on and only a minute and a half long. First runs started off flat out as usual, I had a solid run down and sat into 4th place. Teammate Jack Geoghegan smashed his way into the leading spot so I knew I had to pull something off. I listened to a bit of heavy dub step in my car and got into the mood. I pushed hard all the way down and knew i had gone faster in a few sections but also over cooked a few. I came down into 2nd and got pushed back into 3rd when SPS rider Nathan Vials came down. Jack was still in the lead and came down and put another very respectable time down. It was a strong Elite podium for Madison/Saracen.
28th March photo shoot
After Aston Hill I went back to a hotel with Team Photographer Jacob Gibbins, to freshen up for a Saracen Arial Shoot the next day. We went to Woburn Sands to get some sick pictures of the new Arials in action, check these teasers out; I even got to test the team DJ hardtail;
29th /30th /31st March Nathan Vials house
I went to Nathan Vials house after the shoot for a few days to get some quality training in. We did all sorts of training; Nathan and I are pretty much the pinnacle of competiveness when we’re together so everything was a competition! We got the timing poles out a few times, hit his local DH, had a “see how far you can huck into a corner competition”, some hardtail riding action, hit the gym in a very big way, went ice skating, played squash, and did some super scrubs on MX vs. ATV Reflex!
1st,2nd,3rd April Pearce Race at Hopton
I am doing all but the 3rd round of the Pearce rounds, I haven’t done them in a few years and I had forgotten how awesome they are. Hopton is such a good track, you spend more time in the air than you do on the ground and it’s flat out. I loved Saturday’s dry weather and did about 10 runs. From Saturday night it showered really hard on and off all through the race. My first run was so much fun; I was a bit sketchy in sections and was doing some pretty different lines so I could hit the jumps faster. I did a big whip over the last tabletop and sprinted into the finish. I slipped as I went onto the grass and flew on my face through the finish with my bike in all the mud. It was pretty embarrassing but to be honest I was thinking well at least I am over the line. However... in the history of downhill racing, I have never seen what I managed to do. I had slid underneath the timing laser and as I was watching my time just tick away. When I looked up my time was running still and a few people began to shout go though the beam again but I didn’t want to mess up someone else’s run if it was just delayed or something. Someone leant over the finish line and swiped the beam to stop my time. From what people told me I came through in the 2min 21/22 seconds which was annoying as I ended up with a 28. I got the fastest speed trap and 2nd fastest split to Marc Beaumont in that run. In my second run i pushed in too much in a long right hander and drifted round in a circle. I carried on pushing it and the course was running slower and really muddy. I got a faster time than my first run by a second or so but all in all a racing disaster for me. Bring on the Moelfre BDS this weekend!!!
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