WDMBA ROUND TWO, GETHIN 24th APRIL 2011

WDMBA ROUND TWO, GETHIN 24^th APRIL 2011

Gethin, we hadn’t been there since the dying days of the old Dragon Downhill uplifts when Joel was about nine or ten riding his Kona Stinky 24. I remember that it was a freezing day in mid-winter and the mile or so push at the top from the uplift drop off point to the start of the track was a killer for a nine year old pushing a 40lb bike through thick mud shrouded in freezing low cloud.

So we had to decide, do we enter round two of the new Welsh Downhill Mountain Bike Association series or give it a miss? As last week progressed the weather looked like it would hold for the weekend and by Wednesday evening the boys (having chatted to some mates who had entered) decided they wanted to give it a go. A couple of frantic emails to the organisers on Thursday and they were in, many thanks to them for being so accommodating.

We arrived on Saturday morning to be met by a bright, sunny and warm day. Close inspection of the track revealed a dry, superfast, dusty course which had recently seen some revamping but retained lots of the old character including the infamous rock garden. The boys both got on with getting some decent practice under their belts and by mid-afternoon had completed several runs each without any real incidents. The Rose Beef Cake FR’s were running well with the added advantage that after being dropped off at the top they could flick the Pro-pedal on and ride the mile or so to the start ahead of other riders thus having a clear course ahead.

All the discussion through the day centred around which line would be quickest through the rock garden and as a father I have to admit that I didn’t want to advise them or indeed watch them navigate a successful path through this most challenging section of the course. Even Dan Athertons dad looked uncomfortable when Dan came charging through the section.

By early evening, we all agreed that it had been a successful day. No real hold up’s, the uplift had run smoothly, the boys felt they had the course dialled. So it was off to the hotel for a shower, some grub and a good night’s sleep.

Sunday morning and we were greeted by equally bright and dry weather although thankfully a little cooler. We were a little late arriving but the boys were straight into the uplift queue whilst I sorted out our pits. Again they had a solid practice run each before heading up again for their first timed runs.

Racing got under way at 11.30am with the hardtailers and Juvenile riders kicking off the proceedings. Joel had been seeded middle order in youth category so it was a little while to wait for him to make an appearance. He did duly appear with a time of 3.17.4 which I think put him into 11^th place in category. He declared that he had had a clean run but hoped to be able to go faster in his second attempt. Other more experienced riders in his group were having a torrid time.

The junior category followed in which Isaac had been seeded 4^th. We waited by the finish as rider after rider crossed the line with times tumbling towards the 3 minute mark. Could any junior manage a sub-3 minute run? As Isaac approached our hearts were in our mouths as he went 2.59.51 to put him first with three riders left on track. At the end of the category Isaac was placed 4^th but was confident that he could improve on his time in the second run.

Second runs got underway at about 2.30pm. Hardtailers and juveniles were first down followed by the youth category. Joel had a clean run but was unable to improve on his first time coming home in 3.18.58 a second or so slower but at least it showed consistency on his part. Some of the faster riders managed to get the act together to unfortunately push Joel down from 11^th to 15^th place.

Now our eyes were on Isaac, 4^th last on the hill we waited in anticipation. Could he better his first run? The times were tumbling towards the magic 3 minute mark and when Isaac appeared it was clear that he would break his earlier time. He finished in 2.56.57, a little under 3 seconds faster. This pushed him up into 3^rd place with three riders yet to finish. Could he hang on to that position? Two of the riders went slower but one went quicker which slipped Isaac back to 4^th. He told me later that all the way down the track he was saying to himself that he could win this race and he very nearly did missing out by only 2.38 seconds.

So a good fourth placed podium for Isaac. He is still only a first year junior with the three riders ahead of him all in their second year and a solid middle order result for Joel who we believe was the youngest rider in his category and really still recovering from injury. Joel’s consolation was that he got his own little section in the WideOpenMag edit of the event. He’s well chuffed!

The boys would like thank everyone at Rose Bikes for all the support and are very excited about the prospect of taking delivery of their new Beef Cakes in the next couple of weeks or so.

And as to which race to enter next? They think we maybe taking a little run down to Woodland Riders at Tavistock this Sunday for the final push up race of the winter series.

Joel, Isaac and Duncan Anderson