2010 Halo British Downhill Series | Round One

 

Rose, Phil and Sam all stepped up and put some great work in on this monster track. Alas the team left Wales still searching it's first BDS podium. with a 7th for Phil, 6th for Sam and 5th for Rose we are getting closer! 

Two races at Rheola back to back and both sunny, what’s been happening in South Wales recently to cause such an outrage? With a change in the management, plenty of hype and a lot of top riders on the cards there was speculation and expectation aplenty. 

 

Rheola has long held a place in the hearts of downhill racers in the Uk, with one Rob Warner even going so far as to describe it as Fort William with trees. Sitting between three and four minutes for the average rider it is long, fast and takes no prisoners with both start and finish in full view of each other from their respective places top and bottom of the hill. Starting on the flat out open bridleway like track from the start hut riders are treated to speed, rocks, kickers and jumps which just beg to be hit. Loose and lairy this quickly leads into the woods which never seem to dry out, no matter how hot it is. Still fast but with rocks and roots sticking out to rip your wheels out from under you, hit the new step down to the road and into the off-camber section first used in last year’s NPS Final. 

Whilst not quite as off camber as it was last year thanks to some work to shore up the ground, ruts made it easier to carry speed and this noticeably helped flow if not necessarily the challenge – certainly the case as the track began to dry over the course of Saturday. Hold your line and speed through this (many didn’t and spent plenty of time dabbing along with their feet), drop onto the road and you’re back into more roots, ruts and rocks. These soon lead you into infamous Star Wars (the scene of Steve Peat’s broken ankle in 2007) where you’re soon met with more roots coming in from all angles, forcing everyone to keep on their toes if they have any wish to exit the other side still on the bike! From there it was a few jumps, a bit of bog and a steep chute to the finish down the back of the industrial buildings left over from the Resolven mining works which seemed very appropriate given the areas mining history. Despite appearing to lack flow early on Saturday things improved noticeably as it bedded down and the work that the WDMBA boys had put in was soon appreciated by many.

 

There was no escaping the buzz which surrounded the run up to this event although it did leave many wondering if it would be able to live up to the hype. As always, weather was definitely on side with a dry fire road, gorgeous blue skies over the valleys and later a starlit night. Always better than mist, rain and misery! So with riders moods buoyed by good weather, a noticeably increased Elite field and pit area full to the brim with trade stands things were looking good. Even a last minute cancellation by the coach company on Tuesday failed to put a damper on things as a replacement was very quickly found. Unfortunately various things over the course of Saturday did conspire against riders maximising practice, the worst of which was a rider being taken to hospital by air ambulance with suspected neck and spinal injuries. Get well soon buddy! And it would have been fine if problems had stopped there but things got worse as first one, two and then three coaches (of four) broke down, were fixed and then broke down again meaning that by the time four o’clock came round one coach was running and both Si & Dave were seriously contemplating which way would be easiest to push... However, some diplomacy skills, the lure of a chequebook and the promise of a maintenance team on hand all day Sunday to keep the coaches running smoothly things seemed to be under control. Until they called up at half seven to say they weren’t coming back. I don’t think anyone would have envied Si at that point. But come to the rescue he did and somehow four coaches turned up on Sunday morning. But more of that later...

 

With five plus runs easily had on Saturday, with tales of eight or nine plus, there was plenty of practice on offer for those who wanted it. Matched with a few runs on Sunday morning and there was no excuse not to know the track by the time racing came round on Sunday afternoon. Who maximised their winter training and who watched too much tv? The times don’t lie and this is what happened:

 

Elite men. The big guns, the big names and the riders who are expected to put out the fastest times of the day. With only eight riders having broken the three minute run barrier Chain Reaction’s Matt Simmonds took third here with a 2:52, less than half a second back from the 2:51 of Dan Atherton onboard Commencal. But taking the lead, if not by quite the same margin as he did with his seeding run was Gee Atherton with a time of 2:49 and who apparently sounded like he was just out having some fun all weekend. Well, a win has to add to the enjoyment factor, especially for the newly rebranded Commencal team.

With a killer track, enough practice to get to grips with it, great weather and the best atmosphere at a national event for a fair while it was very much a weekend to be proud of. With Fort William on the calendar next it promises to be an even bigger event, with chairlifts and both trade teams and big name riders aplenty keeping the British Downhill Series moving in the right direction. Based on what we’ve seen so far 2010 looks to be a vintage year for the British Downhill Series.