Hamsterley 121
The Hamsterley 121 was a race that I had been looking forward to for a while. It is a fun, relaxed event that is held in September near the end of a busy race season. It comprises of an XC race on the Saturday and a DH race on the Sunday. The only catch is that you have to use the same bike for both days. You were only allowed to change tyres and pedals so bike choice was very important. For me the choice was easy: my Orange 5 is the perfect do it all bike.
Saturday morning arrived and it was time to put on the Lycra. I got a good start off the line and even managed to throw in a quick wheelie before the first corner.
Ewan Thorburn, being the total hill climbing mountain beast that he is, overtook me on the first incline to take the lead. By the top of the hill I had dropped down to 4th place behind my brother and our good friend Geoff Martin, both of which were riding XC hard tails. It seemed pretty clear at this point that Ewan was going to take the win but it was a close race for 2nd place. I would catch up with Gavin and Geoff on the DH sections and they would pull away again on the climbs. After 4 laps I had built up a cushion over Geoff and I just managed to pip my brother to the line. Although Ewan had smashed us all, I knew I would have the edge when it came to the DH race on Sunday.
The DH course was perfectly suited for the event. It was an ideal track for a short travel full sus bike. For Gavin and Geoff, it was their first ever DH race. They didn’t find the course intimidating on XC bikes but it had enough tricky sections to challenge their riding. It had rained overnight and so it was pretty slick in the trees for morning practice. I decided to run full length spikes for the first race run and I managed to take the lead by about 3 seconds.
By the time second runs came, the course was a lot dryer. I changed tyres but I didn’t know just how hard to push. In the end I was beaten by a fraction of a second and had to settle with joint 2nd place behind James Risker.
Points were awarded based on the results for each event. With my combination of skill and fitness I came out on top to take the overall victory ahead of James Risker in 2nd and Ewan Thorburn in 3rd.
*Thanks to John Chennels from Orange for the photos.
Posted by James Shirley on September 30, 2011 at 5:29 pm | Race Reports