Northern Downhill TT Ae Forest 28th February 2016

Time had come for Northern Downhill's first TT of the year and for the first time the venue was Scotland. I had been gutted to miss the first two NDH events of the year, the funduro at Chopwell in January and the Enduro at Hamsterly on Valentines day. I always love going to NDH events as they are so well run, the timing is brilliant, the tracks are always awesome and the NDH team and the riders they attract are friendly and supportive. Rarely do egos attend. 

I went to practice the track the Friday before the race. Having ridden the trail only once last year I had forgotten how fast it was. There are lots of drops and jumps basically without any corners, but knowing Carl he would put a cheeky twist and turn in for us on the day! I know that some riders were practicing on the Saturday and the tape was changed for the race to keep it fair and everyone on their toes. 

I was hoping that the Friday practice would make me less nervous, but my jumping skills are fairly terrible and I was having trouble squashing them all at speed. I felt a bit like I was on a bucking horse rather than taking control of my bike. This obviously didn't help with pre race nerves as I frantically hounded Mr Roots for guidance. 

Race day was quickly upon us and myself and Rufus were riding for the Roots MTB team. It was fantastic to travel in convoy with fellow Flare Clothing Company rider Nicole Mallet who was back at her first race in a long time due to injury. The weather was perfect, a bit cold but beautiful clear, sunny skies. All this meant riding in no mud for the first time in months. Although my bike came back home covered in mud so I must have found some somewhere. Anyone else find that?! 

Nicole Mallet showing us how it's done

Sign on was from 9am to 10.30am and was quick and easy as usual for NDH events. It was great to see so many of the lovely girls I knew from the MTBChix&Trails group, and to meet new ones. I am going to go on about it further down, but it really was!! 

Sarah flying high in a practice run. Photo by Dan

 

Massive thanks thanks to Dan at Roots MTB who kindly offered to be my spanners for the day after a difficult decision by him not to race due to his injury. Heal soon Dan! 

After a limited amount of faffing we headed to the push up to check out the course. The course started with a fire road sprint, an almost 180 degree turn left down onto the Omega Man trail. Carl had taped in a bus stop or two and crossed the lines from the red to the black to keep it interesting. The trail was fairly loose at the top, full of drops, jumps and ended on a fresh line cut into the woods next to the board walk. 

Photo by JWDT Photography

Most riders we spoke to on the way up had been out of the tape, just after the drop on the cross over to the black line. A few others had been in the undergrowth, mental note to self, 'left after the drop'. 

My first practice run was terrible, I needed to put on my race face and attack the track. It was so fast and full on that there was no time to lose concentration even for a second. Did I go out of the tape? Yes! 

I had two more practice runs before grabbing a quick bite to eat and heading up for race runs. Each practice run felt better and more together until I managed to stay in the tape and nail the final left into the woods without hitting the stone wall!

Photo by JWDT Photography

Race runs started just after 1pm. Apart from Hamsterley TT last year, I cant remember having so many women at the start of a race. We all cheered each other on as the starter began the count down for each of us. With each of the five seconds taking a minute, the adrenaline starting to flow freely and your body shaking to burst off the line with the explosive power that you have been practising (well the plan was to follow your training plan right??) When the starter reaches one, you are in the zone. The next two minutes, or for some sub two minutes, is 100% dedicated to getting to the bottom of the hill as quick as you can. Everything else is forgotten other than your line choice, feeling the flow of the trail and being as smooth as possible. I imagine this is how I ride, but my reality is a little different. I tend to bash into rocks rather than float over them, brake before features and squash the jumps badly! But to my amazement I managed to take 2nd place with a 2.08 behind the fabulous Melissa Pearson on a 2.05. 

Photo by Shane Millen Photography

After cheering the other 100 or so riders down the track and de briefing with friends it was time for second runs. 

For some their second run was amazing and they made up seconds, others went flying, some took detours into the undergrowth and for others a red flag. My run was slower, but I was so happy to still be able to take 2nd place with my first time. 

Roland flew down the trail with extra speed as it was his birthday and got a great time of 2.05.

 

 

The 18-35 women results:

1. Helen Gaskell 1.54.54

2. Natalie Sleeman 1.58.69

3. Nicole Mallett 2.01.61

Womens 36+ results:

1. Melissa Pearson 2.05.14

2. Jenny Nuttall 2.08.41

3. Cath Tilford 2.11.75

 










 

What struck me on the day, and I can't stop thinking about it still today, is how fantastic to have so many strong, smily awesome female riders entering and having a go. There were 24 of us on the day, and I was and am proud to have been one of them. It feels like everyone one has stepped it up this year, there are such strong riders in every category. Nicole got an awesome time of 2.02 despite months of injury, Natalie flew like the wind on her second run to finish only 2 seconds behind legend Helen Gaskell! Kelly didn't touch the ground with her 2.02 time, only just missing out on 3rd place and Cath smashing it into 3rd with a 2.11. Emma nailed it with a sub 3 minutes!  Sarah will hopefully get a clean run one of these days and when she does watch out the rest of us!

For some it was their first race, others were returning after months off after having babies. Whether you are a seasoned racer, want to get into racing for the first time or back into it, NDH events are perfect. A lot of the support for them can be found on the MTBChix&Trails facebook group which now has almost 900 members. If you are worried about entering, join this group and you will be wrapped in support and meet a load of cool chics.   

A huge thanks to Carl, Amelia and all of the NDH team for putting on the event and for all their hard work. 

The next NDH TT is the awesome Hamsterely TT on 17th April, hope to see you there! 

Massive thanks to Flare Clothing Company for supplying me and many of the other ladies there in such fabulous, comfy, bright awesome clothing to ride in. We love you Flare!! And a massive thanks to Dan, for being consistently amazing.