QECP Night Race – Race Report
We love night racing. It adds a whole new element to mountain biking. We headed to the third QECP Night Race as part of the QECP Cyclefest event
Night Racing has forever been linked to 24 hour XC bashing… Slightly strange considering the amount of us who ride DH at night through the winter months, honing our skills for the coming season. The Southern Enduro team are looking to put a stop to all that with their Night Enduro powered by Exposure lights, proper gravity racing at night on awesome tracks.
We headed to the 3rd edition of this race to see if they could live up to expectation. They did not disappoint.
The QECP night race runs along side the QECP Cyclefest sponsored by Hargroves cycles, a great event for all the family to come and test out next years bikes from a huge range of brands… All anyone was talking about was Fat E-bikes and I will leave it at that.
With practice starting at 5pm and a 12 mile, 4 stage loop to get round before racing at 7.40pm I got going and headed out to see what stages had been chosen for the race. With this being my local hill I wasn’t to worried about having to learn any of the tracks, how wrong I was.
The Southern Enduro team did an amazing job of making this a fair race for all the riders, known trails were used but just as you got ready for the corner that always goes left the trail veered off right into a new section, linking trails that have never been linked. A great way to keep the race fresh and exciting for all.
So with a general idea of where I was going we got onto racing.
Racing
Elites went off first for once, the reason being is that we would race through the twilight… the hardest light to ride in.
Stage 1 was steep and technical linking 2 amazing trails, the ground conditions were absolutely perfect and it was still light enough to ride without lights. My Banshee Rune was an absolute beast for this stage, being long and slack the steeps where no problem. I had a good but steady run, taking 2nd on the stage behind Chris Doney.
Stage 2 was the best of the night. It used the original off piste DH track out the back of the park which unfortunately was closed a few years ago due to lack of medical access. This trail is so good with added fresh cut sections for the race, keeping it unknown to all. With the light drawing in it was a gamble whether to get the lights on… I opted to keep them off which worked for me as it wasn’t totally dark yet. Conditions were changing though, as night fell so to came the Dew, this caught me out on a flat chalky corner and i was on the deck… quickly back up and going again but i still lost time… again 2nd on the stage.
Stage 3 was where the going got physical, this was a pedal fest using the majority of the Red descent, which when just riding flows well… but at race pace is another beast, corners suddenly become tighter and you really had to get on the gas to keep your speed up. Again the Dew was really setting in and the hard pack chalky ground was making it tough to know how hard to push. My Exposure lights 6 pack bar light and Equinox head light where burning on full for this stage, defiantly needed now in the dark woods.
Stage 4 was the surprise of the evening, the basic route of the stage was the red climb, something I have always wanted to ride down! With some great new sections linking up the existing trails. If you thought stage 3 was pedally, this added a whole new aspect for the nights grand finale… It was a lung buster. No locals had ever ridden this trail, a true testament to the Southern Enduro Ethos. These guys no how to put on a race and make it fair for everyone, something that is often over looked in the growing Enduro world.
At the end of the night I ended up 2nd overall behind Chris Doney, who smashed it putting 30 seconds into us all!
As I have said time and time again, I’m struggling to find any faults with the Southern Enduro race organisation, stage choice and atmosphere. Every time I race one of their races it steps up another notch, and with beer being handed out on the finish line what more can you want from a race.
