BDS Round 1 Combe Sydenham – Report
First round of the 2013 BDS at Combe Sydenham and it was a toughy. Saturday morning the long and pedally track was in great condition, grippy but with smooth corners and line choice aplenty. The road gap was easily cleared and most sections were flat out and fast. A few hours of rain and riders later it was a different story entirely. The line choice was down to nothing as a rut formed down a large part of the wooded section, leaving only a couple sections towards the end with any choice.
On Sunday the track was in a bad state, with axle deep ruts formed in a portion of the track. The first corner caught many people out when both pedals ground out either side of the corner. I saw a number of riders go down, or nearly go down (including me) in their seeding and race run. Someone said the fastest person they saw go through the first corner, went through with both his legs out and walked it! For most riders, the big road gap was but a distant memory in their preparations for their race run. Most opted to go round the road gap, some brave few still jumped it knowing they were highly unlikely to clear it, thinking it faster than going round. There is even a picture of Gee Atherton coming up a little short on it and bottoming out on it, which makes us all feel better. I opted to take the smoother more direct line, just off to the side of the take off. This felt a lot nicer than hucking into oblivion and waiting for the ball crushingly hard landing.
The field section was the saving grace of the track. It ran fast no matter what the weather, and the jumps were perfectly sculpted. It gave a nice break from the mud and kept the crowds happy as people threw down all sorts of style. The last section is tough, you’re hanging out your behind from all the pedalling and you come to one of the more technical sections on the track, the rock section. There were a number of different lines to be had, far left, middle, left of middle, all the way to the right. Then there were the lines coming into that section, left of the tree, right of the tree, right of the tree then turn a quick left and over some roots, middle… the list goes on. What didn’t want to do is go right of the tree, try turn left, slide out, head butt a tree, get concussed and not remember where you were, or where you worked… (Chris Cockrill). Not recommended! Most opted for the safe route down the middle, but the fast line was on the far left and over a number of lumps and roots. Most were put off by the certain death if you cocked it up, but the reward for getting it right was worth it.
The weather didn’t help proceedings, but unfortunately Si Paton cannot control the weather. All in all a good weekend! Onto the next BDS at Fort William, Scotland on the 11th May.
Elite Men
1/ Gee Atherton 2:42.049
2/ Matt Simmonds 2:44.168
3/ Marc Beaumont 2:44.265
4/ Joe Smith 2:45.609
5/ Sam Hill 2:47.415
Elite Women
1st – Rachel Atherton 3:06.029
2nd – Manon Carpenter 3:14.263
3rd – Tahnee Seagrave 3:29.807
4th – Jess Stone 3.19.14
Expert
1st – Josh Lowe
2nd – George Belk
3rd – Nikki Whiles
4th – James Stock
5th – Josh Lewis
Senior
1st – Darren Evans
2nd – Brian Anderson
3rd – Mark Prior
4th – Jonathon Howe
5th – Ant Jones
Junior
1st – Taylor Vernon
2nd – Michael Jones
3rd – George Gannicott
4th – Innes Graham
5th – Thomas Owens
Youth
1st – Frazer Muccubbing
2nd – Jacob Dickson
3rd – Laurie Greenland
4th – Andrew Dorritt
5th – Brad Swinbank
Juvenile
1st – Kaos Seagrave
2nd – Joe Parfitt
3rd – Jack Tennyson
4th – Kade Edwards
5th – Jack Miller
Masters
1st – Rowan Sorrell
2nd – Andrew Titley
3rd – Duncan Ferris
4th – Kye Forte
5th – Daniel Haynes
Veteran
1st – Peter Little
2nd – Jason Carpenter
3rd – Rich Simpson
4th – Darren Howarth
5th – Mark Weightman
Grand Veteran
1st – Howard Stuttard
2nd – Dudley Forsyth
Women
1st – Jess Greaves
2nd – Charlotte Hughes
3rd – Annie Matthews
4th – Beverly Barnes
5th – Emma Whitaker
Words – Sam Boardman
Images – Jaeson Blythe (http://ii10photo.com/)