Students Championships
Written by James Dymond
Despite a certain local van rental company doing their best to leave us stranded, we finally set off for Hamsterley on Friday morning, having packed 23 or so bikes, shed loads of kit and a house-worth of carpet into the back of the van and also despite worries over the minibus' chimney-like exhaust, an uneventful journey followed and we arrived in Hamsterley early that afternoon. Having eventually got the van across the already muddy field after much wheel spinning, everyone was fairly keen to get the tents set up and get out of the rain. Once individual tents were set up, it was time to find out how many Nottingham students it takes to put up a simple caravanning tent with one layer - obviously more students than we had anyway, as it took us a good hour or so to fashion a collection of poles and canvas into what might have been loosely called a tent!
Enthusiasm for riding was so plentiful at this point that the Downhillers went off to check out the course without their bikes (evidently a confident bunch), whilst the rest of us faffed around camp and registration at the 'Race Village' (a couple of marquees & vans!). It turned out that after crossing the floating bridge (a good inch or two below the water level) to get to the bottom half of the course, it was barely walkable, and thoughts of how the hell to ride it were on many people's minds, especially us cross-country softies! After an afternoon of rain, mud, a bit more rain and guess what…more mud, everyone was set on finding the nearest pub a.s.a.p. So Hamsterley village's Cross-Keys pub became the setting for drying out, warming up and stuffing ourselves with cordon-bleu cuisine (compared to super noodles back at camp anyway). Despite our requests for a roaring log fire, radiators had to suffice and spirits rose with much talk of the DH course and tomorrow's attempts at it.
Even with most people wearing all the clothes they'd brought with them in their sleeping bags, a bitterly cold night followed and most were up early Saturday morning to embrace the early morning mist and urge on the glimpses of forthcoming sunshine. Award for the best bit of forgotten kit has to go to Ben though: "I didn't think I'd need a sleeping bag"! Whilst most of the Downhillers set off for their practice & seeding runs, the rest of us stuffed ourselves with food in preparation for a day of hard spectating. During the day, those who weren't racing alternated between checking out the scaryily hard XC course, eating (particulary Martin who never seemed to actually stop!), watching, and marshalling some DH action. The big drops and rock gardens at the top of the course were particularly impressive, as well as the many spectacular and other totally lame stacks during the day. Many inches of travel were definitely the order of the day, with respect going to the competitors from other uni's, including one on a fully-rigid bike and a few on full-on XC hardtails.
Overall the DH team did well, although with us placing 4th a podium place was just out of our grasp, especially good considering the pro-elite riders winning overall. Several top places were earn't though, including Nick Hawker 10th (of MBUK suspension head bashing fame), Tom Hodder 22nd, Pete Hosker 24th, and Andy Robson 54th, who showed a few hardcore Downhillers that it's not just about the bike.
Saturday night brought another welcome trip to the pub for a host of mud-plastered students from around the country, including those with the initiative / cheekiness to take along their gloves to dry and Camelbak's to be filled with 'normal' water. The onsite water 'mix' was approximately half and half river water and chlorine. After much warmth and trying to stay awake, we headed back to camp for some socialising with other uni's, including Mr Trollied from Bristol, who had evidently had either a very successful or a disastrous day's riding and after falling flat on his back, felt the need to make a twat of himself throughout the whole forest, including clingfilm-wrapped-tent-tripping to falling-in-the-fire antics. Another cold night followed, with one particular person not surprisingly opting for the minibus and borrowed jackets overnight.
Sunday morning brought mist and cloud, yet hopes were high for sunshine later on. After another exotic breakfast of pasta, rice pudding etc (although nothing less than cornflakes, bacon butties & croissants would suffice for some!), and bike fettling (like trying to magic up some disc power or a new seatpost an hour before the race), about 10 of us set off for the XC Sport race. Everyone got a good start amongst the 100 or so competitors into the first knackering and demoralising fire-road climb. Three 5 mile laps were the order of the day, producing 2.5 hours of: fire-roads, singletrack, mud, potholes, roots, mud, rocks, streams, mud, slopes, trees, mud, walking, pushing, mud, granny-ring, river-crossing, mud, over-the-bars, falling-over, mud, and finally, smiles…oh, and more mud!
Good results all round for the XC sport with Phil Rogers in the top 10 and Martin Brand and Nick Dyer not far behind, despite Martin's knackered Rolf wheel (carefully fixed by our DH team…by jumping up and down on it) and lack of front brake for his last lap. The championship race began at 1pm, with the fastest riders overtaking the last sport riders. Andy's efforts to wimp out of the championship race involved leaving his race number in Chris' tent and then almost getting the van sideways across the road on the way back to the start, he did raced, albeit starting 5 minutes after everyone else, much to the marshalls' confusion! However, his borrowed FSR-XC (Thanks Leisure Lakes) only made it 1/4 of a lap before the rear mech hanger became the victim of a root or rock, forcing him to retire. Top results, however, from Graham Wadsworth, Chris Metcalfe and Tom McKay, pulling in a silver medal for Nottingham by coming second overall in the championship.
Following prize presentations and packing up of camp, we finally headed home on Sunday evening, across the recently churned field, thanks Mr BMW idiot A welcome BK stop refueled everyone for the drive home, especially one of our drivers who seemed to be trying to put his foot through the minibus accelerator & floor at times! Thanks to all who competed, spectated, marshaled, organised & drove & roll-on BUSA champs 2003 for those who'll still be here.