Monet Adams: Transition Team Rider on Top!

Here's Monet Adams, keeping us filled in on her last race at the Bull Track "By Riders For Riders" Downhill Race event. From what she has reported the boys better start getting their act together.

BACK TO BASICS

Downhill racing has really evolved in its 20 year lifespan, for most ‘Racers’ gone are the days of sub one minute tracks, uplift powered by ones own legs and paper laminate number boards. Today we are bombarded with licence numbers, split times, elite only practice and board customization rules. The community and the love isn’t there. So this weekend we got back to basics, heading over to the Bull track in Crowborough south England. 

On arrival there wasn’t any pits to be seen, Just the organizers red easy up and loads of cars with riders on a mixture of hard tails, short travel bikes and their full bouncers.We paid our £15 got our number boards and picked our category there was only one other girl there! We then pushed up the hill to start practise. Nobody really knew what time practice finished and Alvar was sweet with letting everyone practise until They were happy with the course! 

The track was pretty short, A 15” wooden start gate, that caught a few unlucky souls out over the weekend, sent you into two small doubles and round two switch backs that were barely more than ridden in ruts. After this another double and then a sprint down the field and of the wooden take off over a small road gap. Upon landing you sprinted around a long flat corner over another double and then a sharp right hander into the woods where you shot over two rock gardens that spat you out, airborne, into a corner and straight over a small piece of north shore. From this you flew round a right hander over another double, hold it wide around a long left hander and sprint the last 10 yards across the line - Blink and you missed it. 

Practice was awesome, everything was so chilled out, the weather was great and it was brilliant to be able to concentrate on nothing but how I could hit that turn faster. Practice finished at about lunchtime and we went straight into racing, everyone pushed up and cheered each other on as they started, My number came up, and I pushed to the top of the start gate, I knew I could do really well. The beeps went and I pedalled off the start, my chain slipped and I ended up both feet off the pedals and could only pull myself together in the first corner, I hauled on the pedals to regain time, 47 seconds later I finished, pretty unimpressed but I had two more runs to improve on. My best times of the day was 46.07 seconds, I was 6.90 seconds behind Simon Parsons who had the overall win and I had an 11.01 lead on the other girl in my category, who was also on a transition syren! Overall I placed in the top half which had me stoked and the boys surprised!

Thanks to everyone who made the weekend possible, Alvar Coppard and his little helpers, they run a great race. There should be another one in August, you should get yourself down there. Get away from the uplift queues and starting delays, pack you picnic and get ready to push up, get back to basics and feel the love!