the kent descent
Regional downhill comp @ Porc
25th - 26th June 2011
After several months of planning, which seems to be the general time needed to get more than three KentATB riders in the same place at the same time. The weekend of the ATBA-UK's first regional competition had arrived. Prolonged heavy rain from the night before threatened to put a dampener on proceedings, but by lunch time the sun was fully shining and remained for the rest of the weekend ensuring a dry and fast track.
On arrival at Porc we made our way down to the camping area to meet up with Roger & co. Nobby promptly set up shop, pedaling his mountainboard wares from the boot of his car in a Del Boy fashion, Whilst all this was going on Sam seemed more concerned with the slight gradient the camping field was on. He drove the van round in various directions before coming up with the ingenious idea of driving it onto a pile of fire wood to level it. After this I thought "great time to ride" however Sam not content with his hugh greasy Tesco fry up an hour earlier and set about making a lunch of cheese rolls and rancid Yerba Mate tea, which he tried hard to promote the benefits to health. I would have thought you would need at least a Ton of that stuff to cancel out the breakfast.
Finally time to ride. A brief run from the top before the kind folk at Porc got the digger out to clear some ruts after the first table. I guess they were not taking any chances after a biker had paralysed himself a week earlier. This gave us plenty of time to practice the second half of the run.The run was well thought out with elements of boarder x and free ride. After negotiating the first section of the 4x the run took you out the first berm and through a a nice drop off, through some trees out to a fast corner into a steep grassy section. Then onto the final small drop and finish line.
With Josh and Harry coordinating the timing from each end of the run, and Roger on first aid duties. The runs were going smoothly, well the timing system was anyway. Michael and Johnny were getting quick times and putting us older riders to shame. Nobby had put down a fast time , and was leading the way for the KentATB riders. One more clean run might have seen him advance his time further, but it was not to be. On the second table a momentary loss of control gave way to a hard crash. Nobby gave priority to keeping his gopro intact which resulted in a nasty hand injury and a smashed face. With the arrival of PUATB things were about to get even faster. Simon and Lisa were getting quicker with each run.
A quick half time rest break and some more rancid Yerba Mate tea for Sam. Before back to the top for the next session of runs. Again quick times with everyone managing to improve their personal bests. My lack of general fitness was starting to show, and after several more runs I decided to retire content with my time.
After a dinner of Rasta Pasta and a nice BBQ the beer, and smokes started to flow. Entertainment was provided by some local stunt planes performing airobatics above the camp site, with Red Arrows style plumes of smoke. I am not quite sure the point at which I lost count of the beer consumed. It is all a bit hazy from here, but I do remember attempting to surf down a sandbank on a plank. I managed to stay on for about a foot, before falling headfirst down. Lisa and Simon had varying degrees of success. After that we went on to find a TREE that was reputedly the biggest in Britain. Briefly passed out in the tree before going back to the campsite and passing out on some old fence panels for the remainder of the evening.
Onto the next day. Sunday brought scorching weather reaching up to 30°, and the arrival of more riders from PUATB . I was nursing the hangover from hell. A couple of runs from halfway feeling very unsteady on my feet and I decided to pack in and spectate. Sam and Andy had a couple of runs & PUATB were battling it out to get sub 30 second times.
On the whole the ATBA put on a great event / weekend. So big thanks to all involved. Hopefully we will see more of this style of event in the future. A nice chilled out atmosphere and great riding what more could you ask for?
