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So Very Nearly: The final report from the Cheddar downhill track Before the sorry news broke that the first ATBA-UK Downhill event was cancelled, rem regular Roger Swannel wrote a report. It is the tale of the last big meet up of freeride fiends who went to check it out, give some feedback and generally ride the track that the rest of us unfortunately now won't. The cancellation itself happened after months of work and planning by many people, including Roger, and it turns out there was some confusion over who owned the land that the course ran through. The ATBA were effectively mis-lead as to permission of land rights, and of course everything has to be all legal & above board, guvnor. To make matters worse, it turns out part of the wood itself is an SSI ( a site of special scientific interest), so couldn't have been used anyway! Double gutted... There was a big turn out from the UK's longest running mountainboard team/club/crew/collective (or whatever you like to call a gathering of mountainboarders) Team BAD. Just in case you've never come into contact with them, Team Bristol And District are one of the largest groups of riders in this country. They were formed when Steve B met some fellow 'alt sports' dudes while trying on padded shorts in a shop! Turned out they were all moutainboarders from Brizzle and thought it would be a good idea to ride together, and the rest (as they say) is mountainboarding and indeed history. So if you're a boarder near Bristol looking for a good crew to hook up and go shredding with, it's well worth seeking them out... While we're talking about about mountainboarding clubs in the south west, the report also features PUATB. Which for a change isn't some crazy random acronym, standing for Plymouth University All Terrain Boarders, it is one of few university clubs dedicated to mountainboarders & longboarders. It was created by Team BAD's own Bireran SM when he went to Uni and still needed to get his weekly mountainboarding and longboarding fix and thought a few others might be interested in joining him. He was right. Since the longboarding round Plymouth is pretty decent and the mountainboarding isn't too shabby either with Dartmoor and Rooster park on their door step, it all kinda made sense. B has since finished his Uni course and moved on to be an international boarding van dealer, but the club is still going strong in the capable hands of Chris Seymour. So here it is, the final report from Cheddar, days before the cancellation. words & pics by Roger S *********************** Last Sunday (end of March) more riders converged on Cheddar. This time we had Grove Sykes from Team OTG, Adam Mustoe from Cheltenham, Harry 'The Hardman' and Woodie Wright-Off from the ATBA-UK, and local lad Callum Baird. But, really, this session was a Plymouth University versus Team Bad showdown. Representing PUATB were Simon Neck, inventor of the backflip axle stall, riding westcoast springless trucks and his compatriots on a plethora of noSnos. Chris Seymour led by example by Mmmbopping into the first tree he could find, and then showed how it should be done by bringing in all that brake-riding experience and nailing the track. Dick 'three balls' York, riding ten inch tyres and no brakes, straight-lined everything and bent a bolt on telegraph pole (which quickly apologised for getting in the way and pleaded to be never hit by a noSno again). Mark Sewell was gettin' longboardy and drifting his brakeboard round the corners, while Ali York went for the 'best-of-both-worlds approach by riding a very nice looking Trampa on big wheels and brakes. From Team BAD we had Lee, Josh and Zack 'Catch me if you can' Campbell, James 'Let's build a slopestyle' Cooke, and old faithfuls Dave and Rob Holmes. In traditional Team BAD fashion, Zack, Lee and Josh were hitting the course together and making the most of the multiple lines at the top to see which was the fastest and who could get in front of who, while James made a couple of kickers to 180 and bring some style into freeriding. I forget what you call that... Oh yeah, freestyle. Anyway enough about the riders, let me try to describe the track. Start at the top, which is always a good place to start, down a bank and over a bump-kinda-roller-type-thingy. This is where the track first splits with the slow line to the right, the medium speed line to the left and the fastest line straight down the middle. Let's follow the fast line. As it speeds up, the track gets narrower and cuts right-left-right around various carefully placed trees before opening out a bit so riders have some space to control their speed. Here the track splits again offering riders different lines for different speeds. The faster line carries on straight down the hill, getting steeper and quicker before going into a sharp technical corner around a tree and then into the off-camber straight. You're a third of the way down. Over a stone track, jump some rocks and into the gulley. The gulley starts off smooth but gets rougher and rockier as you get near the end, which requires a sharp left turn into the mountain bike track. This is the technical section, requiring careful selection of line and and less-than-careful speed control. The slightly-bermed corner weave right, right, left, right, straight-on, and left into 'The Big Finish'. 'The Big Finish' is the steepest and fastest part of the track and should make for some interesting finishes come race day. With multiple lines available, riders of all levels can hit the course with confidence knowing they don't have to straight-line it from the top if they don't want to, but of course can if they feel like it... Here's what a few of the riders thought about it: "The cheddar track was a great deal of fun to ride! Its got features and lines which will suit riders of varying abilities, and board set up. The course flows well and finishes with a flurry!" "Riding the downhill track was sweet! It has really smooth lines that run really quick! At the top of the course you are able to build speed really easily, the track then becomes more technical towards the end which proved to be quite a test when riding though it fast with no breaks! The run was really fun." "The track is fast, technical and really good fun. Plenty of scope for taking inventive lines, leveling the playing field and giving everyone a chance to make it down the hill." "I thought the track was inspiring for freeride and the amount of different lines through the forest was amazing. A good representative of British riding at its best." Good track, good turn-out, good day all round. Thanks to everyone who helped & is helping! ***************
Thanks to all concerned for your efforts. xx |
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