Brass Monkeys Rd 3

Parkhurst Hill,Aldershot-31st Jan 2010

                                  THE HILLY ONE

And so to the last round of this Gorrick run winter Enduro season. After the 2 previous rounds were subject to adverse weather conditions, this one was  little better.

The course  this time had been set in a more weatherproof environment and combined with the frozen ground it was going to be a fast one.

Entry was once again high, with plenty of newcomers eager to try their legs out on a course that last saw any racing way back in the depths of the early 90's. Parkhurst Hill is where everyone converged and by 11am the trails were thronged with hundreds of riders suddenly realising why this one was also known as the tough one! Over the 7 mile sinuous course, which boasted miles of slick ribbons of singletrack, that descended and kicked, flicking through woods and over plateaus, before dumping you at the base of steady fire roads that climbed steadily, so you could do all the descending again and again! It was a merry little roller coaster ride, which just happened to include a 1000-foot of climbing each lap.

Southdowns Bikes were well represented with 5 riders. 4 in the 4hr Enduro Alex Davey,Andy Goodyer, James D'Arcy and John Davies and a first outing of the winter for Matt Knight in the 2hr race.

Andy was hoping to cement his place in the top 5 in the Male 40+ category after scoring in the two previous rounds as was John who was 10th.

James was looking to finish off the series with a good position after having to abandon in the round 2.

While Alex riding in the ultra competitive Male 19-39 cat was looking to have a strong ride and move himself up the field.

James(right) led the 40+ cat from start to finish completing 7 laps in 4:25:04 winning by 12 mins 17 secs. Having an incredible average lap time of 37:52, fastest 32:40 and his slowest 40:41 on lap 7.

Andy(below) completed 6 laps finishing 20th in 4:29:00 he was as high as 16th at one stage but with a lot of newcomers in the final round he couldn't improve on his 8th and 9th place finishes of the previous two. That was still good enough for him to finish the series 4th overall. Well done Andy on a great string of results.

John(right) started solidly on the first two laps only to snap his chain on the 3rd  and losing up to 10 minutes . Unfortunately he was unable score any points, dashing his chances of a top 10 finish. He managed 5 laps in 4:11:36 in 37th place.

Alex(below)rode strongly after being 55th after first lap, picked up 20 places by his 6th lap to finish 35th in 4:37:56 that was as well as suffering from a bout of cramp on the last two laps which put paid to any chance of him coming in the top 25 enabling him to score.

Matt(left) had lined up in the 2hr race and its seems that the
word had got out about these events as the field at the start line was very strong, which makes Matt's 23rd place finish for 4 laps in 2:39:10 very encouraging for the season ahead.













Despite the biting cold and the tough climbs, riders were ablaze with praise for the course, well after they'd finished, had a coffee and warmed up!

Congratulations to James who was on the podium as winner of the 40+ 4hr race, his first win for the team. 

Well done to all the riders, you all showed some true grit  finishing these races in some dreadful weather and over some testing courses.

Thanks to Gorrick and the Army C U, all the sponsors and hats off to Simon Panter for some well thought out courses.

Also many thanks to Tim and Amanda for all their support and to  Martin and the rest of his crew at South Downs Bikes.


And so a classic has been born! See you next year for more of the same… I wonder what delights the weather will throw at us then? See you there!