Morning kids! I’m currently sat in the cafe at Nant Gwytheyrn at Round 1 of the Halo British Downhill Series. Â There’s wifi, bacon butties, hot coffee and a sea view. If it wasn’t bloody raining and everyone’s easyups were in pieces it might just be a pretty nice place to have a downhill race! Â Here’s what it looked like yesterday before it started chucking down…
Aside from the gopping conditions and devastated pits it’s been a bloody good weeked so far. The venue is spot on and the uplifts have been running so well there’s actually been a queue at the top of the hill.
First up, check out the brand new Orange 322. We’ve got a chestcam run with Cathro on the way… Check back for that one.
So what else is going on? It’s pretty fair to say things started slow for practice yesterday morning – with a greasy, rocky track to handle most riders were  taking the morning to blow out the winter cobwebs.  The old “I shouldn’t be riding a bike today” line seemed to be getting banded about a fair bit.
Since midday things fired up a bit and riders were starting to get the lines and hit the track a bit harder. The toughest bits seem to be the loose, technical top section above ‘Snooker Balls’ or the motorway down the bottom that’s sorting out the kids that have spent their winter in the gym … and those that have spent it in the bar.
There’s tonnes of praise for the uplifts. There were a few queues this morning top and bottom … but riders seem to be smashing runs out without too much bother. For a venue that’s tight on space and not used to putting on events, it’s going great to be fair.
Who’ve we got here? The all new Wideopenmag team of course, the SPS Syndicate are here complete with Peaty and Josh Bryceland (having just got their bikes last week), Brendans here, The MTBcut team are here as you’ve seen, the all new Saracen team, The Chain Reaction Cycles/Nuke Proof are here in force complete with the new Nuke Proof young guns team. There’s a bit of a missing pro-field with the Athertons, Danny Hart, Tracy Moseley, Ben Reid and a few more staying away. Â The top spot could be Peaty’s, Marc’s or Brendog’s… but after that it’s anyone’s guess.
I’ll leave you with some photos of the devastation that we woke up to this morning. Thank god for the warm cafe and hot breakfast. Anyone want to sell me a cheap easyup?!
Check back later for the Chestycam run of Cathro on the 322 and don’t miss our mega competition that’ll launch at the end of the weekend. We’ve got holidays and a mountain of bike kit to give away!
