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Race Reports & Other News Keep checking back and keep up to date with what happened at the last race or anything else interesting that may be happening. You can catch up with what happened at all the races before Oct 1st '07 by following this LINK to our other website www.escape2sweden.t83.net and select 'DH Race News' on the menu. All news after this date will be posted on both sites. News Archive Just click HERE to read all about earlier high's & low's. 10th place at 2008 Downhill National Championship, nr Bala, UK 2nd place at 2008 4X Nat Championships, The Edge nr Bridgnorth! 6, A GREAT NUMBER AT 661 MINI DOWNHILL (Mar 30th '08) Watch the video at Google Video HERE. Rich finished 6th in category and 44th out of 171 overall. MUD ON A BIBLICAL SCALE & A 5TH PLACE FINISH (Mar 16th '08) The week leading up to the first round of the Caersws Cup was looking pretty miserable, with rain non-stop all week...
When we arrived on Saturday 15th March, no one was expecting a dry course. The big table and step up halfway down were proving interesting, with the run in completely swamped with slippery mud.
Then, in the early afternoon, the rain came down hard again. The already muddy course was now getting wild. Then came Sunday morning… On came the spike tyres, and on came the extra pack of tear-offs! Early that morning, I decided to arrive late and miss out on the morning practice, to save my kit and bike from getting caked in mud. We arrived at the track and were greeted with the sight of bogged field and some tents submerged in water and mud.
My first run of the day was my race run, as I knew the course would not have changed so much since practice that morning and the day before, that there would have been no gain in going up that morning.
I decided to play it safe, as there were two timed runs, and this was only my first. I just tried to keep my speed up, staying off the brakes and just pumping the turns and bumps to gain more speed without pedalling. The finish field was just a bog, so I cleared the final step-down and took the wider line out of the mud and onto the grass, over the line and finished 4th.
Then up for the second run. I was one of the last to go down, so had a long wait in the cold. As I finished the first section, I felt faster than run 1. Everything was going well until I hit a berm in the middle section with to much speed and confidence and ended up on my ass half way into the next corner! I eventually got my bike back and finally finished 5th out of 37.
TOP 10 RESULT IN FIRST RACE OF SEASON Pearce Summer Series Rnd 1 - BRINGEWOOD - Mar 1st & 2nd '08. The week leading up to this event was quite dry, which left the track in a nice condition for the event.
Saturday practice went well. I knew the course well, so it was just a case of perfecting line choices and hitting corners faster. The weather held out so the course stayed quite dry, and in some places quite dusty.
 Sunday arrived, and again the weather looked promising. First race run went quite well. Apart from overshooting a road gap up top, and overcooking a berm, it went pretty smoothly. Final time was a 2:46, which put me 11th.
I said to myself that if I could get a top ten position, then I would be pretty happy. So at the start of run 2, I wanted to make up at least 1 second to put me 9th or 10th.
This run felt pretty good, a fair bit quicker than the first. Everything went smoothly in this one, but then just before a high speed chute into a final table, I caught a pedal on a root and started a wobble! I straightened out just before it, but was unable to pedal so couldn't quite clear it. When I crossed the finish line, I didn't even want to see the final time, as I knew it would be worse than the first, I got a 2:45, and was 10th!
I did manage to get a top ten result, so the weekend was a winner for me!
HOT NEWS! - NEW SPONSOR SUPPORTS RICH - Dec 14th '07 We are very excited today to hear that Rich has been chosen to receive sponsorship for the 2008 race season by 2Stage Bikes in New Zealand. These are really special bikes and should be serioulsy considered by anyone looking at freeride, downhill or extreme cross-country, they will completely blow you away! Check out their AM8 All Mountian Bike. Thanks guys :-)) Visit their website at www.2stagebikes.com. Innerlethien, Scotland Oct 13th/14th '07 This final NPS race was added so unusually late in the year due to a round that was flooded out in the, 
so-called, summer. The weather was what we should have had earlier in the year, warm and sunny - and in Scotland too.
The course was simply stunning, with the exception of the bomb hole at the bottom of the course which claimed two broken collar bones and fractured pelvis over the weekend. Get well soon guys!
With lots of peddly sections the course was fasT and suited Rich. Needless to say he loved it.
Being so late in the year with evenings drawing in early the standard race format had to be changed this time. The result was a full day of practice on Saturday and only time for one race run on the Sunday, no seeding run.
Whlst making for a far more relaxed weekend it had a major flaw - only run against against the clock - and as anyone who competes at anything will tell you it is completely different when the clocks ticking.
Rich, like many, does better on his second run against the clock. He's had a chance to work out what has to be done. This opportunity never presented it self. So Rich wasn't able to repeat the 9th place he enjoyed at Moelfre, 25th would have to do this year.
But, everyone enjoyed themsleves, the weather was stunning, surrounded by breathtaking scenery and Rich came home in one piece. It was his first race at Innerlethien and he can't wait to come back and beat it.
At the end of his first year in Youth he finished 22nd out of 67. With lots of winter practice to come he is looking forward to aiming high in 2008. Watch this space!
Ludlow, England
Updated 07 September 2010 10:50
Fair | 16°C | High: 18°C
Low: 8°C
Wind: 9 kph
Humidity: 77%
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Wednesday
19° / 11° | 
Thursday
20° / 10° |
Friday
20° / 15° |
Saturday
18° / 9° |
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