Dig for Victory - Round 1 of the UK Mountainboard Championships 2010
Dig for Victory - Round 1 of the UK Mountainboard Championships 2010
Friday evening, and we arrived to showers, clouds, and down-turned faces. As we set up our tents the uncertainty that goes with having bad weather at a mountainboard comp set in. Discussions began about what may or may not happen and who would do what if it did, or didn't, but carrying on regardless, the riders registered into their new competition categories, teams of riders signed up for the new Team Challenge, and everyone went off looking forward to a new day.
Saturday morning dawned with brilliant blue skies, glorious sunshine, the hope that the weather of previous weeks had returned, and the promise of the track drying quickly and a good comp ahead. Final registration was completed, riders meeting conducted, but as practice began the clouds began to gather over head.
We moved into four man qualifying races and the clouds moved in to cover the blue and threaten to rain on our parade of riders coming down the already slippery track. Some highlights from qualifying included Matt Brind in first position all the way down the track until he decided to one-eighty the last roller, killed all his speed and finished third, and Simon Lefebvre from France whose opinion that British mountainboarders are crazy is probably shared by many. The riders approach to the comp varied from having a bit of a laugh
not really expecting the comp to actually happen, to seriously checking out alternative lines and getting to grips (if I can use that word in those conditions) with some pretty challenging riding conditions. As the weather got worse a few riders gave up and dropped out, no-show-no-going themselves, but the majority of the riders pushed on, determined to make the comp happen...
With the end of qualifying in sight but just out of reach, the heavens opened and down came the rain. One o'clock, time for lunch, let the rain pass and the track dry out a bit. And as one o'clock became two o'clock and the rains stopped, the work on the track began. Josh's determination shone through as he lead the riders to scrape off puddles, cover wet patches, and pretty much groom the entire track.
Big thanks to Pete Tatham, Oliver Weaver and Andy Brind for really getting in there and getting their hands dirty. And thanks to Ben Wanklyn for being official ATBA test pilot. Without all their hard work the track would have remained unrideable, but as three o'clock struck we were beginning to see that, once again, this comp was going to happen against the odds.
Quals finished and knockouts began in an urgent manner with the constant threat of more rain to finish us off. The weather reports said thunderstorms were moving in early evening so we raced (literally) against the oncoming onslaught. It rained, and it rained, and it rained, but the riders carried on.
The sheer determination and persistence of the riders to make the comp happen regardless of the conditions almost made me break out in a bad karaoke version of Starships' "Nothing's gonna stop us now", but I managed to restrain myself. Juniors like Peirs Sutton and Ed Richardson impressed everyone by riding so well in their first ever ATBA-UK Comp, and bringing out the freeride skills had Rich Sykes from Team Surfingdirt.com and Zak Campbell from Team BAD nailing the track, getting to the bottom and saying with a smile and a shrug, "I've ridden worse".
The rain got worse and the riding got better, with riders using all their skills to get down a mudsliding competition on all four wheels. But they did it. They went up against all the rain a Mayday bank holiday could throw at them and they won.
Some of the riders won races and some didn't, but everyone of them won a victory for mountainboarding!
Sunday brought us another change in weather. The winds now coming from the north were cold and almost Octobery. But out came the sheets of hardboard to line the jumps and down went the freestylers to get their practice runs in. The soft landings needed riding in, and as quick as a flash Chris Hill from The Edge and his mate appeared on quads and began a synchronised display crisscrossing on top of the table and jumping off the sides with big grins on their faces.
The freestyling got going with the Juniors first, stepping up their riding level with Leo Gorman going big and stylish as usual, and Mark Adams putting down some enviably nice threes for such a little lad. The ladies couldn't let that go, and Lisa McLernon put down some solid threes of her own. Seniors and Masters were a little light on numbers but with Tylar Harvey getting threes, Nial Potter-Farrant going for corked fives, and Josh attempting back and front flips, it was still a pleasure to watch.
Then came the Pro's. Even with soggy run-ins, and soft landings the Pro riders still lived up to it with Pete Hills on frontflip duty, Gary Crowhurst doing a sweet backflip/frontflip run along with his corked fives, Joel Treliving pulling new stuff out the bag like he'd been doing it for years, including corked fives and frontflips, and Kynan going into orbit with his smooth and stylish sevens. We also saw the welcome return of Jack Herriott from OTG back in the good old days, and about time too.
Prize-giving happened with big grins on the faces of everyone, either because they had ridden well or because they were relieved it had actually happened. Thanks to all the sponsors for the prizes and especially to Pd for providing cash prizes for the pro winners, and massive cheques for them to hold up on the podium, a step towards their some proper Pro-ness. Photos were taken, hands shaked, and good-byes said.
I used to think A.T.B.A. stood for All Terrain Boarding Association. Now I know it stands for always determined, persistent, and tenacious. Any rider who turns up to an ATBA Comp knows for sure they are going to get some racing and some jumping. The determined few, the faithful, won out in the end.
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