Even with a simpler just-one-track format, Downhill racing often seems more daunting than Enduro. After a few Enduro events, Aran Francis has a crack at Downhill.

Despite its often longer days and fitness based stages, for many (myself included) Enduro is the first step into racing. After all, an Enduro race most similarly replicates what the majority of us would know as a ‘normal’ ride.

Even with a simpler just-one-track format, Downhill racing often seems more daunting. Most of us don’t have access to a downhill bike. And personally, when it comes to the Downhill scene, I’ve always felt more of a high pressure atmosphere that pushes for performance over fun.

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Downhill doesn’t have to be that way.

Folk gather around Jerry’s car to see what gold he has managed capture for Roots & Rain A scenic race start high up in County Durham Trail Bike Time Trial?

Race organiser Northern Downhill has provided a great example that grassroots Downhill is not only competitive and serious as it needs to be (to whom it may concern), but accessible and fun too.

The Eastgate TT race is marketed as a ‘trail bike tt’ (time trial). Which, for downhill racing, seems a good way to encourage all sorts of riders to race.

The event caters well to the novice by promoting a fun-focussed experience with a nice variety of stuff within the track and a supportive crowd. At the sharper end of experienced riders/racers, the trail bike-oriented design evens the playing field a bit; less emphasis on bike performance and more on skill.

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The course

The Eastgate TT track started with some flat-out, grassy corners broken up with some steep corners, bombholes and wall jumps (nothing too crazy though). There were two clear challenges for this top section.

Firstly, the bobbly grass made it hard to hold a line and get the power down as you bounced around on the loose surface. Secondly, with the use of gates, it took a little more care to find your way down the track. Course-cutting (accidental or otherwise) was frequent in practice but as riders learnt the way, the track began to feel like a much smoother and flowing, defined track.

The track then changed character suddenly. Riders headed over a wall and were met with a sharp righthander and a tricksy off-camber slope that dropped away down the hillside. From here on down the track was looser, rockier and steeper.

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My main concern coming into this race was that it was just going to be a single-line pedal down a field. Whilst, yes, there was a fair share of field-pedalling, the track had a decent amount of diversity, gradient and a good deal of line choice.

Line of the day

Line of the Day was where the track changed from fast and grassy to steep and rocky. Over this wall riders were forced to slow almost to a stop in order to catch the right hand corner and avoid slipping down the off-camber.

There was however another way.

You could choose to commit to this camber, this allows you to slow down less and straighten out the corner. It is however a big risk (as usual, my photos do a terrible job to illustrate the lack of grip) but – if you can find some support – there was time to be made up here.

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My race rig: Giant Reign 1 now with a DVO Jade coil and a 27.5in rear wheel. Schwalbe Albert Gravity Radial front tyre and new Specialized Eliminator on the rear.Results

I was happy to take the win in the 19-29 category and fastest overall.

Run 1 sat me in P2 (around one second back), which gave me a safe ‘banker’ run, so I could take a few more risks in my second run.

Run 2: I was able to find three seconds with some rather ‘loose’ riding and took the win by 0.2 of a second; with the youngsters Leo Kettlewell and Lewis Hortin both improving on their first runs to complete the top three podium.

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Aspen Matthews was the fastest woman on the day, with Sue Fox and Krista Carmichael joining her on the podium.

Thomas Batten in the 10-12 category won his age bracket by an impressive 8.9 seconds. More impressively, he was only 10 seconds back from fastest time overall.

Another standout performance was that of Aden Young in the 50+ category who managed P2 after a puncture (Run 1) and a snapped chain (Run 2)!

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The Two Run format added some drama in a few categories with riders being able to make up for mistakes in Run 1. Every rider in the top threes improved on their Run 1 times with Lewis Hortin recovering from 74th to 3rd(!)

Overall

I think Northern Downhill’s Carl, Head Marshall Luke and their team did a really good job of tweaking the Downhill format to make for an interesting race. In an Enduro with riders just having one (maybe two max) practice runs, courses can be fairly predictable when it comes to track design.

At the Eastgate TT, riders had all morning to learn the track, plus the not-so-obvious gate system and the multi-line bottom section so the racing became much more of a fun race run.

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The spectators were out in full force and the race had a really strong community feel. Some red flags slowed down proceedings but the communication from the organisers was excellent and the weather remained clear to allow for a good, fair race. The event provided a good chance for riders to start racing, try a change in discipline or just in general have a good day out on the bikes.

State of UK Enduro Racing: Llanfyllin State of UK Enduro Racing: Dyfi State of UK Enduro Racing: Llandegla Spread the word:

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