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Pearce Cycles Winter Series - Final Round
Hopton
James - 18th March 2007
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Ask anyone what they think of Hopton it'll be flat, pedally, hard work, roots.. well for the new course that just the last one thats true. Driving to the event it looked for bad weather, storm clouds everywhere and the car was getting nailed with hailstones, soon as we turn up the sun comes out.. the odd hailstorm made for interesting visibility but once you're in the woods you havent got a problem!
Somehow they managed to find steep hillside and a very technical track, some say one of the best in the UK? It all kicks off with a start into a few tight corners avoiding the trees, over a drop that caught a few out, right after the corner! Then round a long sweeping bend, pedal hard here and either take the berm round or the roadgap over, its a big old gap and even some of the Elites nearly christened it with blood!
Then you dive straight into pitch black trees with roots EVERYWHERE, this was root central, rootville, you get the idea. Then the quarry drop, not much of a drop but some still decided to go round it and roll the chicken run, up onto a tabletop, kicked round a berm up to the bus stop and across the fireroad into the bottom section.
This is where things get fun - lots of turns with many different lines into them.. the way a track should be! You could take all of this at 100mph and you'd be fine, big berms to catch people... unless you hit a stump and went flying into the undergrowth! Plenty of them around.
This is where it gets steep, think almost Caersws style! Lots of biiig switchbacks and traversing across the hill, comedy crashes and some fast racing here, definately one of the toughest sections on the track. Then it gets tight, make sure you get your line right and you're kicked round a berm into the smallish rock garden, Frank from Harper whacked his head off every single rock when he crashed, and still managed to get up and walk! Mental.
Air it up over the tabletop then a hard slog to the finish.. times around 2:15 were for the fast boys, with most coming in over 3.
Big thanks to all the Pearce Cycles crew, the uplifts were about the smoothest ever with no-one waiting for ages, seems theyve got the formula down for a brilliant race. Also thanks to ExtremeMedics, the marshals, timing crew and anyone else involved! Full results can be found at Pearce-Cycles.
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