| Aston Hill - enduro mtb |
 | Aston Hill Enduro, near Wendover, Bucks. Sunday 31st March 2002 Aston Hill is an established mountain bike venue near Wendover. I have raced here a couple of times before in SAMS events. Today it was a different format of racing - it was called Enduro. There were only two races on the programme, a long one and a short one, 8 or 4 laps. With a lap measuring out at about 4 miles and quite a lot of climbing each lap, 8 laps was going to be tough.
This race formed part of an Easter weekend 3 race series also, you could opt
for individual rounds as I was or ride all 3. Yesterday the first round was
held at Thetford a relatively flat singletrack circuit, today was shorter in
distance but much harder terrain but still with plenty of singletrack. Just
before the start of the event it was drizzling and this made the mainly chalky
ground very slippery. If you have never ridden on wet chalk it is a lot like
ice! With the start plummeting down a track that looks more like a toboggan
run with roots, this rain made it very interesting. I was 2nd in line behind
Sam Gardner, as we reached the switchback section I had one foot out of the
pedal trying to keep my balance. Jonathan Webb behind me was giving me a
running commentary as he was waiting for me to crash (which would probably
have taken him down too), but somehow I saved it and made to the bottom still
on my bike. After a couple of short climbs we hit the long drag back up again,
I opened a gap and spent the rest of the race on my own. It was like a two and
a half hour interval session, plummet down then struggling back up. This
two and a half hours might not seem like an enduro race but I am sure it did
for much of the field (who also completed 8 laps). Aston Hill Enduro
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