You ride in and it all feels fine for the first couple of corners. You’ve got a nagging doubt though.

They say Brendan Fairclough built this trail so he could practise for Champery (widely regarded as the toughest track on the world cup downhill circuit, especially when it rains). The really steep descents have never been your strong point.

A few corners further down the hill and your internal monologue isn’t fit for public­a­tion. This is utterly ridicu­lous! How in the name of your favoured deity are you supposed to ride down it? That Fairclough fellow is a bounder and a cad!

Before you know it, you’ve let the gradi­ent get the better of you. Mild panic, slippery roots and a tad too much front brake mean you find yourself in the under­growth, entangled in your bicycle. After a bit of strug­gling and a lot more swear­ing — mainly at yourself — you manage to extric­ate yourself and get back on it.

Fresh start. You’ve just watched Si, Jon and Alex disap­pear down the trail ahead of you. If they can do it, so can you. You’ve ridden Sixt, so just apply the same techniques here. You’ve got the storm trooper kit on, so even if it goes wrong, it’s not going to hurt too much. You’re not exactly going at light-speed anyway.

It takes you a while, but you get to the bottom eventu­ally. It’s something of a relief. Si asks you if you enjoyed it. You answer honestly:

Not partic­u­larly. Can we go and do it again?

It gets eaiser. I think it’s what they call pushing the envelope.