Progression
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.
ah, rather like when I did the black route at Morgins….
Ah, yes, Morgins. One day I’ll go there when it’s sunny so all the wooden stuff doesn’t become a complete liability :)
It was sunny and dry, had been for the previous 4 days by the time I got there….. avoided the shore stuff, but the steep rooty stuff had me rolling down the hill without my bike!
Dry Morgins!!!! This is not possible it is the centre for rain collecting for the whole of Europe (TCFRCFTWOE) ;0)
Trinscombe i presume?
I forgot to mention to you boys…
They do an awesome race at Morgins after the lifts have shut, towards the end of September. There’s four courses and the finish order is calculated by your combined time and the final track is a blind run down a secret track built for the event! I missed it this year but if anyone fancies some late season frolicks next year…
Some some adrenline inducing stuff, right up my street