This Sunday Ian, Cat and I headed over to Descend Hamsterley to go downhilling. I haven’t really been on my bike for a while and a brief outing at Llandegla a few weeks ago had confirmed my rustiness. I certainly haven’t ridden anything steep since Les Gets / Morzine in summer 2008 so was a little apprehensive to say the least.
The uplift at Hamsterley is fantastic. For a mere £20 you and your bike get a lift from the bottom to the top 10 times so none of that nasty uphill peddling lark; It was even better for me as this was my birthday present from Ian, cheers dude. The weather was glorious although there had been rain overnight and there was a little moisture in the air when we arrived.
So onto the riding … it is steep and it is hard. I don’t think I rode anything this hard in Les Gets / Morzine and we rode some of the big downhills there. There was probably stuff we rode over there that was as steep and stuff we rode over there that was as hard, but not the combination of the 2. I spent most of the morning getting used to my bike again and trying to get used to the steepness. After a couple of runs down with Ian and Cat including my biggest off of the day (Cat and I both chose the wrong line down a steepish rocky section and both spent some time in the bushes to the side of the trail desperately trying to clamber back up!) I left them to the harder runs and concentrated on getting my head around the easiest line … even this isn’t that easy especially with the damp start meaning there were a lot of damp roots and rocks that were definate ‘no braking’ zones! As the sun broke through it dried out thankfully and I started to get a little more dialed in.
At lunch time I wasn’t feeling too impressed with my skills and although I had enjoyed the morning didn’t see myself getting back onto the harder runs. The main thing I was struggling with, as in France, was getting the power into my brakes. I have to 1 finger brake as having broken both my little fingers I find it hard to hold on if I have 2 fingers poised over the brakes. This is all well and good when riding XC but downhilling the Hayes 9’s aren’t quite powerful enough for my weak little finger to cope on the steep stuff. I suppose this will get better the more I ride the steep stuff so I just have to live with it until I become less puny (or spend a small fortune on a set of M4’s!)! However a little brake fettling and a cheese and pickle sandwich later we headed for the 5 afternoon runs.
The afternoon was a whole different story. The first run down we spent a little more time over the run which allowed me time to look at lines and try them again if it all went wrong, which inevitably it did! After the first run down my confidence had been somewhat restored which proves something I say to the kids at Skaterbeach all the time … you can do this, it is just your head stopping you. I thoroughly enjoyed that run and the next 4. Although I was still way past my current skill level I was progressing and feeling more confident with each run. Everything started to feel a little more natural again, which is nice.
All in all a fantastic day out. My only criticism of the uplift is that you only have 15 minutes to get down the hill each time, for accomplished downhillers this isn’t an issue but I could have done to have had a little more time each descent to get more out of it. I suppose what I really need is some steep technical stuff that is easy to session and doesn’t require an uplift (I feel a Stainburn session coming on) and then once I have got my the strength up in my braking fingers and my skills dragged back out of the gutter (see the pictures, I’m the one standing right up on the bike, shouting at myself to get of the effing brakes!) I’ll get a lot more out of Hamsterley.
Thanks to Ian and Cat for looking after me and driving, I had a brilliant day and would recommend it to anyone who like steep technical riding. Anyway here are a few pictures the Ian took on the day, you can also read his take on things on his blog It’s Only a Hill …
If you fancy trying out the downhill at hamsterley give Craig a call on 0779 551 4251 or check out the website at http://www.descend-hamsterley.co.uk/index2.html. Remember though that you really do need a proper downhill / freeride bike, full face helmet, shin / knee pads and preferably body armour. Also remember it is hard, steep and technical if you aren’t sure of your skills it may not be the place to go!
