Let's set the scene: a bright South Wales morning, which makes a change, and the downhill circus rolls up at Mountain Ash. The weather is fine for the weekend of carnage and all too fast speeds. All the Pros were out en masse - Rob Warner, Rowan Sorrell, Will Longden et al. Jason Carpenter, organizer of this pending madness, had booked 5, yes FIVE open back trucks for the uplifts. An estimated 300 or more riders would turn up for Saturday's racing, myself included, to part-take in Round 1 of the Dragon Downhill series 2005.

Uplifts started nice and early-8am, a time when most people are crawling out of bed, or for the lazy ones still sleeping! The queues for the first uplifts stretched a good hundred metres behind the pickup point. After everyone giving the next person a helping hand with their rigs onto the trucks, it was time to set off for the bumpy journey to the top of the course, where surprisingly, it was actually warm! Now this made a change, seeing as at last year's race the track and weather were both in terrible condition, and making it very difficult to blast through and over 2 miles of rough terrain, obstacles etc. This time not so, the sun made everyone eager to get off the uplift and head straight down the mountain.

The track was unbelievably dry. It's at this time that Mountain Ash really comes into its own. Speeds of well over 30mph were reached easily on the for once dusty course. It seemed everyone had their bikes set up for this weather- no mud tires here! Not even super-tackys were order of the day.

After almost 4 hours of practice, the Hardtailers, Juveniles and Youths were all ready at the top of the course, waiting to be sent hurtling down the unforgiving track first in search for the top spot. Unfortunately for them (and myself, who raced in the Youths) they, and the whole race, were held up by an hours delay, with computer problems. But after much sorting out by Jason and all involved, the race was ready to go at 1pm.

The brave guys (or should that be, nutters?) on the Hardtails shot down first, and my hat goes off to them, watching the speeds they were getting on the first chute. The same can also be said for the little rippers in the Juvenile category.
After I rolled up to the starting point, where riders were given a 5 second 'beep' count down, nerves were put aside, and the game face was on! Unfortunately for me, my chain dropped just 30 seconds into my run, so the rest of my first run had to be spent pumping the whole course, which is much more difficult than it sounds. If you've never been there, then Mountain Ash has a technical and very pedally section in the middle, which is hard work with a chain, never mind lacking one. I finally rolled over the finish line with what can only be deemed as an average time of 4:31.

Once the remaining categories had ridden down, including Juniors, Seniors and Experts, it was onto the Elite riders. It is here that you should be paying attention, because this is the category containing some of the fastest riders from around the UK. The Elite Females were the first to go, with Rachel Atherton (Animal/Giant) taking the win with a none-too shabby best run of 4:14, though she seemed to think otherwise when I had a quick chat with her on the Sunday. Emily Horridge (Mountain Cycle/No Fear) came second, with a time of 4:27, and Maria Conway (Giant Racing) rounded up the Elite Female group with a time of 4:27, narrowly missing out on second spot by tenths of a second.
The Elite Males, however, produced some storming times. The end result, though, was slightly spoiled by local vandals allowing their dog to run onto the course during Rowan Sorrell, riding for Mojo Suspension, and Neil Donoghue's (MBUK Santa Cruz) runs. Donny still managed a barnstorming time of 3:40, which left him sat in third place, and Rowan, even after the setback by a dog, won the Elites with the fastest time of 3:39. Philip Shucksmith (Mountain Cycle/Bad Ass Bikes) completed the top 3 lineup, coming in second with a 3:40, narrowly beating Donny by a very small margin. Maybe if the dog had been kept on its leash, the result may have been different. Or maybe Rowan might have posted an even quicker time! Well done to all who took part, and the winners of their individual categories.