Downhill biking

Downhill Biking GB Nationals 2008

In the middle of August 08 the nationals for downhill biking was held in Dalby Forest in North Yorkshire. There were 50 contestants who went into the qualifying stages, of which only 20 could qualify for the final.

There was fierce competition as places were tough to come by. The boat was pushed out by Matthew Eardley who posted an incredible time of 30 mins 37.98 secs. This was a tough act to follow and many of the other competitors could not cope with this. But a brave run by Sam Pitches saw him come close to that qualifying time. At the end of the first day 20 competitors had been decided to enter the next stage which would be held over the following week.

The first day was held down the north face of the hill. Dale Higgins went into the lead at the end of day 1 with a lead of just 2.04 secs. But there was a big upset as seed 3, Matthew Eardley finished in a rusty 8th.

The second day saw a tricky and tough course. This was a real test of the riders true skill. Matthew Eardley again came flying down early on in the day and his score of 20 mins 19.34 secs could not be beaten, but unfortunately for the third seed he had a poor run on the previous day which saw him in an overall position of 3rd with Sam Pitches and Dale Higgins ahead of him.

Day 3 and the weather was horrible. Rain and wind drove down the mountain side making it hard conditions for the riders. This time it was Dale Higgins who took the early initiative posting a good time of 27 mins 26.93 secs. Sam Pitches who was the current leader could only manage a time of 28 secs, but it was Matthew Eardley with a late run who smashed the time of Dale getting 26 mins 58.23 secs. This however was only good enough to put him in second after his poor first round. At the End of the day Dale Higgins the first seed had a lead with just half a second as another impressive day from Matthew Eardley meant that he was hot on his tail, whilst Sam Pitches slipped into third.

Day 4 and this already seemed like a three horse race as was expected. Today the riders would face slopes of over 70 degrees and jumps of over 20m. This was the most dangerous stage of the competition. Matthew Eardley again having an early run and posting a great time of 39 mins 45.23 secs. He showed great skill and determination and this paid off as nobody could get a time under 40mins. Alex Smith had a stumble and is suspected to have broken his back so he had to leave the competition. At the end of day Matthew Eardley lead the pack with Dale Higgins in 2nd and Sam Pitches. With one day to go it looked likely that Matthew would take the title as he was 2secs ahead.

The final day and the rain was pelting down. This looked like it would favour Matthew Eardley as he had had a great run on day 3 in similar conditions. The day began with a good time by Alan Shaw. That time stood until the big three last of all started their attack. Sam Pitches went first of the three and had a good run of 28 mins 34.65 secs. Then Dale Pitches posted a time of 28 mins 35.32 secs. This guaranteed him second position. Only Matthew Eardley was left. On Matthew's run disaster struck early on in his run, his chain came off due to a weakened gear change. He had to stop and fix his chain. This cost him valuable time probably about 3 minutes. But a storming last sector of the run would have seen him go under 27 mins but for his chain. He finished in 29 mins 54.73 secs, which put him in second place.

After the race had finished the team took a look over Matthew Eardley's bike and found that it had been tampered with. However many are suspecting that it could be Dale Higgins but so far no conclusion has been made. The board are trying to do everything to find out what happened and if Dale is found guilty then he would be disqualified from the competition.

We found Matthew Eardley and interviewed him,
'How do you feel now?'
"Well I am well gutted, I checked my bike over the night before and everything was perfect."
'Do you suspect anyone of tampering with your bike?'
"Well I can not be sure and I would hate to falsely accuse someone, but i feel that my bike was different in the morning to how I left it the night before."
'Well many people say that you did not do this for yourself but for someone very special in your life.'
"Yeah, I would like to say a big thanks to the people that supported me through out this competition, and a special thanks to my girlfriend in Manchester who I am missing loads!"
'Well many congratulations and we hope to see you next year.'
"Thanks"

Well we were not able to set up an interview with Dale as he refuses to co-operate.

It is a great shame that this great spectacle should end in such controversy but we would like to find out the correct result.

This page will be updated when a conclusion has been made.

Want to find out more about downhill biking look at downhill cycling

References
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http://www.ukdirt.com/
http://www.upanddownhill.com/mountain_bike_holiday/default.htm
http://www.mtb-freeride.com/ride/map/dalby/default.asp

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