Hilly Hopton

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BY: Matthew Lewis

Published: 3rd June, 2013

I virtually ground to a halt on those inclines up at Hopton, once again proving that fatboys don't climb. It was a great course though and I can see why people were raving about it after last year but if you haven't raced much and you like your pies and guinness it wasn't the National to enter as your first one for 2013!

The course was steep but the climbs were punctuated by flatish rolling sections and the gradients were rewarded with some ace singletrack which spat you back out into the arena, not before you descended through a baying mob who were looking out for the crashes and from what I've heard they witnessed a few.

Gridded waaay back on the third row the pace was high and the fast boys Jonny Pugh and all the others hit the climb at a right speed but the fast Masters these days wouldn't embarrass themeselves in the Elite category. I tried to stay on Ross Farley's wheel from Gateway cycles but he powered off up the climb and left me realising that I really should race my bike more often.

My lap times were consistently slow and how the elites went around there in 20minutes I'll never know.

Thanks to Neil Hendry for the pic!

A good work out though and in the end I rolled over the line in 24th. Mid pack mediocrity achieved yet again! When is that Southern round at Wasing, the flatish one?

 

Matt Lewis

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