Circus Of Dirt Round 1 Video Report from mtbtv.co.uk

Now I have no idea how Jay and Maddie found out about this place. I like to think they walked into a pub in the middle of Kernow one day, a local sidled up, a wrinkled envelope with a bundle of used notes changed hands, and he said" word is... you're interested in some woods" Or perhaps they were owed a favour from someone high up in NATO who moved global positioning satellites, in the search for the best locations to ride in the South West. Hey I can't help it I have an imagination and it's a lot more exciting then what probably was just a chat with someone in the forestry commission. Anyway thing is, it doesn't really matter, the point is they found it, and decided that this was going to be the location of the first round of the Circus of Dirt.

Now I think the best place to start is to probably describe the course although I didn't get to see all of it for reasons you'll find out in a moment. But basically, the woods have a T junction of fire roads in the middle of them with the bar of the "T" forming the start/finish line, going east to west.

After the start the course dips off to the left into the woods, it comes back to touch back onto the fire road before ducking off left again into a section marked Green banks on the map. Another short hop up the fire road, sees riders heading back off into the woods, up a place marked as Corridor to swoop right around the top of the woods before descending down to the east of the start/finish line and heading eastbound down the fire road at full speed before heading up onto the technical section where Pete and I were marshalling. Which is why I didn't get to see the top half of the course?

I volunteered a couple of months back to marshal at the Circus of Dirt events, and there are loads of reasons why. Firstly because I actually want to give something back for change, it's easy to rock up, ride and then knob off home again, so I reckon it's time to see it from the other side.

But there is another reason, and the easiest way to explain it is, you need to hear Jay tell you what a course is like. There is passion in the trails Jay and Maddie build, and as he replays the trail, riding it in his mind, his hand swoops, climbs and twists in excitement. You can see the passion on his face, from the glint in his eye, to the cheeky smile as he says it's a bit technical. They don't build a trail for the sake of it; they build the trail that they want to ride, the one that would challenge them, but nothing too scary as to put anyone off. It's the trail that would give that sense of achievement, the one that would produce that grin. Just as a sculptor, will get the best out of a piece of stone, wood or clay, Jay and Maddie get the best trail out what a location has to offer. And when two people build trails like that, I want to listen, learn, and do whatever I can to help them achieve it.

I also try and rope Pete into being my sidekick.

So flasks at the ready, first Aid kit, in my backpack, not that it was needed as tit only has plasters and there's only so much they can do, and a two way radio. Pete and I set off to Marshal Point 4 which was at the end of a brilliant bit of single-track that really did remind me of an XC version of the beginning of the downhill run at Cwmcarn, before you hit the right and left hairpins to go down under the road.

This single-track section at Hustyns ended with a rutted drop onto the fire road. There was a chicken run off to the left, which was pretty hard to hit as you had to "hook" out of the rut to get it, and was possibly more difficult to ride then the actual trail. So unless people came off, they pretty much took the rut.

It was steep and it had a few little stone drops that had that over the bars feeling as you dropped the front off them. The perfect way to ride it was fast and loose, which would have been fine if not for the tree trunk of a root which was right on the line as you exited the section. You also really needed to "man up" to do that.

The popular technique was a lot of back brake action coming in, a locked up back wheel, and slip sliding it round until opening it up onto the fire road. Mastering it on one lap, didn't really help either, as a laps worth of riders back braking and sliding it round, rutted it a little bit more, making it a whole different beast next time around. A lot of good riders came off, went over the bars, or steamed in, pushed it wide on the exit, hit the lumpy root, and went over the bars.

From here, the short bit of fire road delivered you to a left hand drop into a tree section. It did look a bit "ballsy" as you approached it but it was brilliant and once in it naturally flowed and guided you around the trees delivering you into a fast bit of single track that slalomed through the trees.

Because this was slightly downhill, riders really hit this section flat out. So of course this was where the trail decided to stick its tree like fingers out and slap any unsuspecting riders where it hurt. Going off line at speed was dangerous, and a couple of riders ended up with suspected broken wrists after tangling with a tree.

Moving on from here the course crossed the stream and hugged its contours as it meandered through the trees until it crossed it again for a second time and delivered the rider back to the start finish line. It was an awesome lap that had something for everyone.

The event had two, formats. In the morning there was the enduro race, where you could choose to do 1 or 2 hour races and in the afternoon the XC whippets hit the course to thrash what life is left out of the course. Personally I'd probably have chosen to do the 2 hour enduro. I like to pootle around and enjoy myself and I don't reckon an hour would be long enough for me to get enough playing in. My fitness level certainly isn't good enough for the XC classes, I'm built for comfort not for speed and truthfully I generally come third from bottom in the just for fun categories. So in an XC race field it is pretty much a given I'll be last. Besides I love the enduro races, simply because they cater to everyone. The fastest guys were putting in 27 minute laps. With the average XC lap being late 20 early 30 minutes a lap, they would certainly being placing well in the XC race. But equally at home in the enduros are the riders taking their first steps into racing and stepping outside their comfort zones, (that is what the Green Bananas is also all about) For them it's about getting around a lap. That first lap is a huge sense of achievement, just getting round is the first milestone, next comes completing it without getting off. You might have come last but you've made it and like the passage to adulthood, you're no longer a race virgin.

The enduro races are a brilliant less daunting way to cut your teeth in the MTB race world and if you only feel like doing one lap, only do one lap, it's as simple as you want it to be, and the smiles on people's faces tell you how much fun it is.

It's the same in the XC race, however people are going for points so there is a competitive element to the race, so it can feel a little exclusive if you're looking to get started. So test the water by dipping your toe into the circus of dirt enduros and then if your times are up there and you want a bigger challenge move on up to the XC class. I always look at my times, then the XC ones and working out where I would have come, and maybe next year I'll man up and go XC...I'm still not wearing lycra though.

Anyway back on the trail Round One of the Circus of Dirt was brilliant with Hustyns wood being a bit of an undiscovered gem place to me. I am soooooo going back there to ride it again.

Round 2 of the Circus of Dirt is at Newnham on the 1st of May, online Entry is here: http://shredevents.com/?p=145 and Newnham is Jay and Maddie's home turf. They know every inch of it, and the bits they didn't know, Jay has taken a strimmer to it to see if it's rideable. So have no fear the course will be a mega, challenging and WILL take you out of your comfort zone. So sign up and do it. I'm already looking forward to it, and round 1 has only just finished.

If you're still not too sure about racing you want to but just don't feel that confident. Offer to help them marshal the race, it's a good way to get an insight into it, you'll get the chance to ride the course, and you'll see the smiley faces, as people go round. If you still don't feel that confident, then Jay and Maddie do mountain bike training as Fully Sussed, a review of our day with them is here:

And if you don't want to race it alone drop us a line and you can ride as part of our team the Green Bananas.

Now there is no reason for you to not dip your toe in the dirt is there..

See you at Newnham.

Thanks to Tony at www.mtbtv.co.uk for the report!

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