Final day of Mountain Bike World Cup 2008
June 10, 2008 on 12:21 pm | In Mountain Biking |
The Downhill day is the biggest day of the week and sees the largest crowds. It’s a spectacular event and saw 30 ladies and 187 men compete for a chance to get to the final.
The downhill course at Fort William is known as a monster and even the fittest riders have to work really hard. It’s a total distance of 2.82km with a start altitude of 655m. The track is much the same as it was for the World Championships last year.
Laura and I took a ride up int he gondola to see the start (I like hills but this is one big hill)! It’s amazing seeing the speed that these riders travel at, at some point I had to close my eyes as it look pretty extreme to me.
The crowds were worked up by the commentator who made a fantastic job of keeping everyone informed. They all had their cow bells and horns to create an amazing atmosphere in the arena - it really made your hairs stand on end.
The ladies event was fantastic with British riders including Rachel Atherton, Katy Curd and Tracy Moseley. National Champion Tracy was last to ride and by now the arena was at fever pitch, everyone was watching the screen to compare her times to the current leader. When she eventually came in her time was an amazing 5:20 which saw her take the podium in first place.
In the men’s event the riders everyone was watching out for were Scotsmen Ruaridh Cunningham, Joe Barnes and Ben Cathro. British riders also included Gee and Dan Atherton and Steve Peat.
The talent was amazing and the crowds really made the event. Steve Peat was in the leader position but was narrowly pipped by Gee Atherton. It was really tense to see whether GB could make it 1st and 2nd. It wasn’t meant to be and Greg Minaar finally took the winning position.
This was the first Mountain Bike event I have attended. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone. A tip I would give is to invest in some Avon Skin so Soft to keep the midges at bay!
Gillian Thompson
http://www.visitscotland.com/adventure
Works with adventure sports in Scotland and has a keen interest in keeping fit and walking and a new passion for surfing.
