this weekend i was up at Ae for the SDA Champs. and there is only one way to describe it, WET!!! it rained ALL of saturday and by the looks of it the previous weeks. the track was mud from top do bottom and it offered some great drifts (but never when you want them).

i was really surprised by the track as it was fairly easy but the mud made it difficult. the step down thingy was quite interesting, i missed it out on my first 2 runs but on my 3rd i nailed it, however i did land short and flat landed it a bit. i only had the 3 runs on saturday and today i only managed to get 1 practice run in, having left out the step down. on my first race run i had 1 crash and another stumble costing me a good few seconds, this left me with a time of 3:26.?? or something. then on my second run i had a couple of crashes, lost my handlebar grip in one crash and had to find it. then on another crash i got over took by the rider behind me but i got straight back on the track and was on his tail all the way until the stepdown where i decided to nail it and i overtook him while he went round in but on th right hand berm after the stepdown i got a bit loose and wiped out the tape so he caught me back up and then i let him past cause i was already on a bad run.

i think i got a 3:56 on my second run but im not sure. anyway it was a good weekend and the rain really added interest when riding without goggles.

it was a mint weekend and anytime yous want a ride out we should go there,

Cheers,

Ben

Glad you enjoyed AE. Its not like you to crash!!! Like i said to you before you went i thought it was an easy course when we rode it last but i can imagine in the wet there could be some tricky situations, but its really enjoyable course to ride. Do you have any idea what positon you came??

not sure where i came but my first run put me 41st out of 54? but cause my second run was slower the riders behind me could have overtook me if they went faster so i could end up last.

the track was really good, it was just so fun to ride, definately a track to go to again.

By the way mate a good tip on the grips. You wanna look at buying some lock on grips form RaceFace, ODI (what i use) or Lizard Skinz they wont come off the bars as they tighten up by an allen key.

yeah i know im gonna get some. ive also got a problem with my back brake, how do you add and remove fluid? do you need syringes (not sure on the spelling).

ive got the same brakes but i havnt had to bleed them yet, go on southerndownhill and ask on there (very helpfull)

itl either bee syringes or just topping the reservoir up

when you find out could you let me know incase i ever have to do it? tar

i like AE too its not too tech for me hehe did you manage the coffin jump ok?

untill you buy some lock on grips.... spray hair spray inside the grips before you put them on, slide them on straight away and leave it to set

your a fountain of knowledge, id never have thought about hair spray. ill let you know about the brakes when ive done a bit of research. which spray do you prefer silvikrin or harmony? .

when you say coffin jump do you mean the step down thingy into the berm? if yo do then i didnt have any problems, i done it 3 times without any big problems, other than landing a bit short.

ill get back to you on the brakes, cheers.

silvikrin obviously

the brakes i found out that you NEED the bleed kit

coffin jump no its about 1/2 way up you cant miss it lol

i dont know what you mean. there was a small table top and a couple of doubles, if it is anyone of them? but i dont know.

as your coming down theres a fairly long left hander (if i remember rightly) then a straight to get about 5pedals on then a take off, bout a 25ft gap with as small step down theres also a route above and below it if you dont wana hit it

i didnt see anything like that, maybe it was on a different course or i was no paying attention. .

you were paying no attention mate its on the track its a bit trick to see if you dont know where to luck

sounds to me like the coruse missed out the coffin jump and went through the woods instead.

yeah i think they did cause it was woods for most of the course.