Chicksands 4X Race

31 Oct 06 / Posted By Mat

I've been riding bikes for 20ish years and on the 4X scene for the last 4ish, but somehow I'd never made it to Chicksands (or Beds Fat Trax dot org as it's trying to call itself).

Sunday 29th October though after a ride from Highbury to West Hampstead Thameslink, then a train to Bedfrod, then a short trip in the windowless back of a transit van, I finally made it (ta to Gareth for picking me up at the station).

And was that journey worth it? Bet your arse it was.

Chicksands is a woody bike Mecca. There are trails running through the woods, freeride drop-ins dropping in all over the place, dirt jumps everywhere with dual tracks nestled in by their side, and to top it all off, one of the most fun 4X tracks I've ridden since Hornton Hill (RIP? What's the latest on that one?).

Seriously, Chicksands rules. Most of you may already know this however so I'll get on with the race report (those that know as little as I did though should visit their site).

Full Sus

A good category for a location like Chicksands and a turnout of 8 riders gave some mixed motos and an evenly spaced final. End of the day it went...

1. Gary Gray (above)
2. Adam Gilham
3. David Knight
4. Alex Thompson

Juvenile

Juvenile saw 14 riders and some racing that could have been mistaken for Youth. Outstanding as ever improving ever race was Abbie Taylor (below), once again mixing it with the lads. In the end though there was no catching Tom Knight though who took the win.

1. Tom Knight
2. Abbie Taylor
3. Suzaune Lacry
4. Adam Thomas

Youth

As before, the racing in this category look fast enough to be of the one above. And again 14 riders made the gate. For me James Dower (below) was looked good in his pro looking Vario set-up but at the end it was a second for him behind Dale Russell.

1. Dale Russell
2. James Dower
3. Nick Heron
4. Sam Reynolds

Masters

The masters held their own and looked good all day. In practice it looked like there were going to be more of them but come racing it was 8 on the gate with a top four looking like this...

1. Dave Godfrey
2. Glyn Cartwright(above)
3. Greg Bowles
4. Phill Grays

Senior

Having not ridden my 4X bike in over a year I figured I wasn't quite on form enough to go Elite (much to the disappointment and 'sandbagger' cheers from my former Pro colleagues. Cheers for the support Steve!). So, Senior it was for me.

Any opportunity of an 'easy' ride however were quickly displaced by the quality of what I saw in practice and a race sheet showing 32 names.

In the end though (after myself and DBS team mate Gareth went out in the quarters after some rather poorly judged riding...) it was Tom Gethin who took the win in what for me was the performance of the day. He rode fast and on the edge and looked like he'd been racing for years. It was still close though...

As it turns out though, as most Chicksands locals or King of Dirt regulars might know, Tom spends most of his time dirt jumping and the race thing was just for a change of pace and bit of fun (pssst, someone tell Tom he should race the NPS)! An amazing ride.

1. Tom Gethin
2 .Phil Evans
3. Leon Rosser
4. Ben Flectcher

Elite

Elite had the smallest turn out with only 4 riders, but with that 4 making a gate being national 1 Oggy, rookie of the year Steve Taylor, local hero and poster boy Tom Dowie (below) and the constantly improving and ever friendly Mick Ridgeway, it ended up providing 4 rounds of the closest fastest racing I've seen in a long time.

In the final, as spectators ran down the track trying to follow the racing, there were touching tyres between Taylor and Oggy and a tumble between Dowie and Ridgeway in the last corner. They all wanted it bad. In the end though...

1. Martin Ogden
2. Steve Taylor
3. Tom Dowie
4. Mick Ridgeway

Needless to say, it was a good day. Even if just to see Gareth's new THE helmet, finally in the country and on the site after a long summer of pining. Might have to get one myself...