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The final round of the ATBAUK series & full 2010 results! Smilie brings a report, together with photos by Nick Kennard, from the last weekend in August when Hales Superbole hosted the final round of the ATBA-UK series...
But really I'm guessing you are more interested in hearing what the track and the racing was like. Well, the track hasn't seen any major changes but has been progressively tweaked over the years, including a recently added big berm at the bottom of the track. So like a fine wine, Hales Superbole seems to get progressively better with age! And while I'm on the subject of soil shaping, the bikers have been busy making themselves a 4X track, which by all accounts is a pretty fun track too. Ant Wilson said it was ‘ok' and that's good enough for me, since I haven't known him to be wrong about a track... Also, the freestyle bowl has seen a bit of work with both tables being made bigger.
So, the racing was as good as ever despite there being a much lower turn-out than recent years (although the trampoline seemed busy ;), and there was still the same wicked atmosphere and excitement you get from watching four riders charging for the same racing line in boarder-cross racing. As with previous years, the big hip into the step favoured the brave, he who hips it tightest gets the best line for the next berm. Joel T was also showing if you are going to take the inside line then it's always worth doing it with style by throwing in the odd shifty and cheeky grab in the final on the way to winning; much to the annoyance of Renny (Myles) who normally likes to tweak it here & there while racing. It's just this time he was locked in combat with JC. Which didn't get sorted out till the last berm when JC's last roll of the dice resulted in him bringing down himself, Renny and Matt ‘Brindy' Brind. Matt crossing the line on his back to take second with Renny getting up to take third.
It also goes without saying there was close racing going on in all the categories, eg Seniors Max Rye & Tom Sharp, ex- scuzzer Paul Butler in the Masters, Lisa Mclernon + Nat Reynolds in the ladies... there's just too much to remember! It all goes by in a big blur of adrenaline, wheels, dust, & stacks, but everyone was full of eagerness & enthusiasm, with loads of smiling and cheering from the spectators. Boarder Cross racing is undeniably thrilling to watch, let alone participate in!
With all the racing going pretty smoothly, credit has to go to the whole ATBA event crew and Hale Superbole team for getting everything wrapped up by late afternoon. So by about 6 o'clock the prize giving was complete and beers had already been sunk! The rest of the evening kinda went as follows: Cider, feeling chilly, chatting with loads of peeps we hadn't seen for a while, sitting round ATBshop's fire, watching JC & friends potato mortaring stuff and foaming Renny. Some more cider, DuB Step, skating, sitting round random camp fires drinking more cider, and stumbling back to our van for some sleep. Yeah, you can't beat mountainboarders getting together in field for quality alfresco dining, drinking, entertainment, and playing with fire. ‘Coffee mate, anyone?' ----- Sunday morning arrived with moody skies, sore heads, and a bruised Myles - from falling through the mini ramp in classic Del Boy wine bar style "that's it Trigger, be cool..." Thud!! ;) Contrary to what the apps said (maybe Apple really doesn't have all the answers), the morning was spent dodging showers and waiting for the covers to come off the freestyle jumps. It was all getting a bit like Wimbledon with the covers coming off every time the sun came out, only to be rushed back on as soon the rain came back. All that was needed was champagne & strawberries but definitely not Cliff Richard to sing along! Anyway, Raph was in full control with the loud-haler to get things going as soon as possible and by 1 o'clock practice was off and rolling... The sun was coming out for the afternoon and it had all the makings of a sick freestyle comp. Mark & The Hales crew were beasting it, Team Ironsides were getting their orange T's everywhere, and tops riders like Woodie Wright, Pete Hills, Milo Brewster and loads more all pulled their most stylish & tech tricks. Unfortunately for us the late start meant we had to bust a groove just as the comp got into it's full swing, but judging by Hales' resident photographer Nick Kennard's photos it carried on getting bigger & better... See for youselves the awesome aerial antics and insert your own captions!!!
Of course all credit has to go to the staff of Hales Supebole for ensuring the jumps were ok after they had been rained on, and the ATBA-UK for getting everything done :)
Following the finals, it was podium time... The results of round 4 were as follows: BoarderX Pros BoarderX Seniors BoarderX Masters BoarderX Ladies BoarderX Juniors ----- Freestyle Pros Freestyle Seniors Freestyle Masters Freestyle Ladies Freestyle Juniors
As this was the last round, the points scored were all added to previous rounds (using an abacus) to reveal the overall rankings, and so ladies & gentlemen we bring you the 2010 ATBA-UK series Overall results! Overall Pros
Season BoarderX Seniors Season BoarderX Masters Season BoarderX Ladies Season BoarderX Juniors Congratulations to all! ----- So that was it for the ATBA-UK International Series 2010... This year seems to have been a 'quieter' series to ones gone past, but with the whole economy suffering it just shows that the effects of everyone having less money in their pockets has been felt in the world of mountainboarding aswell. With companies & individuals feeling the pinch, we've all had less money to spend on things like event sponsorship, high price of fuel to get to every round, and entry fees to boot have all resulted in lower-key events and smaller turn outs. This hasn't been all bad though it has given the ATBA a chance to take a breath and get things consolidated ready for next year! This means for the first time in an age all the major planning for the next series has been finished already. This includes all the dates & venues, as well as a plan to reduce the price of entry fees. No doubt there will be more news & announcements at the ATBA-UK AGM on the 2nd of October at BugsBoarding, so if you were looking for another excuse to head to Gloucester on the first weekend of October there it is, but really I have no idea why you need another reason since the last event of the season is going to unmissable with re-scheduled Battle of Bugs and the ATBJunkies film festival happening the same weekend... It's going to be huge, be there or be square!!!
Words by Jon Garfitt, Photography courtesy Nick Kennard
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