The course for this round was the same route as in the winter series race held here earlier on this year, although a lot of work had gone into it to make it ride that bit better. Starting right at the top of the hill down through some woods over jumps and roots, jump down onto the fire road then drop into the rock section. The rock section had seen the biggest changes since winter, a good thaw made it slightly less mental but a new super steep and nasty set of steps dug into the hill made for some serious teeth loosening especially for us hard tail riders. Another new addition to this section was that the drop that claimed the life of my full-face last race (ouch) was now even bigger (5foot down onto single track). Soon after was a brilliant little jump onto, or over a rock garden, a favorite little treat for most of the riders I talked to. This section continued in much the same way before entering the forest.
I personally didn't get on with last section, particularly in my race runs. The lines were more obvious than last race and it was less dark, but bobbing up and down over whoops through tight trees simple wouldn't look good on TV. Having said that it really did separate the men from the boys (I happened to fall on the wrong side of that particular fence) requiring full-on balls and Jedi like concentration and timing to get through, as one mistake would lose all your speed and have trouble getting back your momentum.

Over all a good day was had by all, the turnout was good despite a Dragon being held on the same weekend and the DJ halfway down the course was a nice touch too. There were fewer spectators than previous rounds though; most were probably put off by F&M.

Don't forget the Midlands Champs next month; see you there!