Rheola!

The past weekend saw the first round of the newly formed Halo British Downhill Series at Rheola. I woke up at 5, and went to pick up my mates. Drove up to Swansea and got to Rheola at about 7.30 to find it packed with cars and vans already.
We walked up to the pits area to find it packed with pro teams, the biggest and most extravagant being the Atherton racing pits, with their massive Lorry and tent.
Sign on was quick, and I went and picked up my media pass etc, and I was surprised to walk in and see Sam Dale bashing out a bit of xbox in the sign in area before he headed up for practice! How cool is that! An xbox to play on before you ride.

Anyway, cracked on up the course and about 20 minutes in I heard through the marshals radio that someone had crashed on the bottom section with suspected spinal injuries. The air ambulance was called and (so I heard) a stubborn farmer wouldn't let it land in his field. It turns out the dude broke his neck. So I wish him a speedy recovery and hope he's back on the bike soon.

Practice day was rad. The weather was awesome and the track was wicked. The pro's were bashing out a good few runs and I got some cool footage.

Sunday morning, practice started at 8.30, so I got some shots on the bottom section and witnessed a few riders taking a mega crazy line and Dan Atherton absoloutely killing his rim on a stump. Then for quali I headed up to the notorious Rheola 'star wars'. Some good action was had there through qualifying with a few riders killing it, but Gee without a doubt was the quickest.

Along with all the other photogs and videogs I filmed the triples at the bottom for race runs and it was going off down there! Loads of people on the sides of the track going mental and some crazy hucks over the river.

Great weekend Dave and Si. Props for pulling it off so smooth for your first event. Can't wait for Fort William now.

For people who don't already know the results they read like this.

Elite mens:
1. Gee Atherton
2. Dan Atherton
3. Matt Simmonds
4. Joe Smith
5. Marc Beaumont

Elite Womens:
1. Rachel Atherton
2. Aimee Dix
3. Manon Carpenter

Fort William see's team CRC/Intense in action as preparation for the World Cup, along with the usual British boys and The Atherton family once again.

Sorry for the lack of interviews. I had one with Gee, but I had a slight problem with forgetting to move the power switch to on on my microphone. Oops! Live and Learn I guess.

If you're after photos of the weekend, head over to www.JacobGibbins.co.uk

Anyway, here's my first BDS video of 2010! Enjoy.