NEWS
TDN Winners at last!!!
Finally we have managed to win the Trials Des Nations World Trial which was held in Breal Sous Monfort France, The Team this year was Becky Cook, Donna and myself. I have been competing in the Trials Des Nations since they started doing it for the Women back in 2000, We have been favourites for winning this trial for the last 3-4 years but there has always either been an injured member or we have lost by one or two marks, so to finally win was a dream come true.
The team as a whole worked together well making sure we could produce the best result. Our first lap wasn't the best with all of us fiving the 3rd section in the trial it didn't look good!! But we just put it behind us and knew that the sections ahead were going to be just as challenging so getting marks back wasn't going to be that hard.
After the nerves had settled down we started pulling out some very good rides. Half way through the first lap the heavens decided to open bringing lots of thunder and rain, being British we all put our heads down and cracked on with it, it actually made the rock sections easier washing all the mud off the rocks.
So here we are we have finally Won the Trials Des Nations and all I can say is bring on Isle of Man next year...
I just have to say Thank you very much to my big brother for doing a fantastic job at minding.
Thanks to everyone for all their help and support.
Maria
x
The Season is well under way
The 2006 season is well under way and is giving my knee a run for its money! The Downhill season is over half way done and has been a steady season so far, It took me a while to get back into the swing of it all after being out of action for 9months with my knee.
Did my first club trial the other day and had a lot of fun as its was a very shaky start for me with a bad first lap of 38 to a clean last lap! Well even though I was riding bad at the start I was happy to have improved throughout the trial, finishing a not so bad 3rd.
Will keep you all posted on my travels, Take care...
Knee ACL Reconstruction
Well after suffering for 3 years with a ruptured ACL I finally took the decision to have the time out and have it done after suffering more than ever this year. The professor who did the operation couldn't quite believe how a girl of my age could have such a damaged knee, tried to explain it to him that one too many dabs wouldn't of helped!! No surprise he didn't see the funny side of it!!
Well no getting out of not beeping through the airport machines now which 2 screws holding my reconstruction together!
Well you will be happy to know that I am on the road to recover and I will keep you up to date more this time.
SCOTT
Well what can I say I am actually still hurting! The Scott is a strange strange trial, I think its a test to see who's pain barrier is the highest!! The Scott is an unbelievable trial and for some unknown reason you keep entering. This year I have never been in so much pain, I didn't have any back brake from section 1 which didn't help situations but still this year was a real tester. The thing that hurt the most and is still hurting now is my fingers on my left hand where I smashed into an iron post sticking out of a gate post! But that's the other thing with the Scott no matter how hard you hurt yourself something tells you to stop being a wimp and get back on the bike and start moving!!!
Well I have finished it and in time breaking the 35year barrier of any women Finishing the Scott, it never really sunk in as I crossed the line as the pain was immense, people asking me what's hurting and all I could answer was 'everything!'. John Lampkin kindly took my bike off of me at the line as I was not longer able to ride it!
Thanks to everyone for all their help and support throughout the day and also well done to the club just please destroy anymore entries from me!
Fort William World Cup
Well the world cup season is nearly over. Scotland in early September just reminds me of how you can get eaten alive by midges!! The Hope boys had it covered, just buy out the shops in Fort William with midge repellent and sell in Park ferme (worse thing was that me and Will told them what the best stuff to buy was!!) Well the only way to escape the Midges was to go even faster down the mountain to get away from them!
The track was as rough as ever but the rougher the better for a Trials rider. It is one of the most physical tracks I have ever ridden. The weather was quite rough the first few days of practice as you could tell as nobody wanted to go up the top! But one thing about Fort William you will always be guaranteed a great crowd with the figures reaching 12000 spectators the atmosphere cancelled out the weather.
The racing was superb, arm pump was horrendous and the crowd was going mad. All in all a great weeks racing.
Congratulations to Steven Peat for Winning his first ever Fort William World Cup lets hope he can do it again in 2007 when they host the World Champs.
Results
Men
Steve Peat
Greg Minnar
Nathen Rennie
Women
Tracy Mosley
Rachael Atherton
Sabrina Jonnie
Me 11th
First NPS Downhill Rd 1 Ae Forest Scotland
First round of the Downhill Nationals Easter weekend up in bonnie Scotland! It was my first ever race there last year so it was surprising to see the change from then and now! I was expecting rain as I always do when heading up to Scotland but the weather seem to hold off, we had a few showers. Peaty was playing the proud daddy as well as ruling the Elite field, he won by some 6 seconds! The women had a strong field with Moseley returning from here European training trips, Gaskell and Rach Atherton also looking on form.
The course had change quite a bit from the other year with a bigger step down and a few more jumps. All in all a good weekends racing.
Photo Curtsey of Dave @ www.fastlanephotography.co.uk
Results
Elite men
Steve PEAT
Gee ATHERTON
Will LONGDEN
Dan ATHERTON
Marc BEAUMONT
Elite Women
Rachel ATHERTON
Helen GASKELL
Maria CONWAY Giant Racing
Tracy MOSELEY
Anja REES JONES
Colmore Cup
Third round of the British Novagar Championships, one of my favourite trials with big hill blasts and not too many rocks, typically southern going. With Ice and snow all week the going was tough, the ground was still frozen early on making it even harder! With the downhill season not started yet the Colmore saw a few of the top boys (Rob Warner and Will Longden) out to gain a little bit of extra training!
Had a good steady ride finishing quite away up the score sheets beating many unhappy men!!
Trials photo taken by Ray Chuss
SSDT 2004
The Scottish Six Day trial is over and am I glad to be off the moors!!! Well I have to say that last year may have been the wettest for 15 years but this year must have been to hardest. The moors where so wet and boggy that you had to do some mega jumps to have a chance of reaching the other side! The weather wasn’t as bad but we still had plenty of rain, snow and hail to make the conditions just that extra bit hard!
My aim for the week was just to finish and to finish on time, as I know getting time penalties is where you can lose a trial. So I set off everyday with a fair pace catching up Harry & James Lampkin, both Hemingway’s and many other good riders on the first group of sections, I was then stuck with them as they use to pick up the pace as they see a rider 30 minutes behind them catch them up and a girl!!! It was good to ride round with such good riders as I could then ‘attempt’ to follow their sneaky lines! I must thank Harry for his help, giving me some of his fathers advice “give it plenty and stand on it”. Thanks Harry.
I was always on time, and even had time to wash the bike off and do some maintenance, I used to pull into the Beta tent and start working on my bike, the next minute I notice John Lampkin came up to me to make sure I knew where my air filter was!!!
I am finally getting over the aches and pains of the week; it will take a lot of convincing for me to do it again! I was chuffed with my result I never imagined I could beat Iris Kramer by 47 marks and pick up not only the best female but to also get a first class award. Well done to all the chicks that finished, we are all winners for doing that trial.
Thanks to everyone who helped and supported me through the week and to all the organisers, observers, army etc who make the event happen.
Thanks again
Maria X