I was lucky enough to watch the Olympic MTB races at Hadleigh Essex in the summer and marvelled at the speed and skill of the competitors, the awesome venue and the glorious weather. I vowed then that if ever the course was opened to the public I’d go and ride it.

Evidently the venue will be opened up eventually but the chance came up for ‘experienced riders’ to have a go, under the watchful eye of two top coaches on a few weekends before Christmas. Several club members signed up, undeterred by the comprehensive declaration needed regarding skill levels, health and legal indemnity.

So on Saturday Dec 1^st, my son Matt Denny, Matt Eaglen and I went down to be the first club members to have a go. But of course, the weather had changed (-3C), these riders were slightly less skilled, slightly less fit and the enthusiastic spectators had all gone home! Not only that but the course had changed from exciting and spectacular to outrageously demanding, not say death-defying.

Our 12-strong group comprised a mixed bag of regular mountain bikers with varying skill levels and the two coaches were nationally famed bmx and mtb superstars, with trick bikes!

We underwent a rudimentary skills test to see if we could ride tight corners, over narrow pallets, do bunny hops and ‘endos’ ~ we all managed these OK except for the endos, which are achieved by over-use of the front brake to stand the bike on the front wheel. Personally I’ve spent my entire life trying to avoid this and it came hard to reverse the habit!

After the safety briefing which emphasised the increase in business created at the local A&E department in the weeks they had run the course so far (one collar bone, one broken wrist, one lacerated leg and other ‘more minor’ injuries) we moved out to visit each of the difficult features on the course one-by-one to receive tuition on the best way to tackle them.

The first was the fast downhill section late in the lap, with sweeping berms and a couple of small rocky sections at the end. We all did this OK and moved on with our confidence boosted. Next up, was a very rocky section with three alternative routes, termed hard, medium and easy. We all tackled the ‘easy’ route first, but ‘lack of commitment’ caused a couple of tumbles, including Matt E, resulting in ripped shorts revealing a bruised and sore looking rear end! We all got through one way or another and moved on to the third obstacle.

This I found one of the most daunting ~ a 20 metre stretch of hideous boulders situated just at the crest of a rise. The best way through, we were told, was the middle route, which consisted of a series of relatively flat topped rocks, but only about a foot wide and with big gaps between them. The problem was that this line was not visible to the rider till the very last minute and therefore had to be ridden blind, and with sufficient speed to skim across the top. One or two of the younger/bolder riders did manage it, but most of us watched, and eventually rode around it on the grass to the next section!

This was a bit easier if you used the B route, as opposed to the faster A route, on which GB contender Liam Killeen crashed out and broke his ankle! We also tackled the ‘boardwalk’ section, again with an A route for the heroes who had to jump a 10- foot rock-filled gap, and the gap-less B route for the wimps.

These were followed by two daring descent sections, one of which was the ‘Leap of Faith’. Matt reminded me that whilst watching the Olympic race I had said ‘ I’d do that ~ no problem’. So now I had to prove it! It consisted of a deep and steep drop in the woods, which appeared almost vertical for the first couple of feet, followed a line of flat rocks as the gradient reduced and was followed by a sharp left hand berm. The only way was to approach it slowly and then release the brakes, let the bike roll down the steep bit at speed, then brake hard for the corner. Most of us managed it OK and it proved satisfying, even though I did over-shoot the berm on one attempt.

The final difficult section was the ‘Rock Garden’, the name given to the long, rock-strewn downhill stretch that preceded the ‘Breath-taker’ climb. This proved the most difficult of all and only the most able riders tackled it, needing not only the skill but also the commitment ~ not for the faint-hearted and we did witness a couple of crashes, but no serious injuries.

After a brief break for refreshments we re-assembled to try to a lap or two, stringing together the things we had learned, but not able to do a complete lap as some sections were still gated to prevent unauthorised use. This lapping proved how hard the course was, not only the rocky sections but also the very steep gradients in some places, which saw most of us running out of gears and resorting to dismounting!

It was a very memorable day, not quite what we had all imagined, but we all came away in one piece and with increased respect for the top riders who made it look so easy!

Barry Denny December 2 2012