Everyone south of Birmingham has been to Aston Hill at some point, haven’t they? Well for me Aston Hill was one of the first venues that I blagged my parents to take me along too in all weathers so that i could pedal down a hill against the clock, with one aim, to beat my mates. Aston Hill has been quiet recently but it was great to get back to the hill for some downhill racing.
This was the second race held at Aston Hill since the running’s of the area have changed hands and a month before the race it was granted to be the 2009 Southern Championships.
The track started at the top of Aston Hills famous DH3 but descended down a completely new cut track. A quick sprint up to a jump on hard pack, round a flat corner, up and over a bus stop then a drop into the fresh woods. The next part of the track was drift central on all the loamy top soil which got more cut up over the weekend exposing more and more roots making corners trickier and separating the riders some more. The track wound down the hill, across an off camber section and into some steep switch backs before a fly off into the finish. The track was fast from the start and was all about holding the speed through the drifty corners and steep switch backs at towards the finish. The bottom switchbacks needed quite a bit of work on the Saturday as they got dustier but after a bit of maintenance Saturday night you could hit them harder for race day speeding up the track.
Using a brand new track for a race is often very risky. Will it hold up? Will it ride ok? But this track held up well, produced some interesting lines and became more and more fun and challenging as the weekend progressed, a great race track.
Jon Holbrook ? Course designer
Beaumount came to collect his points...
Racing was set back half an hour as practice was extended until just before 11 letting people get a bit more practice in after a large que formed at the start of the track. Most riders seemed to flow down the track well letting everyone get some good full runs in during practice. With Aston being a short course it means that riders can easily walk to all parts of the track, no lines are secret now! It makes a great vibe on the hill though as people compare and try out alternative lines.
Aston Hill has always been a track that favours the hard tail riders and this track was no exception with the HT crew, which included riders entering both categories, putting down very challenging times against the DH bikes.
Micky Boswell - Southerndownhill.com rider
When racing got underway Nathan Vials riding for Solid bikes took the fastest time of the weekend with a 1.06.42 in his first run winning the Elite/Expert category by over two seconds in front of John Holbrook who built the track.
Bellow shows how the race unfolded with the top ten of each category and podium shots.
Aston Hill disappeared in the World of DH over the last few years, it’s great news to see the hill being used to its potential again along with a fantastic new track. Aston Hill may not have the luxuries of an uplift and big finish area but its a great race venue which always has drawn in the crowds.
Race footage provided by D-Line, which is a new company that offers various production and video based services, all related to mountain biking. The team are able to produce rider or team promotional videos, promo clips for races and bike parks and race event coverage. Further info can be found on their website www.downhilriders.co.uk, or email them at
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For more information on Aston Hill visit their website here www.rideastonhill.com Or alternatively speak to the organisers and talk about the venue on the SDH forum Aston Hill board here
