Driven to distraction…
My first ever experience of a mountain bike race was in 2000 - the National Championships at Innerleithen, in the Scottish Borders. To this day, I would put it amongst the best experiences of downhill I've ever had, which isn't bad for something that took place 9 years ago, and happened when I didn't even own a downhill bike, let alone a camera of any note.
It was all about the spectacle of the weekend - the paddock was packed with trade teams, the sign-on sheets read as a who's-who of downhill racing at the time, and for someone who treated MBUK as a bible, it was a chance to walk amongst your heroes. Of course, the racing itself was great too, with the downhill and the duel races, it was awesome to see the event in the flesh for the first time.
It was also the first time I ever took a photo of downhill; using my dad's Samsung compact 35mm camera (totally unsuitable for taking photos of things that moved), I got a seriously impressive number of blurry shots. I also broke the camera, which didn't go down too well - but it was worth it; I got my cap signed by the riders, and my photo taken with every rider who I'd seen sandwiched in the pages of my favourite magazine. There's still a clip frame of my photos kicking around somewhere in my house.
I just don't see this enthusiasm at NPS races anymore. The biggest UK names, even when the calendar is otherwise empty of events, are simply not there - this isn't a slight on the riders who do turn up, but it's rubbish to see the National Points title being fought for by such a tiny field of elite riders. I just don't see why the riders that aren't there would change their mind, and come racing... the racing felt perfunctory, the crowd was small and quiet, and it really didn't look like anything special in the paddock either. The spectacle that I loved at the first race I went to was utterly gone.
It will be interesting to see what the turnout at the National Championships is like. It's coming back to Innerleithen next weekend, and it'll either renew my faith in British downhill, or piss on the fire entire. In the meantime, the photos here are from the Fort William race, and clicking on them for a bigger look is what I'd recommend...
