Dirt Wars Uk round 3 went off last weekend (August 15th) at Southwest Extreme in Bideford, North Devon and yet again we had the elements against us.
Dirt Jumping in the UK seems to be dominated by the elements. If its raining then the jumps get to soggy and you cant carry your speed on and if its to windy then the riders get blown around like kites on take off and it all becomes to dangerous.
When I arrived at SWE on Saturday morning I was greeted by everyone telling me about the downpour of rain overnight and early morning and that there had been loads of wipe-outs on the 4X track due to the high winds and their sudden gusts. Hoping that the wind would die down later in the day I watched the racing and waited for all the Dirt Wars UK riders to arrive. After a few hours of phone calls about riders being stuck on the M5 due to a caravan overturning we all managed to get together and make the decision that we would run DWUK the following morning dude to better weather being forecasted.
The guys spent the evening sessioning the Slopestyle track that I built at the park last year and also hitting up the dirt jumps once the wind had died down.
SWE is an awesome bike park with loads of different levels of trails to play on from beginner right up to expert but the only problem they get there is it gets real windy at times due to being so open and also so close to the Atlantic Ocean. They have put in a planting project at the park with fast growing tress etc to try and block the wind out so once the trees have a bit of height on them it should help solve their problem.
Sunday morning brought awesome sunshine and a nice gentle breeze in the air so after setting out the jumps with banners etc it was time to get it on…
First up were the open class riders all out to win a piece of the prize bag. 1st DMR Trail star frame and a set of Maxxis Tyres, 2nd DMR Dee Vee wheel set and a 661 Backpack, 3rd Gusset Open Prison bar and stem and Duffs shoes voucher.
With in 5 minuets of practice George Moore busted his way down through the jumps popping a tail whip to broken collar bone over the step up.
Jack Smith Flipped his way to victory (no handed flip as well) with Joash Clarkson hot on his heals pulling clean flips, cans and superman’s. Connor Reid took 3rd with some smooth tuck no hander’s and nacs.
After a 10 min break we fuelled the pro riders up with RedBull and sent them up to the start to get some practice in.
All the riders were looking real smooth with Daryl Brown (DMR Bikes) pulling super extended superman’s whilst Ray Samson (DMR Bikes) was showing off his smooth clean style with his flip, tail whip, 3 whip runs. Ryan Nangle(Cranked365/Ram Bikes) was also throwing it down big style pulling one of the biggest barrel rolls ive seen him do yet whilst Jack Gear (Spank Bikes) was flipping everything in sight. Ray Samson impressed the judge panel of Chubby Rascal (British DH Series), Chris Papworth (RHUK), Charlie Watts (Wideopenmag/ Rose Bikes) and the BMX legend that is Rob Enemis the most taking himself a well earned 1st Place win whilst Ryan Nangle Barrel rolled his way in to second and Daryl Brown taking 3rd.
The Next round of Dirt Wars UK will be held on the Saturday 11th of September at the Legendary Bike Park that is Chicksands.
This is going to be the biggest and best Dirt Wars yet.
Thanks to Cliff at Dirt Wars UK for the images and the write up. Check out the Dirt Wars site here.
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