Neil and Alastair boxed up their Nukeproof Pulses and headed to Hafjell in Norway for this years World Masters Downhill Championship.
The small resort 180 Km North of Oslo boasts an impressive range of downhill trails as well as one of the best World Cup Downhill tracks on the circuit making it the perfect venue for this years World champs.
We walked the track in the dry but the forecast was for rain so we knew things were about to get messy.
Right from the steep start ramp we were straight into the big jump section which just got faster with every jump you hit. The picture above doesn't do justice to how big these jumps were, the spec in the distance is Alastair hanging about in the air waiting to land.
Things did indeed get a bit messy with constant rain showers but the track didn't deteriorate too much and was fun to ride. There was a great mixture of jumps and super fast drops and berms with various rock gardens and nice techy rooty sections followed by a flat out slimy mud traverse before dropping down to the finish.
There was plenty time for practise and we both got in 7 runs on the first day and were feeling good on most bits of track before seeding took place.
Both our seeding runs went well with Neil finishing 5th and Alastair 1st. It was going to be a hard final as there was a few people doing tactical runs in seeding and everyone was going to have to go quite a bit faster in the finals.
Neil was off first and had quite a solid run but was not too happy in a couple of sections which lost him time but still powered across the finish line to take 5th place in a quality field.
Having seeded 1st Alastair was set off last and managed to get a good run holding speed in the crucial areas and made up time in a couple of the rock gardens to cross the line in 1st place taking his 3rd World Masters Title.
We both had a great time in Norway and it was yet again a privilege to be competing in such an international field full of such great riders and friends. The people of Hafjell and the track maintenance guys did a fantastic job and it was such a great track we will surely return one day.
Time for a well earned beer.
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