Probably one of the toughest events on the UK calendar, the Hope Endurance Downhill is a race down the Fort William DH course as many times as possible inside of 6 hours.
Last weekend, 80 riders stepped up to the plate and managed a total of 870 runs covering total distance of 2453.4km. The gruelling challenge involved hurtling down the 2.82km track as many times as possible in six hours with riders tackling a succession of big jumps and bumps, berms, drop-offs, rock slabs and technical natural sections all the way from the top gondola station (at 655m) to the magnificent finish section at the Nevis Range car park (100m).
Seven of the riders each completed sixteen runs inside the time limit which meant the winner was decided on their ride time. Crowned race winner was James Shirley, who managed a time of 1hr 26mins 50secs, and average of 6mins 3secs per run!
Chris Hutchens was only 1min 30sec behind Shirley, averaging 6min 9secs, despite losing his chain on the second run and freewheeling for the remaining 14 laps and recording the fastest descent of the day. First placed veteran rider Alistair MacLennan, from Fort William, was third overall.
Frazer Coupland from No Fuss Events, organisers of the Hope Downhill Endurance said: "We are again extremely happy with the way the race went and are delighted that Hope are interested in being sponsor again next year. We would also like to announce that next year competitors will be able to compete in teams of two, although spaces will be limited."
www.nofussevents.co.uk
