TRAVE
do
Hanging tough
Ric Laughlin heads to Fort William for nights under canvas and days on a hillside in anticipation of the 2007 Mountain Biking World Championships
ou‘re tired and you‘re sore. Nights on the vodka still don‘t mix with nights on the air mattress. Sunlight splits the trees as the smells of pine forest. fresh earth and your own Red Bull—tinged breath fill your nostrils. It's daft o'clock in the morning and you've just scrambled halfway up a hillside with a hangover. Your mind is elsewhere. Sam Hill. on the other hand. feels fresh and is concentrating hard. Hill is 2|. Australian. enjoys chess and
golf and. mostly. he keeps himself
to himself. He is also one of the top mountain bikers in the world.
Hill blips past you at around 40 miles an hour on a bike. His thoughts have now turned to the rapidly approaching right hand kink over some roots. His back wheel steps out briefly. flicking mud and moss over some nearby spectators. Both wheels drift sideways momentarily before the whole bike grips underneath him and propels him out of view. Everyone makes that involuntary conceit/goal noise — ‘come on!‘ — condensed into two very loud. lairy syllables. lt‘s accompanied by whistles. gongs. air horns and a man in lycra playing an old bike frame with a stick.
Hill doesn‘t hear any of this. He‘s
got a further couple of minutes of
drops. turns. jumps and trees to traverse at similar speeds before he can stop concentrating. The crowd keeps cheering. eagerly awaiting the next rider down. hangovers and last night’s beer fear all but
52 THE LIST 23 Aug—6 SOD 200,7
forgotten. Mountain bike races are strange
beasts. The crowd is made tip of
fans from all over the world. all jtist happy to be there. perched on a hill chatting with their mates and watching the world‘s fastest riders. It‘s a nice enyironment: laid—back and welcoming without the disaffectedness common at many music festivals today. 'l'hei'e‘s a relaxed atmosphere more akin to a house paity' than a ray e. :\s a sport. mountain biking is growing at a phenomenal rate: the \ai'ioiis fixtures are attracting more and more advertising revenue. while the riders score bigger and bigger pay
cheques. That said. it's still one of
those rare with no pretensions to exclusivity: the sort of event that seems to in\ itc you in. hand you a beer and ask you what son of mtisic you're into.
The jewel in the mountain biking calendar is the l'(‘l World Championships: one week of races to settle all the from throughout the season. with the winner picking tip the coveted rainbow-trimmed white jersey for nextyear
Hosting this eyent is a huge honour for any country. and this year. the honour has fallen to Scotland. This ltilltle\l celebration of all things two-w heeled will take place from Monday 3 to Sunday () September in liort \Villiam. which has already hosted eight annual mountain biking World (lips. but never the main event.
sports
setil'es
The Mountain Bike and Trials World Championship 4-... adrenalin-packs
.' ente i.
l-‘or iiiost spectators the downhill finals are the big draw. and the highlight of the event on Sunday. 'ljlie lioiir-(ioss i-lXi eyeiits. which pit four riders at a time in a race to the flag oyei' what really resembles a mutated l§.\l.\ track. popular. with the finals taking place on l’riday night.
If all that \elocity gets a bit much for you. the \\'or|d ('iip Village. a warren of tents and arenas coy ering the whole of Ben \eyis' capaciotis car park. is open to all coiiici's. with litHltl leltls. oppol'ltlltiltes l'iil’ slat spotting and the chance to pimp your own ride out with biking goodies at the l'.\po. ililie organisers put on eyciiiiig entertainments iii l'ttl'l \\'illiaiii itself too and. it you're itching to try out the iiioyes yoti‘ye witnessed
are also
\ai'ioiis
the professionals do on the courses. there's a demo track where you can get your hands on some top of the line kit and liooii about to your
‘AS A SPORT, MOUNTAIN BIKING IS GROWING AT A PHENOMENAL RATE, ATTRACT ING BIGGER AUDIENCES'
lit-.iit‘s coiitciit [lit-ifs iiotliiiig tpiite like .l sliaip blast of noise. action and licsli .iii loi sliockiiig you out of that post lt'sll‘..tl\ toipoi. so look out yoiii wellics. pack yoiii
aii horn and get yoiiiscil up iioitli
The Fort William UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships run from Mon 3-Sun 9 September. Prices start at £10 for an adult day ticket, or £55 for an adult pass valid for the entire event. See www.fortwilliamworldchamps. co.uk for a complete programme of events, together with information on accommodation and transport.