Pearce Cycles Rd2: Hopton

Mick Whyte reports from the second round of the Pearce Cycles Summer series at Hopton Castle:

Despite the awful weather forecast me and Declan braved the elements and camped over on both Friday and Saturday, it never rained but Jesus it was damn cold on Friday night! 2 sleeping bags each and still cold!
The Saturday practice went well; slightly damp and greasy to start with but the day stayed dry. Minion and roller was the tyre choice for many. I knocked out a load of runs, 14. 10 full runs and about 4 spent sessioning sections and features. Brilliant Pearce organisation.
Sunday morning came and i knocked out 2 decent practice runs and felt ready so i left it at that. The track was riding nice and dry for my first run but i lost a tyre edge in the rooty, stumpy minefield and crashed through the tape. I picked myself out of the underbrush and got going as quick as i could and had a pretty good run from that point on. 6th was the best i could manage on the first run.
The weather took a turn for the worse before my second run so i swapped to cut down and swampy. The course was well sloppy from the middle section to the bottom.
I had something to prove on the second run and really went for it. My run was pretty clean and i made up 6 seconds over my first run in much worse conditions and managed to move into 5th.