Red Bull Foxhunt with Rachel Atherton 2015, September 26-27

As soon as I heard the Red Bull Foxhunt was returning for a second year, I knew I had to take part.

I’d raced in 2014 and after an over the bars early on, I had a score to settle with the Foxhunt!

My steed of choice for this year’s battle against Rachel Atherton was the Kona Process 134 – with a good amount of travel and a relaxed geometry without the weight of a downhill bike, it’s the perfect bike to take down the natural sweeping landscape of the Pentland Hills, just outside Edinburgh.

At the start line of the Foxhunt course

Kath, my biking buddy who I’d travelled down with, was riding her Santa Cruz Nomad (at the bottom of the above picture)!

For those who aren’t familiar, the Red Bull Foxhunt takes the traditional format of a fox hunt and turns it around.

Myself – and more than 100 female riders – don jerseys designed as tweed hunting jackets.

But this time, the hunters become the hunted.

Rachel Atherton plays the fox, and the aim of the game is to get down the hill before she does. With a short gap between us girls setting off and Rachel chasing us, there was no time to hesitate on the 2.75km track.

Pre-Foxhunt Drama

Where would I be without a little bit of drama before a race weekend?! The Foxhunt was no exception and I had a major panic before I’d even let home.

My car battery had been playing up slightly so in a bid to be prepared for all eventualities, I bought a new battery and my dad charged up the existing battery ready for the journey to Scotland.

Dad’s plan involved using the new battery and attaching it to the old one using jump leads before starting the car, which he said would fire up the engine no problem.

But when it came time to leave and pick up Kath, I found myself resorting to Dad’s master backup plan while still on the driveway.

Jump leads attached, I turned the key.

Poor Pugsley (he’s a Peugeot 306) made a half-hearted whine and showed no sign of starting. My stomach flipped and I started to panic – my dad was out and I couldn’t get in touch with him to ask him why his ‘clever’ idea wasn’t working!

Fortunately a neighbour came along who was a dab-hand with cars, and managed to fit my new battery (probably what we should have done all along). The engine fired into life and I was on my way!

With Kath and her bike and gear loaded up, we started our journey to Edinburgh.

The Foxhunt Course

We got to the venue by early evening on Friday and decided to register and take a look at the bottom of the track. It was clear it was going to have some real fun twists and turns on the approach to the finish line!

On Saturday morning we arrived early and as soon as we had our transponders fitted we got on one of the first uplifts to the top.

I had a vague idea from the 2014 Foxhunt of what the terrain would be like. However, arriving at the top of the hill revealed the level of technical features on the course had increased somewhat. We set off for our first ride of the course.

Barely a few metres into the track and the gradient steepened, throwing us into thick heather. But there was no chance of taking it steady over the wildflower – a steep hill immediately followed and a good run-up was essential to get cleanly up the hill.

Plenty of pedalling followed before a few twists and turns littered with more heather. I kept my weight central and I was really impressed that the Kona made light work of flying through the rough natural ground.

I rounded a corner and got busy pedalling through what seemed like a nice sloping grassy section. But all of a sudden I hit something hard head-on and nearly went flying over the bars.

Managing to hold on I breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived.

‘Hisssssssssss’ went the front tyre – a puncture after 30 seconds of my first practice run! I’d struck a rock hidden by long grass, and on further inspection, that entire stretch of track was littered with ninja rocks in wait of unsuspecting riders.

Moments later my back tyre decided to let me down (and itself) as well. I told Kath to go ahead as there was no point us both riding at snail pace! So I wobbled my way down the rest of the track with two flats! I wasn’t going fast, but at least I was able to see what the track had to offer.

Crawling across the finish line, I made my way to the Atherton Racing truck, where I’d been told to head for a quick inner tube replacement!

The mechanics took a look at the Kona and straight away saw the WTB ST i23 TCS 27.5-inch rims and Maxxis Ardent TR EXO dual compound tyres that came on the bike were tubeless ready.

Within five minutes the tyres were full of air and tubeless! I was pleased to see I wasn’t the only rider to fall prey to a puncture – lots of girls queued up outside the mechanic tent with flats!

I had time for one more practice run before seeding, so I quickly got to the top of the hill for what was technically my first full run.

The final third of the course had much more of a downhill track-feel compared to the top. The dirt had been shaped into berms and jumps, and a dual slalom section had been added to give plenty of chances for overtaking.

After that it was a mad dash to cross the line across a flat grassy straight.

Seeding

Racing downhill most of the time made me feel pretty nervous about seeding. For me, this was the closest I was going to get to an accurate race time down the track and it felt very similar to a downhill race: All alone on the start line, just me against the clock.

But aside from a few wobbles my seeding run went well and I got onto the fourth row of the start grid for the main event after crossing the line in 38th place.

Possibly the most amazing feat was the fact that Kath and I finished within a second of each other, so we would be next to each other on the start line! When you take into account the amount of girls who were seeding it really was something!

Kath and Me in our Foxhunt jerseys!

Following seeding everyone could wind down in the Red Bull tipis and even take part in some yoga. I’d never tried yoga before so figured it would be fun to give it a go at the Foxhunt. Kath had done quite a bit of yoga and was keen to give it a go – I think if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have been brave enough to try!

Some of the yoga moves were quite tough and I realised how poor my level of flexibility was, especially when Rachel came and joined us in the tipi and revealed just how good at yoga she was!

We headed back to our hotel for some good food and a big sleep ready for race day!

Race day

I woke up feeling incredibly excited for race day. There’s something really unique about a mass-start race, being surrounded by like-minded girls who are all there to get down the hill before each other, and more importantly, Rachel!

We grabbed some breakfast before heading to the venue for the last time.

There was time for one more practice run before the big race. My practice went smoothly and I felt confident for the big event. But as time passed I became more and more nervous to do well!

Finally it was time to go to the top. We huddled together at the top and chatted as we waited to be lined up on the grid. Before I knew it my number was being called and it was just me and the Process, waiting for the countdown.

Some girls were really chatty, but I was quiet on the start line, making sure I was in the right gear and happy with everything on the bike, and of course trying to keep my nerves in check!

“10 seconds!” shouted the marshal.

Woops and cheers came from the crowd of hunters as we waited for the bugle horn to send us on our way.

Off we went. Straight away it was tight, the centre of the track through the heather was undoubtedly the best line, and everybody wanted to take it.

Thankfully I had a good start and was able to shoot ahead of the riders in my row and give chase to the girls from row three.

I made it up the first hill cleanly despite some girls in front of me starting to slow down. On I went, wobbling through a narrow section and shouting “Woah!” as another rider’s handlebars poked my ribs and threatened to shove me off the bike. A quick “sorry!” sounded back and I could see she was being jostled just as much as I was!

The pace was quick this far forward, and I was soon feeling the burn through my legs. But I battled on, not wanting to throw away the good start I’d made on the course.

Having a dropper post was an absolute blessing as I rounded the taped corners in the fields and approached a brief climb towards a flat field.

Up popped the seat post, giving my legs a new lease of life as I spun my way across the field, fending off other girls eager to pass a few more rivals before the finish.

So far there was no sign of Rachel.

Into the woods I went, and I was really puffing now. My full-face helmet seemed like a brilliant idea for the rocky and rough descents, but it certainly made me feel hot being contained within the helmet and goggles!

Out of the woods we flew and I set my sights on the girls in front of me. I gave it my all, knowing I was fast approaching the finish and managed to overtake one girl and draw level with another as we reached the ‘downhill track’ section of the course.

Heading towards the final stretch of the Foxhunt course

I took the left-hander wide to try and pass the girl I’d reached, but I began wobbling on the loose edge of the track and uttered a few swear words as my inside foot waved freely in the air in a bid to stay rubber side down.

The seconds I wasted faffing allowed the girl to pull away before the one I overtook came shooting back into view. I was frustrated and got pedalling to fight back for my position, knowing my chances would be limited now.

I committed to the wrong lane of the dual slalom and ended up following both riders through and then it was a straight line to the finish.

The Kona pedalled brilliantly as I roughly sprinted and managed to hold my position across the line.

I’d beaten Rachel Atherton and managed to finish in 29th place – nine positions up from where I’d seeded!

Despite a few messy moments and a severe lack of fitness, the 2015 Foxhunt is one of my favourite races to date, and I know I’ll be back for more next year!