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Intro By Championship Organiser Steve Jones: At the 2006 National Champs at Moelfre there was uproar among the riders at the quality of the course and the lack of organisation. I must admit I was particularly forthcoming with my views on the day and after the event. I approached BC and made the mistake of saying we could do a far better job. Ever since then Roger has been gently pushing us to put in a bid, we actually offered to step in last year after the original venue was lost. However Martyn had already been approached to combine it with the NPS round. It was so late in the day it was best to go with Newnham as it was already in the late stages of organisation. Newnham has such history too and is many riders favourite venue so it could hardly go wrong and it was about time the Champs went there anyway. We were offered the chance again this year and Chazey Wood at Mapledurham was the first choice but access problems were persisting threatening the venue. Aston Hill was my choice but we needed to get a new arena venue at the bottom of the hill and it needed to be a tried and tested venue so it got ruled out. After 2 very successful and popular Southern rounds Crow made the shortlist for preferred National Champs venues. Your BC riders rep Ade Lansley gave it approval too and it seemed favoured within BC. Ade won the Southern here last year beating Mr Bowers in the process too so he could be said to be the current King of Crow on a mountainbike. There may be a few others wanting to take his crown in July though. Promoting Team (SMBC): The organising team have many years of promotions behind them between us it must be over 50 years experience, I have been doing this for 15 years myself. We are basically the dedicated long service boys of the old Ratz crew that have been behind numerous NPS, SAMS & Southerns at Checkendon and more recently Mapledurham. For 2008 a new promotions team has been formed though, Southern Mountain Bike Club (SMBC). This is basically an of shoot of the Ratz committee that allows us to concentrate purely on race promotions without the complications of running the club and trying to wear two hats all the time. So the team is Trevor Patey, Andrew 'Murph' Claridge, Ben Gladwyn we are joined by Henry Turgoose of Pro-Cup and me Steve Jones. With Shep, Radders and their mate Tony helping out building and refining the Crow course we are all experienced racers and know what most riders expect of a good event. Crow Hill is a fun course you will be smiling all the way round except when you're grimacing on the climbs. We have the full support of our sponsor Pedal On which gives us expert guidance from that man Ade again. We have also been assured help on the day with marshalling from the Dorset Rough Riders.


Venue For the first time the Cross Country National Championships will be held in the New Forest, which a few years ago gained National Park Status. The New Forest is situated on the South coast of England between the city of Southampton and the town of Poole close to the sandy beaches of Bournemouth. The New Forest has 93,000 acres of woodland and open common-land brimming with wildlife. The New Forest is the largest un-enclosed area in Southern England; ponies, donkeys, cattle, pigs and deer, to name a few, roam freely including on the roads so please observe the Forest 40mph speed limit. The New Forest although not known for huge hills is quite rolling in places and parts are surprisingly high. The landscape is a mix of heathland, grassland, bogs and woods. The ground is generally dry and sandy in most places and boggy in others with numerous small streams. All these features are evident on a smaller scale on the Crow Hill National Championship course.


History The course is on a private estate and borders the open forest, the owner Richard Lownes is keen to see his land used for cycling events. The site was first used for mountainbike races back in the early nineties with Dorset Rough Riders and Richard Vickery at the helm. However after a very serious incident at another venue nearby the Rough Riders nearly went bust with the ensuing court cases and that was the end of their promoting days. The venue didn't lay totally dormant as is also home to a motocross twice a year and during the winter months the Wessex League also hold a round of their Cyclo-cross series there. Local rider Stuart Bowers is King of Crow on a cross bike as it is a course that favours the mountain biker due to its technical nature, he also won here at the 2006 Southern round. In 2005 I rode the Crow Cross on my mountainbike after puncturing my cross bike in practice. I had a fantastic ride and realised what a great mountainbike course this could be again. The venue has everything, great course, central arena, good camping and easy access. I immediately set about planning to make Crow become a round of the Southern XC series. The Ratz have promoted both events here but we have had sterling support with course design and building from Darren 'Shep' Shepherd and Mike 'Radders' Radburn so thank them if you see them. Without their dedication we couldn't do it as it's just too far away from our Checkendon base. With the loss of a large part of the Checkendon course due partly to illegal riding we needed to seek out new venues. We had a great new venue last year at Chazey Wood at Mapledurham but again that has already been lost (temporarily we hope) due to illegal riding. This is mostly due to downhillers and all the digging they do to build their jumps and the piles of litter they leave behind. So please don't attempt to pre-ride the Crow Hill course outside of race weekends as it could jeopardise the Champs. There is an opportunity to have a preview of the course on 18th May at the Southern XC round 3 see www.southenxc.net


Course For those that have ridden the Southern rounds the Nationals course will be familiar but expect some changes. The course will be running mostly in the opposite direction. To make best use of the central arena the course will cross the arena twice mid lap in a clover leaf style course. With a new loop up the hill across the motocross track with a central loop in the woods splitting the main wood into two sections. This will add a couple of hills, break up the single-track sections and separate the hills. This will also make for exciting spectator spots in the central arena. With two tough little climbs into the arena mid lap and another at the finish it's going to be exciting watching all the Championship titles evolve. The start will be the same with a short climb before dropping into the motocross track for the opening start loop around the arena before diving into the trees. With a short downhill leading back out onto the start field and into the 'Checkendon' section, flat fast twisty through Beech trees and Rhododendrons. Crow has always been deceptively tough as although the hills are short they are steep, frequent and relentless, your heart rate never drops. Plus we have just made it even harder, if it's dry the first climb after the start will be on open grass up to the old railway line at the Southern extreme of the course. Mostly open heath land here with far reaching views across the forest it really feels like you are out on the open forest. It's a bit boggy here though with a stream crossing too so if its very wet this section may get cut out like it did for last years Southern. There is a new track now running along a stream bank which leads to a short steep climb onto the motocross track and across the arena. It then drops steeply into the wood followed by a steady climb in the middle of the wood before turning back down again. There is a nice off camber track leading back below the arena with a killer short steep climb out of the woods. Then its chance for a rest and to take a drink on the downhill across the field back to the fire road on the edge of the open forest to the South of the course. The second half of the lap now sees the wood section around the caravan site become a long gradual climb and a sustained effort here may force a break on this section. We rode it at a brisk pace on training bikes in our working clothes on an un-cleared course recently and it took 5 minutes from bottom to the very top. So at race pace it should be 3 minutes and the longest climb on the course. At the top of the climb its back across into the main wood for several more short sharp climbs followed by twisty technical downhills. This is followed by the main fire road climb in the wood, this leads to more single-track across the top of the wood before the drop back down beside the access road. Over 2 more bridges and across another fire road into the dark 'Thetford' section before the final climb into the arena ready to start your next lap. We will have a course map for you to download on the web site soon. The course is a bit longer than last year when Ade averaged 24.24 for 6 laps with a total race time of 2hr26. We expect the pace to be a little higher at the Champs though so knock a minute off that time and then add on 2-3 minutes for the extra sections. With the longer course we will be only need to do 5 laps. So we expect the Senior leader to be about 26 minutes a lap with a gold medal race time around 2hr10.

The course will be open for foot inspection on Friday evening but we cannot allow riding due to lack of first aid cover. The course will be open for practice all day Saturday and on Sunday from 08:30-09:30. The best bet though is to come along on the 18th May for the Southern XC round 3 www.southernxc.net


Arena Any teams wanting to pre-book space in the main arena or traders wishing to have pitch should also contact steve@ratmbc.co.uk for details and fees. Jackets café will be on site providing the catering and will be there from Saturday to keep you stocked up. There is plenty of parking close to the the arena and course.

We have a large camping field which will be available for Friday and Saturday night at £5 per pitch. No need to pre-book just pitch up and we will come round and collect the fees. This is adjacent to the main arena and the course runs right past one side. We will have flushing toilets on site and extra portaloos and heated showers from Friday. We also have a limited number of quiet caravan or motorhome pitches. These are proper Caravan Club CL pitches and in the trees on the campsite climb. These are ideal for groups that want to be together or those who want some peace away from the arena.. We have pre-booked all the pitches and these are available on a first come first served basis, contact steve@ratmbc.co.uk be aware these pitches are adjoining open forest so you may get forest ponies outside your door! They are also a short walk approx 1/2km from the central arena.

Accomodation

There are many local pubs and restaurants nearby Crow, Ringwood or Burley all only a 10 minute drive away. There are numerous hotels and B&B's nearby in Ringwood or Christchurch, you will not fail to find somewhere closer to Bournemouth where there is masses of choice if you don't want to camp. We will get a list up on the website soon. A good start would be www.thenewforest.co.uk/ or www.newforest-uk.com/ especially if you plan to stay for a few days and explore the forest or hit the beaches. This would be a useful site www.forestry.gov.uk/newforest or the forestry commission also has huge campsites nearby if you want to stay off site, these sites are very popular during the school holidays so book soon. www.forestholidays.co.uk/camping__caravanning/england/new_forest.aspx Log cabins are available to hire at the nearby Avon Tyrrell activities centre: http://www.avontyrrell.org.uk/accommodation.htm If you fancy exploring the forest you can get some cycling routes from: www.newforestcyclehire.co.uk/ My wife and I hired a tandem there a few years ago and it's a day we will never forget.


Directions If you have Sat Nav use postcode BH24 3DB. Leave A31 between Cadnam (end of M27) and Ringwood at Picket Post by the Services, follow signs to Burley. After 1 mile take 1st road on right to Crow just after the Burley sign. Follow road for approximately 1 mile and turn 1st left into Charles's Lane. Access roads will be marked but entrance to camp site only is down 1st track under 50 yards on the left just by the cattle grid sign. Entrance will be marked but also says 'Valemoor' and there is a Caravan & Camping Club Certified Location sign at the entrance. Proceed carefully down this track, turn right after about ¼ mile by water tap and Elsan point. Follow sandy track beside woods to the far end and camping filed is on the right. For the main entrance and parking continue on Charles's Lane over the cattle grid for a further approx 200 yards, entrance is a track into the wood on the left just past Gaddens Close Farm. Proceed carefully down the hill and the car park is at the very end on the left. View Map

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