Connor Hudson goes for the win at Redhill
The weekend of Friday 4th – Sunday 6th September saw the first head-to-head mountain bike competition in the UK for 2020, following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. Redhill Extreme, based just outside of the Forest of Dean in Gloucester, underwent several changes throughout 2020 under new ownership, including a revamp of the popular Four-Cross (4X) track. The event, co-organised by the Schwalbe British 4X Series and Redhill Extreme, provided an excellent opportunity to showcase these changes, featuring multiple disciplines across the three days including a ‘King of the Hill’ time trial, Dual Slalom and 4X competition.
ACO sponsored 4X Rider Connor Hudson tells us how his weekend went:
“The proceedings kicked off with ‘King of the Hill’ on the Friday evening. 30 invited riders from an array of cycling disciplines including 4X, Downhill, Enduro and BMX took to the hill to see who was fastest against the clock down the 4X track. Each rider was given two individual timed runs down the track, with the fastest run counting.
Following the first run, I managed to slot into 2nd place with a time of 43.48, 0.27 seconds behind the leader, multi-time national 4X champion, Scott Beaumont. Having made a huge mistake at the end of the run, I was confident I could make up some time in the next run. With a much cleaner lap, I came down half a second quicker in run 2, finishing in 42.97 seconds. Scott also managed to better his time though, meaning the end result was 2nd place, 0.36 seconds back. Although I didn’t manage to take the win, I was very pleased with the result and above all it was great to feel the buzz of competition again!
On Saturday, feeling a bit blown out from the previous day and knowing that it wasn’t my strongest discipline, I decided to sit out the Dual Slalom competition and rest up for the 4X on Sunday. After a rough night sleep, motivation was a bit low come Sunday morning, but with a decent breakfast and some caffeine, I was good to go.
Starting with three qualification heats, I got off to a reasonable start, with two 2nd place finishes and one 1st, putting me as the second seed as the day advanced into the knockout rounds, starting with the semi-final, where the top two from each semi advance to the final heat. I got off to a reasonable start but left a gap in the second corner allowing one rider to dive underneath me and take first. I was able to hold on until the bottom in 2nd place to advance to the final heat.
There was a strong showing of riders in the final, and the end result seemed wide open. Fortunately, I was able to bring out my best start of the day and already stretch a small lead down the first straight. Getting out of the first two corners clean, I rode a fairly smooth lap to hold the lead to the end and get the win. This was only my third British 4X win since entering the Pro Elite class and my first ever at Redhill, despite coming close several times over the years I have raced there, so I was understandably pretty excited.
After a successful weekend, I very much have the buzz for racing back after a whole year break since the last 4X competition! As of yet, I am unsure when the next time I line up on the gate will be but I am looking forward to trying to carry some momentum on from this weekend.
As always, I would like to say a huge thank you to Chicksands Bike Park and ACO for supporting me in my racing. Onto the next one!”
All images credited to Luke Stanley