On Location: GT Factory Racing Experience day, Antur Stiniog
What a fantastic day Team GT Atherton Racing put on at Antur Stiniog, called the ‘GT Factory Racing experience’. Basically it was an online Facebook competition, conceived by the Athertons and all their sponsors, bringing over 40 winners to Antur Stiniog bike park for the day! Not only that but the lucky few were also treated to a day of uplifts, coaching and the kind of VIP treatment usually only received by top Pro riders.
All the sponsors were there to offer help to any rider who had turned up to ride the trails, a great experience to offer normal every-day hobby riders and racers alike. Shimano were fixing gears, Muc Off were cleaning bikes, and Harris and Ross were offering full-on injury treatments with massage and other techniques! And the list went on, Mercedes were ferrying the film crew, Continental tyres fixed rubber problems, GT loaned bikes, Fox sorted suspension set-ups, Silverline sported all their tools! GoPro had a fantastic presence, strapping their top selling cameras to all the riders, enabling them to compile an edit of all the riders at a later date.
As for the location, I had only been to Atur Stiniog bike park once about 18 months ago, how it has come on since then! Being run by a great team headed by Ade Bradley (aka Budz) it has several tracks, with a great uplift service taking riders up a smooth tarmac road to the top. The trails range from a very Enduro style blue, a rougher red and a much gnarlier more full-on DH black route. They also have lots of variations and crossing points so you could miss off any parts you weren’t keen on and ride an alternative section on all of the routes, very clever planning there. I personally stayed a bit on the red then stuck to the blue for that ultimate Enduro training, not because I’m shit at jumps, honest!!
The Bike park also has a nice pump track down near the spacious car park and a fantastic new café to keep topped up on nosh, the first butty and brew was courtesy of Atherton racing. This place is top notch and you never seem to be waiting more than five minutes for the quick uplift to the top. Budz knows how to run a tight ship and the place rolled like clockwork.
Team GT Factory racing riders were all present except from Martin Maes, Rachael wasn’t riding after orders to rest to fully repel her unknown virus. Dan Atherton was still out of order with his leg in a kind of splint, but it was hinted at that he would be back on a road bike within two weeks and maybe back racing EWS for the French round. Gee, Mark and Taylor were on full form., looking factory as ever
The atmosphere was electric, there were some very excited riders who had won the competition to be there and lots of sponsors and team members were buzzing with the opportunity to just be able to ride their bikes for once. I hit the trails, putting some good solid runs in with my mate Coop on his Tracer, Atherton Team manager Dan Brown on his new Force and Rob Scullion from Continental on his Saracen Ariel. They were all riding flat out and it was excellent training, Dan Brown really is the king of line choice! At a couple of stages during the day there were some coaching sessions, with three groups, I went with Dan Atherton’s, lots of the vast turn out of girls went with Rachael and some of the real brave ones went with Gee. It really wasn’t a DH or Enduro thing, as bikes were a real mixed bag, as is always seen at Antur, it was just about riding, hitting lines better and basically being faster on your bike. During our session Athy took us off a kind of triple rock drop, which I have to admit was a bit of a sphincter contractor for me!
The day was split by a gorgeous lunch put on by Podium Caterers, these guys do the food for the Athertons at every event they do, so it’s spot on and not your usual event burgers. More riding in the afternoon till we were literally knackered from the battering the rough tracks can give you. The end of the day was soon upon us all, after every rider had had their fill of trails and all went home with a goody bag and a smile
Big thanks to GT Atherton Racing, all their sponsors and Antur Stiniog for putting such a fun event on
If you wish to ride at Antur check out their website
Words, Jim Buchanan Photos, Doc Ward
Did you enjoy this article? If so, we would be stoked if you decide to support us with a monthly contribution. By becoming a supporter of ENDURO, you will help secure a sustainable future for high-quality mountain bike journalism. Click here to learn more.
