One Giant Leap website

2010 treat from Llangollen

By Seb Frost9:41pm, Dec 31st 2009

Without a doubt, our sport needs more people like Martin Sands. He's the land-owner involved in 2009's most thrilling race. Some racers dubbed it a "Mini Champery", and Llangollen was thusly forever immortalised as a proper man's track. Personally I struggled with it, as did many, but I can't wait to go back and try it again in 2010. Martin is totally embracing our sport and it looks like Llangollen will be with us for a while, with organised uplifts and a new track!

"As 2009 draws to a close and I have the responsible job of keeping a four year old at bay, I can't help have a rather sober reflection on the past year whilst introducing some new plans for 2010. It has been two years since Steve Parr made a ridiculous proposal about running a downhill bike race through an impassable piece of woodland in Llangollen. This time last year the race was off only to be reconfirmed in early January and the rest as they say is history.

Apart from acting as ambassador in the odd political wrangle prior to the race, I was simply the farmer who hosted the legendary Llangollen event, no credit to me but hats off to Steve. Prior to Llangollen 2009 my only experience with mountain bikes was the odd phone call to Steve and passing on bollockings from farmers who think that anybody on a mountain bike is my concern. During the event I have met many inspirational youngsters who have humbled me, e-mail addresses now have faces and contacts and associates have now become friends. Farmers don't bother ringing me anymore as I am considered "one of them", not that I have turned my back on neighbours and fellow countrymen, more that I am enlightened and am happy to share my land with people who enjoy it as much as I do.

(2009 NPS track) Somehow this hill looks a lot steeper when you're stood at the foot of it! (One Giant Leap track)

Enough of the old and in with the new, since the race, some of the inspirational youngsters mentioned above and I have build a new track and formed a club to run uplifts on the section of open mountain known as the Giant's Foot, adjacent to Steve's track. The track is a mix of technical, steep sections with deep berms leading into a fast section with bus stops ending with a steep drop off into yet more steep technical sections. The last 100 metres of the track has three jumps, the first drops down into a deep ravine and scares the life out me leading to two small jumps, the last of which ends in the same field as the other track. With a worn out mattock, blisters and HTML buzzing around my head I would like to introduce One Giant Leap on http://www.onegiantleap.llangollen.co.uk/.

Happy New Year to all my new friends.

Martin Sands"

Footage of the 2009 Llangollen NPS race