The 4-2-3 being used for the Eastern and Central Champs this coming Sunday and below is how it looked at daft o’clock this morning.

For those that haven’t ridden John’s changes, the first three photos are the small new section replacing the flat bends about one third of the way down the course. It’s still loamy and new like the 4-2-3 at the Southern Champs last year - quite a different track to the weathered and battle-scarred trail that’s there now!

Otherwise the track is looking good - the recent rain has provided a great surface to reinforce berms and pack-down the surface, and the final switchbacks are looking steeper and gnarlier than ever.

If you haven’t ridden the 4-2-3 since last year, a few practice runs would be time very well spent before next Sunday.

If you haven’t entered yet, online entry shuts at midnight on Wednesday - after that you can print out a form or enter on the day. But once the entries are gone, they’re gone!

It’s looking drier!

You may have noticed the sky leaking quite a lot over the past week. Well, the good news is that this is set to change.

It’s not forecast to be spectacular, but with clear skies, decent temperatures and a bit of a breeze it should help the Hill to dry out reasonably quickly. Conditions are anticipated to get better as the weekend goes on with the trails starting a little moist before quickly turning nice n’ roosty tacky.

This is also the last weekend before the race on the 5th September, so get practicing!

Old skool suggestion for the weekend? The Pharcyde

It’s been a warm but wet week and despite being a bit damp underwheel, Aston Hill is looking damn fine. Trails are on the whole nicely tacky and very rideable with not a speck of dust in sight. Saturday is looking better - if the deluge that’s forecasted Sunday morning arrives then it may make conditions interesting for a while, which means the afternoon is probably the better option.

Tyre choice for the weekend? High Rollers is where it’s at.

XC or DH? Toughie, but I reckon DH could win it on Saturday.

New tunes to listen to on the roadtrip over? It’s gotta be Therapy?’s Crooked Timber.

Rock on!

It’s been a very mixed week, but there has been a lot of wet stuff falling from the sky over the last few days.

Today is no different - after a damp day yesterday and a wet morning, the Hill is going to be fairly testing today before looking somewhat drier tomorrow.

There’s two ways of looking at this. You can either make your excuses, crack open a beer and watch whatever rubbish is on TV, or you can man-(or woman-)up and accept that it’s wet but it’s excellent training for dialling handling skills, practicing wet sections, getting drifts down and developing good trail skills.

So whatcha gonna do?

Me? Why - it’s beer o’clock!

Following the break-ins back in April there has been at least one more that the Forestry are aware of. However, they are concerned that there may have been more that they don’t know about; if you have had kit stolen on the Hill, you need to tell both the Forestry Commission and local police.

Both the police and the Forestry work on statistics. To put it bluntly, if the police think that everything is fine and dandy on the Hill they’ll only drive past once in a blue moon. If they think they have the chance of nicking someone, they’ll come by more often.

Similarly, as a rider you help to pay for the Forestry to have rangers. The rangers are a good bunch, but they have a lot of different roles, staffing Aston Hill being just one. If they know that there is a problem at the Hill it will be in the Forestry’s interests to have staff over there more often.

And the more people in uniforms there are on the Hill, the less chance there is that some light-fingered tea-leaf will think it’s easy pickings.

In the meantime, keep bags, valuables and expensive kit out of sight when not being used, lock your cars and keep an eye out for people acting suspiciously. On the whole thieves are lazy and opportunistic. Why make life easy for them?

The Forestry Commission’s number is 01420 520212.

Bucks Police non-emergency line on 0845 8 505 505 and their website is http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/yournh-tvp-pol-area-N251.

The dust has been put down this week with a few sharp showers, with another expected tonight. For this reason Sunday is looking better, but now that the September race entry is open you’d be advised to spend as much time on the Hill as possible.

The countdown has started…

Entries for the hotly anticipated and eagerly awaited Eastern and Central Champs on Aston Hill’s 4-2-3 run are now officially open.

Online entry is here.

Downloadable PDF entry form is here.

Get entering.

Good luck!

According to the Daily Mail they’re the blight of the country. This may be the case - they certainly seem to be the blight of Aston Hill at the moment.

As you all know, Aston Hill is on Forestry Commission land which makes them our landlords. The Forestry Commission deliberately have a policy of not having bins on their land. Not only are they an eyesore in otherwise beautiful areas, but they attract all sorts pests from wasps to fly-tippers.

The litter problem has got so bad that the Aston Hill club have collectively had their wrists slapped, which is something that isn’t great for the Hill. Consequently, something needs to be done.

We’re asking you to please take your litter home with you. As the laminated posters say - all the time we’re picking up litter is precious time that could be spent maintaining trails.

If you see someone dropping litter, a gentle reminder doesn’t hurt. It’s a cool atmosphere on the Hill - no-one wants to piss anyone off, but people littering is currently the biggest threat to the Hill’s existence.

Finally, if you choose to disrespect the Hill and the Hill’s riders on the regular basis, don’t expect to be welcome. If you’re a member, your name will be passed onto the CTC and Forestry Commission and you’ll forfeit your membership. If you’re visiting, you’ll be asked to leave - with your litter - and not to return.

Aston Hill is a wicked place with wicked people and wicked trails. Do your bit to keep it this way - take your rubbish home.