Ed McParland the youngest member of the GT Racing UK Team’s tells us about the Red Bull Hill Chasers Event.

16 elite level riders and 16 cycling enthusiasts, spanning BMX, mountain bike, road cycling and fixed gear disciplines, came together in an attempt to settle the fierce debate of which bike discipline is best uphill, all of them aiming to be crowned “King of the Hill’ and win one of the awesome, specially made, Charge bikes up for grabs.

The 32 riders competed in a gruelling series of head-to-head knockouts on the unforgiving incline of Park Street, in Bristol city centre. The riders were paired randomly giving amateur riders the chance to compete against the elite.

The fastest 16 riders from the open qualifiers battled against the following elite riders in the main event:

Ted King
Michal Prokop
Ed McParland
Dave Henderson
Jon Pybus
Chris Metcalfe
Jon Watson
Abi Greenaway
Juliet Elliot
Aidan Bishop
Lewis Lacey
Rob Reed
Jon Russell
Simon Truelove
Ed Trotman

“On Saturday we had the chance to ride the Red Bull Hill Chasers in Bristol.  The hydraulic start ramp provided a launch pad for the increasingly steepening hill that loomed, and gridded against a variety of bikes and riders I managed to progress to the semi-finals, unfortunately knocked out by a road bike by 0.3 of a second!

The race was a good opportunity to test the new bikes which performed brilliantly, and looked fantastic. In the end Gareth finished 3rd! The fastest mountain biker! I was top 8 and Dave top 16.