Howard St Dual – This Saturday
This Saturday sees Sheffield City Centre set alight by torch light and two wheels, the Howard Street Dual returns for its 3rd Year. Bringing the excitement of head to head bike racing right in to the heart of the Outdoor City, taking mountain bikes out of the woods and down our streets to be cheered on by the assembled masses.
The invited riders represent the cream of the local crop including Sheffield’s own Legend Steve Peat, the current Howard Street Champion, as well as many riders from further afield. Brett Penfold, 2017 winner, is back and ready to challenge for the top spot, will he meet Peaty in the final again? German downhill champion, Nina Hoffmann, has flown in especially to race and challenge our lasses, who will fair better on the slick grass corners and steep wooden berms? The talented lads and lasses will put on an amazing show which will be as much fun to watch as it will to take part.
Racing starts at 5pm and will be streamed live on Youtube, presented by Anna Glowinski and Richard Cunynghame. Finals will be around 7pm with the fastest lads and lasses having two chances to make their mark, the fastest combined time taking the win.
On site commentary will be provided by the master, Toby Parodi, a top his tower backed up with beats from Redbulls sound system. With cow bells and noise makers lining the track, the racers will be cheered from top to bottom making it great fun for the whole family and the best hecklers in town. The course makes the most of what Sheffield Hallam University has to offer, starting on its doorstep and sending riders at high speed down Howard St to the train station.
| Time | |
| 15:00 | Course opens for practice |
| 16:15 | Seeding/Quali Runs Begin |
| 17:00 | Racing Begins |
| 19:00 | Finals begin |
| 19:30 | Race finishes – Prize giving |
In true This is Sheffield style every one of the 60 racers will receive a prize. All our amazingly generous sponsors’ gifts will be piled up and the winners will get the honour of picking first. This year our prizes come from:
- Hope Technology
- Leighton Vans
- Peaty’s Products
- Cotic Bikes
- Airdrop Bikes
- 5:10
- HKT Products
- Bike Track
- Bike Rehab
- Expert Bike repair
- Go Outdoors
Like slalom ski racing, riders negotiate a series of gates pitting themselves against each other and the clock in a head to head knock out format. The course has a stack of great features sendable by the best and rollable by all. It starts down a long set of stairs before kicking left in to a set of four custom built rollers across hallam square. The best will double these up or manual through the whole set. This sets up the riders for a big wooden kicker up on to a unique set of downhill grass rollers with two tight flagged corners. The riders are then spat out on a set of stairs or a custom ramp straight in to Chaos corner, a hard 180 degree bermed corner through street furniture. The riders then face a series of flat grass corners which will test their cornering skills and speed. They are split by a wooden booter where the fast ones will be trying to keep it low and fast. After an awkward right hander the racers drop in to the FML fade, the final feature, a steep grassy bank which will accelerate them across the finishing line. For the best, this will be about 30 seconds.
It will be a great time to be in Sheffield with so much going on for the Outdoor City Festival; the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival, the Big Running Weekend and The Magnificent Seven anti-enduro road race on the Sunday, another great spectator sport if you like you riders in lycra. However, don’t forget to come and show us your love of two wheels and displays of amazing skill down on Howard street this Saturday.
This Is Sheffield