Last weekend the Pentalnd Hills near Edinburgh played host to Rachel Atherton’s Foxhunt. The race is a mass-start downhill, similar to the Megavalanche, but there’s an added twist – you have a three-time World Champion chasing you down the whole track.

Rachel Atherton starts 30 seconds after the rest of the competitors and tries to overtake as many as possible. This year she managed to claim 91 scalps but was beaten by a further 35 women. The eventual race winner was Rebecca Barona, with a time of 3:53.4, 13 seconds in front of Cheri Mills who finished second. To beat Rachel you would have had to have posted a time of 5:29.0 or below.

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Whereas most riders would probably be intimidated by having a racer with Rachel’s prestige chasing them down, the women at the Foxhunt seem to be having a great time. The race has been called the most friendly in mountain biking and it’s easy to see why, the atmosphere seems laid back and fun with everyone willing to help their fellow competitors out.

Rachel’s season is officially over and she can start preparing to defend her World Cup and World Championship titles for next year. Gee Atherton will run his male Foxhunt in Ireland this weekend.