Team Mtb Ride Guide at Sda Rd 6 fort william

Fort William is always one of the best races of the year with everyone feeling scared and stoked at the same time with the tracks,length ,rock gardens and the motorway section.

Friday- The course was in great condition with dry dusty corners , filled in holes and a fast dry wood section and with sunny weather forecast it was set to be a great weekend.

Saturday - The riding was super fun and was super fast smashing laps out all day . I think the laps were a little too fast for local legend and current Masters World Champion
Alastair as he kept getting punctures! It was however good that his nukeproof pulse saved him from something that could have been worse. The team was in good spirits all weekend by helping each other choose lines and giving encouragement. All looked great for race day on Sunday.

Sunday Sunday morning practice laps were a last chance to get down any new lines before finals. The weather was just as good as it had been all weekend. On the First race Ewan came down on a clean run and a new pb with a 5:39.59, Al jr with a 5:42.77, Keir with a 5:35.27 and
the Chief with a 5:22.44. Everybody had a faster second run in the team . Ewan with a 5:34.03(11th) , Al jr 5:39.84( 16th), Keir 5:34.50(9th) and Alastair taking the win with a 5:20.18.

A fantastic weekend and a great end to the season.

Thanks to Hotlines and Nukeproof for their fantastic support over the season.

Thanks also to Marked Mediahouse for all the images they have supplied us with.

UCI Masters World Championship 2014

Neil and Alastair boxed up their Nukeproof Pulses and headed to Hafjell in Norway for this years World Masters Downhill Championship. 

The small resort 180 Km North of Oslo boasts an impressive range of downhill trails as well as one of the best World Cup Downhill tracks on the circuit making it the perfect venue for this years World champs.

We walked the track in the dry but the forecast was for rain so we knew things were about to get messy. 

Right from the steep start ramp we were straight into the big jump section which just got faster with every jump you hit. The picture above doesn't do justice to how big these jumps were, the spec in the distance is Alastair hanging about in the air waiting to land.

Things did indeed get a bit messy with constant rain showers but the track didn't deteriorate too much and was fun to ride. There was a great mixture of jumps and super fast drops and berms with various rock gardens and nice techy rooty sections followed by a flat out slimy mud traverse before dropping down to the finish.

There was plenty time for practise and we both got in 7 runs on the first day and were feeling good on most bits of track before seeding took place.

Both our seeding runs went well with Neil finishing 5th and Alastair 1st. It was going to be a hard final as there was a few people doing tactical runs in seeding and everyone was going to have to go quite a bit faster in the finals.

Neil was off first and had quite a solid run but was not too happy in a couple of sections which lost him time but still powered across the finish line to take 5th place in a quality field.

Having seeded 1st Alastair was set off last and managed to get a good run holding speed in the crucial areas and made up time in a couple of the rock gardens to cross the line in 1st place taking his 3rd World Masters Title.

We both had a great time in Norway and it was yet again a privilege to be competing in such an international field full of such great riders and friends. The people of Hafjell and the track maintenance guys did a fantastic job and it was such a great track we will surely return one day.

Time for a well earned beer.

SDA 2014 Innerleithen Round 6

Ewan reports from Innerleithen.

Friday- On the course walk we were two men short as Al and Alastair were going off to Hafjell in Norway for the Masters World Champs. The course had been taped on mainly the Gold Run with a new loamy pedally section with loads of new bus stops then into Matador, over the jumps and into the gully at the bottom and across the road to the finish.

Saturday- the track on Saturday was mainly dry with a few wet patches and it rutted in a lot better than I expected and my Nukeproof Scalp was feeling great - holding and railing every rut brilliantly.
Sunday- The track had not changed since Saturday apart from a few holes that had been filled in which made the track even better. After the two practice runs it was time for racing. I did not have the best first run with a crash on the first corner and it was a similar story for Keir. Neil was the only one to make it down with a decent run. After watching some gopro footage of the course, I put in a good run to take 10th in Youth with a 3:51. Keir put in a solid performance with a 3:49 to take 11th in Junior and Neil with 3:41 to take 3rd step on the podium in Vets. Good Luck to Neil and Alastair for the Master World Champs in Hafjell.

Thanks to Marked Mediahouse for the images.

British National Championship

The National Champs are always a big deal so having them at Innerleithen this year was an extra incentive for the team to do well.

British National Champs: Innerleithen

Neil was on the pace all weekend.

After walking the dry and dusty track on Friday, everybody was primed and ready but practice on Saturday was a different affair with heavy mist leading to rain so lines had to be recalculated to find the best way over the slippery roots and rocks. The team’s Nukeproof ezi-up was a bit swamped by the factory teams race trucks and pits set up in the car park but everyone was having fun and getting practice runs in.

Al giving it beans.

Its always a good track at Innerleithen with the Champs track being no exception – a steep technical start that then led into some faster tight sections through the trees and then into some flat out big jumps and a final pedal into the arena and finish line. On race day the weather was back to its sunny best so it was a case of getting in a couple of practice runs in the morning then getting ready for seeding and finals runs in the afternoon. Seeding went incident free so it was then back up the hill for one last run for finals and one shot of glory…

Keir rode strong all weekend.

Al jr was first off, looking his usual smooth self through the tricky roots section at the start and had a good run of 3.50 . Ewan set off soon after, again looking great through the first part of the track but unfortunately crashing further down to end his chances of a good result. It was then the turn of the Veteran categories – Al sr had a steady run but did more than enough to take the Grand Veterans title by a huge 35 seconds. Neil had been suffering from a bout of food poisoning before the weekend but managed to hold it together enough to get in a good run and took the win by 11 seconds and the Veteran 45-49 title. 

Alastair 

It was then Keir’s turn and after a good seeding time he repeated that with another good time in the finals and achieved a great 20th in a very heavily stacked Junior field. Podiums, gold medals, champagne and ice creams then rounded off what had been a successful and enjoyable weekend.

Ewan 

Thanks to Marked Mediahouse for the images.

Scottish Championships

Glencoe Mountain hosted this years Scottish Championships and it turned out to be the perfect venue for the highlight of the Scottish Downhill season.
The track crew had put in some hard graft to bring it up to the standard expected by the racers and committee of the Scottish Downhill association and the weather was fine all weekend. 

The team arrived early to get our pits set up so we had everything we needed for a weekend of racing and we then headed up the chairlift for practice.

The track was fast right from the start and started off by dropping into some woops and berms before heading flat out along a rough traverse and then downwards at full tilt over rocks before hitting loose rock strewn sections. 

The track finished off with a smooth jump section and some berms before crossing into the finish.

We all got in plenty of practice and were having fun riding the fast demanding track and were ready to put in full effort in our race runs confident that we had all the best lines.

Ewan and Alastair jnr both had good runs with Alastair coming in 2nd and Ewan 4th both with great times.

Keir is improving his results at every race and put in a good performance to finish mid field this weekend.

Neil and Alastair battled it out in Vets with Neil finishing 3rd and Alastair taking the Scottish Title ahead of John Young in 2nd.

A great weekends riding and racing was had by the team thanks to the SDA and the crew at Glencoe Mountain. Thanks also to all medics and marshals who were stationed on the hill all weekend for us.

Thanks also to Marked Mediahouse for images as well as Nukeproof for continued support.

British Downhill Series Rnd3

The Team traveled to Ae Forest near Dumfries for round3 of the British Downhill Series l ast weekend.
Having been here only 2 weeks before hand at the Scottish series race there was a lot of familliar bits of track being used. Again it was warm and sunny which made for a fast running and super fun track with its mixture of fresh cut lines and jumps.
Uplift was running a bit slow which meant a lot of waiting in queues, but at the end of the day all of us got in 6 or 7 runs which was pretty good and we all had our lines dialled for racing the following day.

AL sending it 

Race day was again dry and warm which suited everyone and after a couple of practice runs we got stuck into racing.
Alastair, racing in Grand Vets this year in the BDS had little competition but set out to "smash it" in his race run and after a good descent came home a clear winner 20 secs ahead of second place man Steve Felstead and also beating the entire Vets field showing the old boy still has pace.
Neil was up next in the very competitive Vets Category and had a good steady run. Neil finished 3 secs off 1st place man Mark weightman which put him on 5th spot on the podium.
Youth cat riders Al and Ewan both had good runs and are beginning to show signs of maturity and consistency in their riding and racing. This weekend Ewan came out top in the pair finishing 16th with Al 1 sec behind in 17th.
Junior cat rider Keir stepped up his game this weekend to put in a solid ride coming home 31st in the super fast category and showed that his training and fitness are now coming into play.

Ewan floating on air.

The season is well under way now and we are having lots of fun riding and racing our Nukeproof Scalps and Pulses which have run perfectly for the team and have proved a great race bike. Thanks again to Nukeproof and Hotlines for their support.

Next race for the team is the Scottish Championship at Glencoe Mountain resort in 2 weeks time.

Thanks to Paul Cram for the Images used in this blog.

Scottish Downhill Series
Rnd 3 AE Forest

The team traveled to Ae Forest for Round 3 of the Scottish Series and were treated to a dry and warm weekend of racing on a really fun track.

Ewan heading for the distant blue horizon


The track was a mixture of a couple of new soft and rutty sections with the occasional rock and sniper root thrown in for good measure mixed with some old classic bits like the rock garden, the big drop down and of course the elevator that launches you down to the finish line. Everyone put in maximum number of runs as uplift was running smooth and we were all just loving the track and having fun.

   

Results wise we all put in good performances and at this stage in the season all know our strengths and things that need to be worked on. 

Keir testing his limits.

In Youth Category Alastair came home 8th with Ewan 13th

Junior: Keir 19th

Veteran: Alastair 2nd  Neil 4th

 Full results from Roots & Rain Here

All images Marked Mediahouse

The Scottish Downhill Assiciation sure know how to put on a fun and well organised event. The new timing system is working a treat and is now giving us split times as well as a speed trap which adds a new dimension to race runs. 

It was great to have SDA stalwart Peter Pollock back for this event and thanks to him and all  

the other committee members and helpers for a class event.

Peace Out..

British Downhill Series 

Rnd2 Fort William

The British Downhill Series came to Fort William on the weekend of 10th/11th May which was great as it meant no long hours of travelling for our Fort William based team (apart from Ewan) and racing on an awesome track.

With the World Cup Round 3 coming to town in a few weeks time, it was great to see so many top pros entered including Sam Hill and the Chain Reaction Cycles/Nukeproof Team. This gave the whole event a mini world cup feel.

The track had a little bit of work done since the winter with the top open section. Lots of holes had been filled in and awkward rocks moved out of the main line. It was a massive improvement making it faster and as smooth as the track has been in a long time.

 The track started the same way to the first rock garden where the was a inside line off the back of one of the berms and again after the dear gate with a similar inside line. The woods went around the old tack dipping in and out twice then onto the fire road with a rut that went down about 2 foot deep but my  nukeproof scalp was running amazing and super stable.

The motorway section remained unchanged as did the massive effort needed to sprint its entire length on to the finish line.

 

Al's Big Birthday Bluegrass Enduro

I woke up this morning to celebrate 50 years on planet earth and fully expecting mid life crisis to have taken hold of me overnight. It hadn't, nothing had changed, and it appeared to be just another day, so with bikes in the van already we headed down the road to Glencoe for  
the Bluegrass Enduro organised by No Fuss Events.
As usual Bluegrass and No Fuss Events did not disappoint with their flair for putting on casual and fun events. I carried the number 50 plate for the event in celebration, hell, they even gave me a cake at the end.

Booom! 50 years on planet earth.

The event was split into 2 timed stages followed by a mass start race for the final fling, all ridden blind with no practice allowed.

Stage 1 started downhill on open hill side followed by a boggy ish rock strewn flat section which led into a climb to the top of a summit before the rapid descent on a mixture of rocky loose stuff and hard packed earth and then joined the red route down to finish. It was a lung busting stage and brilliant fun.

Stage 2 was a sprint down the hill skipping over rocks and boggy drops before diving head first into a large snow field, I took a massive stack here and slammed my old ribs into the hard packed white stuff. Breath back and some angry pedaling and I was back up to speed with minimum time lost and battered on to the finish far below.

Stage 3 was the mass start up in the snow line with a nice steep start on the snow onto a flat plateau and then another dreaded climb before more awesome descending and bar to bar racing down yet again more rock, bog and open hill sections.

So in the end I managed to take a convincing win in Vets and came 7th overall which I was pretty chuffed with.

Team MTB Ride Guide also took over the podium in the Junior category with Keir taking the win, Al 2nd and Ewan 3rd (modeling last years race top!)

I woke up this morning Sore, battered and bruised with great memories of the weekend. Awesome riding and fun coupled with superb organisation and the most enthusiastic marshals you will ever come across at any event.

Big thanks to Nukeproof for keeping me rolling through my Golden years!