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.