jon ashelford photography: Platzangst RAM shorts - First look.

jon ashelford photography: Platzangst RAM shorts - First look.: A box of winter riding kit arrived on my door this morning. Amongst all the knee warmers, rain jackets and socks were these Platzangst "RAM...

What a month!

It all started with my return to racing after a long break caused by the cancellation of the Fort William BDS race and the postponement of the SDA’s Glencoe race. The fourth round of the SDA series was at Innerleithen in the Scottish borders where I’d started to feel quite at home after already completing three winter series race early in the year.

We arrived late and I walked the track by torch light as dad setup home in the paddock area. The course looked very fast and flowing on the top half with the usual more technical final half. I went to bed looking forward to a good race. Only my second on my 2011 Beefcake and my first SDA race on it. We woke in the morning however to find that overnight someone had cut through the 12mm steel wire locking my bike the caravan and it was gone. Someone must have loved it as much as I did because they ignored other unlocked bikes to take my lovely Beefcake. After hanging around for the polic

e to arrive we packed up for the long drive home feeling totally gutted. Just as we were about to leave another competitor, Tom Anderson informed me he had a spare bike I could use if I wanted. I was in two minds as I really just wanted to go somewhere and cry but I accepted and we unpacked again. The bike was a 2010 Empire and it wasn’t really very well setup for me and I struggled with it being too softly sprung and having little feel or power in its brakes. I was nice to see that there are still people like Tom and his dad around who were prepared to offer such generous help.

I ended the weekend still pretty low with only a 19^th place to show for it. I know I’d have been well within the top ten and strengthened by series position had I been on my own bike.

In the week that followed the story has appeared on BBC TV News, all over the internet and on countless facebook pages. We’ve emailed every bike shop in Scotland and all the big riding centres in case someone sees it. Finlay of Rose UK came through with the very generous offer of the return of the 2010 demo bike I’d had before my 2011 one arrived.

The old bike arrived on Thursday and was rebuilt and checked over on Friday morning before we set off again to the west coast. This time it was for the rerunning of the Glencoe SDA race. Glencoe is a very steep technical course that’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I love it.

The Indian summer that the whole country appeared to be enjoying had forgotten to visit Glencoe and we arrived in very heavy rain. I’d been told that Glencoe is a gre

at track in the dry but obviously I wasn’t going to see that this weekend. I woke on Saturday morning to find the rain had slowed slightly and had been joined by think fog, great!

My practice went well for about two corners when my deraileur hanger broke leaving me no choice but to push back to the start and come back down on the chairlift. Dad set off on the two hour round trip to Fort William in search of a hanger that we could use and I continued practice chainless.

All we could get was an emergency hanger that after a lot of work was made to hold the derailleur in a strange position that wouldn’t allow it change gear but did make it work as a chain tensioner so of I went for one last practice this time in single speed mode. I like everyone was having trouble seeing and running out of tear offs fast but I was happy enough with my last run.

Sunday was more of the same weather wise but I set off for a practice to make up for not getting much running on Saturday but burst my rear tyre on the first run. I just had time for another following a rushed repair and it went OK so I went in to race run one reasonably happy that I wasn’t going to worry the top few but should be in with a decent chance. It went OK for the fast top section then my chain broke and wrapped around the cassette. When is my luck going to change? Another quick repair and I was good to go for my second race run and again it was going to have to be an all or nothing. The weather was improving as I set off and for the first time all weekend the water wasn’t running down the track like a stream. This made visibility easier and I felt the first half of my run was pretty good. I didn’t make any big mistakes on the lower half I’m told I looked tired and maybe I wasn’t pushing as hard as I could have. I crossed the line in second place but knew that there had been some fast time on the first runs and some fast guys still on course. I finished in a slightly disappointing 11^th come the end but that was just good enough for me to keep my top ten in the final series results.

Given that I never actually got to ride my 2011 bike at a SDA series race I’m pretty happy with 9^th place in the competitive youth class. I still wonder how I would have got on had I ridden the new bike all year. I did only one race on it and came second at that one.

Llangollen National Champs 2011

Katy Curd was placed 2nd onboard her Rose BeefcakeSL[PI= size=l align=c][/PI] at this years downhill National Champs, held at Llangollen in North Wales, July 23-24. Beating previous National Champ Jess Stone and coming in second to the current World Champion Tracy Moseley, who walked away with the National Champs title for 2011. A brilliant result for Katy, and after last weekend's success at winning the British 4X National Championships it demonstrates her multi-discplined talent in the sport and top class ranking in the UK.

Llangollen is known for being home to some of the steepest tracks in the UK and this weekend it certainly lived up to that. After only being at Llangollen a month ago for the National round it was time to head back there this time for the National Champs, the big one!

The track started up in the woods and from the word go it was hanging off the back of the bike steep! They even had a rope weaving down the side of the track for spectators to use to pull their way up and abseil their way back down- just so they could see the top of the track! If you made it past the top steep shoots and loose corners it soon spat you out at an unexpected uphill/flat section. It was a hard 10 seconds sprint, which meant if you didn’t have the power in the legs, you were going to struggle. From here it fired you out of the woods onto a fast open section and then rejoined the old track by sending you off a small step down jump.

We had all day Saturday to practice with qualifying and race runs both on the Sunday. From my first practice run on Saturday morning I had a big old smile on my face. I love riding steep technical tracks and this suited me down to the ground. It was a hard track to get to grips with, as the track would change so much between runs. You would come into a section not knowing if the berm or rut that you were relying on to make the corner would still be there or would be blown out. Because of this I was pretty much switching lines every run, but I knew at least that way when it came to race runs I would have a few options to choose from-depending on how beaten up the track was.

For qualifying on Sunday I had no idea what to expect; where I would place; how the track would be riding or even how hard I needed to push. My plan of action was to do a chilled top half, not to push too much on the steep stuff and then hammer the bottom half of the track. I had a fairly good run, I managed to hold it together through the steep section, stalling on a couple of turns but nothing major and then had had a fairly messy bottom section. As I was riding flats, I was trying to pedal but my feet were bouncing around on the pedals and I just felt all over the place, but managed to keep it together and hold on crossing the line in second place. I was 3 seconds behind Tracy Moseley so I was stoked with that, I was only half a second in front of Manon Carpenter so I knew it was close but I knew now that if I could get another clean run in for the final I could be in for a chance for a top three podium, which was my goal for the weekend.

For my race run I felt pretty nervous. Although knowing that downhill is not my main sport takes the pressure off a lot, but qualifying in 2nd I knew that I could do well and at the end of the day I was still there to try and take the win. For the first 10 seconds or so of my final run I was pretty stiff and couldn’t relax but I soon found my rhythm and started to piece together my run, hitting my lines and getting it to flow. I think I held back a little too much through the bottom half of the track, as I knew the guys pushed fairly hard for their qualifying runs making the track more than blown out and it was, but I think I was just that little bit too cautious. Despite this I crossed the line in 1st place with only Tracy to come down guaranteeing me 2nd place. Tracy came down and smashed everyone; she came across the line 8 seconds ahead of my time taking the win and becoming the new 2011 National Champion with ease! I was stoked for 2nd place though, I haven’t had the best of seasons so to be back up there with some of the UK’s top riders I was more than happy with, and to loose to the current world champion, I reckon I can live with that!

Llangollen National Champs 2011 on pinkbike.com

Results

Tracy Moseley; Trek; 2:37.660
Katy Curd; Rose Bikes; 2:45.617
Jess Stone; Trek Gravity Girls; 2:48.463

Thanks to http://www.girlmtnbiker.com/ for the podium shot!

Katy Curd, British National 4X Champion for the second year running!

GirlMTNbiker were on hand at the final round of the Schwalbe 4X National Series and British National Champs this weekend to see Katy Curd win for a second year in a row.  


Katy Curd, British National 4X Champion for the second year running! 

Two top podiums in one weekend! A winning combo for Katy Curd as she takes the win at the 4X British National Championships and top place at the Schwalbe British National Series.   

Saturday saw the fourth round of the Schwalbe British National Series taking place at Harthill, Cheshire. Many riders, including Katy, were treating this race as a ‘warm up’ and practice for the National Champs on the following day. Admittedly not racing to her full potential, to save herself for the following day, Rose rider Katy still walked away with the top podium spot- gaining a big confidence boost for the Champs on the following day. 

Sunday saw a dramatic change to the track conditions, with heavy, persistent rain turning the sandy track into carnage, with many riders struggling with the slushy course. However, Katy was undeterred and enjoyed putting her 4X & DH skills to use tackling the track with confidence. When asked about the rain affecting the track conditions she said, “The rain made it interesting, made the racing more fun, I wasn't feeling that brilliant yesterday on the track but when it rained today I was loving it, so much fun sliding around.”

The Final saw Katy placed against Nichola Anderson, Suzanne Lacey and Cara Murray. Nichola got the snap and pulled across from lane 3 all the way into the inside blocking Katy’s line down the first straight. Into the first corner Nichola couldn’t quite hold it tight enough to the inside and left the door wide open for Katy to take the inside line and the lead. As soon as the lead was regained Katy put the power down and pulled away from the other girls to get a good lead and crossed the line in 1st place.

Katy was pleased with the win saying, "I'm really happy with the result. The track was challenging with the conditions and I knew it would be hard racing today against the other girls because they wanted the win as much as me.” 

Beefcake DH 2011

Flow rider Euan put together this short video on his Beefcake DH.  


Not sure on the music though guys!


Euan Hird's 2011 Rose Beefcake up close from John (Bigfoot) Hird on Vimeo.

Kill the Bill 2 - Starring Euan Hird & Rose Beefcake.

On the weekend of the 2^nd and 3^rd of July the focus of the UK downhill MTB scene again became the world cup course at Nevis Range, Fort William for the 2^nd running of Kill the Bill downhill race.  The timing could have been better with Euan’s shiny new 2011 Rose Beefcake DH arriving during the week. What better place to try out a new bike that this long fast and brutal course.

Having ridden the course earlier this year at a Scottish Downhill Series event Euan decided to only walk the bottom half of the course particularly interested in how to the organisers had routed the course over the much talked about ‘big doon’ road gap. To his complete disappointment the gap wasn’t included a all.

Saturday was dry and pretty warm. Euan straightway feeling the new bike was a big improvement over the old one. It may well just have been in his mind but whatever it was, it worked with Euan both enjoying himself and clearly riding fast and well.

Race day stayed dry and not wanting to ruin an error free Saturday Euan chose to do a couple of steady practice runs just to check the track for changes but on the second run, the thrill of the speed got the better of him and he had overdid it coming in to the woods resulting in a big crash.  Confidence only slightly dented he was about to go up in plenty of time for his first run when we spotted the rear gear cable had been damaged and was holding on by only a thread. A quick shop and change saw Euan a little tight for time, arriving at the start gate as his number was called. The extra adrenaline of nearly missing his run obviously helped as Euan really pushed right from the start and reportedly looked very quick on the rocky top sections. The middle section was ‘solid enough’ according to Euan and I can confirm he took the ‘off beat wall’ and the 4X triple as fast as anyone. He crossed the line 15 second up on the previous best and took the hot seat. Not for long though as unknown to us Welsh rider Mike Jones smashed that by a further 21 seconds for the race one fastest time.

Euan went in to run two knowing he could go quicker but not at all sure he could bridge the 21 second gap for the win. Another solid run got Euan safely down to the woods and the scene of his trouble in practice in good time. Unfortunately it all came unstuck here with another big crash. No lasting harm was done to either Euan or his pride and joy new bike so when he got to the bottom he was reasonably happy to still be in a clear second place.

A podium on his first ride on the new bike and at Nevis Range too! Not a bad weekend at all.

WDMBA ROUND THREE, MOUNTAIN ASH

WDMBA ROUND THREE, MOUNTAIN ASH 10^th JULY 2011

This was the boy’s first visit to Mountain Ash, an old Dragon Downhill course that was last raced in 2007. Situated on the southern slopes of the same South Wales mountain that has Gethin on the northern slopes.

We arrived on Friday night with the idea that it would be less of a rush in the morning giving Isaac and Joel plenty of time to walk the course. We had heard that the track was lengthy and the boy’s wanted time to study their lines before the uplift started.

It rained pretty much all Friday night and we awoke to some wet conditions. Isaac and Joel headed up the mountain at about 7.30am returning at about 9.00am discussing everything they had spotted. Their main observations were that it was long, flat and pedalily. After a bit of breakfast they broke out the Beef Cakes and headed for the uplift.

I think they completed three or four runs before lunch in changeable weather conditions, some intermittent rain and mainly overcast. The best way to some up the track was greasey with running water on several sections particularly one area about a third of the way down where the track passes through a thick conifer wood. There was one spot where riders had to drop off a large wet log that was causing lots of trouble for many competitors.

After some lunch they were off again. The rain had stopped and the ground was beginning to stiffen. Suddenly, their speeds were increasing and the track was beginning to flow. Wide grins were appearing across competitors faces. With that however came the injuries, Isaac took a dive twisting his wrist back and Joel had a strange incident with his over wide handle bars aggravating a previous injury to his elbow. For Joel it was quick change to smaller bars. Isaac just had to carry on.

Sunday dawned after a clear and dry night. The track was now completely different, mainly dry and dusty but still areas of running water in the trees. We bound Isaac’s wrist up and away they went. A couple of clean practice laps each it was time to go racing.

As usual, Hardtails first, some were taking about 6 minutes to get to the bottom meaning at any one time there could be 7 or 8 riders on track. The Juvenile’s were a bit quicker and then it was the Youth’s. Unfortunately, one competitor crashed ahead of Joel and with so many riders on track at one time meant that about ten or so were red flagged and had to head back to the top for a re-run.

So it was Isaac who made a competitive entrance first coming in with a time of 3.57 putting him into 5^th place. Moss Macriner had a cracking time of 3.51 to put him into 1^st place 6 seconds ahead of George Belk in 2^nd. Isaac and I discussed how he could make up such a large gap and we agreed that he would attempt to break the 3.50 barrier in his second run.

Joel and his fellow riders were slotted in after the Senior category. Joel was last man down coming home with a time of 4.19 which put him middle order in his category. No time to discuss anything, it was straight on the uplift to start his second attempt.

The categories were re-seeded and Joel managed to improve his time with 4.13 putting him into sixteenth place. A nice result in a large category and as I tell everybody if he was 6 or 7 weeks younger he would still be a Juvenile and would have finished second. So there is still load’s of time for him to show us his full metal.

Now on to the Junior’s and the times were getting shorter with successive riders crossing the finish line and then out of the blue Isaac arrived with a cracking time of 3.48.68. Billy Matthews and Grant Boyce were unable to get below 3.55 and George Belk and Jay Williamson were unable to get below 3.48 leaving only Moss on the hill. As usual we nervously awaited his arrival which unfortunately for Isaac was quicker than anticipated. Moss posted a time of 3.47.99 putting him into first place.

So, it was close but not meant to be on this occasion but 0.69 seconds is pretty tight. We were all really delighted. Not to mention that Isaac was the only first year junior on the podium.

Absolutely no problems with the Beef Cakes, the boy’s are lovin’ them.

Again, the boys would like to thank everyone at Rose Bikes for all the continued support and are very excited about the National Champs at Llangollen in a couple of weeks, a track that is the complete opposite to Mountain Ash, steep, tight, technical and absolutely no pedalling! Watch this space.

- Duncan Anderson

Triscombe Uplifts

Juice Lubes

Jonny's Granite Chief

Seeing as I'm not at any races or in France this weekend I decided to do some work on my Granite Chief and The Bruce jump bike.

As soon as Fin gave me my Granite Chief for the season I knew exactly what i wanted to do to make it suit my style of riding. Kicking off with a Sunline bar to replace the narrow carbon Syncross and slamming the stem on the steerer tube, the Granite felt faster already. Once aimed down the steep trails at Triscombe I could tell this was going to be a great bike and perfect for the UK downhills.

Next on the hit list was the x0 carbon cranks. Coming with a 3x10 set up as standard this seemed a little overkill for what i had in mind. Fin came through with a 38t MRP chain device which was bolted straight on and given a severe first ride down Fort Bill's red run. The true test came when I was riding my home trails in Bath and had to deal with some serious climbs but we both made it around fine, including the 25% climb.

So thats it for the moment, I'm heading down to Triscombe this weekend to test out the Granite on the slippy roots and mud, I'll let you know how it goes!!

I was also lucky enough to get my hands on a Bruce jump bike to play on. I had only ridden the demo bike last year a couple of times and was stoked to get the chance to build one up to my specs. I'm still working on it so I'll post a photo or two when its done.

Rose Flow Team bikes

We just took delivery of the new Rose Bikes UK Flow Team bikes. Isaac and Joel Anderson and Euan Hird have all picked the purple and white Beefcake DH and then got the chance to pimp them out with a choice of components from the comprehensive Rose Bikes website.

You'll be able to see how the Anderson's do this weekend at Llangollen as well as our World Cup rracer Katy Curd who will hopefully be back after fracturing her shoulder at Fort William a couple of weeks ago.

Check out shots of Isaac and Joel's bikes below and come say hi in Wales at the weekend!

Euan Hird - SDA Series Round 3, Dunkeld

Round three of the Scottish Downhill Association 2011 series took place at Dunkeld in Perthshire on a much changed track.

Arriving on Friday evening I made my way up the track that was the scene of my least enjoyable race of 2010. To my surprise I found a very different track. The SDA had obviously put a lot of work in to the track with large new sections cut through the woods including a couple of good double step downs (picture). The tapes had also been set pretty wide giving a great selection of lines to choose from. I came off the hill really excited about the weekend ahead and praying that it would remain dry. Rain would very quickly spoil this great track as the new sections were on soft ground.

Saturday morning I got up to find it damp and it only got worse as the rain got heavier all day. I started well with a couple of fast and fun runs but the track was getting very slippy and more cut up all the time. By the time I came down on my third run, large sections were becoming a lottery and a pretty scary one at that. The rock gardens that litter the hill all took casualties but I still managed what I thought was a pretty good run and kept up with or was faster than riders I know to be quick. I did another couple of full runs in the afternoon before falling at one of the very grease shoots when I got off line. I remember is sitting up and wandering where the people standing round me had come from and seeing my bike leaning against a tree. I don’t think I was out for long but I definitely lost a few seconds somewhere and broke my helmet peak in to the bargain. Time to call it a day.

On Sunday morning I did one practice run which wasn’t error free but I got down pretty well and was up for a really good result as race time approached. I spend the interim on the hill with dad looking at lines and learning from watching the others. On returning to my bike I found I had a rear flat that must have happened right at the finish of my practice run. With no time to spare a new tube was fitted before catching the uplift. I arrived at the start gate as my number was called and went straight in to run one. It didn’t last long before I washed out on a corner at speed. The bike sailed off in the weeds as I went tumbling down the track. By the time I got up, dusted myself off and got my bike back I knew the run was lost so waited for the next rider down to pass before making my own way down. 3rd last after run one left no room for mistakes on run two but that’s exactly what I did. Again I struggled for front end grip all the way down and eventually fell hard in the fast rock garden run down to the lower fire road. I retired on the spot and had to make my way back down the fire road so never saw the finish a second time.

Having gone in to the weekend on a high, had a great day on Saturday, I’m totally gutted with Sunday result. I can’t put in to words how low I felt as I packed up to go home. As you can see from the picture I’m still riding the loaned 2010 bike and getting desperate to prove to the other riders that Rose have made a 2011 bike. I’ve a three week break now until my next outing which is back in Fort William for Kill the Bill 2 on the 2nd/3rd of July followed the week after by the SDA champs then the BDS Champs two week later.

Photo by Paul Cram http://www.rootsandrain.com/photos/paul-cram/

BikeRadar check out our new bikes.

Rose custom builds

The guys from Rose Bikes UK are at Fort Bill to support four-cross and downhill racer Katy Curd and they had two interesting-looking custom builds on their stand. First up is a Verdita Green – the women's equivalent of the Granite Chief – which has been transformed from a 140mm-travel trail muncher into a 100mm playbike thanks to some fettling of the Fox Float R rear shock by TF Tuned.

It's the personal bike of Rose/TFT's Greg Marshall, who told BikeRadar: "The stroke of the shock has been reduced internally, which has sunk the whole bike down, and it also has a firmer platform. It started out like a jump bike but it's turned into a sort of four-cross/play bike. It's really nice." Why the women's frame? It's the equivalent of an extra-small men's bike, making it easy to chuck about.

Despite the bombproof build – including a Fox TALAS fork, single chainring and Gamut chain device, Shimano DX flat pedals, Spank jump bar and stem, and Formula The One brakes – it's surprisingly light. Rose didn't have any scales on hand but a non-scientific pick-up test suggests it's certainly sub-30lb.

Also on the stand was Rose UK main man Finlay Paton's custom Beef Cake SL. He reckons this 180mm-travel rig weighs just 37lb, including pedals. And that's without cutting any performance corners – the Fox 36 fork and Van R shock are both coil rather than air units (ignore the TALAS stickers on the fork – it has custom coil internals courtesy of TFT), and component swaps could easily shave off another couple of pounds

Taken from bikeradar

Euan Hird - SDA Rnd 2 - Fort William

Round two of the Scottish Downhill Association 2011 series took place at the world famous world cup course at Nevis Range near Fort William. Probably the most eagerly awaited race of the year, this year more so as extensive work had been done to large parts of the course. The SDA didn’t use the new road gap that will appear at this year’s world cup round but followed the rest of the course which has been made even quicker.

After weeks of almost unbroken sunshine we arrived at Nevis Range on Friday evening just in time to catch the last gondola to the top and walk the course back down in heavy rain. A little dampness on this course is a good thing as the loose gravel at the top gives far better grip. Fully wet however and it’s probably no advantage and as we got toward the bottom it was clearly going to be a very wet weekend.

Saturday started badly and went downhill quickly if you pardon the pun. My first run was OK but I fell a number of times on the now very muddy tree line sections and began to wonder if there was a clean line through at all. My second run only lasted to the deer fence about a 3rd of the way down when eight spokes broke on my back wheel pretty much jamming the wheel in the frame. With no spare wheel in the van and none available locally in the right axle width we only had one option. Try and fix it. This was made more difficult when the rear maxle also snapped getting the wheel off the bike. We made a run in to town for parts and spent the rest of the day and early evening making the best job we could for Sunday. This was not a weekend where I could afford to miss practice so went in to Sunday really unsure and on the back foot.

On Sunday morning I had time for only one practice run which wasn’t great and again put the rear wheel out of true. We got it straightened again in time for the my first race run though. Seeded 13th from the first round results, I crossed the line in 7th but again finished with the wheel rubbing heavily on the frame and requiring another few spokes. I knew that holding on to 13rd was going to be difficult and by the end of the first runs I was 15th. I could tell by the times of my usual competition and some mates that I had a lot of time still in me so was hoping for a solid top 10 come the end of the day. Unfortunately that was the end of the day. We managed to get the bike going again but a number of long red flag periods in some of the other classes had delayed the event too much and with the wind getting up it was decided to halt racing and call it on the single first runs.

I’m still riding the loaned 2010 bike but it had seen a lot of riding even before I got my hands on it and its starting to tell. A complete wheel rebuild and some other TLC is really overdue. With the BDS race at the very tough Glencoe ski resort in under two weeks time I hope my new bike is going to arrive on time.

Photos by Paul Cram http://www.rootsandrain.co.uk/photos/paul-cram/

Katy Curd - South Africa WC1

Katy Curd sent over a couple of posts from her last few races, kicking off with the World Cup in SA.

Last weekend saw the first round of the World cup kick off in Pietermaritzburg, south Africa.

I always find the first world cup the worst, as you’ve been training your tits off for six months solid, all working towards this very race. You never know where you or anyone one else is at in terms of fitness or skills all you can do is get your head in to the game and hope all the hard work has paid off.

Unfortunately as Pietermaritzburg isn’t the closest of races for most people it meant the entry list was minimal with only 9 girls entered. The track is one of the longest tracks on the circuit but not massively technical favouring some of the fitter, stronger riders.

For qualification I thought the times would be fairly spread out as just one little dab of the brake or a slight mistake and you lost so much momentum. The times as expected were pretty spread out, with Anneke Beerten coming in first, closely follow by Anita Molcik and I slotted in third with a time that was a second off Anneke’s.

Racing was made interesting with one off camber corner catching everyone out. In the first Heat it was Anneke up against Melissa Buhl and Celine Gros. Anneke had an comfortable lead from start to finish and left Melissa and Celine to battle it out. Melissa was sat in second for the majority of the race but Celine didn’t give up and just managed to take it on the finish line.

The second heat was Anita Molcik, Fionn Griffiths, Lucia Oetjen and myself. Anita shot out the gate into the lead, and I was sat close behind in second but unfortunately Anita got unluckly on the off camber corner and slipped out hitting the deck fairly hard. As she hit the deck I knew that was it, as I tried to squeeze through on the inside Molcik rolled into me taking me out with her leaving Fionn and Lucia to roll past for an easy ride in to the A Final against Anneke and Celine.

Again to no surprise Anneke had a easy lead for final, leading from the start gate and keeping 1st all the way to the finish. Fionn made a impressive move in the first corner, taking the inside line moved from 3rd up to 2nd. Leaving Celine and Lucia battling it out for 3rd and 4th. Lucia put up a good race but Celine managed to put her downhill skills to good use carrying good speed to the line to take 3rd place leaving Lucia to take 4th.

I was pretty disappointed with my result, six months training and travelled half way around the world just to get taken out. Emotions got the better of me at the end of that race but its now on to Fort William where i will prove i can get the results i have been training all winter for.

WDMBA ROUND TWO, GETHIN 24th APRIL 2011

WDMBA ROUND TWO, GETHIN 24^th APRIL 2011

Gethin, we hadn’t been there since the dying days of the old Dragon Downhill uplifts when Joel was about nine or ten riding his Kona Stinky 24. I remember that it was a freezing day in mid-winter and the mile or so push at the top from the uplift drop off point to the start of the track was a killer for a nine year old pushing a 40lb bike through thick mud shrouded in freezing low cloud.

So we had to decide, do we enter round two of the new Welsh Downhill Mountain Bike Association series or give it a miss? As last week progressed the weather looked like it would hold for the weekend and by Wednesday evening the boys (having chatted to some mates who had entered) decided they wanted to give it a go. A couple of frantic emails to the organisers on Thursday and they were in, many thanks to them for being so accommodating.

We arrived on Saturday morning to be met by a bright, sunny and warm day. Close inspection of the track revealed a dry, superfast, dusty course which had recently seen some revamping but retained lots of the old character including the infamous rock garden. The boys both got on with getting some decent practice under their belts and by mid-afternoon had completed several runs each without any real incidents. The Rose Beef Cake FR’s were running well with the added advantage that after being dropped off at the top they could flick the Pro-pedal on and ride the mile or so to the start ahead of other riders thus having a clear course ahead.

All the discussion through the day centred around which line would be quickest through the rock garden and as a father I have to admit that I didn’t want to advise them or indeed watch them navigate a successful path through this most challenging section of the course. Even Dan Athertons dad looked uncomfortable when Dan came charging through the section.

By early evening, we all agreed that it had been a successful day. No real hold up’s, the uplift had run smoothly, the boys felt they had the course dialled. So it was off to the hotel for a shower, some grub and a good night’s sleep.

Sunday morning and we were greeted by equally bright and dry weather although thankfully a little cooler. We were a little late arriving but the boys were straight into the uplift queue whilst I sorted out our pits. Again they had a solid practice run each before heading up again for their first timed runs.

Racing got under way at 11.30am with the hardtailers and Juvenile riders kicking off the proceedings. Joel had been seeded middle order in youth category so it was a little while to wait for him to make an appearance. He did duly appear with a time of 3.17.4 which I think put him into 11^th place in category. He declared that he had had a clean run but hoped to be able to go faster in his second attempt. Other more experienced riders in his group were having a torrid time.

The junior category followed in which Isaac had been seeded 4^th. We waited by the finish as rider after rider crossed the line with times tumbling towards the 3 minute mark. Could any junior manage a sub-3 minute run? As Isaac approached our hearts were in our mouths as he went 2.59.51 to put him first with three riders left on track. At the end of the category Isaac was placed 4^th but was confident that he could improve on his time in the second run.

Second runs got underway at about 2.30pm. Hardtailers and juveniles were first down followed by the youth category. Joel had a clean run but was unable to improve on his first time coming home in 3.18.58 a second or so slower but at least it showed consistency on his part. Some of the faster riders managed to get the act together to unfortunately push Joel down from 11^th to 15^th place.

Now our eyes were on Isaac, 4^th last on the hill we waited in anticipation. Could he better his first run? The times were tumbling towards the magic 3 minute mark and when Isaac appeared it was clear that he would break his earlier time. He finished in 2.56.57, a little under 3 seconds faster. This pushed him up into 3^rd place with three riders yet to finish. Could he hang on to that position? Two of the riders went slower but one went quicker which slipped Isaac back to 4^th. He told me later that all the way down the track he was saying to himself that he could win this race and he very nearly did missing out by only 2.38 seconds.

So a good fourth placed podium for Isaac. He is still only a first year junior with the three riders ahead of him all in their second year and a solid middle order result for Joel who we believe was the youngest rider in his category and really still recovering from injury. Joel’s consolation was that he got his own little section in the WideOpenMag edit of the event. He’s well chuffed!

The boys would like thank everyone at Rose Bikes for all the support and are very excited about the prospect of taking delivery of their new Beef Cakes in the next couple of weeks or so.

And as to which race to enter next? They think we maybe taking a little run down to Woodland Riders at Tavistock this Sunday for the final push up race of the winter series.

Joel, Isaac and Duncan Anderson

Scottish Downhill Series Round 1 – Ae Forest

The Scottish downhill series got off to a great start on the 16th/17th of April at Ae Forest deep in the south of Scotland. After a 5 hour drive south on Friday afternoon in glorious sunshine, I walked thetrack as the rain started. The track looked quite technical with a horrid look off camber section coming in to the final section before the drop off. The thick tree cover in the middle of the track had kept the sun and wind out and was still pretty muddy which was a shame as over all the track looked pretty quick.

Saturday the 16th – Practice, Warm and sunny

I met up with my good friend Lachlan Blair and we spend the day trying to get a handle on the middle muddy and continually worsening off camber sections. I just couldn’t get a clean run and all the time the roots were getting more exposed. Four runs later and I felt I was getting quicker but still making mistakes. There's a fine line between speed and staying on and I was struggling to find it.

Sunday the 17th – Race Day, Hot and sunny

One practice run on the morning didn’t improve things with a few more falls. I went in to my first race run still unsure how to handle the middle section but soon found the extra adrenalin of racing seemed to do the trick and I was flying error free. Half way down however I was brought up by a red flag. Someone had fallen in the final drop to the finish and was blocking the track. At the bottom I was told to get back up quickly for my re-run. Again I was running well. Fast and error free down over the drop off and in to the big berms. On braking for the tight left turn in to the last drop the front just wouldn’t stick and I went down straight in to a photographer on the outside of the corner. On getting back up and on the bike I found the reason. A front flat. I must have clipped a rock on the exit of the fast berms and not noticed until I needed to turn again. A slow run the last 100 metres got me in 30th of 43 riders. Not a happy bunny at all. My second run in the afternoon was uneventful and maybe I was over tired or something because although if felt OK I was off the pace and came in 7th eventually dropping to 13th.

I started the weekend seeded 6th and thought that was about right so although I had a great time, 13th doesn’t feel like I got what I wanted from it. Last year I’d have been over the moon with 13th so I shouldn’t complain and it is still a decent result.

That should be my last race on the 2010 Rose Beefcake as I’m reliably informed that my 2011 bike is at last on its way. Fort William world cup course next on the 14th/15th of May let’s hope I christen the new bike with a good result.

I’d like to thank Rose Bikes UK for my bike and the SDA for running another great event.

Euan

Photos by Ian Linton and Paul Cram