Glentress calling...

I took a visit up to the Hotlines HQ this weekend up in Edinburgh to go and get my Leatt neck brace fitted properly. Despite the 7 hour drive and it being pretty good dam cold, it was a real good weekend.

Friday consisted mostly of driving, fitting my brace, a brisk stroll around Edinburgh city centre and an early night ready for riding. Saturday we woke up to surprisingly good weather and headed straight for Glentress. We hit up the red run and half way round split off and hit up some secret trails which I have to say were probably the best thing ive ridden in the UK! Steep sharp corners, roots everywhere and pretty fast paced, the Rose Granite Chief was loving everything I was throwing at it.

After our epic 3 hour xc ride we hit up the freeride park and started throwing down some mad skills, the term ‘Goon riding’ comes to mind!! I could see people were jealous we had so much style!

Have to say thank you very much to Pete Scullion for putting up with us for the weekend, showing us the awesome trails and teaching me some new tricks! It was a another weekend well spent, loving riding right now!

TCR Show this weekend!

Come down to the TCR show at Sandown Park this weekend to check out our 2011 TT bike! We've got loads of prizes and things to give away so come say hello, there's even a 10k run if you fancy it, we'll cheer you on from the bar!

Scottish Winter Series Race Day

Sunday 6th Feb – Race Day


I got up on Sunday morning to find the met office were wrong again. Steady rain was falling in place of the forecast ‘bright with sunny spells’. With limited morning practice time available, I just did one run to check the conditions and found very poor visibility due to the mud flying off the tyres but better grip as the rain had loosened the really heavy stuff.


Race run 1.
I made the wise decision to carry a clean dry pair of goggles with a couple of tear offs in a plastic bag up to the start. Setting off at 30 second intervals I caught and passed the rider in front very quickly as the poor guy was already stopped to take off his goggles. I pushed on through the fast upper section but was already aiming for a safe ride down rather than taking too many chances in the every worsening conditions. I made a few minor mistakes, getting off my ideal line, but I was having difficulty seeing through the mud on my lenses. Trying to find a suitable place to tear off was difficult but I’m glad I did in the middle section. With clear vision I hit the lower fast section and pushed on again. A winter mostly off the bike and was starting to tell by now though and I entered the technical bottom section with tired legs, a pounding chest and again little visibility. I probably took this section a little slow which meant I didn’t carry enough out on to the run to the finish which again required a big push. Crossing the finishing line in 2nd place was great but I doubted I’d keep that for long as I’d been seeded well back. I dropped to 3rd quickly but to my surprise I stayed there for quite a long time, eventually dropping back to 6th as the top seeds came in. I was still only 5 seconds off 3rd though so happy and with room for improvement on my 2nd run. Stuart and Ross Wilcox the hot favourites were 1st and 2nd and really out of reach even after just the first run.


Race run 2.
I knew I had to go for it and pick up the vital 5 seconds that mattered. Even though two hours of steady rain had passed since my first run, the track wasn’t really any worse. I really pushed on through the top and middle sections again and felt I’d maybe made a few second up on my first run. Again thought I was tiring by this stage and didn’t manage to capitalise on any advantage I’d gained. Still too slow through the lower section and out to the finish, I crossed the finish line in 4th place. I’d managed an improvement of 4.9 seconds which was not quite enough for 3rd and there were still a lot of fast guys to come. Unfortunately even though the Wilcox twins didn’t improved, some of the others did and I dropped down to 7th.


Although I was a little disappointed to see myself dropping back down the table I really shouldn’t be. This is my best result to date and a steady improvement in my percentage of the winning pace. The Beefcake performed well all weekend and must take a lot of credit for my improved result. To continue improving I need to work on my fitness and get some more time to get used to the bike. The bike doesn’t need to do anything to improve.


Full results now on roots and rain

Photos and video below. Thanks to my dad for shooting the video!

Scottish Winter Downhill Series Round One 2011 from John (Bigfoot) Hird on Vimeo.

Photos by Ian Linton

Katy Curd - Chicksands

Took a little trip to chicksands yesterday for a day of training. Chicksands is always an ideal place to go training in the UK winter weather as it rides well in what ever weather and to be honest it probably rides a little better in wet/damp conditions.

The 4X is running as good as ever right now and to top things off the new dual slalom track is now open to all and is running schweet! Its so fast and smooth, its so much fun. There were few 10+ man trains going down there yesterday. Keep your eyes peeled for a dual slalom race soon. I managed to get a good few gates in too! Last year my skills on the gate were more than poor so this year I have been focussing on getting them dialled, I'm starting to finally feel some improvement so lets hope it helps when the race season finally arrives.

I certainly picked the right day to go there as well as it seemed like half the UK's racers were there shredding it up to. It always makes it a good day when you've got some good mates around to ride with and a good place to ride. I ended having a real good day and it definitely wont be long before im back there again.

Scottish winter series starts

Euan Hird the Scottish representative of the Rose Bikes Flow team made his debut on the Beefcake DH in round one of the Alpine Bikes Scottish downhill winter series on the weekend of the 5th and 6th of February at Innerleithen in the Scottish Borders. Riding a 2010 Beefcake loaned by Rose UK until his new 2011 bike arrives he instantly started to feel the promise this bike offers over his Iron Horse of last year.

Saturday was practice day on a very fast and open track, not at all like anything he'd seen at Innerleithen before. Heavy rain leading up to the weekend had flooded the whole carpark and left the hill very wet and muddy. Luckily Inners has a good solid base so the course was still perfectly rideable. Euan got to grips with the track pretty quickly and was loving it but struggling to find a fast line through the muddy and technical final section. A big fall on his third run while trying a new line showed he was really trying but it did't dent his confidence or the bike. A couple more runs and he was feeling more comfortable with the whole track. He finished the day really looking forward to race day tomorrow.

The Wideopen boys sent over the interview, so you can now read it here!!

Anderson Updates!

Joel and Isaac Anderson are on our Flow team this year and kicked things off at the Forest of Dean Mini DH last month. Having just moved up a category Joel did really well to finish mid order in youth, his first race in youth. Isaac however won the junior category (again his first race since moving up a category). 7th overall on the day. Result!!

They kept things moving at the Triscombe Uplifts race with Isaac 1st in Junior, 5th overall. Just behind Lee Huskinson, Duncan Ferris, Ashley Mallane and one senior. Joel turned in an impressive 4th in youth.

Pretty good start to the new year, lets hope they can carry it over to the BDS series!

Photo by rupert haffenden

Charlie Watts Winter Training

Our dirt jump rider Charlie Watts has been riding all winter, getting ready for another summer of contests in the UK and Europe. He sent us a few shots from Woburn and all the skateparks he has been riding, but said he had to keep the banger tricks secret until the summer!! Cant wait to see them! Thanks to Jon Ashelford for the shots.