Katy's Nant Gwrtheyrn.

This weekend was officially the start of the 2011 season for me. It was the first round of the BDS (British Downhill Series) set in Nant Gwrtheyrn, North Wales. It was a new track and a new venue for the BDS so it made for a good season opener.

It was a bit of a weird race for me really. I hadn’t really touched the downhill bike all winter as ive just been focusing on 4X training, so to suddenly hop straight back on my Rose Beefcake and throw myself down a steep, rocky, wet decent and then try to get up to race pace just didn’t feel quite right. Practise was going a bit hit and miss for me, i was going from one real good run to then having the worst run in all of history!

By the time Sunday came around, the weather had decided to take a turn for the worst and not only was it freezing cold, it was pouring with rain to. I was up on the first uplift and smashed out 2 solid runs in before my seeding run both of which went alright so put me in a positive mood for the race. My seeding run didn’t go quite to plan, i was having what felt like a pretty good run, but then coming out of the last technical part of the track, i completely lost concentration and bang that was me over the bars and led on the floor.

Come race run i was back to feeling positive again. I set of from the start line and i was feeling really good. I knew i could go faster but i just wanted to get down and post a time in. As i crossed the line i felt like i had a real good run, I didn’t any major mistakes just felt like it could of been a lot faster. I came in 1st place and remained in the hot seat as another few riders came down. Unfortunately i didn’t stay there for long though, Fionn came down put 13 seconds in to my time, which then soon made me realise i was way of the pace! I ended up in 4th place which i obviously slightly disappointed at but it did make me realise im not going to be able to be at the top of my game in 2 different sports, Ive said at the start of this year i will be concentrating on 4X and thats what ive done, so im just hoping all my 4X training has paid off and i can get some descent results in the bag for that.

I will be putting a few more hours on the downhill bike though before the next round so hopefully i wont be so far of the back of the pack and can improve on my result. Next BDS round – 10th April at Moelfre, so i will keep you updated with my results.

-Katy

BDS Round 1 - Nant G

After a stupidly long drive we turned up to Nant-G on Friday night ready for the first round of the BDS series. What greated us the next morning was something so rare the staff in the cafe were looking a bit confused, Welsh sunshine, and in its rarest form too, the Northern Welsh kind!

The Anderson brothers made the trip up too, with dad Duncan making the epic journey for Isaac to race, Joel had to sit around the pits making "HUCK IT BIG!!" signs after breaking his collar bone last weekend.

Rose Bikes World Cup rider Katy Curd was raring to go during practice, getting a few solid runs in, testing out her new Schwalbe tires in the drying mud. Isaac was also having a good day, but missing his training partner Joel.

End of practice and everyone seemed ready for dinner and a good nights sleep, looking forward to another dry, warm sunny day in the Welsh mountains...

oh.

Sunday morning saw devestation in the pit area. Anyone who hadn't tied down their easy-up was trying to find all the parts and get it ready to take to the scrappy. Luckily the Rose Bikes tent was tethered to Fin's bus. Then the sideways rain started. It didn't stop all day as the clouds rolled off the top of the mountain and down into the valley pit area. Early morning practice saw riders washing their bikes after each practice and tire choice was the only thing being discussed in the uplift que. Katy and Isaac put in a couple of runs before seeding and seemed to be pretty happy with the muddy conditions.

Unfortunately one unlucky rider binned it near the top of the course during seeding which lead to it being canceled and riders racing in number order.

Katy came away with a 4th place run, putting her on the podium (which she loves...) while Isaac got a 34th in his first race on the Beefcake DH.

We're all looking forward to the next race at Moelfre next month!

Unfortunately I can upload photos at the moment, but you can find them on Flickr

Jabba Wood Tested at IMB

IMB just posted this great review and video of the 2011 Jabba Wood.

Read the review and watch the video here

First BDS Race this weekend!

We're busy loading up the bus for the long drive up to Nant G for the first BDS DH race of the season.

Katy is looking to retain her overall title from last year, while the new for 2011 Flow team will be hoping to get off to a great start.

Come and say hello, and feel free to ask Fin complicated questions regarding your forks and shocks, especially on Sunday morning...

Heres a video from last years race, just to get you in the mood!

Simply Downhill's Nant Gwrtheyrn - August 2010 from Colin Jones on Vimeo.

RG Active takes on the "Hell of the Ashdown" Sportive

Rose Bikes UK sponsored riders in the RG Active team took on the "Hell of the Ashdown" Sportive recently, heres what they had to say!

"RG Active had a group of riders all participating which added to the occasion. The weather was looking good and although cold it was dry and that was good enough for me. The registration was quick and easy, which is more than can be said for the bathroom queue. We got changed, set the bikes up and headed to the start line.

The start was very relaxed like the whole atmosphere of the event, it didn’t have the nervous tension that surrounds a ‘race’ so when you were ready you rolled over the mat and you were off. Marsha and myself rode with Josh and Ramsey, so we all had our RG Active cycle kit on and looked great as we followed the signs and marshals into deepest, darkest Kent. The course was brutal, the ascents were long and the descents were steep and on tight twisty lanes that were damp and in some cases so muddy you had to ask if a mountain bike would have been more suitable?

For me personally it was a hard ride, I was in some level of discomfort after a heavy weights session on the previous Thursday meant that I ached everywhere, I couldn’t get to my jersey pockets and every bump and bobble in the road meant pain and suffering for me! but, that was my own fault and I was there for Marsha who is training for Ironman South Africa (only 6 weeks away). I had a mental block at about 75km where I just wanted to climb off, I was cold, I was aching and I was hungry…….. but as anyone who cycles knows, you will always bounce back and that is exactly what happened, I came good and finished the event feeling strong and in much better spirit. Marsha had a fantastic ride as did Josh and Ramsey who are both in the early stages of training for Ironman Nice so as we crossed the line together we all had huge smiles on our faces, and we missed the rain!!!!

To sum up, I would have to say it was a great day. There were plenty of negatives that included bad, muddy roads, not great marshalling, my bike getting filthy, my aches and pains, the grey British weather but you can ignore all of those when you look at what the positives were. I got to spend 4 hours 28 minutes with my Mrs and two friends, travelling around a very pretty part of Britain. On top of that I was doing something that was making me fitter, stronger and something that I love…… riding my bike!"

A day with the Andersons

Jacob Gibbins posted his video of the Anderson brothers riding their Rose Beefcake FR's down at their home trails in Triscombe.

Unfortunately Joel broke his collar bone whilst filming and is going to miss the first BDS race of the season.

Check the video below and then head over to dirt to read a short interview with the boys and some more shots by Milki.

Thanks to Triscombe Uplifts and Jacob Gibbins for the vid.

MBUK Shoot on the Quantocks

Russ just sent over these shots from a recent trip down to the Quantocks with MBUK. I took Jamer, Ric and photographer Russell Burton around my old local trails, at the same time testing out the 2011 Rose Jabba Wood.

For 2011 the Jabba Wood has moved up to the 130mm of rear travel making it the ultimate xc trail bike.

Check out this months MBUK for a write up of the ride!

Photos courtesy of Russell Burton and Mountain Biking UK.

Pre-Season Video

Ive been flat out this week training all over the country. Monday and tuesday i dusted off the downhill bike and headed over to the Forest of Dean for a couple of days downhilling, which took me a while to get back in to but it was wicked fun.

Wednesday through to sunday i was staying with a good friend and awesome bike rider, Tom Dowie. We rode all day every day hitting up trails, 4X tracks, single track and dirt jumps. It was a flat out week and we caught it all on camera so take a look on the link below at our pre-season video and let us know what you think. Enjoy

The Andersons and Milki do some filming.

To kick start the race season the Anderson brothers and Jacob Gibbins spent the day filming and testing out their new Rose Beefcakes down at Triscombe.

Joel sent over a few behind the scenes shots -

Unfortunately Joel also broke his collar bone when he hit a tree. We all wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him at the rest of the BDS races!

Milki's Blog

Borderline Events, Alpine Bikes Scottish Winter Downhill Series Round 2 of 3. A tale of two falls!

Well what a week that was! Driving to Innerleithen on Friday afternoon straight from an Army training course that included sleeping out in the Scottish highlands, I arrived pretty much washed out.

A quick walk of the course on Friday night by torch light showed an interesting course, considerably more technical than the fast course used on the first round. Having said that, it was still a quick track with only the final drop towards the finish looking really tricky, the steep off camber drop that was used in last year’s ‘bobsleigh’ winter round was included too. At least this year it was the mud rather than solid ice that was going to cause problems.

Saturday 5th – Practise – Overcast with light rain.

My first few practice runs were full of errors and crashes including my most spectacular crash to date on the off camber run towards the finish. I must have covered a good 20 metres mostly in the air after clipping a tree with the front of the bike which stopped dead. Luckily I’ve only a few bruises to show for it and the bike only suffered a badly bent front brake lever and twisted bars, both of which were quickly repaired. The remainder of my runs were much better with few noticeable errors and good speed being maintained through-out. I was getting increasingly tired as the afternoon wore on but comfortable with most of my lines. I was also happy with my speed when I called it a day on full runs and started sectioning the difficult but crucial final section. By this time a good number of other riders were doing the same and a crowd of spectators had formed. With great encouragement (mostly Oohs and Aahs and much laughter), lots of lines were tried, some successful and others less so. Time for a shower, some supper and an early night.

Sunday 6th - Race Day – Bright and sunny but still cold.

I did one practice run during the limited Sunday morning practice period and got ready for my first race run pretty confident of a good result in the top 10 and hoping to improve on the first rounds 7th. Seeded 10th I set off but my plans were soon dashed when I fell on a section in the middle of the course that had really not bothered at all me during practice. I was up and away again pretty quickly but still lost too much time and came in a disappointing 14th on 4:00.11. For run two I didn’t have the luxury of taking it easy and knew I had to be both fast and clean to make up for the first run. I knew I was capable of a good result and wanted to prove it. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans. I probably over stretched myself focusing on pure speed and crashed on the upper section this time. Again I got up quickly, recovered the bike and set off again. I made it through where I’d crashed before easily and had another clean run through the final section but the damage had been done. I improved my time but by nothing like enough finishing 12th on 3:55.80.

The Scottish downhill scene is probably one of the most competitive in Europe just now and 12th is nothing to be ashamed of, but I know I can do a lot better. With one round to go I’m sitting in 5th place in the series. My goal now will be to retain this position and improve on the gap to the front.

Photo by Ian Linton

Euan Hird – Rose Bikes Flow Team.

Alpine Bikes 2 - Inners

Flow team rider Euan was racing again last weekend, unfortunately things didn't go as well as the last race. Aftera morning of good practice runs a fall on his first race run put him in at 14^th. With more pressure to improve on the second run Euan over reached and crashed again on a fast section losing quite a bit again. He finished 12^th but was pretty disappointed.

Still Euan is only in his second year of racing so a top 15 finish is pretty good and we cant wait for him to get his new 2011 Beefcake and start pulling in those times!

Photos and more to follow soon!

Rose Bikes now at BikeLab

Rose Bikes UK have partnered with bikelab in poole to bring you our full range of bikes! From next month you will be able to demo bikes and make sure that the bike is set up for you correctly thanks to the amazing bikelab staff. We will also be installing our Konfigurator in store to allow each customer to fully customise their bike.

About bikelab -

Our philosophy is a simple one: have a really nice shop, fill it with great bikes and kit, get knowledgeable but non patronizing staff to offer helpful advice, set up and service bikes to the highest level, and to open the door to let people in. From racers, to weekend warriors and daily commuting heroes, bikelab gets people on the right bikes and helps them get the most out of them.

Bikes will be arriving this month.

Getting ready for the 2011 season

Isaac and Joel Anderson just received a couple of Beefcake FR to test out before their 2011 team bikes show up. They posted a few photos on facebook just riding around the house and look pretty stoked on the rides. Watch out for them at the first BDS of the year at Nant-G.