Scottish Downhill Series - Glencoe 23rd - 24th May 2015

The Scottish Downhill juggernaut rolled into Glencoe, a course I've done well on in the past and I was hungry for it.  Set off from home on Friday afternoon and arrived at dinner time, got everything sorted out and heading up for a track walk.  The course had hardly changed from previous events with the exception of resurfacing at the bottom while up top was boggy in places and I was hoping it would dry out before practice got underway.

Saturday morning and I woke up in an oven with the sun's rays beating down on my tent, sorted my kit, signed on, fitted my number board and with a cooked breakfast in my stomach I headed up to the gondola for the first runs.

The first few were good, got all my lines dialled in and my FTW was on rails feeling perfectly at home on the rough terrain, it caused me no problems all day.  Towards the end of practice I came to the most challenging part of the track and although pushing myself I was keeping the bike at a controlled pace when all of a sudden my front wheel washed out underneath me and I flipped off the bike smashing my knee up off a sharp rock.  Although I was wearing knee pads I couldn’t stand and had to sit trackside for a while.

The pain didn't subside so I cruised down to the car park to get it checked out, my knee had swollen up like a tennis ball and I had minimal movement in my leg. Absolutely gutted that this had happened, not only was I unable to race the next day but having gone to the A&E that evening I was advised that it would need time to heal and therefore I am not allowed to race the World Cup at Fort William, I am feeling absolutely devastated.

Jamie.

Ae up - Scottish Downhill Championships Ahoy, 25th & 26th April 2015

The Development had three of their lads racing but just two reports again; Monsieurs Nelly and Newrick taking over......

Nelly: After a good weekend with the British Downhill Series at Ae we were back up there for the Scottish Downhill Championships.  The track walk left a lot of riders surprised with the course designers' omission of the coffin jump, step-down and elevator sections.  I was concluding that the track would be pretty bad, come Saturday morning the rain had done its work and left us all with a wet and slippy course laced with polished roots and tacky mud.  It was gonna be a fun one!

Newrick: I travelled up with my aunt in the camper van on Friday evening which was awesome, a nice chilled drive up through the Borders, parked up had some food and then turned in early to keep me feeling fresh.

The first run down on Saturday was great up top however I hit the stump gap all squirrelly and binned it hard!  That took the wind out of me, got back up, back on it and back down to the bottom, a quick once over of the bike and then straight back up to the top again. The rest of the day was a steady progression as I got used the track, it was fluid and fast and my bike was handling amazingly well.

Nelly: I was doing a few runs with Luke Birkett from the We Love Mountains Downhill Team and we were both starting to nail our lines, despite a funny tumble earlier on in the day my confidence grew significantly and I was feeling hyped up for Sunday's race runs.

Tom Nelson

Newrick: Sunday morning hit and I managed to get two practise runs under my belt as the uplifts were running great as was the track and indeed my good self on both runs!  Back up and soon out of the gate on my first race run, not too bad but way too slow and I was cursing myself for it.

Nelly: Thankfully the rain had kept clear over night and the course was running sweet, my first race run was a tad too chilled out and I cross the line in tenth place which I knew I could improve on.

Newrick: My second race run was bang on the buck bar taking the previous BDS event's race line instead of the current SDA one, I lost some time with this but crossed the line in 19th place in the youths and with a faster time to my first run.  Overall it was a good weekend.

Tom Newrick

Nelly:  My second run was fuelled by coffee and a flapjack, as I headed to the top on the uplift I was thinking of where I could improve my time and noted that the rain clouds were starting to roll in again.  After a tiny patter of rain drops it was thankfully gone as soon as it arrived and I was on the course.  The top section was totally nailed in and my bike was taking the pummelling with ease, I stayed fluid and crossed the line shaving three seconds off my previous time putting me in eighth place in the youths, I was fairly happy with that.

Jamie had some good runs throughout the weekend but was hindered by a puncture on his second race run, despite that he placed seventh in the Juniors.

Jamie Stewart

Next up is the English Champs with all the lads, see you all there.

SDA 2015 Series Opener - Innerleithen, 28th - 29th March

Jamie and Tom headed up to Innerleithen last weekend for the opening round of the Scottish Downhill Series, both riders are on a new team and riding new bikes, did it all play to their favour though?  Here's how they got on....

Jamie:

It was time for the first round of the Scottish Downhill Series at Innerleithen in the Tweed Valley.  Although it was exciting to get back into racing again I was feeling nervous having only received my new Development team-issue Frank The Welder bike a week before and indeed having only ridden it once prior.

Tom:

Saturday, 7:30am and the rain was coming down so heavily that I was reluctant to even get out of bed, a cosy duvet is my best friend!   There’s a race weekend to be had though so I clambered out and got straight into my riding kit, had breakfast, grabbed the bike and then rode along the track to meet up with my mates.  The plan was to get the early uplift and be the first lot down the track. That first run down the course was immense and I was blown away by how well my FTW bike was eating up the rugged terrain, I was progressively gaining more confidence as the day went on and was in love with the track, it was running totally fluidly.

Jamie:

I was raring to go and start practising regardless to the rain.  I took my first run cautiously and cruised down hitting all my lines. The track was challenging and I had to stay 100% focused as it was easy to be caught out.  My second and third runs were much better where it felt like I was riding at a good pace and hitting my lines square on, perfect.  After my last run I was feeling happy and confident with my riding.

Race day

Jamie:

I got up and stuck on my kit for a practise run before the racing got under way, the track had changed a lot with more exposed roots to take into account.  It was just after the first greasy section where I was kicked off my line and hit a tree with the side of my hand, the pain went straight though my palm.  I cruised back down to the pits and got some ice on it to make sure I could try and get a race run in.

Back up and on the start line waiting for the beep.  Off I went on my first run, it was feeling fast and I was nailing my lines.  This was until about half way down when my hand suddenly became very painful, it was hard to hold onto the bars and made me slow down a little.  By the time I was hitting the bottom section of the track I was two-finger braking which was really sketchy however I managed to get a full run in.  Crossed the line with a decent time of 3m 18s, which put me into 8th position in the Juniors.  Due to the pain in my hand I reluctantly pulled out of the second run in case of further injury.

Tom:

Like Jamie I decided to only do one practice run, saving myself for the races later in the day. I stayed fluid on the bike, the track was nice and sticky giving some good grip in the corners and the exposed roots were not as bad as I was expecting them to be.

My first race run went well; straight out of the gate and sprinting to the first right hander as fast as I could. It all went quickly without any mishap and I crossed the line in fourth place only to be knocked back into fifth by the next rider down and it was there that I remained.

My second run started almost as well, I pinned the technical section that everyone was struggling with and carried on down the track however mis-judged a corner and lost a load of time.  Got back on the bike and up to speed, the adrenaline had kicked in and I was trying too hard resulting in a second mishap on the lower steep corners resulting in a much slower time to my first run and I dropped down to the 13th place in the Youths.

Despite the outcome of this weekend it was a great experience of getting the new FTW bike up to race pace, all in it was good weekend and has set me in good stead for the BDS at Ae Forest.

Jamie:

Overall it was a 50/50 weekend for me, I was happy about coming 8th in a strong field of juniors but the ‘what could have been’ nagged somewhat.  There are however many positives to take away from this race and I am determined to get to the next race and push harder.

We would both like to thank Lee Walker at The Development Racing and Stewart Wood at We Love Mountains Ltd, and not forgetting the legend that is Frank The Welder, for all of their help in the off-season with getting our FTW bikes put together.

Onto the next race!

You can follow The Development's shenanigans on their Facebook here; The Development Racing Team

Under the shadow of the mighty Aonach Mòr.... Scottish Downhill Series, Fort William, 8th September.

Oh summer please come back, you weren't meant to leave us all so suddenly, what is this deluge of water from the skies that we're all caught up in?! 

First thing's first, my new FTW Industries Odysseus is built and ready to rock, quite literally across this weekend.  Excited?  Much!  Time to give the new ride a shake down.

Photo copyright of Ian Linton

All kitted up I grabbed the gondola and took the steady ascent to the start gate, 1,221 metres further up the mountain, my plan was more or less straight forward; first few runs taking it easy and just cruising down, scoping the course out as I went.  As expected the track was pretty cut up after all the abuse it had seen through the season, and with that said, the bike was riding smoother than one of Ella Fitzgerald's songs!  

Photo copyright of Ian Linton

Fort William in a nutshell is brutal, flat out and rough, it separates the wheat from the chaff. The wooded section was an eye-opener, some damned slippy roots in there to catch out the unwary and a million lines to choose from.  It was largely a case of point and shoot towards the big drop at the end which was causing a lot of issues for people resulting in a bottle neck. This made practice tough going, out of my six runs I only managed to hit it twice as there was always someone in the way.  Here's an idea guys..... stand back and let riders on the course past instead of standing in the middle of the track! With that section out of the way it became easier, I say this loosely, it's a big pedal fest, totally flat out up the big wall ride followed by the infamous Hazard Hoofer which was a gap jump over a stream. From there you take the death grip onto your bars, slam down onto the jump strewn motorway section and pedal like a demon possessed to the finish line. 

Practice was simply awesome fun, the new bike was amazing to ride, Frank's moved the pivot point and beefed it all up resulting in a totally solid as plush as you like no flex back end, totally confidence inspiring!  A little while later a red flag popped up whilst a rider was being scraped off the track so me and my mates took the Red Route down to the bottom which was great fun too.  All in all practice went very well with no real drama.

Come Sunday we decided to head up on the early gondola lifts which gave us a clear view of the track below, we were watching an old friend who just got back into racing again, Zac Hubery, and previous World Champ Danny Hart.  Shame I couldn't keep up with Danny long enough to steal some sneaky lines though, damn!

Photo copyright of Ian Porter

Back at the pits I got the bike primed up for my race runs, the new Goodridge hydraulic hose was worth its weight in gold, Hayes Prime Pro brakes are a great at the best of times but once you add these babies into the equation you're totally dialled in.  Grabbed another gondola and chilled out for a bit, soon in the start gate with the 15 seconds being called and then hearing the dreaded "RED FLAG!" over the radio, it's total head fuck when that happens, you lose your mental preparation.  After a slight delay I was off out the gate and it was me against the mighty Aonach Mor!  The top section was clean and so damned fast, got into the woods hit the drop, lost control and got up, close and personal with a tree trunk, balls!  I was soon back on the gas and sprinting down the mountainside, the bike was quite literally swallowing all of the jumps, I was loving it.

Second run was a simple case of making no cock ups!  Out of the gate and going hell for leather, not bad going, berm, rocks, platform, berm, rocks, berm, berm, rocks, hit the top of one of the faster corners too hard, brake, brake, brake, stayed on, phew....lost speed, bugger!  Literally screaming at myself "GET ON IT!", straight into the woods, stayed smooth off the big drop and took a new line which although a little slower gave me more control.  Carried on pushing, 'bam-bam-bam', the bike was ploughing through everything in its wake, hit the motorway my thighs were screaming with lactic acid build up, I had to keep sprinting, struggling through the pain and clearing the jumps, down the final drops and across the finish line to pure relief.  That course is pure punishment, no two ways about it.

Photo copyright of Ian Linton

This was my last race before I tie the knot in October.  I want to take some time here to thank all of the team's sponsors without which I would not be able to do all of this.  First and foremost to Frank for the amazing frames, Dave Keningale for the awesome team strip design, Sun-Ringle wheels, Silverfish, The Hive, Decade Europe, Hayes brakes, Goodridge hose, Burgtec pedals and bars, Powa Products Dfender mud guards, Urge helmets, Thomson stems and posts, SDG saddles. RockShox forks, Oury grips, Ride 100 Percent goggles, the fantastic support from Berghaus outdoorwear and last but by no means least the guys at TF Tuned for their technical support throughout the season.  Oh, and that Lee Walker geezer doesn't do a bad job either ;)

THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU GUYS!