UK Gravity Round 2, Innerleithen, 27th & 28th April 2013

Seagull's 'ere!

So I guess this is a little late for the write up (Lee: yep.... been tapping my foot impatiently here!) but life's been getting busy for us both this year with the big house move!  Finally got around to it though, here's our take on round 2 of the UK Gravity Enduro Series. 

(The selfie!)

The race took place at the legendary mtb venue of Innerleithen.  This crazy hillside has been a favourite of ours for years, it dosen't seem to matter if you're crashing your brains out in the mud or spitting up dust in the dry!  It's actually claimed many injuries for both of us over the years, from broken wrists to dislocated fingers and torn ligaments. I first raced there on the back of The Development bus back in 1999 (back in the 'Teesdale Development' years!) if I remember correctly, but shit, that makes me feel old! Nonetheless the point is the place still totally rule the roost! It's fast, dangerous and damned fun.....

(Copyright of Steve Wyper)

Arriving at the venue on the Friday was an exciting time; last year's race totally favoured the downhillers with steep fast technical tracks, we expected more of the same again.  For me though it didn't really live up to the expectations, it seemed the emphasis was more on fitness than fun, not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just not really how my lazy arse does things!  They had three tracks I really loved though so I came home smiling any how!

(Copyright of Ian Linton)

It was great weekend regardless, it was challenging and that's what it's all about.  Results wise we were both pretty happy with how it turned out considering how physical it was.  By her own admission, Angie found the race demanding, she pushed damned hard though and put in some awesome times. She didn't finish as high as she'd have liked but she wasn't off the pace by a long chalk just a smidge back from the big dogs up front, she's putting up a good fight in the Elite women's category.

(Copyright of Ian Linton)

I struggled with the pedally tracks as usual, but dug deep and did my best, staying clean for most of the day.  Track 4 made the whole weekend for me, it was a blend of everything really, trail centre type stuff with an awesome natural start and finish, muddy as hell down a steep shoot!  My arms were battered but I was laughing my arse off the whole way.  After a long day I finished up in 16th position out of over 140 entrants in the Master's category, not too shabby. 

(Copyright of Steve Wyper)

Overall it was a tough weekend racing for us both and probably everyone else, but it was also good one too racing with our weapon freinds and being treated to huge curry on the saturday night made all the difference, thanks for the hospitality from or little flapjack-making friends!

Curry night; the lovely Tracy B at the back next to the Segull and Angie then T-Mo and James Richards

Oh, and I forgot the main thing, big thanks to the team boss Lee Walker for sorting us out in time for the race, not only with all the product support but if it wasnt for you Big Dog I wouldnt have had my bike ready in time to compete.  Big thanks for pulling some strings to get me sorted. :)

The Weapons! Seagull, Sarah Newman, Helen Gaskell, Angie Coates....muddy as hell and loving it!

Next up is round 3 or the Gravity Enduros at Hamsterley Forest, our local wrecking ground... We're both buzzing our socks off for that one!!!

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Into The Woods..... Scottish Downhill Series Round 1, Innerleithen, 21st April 2013

Sorry to keep y'all waiting out there, I'm so outta practise with the team blog shizzle, it's Nick here.....

First race of the year, so I was pretty excited, neither Chris nor me attended the first round of the British Downhill Series the week before as it was held at Combe Sydenham which is a very long way to travel for what is in effect a flat as a pancake pootle through their woods!  A controversial comment there, I know!  So this weekend was the first opportunity to gauge myself against the other riders.

This was the first round of the SDA's at Innerleithen which is a superb venue with some great tracks.  Got to the pits really late in the evening and didn't have time to walk the track.  In hindsight, after the first practise run on Saturday morning, I wish I had taken a torch and gone up the mountainside as there were so many lines to choose from. 

Photo copyright of Paul Mears

I am waiting for my new Team-Issue FTW Industries 'FB10' downhill frame to arrive from the 'States before fitting all of the new kit so sent my Boxxer forks off to the guys at TF Tuned for some TLC.  As usual they came back working as sweet as a nut, thank you so much guys, you rule!   The bike was running damned good and the course's conditions were only a tad moist which made for a nice change as of late.  Track wise, well it had a bit of everything to put me and the bike through its paces.  Some real nice tight technical sections, some big jumps and some flat out sprints.

Photo copyright of the awesome Ian Linton

Unfortunately due to the good old Post Office being so incredibly efficient (quite!) I was unable to collect my new DFender mud guard which would have been a great advantage however my 100% goggles and laminated tear offs did a great job of keeping the cack out of my eyes!

Photo copyright of Steve Wyper

My last practice run was going well, I was riding fast and hitting most of my lines bang-on.  Coming into the last jump section near the bottom of the track there were a load of spectators indicating for me to slow down, which I did, one of the trackside marshalls told me to carry on so I started to pick my speed back up.  Due to being out of sync with the track I hit the first jump awry, usually I was hitting it perfectly lined up and flat out.  It went all to hell on landing and my head took the hard brunt of it, very grateful to my Urge lid for protecting my youthful looks!  I was feeling pretty dazed so left it at that for the day.

Photo copyright of Steve Wyper

Race day hit and there had been a bit of rain over night so the track was a little slicker.  In the morning's practice session I was a little more cautious, pulled back a fair bit, but I guess that's understandable though.  Having said that I was feeling darned good for race runs.  On the first run I washed out across one of the fire roads which costing me a little time, that really hacked me off as I was on it.   Took that annoyance into my second run and really tried to nail it, shaved off 6 seconds, that's not too shabby but I was off the pace.  The crash in practise gave my confidence a hit.

Next up is the first round of the Northern Downhill Series at Kidland, I will be on it!

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Borderline events, Innerleithen, 24th February 2013

Chris Foster takes over the crib: Well I arrived fashionably late at the venue (around midnight) to find something reminsent of an old NAMBS race.  A few fires and a few daft arses keeping the campsite awake.. for once not me though!  It would have been rude of me to ignore the atmosphere so a few rums were necked and I was off to bed.

Up for an early morning and a brisk track walk.  Quote of the weekend goes to newby racer Peter Woods for 'You could hang a hoodie from my nipples', it were a wee bit cold y'see! The track was simple, fast and a safe option considering the weather at this time of year, it was taped by Lewis Buchanan, and he sure knows his stuff, so yeah, Mike Marsden got himself a good track. 

Practice was kept to four runs for me, having not been on the bike for a while I wanted to stay fresh.  It was slow going at first but started to get there by the end of the day, the track was enjoyed by most and it was great to see a lot of first time racers there.  All seemed pretty stoked to being part of it, if not a bit nervous.  We had an early night and found the party folks from the previous evening must have learned their lesson as it had all thankfully quietened down.

After another cold night, up early (for me anyway) and out for a practise run, just the one as it's a long ride along that Inners road, especially in the bleedin' cold weather.  Got my race lines all sorted I had a wee walk up the bottom of the track for a little entertainment... only to find I would spend the next hour looking after a potential spinal injury, great!

Racing soon got underway and the times rolled in as most people stayed warm in their cars. The track was hard up top for my race run but grippy as can be, awesome... if only my riding was too!  Had a sketchy first run, trying too hard to put a good time in after so long off the bike took its toll and I hit the deck, not far from the end of the track. 

(Photo copyright of Ian Linton)

Second run came around quickly, as I spent the most of my time trying to sort a brake that failed on the first run.  Big thanks going out to Jamie Johnson for taking some time out to get that sorted for me,  Boshed on up the hill with my bruised arse and to make matter's worse I fell out of the uplift bus and bashed my arse again, bugger! 

(Photo copyright of Ian Linton)

The plan for run two was to take it easy, conserve energy and get all my lines sweetly dialled in, that was a conscious effort not to pedal aside from the start and finish straight.  At the top of the hill light was fading fast and we were blessed with snow, this made for some interesting possibilities on track.  I found it really good though and managed all that I wanted, absolutely class!  Well apart from the brake which I guess has to go back to Hope, It's new and just doesn't wanna work!  So yeah, steady as planned and not too bad a time considering.

(Photo copyright of Steve Wyper)

The race was won by Lewis Buchanan, with an awesome time, Jack Reading second followed closely by Adam Brayton and then Pete Williams who are both coming back from injury.  So good times for them two. Dave Wardell put in a stonking time in Masters, showing all the young lads how it should be done and indeed showing that the old school are still shining!

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First Of The Year... Alpine Bikes Innerduro, 3rd February 2013

Here's the Seagull with the low down....

2013 has officially begun and it's time to get these enduro's a-rollin'.  The first of the No Fuss Gravity Enduro series isn't until March and due to spending most of the winter riding my cross country bike I was in need of something to get me back into the gnarly side of things again!

This past weekend saw the start of Alpine Bikes' 'Innerduro' series at Innerleithen on the Scottish Borders. Round one is a casual and chilled out three-stage enduro where the emphasis is more on riding with your mates and having a laugh rather than worrying about positions and all that bollocks!

I was kinda expecting the tracks to be fairly light and easy going, something to ease everyone back into racing but I once again underestimated the Scots!!  These tracks were wild, hard as hell and as mean as they come!  Each stage seemed to involve riding in the deepest ruts whilst holding on to ya bars by ya teeth, contending with big drifty corners and leg-bursting climbs, it certainly wasn't to be shrugged at.  Without a shadow of doubt this was an enduro with attitude, you needed to be fit and in tip-top condition, both physically and mentally.  Parts of the stages seemed like you were in the middle of the most horrible cross country race but then all of a sudden you were presented with the most challenging downhill sections known to man... it absolutely bloody ROCKED!!

On the rocks.... Photo copyright of Steve Wyper, www.stevewyper.co.uk

Race wise things didn't exactly go to plan, I flipped it over the bars like a fanny on stage one which was hilariously funny and received an applause from the spectators!  My own fault, I was kinda hanging and lost control like a nugget, but that's racing for ya!  It didn't seem to matter too much anyway as I reckon everyone crashed somewhere!

I had also been dabbling in the world of tubeless tires and decided to put my trust into them for the race! Unfortunately during stages 2 and 3 on the fastest of the tracks, the back tire burped and I lost all the pressure, dammit!  On the plus side, there was still enough air in there to get me to the finish on both stages but it meant I couldn't ride as I wanted. 

Nonetheless it was one of the best weekends racing In a long while, I manage to finish up 25th in the combined category so I'm kinda happy with that all things considered.  It was a great weekend riding with me mates getting loose on the crazy Scottish hillside that is Innerleithen.  It doesn't get much better.....

Photo by the Tea Lady AKA Peter Tiplady, fettled with via the mobile app Snapseed...

Got to make a shout out to both Helen Gaskell and Sarah Newman for dominating the women's category too, They rode awesome all weekend.  Next time we'll have Angie alongside too...

Now super excited for round one of the Gravity Enduro's at Afan Forest with the 'Weapon crew'!!  Bring it!

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