An end of year round up and thank you.

Since the end of the racing year rumours have abounded as to who’s racing for who and what races will be happening and who’ll be providing what coverage, as the new year approaches we’re starting to hear the truth behind the speculation.

Probably the biggest and most widespread rumours have concerned  Brendon Fairclough and he has now confirmed he’s leaving Monster/Specialized to ride for the Scott 11. I hope he can keep going forward from his run at Champerey and be back on top form after all the trouble with his knee this year. Top rider, top bloke.

These photos may not be related to what I'm saying I just like them

Tracey Moseley has announced she is not retiring as some had speculated but is going to be broadening her horizons having achieved her goals at downhill by being World Champion and World Cup overall winner, she is looking to compete in other disciplines while still making appearances at world cup races through out the year “After 12 years on the World Cup downhill circuit and the achievement of all the goals I set for myself, I felt that the end of 2011 was a perfect opportunityto make a change in direction and pursue some new challenges.” (From traceymoseley.com) Great news from a great inspiration and ambassador for the sport.  

Also after 5 years the Atherton family are leaving Commencal for pastures new, current rumour suggests they will be riding for GT, this is backed up by the UCIs announcement of their elite teams for next season which does not feature the Atherton Commencal team but has GT in the same spot as the Athertons held last year (though to me this last point seems to be clutching at straws).

 Danny Hart has once again stomped the opposition but this time in a vote for ride of the year; his winning World Champs run in Champerey took nearly 60% of the vote leaving Road, Track and one lone Cross Country race (Annie Last) to share out the other 40+%. I saw one guy in my pub showing the video to his mates on his phone, when I collected glasses from the table and made a comment about Rob Warner they all looked a bit confused. I should also mention Mark Cavendish and his resounding win of Sports Personality Of The Year. While I often see road racing as the mainstream face of cycling I try to remember that it’s still not mainstream in the eyes of the general public.

Go on  lets watch it once more.

Hopefully this year’s results in the Tour de France, SPOTY and the video of Danny Hart going viral will push the sport into the limelight a bit more attracting new and bigger sponsors and increasing accessibility to viewing all disciplines.

Speaking of watching the sport, DH1, which I have previously said would be another race series hoping to offer the best possible viewing for at home audiences, has announced that it may not go ahead after-all. This is because Red Bull TV have announced they will be covering the UCI world cup series and will be providing what should be amazing coverage. Ray from DH1 has said he is considering the future of his planned series but can’t beat Red Bull and that no matter what this is a great step forward for the sport even if DH1 doesn’t go ahead. Full announcement here.

After the UCI ditched the 4X world cup series the teams and riders got together and as previously reported created a new world series which will be called 4XProTour and will take place at several of the World Cup Downhill weekends including Fort William. Great news for riders teams sponsors, organisors fans and those of us who volunteer year on year at the  events. Hopefully this first year will be a great success and lead to further growth in the discipline.

In terms of my own riding I would like to say a massive thank you to Architrail and Bristol Trails Group for all their hard work in making Ashton Court and Brunel Pump track up to such great standards that top riders from across the UK have come to ride them and turned Bristol into one of the foremost mtb areas in the UK, as unlikely as that may seem to many people. On top of this it has allowed me to ride different styles of trail from what I’ve been used to up in Scotland and greatly improved my skill and fitness levels in the last 6 months. I can’t wait to ride the trails at Leigh Woods in the new year now they’re open. One last thank you is to all the girls who ride at Ashton Court who by their sheer presence encourage me not to get off and push up hills and to generally try not to look as unfit and unhealthy as I am. 

Of course a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who has read any of my posts!

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!

Pumptrack Challenge and Party!

First up sorry it’s been a month since my last post, while there’s a lot been happening I’ve not had the chance to sit down and concentrate on writing a piece, hopefully this will mean I play catch up with a few close together updates. We’ll start with the DMR Pumptrack Challenge and the Wideopen Magazine end of season party. Amazing competition followed by an awesome party!

The DMR Pumptrack Challenge was held a few weeks ago at the new Brunel way pump track. It was a gloriously sunny day, if a bit chilly by the end. I rode down towards the end of the competition as I’d had a heavy one the night before, and there were quite a few people watching as well as those competing, I arrived in time to see the semi – finals of all categories which consisted of Rippers (kids I think), Womens, Open and Elite Mens. In order to keep the racing fast pedal strokes were allowed which caused a few comments online after the event but it seemed to add to the competition and certainly made me feel better about not being able to make it round without a few cranks in here and there.

As with the Ritchey Oktoberfest weeks before, Bristol became the UK focus for mountain biking with top riders such as Scott Beaumont mixing with kids and local riders. The action of the competition was enhanced by some great commentary and the Monster Energy van pumping out tunes and freebies being handed out as well as the Exploder challenge, which pitted two people against each other attempting to blow up an inner tube, first to pop won.

The racing itself was a single timed lap, apart from the Elite men who got a warm up lap, with ever decreasing numbers going through to the next round, The kids were hitting it as hard as the adults and some of the open category times were very similar to those of the Elites. Scott Beaumont didn’t make it to the final and finished in 6^th place with Ben Baker taking the top spot, the women’s event was won by Jess Greaves, the Open won by Stephen Russell and Joel Anderson winning the Rippers category. Full results here.

As the sun fled below the horizon the temperature dropped and the awards ceremony was held under the flyover while people flooded to get a quick blast on the track before it was too dark and others pulled G-turns and 180 hops chatting and giving tips to each other before heading off to prepare for the Wideopen Mag/ Monster Energy end of season party.

When I got to the party at Warehouse in town I was confronted by a bar packed with mountain bike fans, riders, writers, photographers and film makers. World Champions and former World Champions were there; this was apparently the party to be at. I swiftly availed myself of the free Monster and tried several shots just to see what they tasted like with various flavours of the energy drink. 

Moving through the party chatting to random people and seeing Brendan Fairclough, Josh Bryceland, Manon Carpenter, Sam Pilgrim amongst many others getting drunk, dancing and having a good time. As ever the best in the world are always up for chatting to people and having a laugh, as was made apparent when Olly Wilkins crawled on the floor towards my crotch as part of a dare game, encouraged loudly by Sam Pilgrim. This was a brilliant event which rivalled (and in some ways beat.) the Sunday night party at the Fort William World Cup round. On returning home I stuck 3 Minute Gaps on, for some reason I couldn't sleep, and watched the same people I'd just been getting drunk with ripping it on their bikes.