British Downhill Series Success!

As of the end of the national downhill series I was placed 2nd overall for 2013! I couldn't have asked for any more this year, it was a fantastic national season and even though I was unable to attend the fifth and final round due to a back injury 2nd overall is a brilliant result.

I'd like to say thanks to Matt @ Ison for the Halo wheels and Gusset/Renthal products as well as Pat @ Ison for the Banshee and MRP products that helped me get on to so many podiums this year.

Halo Wheels Ad!

Check out the July edition of Dirt Magazine to see the new Halo Chaos DH wheels advert featuring yours truly!

Thanks to Matt@Ison for organising the ad!

BDS Round 4 Llangollen

For BDS number 4 we returned to North Wales for the rider scare-er that is Llangollen. With it's steep gradient, amazing corners and deep ruts it was always going to be an awesome race regardless of the weather, which luckily was brilliant!

Come Saturday practice we were up early like excited little puppies and heading over to the track to get cracking, they were using the new-ish squirrel track. First run down (even though I'd walked the track) I got a bit wild trying a new grass chute line and incidentally went over the bars on a tiny little double, luckily I got away with it but my pride was off to A+E!

Chilling... 3 Minute Gaps and putting the steed to bed.

 It didn't seem to be going too well on Saturday so after 3 horrendous runs filled with carnage and crashes I decided to call it a day, pack up and have a re-grouping session with a couple of mates... dorito and foster!

Waking up Sunday morning, the Sun was still shining and I was feeling pumped for a day of racing. As the morning unfolded, the impossible happened, and not only did most people (myself included) get 3-4 runs in, it was 3-4 runs at Llangollen!

After quali was done I'd come down in 5th place but I knew that I still had a bit more in the tank... i was still yet to win a BDS this year so was hungry for some gold! My race run probably turned out to be the ride of the year so far for me, it was a little loose but generally felt smooth and fast, the track was getting rougher and more blown out after every run so it was difficult to anticipate what would be laying around every corner.

Top step!

I sprinted through the line and went into the hot seat with just 4 riders to go, probably the most intense 2 minutes of waiting ever! But as it happens I stayed in the hot seat and took my 1st BDS win of the season!

You can see me racing at Llangollen from about 16:03.00 in the stream above from Extreme.com.

BDS Round 3 Innerliethen

Innerliethen was the chosen venue for BDS number 3 of 2013 so back up to Scotland we headed to get our race on! The weather was incredible all weekend, the sun was out, it was hot, the track was dusty and the pits and track-side were busy with hundreds of spectators all trying to catch a glimpse of their favorite riders.

Haunted house...?

 Just to change the subject briefly, here's a picture of the house we stayed in, not to be a complete girl but every time I look at this picture  I'm expecting to see a face at the window! It was probably just me but staying up on 3rd floor of this place in the attic gave me the chills a bit!

Coming into the weekend I was feeling really good for the weekend of racing ahead and couldn't wait to get on the track, it was tight, twisty, fast and pretty steep so you couldn't take your eye off the ball for even a second or you'd find yourself catapulting at mach 10 into a tree or similar obstacle.

Coming towards the end of seeding

Unfortunately in my race run I suffered a rear flat in the first minute of the 3 minute track so that destroyed any chances I had of making a podium! Still, it was an amazing track and a great weekend, I still managed to go away with a top 10 (10th) and had a good watch of the elites as they hurtled down over the final ski jump and down into the finish area, those boys were on it!

BDS Round 2 Fort William

Fort Bill... rocky, gnarly and long. This one sorts the men from the boys, get it wrong here and you're gonna know about it! It's always cool racing here though as pretty much everyone makes a holiday of it, so we all jump in our vans, drive up on Thursday night and prepare for a long weekend of shredding the longest course on not just the BDS calendar but the WC calendar too.

Fort William's dramatic skyline

The week we arrived the Fort was also host to the Scottish Six Day Trial so the town was heaving and every morning hoards of riders were tearing around from the pits on the Lock-front to the venue for the trial, which I think Peaty rode in, as well as racing the BDS on Sunday, what a legend!

Such an amazing venue...

After qualification had finished I had ended up 3rd overall so I was happy with that result but pumped to see if I could go even better with my final run and put together a killer run. The track was getting loose and pretty ruined, not to mention the continued rain throughout race day so it was going to be interesting!

Hooning down the home stretch towards the motorway jumps

My finals run was so much fun, I'd been feeling pretty beaten up after 3 days of training on one of the worlds gnarliest race courses so a  little bit of me of happy to get it over and done with! Coming into the small woods section before the 'Event Scotland' wallride I almost had a race run ending moment dabbing and getting super squirly on a steep chute but luckily this didn't come to anything. 

As I crossed the line I went into 2nd place and this was my overall result at the Fort Bill BDS, and my best BDS result to date so as you can imagine I was over the moon to do so well at that venue.

Podium...

Bring on Innerliethen!

Pearce Cycles Round 2 Bala

If ever there was a riders track it's got to be Bala. My experience in downhill is fairly limited still but the rocky and rooty track of Ryhd-Y-Felin near Llangynog in Wales has got to be one of the most fun and gnarly that I've ridden so far. It's not hard to see how the Atherton's are so pinned when that's there local playground!

The track is made up of a bit of everything which is what makes this venue so good. There's loads of super fast rocky fire roads mixed with some steep chutes, some woods and some open grassy corners at the end. The variety of the surfaces and the unpredictability of the weather made tyre choice a bit of a gamble, some opting for the all rounders and some going in for the cut down spikes. Or like me you were different and chose a mix which I think worked pretty well (at least that's what I have to say for being difficult!).

Un-official Banshee pits looking pretty factory

Practice was epic, doing run after run on one of the UK's best tracks with your riding buddies makes you just want to ride everyday though! Until, that is, you crash in the woods and snap one of your brake levers and have to drive for 30 miles to the nearest shop that stocks something similar to replace it with and then miss about 4 hours of practice, not so epic.

Railing a berm early in a race run, don't go off line!

But with that behind me it was race day and time to stop crashing and start putting in some good times. After my first race run I was 7th and knew that I needed to make up a shed load of time so went all out for my second run. I found another 3 seconds which overall landed me with 7th, a nice consistent result but time for some 'woods training' I think!

Pearce Cycles Round 1 Bringewood

This was my first experience of a Pearce Cycles DH race and also my first time racing at Bringewood... it was fast, dusty and so much fun! If you've ever raced a Pearce you'll know what I mean when I say that the journey to the top of the track would make for a good day out on its own. Jumping in the back of a 110 Landy with some dude hooning it to the top of the hill is so much fun, they definitely aren't afraid to get a little loose, it's like one of those experience days you'd get your dad for a present at Christmas  I'm surprised they didn't have timing equipment set up for the uplift!

The open section was fast and loose

The key to putting in a good time here was to get your flow on and keep your speed as much as possible, linking all the corners and sections together as smoothly as possible and getting your pump on through the last woods section to maintain momentum into the last jump and sprint. Just be careful that you don't do the little road-gap in the top woods and land to find that your back brake has decided to give up on you... that's not the one!

As the weekend progressed the track changed quite a bit with line after line emerging as you finished one run and got set for another. This made racing pretty interesting as even between first and second race runs the track changed quite a bit and after a quick track walk it was easy to see where time could be made up or lost. After getting immensely disappointed with my first race run I knew it was time to pull my finger out and find some time from somewhere. The plan, pedal like a steezy badman and get loose... if you're not verging on chundering at the end of a race run you're simply not trying hard enough!

Once the senior category was up I'd placed 2nd on the day which is an awesome result on such a tech course. I'd like to say a big thanks to the guys at Pearce Cycles for organising  the event and whoever was in charge of booking the weather deserves a raise.

BDS Round 1 Combe Sydenham

Combe Sydenham near Taunton, Somerset played host to the opening round of the 2013 British Downhill Series and it was very, very not dry...

As we walked the track on Friday evening after a delightful 6 hour drive from the flat plains of Suffolk the sun was shining, birds were singing, daffodils blossoming and it was looking to be a beautiful spring weekend to open the race season. BUT (oh yeah) as quickly as hundreds of pasty racers reached for the vests and sunglasses the weather made a turn for the worse, the heavens opened and it was time to dig out the spikes and armbands.

The roadgap was pretty gnarly this year in the wet!

Usually (when it's nice at a race) you can expect the BBQ's to come out and for everyone to have a constant smile as they're mad for it. However, as the ruts started to get disc deep lines quickly disappeared and the track shaped up like something from a war zone; I heard one guy say that it was like trench warfare... a bit dramatic but yeah, it was pretty wild as every run turned into survival rather than racing.

Just a slice of the fun...

Still, I love riding in the mud and love nothing more than smashing some ruts and getting a bit loose! After one run with the 'go-to' Muddy Mary's I had a quick pit-stop and chucked a pair of spikes on (thanks to Halo for the spare wet wheels!) as anything else felt like riding on slicks, not the one. During Saturday practice I only managed to get 5 runs in, as did many others, some even less as the uplift turn around was working out as about an hour per run. The best strategy was to choose simple and clean lines, don't try anything flamboyant or heroic and you'll stay rubber side down. When I say 'lines', I mean 'line'. Once Sunday practice was over the entire middle wood section was a single rut from entrance to exit,  just set your wheels in the groove and shut your eyes and all would be okay once you reached the other side!

Come qualifying I was feeling psyched for a solid run; the weather was holding out and everything was good to go. Seeding went pretty well for me as I came across the line in 6th and considering I've been feeling a bit under the weather over the last couple of weeks (awww) I was happy with that result. No sketchy moments, bails or silly mistakes was more than I could ask for.

Race run time and I wanted to emulate my seeding run (except with a bit more pedaling) and smash out a good time. The track had become even gnarlier by that point and people were flying left, right and center. With a long season ahead and not feeling 100% the best choice was to give it my all, pedal the safe bits and be conservative on the tech bits. Once finals were over I'd finished 9th, not bad for a season opener. Overall it was a pretty awesome weekend, wild riding and a consistent performance have got me off to a good start.

Final jump into the finish area

After a long winter hiding away in the gym it made a nice change to see some familiar faces and catch up with everyone. I must say a massive thanks to Matt at Ison for sorting me the last minute wet wheels and Maz for helping me out with all things tech. Finally a huge shout out goes to Mr Paton for organising the event, just remember to book that big yellow thing in the sky next time!

Forest of Dean Summer Series Round 1

After a number of my scheduled races were cancelled due to what can only be described as, absolutely sh*t weather over the last two/three weeks, the decision was made to make the last minute trip to FoD for the first round of their summer series. Calling it a 'summer' series at this time of year was always going to be a little hopeful but the sun definitely had his hat on for what feels like the first time since last April!

Once the mandatory track walk on Saturday morning was done it was time to get kitted up and start smashing some runs out, the race was held on the relatively new GBU course and definitely favored those who love a good pedal. 

For those of you that haven't seen the track it consists of a nice sharp pedal for about 250-300m at the start to make sure your awake, followed by some awesome rutty berms that drop down onto a fire road crossing. The middle section has an off camber chute followed by a stump/root gap into a flat left, off a drop into some fast, groomed 'Whistler' turns. Another fire road crossing and then into a radd jump section to finish off the course. Here you could really get loose and have fun on the fast, floaty tables and step downs; ideal for the crowds to see the riders getting their whip on.

During practice I was feeling good on the bike and really enjoyed the course, quickly getting a feel for the track and finding my preferred lines for racing. One of the good things about FoD is the crazy amount of runs that you can fit in during a days riding there, especially if you shuttle it, giving me a good opportunity to put the Banshee through it's paces and it made the 4 hour drive well worth it!

Come race day the good weather continued, the track conditions remained perfect and before I knew it, it was time for my first race run. I was super excited after a long wait since the last race and couldn't wait to get on course to test my preparation and skills against the clock. I knew that in order to place well you couldn't let up on the sprints and on such a short track there wasn't much margin for mistakes.

Putting in a solid run I came across the line with a 1:45 putting me in the hot seat, with a lead of 1.5 seconds... so the job wasn't done just yet. With second runs fast approaching my plan was pretty simple, think of all those moto mums and dads out there and just PEDAL! On completion of my second race run I managed to knock two seconds of my time giving me the senior win with a 1:43, just a second from getting onto the Elite podium and 5th fastest time of the day.

A massive thanks to MIJ for once again putting together an excellent race, all the marshalls and people involved were super friendly, the commentary was pretty entertaining and everyone I saw riding was loving it and giving it there all making for the perfect race vibe over the weekend.

MIJ Round 1 Taff Buggy

I've just returned from my season opener at Taff Buggy in South Wales and the first round of the MIJ series for 2013, this was the first time back racing for me after a separated shoulder in August 2012 and my first time at Taff...

Going into this race I had no idea what to expect, just numerous questions running through my mind; am I ready for racing? Have I trained enough? Have I practiced enough? Have I tied my shoelaces in the right pattern and have I packed my lucky boxers?! You know, the superstitious things we racers sometimes do...

It was always going to be an eye opening weekend, a lot of things have happened since the last time I raced... leaving my old team, healing from injury, a new bike, new training yada yada yada.

This is only my second season racing downhill and I can't believe how much I've learnt over the winter and how the experience of training and injuries changes your perspective on racing. Instead of taking things race by race it was time to get my game face on, focus, stay rubber side down and think about the full season ahead.

Anyway... I should actually start talking about the race! As with most race weekends located over Welsh pastures it was an inspirational forecast of minus temperatures and rain, but as I always say, assume it's going to rain and you'll never be disappointed!

Upon walking the track Saturday morning I was really impressed with the venue, it had a little bit of everything, steep chutes, jumps, ruts, flat turns, pedally bits, there really was something for everyone. This was a good test of preparation as I'd never visited Taff before so it was a clean sheet to start the season and get back on it.

It was bitterly cold on race day, 4 layers of clothing wasn't what I had in mind but it was essential for not freezing your ass off on the uplift, trust! After putting in a handful of 90% runs I was feeling good for my race runs, leaving me feeling excited and syked for racing but still a massive part of me was just wanting to get the job done. After race run number one I'd managed to hold it together despite getting a HUGE two wheel drift going on one of the flat grassy turns (which felt radd I have to add) and put in a solid time of 1:55.

This put me into the lead in Senior by just over a second, which felt good but I knew that I had to dig deep for the second run and find some more time. Once I'd chomped through copious amounts of Haribo and completed the standard 'uplift day bolts check' it was time for run number two...

Rolling up to the start line I was really looking forward to my race run, the rush of racing the clock and getting away from everything for those two minutes where you're completely focused on riding is the raddest feeling ever! After putting together a much smoother and consistent ride during my second run, with a sh*tload more pedaling I knocked 2 seconds off my time and brought home the senior win with a time of 1:53.2.

So overall it was an awesome weekend, lots of fun, lots of riding, a fun track, good prep and a radd bike all made it worth the 5 hour drive on the way home, bring on the next race!

Weapon of choice...

A sneak peak of the new rig... my 2013 Banshee Legend MKII. So happy with the new rig, it rides like a dream and I can't wait to point this thing down the race tracks this season! Thanks to Pat CJ @ Ison for helping me out with the frame as well as a fresh MRP G3 for the season, she's gonna be unstoppable.

Driftin'

Woburn Edit