Practice - Fort William DH World Cup 3
Two point eight kilometers. Start to finish. That's all it is... It might not sound like too much, but you know mere physical distance is no way to measure this beast. To scale up this highland monster you'll need to think in pedals, you'll need to think in breathes and heartbeats. And actually it's best to factor in all the gravity-defying bunny hops, butt-clenching drifts, tricep-tearing pumps and wet-yourself death grips, before you chuck in the hail, the midges and the loose boulders. And a load of sweat. That's if you can make it down alive. How far is 2.8km? We can say it's far enough.
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 If you happened to talk to Rob Warner first thing this morning and thought he may have been indulging in the libations a little early on, you would be wrong. Warner found the foul tasting "Spicy Devil" was just the thing for warding off the midges. |
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| Trouble is, the swarms of tiny insects are the only things that bite... The upper section of track is littered with rocks at the ready to sheer off your pedals and send you OTB. |
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| 2006 and 2007 were Sam Hill's best outings at Fort William, the latter win being the World Champs. It's not all good memories in the boulders even for him though... It was 4 years ago he destroyed both wheels and a shoulder in practice. Sam will be thinking of the good times for qualies tomorrow and is well set having been riding UK shores for several weeks now. |
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| When you roll the dice in Fort William and get it wrong the track bites back HARD!!! |
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| Lots of carnage on the track today, one of the few that got off lucky. |
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| A couple of flashes of yellow, then no more... Mick's practice came to an abrupt end today for all the wrong reasons. We hope he comes back in the same unbelievable form quick. |
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| Unbelievable isn't it? Turns out he's made of the same flesh and bone as you and I. |
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| Miranda Miller has had one hell of an off season healing up an ankle injury and looked mighty fast during her first two practice laps. Then she broke both her arms. Best of healing vibes to Miranda, Mick Hannah and anyone else caught up in the carnage of Fort William. |
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| Gore-illa in the mist. Morning cloud cover was so thick, we could barely see our targets. |
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| The weather today was a real mixed bag, with sun, fog, more fog, and even some rain. Tomorrow is calling for high winds and storms so the organizers have decided to limit practice and push qualifiers up to 11am. |
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| First run of the day for Rachel Atherton. She was second in timed training, some twelve seconds back from Ragot. Atherton won here last year, and Fort William has been one of her strongest courses. Can she take the win again this year? |
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| Rachel wets her whistle before diving into the fog. She missed the national here last month and Ragot did the business then too. Is she behind Lapierre pace? |
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| The story of the morning was thick fog as the women and juniors took to the track. Rachel has probably done enough runs here over the years that riding by feel rather than sight wasn't too big of an issue. |
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| Morgane Charre jumps onto the board walk that runs across the peat bog. Riders pick up lots of speed here before returning to the hard pack rough of the upper course. |
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| Micayla Gatto thinking things through before her first run of the day. |
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| Ragot slaying the timed training. It doesn't count--Peaty pulled over and shared a shortbread biscuit with a long-time course marshal--but for those focused on gauging their comfort on the track, it's a measuring stick for what may be come qualifying. |
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| Manon Carpenter was pinned all day through the rocks up top. She and Emmeline are the only girls who can realistically tackle Rachel on this course. |
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| Walker Shaw ready for action! |
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| Dean Lucas bringing some typical Aussie pace to the flagstones. |
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| TV Taylor out looking for some revenge on last year's WC blow-out and his bad luck at the nationals last month. |
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| Maybe it was the fog, or maybe it was first run jitters. Either way, Taylor Vernon's day could have started off a bit better. |
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| GT's Enduro phenom, Martin Maes has never been to Fort William before. It was a mix of enthusiasm and nerves on the gondola ride for his first ever run on this classic of a track. |
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| Into the void. |
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| Fort William hecklers: a bit politer than your average. Riding compliments all round. Very proper... |
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| There had to be more... These guys hiked up to the top by 9am, and judging by their level of coordination it's safe to say they were partying the whole way up. |
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| Izak Leivsson weaving through the turns and into the lower track. |
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| Winner here for 2010, for 2013 and of course the last WC round in Cairns, Gee Atherton is especially unlikely to smile without winning here at Fort William. He had a few mechanicals today on track but should be sorted for qualifiers tomorrow morning. |
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| By late afternoon, the clouds had mostly burned off and the temperatures had risen. Luckily, the midges stayed at bay for the afternoon. |
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| The eerie glow of lifting fog equals the improvement of vision and faster speeds down the hill. |
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| Joe Smith is one of the few flat pedal holdouts here at Fort William and he is attacking with foot out flat out style on track and in the air. |
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| Danny Hart, more angry than his bulldog on track. He qualified first at the BDS but flatted for finals... all he needs is some extra luck to go with his extra long socks. |
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| After mounting promise last season, Lorenzo is yet to break the top 20 this year as the plate suggests. Timed training saw him step back inside for what TT is worth, but either way he was going hard out there today. |
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| It was a long awaited win for Steve Peat at Fort Bill. His 2005 victory is ancient history now, but still kinda feels like yesterday. |
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| Gee was back in twelfth in timed training today... we can say TT definitely isn't the best barometer for forecasting a World Cup. |
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| Sam Dale is having a cracking season and rode to 6th at the BDS here against a lot of familiar faces. He and fellow big man team mate, Simmonds, could easily be weighing down the podium together on Sunday. |
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| Luca Shaw powering down the upper rock fields. |
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| Sad to say we won't be seeing Sik Mik pinning through the rocks for a little while. Bring on the champs. |
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| Local forecasts are calling for Nevis Range wind gusts up to eighty-five miles per hour tomorrow, influencing race officials to start practice at insane-o'clock. |
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| Wyn Masters full throttle after his IXS podium last weekend. |
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| Was Cairns 4th place qualifying a fluke? Was IXS Winterberg 1st place qualifying a fluke? How many flukes can you have before you fluke a top result in the finals and people stop people calling it a fluke...wonders Eddy Masters. |
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| Brendog putting down a clean time and showing he still means business. Only 5 seconds off from Danny. |
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| Ratboy kicks off a fun-run with Steve in record and repeat mode. Playtime will be over by Sunday, he's getting too close to the win. |
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| This is Greg Minnaar's 100th World Cup so he knows all too well how to throw in some style for the photographers waiting at the final jump. Bonus points for looking right at the camera. |
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| Peaty's mechanic, Tom Duncan, coming to the end of a week long, wheel building rampage for the Syndicate. Steve and the crew are working with prototype versions of the ENVE M90 - the carbon, tubeless, hookless-bead, DH beasts. |
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| Loic Bruni has been on fire since the middle of last season. Could this be the weekend he finally grabs the big win that everyone has been waiting for? |
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| Sam Blenkisop, full speed and with his own signature style, rounding out the top 3 fastest in TT. |
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| Steve Smith wasn't in the cut for timed training today and hard to get a reading on how fast he's comparing to the rest of the field. Stevie is looking smooth and could make a comeback without a doubt. |
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| Troy flew the 15,000km and back just to race the BDS national here last month. If that's not enough commitment for you, you'll have to take his 2nd fastest TT as word he is fully after it here this year. |
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| Danny Hart going fastest during timed training today and feeling confident on UK home soil. |
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| Four regular people and one World Cup series leader topping the horizon. Will Gwin be able to unleash the beast we saw dominate this place in 2012, avoid all the destruction and stay ahead of the pack? |
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| Cool down time for the man with most white space on his race plate. Gwin admits he wouldn't mind a change up here track-wise, although his first race at the Fort was only '09. It's totally mad to think how he was able to establish himself at the top so quickly in such a short time. |
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| After a brutal day of destruction on track, it's ice baths for body and bike in the GT camp. |
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| Fox BBQ with brauts, beers and good folks. |
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| Set your alarms... the gondola fires up at 6.30am tomorrow to get ahead of that weather. |
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| Hopefully some of this is left behind come race day. |
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Heeling vibes ^^^^
My personal preference for them is that when I unclip it's usually cos shit's got a bit rowdy and I might not be able to clip back in instantly, in which case the mallet cage is almost as good a flat with good shoes. Also 4-sided spindle is easy to jam back in when you're in a hurry.
The pro's might have different reasons though.