Returning to Ae - BDS Round 1

It seemed like I was at Ae only a few days before, but in reality it was 2 weeks prior. A great deal of factors changed in that time including the weather which was now cold, wet and windy. Classic Scottish weather to ease the BDS series into full swing.


Barely a drop of mud visible on my bike or kit at the SDA weeks before. Photo Credit: Adam Conrad - @Adamxconrad1 - Cult Media

The race weekend started off on the Friday as we packed up both my Session and Remedy, along with spare tires and plenty of extra layers to cope with the inevitable mud to come. Many rain drops later we arrived in Dumfries to set up camp and check out the track.

Track Overview:

Taped wide for the top few turns and tight into the woods; it was a decent start to what's usually a pretty high speed drift fest. Out onto the classic step-up and then the hip jump towards the renowned stump gap and across the middle road. The next half of track was very similar to the SDA apart from a decent sized double and some other awkward, root infested corners. After the final Elevator drop it finished into what I could describe as a slippy slurry pit which would make for some interesting finishes on the Sunday.

I figured that if I could keep a decent, smooth run together I could potentially be in for a top 15. Ride the hard parts easy and the easy parts hard, right? The goal for practice was basically to learn the track and ride all my lines, but most importantly it was to keep a decent average speed through the whole of the track. I managed to fit about 5 or 6 runs in on the Saturday which I was pretty happy about considering all the issues with the uplift system.


Rad cat Jack Tennyson caught me testing out one of the larger jumps on track during Saturday morning practice. Thanks again for the cracking photos!


Photo Credit: Jack Tennyson - @Mrjacktennyson

The tubeless battle is real. Trying to fit a kinked wire bead downhill tire isn't the most fun you could have, but luckily Callum McCubbing from the Ae bike shop was on hand to give some mega tips - it only took a good 50 minutes with attempts from a few airshots, a tracktor compressor and some other old school techniques to get the tire seated. A double Magic Mary was my choice for the weekend's slop and hardpack.

Sunday morning:

The prospect for better weather had improved significantly. After a standard bowl of raisin squares with some yogurt and bananas I was ready to get on the uplift and give the track a few test runs. Riding slightly softer pressures to cope with the morning grease on track (20 & 23PSI) the bike seemed to be gripping well. A small crash on my 2nd and final practice run wasn't the best way to be heading into my seeding but once again all I needed to do was to back it off a slight notch. Better to lose a second by being careful rather than the possibility of 20.


A top 15 would give me a good start to the season I thought. However, after a scrappy run put me into 5th I was surprised to say the least. Decent top section above the road, but the lower woods was written off after grazing a couple trees and missing some crucial lines.


Coming into the lower turns during seeding. Jack Tennyson - @MrJackTennyson

A quick clean and bolt check of the bike revealed that my rear brake pads were totally finished, leaving the back plate grinding directly on the rotor. Slotted a couple new pads in and tried desperately to bed them in around the car park - it worked partially.

I don't remember much from my race run apart from sitting on the start ramp and wondering how the season had come around so quickly. The clock ticked down and gave me my final 10 seconds. Most things were in line and tried to keep positive thoughts. Quite a few mistakes were made including the elbowing of trees and tripoding through the upper woods. Nailing the elevator into the finish was probably my favourite part, and not crashing into the mud pit was definitely a bonus. 2nd place - not to shabby!


Thanks to Mikey and Co. for this one! MJP Photography: https://www.pinkbike.com/u/mjp-photography/



Straight into Second. Credit to Ian Linton for this one! http://www.descent-world.co.uk/

Massive shout out to the McCubbing family for helping us throughout the weekend with all of our queries and giving us some extra special treatment. It's greatly appreciated by me and Vicki.

Bring on Innerleithen in a few weeks!