BUCS Student Downhill 2014

At the end of last month we sent our man on the ground, former Whistler Academy graduate John Inman, to the BUCS Mountain Bike Championships in Wales to see what all the fuss was about. After spending a summer on the challenging trails at Whistler Bike Park we were expecting big things from John.......here's how he got on!

By the time April arrives spring is well on its way and brings with it the start of the racing season, most significantly the start of the UCI World Cup. The UK domestic series also begins to fire up, with the British Downhill Series starting. Nevertheless, for University students the only race in the calendar that matters is the British University and Colleges Sport (BUCS) MTB Downhill. I went along this year as the sole entrant for the University of Bedfordshire, and also managed to catch up with some old friends from the University of Sheffield, for what turned out to be a sick weekend in the Welsh sun!

Feeling pretty excited for the weekend, I took an extra day off work to make sure I was fully rested and could sort out my bike. It had been a little while since my last outing and I needed a little TLC! I also managed to procure a very sexy Renault Espace to serve as my transport and accommodation for the trip, so after packing the car I made the drive across to Caersws, mid-Wales. After a few hours at the wheel I arrived ay Caersws and met with a few of my old University buddies in the early evening. As it was still light we had a cheeky walk of the trail to see what was waiting for us the following day...

The trail was a little different to the usual trail they race at Caersws, as a competition a few days earlier had left the main trail in a bit of disrepair. Heading up the bottom section, it turned out the marshals had simply taped a traverse across the field into a turn straight down the hill. A few underhanded comments like "it looks like practice for BUCS Enduro" came from our mouths as most of us were not too impressed about the course choice, which turned out to be a 'pedalfest' to the finish line.

Beers and a track walk, must be some students about...

Burying yourself in your pedals and speed tucking turned out to be the tactic of choice for the bottom section

Venturing further up, we all came to the conclusion that it was a pretty straightforward track with only one or two features on it. The difference would be made on the middle section, a fairly exposed traverse with a couple of roots to keep you on your toes, where a fall at race speed would probably end badly! Once back down at the bottom, and after some tent building under headlights, everyone hit the hay to be up ready for registration and first uplifts in the morning.

We woke on Friday morning to some blazing sunshine and blue skies, which understandably came as quite a shock to us. As we had some time to kill before the first uplifts, after shovelling our breakfast down, we thought we may as well have another look at the track to confirm what we thought we saw the night before. This definitely gave us a better idea of how dusty it was, which is unheard of in Wales in April..

Pedalfest to the finish line

One of the only significant features, a steep corner with a couple of large roots crossing it. Most of the action went down here on race day!

Track walk in a onesie, as you do...

Visualisation is a well known racing technique.. promise!

Following a little faff getting bikes sorted we hit the lifts to get the first run of the track. Uplift seemed to be pretty efficient, with BUCS having arranged 5 tractors/trailers to aid the 200 or so keen riders in getting to the top. There was a bit of a queue to get on to each trailer, but that was to be expected with the number of people riding.

First run down, most of us found the track was much more fun than it looked. Flat out and dusty! Although lacking in technicality, with only a few features to keep us on our toes, it was running pretty fast. Most of us agreed the race would really come down to who felt the bravest in the middle and most exposed sections, and could get on the pedals across the fields to the finish. I spent the morning trying to get my racing lines dialled, and generally feel up to speed as I hadn't ridden my DH bike for a while. After an early break for lunch, everyone started to feel much more confident about the track and really enjoy it.

BUCS really seems to have a different atmosphere to most races I've been to. Although the competitors take it quite seriously, with BUCS points up for grabs to the best university teams and individuals, it's also a chance to spend a weekend away riding bikes with your mates and get some good heckling in! Everyone spent the afternoon trying to get more speed down the course and avoid touching the brakes, as well as soaking up the spring sun and enjoying a days uplift! The weather was perfect for riding, sun with a little breeze to keep cool. After a good days riding, our bodies aching from smashing out countless runs, we called it a day and chilled for the evening under the cloudless sky, which was obviously accompanied by a BBQ and beers.

Mass start, no pedals race to make the last field section a little more interesting

Sun's out..

guns out..

Later that evening, a spontaneous competition of 'skid to the end of the field' broke out. Rumours has it they're planning a dual slalom for next year. The spontaneity and constant good vibes really sum up the feel of this student only race! You wouldn't get this kind of non-racing entertainment at a BDS.

Following a much cooler night, race day arrived. Waking up to a frosty windscreen, everyone was up early and inhaling their breakfast so they could attend the morning's practice to re-check lines, warm-up and get back up to race speed. I smashed out 3 runs of the track, as I was feeling confident of my speed and didn't want to tire myself out for when it mattered later.

After a quick lunch (peanut butter sandwiches for myself, the lunch of Champions), it was time for qualifying. The way BUCS DH works is the 250 or so riders that show up get to put down one qualifying run, from which the top 100 go through and get another run down to race for the medals. Putting down a solid qualifying run is therefore very important, as you want to qualify but not tire yourself out too much for the championship run. Qualification ran in reverse alphabetical order of the University you attended, meaning I had little bit of a wait as I was riding for the University of Bedfordshire.

After killing some time, in an attempt not to get too nervous, by playing some 'Downhill supreme' on my iPhone to get me in the mood, I jumped on the uplift. Up at the top, and after a quick warm up and energy gel my number was up. My experience from last year meant I was much more relaxed, and I put down a solid run. Hitting all my lines, getting some pedals in, but saving quite a lot for my 'championship run' (the one that mattered). I crossed the line feeling confident I would qualify, which I did comfortably, coming in 52nd. I grabbed some warm clothing so that my muscles wouldn't cool down too much and caught up with the Sheffield crew for some heckling! With another 100 or so riders to come we had some time to kill before we found out if we had made it into the top 100.

Air horns, cow bells and old frames aplenty - anything that would make a ringing noise for heckling was in use!

Once the last rider got down the hill, I discovered my time was well within the top 100. Buzzing! After quickly grabbing some water and another energy gel I was back to the top of the hill. Feeling a little more apprehensive than before, since this was the run that mattered, it was time to pedal and ignore the brakes brakes as much as possible. Fully energised after another caffeine gel, the timer was down to 5 seconds, the beeps were going, and it was on!

I felt like I put in a solid top section, hitting all my lines, drifting nicely around a couple of corners. Heading into the steep traverse at Mach 10 with the wind in my face......I got a puncture, much to my disappointment! Feeling pretty dejected I decided I wanted to finish, there's nothing worse than getting a DNF! Nevertheless, riding without any pressure in my rear tyre did make it much more challenging in a different way, with the back end all over the place. I resisted using the brakes as much as I dared down the steep field section and drifted my way around the final corner.

Opening the throttle for race run

The middle section that had gotten pretty wild what with the dust and 200 or so riders making there way down multiple times


Not the best end to the weekend, but I managed to not come last out of the top 100! finishing 99th in the final standing. That's racing though, it was a fun couple of days riding in some amazing weather and catching up with some old faces, the end result was the only let down! I'm really looking forward to heading back to Whistler this summer and putting in another big performance in the Garbo DH, hopefully with fewer technical problems...


FINAL RESULTS

Top 3 Individuals

Mens
Allan Findlay- 2:03.563
Joel Chidley- 2:04.852
George Belk- 2:05.194

Womens
Monet Adams- 2:28.597
Llion Brown- 2:41.493
Samantha Dugon- 3:10.782

Top 3 Teams
1. University of Edinburgh - 6:27.507
2. Swansea University - 6:33.632
3. Heriot-Watt University - 6:38.742

Thanks to Danny Whitehead, Michael Macdonald and Rowan Griffin for the use of their images.