2015 BDS Race Entries Now Open

Jan 3, 2015

by Si Paton

British Cycling's National Downhill Mountain Bike Series, 'The BDS' returns for 2015 with six exciting and challenging venues to test Britain's and the rest of the World's fastest racers. The world's leading national downhill mountain bike series attracts over 320 of the world's fastest racers to Great Britain at each round with an ever increasing swell of spectators numbering into their thousands. The series is affiliated to both the UCI and British Cycling, offering a wealth of UCI points, over £10,000 in prize money and over £25,000 worth of prizes.

Over 90 Elite Male riders attended the 2014 BDS, expect another stacked field of international riders and teams making the trip over.

Round 1 - April 4/5th (Easter) at Ae Forest, Dumfries in Scotland.
Round 2 - May 16/17th at Nevis Range, Fort William in Scotland. UCi Category 1 Event.
Round 3 - May 30/31st at Llangollen, Clywd in Wales. UCi Category 2 Event.
Round 4 - June 27/28 Rhyd Y Felin (Bala) Llangynog, Powys in Wales.
Round 5 - July 11/12th Moelfre, Oswestry in Wales.
Round 6 - September 19/20th Antur Stiniog, Gwynedd in Wales.

Detailed information for both racers and spectators for each event is listed here.

Shimano BDS Round 2 in Fort William 2014 images

2015 BDS Event Schedule:

Friday
09:00 Venue open for team pits, parking and camping.
16:00 Course open for on foot inspection only.
16:00 Commissaire course walk.
18:00 - 20:00 Race registration.

Saturday
07:00 Course open for on foot inspection only.
08:00 - 11:00 Race registration.
09.00 Uplift opens for all riders. (09:10 for Round Two at Nevis Range).
09:30 Open practice for all riders.
17:30 Last uplift.
18:00 Course Closed.

Sunday
08:00 Uplift opens.
08:30 Open Practice for all.
10:45 Course Closed.
11:00 Timed Seeding Run followed by one timed race run.
17:30 Podium for top five in each category.
19:00 Clear site.

Which category do I enter?
Schwalbe Elite Men - If you are an Elite male rider.
Schwalbe Elite Women - If you are an Elite female rider.
Expert Men - If you are ranked as a British Expert rider.
Flare Clothing Women - Female rider in the year of their 13th birthday or older.
Juvenile - Riders must be in the year of their 13th or 14th birthday.
Marzocchi Youth - Riders in the year of their 15th or 16th birthday.
Spank Junior - Riders in the year of their 17th or 18th birthday.
Senior - Riders in the year of their 19th to 29th birthday.
NS Bikes Master - For riders aged 30 to 39.
Dainese Veteran - For riders aged 40 to 49.
Grand Veteran - For riders aged over 50.

Entry Procedure:
The race is pre entry only and entries go live on the British Cycling website at 09:00 on Saturday the 3rd of January at 09:00. British riders must hold a valid British Cycling Race License along with a valid membership in either silver or gold and have scored 100 British Cycling points in the discipline of downhill in 2014. International riders of all ages/categories are welcomed to enter the BDS via the British Cycling website. You must present a valid race license from your National Federation at race registration.
Entry link to the 2015 BDS via the British Cycling website.

Shimano British Downhill Series Round 4 Llangollen

Thank you to our sponsors; British Cycling, Shimano, Schwalbe Tires, Monster Energy, Fox Head Europe, Flare Clothing, Marzocchi, Spank, NS Bikes, Dainese, Hope Technology, Tag Heuer, Surf & Turf Instant Shelters, Ride Portugal, Rose Bikes, Mudhugger, Works Components, Ducksmart, Harris & Ross Physiotherapists and NX2MTB,

Images from round one of the British Downhill Series at Antur Stiniog for more go to Roots and Rain and search Tom Gaffney or go to www.thomasgaffneyphotography.com

One day we will find the vandal responsible for this graffiti...

Follow the 2015 BDS via their social media sites:
Facebook.com/BritishDownhillSeries
Twitter @britishdownhill

Posted In:
Racing and Events

Author Info:

si-paton
Member since Jul 26, 2006
361 articles

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49 Comments

57 6

nathcollinsmondraker (Jan 3, 2015 at 1:55)

Its a Good job Scotland didn't become independent.

Robo123456 (Jan 4, 2015 at 8:18)

i'll 'ave u m9

turtlesauce2000 (Jan 4, 2015 at 9:11)

Fruit n barley, u want som?

Robo123456 (Jan 4, 2015 at 9:18)

you got no fans

jmbrit (Jan 4, 2015 at 14:49)

Jus wondering how many trail bikes we will see in this years nationals lol

43 4

lozzerbiker (Jan 3, 2015 at 1:11)

Seriously, it's a great series but get at least one race in England

20 4

bigburd (Jan 3, 2015 at 3:36)

Can you think of any English DH runs that can compare to what Wales and Scotland can provide ?

Off the top of my head Hopton is the only one I can think of,

gianttrance4 (Jan 3, 2015 at 3:58)

I would love one in England but the riding in north wales is so good. They are using revolution bike park Llangnog in 2016.

bigburd (Jan 3, 2015 at 4:24)

The annoying thing is there are some worthy hills in the UK but the chances of getting to build a track on them are so slim .
I drive past loads of great hills on the way to places that could get 2-3 minute runs out of them , with out being flat bench cut/switch back boredom .

Even some of the hills away from the bike centre at FOD have 2.5 min runs on them if you know where to look , and they could be made longer with out making them dull/flat.

4 12

peanutbuter (Jan 3, 2015 at 4:43) (Below Threshold)

what about aston hill

24 0

normski38 (Jan 3, 2015 at 4:55)

Gawton in Devon mate, Super Tavi and Egypt, proper black runs....

2 11

peanutbuter (Jan 3, 2015 at 4:59) (Below Threshold)

if the bds ever comes to the south arll shoot my self

10 2

travis180 (Jan 3, 2015 at 5:09)

They've done Combe Syd a couple times in the not to distant past. Even Sam hill came to one of those

gianttrance4 (Jan 3, 2015 at 5:38)

FOD is not way near step enough it is to flat Aston hill is not hard enough it is not that challenging but I have to admit it is a great place to ride.

bigburd (Jan 3, 2015 at 11:34)

Sounds like you havent explored FOD beyond the bike center then , that is actually one of the smaller and shallower hills FOD has to offer . Not gonna say where the other places are as the people that make them don't want the masses turning up , but found one recently that is over 2mins down , steep enough that most people who ride it are in over thier heads , my tyres barely touched the dirt due to all the rock ,could easily have another 30-40 seconds added to it with out making it flat or slow.

scottchris (Jan 4, 2015 at 3:22)

There is quite a few places in England to hold national DH races. We have Gawton, hamsterly. The Forrest of dean? Wouldn't that be worthy? Wharncliff woods in Sheffield??

Robo123456 (Jan 4, 2015 at 8:17)

cannot wait to enter these, gonna dress up as a wet floor sign because bitches gonna be getting moist when i roost on them

jmbrit (Jan 4, 2015 at 14:54)

NOTHNG IN THE FOREST OF DEAN IS BIG ENOUGH ARE YOU EFFING JOKING ME!!!! And don't joke with me about Hopton etc, great track but not national quality- next thing we know we will have fucking trail bikes winning a DH race.....hmmm where have I seen this tale play out before...... Fact is the prepared hills in England are not race quality compared to N.Wales and Scotland, shame but true. There is more to a race than a hill btw, for those that have never organised anything we have land owners, insurance, access, pit areas , parking etc etc, there's a lot to consider I'd rather see England get the lions share of course I would but it's just not that way.

futureworldchamp1 (Jan 5, 2015 at 12:59)

Hamsterley though

bigburd (Jan 5, 2015 at 13:12)

I wasn't saying that FOD could host a national event , I was replying to the comment that FOD is too flat.

11 0

notphaedrus (Jan 3, 2015 at 2:30)

I know the vandal.... it was Sam

gshep (Jan 3, 2015 at 8:31)

Awww, beat me to it!

notphaedrus (Jan 3, 2015 at 8:51)

si-paton (Jan 3, 2015 at 6:52)

Some of my favourite tracks and venues are in England. I myself as Event Director live in Birmingham so it would in some circumstances be so much easier to co-ordinate and deploy an English race. We will return to England soon once we have secured a good venue with a great track and parking to fit the whole BDS roadshow in there, including up to a thousand vehicles.

T-Bot FL (Jan 3, 2015 at 19:57)

I guess you could do some England races but sticking with you DH bike only rule you couldn't. Fair enough. I bet when your fog lifts you won't be able to see a city skyline of 3.5 million from the start line. Sometimes you need to make a slight compromise to spread the word.

randybadger (Jan 4, 2015 at 9:35)

I don't understand the last comment.

pigman65 (Jan 4, 2015 at 10:09)

Yeah wtf ?

mtblife (Jan 3, 2015 at 8:15)

Gawton is fantastic, and no doubt a worthy track and or hillside. However I'm sure this has been looked into but logistically it cannot take the sheer numbers of cars, people, uplift etc. Its a huge set up hosting a national and I think that's the issue with England. You almost need multi storey parking etc.

jmbrit (Jan 4, 2015 at 14:55)

Exactly my friend

m3000 (Jan 3, 2015 at 3:18)

Cant wait for the series to begin. They use the best tracks we've got, if your serious about racing you'll travel . Worked so far to produce the best riders about!

Droptix (Jan 3, 2015 at 8:27)

Damn, im canadian and i got a broken ankle :'(

Angus-4 (Jan 3, 2015 at 9:02)

Love living in Wales .... Plenty of trails to choose from I should really be a much better rider !

mortonmoss (Jan 3, 2015 at 10:46)

all these welsh races are so close to each other,really lucky for me as the furthest welsh one is ane hour,scotland tho...

jaame (Jan 3, 2015 at 1:54)

Just out of interest, aren't there any tracks eligible in England? Is it the tracks themselves, or the logistics of hosting a big race?

ctd07 (Jan 3, 2015 at 2:04)

No mountains in England, only some large'ish hills, Scotland and Wales have 'mountains' albeit small by international standards, you kinda need mountains for mountain biking, especially for 3-4 minute downhill tracks, most of England's dh tracks sit at the under 3 minute mark, most local ones I knew were no more than 2 mins at best.

24 0

notphaedrus (Jan 3, 2015 at 2:31)

The only proper English mountains are in the lake district... and unfortunately the ramblers own that county

themooreprgram (Jan 3, 2015 at 2:52)

no mountains in western australia yet like england we have the fstest riders on the planet

29 1

howler986 (Jan 3, 2015 at 3:35)

I think you will find we do

SolarLonsky (Jan 3, 2015 at 11:48)

I think the track at Ae is quite short, around 2 or 3 minutes, and it isn't on a mountain! It is part of a trail centre though.

lyn73 (Jan 3, 2015 at 7:49)

Normski38 I'm with you brother, Gawton is brilliant, don't understand why it gets over looked.

betsie (Jan 3, 2015 at 11:49)

Dang... I spent all my crimbo money. I hope they have spaces left in 2 weeks time.

si-paton (Jan 4, 2015 at 13:44)

Always good to see PHUNKT taking some snaps at the BDS. Mighty fine pics out of that lense!

longlivechainsaw69 (Jan 4, 2015 at 1:24)

think i should make most of them…click click click rata tat tat

jpizzle (Jan 4, 2015 at 16:34)

I'm fast.. Much faster than you, fast than you and you too

Matt-W (Jan 7, 2015 at 4:18)

Scottish points series!

Below threshold threads are hidden

ctd07 (Jan 3, 2015 at 2:05)

...

5 22

aaron-naismith (Jan 3, 2015 at 2:05)

Scotland would have been better off independent and we already have out own downhill series any if anything they rounds would have had to of been classified as international events... Basically Scotland and Wales have the best tracks that's why they are choosen to host the rounds. Scotland boasts the only UCI world cup standard track in all of the British isles.

20 2

pigman65 (Jan 3, 2015 at 2:43)

Jeeeze ,if that's the standard of your British grammar,you definitely would be better off being independant

randybadger (Jan 4, 2015 at 9:38)

Space after comma grammar police!!