Alpine Bikes Winter Series | Round 2

Round two of the Alpine Bikes winter series took place at Innerleithen this weekend with great weather, a well received course and great atmosphere. This is the story of all that happened.With the first round having taken place in the rain, mud and on a quite pedally track the weather this weekend was a total transformation; if a little cold it was still sunny and an almost spring-like day. The track was also very different in character being tried and tested typical Innerleithen but taped wide to keep the flow up and give riders a choice of where they wanted to go. It seemed to work if the comments being made in the car park are anything to go by.


On rolling out of the start hut on Minch Moor you were soon up to speed down a grease covered, root infested trail on one of the most famous hills on the UK downhill scene. Running on a trail not dissimilar to the Gold run it was taped wide to keep the speed, flow and fun factors all high. Cross the 39 steps and drop away to the left of the Gold Run line, carrying you down a section of track that was used in the 2009 National Champs XC course. Not the most technical or roughest but nevertheless fun to ride, flowing and very fast when you wanted it to be with narrow lines between trees for the brave. Plenty more roots of course littering the trail to catch you out and several high lines to open out the turns if you first opened your eyes to see them.


Crossing the middle fire road may have given some riders a sense of déjà vu for it looked pretty similar to the round one section. And it was, for all of one corner. But instead of continuing down the fire break as round one had this time you turned off to the right in search of more fast singletrack. Some fast flinches round trees were required here if you were to keep your fingers out of trouble as well as a brave brain to keep those same fingers off the brakes in search of those last ounces of speed that you dare carry. Cross one old trail and carry on with your blast through the trees…before hanging a left onto the Deer Hunter (or Technical Nightmare if you’ve been riding that long). This caught quite a few riders out as they had to scrub off serious speed and make a turn they’ve never previously had to make in a race. But make it round that, get your speed back up and you’re nearly in sight of the arena with a fast and spacious run down through the open woodland before dropping into the gully and making an almost straight line for the road via a natural double formed from two heavy compressions. Get it right and it was quick and smooth. Get it wrong however and you were on your way to bucked-over-the-bars-central as many riders found to their cost. Drift across the road and a quick sprint to the finish for the shower of glory or a tirade of cursing at the mistakes you made up on the hill.


With the weather keeping spirits buoyed it was unfortunate that there were some queues for uplift but sometimes these things happen and with the race series so far running at a fairly sizeable loss, the lack of an extra truck was the result. Three trucks for 250 riders certainly isn’t enough but the uplift did run smoothly without mishaps and this meant that any delays between runs were at least minimized. It’s worth mentioning that most riders managed at least five runs with some talking of seven (Stevie Boyd, we’re talking about you!). Even on the days where the transport is more copious this is still the number of runs most riders put in. It’s worth mentioning too that delays have been just as big in the past even with more trucks regardless of who is organizing an event. It’ll be looked at for the next round for sure but at the cheapest series to go ahead in Scotland this year it’s perhaps time for riders to decide whether they want the cheapest entry fee or whether they’re willing to pay a few extra quid and get some more riding time. An extra fiver a head on an entry of this size would pay for an extra truck. Would anyone seriously begrudge paying that for the prospect of more bike time?


So with transport being the only minor bugbear of the weekend it was over to those all important final two runs on Sunday afternoon. Ladies & gentleman, the racing begins. Only two hardtails were racing, will we see enough for a full podium at round three? That meant second went to Andrew Elliot while it was Richard Acott who took the win. Into Youth and we saw Dan Farley take third for Wheelbase.co.uk in a time of 3:23 with Ross Wilcox second for I-Cycles on a 3:19. Taking the win with a margin of nearly seven seconds was George Gannicott for Bikesoup with a time of 3:13 dead.


Juniors next and the times certainly didn’t get any slower. Chris Reynolds took third for MTB-Essentials with a 3:12 with Joe Connell in second for his new Sunn Montgenevre WC team with a 3:10. Taking the win however, and by a ridiculous margin, was Lewis Buchanan taking some scalps with his new Nukeproof. The Chain Reaction rider not only took an eleven second winning margin in Junior but put in fastest time of the day and was the only rider to break under the three minute barrier all day. His time was 2:59. Some big things to come this year if these results carry on like this for Lewis.


In Veterans Foes/Balfa UK rider Rich Simpson took third spot with a 3:35 having upped his game for the second run but not sufficiently enough to overcome the 3:32 of second placed Neil Wilson for Glentress Riders. Taking the win was Alastair MacLennan having signed a deal with Nukeproof over the winter. His first run time couldn’t be beaten and the 3:24 secured him top honours on the podium.


Jamie Smith took third on Masters for Bikeactive.com with a 3:25, just behind the 3:22 of second placed Jed Whitfield. UpliftScotland’s Dave Tallontire knows the hill well, running regular uplift at the venue, so it was no surprise to see a good time from him. First time on the downhill bike since August last year, a new bike, and he takes the win with a first run time of 3:17.


The podium in Senior was separated by less than a second proving that even at winter races it’s no less competitive an environment. Thomas Pollock took third for Team CHR with a 3:21 while Gary Neale took second with a 3:20, less than half a second down on first placed Lewis McLaughlin who also stormed the hill in a 3:20. Proving that you can’t let injuries stop you doing something you love was Ben Whitehead. He broke his collarbone on the last practice run going for the gap at the bottom yet still he raced, and to a respectable time too.


It was great to see a solid turn out in the women’s categories; hopefully this is something that will continue. In the non-Elite womens event Jenna Woodruff took third for Team NCA while Gravity-sports.co.uk’s Sara Rennie took second. Taking the win was Emma McRobb. In Elite womens, Angela Coates took second for Fox Racing Europe with Bex Reilly just four seconds up to take the win for Uplift Scotland.


Crosstrax’s Rob Young made the long trip up from south of the border for this race and didn’t leave empty handed as he took third in Experts with a 3:14. Just ahead was Dave Duggan for Freeborn/Devinci on a 3:12 but taking the win was Joe Flanagan. His All Terrain Cycles team which is a solid presence at most UK races and the 3:11 he put in with his first run was right on the money.


Elite was a packed field and saw local Pete Williams take third place for I-Cycles with a 3:06. Second was Perth City Cycles’ Fergus Lamb on a 3:04 but the win was taken by 2007 Junior World Champion Ruaridh Cunningham for his new Maxxis/Rocky Mountain team with a 3:02. MTBCut’s Joe Barnes was so close to the podium but didn’t quite make it, missing out by just three tenths. He was onboard his new prototype Orange Patriot for the weekend which some eagle eyed spectators might have spotted as it flashed past in a blur of neon pink.


Overall things went well, even taking into account some riders issues with transport. The sun was out, the track was flowing, and the atmosphere was really good to see at a winter race. The hundred or so spectators at the gully near the finish was great to see so hopefully round three, which takes place on the 2nd and 3rd of April will feature similar numbers. There are still spaces for the final round so if you haven’t already done so, head on over to www.borderline-events.co.uk to get yourself entered.


www.borderline-events.co.uk
www.upliftscotland.co.uk
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