Alpine Bikes Winter Series – Round 1, Innerleithen

Innerleithen is one of those venues that puts a smile on virtually every rider's face, regardless of how wet or cold it is or what track is being used. It has been host to many races over the years, none more important than the legendary winter series, an opportunity for riders to see just how much winter training they still have to do before being able to challenge for the win. One of the local shops, Alpine Bikes, have organized the races for the last few years and, whilst this year only two rounds, should still provide some fun and excitement before the season starts proper...
It may have taken a while to get things organized, and we may only be racing two rounds this winter instead of the usual three, but the series was its usual highly anticipated self on the prestigious Innerleithen hillside. It was a cold weekend that was forecast but thankfully, the snow failed to materialize and we were left with a relatively dry weekend, although the track was itself in the main anything but which left riders in the usual quandary over what tyres to run. With the combination of Alpine bikes and the SDA running things behind the scenes, things were bound to be good. When the only complaint is that the catering van didn’t turn up on time, you know you’re onto a winner. At Innerleithen, it’s rare that a bad course is chosen, and after speaking to the guys threading their bikes through the trees, this one was no exception. Loosely based on what is known as the Cresta Run, mud, roots and a couple of tricky new bits made sure that riders were working overtime to keep things right side up. It was a course where there were big rewards for having walked the track before riding and it was obvious first thing on Saturday, especially from the corner where I spent the day marshaling, that there were plenty who had foregone this option in favor of an extra hour in bed.


Speaking to many riders as they stopped for a breather, it was clear that there were sections which were cause for concentration as they struggled to get through the off camber mud and roots cleanly. Do you fit wet screams so you can get that section clean and suffer the consequences of their slow rolling for the rest of the trail or do you fit a more intermediate option like the High Roller and take it a little easier through that one section? After lunch, the decision was made on the riders behalf when the most challenging section of track was modified, removing any real need for the spikes although that isn’t to say that there were still those who chose to keep them on, including second placed Master, Mark Weightman. There were some riders who bemoaned the lack of proper run in to the Ski Jump into the arena but the challenging rooty corner preceding it went some way to make up for not being able to hit the jump flat out.


As with any winter race, it’s always a time to show off new gear before the season starts properly. It’s always a challenge to have a conversation about someone when you realize that all you knew them as was rider X, wearing Y and riding Z. That all gets thrown into the weeds when riders are on new kit and bikes. Watching from the sidelines for the first time in many years gave me an opportunity to compare more riders and it was interesting to see who was going flat out from the off, who consistently looked sketchy and on edge (take a bow Jack Reading & apologize to that tree), and who looked smooth. There were some impressively young guns, including local Junior, Arran Gannicott who looked fast throughout practice but failed to translate that into a win, looking slightly off the pace in the lower reaches of the course come race run.


With riders not only changing gear, some were also on the move into new categories and it was with anticipation that many waited to see who was going to take an early lead in another year of racing. Whilst the way in which the categories were run may not have followed the normal order, we’ll run through them as such here for simplicity, starting with the Juveniles. Keeping it in the family and following in the footsteps of his older brother Arran, George Gannicott took a commanding lead in the category with a time of 3:40, just over ten seconds up on the nearest placed Stuart Wilcox in second and Ross Wilcox in third.


In Youth, Lewis Buchanan was looking on fire all through practice but unfortunately had an altercation with a tree in the tight woods and lost a couple of seconds which took him out of contention for the win. Still, less than 7/10ths away from the win and on his brand new, team spec, Empire Ap-1 which was only dropped off on Friday shows that there is a lot more to come from him later on in the year. Fraser McGlone was a solid second whilst Sam Flockhart took the win with a 3:18 for Astrix/Descent-Gear.


Juniors is always a tough category and it looks as though this year will be no exception, despite the spread of times which were on the podium. Ben Moorhouse showed that his end of season form was no fluke and took third here with a 3:29 for Ticket2Ride/Descent-Gear whilst Arran Gannicott was left with thoughts of what might have been as he stood on the second step of the podium with a 3:28 for series sponsors, Alpine Bikes. However, the day was for Ronan Taylor who took a commanding win with a 3:21.


Seniors was a big category which means a big spread of times from first to last but there wasn’t much to separate those at the thick end of it all. Tom Attlee took third with a 3:36 after fighting off several riders who were all looking for a spot on the podium whilst just ahead and in second was Tom Skillicorn, both on the same second, allowing Grant Garden to take the win with a 3:32.


Masters may not appear at first glance to be a fast category but there are still some seriously quick riders in there. Zac Hubery started things off with a 3:29 for Descend-Hamsterly whilst Mark Weightman, the man with more metalwork in his body than a scrap dealer and fresh back from a fresh lot in his shoulder, took second with a 3:38. James Richards took the win with a commanding ten second lead on a 3:28.


The Vets next and Kem Avis was the man on the third step of the podium with his V10 and a time of 3:57. Local man Steve Deas took time out from behind the I-Cycles bike stand and made a rare appearance on a bike to take second place with a 3:53. This left Alastair MacLennan (no relation) to continue on from where he left off at the end of 2008 onboard a new Orange 224 with a dominating time of 3:41 for the win.


Sarah Brunswick was the first woman to step onto the podium this weekend with third spot whilst Katy Curd took second with a 3:52 onboard Diamond Back for the new season. Taking a decisive victory though was Tracy Moseley for the Trek World Cup Team onboard her new Session 88 with a time of 3:28 which translated into tenth fastest time of the day.


Expert saw a wide variety of times being displayed as riders crossed the line. Ben Cortis was just three tenths away from taking second but had to settle for third in the end, just edged out by Graeme Forrest for I-Cycles, both on 3:29’s. Taking the win however, was Jack Reading for Ellsworth. Not only was his time of 3:14 significantly up on what anyone else in Expert could muster, he also took fastest time of the day by a clear four seconds.


Sole Elite entrant Pete Williams was another rider who looked on fire through Saturday and into Sunday morning. Unfortunately, he was also another who managed to argue with some trees en route to the second timing beam and this left him ruing his mistakes. First he may have been, but you could tell by the look on his face that fastest time of the day had been his goal and nothing less would have sufficed. Next round looks like there may be some big names attending which should spice things up and keep the locals on their toes in the Elite category.


So that’s the first race of many in 2009 over and done with. Cold it may have been but looking out of the window on Monday morning made you realize how lucky we were with the weather. With heavy snow having fallen across the UK, things would certainly have been interesting on the hill if it had hit just that bit earlier. Having spent the weekend standing in the same spot (and as some kind soul pointed out, blowing a whistle over 2000 times) it’s safe to say that the marshals and organizers were all pretty glad too.


As a rider on the other side of the fence for once, there were a couple of things to note;
1)Excuses for not doing a full run on Sunday are all, pretty much without exception, awful, regardless of how much effort you put into them. Bribes work much better.
2)It really isn’t a good idea to stop in the middle of a corner on the exit of a drop. If a marshal asks you not to stand there, it’s usually for your own good.
3)If your bike sounds like a bag of spanners being thrown down the hill (and many do) then an old inner tube, some duct tape and zip ties should be your new found friends.


Thanks of course must go to Alpine Bikes for putting their money where their mouths are and not only subsidizing entry fees for all but also providing some brilliant prizes for those who were standing on the podiums, including riding gear from Fox. The weather obviously helped but combined with a good course, the usual quality SDA organization and a relaxed atmosphere, the weekend was superb for all those involved. That was round one. Round two will be run on a different track over the 28th Feb/1st March so keep your diaries free.


Pics by www.garywilliamson.co.uk
Full results at www.sda-races.com
www.alpinebikes.com / www.trekbikes.com / www.foxeurope.com

www.descent-gear.com

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