MSC Bikes/Descent-Gear NPS 2009, Round 1: Ae Forest

After some last minute re-adjustments to the schedule necessitated by Forestry Commission rules, Rheola was dropped from hosting the first round of this year’s NPS series and in its place slotted Ae.

Video from MTB Cut inside too!

Read on to find out more...Words: Alasdair MacLennan, Pics: Ian MacLennan


Not normally the most popular venue due to very little having changed over the years, last year saw the introduction of a upper section which quickly grew to be disliked many as it resembled a bog more and more each run you hit it. But it wasn’t without its charms and after twelve months of the elements and riding, it has worn down to something a lot more solid underfoot and much less sloppy to ride through. Also, with the field at the bottom out of action for the race, there was a new final section to replace the traditional elevator drop in to the finish line.


Most struggled to remember the last time Ae held a dry race from start to finish, most reckoning at least five years, but on Friday, things were looking promising. Upon walking the track Friday evening, it was tacky but with a full day of sun forecast for Saturday, things were looking promising. As it was, with a virtually cloudless start to the day, it was hot, and soon the track started to show dust although unfortunately, it wasn’t to last. Practice throughout Saturday was efficient, running from just after nine, and carried on right through to five for most riders, with Elites and Experts getting an extra half hour at the end on what should be a clear track. Most riders managed a well spaced out seven runs, whilst stories of ten were not unheard of, and that was before even taking into account those riders who had supplied a marshal and had been given a queue jumping pass in exchange. Unfortunately for the Elites and Experts, the weather had begun to turn just before they loaded up the final truck of the day and by the time they were half way to the top, the rain was hammering down to a backdrop of thunder and clouds lit by brilliant flashes of sheet lightning in close proximity. This made for an interesting if muddy final practice run for the top riders as they attempted to ride the now slick course with tyres still suited to dust. Even those who had managed to make it to the final new off camber section without dropping it finally came unstuck and most missed the apex not by inches but metres as their front wheels refused any attempt to stay upright.


The track itself followed on from last year’s modified top section but with less mud and a surprising turn of speed after a quick sprint out of the gate. Also surprising was just how choppy it was underneath the heather as you got kicked from line to line. Hitting the first left hander you wanted to stay high which wasn’t much more difficult after it rained surprisingly as you rode through knee deep heather to drop into the next right hander through rocks and into tree stumps and roots. The added incentive to stay on track here was the timing cable which ran less than a yard away from the course and would make you very unpopular if you had crashed through it and taken out the timing although it wouldn’t be the first time. From the right hander, some rutted off camber singletrack swept you through stumps and trees to the drainage bomb hole but it was a decidedly rough run in and there were many riders who struggled to stay online. After the bomb hole you were back onto the old track. Take the straight line through the trees, and then the main line to pop you out of the trees, over the stream and into the man made section. Come finals on Sunday and things were running much slower, with many riders struggling to clear the table top as nicely as they had been managing all weekend. From there, keep the bike upright through the ruts that are getting on for bar height after many years of races, catch the last left hander before the road which gets more awkward every time you ride it despite many alternative lines appearing, hit the road and grab yourself a tear-off whilst you sprint for the rock garden.


The question here was whether to hit it straight on and drop in with a sound akin to a bag of spanners dropping onto the rocks or hit the smoother but slightly sketchier line to the left which saw you slicing the bike across the rocks, with your rear mech getting tantalisingly close to something hard and immovable but which left you with a neater line for the next corner. Whilst most opted for the straight line, there wasn’t much in it and the majority of the top guys were jumping to the left. So back into the trees from there which were fast but greasy, even for most of Saturday and only became more so on Sunday. Out of the tight trees, over the roots, hit the switchbacks and make the double drop as the speed increased and you came closer to the new off camber finish.


Go high of the drop and keep it pinned into the large left hander whilst trying to hook up into the rut which helped you stay high of the nasty tree stump mid corner which seemed to attract riders like fly paper for most of the weekend. Stay on it and from there you were treated to several sweeping and very greasy corners through saplings to the bridleway and a quick but hard sprint to the finish line. In the finals, a sub 2:34 would net you a guaranteed top 100 spot but with competition so fierce, it was very easy to haemorrhage places as you slipped a pedal or clipped a rock and lost vital tenths. With times so close, it’s looking like it could be the tightest season in years, with the majority of the top riders and many more besides having obviously been training very hard in the run up to the season. Most categories saw three to five riders on the same second, with not many seconds separating the top half of the category. Crash, slip out or come unclipped at a bad time and you’re out of contention straight away: don’t pass go and don’t collect £100.


The Descent-Gear sponsored Juvenile category kicked off proceedings on a track that was still very greasy with Jevan Willias taking the third spot, narrowly missing out on going sub 3 minutes with a 3:01. Sam Herd kept it going upright for Perth City Cycles and snatched second with a 2:55 whilst George Gannicott, brother of Arran, took the win with a time of 2:41 for I-Cycles of Innerleithen.
Lizard Skins sponsored the Youths who were up next and things moved on apace with Joe Connell taking third by the skin of his teeth for Alpine Bikes on a 2:29, just five hundredths up on the next man. Fresh from back to back wins at the opening rounds of the Maxxis cup, was Sam Flockhart in second with a 2:25 after crashing his MSC somewhere on course. However, Lewis Buchanan was the rider on the top step with a 2:22 for Empire Cycles. Neither Lewis or Sam would have embarrassed themselves with those times in Elites and Experts, showing just how much potential they truly have, and both under 16!


In Juniors, the category sponsored by Fox, Bernard Kerr took third, missing out on the next step up by one hundredth of a second. His 2:24.937 must have seen him kicking himself as 2:24.936 saw Alastair Wilson pull second for Ancilotti UK. However, it was Arran Gannicott who took the win with a 2:19 after his brother had already shown earlier that it runs in the family. It’s worth considering that Arran’s time not only netted him the Juniors but would also have seen him take the top step in Experts. Showing that it’s always worth getting to the start on time, second, third and fourth placed riders after seeding were disqualified by the UCI commissaire for getting to the start late. No favouritism, no underhand tactics, two of the riders’ parents are even regular helpers and marshals at races.


Contintal tyres sponsored the Senior category and it was the Bike Shed’s Adam Price who took third with a 2:28 whilst James McKnight pulled out a 2:27 for second for K9 Industries/SB-DH.com. Standing on the top step was Oliver Burton with a 2:24.


Masters was sponsored by No Limits (keep an eye out for a review of their bike stands soon) and saw Dave List snatch third for Stourport Cycles with a 2:32 whilst Andy Titley was second for Kona on a 2:30. In it for the win was Joe Bishop who pulled a 2:28 out to stand on that elusive top step.


Rich Simpson, riding for Bikeactive.com, took third in the ticket2ride.com sponsored Veteran category with a 2:38 whilst less than two tenths ahead was Alastair MacLennan riding for offbeat bikes who looks like he might not have it all his own way this year. His 2:38 was less than two tenths up on Rich whilst it was Stevie Boyd who took the win with a 2:37 after a mare of a weekend at Pitfichie for the first round of the SDA.


The Swiss & Swallow sponsored Womens category unfortunately saw some shuffling of the results post podium after logic showed that a timing beam had been broken. This had left Monet Adams showing in last place rather than her rightful third for All Terrain & Nikita. It’s a shame this wasn’t all picked up by Mikrotime and sorted before the podium but at least it was sorted eventually and goes to show that if you think that a time may be wrong, it’s always worth checking. In second was Emma Atkinson for 777 Racing with Manon Carpenter taking the win with 2:50, a time which would have put her second in the Elite women!


Leisure Lakes sponsored the Expert category and it was Team Skene’s Sion Whitecross in third with a 2:23 whilst Scott Laughland pulled out a 2:21 to take second place for Castle Melamine. However, continuing his recent run of dominance with another win was Jack Reading with a 2:19 which would have placed him mid pack in Elite onboard his Ellsworth.


In the Nema clothing sponsored Elite Womens category, Aimee Dix took third for Mojo Orange but was another rider who was so close to going one better with her 2:51.981 which was mere tenths away from the ’51.173 of Katy Curd. Helen Gaskell took the win for the Polish manufacturer Zumbi with a 2:47.


The Elite mens category was another sponsored by Nema and saw very close times across the board. Kovarik was in attendance along with the rest of the CRC/Intense team but not one made it to the top ten come finals. Instead, Tom Braithwaite was the man in third for Hope onboard his 23 Degrees sponsored Trek with a 2:12. Just edging ahead by two tenths and on the same second was Joe Barnes to take the next step up for MTBCut.tv whilst Gee Atherton, having just signed a three year deal with Continental tyres along with the rest of the clan, took the win with a 2:09. Predicted by his dad to run a 2:10 in seeding, Si Paton just edged him and hit the nail on the head by saying a 2:11. What did Gee predict we wonder?


So that’s the happenings from the first round of the 2009 NPS season, confirmed as being the last year that it will be run by SPS events but perhaps the best NPS in years. An extra bus and truck over what they would have had, along with moving the seeding to Sunday made for a far more relaxed atmosphere on Saturday with more time spent on the bike and less running around trying to fit all your practice in to too little time. The weather was a sure fire help too whilst the queues seemed pretty reasonable, there wasn’t much of a push to the start and even the track didn’t seem overly busy throughout practice as riders seemed to have spaced their runs out more and reduced the normal congestion.


Something else worth mentioning here are the queue jump passes which were given out to those riders who had provided a marshal. Some felt that they were unfair and said so in a very vocal manner at the riders meeting after practice, the revolt led by the riders’ rep, DC. But look at it this way, races up and down the country struggle to get enough marshals yet here they had to turn away five. Also, most of these marshals are the parents of younger riders who, as a result of their parent(s) marshalling have to sort everything out for themselves and potentially lose out on practice that they would otherwise have had had they not needed to sort everything else out. Even Gee Atherton even pointed out that he couldn’t see how it was unfair. What would be unfair is if one of the top Elites actively paid somebody to work for them so that they could get the queue jump pass but that isn’t the reason behind the tags. Instead, marshals have to put up with a lot over a weekend, frequently to the detriment of their kids who race and all this does is redress the balance somewhat.


The usual thanks go to all the guys who put the race on and helped keep it all running smoothly, despite having to stand on the cold hilltop all day on Sunday. Of course, Monster were on hand as well to hand out cans of their chilled luminescent energy drink and, after keeping me fed, fuelled on decent coffee and showered all weekend, the Ae Forest Bike Shop and Cafe also deserve a mention. Their Fenwicks sponsored jet washes proved popular too after last runs on Saturday and before the finals on Sunday. How far things have come since the early days of downhill racing.


First round video by mtbcut.pinkbike.com:

NPS 1 2009

by MTBcut

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Round two of the MSC Bikes/Descent-Gear NPS DH series is at Llangollen, with the Maxxis/Rocky Mountain team confirmed as being in attendance. New Zealander Cameron Cole, American Luke Strobel and France's Sabrina Jonnier will all be there ripping it up, see you all there.

www.mikrotime.com / www.npsdh.com
www.descent-gear.com / www.mscbikes.com
www.ae7.co.uk/

-cloverleaf.pinkbike.com