Alpine Bikes Winter Series 2011 | Round 1

This weekend saw riders hit the track for round one of the three round Alpine Bikes Series in weather normally more suited to snorkeling. The first race of a season is always interesting, seeing who has what bike and which kit belongs to which rider. This can lead to a few moments where you're left wondering who on earth that devastatingly quick rider was who just flew past at head height, until you realise it's the same quick rider you always knew, just in different kit. It's also a great opportunity to see who is on form and who has lots of work still to do if they're to live up to the expectation placed on them.

With the dates slightly modified to reduce the risk of bad weather (ie ice and snow) affecting things, it was inevitable that the date originally intended for round 1 turned out perfect, dry and not too cold and the one actually used turned out cold and very, very wet. So wet in fact that the majority of the carpark the track normally finishes in was under several feet of water. Not ideal but compared to last years deep snow and permafrost-like ground a minor and easily overcome challenge that riders took in their stride. Wet weather gear duly donned, bikes lubed more thoroughly than a greased wrestler and donned with appropriate mud guards it was time to hit the track for some practice.

And what of the track? With such an extensive network of trails it's no surprise that virtually no track is ever raced twice in quite the same configuration. This time the start was from the normal hut, running down the line first used in the nineties with a little change here and there to the top of the quarry which runs straight down the tunnel and out into the open. This was ample opportunity for riders to get their sprinting legs out to make light work of the short slog as you burst out of the trees for a brief spell before dropping back into the woods through some single track and a run down the New Luge.

The New Luge is perhaps more suited to all mountain bikes rather than downhill but it's a challenge to ride and carry speed on and therefore perfect for racing, after all, it's still the fastest rider who will take the prize upon crossing the finish line. Across the middle fire road and you now followed the fall line of the hill quite closely down to the Matador with a few tweaks which took time to rut up but once done were great fun to ride yet still challenging in the wet and greasy conditions. Onto the Matador and it was back to the fast and open, hitting the three motorway jumps which lead very quickly into the arena, across the main road at the bottom and into the car park (or at least it did on the Sunday once the water had receded). It was a surprise to hear that the first times barely broke the four minute barrier although by the time the Elites were running this had dropped to a sub 3:30, still long given how quickly it seemed to fly by when riding.

Where normally these races attract up to 300 riders it was a little surprising to see just 170 on the start sheet although this was perhaps to be expected given all the issues with weather in 2010. The advantage of fewer numbers was that the track never became crowded, there were no queues for the uplift and clean runs were easy to find. It also made it easy to fit in two timed runs, a first for this series, without running out of light for the last riders.

Juveniles were the first to set things running after the sole hardtail entrant Richard Acott had had his run. Nial Oxley was third for Great Rock on a 4:16 with Andrew Dorrit taking second for Descend-Hamsterley by crossing the line in 4:10. The win went to Frazer McCubbing with a 4:05 for Ae Cafe & Bike Shop. Next up was the Youth category and it was here that Northern Downhill sponsored Rory McRitchie took third with a 3:56 whilst the next two steps of the podium were kept a family affair as brothers Ross and Stuart Wilcox took second and the win respectively, their times for I-Cycles 3:44 and 3:41.

Lapierre sponsored Sam Flockhart may be the reigning European Junior Champion but he ended the day in third place here with a 3:36, Fraser McGlone taking second for MTBCut.tv with a 3:27, good enough for third fastest time of the day. That meant that the win was taken by Lewis Buchanan with his new ChainReactionCycles.com logo'd Nukeproof. The 3:24 he posted was good enough for second overall and is surely not the last top step he'll be seeing this year.

In the Veterans category Pete Hoggan took third for PMH Pincer Vodka on a 4:08 with Seb Ramsay making a welcome return to podiums with second place and a time of 4:00. Stevie Boyd's new Intense M9 is clearly working well for him as the Veteran field's most factory looking rider took the win with a time of 3:55.

Third place in Masters went to Nathan Cavalier with a time of 3:57 in the challenging conditions whilst Mats Lund took second for Team Davros on a 3:52. The win however, well that went to Mark Weightman for the maiden race onboard his new Morewood.

Andy Kipling took third in Senior with a 3:43 whilst second went to Cyclelane/Kona rider Jamie Scott on a 3:42. The win was taken by Lewis McLaughlin having crossed the line in 3:38.

With just four women the various sub categories were combined as one for the podium. This meant that in third was Senior Emma McRobb behind the two Elites, Uplift Scotland's Bex Reilly in second and Angela Coates in first for Fox. Just a tenth of a second separated Bex and Angela, both on 4:26 and both competing for the first time in the Elite category.

Expert saw Chris Foster take third for Bollocknack UK with a 3:45 with Ben Cortis six seconds up for second place on a 3:39. The win went to Dale Russell for StevePeatSyndicate with a 3:35

With seven entries Elite was a bigger category than you would normally expect at these races. Third spot went to Scott Laughland for Robin Ruth/Mojo with a 3:32 aboard his xc bike with borrowed wheel (even the Elites forget to take things to races occasionally), having described hitting the quarry wall with it as terrifying. Second was Jack Reading for Ellsworth/O'Neal with a 3:29 whilst the win went to the Giraffe in the corneer, MTBcut.tv's Ben Cathro after a monster crash in his first run.

So round 1 is over and done with. The track used was an interesting mix and the common consensus was that whilst not being the most technical it was nevertheless fun and a good choice should the weather have turned nasty as it did on several occasions last year.