Moore Large O'Neal at BDS Round 4, Llangollen

Ellie Dewdney, masters national DH Champion

The sun shone brightly above the Moore large/O'Neal pits as I arrived early Saturday morning but, not unusually for Wales, it wouldn't last too long! With four of the team here this weekend including the recently crowned English champions, Ellie Dewdney and Roger Vieira as well as brother Douglas, and young Riley Jenner, the tent was buzzing from talk about the new track.

Looking up the mountain from the finish line the brand new track built, entirely by Brian Mundy of Ride Portugal fame, snaked its way up the side of the grassy slopes looking fast and flat out and it certainly didn't disappoint the riders all weekend. I decided to make my way up to the "valley of doom" to check out one of the features of the course that would turn out to be a major player in deciding how the weekend progressed for many riders. Looking for all the world like a scene from a Jurassic park movie, steep rocky cliffs all round and dark foliage gave a sense of drama that may have seen some riders wishing they were rather at the cinema watching a Hollywood blockbuster instead of riding as it proved to be carnage! Rain soon started falling and as the first of the O'Neal riders appeared there were fallen bodies everywhere!

Douglas plunging into the valley of doom

This section caught a couple of the team riders out but by the race runs they were all getting through with no bother at all. Moving down from this section the track opened up and turned into some very fast sections with jumps and step downs with tight berms and faster flat out corners that favoured the brave with a lung busting pedal to the finish and with the track now drying there were some riders putting in some very fast looking runs.

Roger Vieira sending the step down

Some nasty crashes on this section with a rider crashing hard and snapping his carbon bars in front of me and later on the large step down a young juvenile rider in his first BDS landed awkwardly and broke his wrist (get better soon Travis). A fast hip jump near the end saw a few riders style it up but come race runs Riley was keeping it fast and low to maintain speed.

Riley Jenner looking pinned here

This then led to a large step down that was the last big feature before the pedal fest to the finish line.

Douglas launching off the last step down

As the track dried towards the end of Saturday the spirits in the team tent were high and everyone was eager to race Sunday, hopeful for the sun to show and dry the track further to make for some great racing. And Sunday morning brought some sunshine and clouds in equal measure, for now at least.

Beautiful view from the start line

I made my way to the top of the course Sunday morning to check out a couple of the jumps and didn't wait long for the team to appear showing the style off.

Roger doing what he does best

Riley flying over the bridge with ease

The track here was just awesome as it snaked its rocky path down the hillside carving through the fast berms with the amazing Welsh backdrop in the distance.

The view from the top was just stunning

Practice was soon over and with a good luck to the team, I made my way to find a spot to capture them for their seeding and race runs. Ellie was first down resplendent in the new national jersey and managed to get through the "Jurassic Park" section cleanly for the first time all weekend and even gave herself a cheer on the way out! The rest of the run was clean and gave her a huge confidence boost for the race run.

Ellie in the run down to the finish looking mighty fine with the champion stripes

Race run and again Ellie managed the tricky section clean but lost some time up top but a charge to the end resulted in a fantastic fourth place and another well-deserved podium.

Ellie isn't a stranger to the podiums this year!

Next up was Riley riding in a very tough youth category and a fast seeding run gave Riley a confidence boost for his race run.

Riley pinning it down past the speed trap

As Riley made his way to the start line the rain just began to fall and with the track just starting to get greasy again he gave it his all and delivered his best BDS result to date with a joint ninth place just 5 seconds off a podium time against some riders that race world cups so a great result.

Riley sending it off the wooden drop

Elite men now and Roger was first of the Vieira's down and a fast but safe run meant Roger was ready to attack the race run.

Roger flying just as the rain started to get heavier

With the rain now rather heavy Roger attacked the course but a few slippy moments near the finish put an end to any podium hopes but another solid top ten finish for the team.

The track was starting to rut up with the rain falling for Roger's race run

Final team rider down Douglas was looking forward to getting seeding underway but a few mistakes left him in seventeenth place going into the finals.

Some time lost in seeding meant Douglas had to push hard

Race run came and the rain was falling more persistently Douglas gave it everything he had and rode the Polygon harder than ever to finish an agonising seven-hundredths of a second outside the podium in an incredible sixth place.

Douglas on a now slippy and greasy track dropping into the finish line

The rain never eased up the rest of the day and as we packed up ready for the long journeys home the team reflected on a great weekend overall with everyone in the top ten and another podium to continue what has been a superb season so far.

With Douglas and Roger off to Val di Sole for the UCI world cup this weekend I wish them all the best and will be willing them on to get a great result.