The BDS rolled into the small town of Llangynog, home to Revolution Bike Park in Powys, Wales. A packed house of 250 riders signed in to showcase their skills on this, one of the favourite tracks on the BDS calendar.
Practice started at 09:30 with riders using the famous and most efficient Pearce Cycles uplift system of Land Rovers and trailers to shuttle them up the hill. With the uplift running until 18:00 a number of riders entered into double digits for training runs with time to spare for lunch and a few short breaks. Live timing is now in place for all rounds of the BDS throughout practice. This gives the riders live trackside data from each training run. A private track that showcases big jumps, technical dense woods, and berms. Though the morning started off with a misty veil of cloud it soon cleared up and the sun was out. Are we in for another dusty, sunny weekend of fast and loose riding?
Off the uplift, the riders had a small push up to the start to witness the stunning Welsh countryside that Powys has to offer. They then rode onto a straight loose gravel section and into the first few berms.
Riders were then brought into the woods where they hit the first jump. A quick peek out into the open riders were then straight back into the woods. Rutted berms and roots had the riders getting pretty sketchy.
After another short rutted, tight wooded section, the riders were airborne with the jump section. Perfect opportunity for riders to get stylish on the bike.
Back into tight woods. Ruts, roots and a slick layer of mud was a dangerous combination when riders were speeding down a tight section.
Out of the woods and into the open. The stump section. This section really allowed racers to get creative with their lines. Stump gaps being a big decision for most riders. A few more berms carried the riders into the last wooded section. Most riders legs were burning by then. More loose mud had riders holding on and pushing through.
A drop sent the riders through to the flat out grassy corners, tucking low, jumping and a sprint across the finish line. Coming to the end of practice elite riders had the track to themselves, allowing them to get a full practice run in.
Phil Atwill had a practice time of 3:15.379 giving him the fastest practice run of the day. The legend, Steve Peat followed under a second away in second. Also under a second away from Phil, Michael Jones had the third fastest time in timed practice.
Live practice times here.
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