Practice Report: British Downhill Series 2015 - Rhyd Y Felin

A hillside in Wales turned itself into a sun-soaked bit of mountain biking heaven for the start of Round 4 of British Cycling's downhill mountain bike series - the Rose Bike's British Downhill Series - this weekend. Practice got off to a bone-dry, sunny start on Saturday, ahead of race day tomorrow, with more than a few rain clouds in the forecast, making for some nail-biting action.

Keen to know what the track was like for riding on in the sunshine and dust? Team Wideopenmag's Joe Parfitt and Charlie Hatton take us down on the official course POV, presented by Drift Innovation.



Although a few of the usual Elite Men were absent, such as Josh Bryceland, Brendan Fairclough and Danny Hart, everyone else seemed pretty pleased to have made it to what seemed to be everyone's favourite track of the season so far. Along with Gee and Rachel, Dan Atherton was also making a welcome return to the series.


Hidden away beyond Revolution Bike Park, home of some of the biggest stunts on a bike possible in the UK, Rhyd Y Felin (Bala) is a bit of a hidden gem. With as many uplifts as riders could handle, thanks to a well-oiled operation, it was a solid day of practice on a track that was full of flat out sections, jumps, sandy berms, dense woods, rooty and stunt-ridden chutes as well as open fields, thankfully cleared of sheep!


After a rapid uplift in a Landy and a short walk, riders were out of the start hut and finding their race lines. With a few features scattered throughout this section, including a couple of transfer lines, tree stumps and bus stops to negotiate, riders were soon hurtling down the track.Some were, however, getting slightly caught out on some of the little tree stumps, which sent them flying across the hard-packed trail.


Once riders were through this full-on, flat-out section, they were greeted with a sharp drop into a right hand berm which shot riders over a set of jumps. It was a tough job getting the berm right, with the Elite riders opting for the tight, inside line. Once negotiated, riders were able to launch themselves once again, into the trees...sometimes quite literally!


Continuing on a raised traverse alongside a walking path, riders were channelled around, over and below a line of trees. It was dry and dusty in this section, and the slate made things all that more exciting. Emerging from the upper woods, the riders were exposed to another section of fast, flowy big jumps.


There was a lot of styling going on. Who could blame them? This was a great section of the track with the sun out and the track running fast.


Jumps, jumps and more jumps. This section, however, did catch a lot of people out and there were a few broken bones today!


The pros had a bit of extra time out on track today, and from all accounts, they were enjoying it like everyone else. Gee has a point to prove...could he regain his top step domination after last round's win by Joe Smith at Llangollen?

Once past the jumps, riders dropped down to a dense wooded section. There was limited access here...you could call it 'quiet time' between the rider and the track, although that wasn't strictly true, as these woods offered some of the tightest, trickiest and most dimly lit sections of the track, in stark contrast to the sunny open jumps just a few seconds earlier.


With riders ejected from the woods via a steep chute, they made their way across a clear-cut, full of off-camber, fast, dusty turns and lots...I mean LOTS of stump jumps and roots. Creativity isn't a word often used in describing mountain biking lines, but there were some highly creative line choices carved out by riders, with some choosing pretty high-consequence lines that didn't always pay off! As the track weaved its way across and down the hill, the turns became more and more blown-out, giving photographers and videographers both a lot of work in cleaning out their valuable gear, but with the reward of capturing some truly amazing shots. I guess that's what happens when you get such weather conditions, coupled with over three-hundred riders, each knocking out around ten uplifts in a day.


It was a bit of family reunion today, with Dan riding alongside his brother and sister. It's going to be a close run thing between the ladies come tomorrow, with Rachel Atherton, Carpenter, Seagrave and Curd all vying for the top step.


The long-haired maestro, Gareth Brewin, has been integral in putting this track together, along with the very hard-working BDS team, headed up by Si Paton. Thanks for such a great track Gareth!


Back in to another wooded section, things were just as loose. With the dirt so dry, one tiny mistake had you either roosting a sand-dune or sliding out on bare slate rock. This section was slightly flatter than the other wooded sections, so line choice and strong legs were the key to success. Given the length of the track though, many riders were finding that they were beginning to feel the burn in their legs around here.


Manon was in her own zone today, taking time to pull over and contemplate her lines, especially through the clear-cut. Lower down in the field, things were all about keeping your weight just right so you didn't fall foul of the severely off-camber course, with high speed turns zig-zagging down the hill.


With practice drawing to a close, riders were keen to get an early night before race day, although the weather looked to have other plans. Rain is forecast overnight and into the morning. It may clear up for race runs. The rain is much needed, however, with the track being pretty blown out towards the end of practice today.

Stay tuned for the results from tomorrow's race on Pinkbike.com

Words by geebeebee media. Photos by Alex Gann.

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MENTIONS: @BritishDownhillseries / @geebeebee / @TheGripMedia

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