BDS Rnd 3 Llangollen, Wales.

Here's Nick with the run down...

I was really lookin' forward to this weekend's race as last year the course was rad. really steep and technical. Walked the track on the morning before practice, think it was about 7.30am and it was just so hot.

Photo courtesy of Jon-e Beckett at Descent-World.co.uk

The track's really open and down one of the steepest hillsides I've raced on so far. The corners were by and largely really dusty and loose, as expected it changed quite a lot during the weekend. The only trees were at the very bottom and they only covered a small section of the track, the heat from the sun immense. This lower section had 3 quite large drops which you would be hitting pretty flat out, awesome, it was a really good test bed for the new bike, flawless!

Photo courtesy of Graham Curtis

Practice went really well, I only had one spill, it wasn't anything major just a front wheel wash-out in a steep dusty corner.

Overall the new bike felt absolutely awesome, the size is perfect for me, really good to throw about, the suspension is just so smooth, thank you so much to the guys at Rock Shox!

Photo courtesy of Graham Curtis

On race day I was just getting ready to go up for my qualifying run and unfortunately saw some kid hit the deck really hard off the final drops, he had to get airlifted out. It was a bit of a head-fuck and delayed the qualifying somewhat. My run wasnt anything to shout about, I took it too cautiously.

I knew that this had to be stepped up come the race run and along the (relatively) flat top straight I was nowhere near as fast as I had, or should have, been. Really tried to hammer it down the rest of the track, it felt good, probably rode the rest of the course the best I had all weekend, however lost too much time up top.

Race run aside, overall the bike feels absolutely great and I'm looking forward to getting it out for the next race, it really suits my riding, thanks so much Frank.

A full race report can be found at http://www.descent-world.co.uk/

Boom, Boom, POW!

Here we go, sitting comfortably? Here's a wee slide show of the new bikes:

The build commences:

Nearly there:

Front shot:

Side Front Shot:

Rear Side Shot:

Spooky Bandwagon Prototype Jump Bike:

The Brothers:

And finally Nick posing at Hamsterley Forest:

Feedback thus far has been excellent, it corners like its on rails. Obviously Nick hasn't had it long enough to really put it through its paces yet, we are however certain that it is sure gonna shine on the race courses.

Keep your eyes on this here blog for further updates as they come,

Lee.

Finally!

Can you hear the choirs singing 'Haaallleeeelllluuuuujjjaaaahhhhh'???!!!

Nick's been flat out out busy building up the new FB10 that was picked up from the parcel depot this morning ..... pics soon to follow, watch this space......

SDA Rnd 3 - Innerleithen

Nick:

Here's a little run down of the weekend, pics now uploaded below.

I knew before arriving that the track was not going to be the same as the iXS cup track, but I enjoy most of the tracks up at Innerleithen so was absolutely fine with that. The SDA boys chose the "Cresta" run for this weekend's racing, there are no major challenges nor much choice of line, it's just really rapid through the tight trees and great fun.

The track was mostly rock solid however it was really greasy at the top, particularly on the rooty corners. Saturday's practice went down with no real drama, just took a few runs to try get a fast line in and out of the first corner which was a slippery root monster!

Sunday came along and I managed to squeeze two practice runs in which went pretty well. I also managed to time myself on the last one putting in a 3m50s with a few hold ups catchin' riders up, I was happy with that.

When leaving to go up for my race run my pedal felt weird and looking down it was hanging off. Luckily I whipped the ones off my hardtail straight on, somehow the bearings inside exploded on my right pedal, argh!

It had been raining a fair bit between practice and the race runs, being concerned about the top section expecting the roots to be really slippy I took the start with caution. Once on the track it felt fine so pressed on harder, unfortunately I had let my guard down and washed out on a root. Scrambled back on the bike feeling a little unsettled, making a few more silly little mistakes, I came over the line in 11th with a 3m54s

I was feeling much better on my second run. It was weird though because although I felt faster, smoother and I stayed on, the clock said I was slower, bizarre!

Well moving on, the new bike should be built up and ready the next NPS at Llangollen if Parcel Force ever get it here (useless @~*%s!) bring on the new era and RIP to the old rig.

Full report can be found on Descent-World here: http://www.descent-world.co.uk/2010/06/14/sda-dh-rd3-innerleithen/

Photography courtesy of Ian Linton: http://www.ianlinton.com/

Parcel Farce!

A bit late posting this as I've been away over the weekend.

Have been watching the frame's tracking number from Frank and Becky religiously over Thursday and Friday. Thursday evening said it was at the International Hub in Coventry awaiting customs charges so I gave them a ring, HMRC that is. They were fantastic to deal with, got through straight away and had all the information regarding the charges that I needed plus some more info on the top, can't beat their customer service with that, very impressed. They said the frame was released back to 'ParcelFarce' at 8:20am that morning, however the Parcel Force website hadn't been updated, it had now gone lunchtime. I rang I think ten different numbers for Parcel Force, most just rung out, two where I was hung up on (some people can't be bothered with the Typetalk service for the deaf that enables us to make calls and just hang up). Finally got through to someone who checked their systems and said the package was still with Customs, I explained I'd rung them and that the frame box had been released back to Parcel Force that morning, she got quite arsey with this. I asked if I could pay the charges and was told I couldn't do that until the parcel was as the delivery depot, and that they would send out a letter detailing what was to be paid. I told them that this would take the delivery outside of the 24 hour service (the so-called 'express service' of theirs) window. She just wasn't bothered, I asked about compensation and she said it wouldn't be successful! Parcel Force? Efficient? My arse! Bloody jobs worth!

I gave up on that, using this and from past experience they're a horrible company to deal with at the best of times and I really wasn't in the mood to argue. I mean they add an extra 16 quid to top of the fee's already paid for 'handling', that makes my blood boil!

Anyway, I let Dickie and Nick know, Dickie rang the local depot on Saturday morning and they said the box will be 'sitting' until Monday, so we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Have an race update from Nick, he crashed several times sadly and the Orange has gone to the great big bicycle cemetery in the sky!

New frame, new chapter, new era...........cominatcha!

All The Purpley Goodness!

New photo's from Frank of Nick's frame, it's very purple, that's for sure!! You won't miss this one coming down the mountainside and sweeping past you! More sparkle than Dorothy's Ruby Slippers too! Should land in the UK early next week, will get some photo's up once it's built! We can't wait to see how it rides, bring it on!

Quick Snaps!

Just some quick snaps of the tops and first batch of t'shirts.

Went with getting the Royal jerseys printed via Impsport (http://www.impsport.com/) for this season but will be looking back into getting them done custom designed again next year. I feel this is better for team identity. Hoping to expand the team up again next year too but it depends what happens with the UK economy this year as it's not looking too good at the moment.

Next batch of t' shirts will have the official race team logo on them :)

More news as it comes,

Lee.

iXS Report now up on Descent-World

Ian Linton's been busy with his reportage of last weekend's racing at Innerleithen, it can be read here on Descent World: http://www.descent-world.co.uk/2010/06/01/ixs-european-downhill-cup-rd1/