James Shirley. Pinning in, on his way to winning it.

Preparation, or at least lack of, defined the Wideopen experience at this years Endurance Downhill race. No Fuss Events put months of work into setting up an event like this. The sponsors and serious racers are thinking about the race weeks in advance. (Preparation fail #1) Pete and I picked up a van on Saturday morning, hurriedly threw bikes and kit in the back and drove to Fort William with about an hour to spare before the race. This is not very professional, neither would I recommend it to anyone wishing to be competitive at any sporting event.  

3-2-1 RUN!

An hour of bike fettling, feeding and setting up our wee pit area flew past and before we knew it everyone was heading to the far side of the car park to line up for the Le Mans style start. A 100m sprint to your bike was the first challenge of the day, followed by remembering where you actually left your bike and then you began the up hill slog to just below the wall ride on the track. This gives the field a chance to thin out a bit so there’s not a massive queue for the first gondola to the top. Some shady looking zip tie/ wooden stick lock out arrangements helped a couple of riders get up top a little quicker than others but for most it was ten uncomfortable minutes of hauling a heavy bike up a hill in a full face helmet and body armour.  

Upon reaching the top of the hill inside the top 10 I felt pretty pleased with myself, only to go over the first drop and… oh sh** ! (Preparation fail #2.) My forks blew and just sat at the bottom of their travel. This is what you get for trying to swap springs around in the car park 30 mins before the race start. It took me the best part of an hour to realise what I’d done to the forks but eventually I got them working again and hit the hill already three runs down on the race leaders.  

Iain 'Ace' Woodley - Hardtail Nation

 So sat on the gondola for my first run it suddenly dawns on me that I hadn’t yet ridden any of the new sections on track this year (fail #3). However a quick chat to the nice chap sharing my gondola and I have some idea of where I need to be on course. Turns out the nice chap is Guy Martin, who normally cheats by having an engine mounted on his bike, but I’ll forgive him for that as he very kindly let me tail him through all the new bits of track so I could work out where I was going.  

Guy Martin - Quick with or without engine

Right, one run down and who should I find in the pits having bike issues but Pete. After accusing him of just not wanting to race I promptly offered no help and headed back up the hill for another run. Big thanks has to go to Iain ‘Ace’ Woodley (Hardtail Nation) who, despite telling me he had almost no spares, managed to find Pete a working QR skewer and got him rolling again.  

Now I could try to tell you how my race went run by run but I honestly can’t remember. After 5 hours you sit on the gondola with someone and they start asking you how many runs you’ve done then quickly realise they’ve no idea what they’ve managed themselves. That’s not to say this race is not insanely enjoyable. As the day went on I started to enjoy the bike, the track and the banter on the lifts and actually starting to race people more.  

Naomi Williamson - Winner for the ladies

At the end of the day I managed to jump on the gondola with two minutes to go before the 6 hours was up, meaning I managed to sneak in one more run finishing on 11 in total, which ain’t bad for having lost an hour at the start. Pete joined me at the top for the final run, bagging himself his 10^th run and hitting his goal of double figures.  

The real hero of the day was local man Jesse Wigman. Now Jesse is no stranger to the track at the Nevis Range, however 13 runs and 4^th overall on a hardtail(!!!) is just ridiculous!  

Your title sponsors!

Your top three though were James Scott in third on 13 runs, Huw Oliver on 14 runs in second and James Shirley in first, also with 14 runs overall but just that little bit quicker than Huw.  

The real racing at this race though won’t be obvious on the results sheets. Loads of people I spoke to over the day were desperately trying to put a few runs into their mates or in the case of the Orange Bikes or Hope guys it was a battle for work place bragging rights.  

Steve Larking - In unfamiliar full-bounce teritory

Massive thanks must go to No Fuss Events for organising the show for the third year running now, and to Hope for backing the race once again and to Orange Bikes for their support in the pits. I’m sure the guys from Orange were very happy to see a huge turn out of Orange bikes at the race, if you were one of those riders (or if you just want to lust after the bikes) check out the Orange facebook page for all their photos from the weekend. All photo’s here and on the Orange page come to you thanks to Michael Bonney of Orange Bikes. 

Next up on the No Fuss calender is 10 More at Moray, followed by the Tour De Ben Nevis which will be the final installment of the Allround Mountianbiker series. As for me I’m off to the Selkirk MTB Marathon this weekend for 100km of trail riding round the Scottish Borders, fantastic!

The biggest event of them all, the Tour de France, came to Morzine for three days – arriving in Avoriaz, then a rest day, then departing Morzine. I suspect most of you, like me, aren’t exactly ‘into’ your road riding, but the Tour really does have to be seen to be believed.

Firstly, these guys are just absolutely super human, how they can do this every day for nearly a month is incredible. The organisation of the event is also something else, they manage to control this many people (look at the crowds in the photos) and the riders, media and hangers on and yet somehow everyone seems to know where they’re going and everything happens like clockwork. Then they go to the next town the following day and it all happens again!

I’m sure it wont have escaped your attention that it was also the Champery round of the World Cup. There’s coverage everywhere on this, so I wont bore you with the details (Gee won). However, it was great to see an event like this return to our valleys and sod’s law that it would rain after nearly four weeks of almost unbroken sunshine – it certainly made walking the course and taking photos more difficult. Congratulations to Riders Retreat star guest Brendan Fairclough for storming to third place.

Away from the big events us humble mountain bikers have also been getting a lot of riding done. There’s been some good amendments to ‘The Stash’ in Linderets with a few ladder drops which have made the course really good fun to ride. They’ve also put a very questionable line towards the bottom of the course over the stream which has pretty much ruined that section and caused at least one poor soul to get a trip by helicopter to the nearest hospital – hopefully they will take it back out.

Morgins is also as good as ever. I don’t spend nearly enough time over there as it takes a while to get there and back, but it really is worth the trip over. Most of the tracks are a lot fresher than the ones locally as fewer riders visit. There are also the very steep black runs there which make me have kittens and laughs in equal measure – probably to be avoided in the wet.

At long last our Riders Retreat jersey’s have arrived! It was a bit of a wait for them, but they are absolutely mint, really good heavy material that breaths easily and a great design by staff member Tom Rogers (who reluctantly wears one rather than his t-shirt). They’ve been made for us by Six Motion who make great mountain bike clothing, although at the moment it seems unclear exactly what direction the company will take in the future. I for one, hope they pull their finger out and start getting more gear into the shops.

I have at last made the trip over to Crans Montana which is about a 2 hour drive from Morzine. This place has received so much hype in the press and the forums that once I got there I actually felt a little deflated by what was on offer. There are only two tracks there which according to the hype were as smooth and fresh as Rob Warners commentary (ahem), but they seemed as rough as Le Pleney to me. That said, the black downhill run was probably one of the best downhills I’ve ever ridden. If you’re in the mood to go up and down the same track and fancy a day away from here or as part of a road trip, then it’s definitely worth a visit.

I had the pleasure of riding one of our guests (Will Pomroy) Transition TR450 with BOS forks the other day. Although it really did hold the track well and smoothed everything out more than you can believe it did make me question the worth of this kind of bike. My steed of choice is a 6 inch Commencal Supreme, the whole bike (even in it’s pimped out Hope component form) costing me less than the cost of the BOS forks. While I suspect that in a race I’d go faster on his bike, I certainly didn’t find that they made me have anymore fun than I was already having on the Commencal.

You can also keep up with the latest news from the Riders Retreat camp on their Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/ridersretreat) or Twitter (@ridersretreat).

Additional photos by Mark Smedley – see Morzine through the eyes of a staff member on his blog – www.markinmorzine.blogspot.com

Written by Paul Thomas – www.riders-retreat.co.uk

The No Fuss Events team always put on a great event and although we couldn’t be there, big thanks go out to Hope for supporting the event and Orange Mountain Bikes for keeping us up to date with photos and twitter updates!

Looks like Champery is shaping up to be another legendary round of the World Cup series. Have we seen Brendawg at full throttle? Is Blenkinsop going to take it now he’s wearing gloves? Who knows.. Race day is ON!

Firstly the AKdrenaline socks, these are low cut, almost trainer socks made from the magical Coolmax fabric which keeps your feet dry and comfortable. They feature a cuff on the back of the sock which not only helps you put them on (in case you have trouble pulling your socks up normally) it also stops them slipping down when you’re wearing them. We’ve seen it on running socks but never mountain biking before.

Available in two colours and retailling at £10 for two pairs they are good value and feel robust – we’ll give them a good going over and see if they stand up to the abuse.

Secondly the Wedge self inflating sleeping mat, personally I think lightweight self inflating mats are one of the best camping innovations ever. Unless you’re a bit flush or have generous sponsors, many of us camp at some point during our riding careers. Despite what the scouts will have you believe, foam mats are the single most annoying and uncomfortable sleeping surface known to man and a nice comfy inflatable will earn you a good nights sleep. Obviously the thicker the mat, the better, but this carries a weight penalty so cleverly Alpkit have created the Wedge, it tapers from a comfy 5cm at your head to 2.5cm at your feet.

Retailing at £50 we’ll see whether they live up to expectations or let you down like a bad nights sleep. Check out Alpkit.com for more details..

The 2010 Irish National Downhill Championships take place in the picturesque and spectacular venue of Kilbroney Forest, Rostrevor, Co. Down on the weekend of August 14/15th.

Widely regarded as the best and most challenging DH course in Ireland the track offers a mix of outright pedal power and savage technical sections to test the best. The track to be used is the similar to the tracked known locally as the ‘Champs track’ following it being used for the 2007 National DH Champs.

Hosted by the Chain Reaction Club in association with Monster Energy and with timing by NACC the event organisation standard will as usual be high. The focal point of the Irish season is always massively supported by the strong local DH and XC community and Chain Reaction Cycling Club are offering FREE entry to any riders who have taken part in 4 of the 2010 Irish XC NPS events.

The Chain Reaction Club has secured sponsorship from Monster as well as a massive prize fund & raffle goodies to the value of £10,000 and struck a great deal with Stena Line for those riders wanting to taste Irish DH racing and the world famous Irish craic and a touch of the black stuff.

Spectators can enjoy the craic and a touch of the black stuff in the nearby village of Rostrevor and town of Warrenpoint. Camping will be permitted in the finish field and there’s plenty of accommodation options available locally. Only 41 miles from Belfast, 66 miles from Larne and 74 miles from Dublin there are plenty of ferry options as well as airports at both Belfast and Dublin with similar mileage.

Chain Reaction Cycles will also be fundraising during registration and at the event and riders have an opportunity to win Signed Jerseys from current World Champion Steve Peat as well as Josh Bryceland, Nico Voullioz, The Atherton’s, Scott Beaumont, Rizla/Suzuki World Super Bike Team, CRC Intense team and a signed print by legend John Tomac.

Other goodies due to be raffled include Mavic Deemax Ultimate Wheelset, Shimano Saint Groupset, Identiti Krisis SL Frame, DMR Exalt Frame, Marzocchi 4X RC3 Forks + Much Much More in aid of Galway Visually Impaired Social Club & Camphill Community, Glencraig

All riders who enter will also receive a FREE T-shirt complimentary of ChainReactionCycles.com and Monster Energy plus a goody bag full of essentials for the weekend.

Registration

Entry for the event will be Pre-Registration PRE PAYMENT ONLY by clicking on this link. http://fs17.formsite.com/offroadeventsreg/DHNationals2010/index.html Registration will close on Friday 6th August with strictly no entry allowed after this date.

Detailed information about the event can be found at www.IrishDH.com

This just in from Tina at Irish DH…

Thanks to Borderline Events, Juice Lubes and Riders Retreat

The Xar is so fresh we’re only just allowed to announce it. It’s an evolution of the successful Xen helmet and looks great for pedally, gnarly riding.

Check it out…

Here’s the official word from UK Giro distro Madison.

“With our icebike show starting on Sunday (running though to Thurs) @ our Milton Keynes distribution centre here’s a sneak peak at Giro’s new Xar (an evolution of the legendary Xen – £114.99srp – due Feb 2011) and their new Roc Loc 5 fit system that will be rolling out on selected models in the 2011 range (incl. the Xar).”