Did you see that trials vid Jim posted here? Turns out Danny is a bit of a Youtube superstar with that vid alone being played over 600 thousand times! It’s also the #1 most viewed sport video of all time on Youtube which is pretty bloody impressive… 

Seems that the Ft William World Cup team have been watching Youtube and signed Danny up to hop around on the day. If you want to see him ride up close get your ass to the Bill on the 6th June. More here

Photo taken from Danny’s sponsor Tarty Bikes

Here’s the full glory list for Danny’s vid:

From Mike at Borderline Events, image by Jim Smith:

 Hi Everyone,

 After the recent amazing weekend at Moelfre it’s your chance to come and ride again.

 Camping is free, fresh water available and the usual massive amount of runs.

 We have 3 weekends available:

 2nd + 3rdMay, 30th + 31st May & 20th + 21st June.

 The one in two weeks time will only be open for booking until Tuesday.

 You can find more info and book online here:  http://www.borderline-events.co.uk/events.asp

 Cost is £20 per day and you can ride one or both days as you wish.

 If you prefer the old fashioned way then please feel free to give me a ring on 01524 388388 during office hours and you can pay over the phone.  Also – if you have any problems booking or questions you should give me a ring and I’ll sort.

 Cheers

Michael Marsden
Event Organiser
Borderline Events

Jon over at MIJ Events just sent this race repo for Rd2 of their Taff Bugg Mini-series. Cheers fella! Look out for a full repo in WO Issue 10.

Tom Wheeler

The sun shone brightly once again over the hills above Pontypridd. The rain that had fallen over the last few days did the track a big favour, it dried out and was super fast.

Practice day was great, the riders were having fun on some of the new lines put in for the race and the new drop off half way down the course put cheeky grins on peoples faces.

Race day ran exceptionally smooth with over 100 riders doing their runs. There was a great turn out of spectators who really made the day a success.

The timing went well and was once again done by Jason Carpenter of Dragondownhill. The support of Don Skene Cycles of Cardiff and the staff was fantastic, Des & Kate Betts from MMA Sports provided 2nd place prizes and Ben Greenland of Mynath aparel provided T shirts for 4th & 5th place.

Fastest time of the day went to, Richard Thomas of Ancolotti UK with a blistering 1:39.

The final showdown for round 3 looks like being a sell out, so if people do want to enter, do it soon as there is only room fo1 150 racers.

Full results available at www.mijdownhillevents.co.uk

The Photogravity votes are in and the winner is Wideopen contributor Oliver Coats!

Oliver snapped his way to victory at Keith Valentine’s Photogravity event, held to raise cash for the Ben Ineson and Tom Rogers memorial fund.

Votes were cast on Pinkbike and Keith’s Flikr and the kids went for Oliver. Nice work fella!

Here’s the story on Oliver’s winning snap of Oli Chapple:

From Oliver:

Nikon D200
12-24mm @ 14mm
Aperture: f13
Shutter: 1/60
ISO 100
Remote flash 1: inches from the riders right hand.
Remote flash 2: ahead of the rider, on the other side of the trail.
The sun: On the right, working in my favour for a change!

“After getting a load of shots at the ‘Motorway’ section, I spotted a  few of the riders sessioning a near-by corner, so went over and  perched myself on the inside of the bend.  The lighting was spot on,  so making sure I got the action shot I wanted, I urged the riders get  closer and closer in to the camera.  I basically wanted to fill the  frame with as much energy as possible.  After a few passes, I’d bagged  several shots, which I’m happy to say, are some of my best ever.  And  this one happens to have made it to the top spot! So, I’m well chuffed  to be the first Photogravity winner, and look forward to receiving the  trophy.

Well done to Keith Valentine, for making it all happen, and let it be  the first of many.  Thanks to all those that voted on my photo, and  thanks also to Ali, for getting in close!”

Oliver is now the proud owner of the first Photogravity trophy.

Check out his website here http://www.olivercoats.co.uk/

Round 2 of the MIJ Taff Buggy series went down this weekend with Rich Thomas follow up his BUCS win with another gold medal.

We’ll have a full repo in the mag but our boyo Tom Evans fired over a quick update and reckons it was a wicked race:

“The atmosphere was mint and with not too many riders on the line up there was a  nice and relaxed vibe.

The track was fast, flat out and fully moto and thanks to the sunny weather it was dry and dusty all weekend. Rich Thomas looked good all weekend, as did Sion Whitecross, Tom Wheeler and a couple of the Redmist racing boys. My run was steady with no mistakes though I managed to catch someone up. I was pretty pleased with 10th place and went home with enough points for the Nationals. How’s that?” 

Fine thank you Tom… Don’t forget to check out our interview with the MIJ team here and to make up for a slightly shoddy race repo with no photos here’s a vid of Round 1 that I found on Youtube.

Danny MacAskill may not be the first name that pops into your head when you think of trials but check this little clip out. The wee man from Edinburgh has ninja like skills on a bike.. just click play!

“Filmed over the period of a few months in and around Edinburgh by Dave Sowerby, this video of Inspired Bicycles team rider Danny MacAskill features probably the best collection of street/street trials riding ever seen. There’s some huge riding, but also some of the most technically difficult and imaginative lines you will ever see. Without a doubt, this video pushes the envelope of what is perceived as possible on a trials bike.”

www.inspiredbicycles.com/

MRP have been in the chain guide game for donkey’s years and because of that they know how to make some damn fine products. One thing they aren’t afraid of is change and they’re constantly refining, developing, tweaking and updating their products to make them the best they can be. The guys over at Ison (MRP’s UK distributor) just dropped us a line with 2 new additions to the line up. Both are brand spanking new and have only just been launched this weekend at Sea Otter in the states. Here they are:

First up is the new Carbon G2 chain guide. It’s an updated version of the G2 that was launched last season and has already earnt itself a great rep. The idea is to make a lighter and tougher thanks to the carbon backplate and also make it more adjustable thanks to a new top-guide.

They reckon that the new guide weighs in at only 197 grams for the 36-40T and 170 grams for the 32 – 36T. Not bad considering a standard G2 36 – 40T is 265g!

Next up is the 1.X – which your supposed to say like “one bye” – and is a light weight XC guide for the kids that run 1 ring up front and a cassette at the back. It’s nice and light at 58g and is available in 36 -40T and 32 – 36T.  

I’m not quite sure who rides XC with that sort of set up but it could be a nice and simple way to keep your DJ bike in check or maybe a light-weight set up for the hack bike?   

Want more info? Check out…

www.mrpbike.com
www.ison-distribution.com

Sea Otter is a big pre-season race over in the States. All the AAAPro teams turn up and do a bit of willy waving to show off their new kit, new bikes, new riders and flex some muscle for the season ahead. 

Anyway Sam Hill took the win in dual slalom. Dual is that one that’s a bit like 4X but without the actual good bit. Still, Sam makes it look pretty fun.  Check out this nice lil vid courtesy of Freecaster… Check out the HIM soundtrack also, I don’t think I’ve heard that track since CKY!