Entries are now live for the British Downhill Series and we are already 35% full in
the first week.

To ensure you don’t miss out on the top domestic race series in the World we want to
give you the following heads up!

There is £10,000.00 prize money up for grabs and over £25,000.00 in prizes!

2010 Entry Criteria:
You must have a minimum of one BC point to enter and we process that on a first
come, first served basis.
Come March 1st, if there are any spaces left then racers with a valid BC license and
no points, on a first come, first served basis can enter!

Entries for each round are £67.00 plus an online booking fee, please go to:
www.Britishdownhillseries.com

Old skool? We also accept postal entries at a fixed price of £67.00 per round again
on a first come and first served basis. Please make cheques payable to “BDS”.

BDS
6 Old Chapel Road
Smethwick
West Midlands
B67 6JA

2009 British Cycling (BC) Points are listed here for you all to have a gander at..
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/Rankings/Rankings2009Rider.asp?rank_discipline=MTB+DH

2010 rankings will be updated reguarly by British Cycling. Please note BC update the
BC website, not BDS. Please note the BDS assess your points score by referencing the
BC website.

You are not able to backdate BC points. You must have a current and valid license
before you race. Then if you score points at a regional race, the points then get
allocated to you.

2010 BC licenses are available now from British Cycling. Purchase your BC license
today and start racing, then when you score points early on in the season and if
places are still available, you can come and race the British Downhill Series in
2010!

BC affiliated ranking race series: Please check with British Cycling if anymore are
coming online in 2010.
Pearce
Caersws Cup
SDA
Hamsterley
Borderline Events
Northern
UK Bike Park

International riders wanting to race the fastest DH nation in the World?
Then drop me an e-mail with your UCI ranking or country of license ranking. Back
that up with a url link to your results and i’ll give you the nod that you can
enter.
What kind of license do I have to have from British Cycling?
Answer: Silver or Gold:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web…p_benefits.asp
Silver Membership:

- Liability insurance protection
- Legal advice and support
- Weekly newsletter
- Discounts for hotels, shops and services
- Membership card

Gold Membership:
- Liability insurance protection
- Personal accident insurance
- Legal advice and support
- Quarterly racing calendar
- Weekly newsletter
- Access to a full racing licence
- Discounts for hotels, shops and services
- Membership card

To purchase a license go to this link:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/Bridge/Membership_Start.asp
For all license enquiries, please speak directly through to British Cycling.

Dates and venues:
Rd 1 – 10th and 11th of April at Rheola
Rd 2 – 8th and 9th of May at Fort William
Rd 3 – 26th and 27th of June at Llangollen
Rd 4 – 7th and 8th of August at Moelfre
Rd 5 – 25th and 26th of September Caersws
Please note the forst three are UCI category 2 races. Plenty of points and prize money!

For more information on the British Downhill Series – BDS:
http://www.britishdownhillseries.com/Homepage.html

What else do you need to know?
Parking and spectating is always free at the British Downhill Series.

Need to speak to the main man?
Si Paton
si@descent-gear.com
0121 422 1032
07968 229 359

Slide is a trade show for distributers to show off all the new kit in the snow world. So when Jamie emailed me asking me to cover the event, I was a little confused. But after a bit of research and a few words from Jamie, it was evident the show had a lot of crossover products.

To name a few brands who were there, Electric, Madison (Ogio, Giro etc), Surf Sales (Dakine, Transition), Scott, Forcefield and so on. So there was plenty of chance to get a peak at some new gear and see some pretty cool cross over products.

And then later that evening, Electric/Monster Energy had a party!

Perfect day out on all accounts. Cheers Jamie and cheers to Col and the guys at Fli distribution for sorting it all out :p!

Below are my top products from the event…

The electric EG5 goggle can usually be seen a mile away with the amount of crazy and bright designs Electric come up with to keep us guys happy. The EG5 below didn’t really catch my eye at first, not compared to what else was on show. However, on closer inspection and a few words from Col (FLI distribution) I found out that the goggle is a red EG5, painted over with a thin layer of matt black. Huh? You say. The black scratches away, leaving the bright red showing through, custom scratch your goggle frames! Nifty!

One of the awesome 2010/11 EG5 designs that caught my eye. I’d wear these as casual sunnies they are that cool!

The Electric/O’Neal trade stand. FLI distribution import Electric into the UK, with Electric having their hands in all the pies (DH, MX, Snow, Surf), Col is going to be a very busy man this year, with a big team to look after and a load of festivals and shows to attend.

Electric decided instead of picking a few good designs for the goggles, they would use them all. The whole EG goggle range offers a goggle to suit everyone, whether a downhiller, a boarder, or a motocrosser.

Before the show, I’d never heard of Forcefield. Turns out they are a very reputable company in the snow and motorbike scene. They manufacture high quality body armour here in the UK, all of which is tested rigorously to meet and beat CE standards. They produce 3 different back protectors, all of which have different levels of CE standard protection. The forcefield light L1 back protector was the one that I was most impressed by, £85 gets you an incredibly light back protecter that meets level one CE protection standards, perfect for downhilling. The thing I really like is that the back protector is soft and moulds to your back under body heat, rather than having a flimsy spine board that is incredibly uncomfortable to wear and ride in. They might be new on the block to us mountain bikers, but in the motorsport world they have professional riders choosing to wear their protection over their actual sponsors… says it all!

Ogio have always been making high quality bags at a competitive price. They have a massive range of bags to suit just about everyone, whatever they do, walking, mtb, travel etc. As well as looking awesome, they are also very well thought out and are built incredibly well. Designed around the extreme sports traveller, the bigger bags like the 9900 have compartments for your helmet, shoes, clothes, spares and what I really like is that you have a pull out mudflap to get changed on without coating your van in crap at a muddy NPS round.

Now FLI are behind the brand O’Neal in the UK, we are seeing some pretty cool stuff coming through. I have never really thought much of O’Neal kit, but I think they seem to be on a winner these days. This is their Dirt lid, also available in white and green. Also be sure to check out some of there DH/MX clothing for racing, I’m sure we will see plenty of it kicking around the place this year with people like Cedric Gracia riding for O’Neal now.

Despite being a snow gear show, surf sales (Transition, Dakine importer) bought along the TransAM, the Covert and the Bomb. All bikes look awesome, clean lines, well built and a good weight when we picked them up. The covert looks like the perfect UK trail/play bike, with spot on angles for aggressive riding and a great spec some other brands might have some tough competition with this one.

Madison Clothing is new for 2010, with Madison now owning Saracen and Genesis and importing a massive range of brands it probably seemed a no brainer to start making good quality, well priced cycle wear. The full range of their clothing is on cycleeverywear.co.uk. I personally own the tempest jacket (£110), which is a great waterproof, windproof soft-shell, its not something I’d wear for riding as I’d get too hot in it. But for casual and work use its a great jacket. Below is the telegraph  jacket (£100), a fully waterproof, mountain biking jacket. These jackets have a great fit, dont look over the top cyclist, and come in at a competitive price. And the main thing for me, is they are really breathable… no more sticking to the inside of your coat. Joy!

Thats all – look out for part 2 from Sam’s report later this week – cheers mate!

Looks like Cedric really likes his new bike…

This might be old news but there’s going to a 6 round dirt jump series running alongside the NPS4X in 2010.

The comps will take place over two days, with qualies on Saturday and finals on Sunday – with prizes for the top 3 in each cat from Halo, Identity, DMR, RAM, Watch26.tv, Spank, Commencal, Naked Racing and Duffs.

More info at http://www.dirtwarsuk.com/

The Nuke Proof team just uploaded a few teaser shots of their new proto DH frame to Facebook…

The frame was tested at 2009 Mega and what you’ve got here is the 2nd generation proto. No more news as yet… Stay tuned.

Boom!

Nuke Proof Facebook here

Borderline Events are the proud hosts of the Downhill National Championships 2010.

The event will be held at Ae forest over the weekend of 17^th & 18^th July and the course work has already begun to completely re-vamp the existing track from top to bottom – New lines, bigger jumps and completely new sections….. It will keep you challenged in every part of your run.

Entries open Today,  Monday 08^th February at midday and will be open to British Cycling Licence holders only.  Points are not required to enter.

All the information you need can be found at www.borderline-events.co.uk

Click on the banner – this will take you through to the booking page where you can register.

This Is Sheffield. Episode 1. from Joe Bowman on Vimeo.

Joe just put together another banger from oop north – awesome work bro!

Remember we ran a comp to win a copy of Break the Cycle? Looks like we’ve got a winner at last…

The answer was of course that BTC covered the Irish downhill scene and not the Welsh, Polish or your mum’s. We only had one joker opt for ‘your mum’… you know who you are!

Just in case you missed it, here’s the official Break the Cycle trailer:

Break the Cycle Trailer – NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD! from Andy Yoong on Vimeo.

and of course our interview with Andy Yoong, the man behind the film:

You can find out more about BTC at breakthecyclefilm.com

Last but not least… the winner is…. <drum roll> TIM GRANT! Well done fella! A DVD is on its way.

Cheers to everyone that entered and to the BTC team for coming up with the prize.

Keep an eye on Wideopen for more competitions this season – we’ve got some bloody awesome kit to give away to you guys.

Here’s the official word from the guys at mtb-direct:

Last year FLi Distribution worked in conjunction with www.mtb-direct.co.uk to start a raffle to win a 2009 Solid Mission 9 frame.

The 2009 frames never really made it to the UK, so they delayed the draw until now.

The 2010 frames are now available, in two colours and with a number of shock options. The 2010 frame with Cane Creek Double Barrel shock will set you back £1999.99.

Keep it locked to mtb-direct.co.uk for more.

and here’s our review of the proto mission 9 way back in Wideopen issue 6: