Grower or a shower?
Stand up or sit down?
Front to back or back to front?

Loose at rock, paper, scissors and valley legend Leon Rosser will make you answer one of his ‘special questions’!

Our race video was all business – our pit video is all about the banter! Enjoy some choice cuts from the Halo British Downhill Series Fort William pits featuring Steve Peat, Duncan Riffle, Sam Reynolds and more!

Thanks to Leon Rosser for the mc skills, Tim Lake for the camera skills, Paul Roberts for the edit and of course – Monster Energy – for fueling the carnage. Cheers all!

You may have noticed … but there’s some awesome progress being made up in North Wales on a heap of new downhill tracks. The tracks are up at Blaenau Ffestiniog and there’s currently 4 runs in progress ranging from gnarly downhill race runs to tamer ‘all mountain’ stuff.

More when we’ve got it – there’s a good piece on what’s going on here: http://www.snowdonia-active.com/news.asp?newsid=807

Fort William is a track that I know lots of us riders always look forward to each year. The big thing this year though was the buzz on Facebook/Twitter questioning the weather for for the weekend. It was not looking good for racing on sunday and could cancel the race due to the gondolas not being able to run due to high winds.

I traveled up on Friday with team-mate Rich T to discover that most riders were already up on the hill for practice – word had already got round that Sunday’s racing could be cancelled and moved to Saturday afternoon and a lot of riders were out making sure they got the practice that they needed.

Saturday practice went well for both me and Rich and we both enjoyed smashing out some runs on the big, rough track. The weather was spot on in the morning but things changed in the early afternoon with the bad weather moving in, the wind picking up and the rain kicking in. The big problem by Saturday afternoon though was the high winds which were really causing riders some problems up on the hill.

Both race runs from me and Rich went well, my run was just another smooth and safe one and looking back I did not really get into my run as much as I maybe did at round 1. I was happy with another 6th place though and went away 4th overall in the series.

Rich seemed to have a similar story and came out with a 20th place overall which he was a bit dissapointed with. His excuse was that he played his pre-race warm up tunes to loud and put himself off. #struggler!  Despite that he got a decent result in a packed category and put himself 10th overall in the series.

Few thank you’s now, to all the team sponsors, Chaz Curry (Team mechanic) keeping us rolling this weekend, Jamie Edwards (Team manager) and Paul roberts and Tim Lake for putting together this top video of all the action on the hill this weekend! Thanks also to the guys at Monster for putting us up for the weekend and giving us somewhere to stay!

Thanks also to Paul Cram for the great images – you can check out his Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paul-Cram-Photography/286824834679271

Until next time, check out the Wideopenmag.co.uk video:

King of Dirt round 1 wasn’t quite the roaring success Sam and co had hoped…

Crappy weather and a few mishaps with the track meant that the event was cancelled last minute and they’re now focusing on a bigger, better and more successful round 2.

Despite the wash-out event we teamed up with Stanton bikes and have got a video for you nonetheless. Here it is kids – King of Dirt 2012 round 1!

This one is a great cause and is well worth a click!

Fitness Coach to the stars Alan Milway just fired this over:

“I am emailing you regarding a t shirt I had signed at the first world cup, for Jason Brennan who suffered some serious spinal injuries. My friend Ben Froggatt wanted to try and raise some money for Jason and I was able to ask some of the world cup riders in south Africa to sign a fox t shirt to be auctioned off for him.

The riders were fantastic and there are loads of guys who have signed it, from Danny to, Needles, Mr Gwin, Peaty, Gracia and on and on. I am very grateful to them all and hope that this auction can raise some good money for Jason who I believe is still in a bad way.
I would be very grateful if you could put this link up onto your website and facebook- the auction is only 5 days away from ending so would be great to get some attention to it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251062257191?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1287

Signed Shirt By Danny Hart, Aaron Gwin, Steve Peat, Cedric Gracia, Gee Atherton

Ladies and gents, boys and girls – Wideopenmag’s Fort William Halo British Downhill Series video is live!

Fort William was a wild weekend for the Halo BDS circus with a big, rough track and even bigger, rougher weather. The hype up to the event saw warnings that the wild Scottish weather might spoil play and – sure enough – Saturday seeding runs became Final runs and Sunday’s race day was pulled.

The wins went to World Champs Danny Hart and Manon Carpenter.

WATCH awesome videos WIN awesome prizes!

Hold on a minute – this aint just a video. It’s also a MASSIVE competition!

Keep your eyes peeled for a secret link in this video – it will let you enter our huge competition and maybe win a prize from our mountain of awesome goodies.

We’ve got 2 tickets to the Fort William World Cup this video – thanks to Monster Energy
We’ve got a DriftHD helmet-cam for every video we produce – thanks to Action Cameras
We’ve got a Monster goody bag for every video we produce – thanks to Monster
We’ve got a Nukeproof Scalp downhill frame to give away at the end of the season!

… And who won the DriftHD and goody bag from last video? It was … Mr Jack Hoskins! Congratulations!

Huge thanks to Paul Roberts and Tim Lake for braving the 18 hours of driving and wild weather to produce this awesome edit!

Thanks also to Monster Energy for powering Wideopenmag’s edits all season!

And in case you haven’t read it yet, check out issue 18 of Wideopenmag:

We’re running a comp to raise money for Scott Shepherds Charity, Rider Down Trust. We’ve put up a one off complete custom built Dartmoor Shine as the prize, the frame has come from Dartmoor Bikes HQ, the shock from Mojo, the rest from Slam69.

The frame for this bike is the Dartmoor Shine, 100mm travel jump frame, more info on the frame here (http://dartmoor-bikes.com/hardware/frames/shine  )The rear shock is a FOX RP23 supplied by Mojo Suspension.

The rest of the components are:
Forks – Manitou Circus Expert 100mm. Headset – Dartmoor Flash. Bars – Swing Low. Stem – Dartmoor Funky 25.4mm. Cranks – Dartmoor Flares. Sprocket – Dartmoor trance. BB – Dartmoor Euro 19mm. Chain – Core. Pedals – Dartmoor Downtowns – Seat Post – Dartmoor Fusion pivitol. Seat – Dartmoor Fatty. Rear Brake – FUNN Hydro, 160mm rotor.
Wheels – Front, Dartmoor 2012 Raider rim with X-drive 20mm hub, built with blue Dartmoor Stainless spokes and graphite ally nipples. – Rear, Dartmoor 2012 Fortress rim with X-drive singlespeed hub, built with blue Dartmoor stainless spokes and graphite ally nipples. Tyres – Halo H-Blok white/black wall.

Value – £2500

Scotts charity info:
The Rider Down Trust was founded in 2011 following Scott Shepherds serious crash at Round 2 of the Schwalbe British 4X at PORC. Scott sustained traumatic brain injuries as a result of the crash on the 8th May 2011.  Although injuries to this extent are very rare, they are becoming more and more common due to the increased interest in cycling, especially mountain bike and BMX. Scott was classed as being in a coma for nearly 5 months and nearly a year on has progressed to minimally concious, but of course this is still very limiting and he is totally dependant on others for all his care and needs.

Marcel Hunt on the Dartmoor Shine on pinkbike.com

What does The Rider Down Trust aim to achieve?
As Scott’s family, we found that support was very difficult to attain. Much of the support available is aimed at people with less severe brain injury and therefore very difficult to get the right advice at the right time. Also due to the lack of information in the public, we still find that people do not understand the situation Scott is in and, although not down to ignorance, this makes it very difficult for people who know him to deal with the situation.

We felt that we wanted to offer a service to cyclists who have been through a similar traumatic situation, initially this service is for sufferers of traumatic brain injury (TBI) but we hope to role out the service to help cyclists with any serious injury across the UK. The cycling community as a whole, may be divided by the type of bike they ride but everyone is united in supporting fallen riders and we aim to be the first stop for individuals and their families when such an incident occurs. 

The Trust can offer support to individuals through specific advice for their situation and injuries, one to one support when needed, financial grants available to help with travelling if the injured cyclist is at hospital away from home. Although we have predetermined goals we do not limit to these and if we can help in any other way other than what we lay out we will ultimately do our best to accommodate all situations.

We also are aiming to set up a group to help seriously injured riders to keep their social experiences and keep riding by providing access to specialist cycle equipment in a safe environment. This will ultimately be based in Derby however we plan to work with similar organisations across the UK to provide this to as many people as possible.

The Rider Down Trust is a very new charitable organisation, but awareness for our cause is growing rapidly enabling us to get out there and help more people.  The more people we are able to help the more money we need to raise to be able to offer the best service we possibly can.  The funds we raise will go to providing the advice and financial support which injured riders and their families need when they need it, as well as going towards purchasing the cycle equipment to provide the rehabilitation service and social integration that is so important to sufferers of life long disabilities as a result of their injuries.

To riders like Scott, who’s passion was to ride, to give them the opportunity to continue with this passion and help them retain their sense of identity is crucial to their well being and mental stability throughout their lives.  It is currently being brought to the attention of the media that although science has developed in leaps and bounds in order to increase survival rates, little is available to support these individuals once they are stable. Even the number of hospitals capable of giving full and adequate care to these people is very limited and often a long commute for their families.

As a trust we aim to support as many people as possible, and our aim for 2012 is to raise at least £15,000 in order for us to keep getting out there and offer these services. Whether the rider has sustained a brain or spinal injury or a broken bone we will offer the service that each individual needs. The grants we offer are to help with travel costs for the family if the patient is in hospital out of their home town, or to cover basic costs if the person is in hospital for two weeks or more to relieve financial hardship and grants are available up to £500 (dependant on severity of injury and length of hospital stay)

To enter the competition go to the slam69 website, go to the shop page and clik the competition box with the rider down pic. simply tick the correct answer to a very tough question, pay your pound and keep those fingeres crossed. you can enter as many times as you wish. The comp ends on Friday June 24th. With luck we can have the winner anounced for the next round of the 4X on the 25th/26th at Redhill. Comp results will be posed on the slam69 and rider down sites.

enter on www.slam69.co.uk

rider down trust info www.riderdown.org.uk

This weekend will see rd 2 of the Halo BDS circus roll into Fort William town in Scotland. 350 of the Worlds fastest racers are booked in to tackle the toughest course on the World Cup circuit. With over 70 Elites booked in to race, aiming to stop GT’s Marc Beaumont in his tracks after his run away success at rd1 in Combe Sydenham. Giants Danny Hart has been on track since Wednesday, getting in early practice before the likes of Peaty, Bryceland, Beaumont, Bond, Smith, Fairclough, Lehikoinen, Buchanan, Cunningham, Dale, Kerr, Mears, Reading, Reid,Theiron, Riffle, Ruthin, Thomas.. and many more..

FREE Parking and Spectating all weekend!

Saturday and Sunday 12th/13th May 2012.

Halo British Downhill Series Round 2.

Nevis Range
Aonach Mor access road
Torlundy,
Fort William
PH33 6SQ
Telephone: 01397 705825

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/77203/Halo-British-Downhill-Series-Round-2-Fort-William.

Start list can be found above.

Categories in running order and their sponsors..

Juvenile – Leisure Lakes
Youth – Rose Bikes
Veterans – Stendec
Masters – Nukeproof
Women – Monster
Elite Women – Schwalbe
Junior Men – Fox Head
Senior Men – Knox
Expert Men – Descent-Gear.com
Elite Men – Schwalbe

Grab a chance to get autograph signings and photo opportunities with UCI World Champion Danny Hart who will be opening proceedings on Sunday at 10:50a.m before he races!

The nearest train station is:
Tom-na-Faire. Station Square, Fort William. Highland PH33 6TQ.

Course Description:

The course is probably the toughest on the World Cup circuit and will be physically and technically challenging and your race run will be between on average 5-7minutes long.

Grading – orange extreme (previously graded ‘black’).
Access – gondola uplift.
Length – 2.82km
Start altitude – 655m
Finish altitude – 100m
Vertical descent – 555m
Finish – Nevis Range car park
Fastest time 5:00 minutes.

Race Regulations:

The event will run under UCI Regulations.

PrizeMoney:

Men
1st £500.00
2nd £275.00
3rd £200.00
4th £156.00
5th £125.00
6th £108.00
7th £95.00
8th £78.00

Women
1st £320.00
2nd £240.00
3rd £155.00
4th £80.00

Saturday

09:30 Open practise for all riders.

18:00 Course Closed.

Sunday

08:30 Open Practise for all.

11:00 Timed Seeding Run.

14:00 One Timed Race Run.

17:45 Podium.

Award Ceremonies: Will take place 15 minutes after the last rider has crossed the line.

Race office: In the cafeteria, we will have a reserved area.

Press conference room: In the cafeteria with free wireless.

Monster Energy PA System mannd by Halo BDS Commentator Toby Parodi: A full Public Announcement Facility will be on site with announcements throughout the day. A Notice Board will be also on display in the Race Office/Rider Registration area for displaying information regarding the event.

Retailers: Descent-Gear.com will be trackside with spares and new kit along with Alpine Bikes who have a store based there.

Camping:

The race venue is not a campsite. Police can move you in as the Nevis Range has no license to allow camping.

Definately no fires!

The car park at Nevis Range which is where the race will be held is hard standing gravel and access for big rigs is easy.

Various camp site around the area, most favourable is the Glen Nevis Camp site.

Catering: Food and refreshments will be provided by Nevis Range, the mobile cafe will be open by the finish line and the cafe will also be open which has free wireless connections.

The onsite caterers will be open as follows:

Friday until 21:00

Saturday Food until 21:00, Bar until 21:00

www.halobritishdownhillseries.com

Halo British Downhill Series Website

Here it is! Jack Fogelbogeltwist testing the new Nukeproof Rook slopestyle proto!

I wish they’d give us one to test … I’ve got a few ideas for a bit of UK ‘testing’!

The second video from the Madison Saracen teams adventures in the 2012 season, taking in the first round of the British Downhill Series in Combe Sydenham, the Sea Otter Classic, as well as the UK Gravity Enduro Series Round 2 up in North Wales. Video by Jacob Gibbins