With 2011 now a distant memory away it was the British Army’s downhill mountain bike teams rookie year along with a huge learning curve on how to form a mountain bike team and keep it running smoothly with 20 riders to kit out and keep informed of constant changes and progress.
2012 was a massive change in progress in both rider numbers and team support having teamed up with speacialized bikes and the team growing to 30 riders ranging from 19 - 44 years old of all ranks from private to the dizzy heights of Major, As a team it will be very difficult for us to ever be all together in one place at any one time due to work commitments etc so the way round this is we have entered 20 riders into the Pearce cycles race series this year in order for us to make some sort of impact and be seen to be racing at the top of UK racing and to be seen we had a big image change,
The main change was our team kit and suppliers with us still using Royal racing clothing for everything apart from our new tops who are now printed and supplied by RSD sports in Wigan Lancashire providing us with our own custom design so that we can be seen and stand out in the public eye as mountain bikers as well as soldiers doing some thing they love and enjoy that is a break from the norm to what is usually seen in the media.
Having had all winter to muster a team together and let every one who could train do there own thing unless those who where on tour doing there duty or otherwise injured from accidents through out the 2011 season we still managed to get a few winter races under our belts and pull in some impressive results with veteran rider zak needham getting several podiums in the veterans category and senior riders james heal and brian Anderson getting very good results also.
As the end of march approached us it was almost time for our annual training camp in Wales to meet up as a team and blow off any cobwebs collected over the winter months, the training week was planned before the 2012 racing calendar was published and it was then set in stone for march as racing usually starts in April until a spanner was put in the works and Pearce cycles round 1 was booked in on the weekend for the start of our training week so already things where starting back to front. We collected and regrouped as a team and prepared to get racing instead with allot of guys finding the last of the winter races to help race prep.
RACE WEEKEND PEARCE CYCLES ROUND 1 2012
Whilst the world’s best riders were battling it out in a hot and sunny South Africa, 300 odd UK riders were enjoying the first round of the Pearce Cycles Series at Bringewood this weekend. Though not quite as hot, the weather was pretty awesome for March, with warm sunshine on Saturday whilst the surrounding areas suffered from some pretty heavy showers. The rain tried to move in on Sunday but didn’t really affect the track and soon dried up and returned to sunny blue skies.
For those of you who may or may not know bringewood from the start hill, the far left track was used, with some new sections dug in to keep things interesting. The usual step down over the road was in, but the approach was a little bit different with some good pump to be had off a little down slope just before it, if you wanted then landing on what could only be described as the wet cobbles of coronation street which seemed to be catching allot of riders out all weekend.
Down to the next fire road the track was the same as usual, with the twisting bermy trail providing loads of fun and finishing with the bomb hole jumps where hitting the drop in smooth was vital in order to make a good approach for the step up in to the double that if any one got the landing wrong you where thrown off line for the next corner that led you out just before a short pedal across the fire road and across the open section that was like moto whoops and just all out flowy fun and was also home to the speed trap.
Instead of bearing left or straight on at the end of this section there was a new section which cut across to the right and provided a bit of interest and new-ness to get to grips with. The track then cut across the final fire road a little bit further right than usual and then joined up with the left-most track in the bottom section. High speed fun was the name of the weekend through the tight and twisty tree line hitting jumps and drops as you approached the final stretch of your run hitting a twisty single track the spectators became louder and the voice from the tannoy more clear as you hit three drops in to a berm to a big drop in for the final table top in for a sprint finish to a good crowd who cheered every 1 on as they slogged their way home,
even the rain couldn’t dampen spirits or the track with drizzle on Friday and Saturday night. Tyre choice was obviously something dry and fast, although a few people were running mud tyres to offer a bit of extra grip in the dust, although there was the obvious compromise in rolling resistance.
The Pearce’s usual excellent uplift service provided a swift and efficient route up the hill, with some people managing 5 runs during the 2 hour Sunday morning practice slot, and most people well into double figures on Saturday.
This year Shukers Subaru are speed trap sponsors. There's £50 up for grabs for the fastest guy and girl through the speed trap at each round. Junior rider Isaac Anderson took it for the guys this round, and Emma Wareham got the gas down for the girls.
On Sunday Racing started around the 11 o’clock mark and things got underway pretty smoothly as usual. Of note was the massive senior category - 109 competitors in all, and it was the closest fought too, with first to fourth separated by less than half a second with two of our riders pulling out impressive times with Brian Anderson finishing in 13th and James heal in 33rd with other riders still making the top 50.
We had riders in almost every category this week end with some riders used to the big event pressure and other having their eyes opened to what serious racing is all about but he end result was the same for us all in that we all had fun racing our bikes.
Full results, including split times and speed trap info can be found on Pearce Cycles,
A massive thanks to all those who support the team and a huge thank you to
Renthal
Specialized
RSD sports
Hope technology
Cycletyre.com
Muc-off
O Neal
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