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Saturday 18 May 2013

Fort William BDS #2

Photos: Paul Cram
Words: Christo Gallagher

It seemed like I'd only just finished cleaning up from the last national at Combe Sydenham, by the time I had to start preparing for Fort William. The track at the nevis range ski centre is considered one of the toughest in the world and is definitely the toughest and roughest on the national circuit.

With the track being open for riding on the Friday, Morgan and I made the most of it and headed up early to get a few runs in. The track was as rough as ever and the bikes were feeling it with Morgan breaking a wheel already. It was a busy night for mechanic Rory to fully prep our bikes for actual practice on the Saturday, but he had our bikes running perfect.

Even though the easy up tried to blow away at two in the morning, we were all feeling pretty fresh in the morning and I was eager to practice underway. In the gondola hall we were told that seeding was being moved to Saturday afternoon in case the wind got too high on the Sunday for them to run the race. I managed two and half runs before seeding due to a massive crash in the woods with a pretty hard knock to the head. Morgan bashed out four runs and was on a charge to put in a good result to help with his selection for the world cups coming up soon. Morgan was up first for seeding and put in a solid result for 8th place and with confidence to knock a lot of time off. The weather at the top for expert seeding runs wasn't great, with wind and rain coming and going, it was tough to motivate myself to put in a good run. I put in a solid run though and came in 4th. I felt pretty happy with that and was ready to knock a lot more time off it and charge for the win on Sunday. After seeding we all grabbed some dinner and sat in the nevis range café to keep warm since it was certainly not the hottest weekend of the year.

Sunday morning brought news of what the weather was probably going to do and that was for it to get real bad towards the later part of the afternoon. Racing was moved to an eleven o'clock start to hopefully allow the full race run. Even with the early start, it didn't really effect practice much, so I got two solid runs and a massive over the bars and massive knock to my head and had nothing to do except be ready for the race run which was approaching. Morgan, racing in Junior, was up first. Confident to put in a strong ride, he was disappointed to come away with 8th place, but he knows exactly what to work on, so a lot was learnt. I managed to prep myself well for my race run, and was eager to get into the start gate and go. My run was pretty smooth, except for one massive mistake where I hit my pedal off a rock which caused my foot to blow off the pedal, which ruined my flow for the following section of track, which was pretty crucial to carry speed through. All was not lost and I pedalled hard towards the bottom of the trail, riding the unpredictable woods clean and putting in a good bottom split despite my hesitation with the jumps due to last year's incident (pulled up hard and then nosedived which popped my shoulder out for the final time). I came across the line into 6th place and my time was not beaten by any of the faster seeds. Disappointed is an understatement as I really thought I could win, but having only been riding downhill for two months and bikes for three since my injury, I couldn't complain too much and know exactly what areas to work on.

Great work from Rory our race mechanic and James and Ryan at Pedals-Edinburgh, for getting our bikes perfect for the race and all our other sponsors for helping the team out!

The next race we'll be at is the Innerleithen BDS, so stop by the pits and say hi if you're there!

Wednesday 24 April 2013

Scott Lindsay's Early Races Rapid Round Up

Words: Scott Lindsay

Hello all,

Couple races into the season and thought I'd get down in writing all the goings on before the next big race, Round 2 of the UK Gravity Enduro Series at Innerleithen. So here goes.

I now have my new bike courtesy of Pedals - Eco Conscious Bike Care, a super sweet Transition Bandit, with 29er wheels. After test riding one of these I really felt like the extra grip and stability offered by the bigger wheels would benefit my riding. I'm loving the wagon wheels and have been riding it on all sorts of different types of trails, from Dunkeld DH track to hitting big gaps at Cambusbarron and even working my way through a pretty tight set up dirt jumps up Corstorphine woods. 29ers can't jump and they are no fun to ride at all. The reality is this is the best bike I've ever owned and every time I get on it I am blown away by how well it rides.

My first big race I took part in this season was Round 1 of the UK Gravity Enduro Series at Afan Forrest and after a long drive down to Wales, and a very snowy overnight stop in Birmingham, Dad and me arrived and I went out round the course. The Afan tracks were mainly fast and quite pedally with not that many technical sections. Here I have to give another mention to Pedals, who lent me a Reverb adjustable Seatpost for the event, came in handy with some of the fireroad sprints, cheers guys once again! Qualifying took place on stage 5 and I was one of the first seniors down since it was my first UK round. After everyone came down my smooth run had put me in 7th place, I was quite happy with that and felt confident I could give a bit more come race day.

Sunday involved freezing winds and frozen tracks, Stage One in particular was icy in places and a bit sketchy. I rode each stage smoothly and focussed on riding consistently. I even had a brief chat with the overall winner of the day Dan Atherton, letting him know about the icy conditions on course, I am confident I contributed to his win. Stage 3 was the best stage of the day, it was the longest and most technical, with a very physically demanding fire road climb before dropping into the famous Wall trail. I was delighted to place 4th on this stage in Senior as it was the closest to what I feel a true "Enduro" stage should be, long and technical with a good pedally section, perfect. Stage 4 was the most interesting however, it had a freshly cut section of trail that had turned into a bit of a bog. Despite this, the big wheels loved the sludge and come the bottom I was catching my 20 second man, the final section had deteriorated so much that I dismounted my bike and ran for the line, a technique employed by most riders judging by the pictures of the event- my cyclocross skills came in handy.

After completing the last stage I met my Dad with a big smile, happy that over the weekend I had put together a good 6 stages that were smooth and consistent. I finished the day in 6th place, which I was very happy with, it is a great base to work from and I took a lot of positives from the race, my fitness was excellent and I felt as strong on the final stage as I did on the first. Hopefully it's the sign of more good results to come!

Another major (ish) event of the last few weeks has been me having a pretty lame crash at Glentress, which resulted in a pretty deep gash in my knee. That is according to my pal Dom who I was riding with; I chose not to look at wound properly as I don't like having images like that in my head. I came round a corner at about 3 mph, slid out on some ice and landed on the only rock in the area with my knee. OUCH. Luckily the Glentress Alpine Bikes Manager Matthew was on hand to bandage me up and give me some abuse, useful when I realised my Mum's car doesn't have a first aid kit. A medical student later advised me that I should have probably had it stitched rather than riding with it but I don't mind the pink overhang and hole that now makes up my knee, don't' chicks dig scars?

Right what else has happened:
·         Rode the Unofficial Steepest Track in Scotland at Aberfoyle. JUST

·         Climbed Ben A'an with a crew and descended some of that

·         Filmed a promo video for Glasgow University Cycling Club

·         Started up work again at Alpine Bikes Edinburgh

·         Built a new track in the local woods that got destroyed the following week

·         Lost at FIFA to Cammy Kilgour's 8 year old younger brother 4 goals to 0. And no one will let me forget about it.

Oh yes, I raced a downhill race this weekend! Couple comments when some people I know saw me: "Scott are you lost" and "bit short this type of racing for you Scott". Super special mention to my good pal the legendary Callum Gibson, who lent me his bike for the race, his Trek Session was really good on the hucks to flat and wide open sections of the race. CHEERS GIBBY! It was also great to have the Wigwam Team Pits and van. Easy ups really are a mountain bikers best friend. I travelled to the race with Morgan and Dan, so with 75% of the team at the race it was a good laugh. Christo was away racing the student DH Champs - where he got 4th - good skills. The other two guys weren't overly happy with their results, Morgan particularly was really beating himself up, but after practising with those guys, I am blown away by their speed on a bike and some big results are coming for the pair of them. I myself finished in the top half of the senior category after riding a little too conservatively! Had some great fun though and was nice having a bit of a fun weekend doing something a bit different.

So that is me up to date, blog is a bit long, cheers if you stuck with me up to this point.

Scott OUT

Wednesday 24 April 2013

Two Weekends Of Combe Sydenham

Words: Christo Gallagher

Part 1 - BDS Round 1 Thursday evening and the van is packed and ready to go. I'd spent all day sorting out the mess which I'd left from the end of last season. Not the greatest idea, but I got it done. Morgan and Dan arrived and we packed the van up with its new layout, which made things a bit easier.

Six in the morning came around all too soon and before we knew it, we were on the road. This year Morgan is able to drive, which was great to take the strain off myself and share the driving with Morgan, so with two, two hour shifts each we got down to Combe Sydenham in a relaxed nine hours. We arrived to sunshine and clouds, but with the forecast set for heavy rain on Saturday, we hastily set up the pits before we went on the track walk. Track walk showed a damp track, almost identical to the previous year. I was certainly hoping to repeat similar success to the previous year and was confident I could do so, despite having only ridden downhill for a few weeks since recovering from my shoulder surgery.

The predicted rain arrived right on time on Saturday, with the track turning into a slippery affair by midday and the Schwalbe Dirty Dans coming out. The track was holding up fairly well, except for a few axle deep ruts and the run in into the step down becoming increasingly slower. We all felt fairly competent on the track and were eager to get cleaned up and ready for the following day.

Strange that the weather forecasters managed to get a correct weather forecast for a race weekend, with Sunday being largely cloudy with the sun peeking out on occasion. The track repair guys had done a great job of fixing up the destroyed track from Saturday with Sunday practice running well. Morgan was first to complete his seeding run, putting in a solid 14th place with a casual run down the hill. I was next and really not up for a hard effort on the pedal twice, so I also took a casual approach to my run and finished in 11th place. Dan was last down and put in a solid run in 8th place.

For race runs, I can't say it was a successful weekend for the team result-wise, but a lot was learnt. Morgan being in Junior was first down and finished in 11th place with a mechanical, his first split had him in 7th, so his speed is definitely there. I was up next and just generally made my run hard work for myself by riding completely unlike myself, so not surprisingly I finished in 17th place in expert. I was really looking to finish on the podium, but it wasn't to be. Finally Dan was down, with similar feelings about his run as I had to mine and he finished in 21st. A lot was learnt from this weekend, especially by myself who hadn't raced in over ten months and only ridden downhill for three weeks prior to the race. It was good to be back to have the team together though after the long winter off.

Our newest member of the team, new mechanic Rory Watt, certainly was a big help and is now a valuable asset to our team, we are certainly looking forward to having him help out for the rest of the season and seeing his development from bike shop mechanic to international race team mechanic over the season.

Part 2 - BUCS Downhill Student Championship

Only three days off before I had to leave for Combe Sydenham again. I certainly didn't feel fully rested after driving through the night to get home after the BDS. I would be making this trip without my usual team mates, Morgan and Dan, because it was for the BUCS (British Universities &Colleges Sport) Downhill Student Championship. I am student at Edinburgh Napier University, but we couldn't put a team together so I got in contact with Edinburgh University Cycling Club (EUCC) and they were nice enough to take me down to the race with them. We met on Thursday at 8.30am and shortly left at about 9.15am. With a hire van and not such a worry about fuel, the drive down was fairly swift and we arrived at the youth hostel in Minehead about 7.00pm. The EUCC are a good bunch, so some laughs were had over dinner and a good night's sleep was had before rising early on Saturday morning.

We did a quick track walk, with the track being largely similar to the BDS the previous week, but now with a completely new middle woods sections and new top section because the track from the national was just ruined. The track was running good and I managed six practice runs without much fuss. I was feeling good on the track and confident for qualifying and racing on Sunday. I spent the evening reviewing helmet camera footage and generally just chilling out drinking tea and eating probably a bit too much cake.

Another good night's sleep was had and I woke to another day of blue skies, which was making a nice change to the previous weekend's wet weather. I got two practice runs in and my Schwalbe Muddy Marys were great for the varied track terrain. I had a big wait for my qualifying run, so I chilled out with Calum from EUCC who was due to set off at a fairly similar time myself. I put down a fairly conservative qualifying run, and came across the line in 4th. After that I was pretty confident I could get on the podium and I certainly wanted it. My preparation for my race run was good and I had a good midget, but it went all wrong in the woods where I rode too tight and not how I had ridden all weekend. I finished in 4th with a five second improvement on my seeding time, but I certainly was not happy to finish just off the podium. It was a good race to have following the national though and I beat a few fast guys who I wanted to beat, which proves that not only have I not lost any speed with my time off the bike, but somehow once again I've actually got a bit faster.

A final thank you to all of the teams sponsors, Wigwam Holidays, Schwalbe UK, Crank Brothers, Pedros, Clif Bar, Lizard Skins, 2pure, Helitape and O'neal for all the support they provide and thank you to EUCC for helping me out with a lift down to the BUCS Downhill Student Championship.

Monday 10 December 2012

Season Ender

Words: Christo

So, we are now reaching the end of 2012 and what a successful first season the team has achieved, wins at a national level and world cup appearances would be a modest description of what was achieved, because these were the least difficult things to have been achieved this year.

We started off trying to arrange deals with companies to sponsor us for the season and the companies that came to support us, we are grateful because without them, we could not have performed to the level we did. This was around December time in 2011 and pretty late on to be asking for support, but luckily we pulled through and were off to a good start. Over the winter the riders got on with their training and I tried to organise our calendar on top of that too.

The first national came around in April and we had got the van the day before. I had never driven anything other than a small car and was to drive it 500 miles down to Combe Sydenham near Taunton in Somerset, it was nervous first few miles that's for sure. With it being the first race of the season, none of us were sure what to expect from our competitors, but had obviously placed a lot of pressure on ourselves to achieve what we wanted and to see if the winter's training had paid off. It was almost a perfect weekend, with a good track and good weather. Morgan managed to come away with 7th even with a stupid mistake (along the lines of following someone with a mechanical off the track, feel free to laugh, we still tease him about it today) and I took the win with a time that placed me pretty well overall. Definitely can't ask for better way than a win to start the season off.

We went straight into the following weekend with the first Scottish national at Innerleithen. The weather was certainly a contrast to the previous with rolling showers throughout and soaking track. But Innerleithen is always better in the wet, a bit slower on the straights, but the corners have bags more grip. Morgan unfortunately had been struck with tendonitis at Combe Sydenham and had to sit out the next races until the British Championships in July. The success was continued this weekend though, with me taking the win again despite a puncture in my first run and having it all to do on my second on a much slower track.

Following on from Innerleithen, we had a small break to get some fun riding done, so we headed up to Fort William to get some practice in on the track before the upcoming national round. We brought along Calum McRitchie for some added fun too and it was a good thing he came because myself and Morgan were a shambles with remembering all the stuff we needed. We got a good days practice done though in the rare warm west coast sun. Well apart from I found myself in A&E after tripping over myself in the finish area.

Back again at the Nevis Range for the second national round. Morgan was hoping to go better than Combe Sydenham after taking some time off to get over his tendonitis. A windy forecast brought race runs forward to Saturday and it was evident who had come up for cheeky practice on the Friday. Morgan unfortunately couldn't cope with his tendonitis on the brutal track and didn't race in the end.

We paid Glencoe its first visit the following weekend and it turned out to be a great race. With all the usual banter outside the tape at an SDA, the event had a real laid back atmosphere, especially with the lack of entrants. We had brought up a few friends to the race and everyone had a real good time. Until race runs, when Morgan reverts back to his all or nothing attitude and tries to break his back and wrist. Luckily he was ok.

After sustaining an injury from tripping over in the Nevis Range car park, WigwamRacing wouldn't be seen in action again until the third round of the IXS European Cup at Innerleithen. It was an amazing one off track for the weekend, the weather was the opposite with pouring rain until Sunday race runs. I came away with 25^th overall which I pleased with after 6 weeks off the bikes and that I could barely hold on with my hand still not quite there yet.

The IXS was followed by a push up race at Pitfichie, which was one of the gnarliest tracks I've ever ridden, and I felt great on it, but unfortunately, my shoulder injury re-emerged and that was me out for the season, so in comes Dan Carrigan as my substitute and now an official rider for the team. Dan pulls of a third place on his test ride for the team.

Two weekends back to back of pissing wet rain really takes it out of you and we couldn't believe our luck when Glencoe of all places came around with a drying track. With a depleted field of riders due to riders getting injured or not wanting to risk the variable weather of Glencoe, Dan pulled out a great run to come away with third place. A great ride for his debut appearance.

It barely seemed like we were home, when we were already packing up for the Scottish Championships in Fort William. With Morgan and I still out with injury, it was left to Dan to represent. A weird weekend for the whole team and we left with disappointment, but eager to press on with the season as we had to start planning for our three week trip to France.

It was certainly a chaotic week planning for France, but well worth it. We headed off for the British Championships at Moelfre. It was hot and sunny weekend and Morgan managed a twelth place finish attempt to conserve his wrist for the following weekend, but also trying to get some time on the bike before the world cup too.

We then picked up a couple of friends and headed off to Val D'Isere with a couple a couple of stops on the way and with Ross having to get the bus back to Edinburgh and fly out because he had forgotten his passport.

We arrived in Val D'Isere on the Tuesday evening before the world cup to get ourselves acquainted with the venue. We got a fair bit of riding done in the area and it was amazing with a free lift pass from the swimming pool in tignes. Morgan's qualifying didn't go too great, but he did pretty well for his world cup and the experience was a valuable lesson for us all. After the race we had a few days to chill out before we got on the road again, so we did some more riding and chilling out in the internet cafes.

On the Thursday morning we got up nice and early and made the long journey back to the UK and to Caersws for the next British National. Pretty quiet affair really, with showers throughout the weekend proving for some difficult track conditions. After the race, we made the final trip home in time to catch the 100m final of the Olympics, so quite a fitting finish to our first trip to Europe I think.

After we'd got back from France, we all took some well deserved rest off the bikes before making the trip south again. With Dan back from a couple of weeks in France, we were a full team again, despite myself not being able to race. Bringewood was a great race, with an amazing looking track. The weekend was subject to some pretty heavy storms rolling in which left the track in a horrible slow state by the time race runs came around. With Morgan feeling pretty good on his wrist, he managed a 6^th place, which was pretty damn good considering he hadn't been able to ride properly for 3 months prior. Dan had some bad luck, but learnt a lot of things, so all was not lost.

Driving through Glencoe is always one of my favourite parts of driving through Glencoe. And as we drove up to Fort William for some fun riding, I definitely felt at home on the road again and was glad we'd decided to take this trip up north. We had decided we needed some time off serious riding, so headed up to Fort William for some fun mucking about and chilling away from everything. We got some friends together and off we went. It was a good trip to clear our heads before we headed into the final races of the season.

Llangollen, the steepest track in the UK. One of Morgans favourites too. We were back down in Wales again for the final British National of the season and it was shaping up to be a good one. The weather was kind but cold. Whilst Morgan got underway with some practice on the Saturday, I thought I'd check out a nearby trail centre, Llandegla. It was certainly a good move, with it being one of the funnest rides I've ever been on and I did it all alone. Come race day on Sunday, Morgan managed two spectacular crashes, to finish his season off with a lot to think about over the coming winter.

So, season over and it was a great first season for Wigwam Racing to have under its belt. We had our fair share of highs and lows, but definitely a lot of positives to take away from it. After we had finished with the season, we just went out and had fun on our bikes, hitting big jumps, epic rides and just living the dream before the hard winter set in.

See you all trackside next year, can't wait!

Wednesday 11 July 2012

British Downhill Series Round 3, Glencoe

Words: Christo Gallagher

Photos: Ian Linton

The third round of the British Downhill Series was to take place at Glencoe Mountain Resort. With a small entry list, partly down to last years terrible weather which caused a lot of riders to decide to not take the risk to travel a long way for it to be cancelled. Just over 160 riders signed on and 148 raced, the track took a few casualties.

We left on Friday afternoon, the van was fullest it's ever been. We drove straight to the track to walk it. The track was looking fast and dry, with a few changes since the SDA race. We then headed back to Strathfillan Wigwams, which would be where we were staying for the weekend.

With only half the regular field racing, there was no queues for the uplift, so we were able to have a lie in and turn up slightly later to the track. We set up the pits and chilled for a while since it was going to be easy to get in enough runs with practice running for 9 hours. I tried to ride, but my shoulder just wasn't going to handle the steep compressions, so I did two runs of the red and called it a day. Morgan who is still suffering from problems with his wrist also tried to ride, but was unable to hold on since the track is so rough and steep. There was only Dan left riding for the team, but he felt strong and was definitely racing for the senior win.

On Sunday morning, we arrived to some rain, which was welcomed by most riders as the track was getting super loose. Dan qualified comfortably in second place and was confident he had the pace to take the win. After a long wait, Dan went for his race run and I went up to take his jacket and water. Dan set off on a great run, but an unfortunate mistake in a crucial section of the track cost him the win and Dan ended up in third place.

A great weekend overall for the team as it was Dan's first race since he joined the team and his first national podium, it's good to see that the extra help is helping him progress.

We couldn't have this success without support from our sponsors, so thanks to Schwalbe UK, O'neal-Europe, CrankBrothers, Pedros, Lizard Skins, Clif Bar, HeliTape.co.uk, Pedals-Edinburgh.com and Wigwam Holidays.

Sunday 17 June 2012

IXS European Downhill Cup Innerleithen

The weather for the weekend wasn't looking like it was going to be great despite several days of sun leading up to the event. The forecast was right on Friday morning as we packed the van in heavy rain and headed off to Innerleithen. It would just be myself represnting Wigwam Racing this weekend because Morgan was still injured from his crash at Glencoe SDA.

After arriving at Innerleithen, we quickly set up the team pits to get some shelter from the rain. I then went to sign on. Whilst signing on, we saw that the freshly built jumps in the field leading up to the finish were looking really soft and would be difficult to clear. I got myself kitted up and headed off up the hill for my first run. The track was a lot of fun and really grippy in the rain, "ride the river" turned out to be the most common phrase of the weekend I reckon. As it turned out, only the first two jumps in the finish field were on, I tried the final one in my first run and nearly had a big over the bars and it only deteriorated throughout the weekend.

On Saturday we had practice all morning and as a top 80 rider and I had extended two hours of practice before seeding runs. I managed three or four runs and was feeling comfortable on the track. It wasn't particularly difficult and there was loads of grip thanks to the continued rainfall and my Schwalbe Dirty Dans were hooking up amazing! I had my seeding run about four o'clock so had a bit of waiting to do after practice which was boring, but it allowed me to get some rest. My seeding run was pretty average, I just coasted down, but then my chain fell off just before the field, so I had to coast the pedaliest section of the track, I finished seeding in 27^th place with lots of improvements to make.

Sunday was looking a bit drier, but this was only going to allow the course to dry up and slow down. I did two practice runs in the morning and then chilled out until my race run at two o'clock. I went up for my race run and struggled to find space to do a proper warm up which wasn't ideal. My run was smooth with no sketchy moments, but for the whole weekend I forgot to ride fast which meant I wasn't able to push as much as I would have liked in my race run. In the end I finished in 25^th, which put me as the fastest senior, and 4^th in expert with everyone else beating me in elite, so I can't be too unhappy with my result even though I know I was capable of more even though I'd been off the bike for six weeks prior.

Monday 21 May 2012

Glencoe SDA Round 2

Words: Christo Gallagher

Photos: Ian Linton

After going to the Hilly Cow Wigwams opening day, we headed up to Strathfillan Wigwams who were providing our accomodation for the weekends racing. I was still out with injury, but Morgan was ready to redeem himself from the previous weekend. The weather forecast was looking unbelievably good for Glencoe with sunshine forecast for both days, even though it was a little chilly.

Practice went well on the Saturday with there only being 160 riders in attendance, the queues for the chairlift were short and Morgan managed plenty of runs and felt up to speed to put in a good peformance come Sunday afternoon.

After a good nights sleep in the Wigwam, we headed back to the race venue where Morgan got a couple of practice runs in before race runs began. Things were a little mixed up due to the lack of entries and people were feeling a bit more rushed than usual. Morgan went up for his race run and was feeling good for a strong performance, but unfortunately not long into his run, he had a massive crash and the medics suspected he'd broken his back and wrist. Morgan was rushed off the hill as quickly as possible and went straight off to A&E in Fort William. I followed in the van to the hospital where I waited around and received the good news that he hadn't broken anything, but would be sore for a while.

Morgan in practice.

Not a great end to the weekend, and a disappointing couple of weeks for Morgan, but our next race is the IXS European Cup in Innerleithen where we should both back on it. We couldn't have this success without support from our sponsors, so thanks to Schwalbe UK, O'neal-Europe, CrankBrothers, Pedros, Lizard Skins, Clif Bar, HeliTape.co.uk, Pedals-Edinburgh.com and Wigwam Holidays.

Sunday 13 May 2012

Fort William BDS Round 2

Words: Christo Gallagher

Photos: Ian Linton

The second round of the British Downhill Series was to take place at Fort William, one of the most brutal tracks in the world. After Morgans exam on the Friday, we headed up to the house we were staying in for the weekend. I was unfortunately not racing due to an injury I had picked up two weeks previously which ended up with my hand in plaster. From the Thursday before the race, we knew there was going to be the possibility of the race being cancelled because of a storm moving in on Saturday night.

Morgan in practice on one of the top berms.

We arrived at the venue on Saturday morning and unfortunately were too late to get in the pro pits due to limited space, so had to settle for parking in the main car park. We were told early on that seeding would definitely be happening on Saturday afternoon, and it was likely that it would count for race runs if the weather moved in for Sunday. Morgan managed to get a few practice runs in, with the tendinitis in his wrist bothering him quite a bit despite it being taped up. Seeding runs came round and by this time, the chief commissaire and race organiser had decided that Sunday just wasn't going to happen and that seeding runs counted for your race run. Unfortunately Morgan couldn't hold on to the bars because his wrist became too painful and had to pull out from his final run.

Wednesday 25 April 2012

SDA Round 1, Innerleithen

Words: Christo Gallagher
Photos: Ian Linton

After a good weekend at the first national, there was barely time to rest up for the next race at Innerleithen for the first round of the SDA. Leading up to the event it rained fairly heavily, with the forecast looking to continue with heavy showers for most of the weekend.

Christo during Sunday morning practice

It was just myself flying the flag for the Wigwam Holidays Race Team at Innerleithen, as Cammy was studying for exams and Morgan was suffering from tendinitis in his wrist, which he decided would be better to rest for the national at Fort William in a few weeks time. Rolling up at Innerleithen a little later than planned, left no time for a track walk and I headed straight up the hill where I managed to get in six practice runs. The track was running really fast despite the heavy rainfall throughout the day and I felt I had learnt the track fairly well and was mostly up to speed, it was time for the evening track walk and then off home to clean the bike and all the kit.

Christo on his way to first place

On Sunday morning, things were looking a bit clearer weatherwise, but the track was still soaking wet. With two wet practice runs under my belt, I got my bike cleaned and I got changed to keep warm as I had a three hour wait before my race run. I watched the younger riders come down and saw that the track was a fairly long one for Innerleithen. I headed for the uplift an hour before my run as I had to get my seeding changed to prevent catching anyone up. My first race run was going well and the track had loads of grip, but unfortunately, I suffered a puncture about a minute into my run, so was unable to finish. I went back to the pits and put a new tube in, ready for my next run. My second race run went pretty well, the track was running a lot slower now since it hadn't rained all day and there was some big holes in the track. I had a fairly steady run and pedalled hard and managed to take the senior win by just over three seconds. In the end I was tenth overall on the day, with a time that would put me third in the expert category and sixth in the elite category so I was fairly happy with my time. I stuck around for the podium and then headed off home.

Christo on the podium

Wednesday 18 April 2012

British Downhill Series Round 1, Combe Sydenham, Somerset

The first round of the British Downhill Series was held down in Combe Sydenham, Somerset. Wigwam Racing made the long journey south to make their first appearance at British national round. Leaving on Friday morning at 7am, we drove down with a few pit stops and arrived around 4pm. After setting up our pit area, we headed up the track to see what we were going to be racing on. It looked pretty flat out, with some tricky sections and a fair bit of pedalling, but it certainly looked like it would be a fun track to ride.

Saturday morning brought grey skies and a bit of rain, not exactly what we were hoping for, but it definitely made the track trickier. Practice went well for the team, with no major incidents for the team. Our new Schwalbe Muddy Mary's were working really well in the slimy conditions and gave us a lot more confidence. With everyone feeling up to speed, we just couldn't wait to get racing, so made some dinner before it got dark and then got some rest for Sunday.

We awoke to a cold and sunny morning with clear skies. We quickly got some breakfast and headed up for practice. The track had dried out a lot overnight and some corners had become completely blown out so some minor adjustments had to be made to our lines before seeding got underway. First rider for the team down was Cammy, he seeded in 33^rd place in juniors with a time of three minutes. Morgan was up next and looking to prove that he is one to look out for, now that he has moved up to the junior category. Morgan seeded in seventh with a solid run and time of 2.43, and plenty more in the tank for race runs. After over a year out with injury, Christo was up next and unsure of how he would do since he had not raced for such a long time, but with a pretty conservative run he seeded comfortably in fourth place with plenty of time to take off come race runs.

After a couple of hours rest and a few Clif Bars later, it was time to get racing. Cammy was first off and managed to improve on his seeding run time by five seconds and finished in 29^th place on a 2.55. Cammy was pleased with his run, but just found himself off the pace and will be back to improve on that for the next race. Morgan up next, with his eyes on a podium finish, unfortunately though, even though he took three seconds off his time, a ridiculous mistake when trying to overtake a rider with a mechanical cost him time and Morgan ended up finishing in seventh place, which is a great start to his first year in the Junior category. About 40 minutes after Morgan, Christo set off on his run. Even with a few mistakes and playing it relatively safe, he managed to take six seconds off his seeding run time and win the senior category by over two seconds.

Christo on his way to his first National win

After racing was done, the pits were dismantled and the van packed, ready for the long drive home. We hung around for the podium where Christo got his first national win and podium and then set off to Wolferlow Wigwams, where we would be staying the night before we continued the long drive home on Monday.

Christo on the podium after his first national win!

Catch up with what Christo has to say about his run on Dirt TV: