Marin sponsored Team adidas TERREX wins toughest UK Adventure Race

The World Champions, Team adidas TERREX, have just won the 3 day adidas TERREX adventure race, held for the first time in the Lakes District over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The team were riding Marin’s excellent Mount Vision bikes.  Team navigator, Tom Gibbs said “The Mount Vision’s excellent suspension and handling allowed us to tackle the technical ground of the Lakes with confidence, whilst allowing us to be fresher when we got off the bikes.  They were the perfect bike and a key factor in our success.”

The course took the teams from the sands of Morecambe Bay to Keswick, Team adidas TERREX arriving at the finish on Monday morning after 71.5 hrs of racing including only 3 hours of sleep.  Teams paddled the length of the major lakes including Windermere and Ullswater.  Navigated over the high central fells including Scafell Pikes and Helvellyn.  Mountain Biking included classic Lake District routes like the Walna Scar Road, Back o’Skiddaw and Whinlatter’s manmade trails.  Teams covered over 400km and in excess of 10,000m of climb during the event.

Find out more about the team at http://teamadidasterrex.com/ and the race at http://www.adidas-ar.com/newsite/index.php

Last weekend Dan competed in the 4th round of the UKBikePark Summer DH race series. Coming from his good performance at the English Championships at Caersws the previous week, Dan was looking forward to racing again at UKBikePark on a track that had been ‘updated’ since it had last been used for a race.

Dan:

“Practice went well: the track was odd, the top section was flat out and lots of fun, the bottom was likewise, but in between was a slightly weird flat, almost uphill section, which had been recently added, which completely ruined the flow of the track, and was a real slog to get across carrying speed. This led into some jumps, that while fine at a slow speed, when hit flat out were way too small, with very steep lips that kicked you up way too high, making hitting them at race pace dangerous and scary! Despite the track being awkward, I had fun and felt fast. Towards the end of the day I did some runs with Isaac fairly fast, and was keeping up with him fine, so I went into Sunday feeling good.

Sunday practice went well, I got 4-5 runs in, 2 of them with one of the other top youths, Ty, and I kept up with him as well. I got all my lines sorted, and on my last practice run, hit the track fast to check I could stick my lines at speed. My first run was ok, it felt slow, and I expected it to be a slow run, but it turned out to be the good enough for first place. I was surprised by this, but happy as I knew that I could go faster on my second run. My second run was good, I rode the top section well, keeping speed and pedalling lots, then dug really deep on the pedally section, and hit the bottom section fast, I took nearly 3 seconds off my first run time and kept first place.

I am very pleased with this result as I beat Isaac, something that I always aim for, and this shows that my speed is improving. I am looking forward to my next race to see if I can keep up the good results.”

This was another very good result from Dan, showing progression by for the first time being in a leading position after the first runs and then keeping that lead whilst going almost 3 seconds faster in the second runs. Also, for the first time Dan was able to wear the ZeroG hoody on the top step of the podium (for his last win the branded kit hadn’t arrived yet)!

The next race will be the 5th and final round of this UKBikePark Summer DH series on the 18/19th September.

Attached pictures:

Race run (UKBP_Rd4_Win_1.jpg)

On the top step of the podium! (UKBP_Rd4_Win_2.jpg)

Tim & Dan.

Last weekend was the English Championships, held at Caersws, Wales (yes, the organiser apologised too!). Dan has raced at this venue once before last year, but he was keen to learn the track being used for this race as it is a new one that is also to be used for the last round of the BDS National race next month that Dan will compete in.

It had rained quite hard in the days leading up to the weekend, but the forecast was for some showers during the Saturday practice, but then dry for the Sunday race day after a wet Saturday night.

Dan: “Practice went well, the track was super fun, and even after the rain, still rode well. I was finding it not too challenging, and was hitting all the lines I wanted, every run. I was picking some lines that utilised what I learned at my training day with Rowan Sorrell, and finding I was going much faster, and staying in control. By the end of Saturday I had all my lines sorted, and felt good on the track and was looking forward to racing it on Sunday. The track dried up considerably through Sunday practice, and was rutting in nicely. Through the off camber sections, the high lines were defined, and whilst slightly tricky to get on to, had good support and were much faster than the riskier lower lines. I felt faster and faster each run, letting off the brakes more and more, and felt confident of a good finish in the race.

First race run started off well, I rode the top section fast, but unfortunately caught someone up very quickly and got held up behind them, costing me at least 2-3 seconds. The rest of my run was good, and I came across the finish line in 10th place. I knew I had 2-3 seconds to easily make up in the second run, so I was confident of a top 10 finish. My second run went well, I hit all of my lines, kept my speed up and stayed off the brakes. The only slight moment was just before the finish line where my foot slipped off the pedal, but I managed to get it back on quickly and not loose any time. I took 7 seconds off my first run time, and ended up in 6th place (4th in the English Champs)

Overall I am very pleased with this result as there were a lot of fast riders there, and I placed well. Next race is UK Bike Park round 4, and I am looking for a podium.”

This is arguably Dan’s best result to date – he was very close to Isaac Anderson, his main rival who has been recently been getting some very good results, and Dan also beat other rivals, who are typically close to him, by a good margin. Dan even surprised himself by the 7 seconds that he was able to improve his first run by in his final run. Dan’s training day with Rowan has definitely helped – all through practice he was saying how he was trying new lines and techniques that he would not have tried before, and finding himself faster as a result – thanks Rowan!

Since the race was also being held as the English Championships, although Dan was 6th overall in the race (49 competitors), with one Scottish rider (Fraser McGlone) and one Welsh rider faster than him, Dan ended up being the 4th English rider, just off the podium for the English Championships. Not bad when Dan is still riding his Marin Quake ‘freeride’ frame, compared to the other faster riders on full downhill 8 to 10″ rear travel frame bikes!

Marin have just launched their Quad-DH 10″ travel frame at Crankworx in Canada, announcing production after four years of development – we will try to get a frame to upgrade Dan’s bike to be on a par with his competitors since he finds the Marin’s Quad suspension design far better than all others he has tried on demo and friends’ bikes!

I’m writing this in the car park at the UKBikePark where Dan’s practicing on the newly-modified ‘Big Grin’ track being used for the race tomorrow.

Tim & Dan.

First spy shots of the new Marin Rift Zone, which is due to be released at the Eurobike trade show next week.

Read more @………………….

http://www.bikemagic.com/gear-news/marin-rift-zone-2011/8610.html#historysub

Check out Yuri, Marin’s Marketing Manager hitting the Whistler Trails on the new 2011 Quake DH.

Riding with AT……………………………..

Read more at…………………………

http://www.marinbikes.com/bicycle/bike_blog/?p=1939#more-1939

http://www.marinbikes.com/bicycle/bike_blog/?p=1920#more-1920

http://www.singletrackworld.com/2010/08/marin-dusk-til-dawn-x/

www.thetfordmtbracing.com

National Championships, Ae Forest Scotland 18th July:

These were the second National Championships that Dan has competed in – last year he came 41st out of 42 riders, so any improvement on that was going to be a bonus! Going into the event Dan was seeded 12th out of 49, and we had previously ridden the track last year so he was fairly familiar with what to expect, although some changes had been made to the track in the previous weeks before the event. The weather forecast was predicting rain for race day, but with practice dry after some heavy rain in the days leading up to the race weekend.

Dan:

“After arriving on Friday to rain and course-walking to find a wet track, I was not looking forward to riding the track too much, as parts of it were very wet, the top part resembling a river in some parts, and the bottom looking slippy and challenging. The middle of the track looked good, it was like a large scale BMX track, and looked great to ride. Saturday practice went well – I picked my lines and got steadily quicker throughout the day until on my last practice run, I clipped a tree in a tight wood section, and bent my thumb around, causing considerable pain. The track had dried out lots by the end of practice and was very fun to ride, but unfortunately it rained all night, and made the track wetter than it had been all weekend. I did a practice run on Sunday, nursing my thumb which sent a jolt of pain every time I hit a large bump. 0

Qualifying went well, I came down in 14th, with a steady run, knowing I could knock a few seconds off to try and get into the top 10 for finals. My final run wasn’t appauling, but equally, it wasn’t amazing. I made some mistakes, running wide in some corners and being on the brakes more than I would of liked. I finished in 17th place, which was disappointing, I wanted to top 10, and missed out by making a few mistakes in my run.”

The rain on Sunday was continual, meaning putting the tents and gazebo away wet, and on the drive home the rain only stopped when we reached Lancaster on the M6 – the MetOffice rain radar confirmed that the south of England had had a completely dry day! With a one-run race format it is always difficult to get as close to your fastest without crashing, and with a damaged thumb causing pain, on reflection Dan felt that he was quite pleased with this result even though it was not the overall placing he knew he should be capable of – and it was much better than the previous year!

MIJ DH Round 4 – Taff Buggy, Pontypridd Wales 1st August:

After a late change to our holiday plans we were able to fit in the race day only for the MIJ race series at Taff Buggy. Many of the previous rounds had clashed with rounds of the UKBikePark series which Dan has been racing, so this opportunity to race a ‘free’ weekend was ideal to fit in.

Dan:

“After turning up on the Sunday to do the race as a one day event, I did 6 practice runs in the morning, getting my lines dialled, and the track sussed. I felt fast on the track, and was enjoying practice. The track had many jumps, which suit me, and lots of pedalling, which was not ideal, but it was all high speed, so fairly easy to keep the speed.

My first race run went okay, I felt slow, and as if it was another practice run, but came down the hill ending up in 4th, just 2 seconds off the pace, I knew that I could gain 2 seconds from a my run, and headed back to the top confident of a podium finish. My second race run felt fast, I hit all my lines and pedalled hard, but turned out to be a whole 3 seconds slower than my first, I think this may be down to pushing too hard, and loosing speed in corners and in braking. I ended up 5th, getting a podium. This result is okay, but I would of liked a top 3, as I know I can ride at that level.”

Next race for Dan is the English Championships being held at Caersws, 21/22nd August.

Dirt School DH training day – Cwmcarn, 11th August:

Dan:

“We headed up to Cwmcarn for a training day with Rowan Sorrell today (Wednesday) and it was great, I learnt a lot about setting up for different lines, and where to brake to carry as much speed as possible out of corners. We spent a lot of time on one section trying out all the different line choices and getting braking dialled. By the end of it I felt much faster through the section, and more confident that I could hit it every time. I will be carrying this through to races to help me choose lines that can save time, and making sure I hit them as fast and smooth as I can to put a good race run together. I managed to get in a play on the jumps at lunch time, so had some fun and threw some awesome whips down. After lunch we headed up the track further to look at drops and tight technical sections. I ended up doubling some rock steps, something I had looked at before but never managed to do, so I can take this into a race situation where there are consecutive drops and double them up to save speed. Unfortunately when we were riding the tight sections I was pushing hard and got a bit off-line, clipped a tree and ended up pointing down the hill, not what you want to be doing, I bailed from the bike and smashed my lower back into a tree quite hard, making the end of my day a rather painful one. The good news is as I type this, my back is feeling lots better after some rest and an ice pack, and I hope to be back on the bike in a few days!”

Back garden pump track building:

As Dan mentioned in a previous update, he has started to build a ‘pump’ track in our back garden. The deal with Mum was that she would end up with a vegetable patch if Dan did all the digging, and in return he could route a track around the outside of it! The grass had turned to mainly weeds and moss after several wet winters, so as long as he left the other end of the garden alone (deck and patio), we wouldn’t be losing any usable turf. After discussing with the local builders’ merchants, a supply of 25kg bags of ‘10mm to dust’ was decided, getting a few bags at a time to provide the top surface with the base of the track built from the clay dug up from the other parts of the vegetable patch to-be. Dan’s got the first part of the track built, as can be seen in the attached picture (back_garden_pump_track_start.jpg). More news as construction continues!

Tim & Dan.

After three years of development the Marin Quad DH will officially be hitting the mountain at Crankworx Mountain BIke Festival, August 12th through 15th at Whistler Bike Park, Canada. Spawned from the Quake freeride platform, refined through riders like Shaums March and Jurgen Beneke and tested on mountains from Whistler to Bromont to Diablo, the Quad DH project has been a labor of love, gravity and innovation.

• 250mm Travel Quad Link Suspension System
• Forged and CNC’d Linkage with New, Narrow Profile Y Link
• Uniquie High-Load Sealed Bearing System with Aluminum Shields
• Hydro Edge DH Frame with Tapered 1.125-1.5″ Headtube
• Modular Replaceable Dropout System
• Two Sizes

Read more at http://www.bikemagic.com/gear-news/marin-quad-dh-2011/8537.html following the recent press release.

Over the last couple of years I have organised a charity bike ride for the Wooden Spoon (www.woodenspoon.com), a sports based children’s charity. The ride has always been open to friends and family to come along and this year I was joined by my father and a close friend. The route has always been flexible covering over 100 miles through scenic countryside. This year we decided upon a 172 mile ride over two days from Bath to Bridgnorth in Shropshire, via the old Severn crossing, through Mid Wales and finally the rolling Salopian hills. We cycled 104 miles on the first day, staying overnight with friends in Llandrindod Wells leaving a challenging and extremely hilly 68 miles for Day 2.

Day 1 started with a roll out from Bath, through the country lanes north of Bristol to the old Severn crossing. Once at Chepstow we followed Sustrans Route 42 through the hills and valleys to Usk. Climbing above the low-lying cloud, we descended into the Usk valley into mist and rain.

My bike for the ride was the Marin Blackline Pro, a UK limited edition mountain bike. Complete with super lightweight components, my trusted Charge spoon saddle and swapped out Continental slick tyres, the bike was perfect for the terrain. The MTB gearing would come into its own in the Black Mountains to come. I chose a mountain bike because my co-riders were riding 26″ wheelers also and I wanted to be sociable riding with them at a nice touring pace.

From Usk we followed the river valley towards Abergavenny where we stopped for an all day breakfast at a local pub. Fuelled up we started to climb towards the Black Mountains and the Gospel Pass, 16 miles of gradual climbing from the town to the top of the Col, and what a gorgeous climb, truly epic scenery.

At the top of the climb, mid Wales (our route), Herefordshire and Shropshire span out before us. We descended into the rolling valley picking up Route 25 along the Hay towards Builth Wells and Llandrindod Wells. We kept eating and drinking (little and often) and pushed on towards our evening meal and soft bed.

Day 2 started with cereal, full English (or Welsh!). Loading up the calories we hit the mountain pass above Llandrindod Wells. Over two mountains we followed the mountain railway towards Knighton on the border. In heavy rain the first 20 miles were very tough with difficult climbs and perilous descents, avoiding sheep dogs, guinea fowl and tractors on the wet roads. Low cloud only allowed glimpses of the scenery on this exhilarating road. I felt cold, wet and very hungry 3 miles short of Knighton where thankfully we stopped for sandwiches, local beer and an enormous chocolate eclair (life saver).

From Knighton we picked up B roads towards Bucknell and Aston on Clun (home of the wedding tree and the birthplace of my grandmother – recently featured in Britain by Bike with Clare Balding). From there, we traversed around the Longmynd to Minton near Church Stretton, where the Longmynd Adventure Camp is based. This is a centre which offers outdoor activities for disadvantaged children and is the charity we had chosen to ride for in association with Wooden Spoon.

The money raised has gone towards building disabled access and facilities at the centre and our ride had been planned to coincide with their official opening . We were met by a welcoming party laden with food and drink and after a great tour of the centre we had to push on for the last 20 miles.

With only one significant climb remaining, up Wenlock Edge, we pedalled away in the knowledge that the end was near. We were now on roads we knew very well, the familiar roads of our childhood where we cut our cycling teeth. The pace quickened and we virtually sprinted the last five miles as if we were the peloton catching a breakaway.

Like most great rides there is always a sense of disappointment when it ends, a sort of hollowness after you have celebrated the achievement.

One puncture, 172 miles, average speed 10.5mph, 6 major Welsh mountains, 2 sheep dog chases, 2 full fry ups, calories lots, epic views, no mechanicals and great company.

What to do next….?

Many thanks to Glyn and Wooden Spoon, Kim and the Longmynd Adventure Centre, Helen and Ted for their wonderful Welsh hospitality, and Dad and Paul for keeping me going. Many thanks to all those who sponsored me, the money really has gone to a great cause