2007 SDA, Round 1, Innerleithen

15th April 2007


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By Alasdair MacLennan

Another year, another race. First off, the entries. This year was utterly mad. There is simply no other way to describe the way in which 330 entry spaces were filled within 11 hours of going live. Such a healthy scene is great to see with so many people from all over Britain desperate to race the most northerly series, a long way from the south coast of England.

With the weather we suffered from last year it was a most welcome change that saw us donning the shorts and flip flops and making our way down a dry, dusty and challenging track for the first round of the 2007 SDA series so lets see how it played out.

And what was the track of choice? For those of you who know the hill well it was the Cresta Run up top, linking into the 39 Steps, Drop zone and finally dropping into the Red Bull Matador for the finish. And for those of you who don't know, here we go: Out of the start hut it was the left hand option which takes you down to the fire road just out of sight of the famous quarry jump. The lines here were similar to the normal track but in true SDA style there were several changes to catch out the unwary and those a little too confident of their knowledge of the track. Across the road and drop down into the next part of the Cresta, full of dips, troughs and roots. Pump and work the bike to get as much speed as possible before veering left and onto the legendary 39 steps, first raced on some time in the Middle Ages. On through the open grass, kink left, clip your shoulder on a tree that has inconsiderately decided to bend over the track in an act of defiance and then pop into the first of the hairpin switchbacks. Did anyone spot the high line to the far left over the tree roots? Far better as it opened out the corner a lot but most seemed to have forgotten it's existence since this track was last raced. Anyway, into the next few switchbacks and you are soon popped out onto the bridleway where you can begin to stretch your legs. First is a small bus stop which then, after a short sprint, leads you into another. Tight, lumpy and rooty with an even tighter exit over yet more roots. So across the bridleway, into the open, a quick sprint and then dive back into the trees. The first corner of this part was awkward to get right at speed but once past was a nice flowing piece of single track which spat you out across the middle road and down into Drop zone where the track widens out briefly. Take a hip and then dive left into the trees to the left. How many people tried to carry on straight here for the first couple of runs? A multitude of lines gave plenty of opportunity for thought as there were two main tracks which each then split in two; the 2nd from the left being the fastest with a hop over a root, a clip of your shoulder to the tree before dropping onto the old 39 steps bridleway. a dozen yards or so on this then saw you jinking left and drifting through some ultra loose gravel, quickly torn up with the dry conditions. From here down to the motorway section of the matador was a section of intense drifting and holding hard to your line through the cut up corners. Tommy Wilkinson was looking as sketchy as ever down here on Saturday... The link onto the motorway was drifty to say the least, plenty of riders ending up down the banking and at the feet of the waiting marshal. If you've had a clean run to this point you're doing well but it's no opportunity to rest. Instead, a sprint to the three jumps, the first of which is a gap, the second a kicker and the third a tabletop. The first sends you way past the down slope, through a spring and onto the second which sends you somewhere you don't want to be. If you squash it you find that the back end kicks up, if you launch it then you land somewhere near Peebles. The best option is to dab slightly before it and get the landing better. Getting that jump just so then makes the tabletop a much better proposition, being the only properly shaped jump out of the three. Make sure you jump to the right otherwise you may find yourself munching the gravel when you slide out on the debris at the edges. From here on in was flat out down the last part of the open before being fired down into the gulley back into the trees. A hump to the right led to some scary moments should you be slightly off line and then some meaty braking bumps, a tight corner and then into loose and dusty single-track down the side of the arena finish, brining you out mid corner after the ski jump. And we all know the rest. A massive pedal towards the road, a flat and dusty corner leading you onto the tarmac and then the final slog to the line. 3.50 was average but some blinding times from not just the Elites but the younger groups as well were impressive to watch.

With 15 entrants split between Pro and non-pro, the women’s categories here were impressive. In Elite’s it was Tracy Moseley who took the win onboard her 07 Kona, just over 3 seconds clear of Helen Gaskell who came in second for Halfords Bikehut. That win might have been with a slightly bigger margin had it not been for Tracy crashing in the first run and catching a rider in her second. Following in their wake was Anja Rees-Jones, riding for Stendec.

Over in the non-elite categories we saw some new faces not previously seen at an SDA with the top two travelling from south Wales and the third in her first DH race. Taking the win for Team Skene and the Valleys Massive was Aimee Dix with Monet Adams coming in shortly behind for second. Third was Julie Cartner and although it may have been her maiden downhill race, by all accounts she is no stranger to high level xc racing so perhaps it is not quite such a shock to see her up there!

Elite saw another new face who promptly took home the gold in the shape of Julien Camellini for Mojo. Joe Barnes pushed all the way to second in his first season of Elite whilst onboard his custom painted MFXAir 224, 0.045 seconds shy of Julien’s time! Third was Dan Stanbridge of Mojo, just over 4 seconds down. I make that a 224 whitewash for the Elite podium.

Expert saw SDA regular Stuart Jenkinson pull out the stops with his Foes 2:1 and it’s 5” stroke shock to grab the top step with a 3 second margin over Ben Hall. With 3 riders all on 3.31 it was Descent-Worlds own James Stock who grabbed the final step by the slimmest of margins, 0.155s. And that was more or less the racing this weekend, stories of close but no cigar for so many riders and a matter of tenths separating several riders in pretty much every category. Downhilling seems to be in a pretty rude state of health when you look take a browse through the overall results and see just how close each rider is to the next.

Anyway, next up we have Senior where it was Peter Williams of probikesport take the win with a none too shabby 3.26. It was Tom Rodgers of All Terrain Cycles next who just pipped Blair Christmas for second. 3.31 and 3.34 were their times respectively.

Veterans saw the one and only Paul French take the win with a blinding time that would have placed him well in Experts. In his first year down from Expert we saw the other, slightly older and not quite so hairy, Alastair MacLennan onboard his new Giant Glory take second from Seb Ramsay of Ticket2ridebc.com in third.

It was Tim Wilcox who stood on the top step in the Masters category. On the same second was David Tallontire, back from a very nasty back injury when training for the masters worlds out in Canada at the tail end of last season. Thomas reed took third for Descend Hamsterley.

The under-18 categories are getting too quick, I suggest a banning of training and ballast to be added to bring them up our bulk…it just isn’t fair! I mean, just take a look at Josh Bryceland’s time of 3.16 which was good enough for third fastest of the day yet he is still in Junior. Behind Josh was Ruaridh Cunningham in second who was only a couple of seconds down. The Iron Horse Sunday seems to be suiting him quite nicely there. In third was Chris Hutchens, this year off the Hub and his Kona and another to be riding a 224 for MFXAir/The cyclejersey.com.

Danny Hart is now in his second year of youth, seems to have grown a lot over the winter and become faster still. 3.23 saw him take the top step with his Appalache Real, an evolution of last years Balfa. Would that time have anything to do with the family seemingly camped permanently at the base of the hill for the last few weeks? Answers on a postcard . Arran Gannicott took the next step for Santa Cruz with James Scott in third.

And last but not least, the Juveniles. It was Mark Scott who took top honours for Ecosse Racing, followed very closely by young local Lewis Buchanan onboard his new Last bikes Herb. It wasn’t that long ago I remember seeing him riding around the car park on an old Apollo or something…how time’s change, he’s now very close to kicking me into place if his recent riding has been anything to go by! Just a few seconds shy of Lewis was new Descent-World and Astrix signing, Sam Flockhart, one of the few Scots to make the trip south of the border for some racing over the winter.

So there we have it, the first Scottish race of the season over and done with and what a cracker it was. Thanks to all the guys who have worked so hard over the last few months to pull everything together and allow us to race this fantastic race series. We know the problems that have been plaguing the Scottish scene for the last 12 months and your efforts do not go unnoticed. The marshals also deserve a mention here for without them there would be no race! Join us this coming weekend for the first NPS event of the season, brought to you by Si Paton and Steve Parr, taking over from NACC events. Judging by the plans the race should be the first of many steps to take National level racing in the UK to its rightful place at the top of the tree. However, with one van being broken into in Innerleithen on the Saturday night of the SDA we need to stress that every precaution is taken to ensure that all your kit is as secure as possible over the weekend. No-one likes the thieves but they all know the value of our kit now so we just have to do what we can by not leaving things lying about unattended. Anyway, enough with the doom and gloom and lets just keep our fingers crossed that this glorious weather is here to stay (for this weekend at the very least!)

Over and out.

Axl.

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