2011 British Championships, Llangollen, Wales

On the train!

Last weekend was the British National Championships held at the brilliant venue of Llangollen, Wales. My Dad was in wales the whole week leading up to the event because he was at the Welsh Royal show with WigWam Cabins. We got the train down on Friday to crewe and my Dad picked us up from there and we headed straight to Llangollen. That evening we went to walk the track as the hostel we were staying in was just 5 minutes from the venue. The track looked steep! They had to put ropes to the side of the track just so people could walk up. It looked amazing and I was really looking forward to the next days practice.

Steepness

The car was fairly full

Saturday morning and we got up early, had some weetabix and headed to to the race, after signing on and changing my tyres to spikes I headed up to the track, from my first run. The track was amazing and a fair bit longer than the old one, the uplift was still just as slow though so we spent the whole day trying to do as many runs as possible, which in the end was only five. Nevertheless I felt practice day went really well and I had all my lines ready for racing.

Sunday morning came round and after another early start we were at the race. I only managed 1 practice run before my race run after heading up to the top for a second and being told to wait there until seeding runs. My seading run was pretty horrible but I didnt crash and came in seventh. I then had a 3 hour wait until my final run. I spent this time getting something to eat, resting and letting my mechanic, Joe, know what I wanted done to my bike so I could have a flawless run. Nearing my run, I fueled up on Clif Bar energy bars and left to take the long journey to the top. I got to the top for my race run and was feeling pretty nervous, my name was called and I headed to the start gate, beep beep beep and I was off. I had a pretty solid run, nothing particularly fast, but also no major mistakes. I crossed the line and went into the hot seat, 6 seconds up. I ended up in fourth just under a second from the podium. An extremely solid result and I feel I am finally getting myself sorted on how to put together a race run. Bring on glencoe!

Blue skies as my dad set up his trade stand

I'd like to thank all my sponsors for helping me get to this stage in racing, O'neal, Crank Brothers, Clif Bar, 2pure.co.uk and WigWam Holidays.

Llangollen BDS Round 4 And Killin Scottish Championships

A couple of weeks ago I took the rather long journey down to Llangollen for the Halo British Downhill Series Round 4. The duration of the journey wasn't helped by the fact my friends dad drives somewhat slowly. Nevertheless we got there late Friday evening and were camping quite close by so we managed to walk the track that evening. The track looked sick and I was really looking forward to riding it the following day.



The track was certainly steep



The following day started off quite wet and I made the decision to change to spikes, the track was riding amazing and I loved it from my first run. The sun came out at around 11 o'clock and the track quickly dried up so I changed back to dry tyres for the rest of the day. After practice finished we walked the track and headed back to the camp site for some tea and hayfever pills as I was suffering a lot from it. Cammy's parents cooked up a great pasta dish for tea which was much needed after the tiring day. We then headed straight to sleep to get maximum rest for race day.

After an absolutely horrible nights sleep, we headed back to Llangollen for a bit of practice and then racing! Practice went well, I only did one run because the uplift is so slow, but I felt it was enough. After practice I chilled in the sun for a bit at the Haven/Devinci pit space, which was great to get some shelter from the sun. I then headed up for my seeding run. I was on a pretty good solid run until the last corner which was now getting pretty blown out and I just went staight over it and way down the hill, I then had to push my bike back up to the track and finsh my run. Despite this my top split was looking competitive with the top time and i was feeling ready for race runs. I had plenty of time to chill in the hot sun again which was great, and I got some good food in me too. My race run came and I was simply too cautious. After crashing on my first run all I could think of was not bailing, so my run was just too conservative, but was certainly better than crashing. My top split wasn't too bad considering I blew out quite a vital corner and went slightly off track, but my bottom section was horrendous. Seventh for me on the day wasn't too bad considering everyone ahead of me had ridden the track the previous year.



Sunday's weather was amazing

Since I didn't make the podium we quickly went on to pack up the bikes and headed straight back for Edinburgh.

Last weekend I headed up to Killin for the Scottish Downhill Championships. We left early saturday morning and arrived at the venue around 8 o'clock. I then went and walked the track which I felt looked pretty good, natural and something a bit different. The race was a push up which I quite liked to be honest because it meant no waiting in queues and felt like you got more done. Practice went pretty good and i was feeling fast on the course.

Just arrived and getting ready



Walking the track

That night we went over to Strathfillan WigWams and after washing my kit and eating I pretty much went to bed, shattered after a good day of practice.

Inside the lodge we were staying in for the night

The next morning we got to Killin for around half eight and I headed straight up the hill to practice the parts of the track I hadn't felt I had got perfect the previous day. Morning practice went well and I was feeling good for race runs. After getting some food I headed up the hill with a packet of Clif Bar Shot Blocks in my pocket to keep up my energy for my first race run. This run was a bit of a disaster, I did the top really well but slid out on one of the boggy turns and got absolutely covered in wet thick mud, I made the decision not to finish my run and instead head down and prepare for my next.

My second run wasn't great, I didnt hit a single section as fast as I was hitting them in practice and had some fairly bad mistakes. Despite this I didn't crash and put in an okay time to end up in 3rd place. This wasn't the result I wanted, but I didnt crash and I know what I need to work on for the British Champs.

 

The times were close

British Champs at Llangollen next weekend though and now I've ridden the track I can't wait!

Round 3 BDS - Glencoe

Last weekend I headed up to round three of the British Downhill Series at Glencoe. I was unusually organised on Friday and we left Edinburgh on time to arrive at Strathfillan WigWams at around nine o'clock. When we got there I found out that we were staying in the staff caravan, which I was stoked about because it was nice and warm inside. After watching some TV and drinking a nice hot chocolate I went to sleep early to prepare myself for Saturday practice.

Preparing the hot chocolate

Chilling in the caravan.

My Oneal kit fresh from the printing office

I have also managed to shrink my shorts so they fit

We left for Glencoe at eight the next morning, the weather was looking pretty wet and windy but I wasn't going to let that bother me because I love the track so much. I managed to bend my chainguide a couple of days before so after finding the Haven/Devinci pits I gave my bike to Joe, the team mechanic, to get fixed. The bike was going to take a while to fix so I borrowed a Devinci Wilson SL which was a spare bike that I could use. The bike was sick, and I put in the majority of my practice runs in on it.

On the way to the venue, the weather was cheery

Although there were a few bright spells

The gnarly stepdown at the bottom of the track

The track does have some gradient

Getting some lunch in

I was really enjoying the track and despite the somewhat uncomfortable chairlift and was really enjoying myself. I only just managed three runs on Saturday due to the chairlift getting closed early because of high winds and lack of medical support. Never the less, I felt good on the track and was looking forward to the following days racing. We got back to Strathfilllan WigWams around five o'clock and after washing and cleaning my bike, cleaning my kit and making tea, we checked out the Titanic which was on the telly and then headed to bed.

The Devinci prepped for race day

Watching the Titanic

The next morning, after a great nights sleep, I got some breakfast and once again we made our way to Glencoe mountain restort. The weather was looking wet but I was still looking forward to racing. I managed one practice run before high winds forced the closure of the chairlift. The forecast was for the weather to get far worse throughout the day, so the officials made the difficult choice to cancel the event. I was gutted. I felt good on the track and was confident I that I could have put the result in that I have been waiting for and know I am capable off, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

So we packed up and headed off down the road. My dad decided that since I was supposed to be racing that he would take me by Dunkeld for a couple of hours riding on the way back. I got some good practice in and I am super stoked for the SDA coming up in two weeks there. After that we stopped by the WigWam workshop which is situated one mile outside Bankfoot which is just down the road from Dunkeld, to check everything was in order. Once we were done with that we made the hour long journey back to Edinburgh.

Outside a new WigWam waiting to be delivered

Inside the workshop

I would just like to thank all my sponsors for helping me out. Oneal have been great in providing me with race kit, and Haven/Devinci have been nothing but helpful in furthering my race career. Kylie at 2pure.co.uk for helping me with Crank Brothers, Clif Bar, and Pedros products despite the warehouse computer system going down due to floods. Finally I'd have thank my Dad and WigWamHolidays for providing me with transport and accomodation at races.

So my next race is Dunkeld SDA, which I am feeling confident for and plan on coming away with a top three position, with the ultimate goal being to win.

Until then

Morgan

Fort William SDA Round 2

So last weekend we headed up to Fort William for the second round of the SDA series. On the Thursday I went and collected my new CrankBrothers mallet pedals from the 2pure.co.uk warehouse so thanks to them for providing me with them so I didn't need to borrow my mechanics pedals any longer. We left on Friday at about midday after packing the car up nicely.

We were were providing an escort vehicle for a wigwam up to Loch Tay Highland lodges which slowed down our journey time a fair bit. We arrived at Strathfillan WigWams around 4 o'clock and with not much to do for the next few hours I decided it would be a good idea on this rather wet, and slightly cold afternoon to jump off a near by waterfall, a decision that kept me pretty cold for the rest of the day.

A bit cold after jumping in.

At about half seven the next morning, after having a good nights sleep in one of strathfillan wigwams lodges, we awoke to the sound of wind and rain . For breakfast I got myself some Weetabix and then we quickly left for Fort William for Saturday practice. Fort william is not my favourite track and having only ridden it a couple of times before, it took me a good couple of runs to get to know it properly, but by the end of practice I was feeling good and was starting to enjoy the track. My Devinci Wilson was really coming into its own on this track because the low and slack angles really gave me the stability on the super high speed rock gardens.

That night we headed to a nearby bed and breakfast and after having a good meal and preparing my bike for the race we headed to bed. On another note it turned out that where we were staying happened to be where the Mondraker team stays for the world cup ever year which was pretty cool.

On Sunday morning we got up at around half seven and the weather was looking a bit better than the previous day. After a good breakfast we once again made our way to the Nevis range car park, this time for racing.

Away to get ready for practice

I got a couple of practice runs in and was feeling fairly good for my race runs. After fixing the skipping gears on my bike which were causing me a lot of problems in practice I headed up in the gondola for my first race run.

The Devinci ready for race run 1

I was having a pretty good run up until my front wheel washed out on a rock garden and I was thrown head first into a ditch at the side of the track. I pushed my brake lever right back in the process so spent the rest of my run slowly making my way down stopping off at marshal points asking for allen keys. Never the less I was not hurt and had a second run to redeem myself and put it all together, or so I thought. I got to the top quite early for my second run so that I could sit in the cafe and have time to mentally prepare myself and have a decent warm up. I did this only to be told once there that second runs were cancelled due to too many track closures. I then rather miserably made way down to the bottom in the gondola.We stuck around to see who took the win in the elites and then headed off home.

So not a great weekends racing, but I know what I need to work on and will be training hard for Glencoe BDS which is just over a week away and I plan on smashing it there.

You can see all my race photos in my Roots&Rain gallery as my photo sponsor Scott MacPherson was unable to attend this round.

Until then

Morgan

(video to come soon)

2011 SDA Round 1: Ae Forest

Sorry for the delay in this report, I have just been real busy recently with trying to fit in training and revising for my exams, but its here now:

Friday began like most Fridays before a race. I got up and packed all my kit and got my bike ready. I put some clothes in the wash and then went off to do the food shopping as this time we were camping at the race venue. My mother left me to shop alone, which was a mistake as I rarely do food shopping, never mind on my own and I went quite a bit over budget and bought a load of the wrong stuff. I put it all back and it got it all sorted out and headed back home to find I hadn't actually switched the washing machine on, which then delayed us for another 2 hours. By this time Cammy (Kilgour), who I was taking to the race, had arrived at my house, so we spent the time packing the car whilst waiting for the wash to finish. Once the wash had finished, I packed my kit bag, put the rest of the stuff in the car, bikes on the back, went and picked up 'mechanic' Christo and we were officially on the road, albeit about three hours late.

We arrived a little later than we had wanted to, so by this time it was dark so instead of pitching the tent and getting a track walk we stayed in a house that my family rents out in Dumfries just for the Friday. We cooked up some pasta and got the food prepared for the next day, then headed straight to sleep.
Rising early on Saturday morning to allow time for traveling to the venue, we all got washed and fed, tidied up and hurried off to get signed on.

At about 7.30 we arrived at the track and pitched the tent and filled it with our gear. I was definitely excited to see the track, which is one on the calendar I know I can do well on, so we headed up for the track walk. The track was fairly moist from the rain on Friday, but with the sun out it was clear that it was going to dry up quickly. The choice of taping definitely looked like it would suit me and the newly taped out bottom corners looked mint although I would later find out that they proved to be quite challenging with riders crashing all the time which didn't allow many chances of a clean run through. Practice began and I was riding well and the track was drying out nicely. The lower corners were amazing fun and the upper woods were super greasy but that added to the challenge. By about midday I was feeling peckish so I got some lunch from the tent and continued on riding. In total I did 5 runs which I felt was adequate as I didn't want to tire myself for race day.

Getting loose on the high line

Christo cooked us up some chicken tikka curry for tea and then we just messed about a bit before it got dark and we headed off for an early night. It was certainly a freezing night and didn't manage to get as much sleep as I would have hoped.

We awoke to an icy morning and I certainly had felt the cold during the night. I got up early, had some cereal, got all my kit on and then headed for the first uplift. Being a youth, there is very little time between Sunday practice and first race runs, so to get two runs in its vital that I get on the first or second bus of the morning. The track was moist from the dew, but was riding well and the first run proved to be an effective warm up for my second which I rode really well.

After practice I had some time to kill, so I chilled while Christo cleaned my bike and did a once over on all the bolts etc. I got myself watered and fed and then headed up for my first race run. I had to wait about at the top for ages which wasn't great, but my race run came around eventually. I was seeded really badly, but managed to overtake the rider in front easily without losing any time, but then in sight of the finish line the red flag went out and I was issued a rerun. This was really annoying because I had had an amazing run, easily the fastest I had done all weekend and faster than my next two runs. George Gannicott who did not get a rerun, set the fastest time in the youth category with a 2.15, which was my target to beat in my rerun. Myself and the few other people got to the top and were quickly off on our runs. I didn't put in quite as good a run, but I was still happy with it and it put me in second place, only 1.5 seconds off 1st and about 4 seconds up on third, so I knew I was almost guarenteed second so planned to go flat out in my second run. I once again had some time so I rested to make sure I had maximum energy for my next run. The time came again when I had to head up and I timed it better this time so I didn't need to wait up at the top for too long. My run got off a great a start, but a few mistakes in the upper wooded section and in the lower wooded section cost me some time. I only just improved on my time. George had a big crash, so didn't improve on his time and third place Innes Grahame did not get any closer.

I was super happy to come away with second place, considering that George won the BDS at Moelfre the weekend before and I know my speed is there. This has to be my best result considering the calibre of riders here compared to when I won the Northern Champs in Kielder back in October.

I'd just like to thank all my sponsors, Devinci Bicycles, Haven Distribution, Oneal Mx, 2pure.co.uk, Crank Brothers and Clif Bar for helping me perform to my best ability this weekend and my Dad for taking me to the event and putting up with my disorganization.

Until next time

Morgan

Morgan Gulland - Oneal/Devinci

Recently I took part in a video/photo shoot with my friend Christopher Gallagher. Here are the end results: