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