The XC seaon comes to a close .... Did we do any good ???

                                  Nick Popham Take the 2014 Midlands Vets championship

Last sunday was the last round of the midlands XC series and the Naked Bikes Team last XC race this year ! What a season we have had ! Just one race left to do the isle of man end to end !

• 2014 Midlands XC Vets Champions 
• 2014 Mildlands XC Masters Champions 
• 2014 Single Speed Champions 
• 2014 FNSS Vets Champions 
• 2014 FNSS Senior Runners up 
• 2014 Mountain Mayhem 3rd Sport 
• 2014 Mountain Mayhem 3rd Open 
• Welsh XC Round 1 Sport cat winners 

With Podiums at nearly every race entered the team gave it 100% and as team Boss I thank every one of you for your efforts becouse without you guys this team would not be what it is today .... All this from normal working family guys who race Mountain Bikes Hard !

Highlights of the xc & marathon season for me ??? So many .... Mark Proudman on it at every FNSS race chasing Richard Jones was great to see .. Ben Piringer Taking The win at the welsh XC and doing 2 laps with a broken wrist ! Matt Barrett coming past myself at mountain mayhem at full gas was something else and both teams taking 3rd in sport and open  .. Seeing Chris Rathbone win everything he entered , Nick Popham , Matt Barrett , Andy Faulknall winning the Midlands Champs ! Vets, Masters , Single Speed , Nick Towers doing some epic marathon races and getting on the podium and Lee Bradshaws for his well earned podium at midlands xc.

 Top work Guys lets make 2015 even better !

Nick Popham National XC Cannock Chase

A look back at our 2014 season

                                                                                    Class of 2014 !

With only 1 round left of the xc season we thought we would have a look back at our 2014 season with a few photos . This year has been our best so far with 3 x midlands titles , FNSS vet champions with Chris Rathbone and 2nd overall in senior with Mark Proudman , 3rd at Mountain Mayhem 24 race in open and 3rd in Sport the guys have been on the podium so many times as I sit here writing this I cannot remember every result ! All this from a amateur race team with 13 riders that gave it there all .

You can always notice our kit

Rathbone in P1 and that is where he stayed every round he entered

Ross Marriot and Ben Piringer ready for the off at FNSS round

Ross Marriott number 1 !

Matt Barrett giving it 100%

Ben onit

Rathers never failed to get the job done

Nick towers always giving it 100%

lee bradshaw

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Even the Boss got out racing

Bradshaw and Daniels FNSS

Rathbone on that hill ! on fnss was he the only one to ride it every time ??

 

Then the podiums started !

Friday Night Summer Series and Mildands XC

The Boys where back in action this weekend firstly at Mallory Park at Naked Bikes 2nd round of the Friday Nigh Summer Series round 12

We'll done to Mark Proundman for putting the race on , The weather looked like it was going to rain but held out and was dry ..

Matt Barrett was flying in senior cat and took 2nd place behinds Hope's Dan Booth the pair battled throughout the race and they dominated the race .

                                                                      Dan Booth HOPE'S to stay on our Matt Barrett rear wheel

Chris Rathbone was also on mega form and took the win in vets making it 100% win record for every round of the series he has entered . Team Mate Nick Popham was in 2nd to make it a Naked Bikes 1-2 , Thank you to everyone who turned up to race and watch

                                                                                                       Rathbone ONIT

Mildands XC at Wyre Forest XCO – Round 6 presented by Bewdley Outdoors 4 of the team made the trip Chris Gregory , Nick Popham , Ben Piringer , Ross Marriott .

The weather was not on there side and was bad to say the least heavy rain , Thunderstorms all made racing very interesting and tough

                                                                                                 G Man - Ross - Vinny ready to rock

Nick Popham in vets took 2nd . His kit isnt normally that colour hope he has some DAZ washing powder !

This is Nick's report on the vet race  .

After a cracking dry dusty race at Malory park I and a nice rest day on Saturday , Sunday was going to be fun with storm clouds looming over head, Josh had gone away on holiday and really helps at the races so after a Facebook request I had a few offers on the day and young Harvey took up the challenge thank you ! .

At 11am rollers warm up followed by hill sprints,  I was ready , It was raining as I made my way to the start line, gridded on the front I was ready pumped up and raring to go,

30sec count down and then we was off,  I had not done a pre lap but I had talked to others who had and the conditions were very bad ,  I dived into the Single track and started to make a good lead, Half way round I realised the whole course had rivers running down the tracks and wearing Oakley's and contact lenses not a great mix in the Dark woodlands , I could not see the roots on the floor and after winning the champs here last year and slipping on the roots leading the race I did not want to do that again. The water was flying up at my face but I persevered .  The stream became a torent and we had to crossed it 3 times 2ft deep . I started to lower the Oakleys so I could see as it was getting so bad, On starting lap 4 I was well ahead in the lead but lost it in the woods due to lack of visibility then slipped down in the woods trapping bike in the tape and giving Andy Jones a good lead that I tried my best to get back but no chance , Taking 2nd place great result as I had raced Friday too .

Kit spotless please for next Sunday Boys!

Ben Piringer rode hard and finished 3rd in sport  with team mate Chris Gregory in 12th , Ross Marriott had a few mechanicals and DNF

Top weekend racing boys ! you all smashed it well done

Recent Action!

The Naked Bikes / Haibike / Impsport team has been out and about again, both domestically and internationally

On the domestic front Ben, Chris Rathbone and Nick Popham were all at the NPS XC at Sherwood Pines. Racing in his first masters race, Ben managed 19th. Mr Rathbone started at the back of the vets grid and came through to take 10th and Nick P took 27th

Unsurprisingly Chris Rathbone has now also won the  FNSS vets overall(!) 

Nick T meanwhile had his sights set further afield - Austria!

Nick: "As a so called 'endurance' mountain biker I try to schedule an alpine mountain bike marathon race into my summer race plan. Not to get a result I add, more to soak up the immensity of racing up and down huge mountains. It's fair to say that us UK based enthusiast racers just don't get the opportunity to train fully for hour long, 1000m climbs, so I enter these races with an open mind. Enjoy the scenery when you get the chance and put in a respectable time!

I competed in the 2012 edition of Craft Trans Alp, an 8 day Alpine stage race, the 2013 CristAlp Grand Raid, with Rich and this year entered Salzkammergut Trophy European Marathon Masters Championships in Bad Goisern, Austria. It's the biggest mountain bike race in Austria and incredibly the whole town centre closes to traffic and the scene is that of a Tour de France depart or finish town. It was a carnival in full swing as I arrived the day before! At 119km and 3800m climbing plus the added challenge of racing against Europe's best amateur marathon racers, I knew I'd be competing for a respectable time and not a position. About 150 starters in the championships start grid and in the region of 1100 right behind us for the non-licenced 'standard' race. My BC race licence categorised me for the championship race. Imagine a pick up truck on the F1 start grid and you get the picture! 

As with all but one (seriously) of my races this season the weather and conditions were grim! It rained all night before the race and rained up the start of the race. It then carried on raining all morning. At least I was prepared! From the start gun the whole grid seemed to sprint the 1km long 'neutralised' start towards the first climb. It's the way it is Europe. '90mins XC pace, followed by several hours of clinging on' is how I've heard these races described. I had an alternative plan however, that would assure I'd 'enjoy' the pain and survive the distance. Basically push just beyond threshold for the first hour then settle in at threshold for the rest of the race, keep hydrated and nourished. Oh and don't overcook the 70km/hr gravel road descents!

Up the first 900m climb I quickly went backwards through the by now combined field. No worries as I knew I'd settle in, find my position and keep chugging up. I do find it a little stressful being dropped by scores of racers early on, but the trick is staying on plan. That way you don't burn your matches too early. There are always going to be those who ride off fast and stay fast - I'll never catch them unless they 'mechanical', and those that go off too hard and blow. I'll catch those later in the race. Using a bit of a broad brush, the average European racers don't do technical. Be it up/down or along - the going gets technical Mr Euro either slows down to walking pace or just walks. In the entire race I was only passed twice on anything technical. Proud of that!

After an hour I crested the first climb. I'd found my position now, toing and froing with the same racers. Stress receded. Then a fast but short descent of about 5kms - short in local terms - before hitting the next climb. Another beast of 45mins leg pain! The rain was still making everything tricky - do I wear my glasses and forgo being able to see for steamed up lens or do I go without and forgo seeing because my eyes are full of grit? Do I wear my race jacket and boil in the bag or do I take it off and get wet and cold. We've all been there!

This is pretty much how the race went for the first 5 hours......long climbs taking a long time to get up. Long descents all over in flash. I made the 5 hour mark and the sun finally came out. Much better. 75kms of 119 completed and I'd got that fantastic feeling of 'camp site legs' (going home!) and only 2 monster climbs to go. With the sunshine came some fantastic vistas over the valley area we were racing. I can't say I stopped to look, but the odd glance away from my bars/stem confirmed I was a long way up! 

Yes those last 2 climbs were long and painful, but every km on the clock was one closer to the finish line. As I topped out over the last climb in a bunch of racers you could feel the euphoric sigh of relief. I was able to a good gap on the descent with only one hairy moment approaching a gravelly hairpin. A bit of drifting never hurt anyone! 

The run-in into town was incredible. The streets were lined with people cheering the racers home, handing out cups of 'finishing beer' as we raced by, TV helicopter overhead, banners, Oompah band you name it. It was like Harrogate or Sheffield a couple of weekend ago, but for dirty mountain bike racers! 

Quite a feeling to finish in such an atmosphere after such a tough race. I stuck around for a while, had a beer, chatted to fellow racers and started to address the calorie deficit profusely! It was a bit of a whistle stop tour flying in on the Friday, racing Saturday and flying home Sunday, but it was brilliant from start to finish. I even tolerated the rain!

So stats for the race; 
- target time 8hrs, actual 08:03:56 - spot on!- Championship position 115th from 150 starters - not brilliant but refer to pick up truck comparison!- Overall position - 485th from around 1200 starters - better than I expected!- Calorie burn - 4450Kcal - time for a burger and a beer!"

We were there....

We might not have been racing, but we were there!

It's been Mayhem around here....

Yes, it was that time of year again - Mountain Mayhem.

Naked Bikes / Haibike / Impsport fielded 2 full teams and a mixed team with Lumicycle.

Results ended up as:

A Team

Open 3rd overall

• Barrett
• Proudman
• Rathbone
• Popham

Lumicycle / NB team with Nick T - 3rd in Sport, 2nd Vets

B Team

74th (sleeping did take place in this team apparently!)

Daniels
Gregory
Piringer
Bradshaw