Marriott takes 3rd at Thetford winter series U23's

Ross Marriott Had a great start the the thetford winter series taking 3rd spot . Top result Ross well done .

Ross on the pace at round 1 at thetford 

Its blog update time

Chris Rathbone on it ! 

Rathers didn't want his photo taken so took action !

With the CX season in full flow and the CX team racing week in and week out and in Rathbone case racing Saturday and Sundays ! ,  We even lent him out to charge bikes at Rapha Supercross at Alexandra Palace to race for them ;) .. Below is a report from Rathbone 

So the cross season is well and truly underway with two rounds of the National Trophy done and a heap of local leagues done too, the big news is... Im still keen!

Learning lots from the last two years I decided to not go into the season fully blazing with form, its no secret I like bikes and racing, but I don't love it to the extent I`ll happily race my brains out.

With just the FNSS races and a fair bit of running keeping me ticking over the first National Trophy at Shrewsbury would be a "See hoe it goes" kind of race with no real expectations, it would just be a race.  Turns out I was gridded 12th from the previous year so 2nd row for gridding, not too bad.  I managed to get off ok and miss a crash early on which split a leading group of five from the rest.  I pushed on but ultimately ran out of gas on the last lap and ended up 8th, still happy.

Trying to keep momentum up and get race fit I decided to keep up the Notts & Derbys, Lincs League and West Mids, whichever was nearest. Never finishing less than 2nd and with two wins so far its going in the right direction.  

A last minute invite to ride the invitational Rapha Supercross at Alexandra Palace in London for Charge bikes was the order last weekend. A great event Ive ridden the last two years but in the supporting Vets race.  To cut a long story short I crashed my brains out on the first lap wiping out in an off camber corner trying to overtake Dave Collins from Team Hope, my Nationals co-pilot. Best though was a failed attempt at bunny hopping the planks. It was fine in practice at 8mph but boy did that second set close in fast in the race.  I made the first plank but then it all went wrong resulting in me landing on a photographer, but not before he had a chance to rattle off a snap.  

Round 2 of the National Trophy was the day after at Southampton.  Gridded 7th now I was front row and liking the fast dusty (!!) conditions.  I felt good after Saturday and finished a credible 5th after a last lap surge.  Not sure i`ll ride the next round in Durham as you can drop a round for the first time this year. We`ll see.  

West Mids yesterday on a fantastic course at Aldersly Stadium.  I blagged a 2nd row grid so would hopefully get a good start. It was fast but manageable, I sat 3rd wheel trying not to get too excited and get on the front, thinking about the next 50 minutes.  The pace though seemed to drop so I thought Ah, lets have it. The legs played along and I won by almost 2 minutes, happy days.  Max ranking points should see me go from 5th National Rank to 4th (maybe) It would be nice to finish in the top 5, again...we`ll see. ...

Nick Popham has also been flat out racing and taking some good results even taking time to have a sit down and a chill at one CX race ..

New Boy on the block Juan Rodriguez to the long trip from Scarborough to Thetford for round 1 of the winter series and took 6th place on his first outing for the team ! Top work Juan really looking forward to seeing what Juan can do this season .. 

Let's HIGH 5

Just when Impsport thought they had the final kit design sorted we have another new sponsor joining the Naked Bikes MTB Team HIGH 5

Keeping the Naked Bikes MTB Team going

It is great to have HIGH 5 support us for 2015 

Thank you 

S2 Cycles support Naked Bikes Team for 2015

S2 CYCLES of Melton Mowbray will be supporting the Naked Bikes race team for 2015 , Shop owner Martin Seddon wealth of experience is great to have on board .

If you are looking for a new bike or need parts and accessories drop in and see the S2 guys

New Team Rider and Sponsor for 2015

We have a new rider on board for 2015 Marathon racer Juan Rodriguez from Spain  

Juan has been competing at the Scott Marathon series with some great times and in the 10 ten finishers !  .

With a full program for 2015 Rodrigues will compete pre season at the Thetford winter series then focus on the Costa Blanca mtb race in Spain then the Scott Marathon series , National Marathon Championships , Beskidy mtb trophy Poland , also on the list is Mountain Mayhem and Bonti 12

Keep a Look at for Juan 2015 he is one to watch ! and we are very pleased to have him racing for us.

Huge Thank You to Velo Coaching who are now supporting the team for 2015 if you are looking for a coach give these a call  ! .

We are very pleased to have them as sponsors along side Impsport / Sturgess Motor Group / Hewitt Ladders !

We thank you all for your support and Roll on 2015 ! 

A few of the Naked Bikes Team have been mixing it up doing CX with some not bad results :)

Chris Rathbone cx
Photo by Shawn Ryan

Rathbone Took the win at NDCXL in vets and rode to 3rd at WMCCL after suffering some mechanical issues great racing by chris .. 

Rathers now with matching red team gloves :) Leading Popham at WMCCL 

Nick Popham was also out racing at WMCCL and came in 5th in vets .

Rathbone Just beaten ! 

Top racing by both well done !

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog we been busy racing again :)

So what has been going on in the Naked Bikes Camp ! .

Notts/ derby CX season kicked off and Matt Barrett went a bagged a 4th overall top ride in a tough race.

Barrett geared up for the 2014 cx season

Mallory Park held a cx race , Our Chris Rathbone rocked up and took the senior win and the vets win :) CX looking good for Rathers

Rathbone dominating every race  he does at present :)

September 7th is Isle of Man end to end time! So the team made the ferry ride over ..

And this year Nick Towers and Ross Marriott went over to take on the Challenge , Nick was starting in the top 100 after his great race there in 2013 It was Ross first time away with the team and first time on the event was starting in under 23's , Team Boss was the bottle boy this year having still not recovered from his accident in August so he made the trip with a support car .  The weather on the island was fantastic with sun and clear blue skys plus a tail wind to push them along ! .Nick had said he wanted to beat his time of last year I gave him a time of 3hr 25min  to beat :)

A loo with a view ! 

    
We wasn't allowed this year to drive upto the start so Nick and Ross where dropped of a couple of miles away and rode to the start line , This gave them time to warm up .. The plan was to meet them both at St Johns the half way point to refuel them both and sort out any problems , I decided to make my way and watch them come past a few miles before the first climb of the day , Then get the St Johns . Nick came flying past in the main bunch with Ross just behind - All looking good and going to plan .

At St Johns Nick came through first with Ross about 5 Minutes behind all looked to be going well , Bottles changed it was time for the first BIG climb of the day ! With the weather as hot as it was I decided to go into the mountains and get to the last feed point to give the lads another bottle and some gels for the last climb before the finish , Again Nick was first through and it was looking as he was well on track to beat last year time and result , Ross was 15 minutes behind and pushing hard , They were both glad of the bottles and gels .. I couldnt leave Ross without a bottle or gels so had to stay and wait but now I had to get the the finish before Nick did ! , Which I didnt ! By the time I arrived Nick had already finished and in a time of 3h.24m 46 seconds ! See I told him 3h 25mins :) top ride by nick on his last race for the team .. Ross came in 3h:47.43and 15th in under 23's great ride for Ross as this was his first attempted at the end to end massive well done mate !