Wideopen ISSUE SEVEN!

You might have noticed that we also make a magazine here at Wideopen....

It's meant to come out every 2 months and you can download it for free.

Because we're a bit slack and because we all work full time jobs it usually takes a bit longer than the 2 months we promise....

True to form it has been a bit of a wait since the last issue. But we're pleased to say that Wideopen issue 7 will crash land on your screens next week. It's going to be HUGE.

Until then, spare a thought for the team who are madly tapping away, proof reading, hunting photos, laying out content and drinking a LOT of coffee!

Photo by Oli Ward

Red Bull EOD

Hey, new blogger here at WO but not a new face.

Just got back from the Red Bull Empire Of Dirt in Newton Abbot and it was amazing!

So much going on and for once the weather was faultless, made for a very exciting and entertaining weekend.

Anyway why i'm on here....photos: just a few that aren't being held back to give you a taste of what is gonna to be in the next issue.

Friday Media - Rowan Johns

Issue 6 interview victim Rowan Johns walking the line...

1/160th, f4, iso 400, 50mm prime

Photo by Oli Ward - check out his blog here

WIDEOPEN EXCLUSIVE: new Sam Pilgrim frame!

Check out these exclusive shot of the new protoype Diamondback Sam Pilgrim frame...

The bike is actually Diamondback Product Manager Mike's, photo'd in shady paparazzi style at their HQ. He's got it built up to his spec but promises Sam's will be completely tricked out with the best components money can buy.

He couldn't give us any more details other than the picture so we're still guessing prices, release dates and even the name... By the looks of it there's some nice work around the drop outs with a sliding QR set up, CNC work around the drop outs and chain stays, loads of nice and tough welds around the head tube. Should be a fine steed for Pilgrim.

We'll keep interrogating Mike and get more details over to you the second he buckles!

Rachel Atherton update...

A quick bit of good news from the guys at Pearce Cycles following Rach Atherton's crash on Sunday.

She had a hell of a crash during Sunday's National Champs practice but has luckily escaped with severe bruising and no major damage. She'll no doubt be hobbling around for a while but should be back in action soon enough.

She crashed through one of the berms in the top wooded section and wrapped herself round a tree. After some drugs and a trip to the local A&E she was able to pop back to the race and join fellow World Champs Gee and Josh on the podium.

As ever, a massive shout out to the medics and the Air Ambulance who always do a bloody good job of sorting us all out when we need it. If you ever feel like making a donation to the North Wales Air Ambulance you can do it here. Definitely a worthy cause.

Good news and a speedy recovery to her. We'll pop up any more news as we get it.

Your 2008 UK downhill champions!

I'm very pleased to say that your 2008 UK DH Champs are Steve Peat and Tracey Moseley. Two well deserved wins and two faces I'm sure everyone will be pleased to see on the top spot.


Elite men's podium and a very happy Peaty

We've just rolled in the door from a weekend at the UK DH Champs up at Bala... We've had sun, rain, mud, dust, loads of Janet's Jackets and a bit toooo much cider. But above all, a great two days of racing.

Tracey takes the top spot and shares a drink with the kids on the front row!

Top 3 Elites were:

Ladies:
Tracey Moseley
Helen Gaskell
Katy Kurd

Chaps:
Steve Peat
Marc Beaumont
Neil Donaghue

Which if I'm not wrong is an all Santa Cruz men's podium?

Of course, there's heaps more Champs that aren't Elites... They are:

Damon Smith

Fraser McGlone

Jamie Maller

Josh Bryceland

Derek Laughland

Alistair Maclennan

Mark Milward

Emma Wareham

Jessica Stone

Kate Betts

Well done to all of them...

Wondering why there's no Athertons on the podium? Gee and Rach were pinning it all weekend, but both crashed out. Gee took a slide in his final run and was knocked way down the results sheet but came out safe and well. Rach however had a savage crash in practice and was knocked out of the running. Apparently she overcooked the berm dropping into the first wooded section, went straight through it and took a tree to the leg. She was hobbling round on crutches after that... Speedy recovery to her!

3 World Champs in one place... Where else do you get that? Also Rach on crutches after her 'incident'

Anyway, that's all for now. BIG well done to everyone who gunned it all weekend and especially those who came home with some silverwear and a bottle of Fenwicks. A full report will be in Wideopen issue 7.

Josh covers up the UCI World Cup Champion's jersey with his new UK Champ jersey!

Cheers to the Pearce guys and everyone else who made it a fantastic weekend.

UK racing fu**in' rules!

Full results are here

Pearce Cycles website is here

New threads from Pump Urban Wear

www.pumpurbanwear.co.uk

MONSTER ENERGY in the UK!

Quick bit of news from our friends at Madison... They are now importing Monster Energy drink into the UK making it even easier to have green wee and feel REALLY AWAKE.

We drank a LOT of this stuff at Fort Bill and if energy drinks are your thing it's not too bad. The flavours are nice and zingy, it comes in a huge can and it certainly does the job of perking you up. They've also been putting some big cash into downhill this season with free Monster at all the big races and their name slapped on Sam Hill, Steve Peat, Brendan and loads more.

Keep an eye on the following:

www.monsterenergy.com
www.ultimatepursuits.co.uk

Photo is of Monster rider Brendawg Fairclough from www.23degrees-sports.com.
By Fraser Britton

Mynydd Du - the aftermath!

The dust (mud?) has settled after Mynydd Du and we've got some new Welsh Champs... Well done all.

Aimee Dix Elite Female
Rowan Sorrell Elite Male
Lee Hamer Hardtail
Gareth Brewin Junior Male
William Roberts Juvenile
Kate Betts Master Female
Chris Ames Master Male
Jason Carpenter Veteran Male
Manon Carpenter Youth Female
Sam Webster Youth Male

The UK Hardtail Champ is..... Lee Huskinson (told ya so!)

Fastest of the day was Matt Simmonds, with Habu-Blu Cann taking it for the girls.

Check out dragondownhill.co.uk for full results, all pics are nicked from them

Also Hardtail Nation for the hardtail action

Welsh Champs and the UNOFFICIAL HARDTAIL CHAMPS!!

This has got to be the best race of the year so far...

The Welsh Champs AND the Hardtail Champs running head to head at the AMAZING Mynydd Du. It's going to be sooooo good.

Check out the photo above of the covetted hardtail champs denim beater, awarded to the UK's fastest hardtail racer. Nathan Ball took her home last year at Rheola but he's out with an injury so it's open to anyone. Judging by the pace Lee H was putting down at Bala I reckon my money might be on him!

Here's last years champs:

Running the gauntlet are:

Lewis Bateman TJ ELEC

Ashley Evans

Sy Finch Newquay Pirates

Tim Grant The Defective

Oliver Gregory 704645

Lee Hamer Extreme Culture

Lee Huskinson DMRbikes/Marzzochi/Mace/Ni

Ben Irons sofari sogoodi

Ryan Lewis Extreme Culture

Jake Mckenna

Derek Pinkett

Bill Thackray Pontefract carpets

Lewis Warrington

Iain Woodley hardtailnation.co.uk

Raise hell chaps!

Good luck to anyone racing - pop down and give 'em a cheer if you fancy a great day out.

Check out hardtailnation.co.uk and dragondownhill.co.uk. All pics are pinched from them, cheers boys!

Finaly, a quick vid of the mighty Mynydd Du:

2008 Scottish DH Champs - Glencoe

MASSIVE weekend of racing coming up!

It's the Scottish DH champs up at Glencoe, sponsored by Chain Reaction Cycles... Check out the SDA site for more info here.

Here's a vid of last year's champs at Dunkeld from Marshall Films:

New RaceFace Atlas FR chain guide

Fresh produce from Race Face, check it out....

The Atlas guide gives you a bashring/chain guide for riding hard and also a granny ring to get up the climbs. Might be a perfect set up for those 6 and 6 trail bikes out there?

22T or 24T and up to 36T bash
Fits 68/73, 83, 100mm BB's
145g without bash
245g with bash
Bad Ass Black
£79.95

raceface.com
silverfish-uk.com

Countdown to the National Champs!

There's under two weeks to go until the National Champs at Bala and the Pearce Cycles guys have been working hard ...

We heard rumours of a monster road crossing, and here she is! A six metre high bridge over the road, firing riders down into the finish area.

They've also been grooming the track and getting it fixed after the Midland's round. There's not going to be any major changes to the track except for the bridge and a new section into the finish field. They've also mellowed out the doubles in the fields which were a bit kicky in the last race.

We'll have some more shots from the Pearce guys after this weekend... In the mean time check out this vid of the track:

NPS Fort William Results! Minnaar takes it again.

News just in, thanks to Martin Whiteley at 23Degrees.

Minnaar took the win at the NPS at Fort William... Beating 2nd place Ben Cathro by 5 seconds. Another great Fort William result for Greg, but even better for Cathro. 5 seconds off Greg Minnaar aint half bad at all, good f'in work!

Here's some on board footage from Greg in practice:

Greg was over in the UK for one of his Big Air Training Camps and had a few of the students entered into the race. He seeded fastest yesterday, as the only rider under the 5 minute mark. In his final run he managed to make it down 5 seconds up on Ben, despite bashing his pedal on a rock in the top section.

Greg's quote: "I busted the clip on one of my pedals on a rock up top and had to spin the pedal with my right foot on more than one occasion to get clipped back in, and was worried I'd lost too much time. I knew Ben and Marc would be strong today, so I'm happy for the win, but to be honest, I was really happy for my riders here at the camp, they all did well this weekend and they were great to work with."

Here's the top 5, full results soon as I can get them!

1. Greg Minnaar (RSA) - 4m 50.483s
2. Ben Cathro - (GBR) - 4m 55.921s
3. Joe Barnes - (GBR) - 5m 02.513s
4. Marc Beaumont (GBR) - 5m 02.987s
5. Neil Donoghue (GBR) - 5m 04.403s

http://www.npsdh.com/

http://www.gregminnaar.com/

NPS Fort William...

The NPS is up at Fort William this weekend, following in the footsteps of last month's World Cup.



The news from Jim is that Saturday practice was mega dry and dusty with the track taking a hell of a beating. Lots of holes appearing, lots of busted rims and lots of breaking bumps all over the place.



The Mojo boys were on the hill with Hutchins looking quick and no rubber suits in site... Their boy Cathro took 1st at the previous round and got a hell of a result at the World Cup. Could there be a Mojo podium today?



Also, pretty interestingly, Minaar was getting some runs in. He was apparently riding with a headcam talking through the lines as he was hitting them!

We'll keep you posted how Sunday's race runs go. The Atherton's are on the start list but whether they'll turn up is anyone's guess.

Stay tuned!

Ryders Eyewear hits the UK

Ryders Eyewear is by no means a new company. They've become a massive hit in Canada since the brand started some 20 years ago, and now have the likes of Shaums March and Ryan Leech and others, using their eye wear. Not because these riders get paid though, just because they like the product which says a lot for them.

Thanks to Man O'Leisure Distributors we should be seeing Ryders Eyewear hit the UK big time towards the end of '08. They were also kind enough to hook us up with a couple of pairs of shades, so you can expect to see a review of these in the mag sometime in the future.

I'll be running the Tangent over the next few months to get an idea of what the brand is all about while we also have a Treviso on test as well. To find out more about the range on offer check out the Ryders Eyewear website. These are already available in a limited number of stores but we'll bring you the news when they first hit the shops near you.

MDE Flats - Wideopen EXCLUSIVE!

Our mate Elbry at Riderruncompany just fired over some pics of MDE's latest pedal... and an EXCLUSIVE offer for Wideopen readers!

These babies are hot off the press from MDE bikes in Italy

570grams a pair
Replaceable 10 grip pins per side
Sealed bearings / DU
CNC machined spindles Cr-Mo
Alloy extruded / CNC machined low profile body
Laser logo done in house @ mde italy

RRP is £55 BUT Wideopen readers can get them for £50 postage free!

These are super limited so get 'em whilst they're hot!

Click here for Riderruncompany
Click here for MDE Bikes

Wharncliffe Weekender 2008

‘The Wharncliffe Weekender 2008’is set for the the weekend of 12th & 13th July 2008. Entries close on the 5th July so get in quick!

Expect a weekend of bikes, booze and BBQ all hosted by World Cup champ Steve Peat. The whole thing is in aid of the Weston Park Cancer Appeal Fund!

New for '08 is 'Peaty’s Sunday Forest Ride'... where you can sign up for a ride with Farmer Jack, Steve P and friends. You'll get a guided tour of Wharnecliffe and hopefully pick up some tips on the way!

All entry fees and enquires to: The Wharncliffe Weekender, C/O Highfields, Woodhead Road, Wortley, Sheffield, S35 7DS

Email : info@wharncliffeweekender.com
Tel contact 07768 222849

Full info is at: http://www.wharncliffeweekender.com/