Wrong turn!

Wideopen don't live here no more!

Don't be a willy - get your ass to our new site at:

www.wideopenmag.co.uk

Fastlane BMX Mag Issue 2 - counting down...

Photogravity - this weekend at Inners!

Not long to go now until Keith Valentine's PHOTOGRAVITY event up at Inners!

The idea is that get to ride Inners all day whilst the UK's elite mountainbike paparazzi snap photos of you - all in aid of the Ben Rogers and Tom Ineson fund.

You get to ride a great track, there's a discount on the uplifts and you'll get some sick photos of yourself to take home and plaster all over you facebook profi. You also get to support a good
cause. Winners all round.

Here's a reminder of the details:

1.photoshooting starts @ 12pm - 5pm -arrive sharp please
2.riders will be marked so the photographers & uplift know who has donated.
3.donations will be taken on the day before you start.
4.all donations will go to the Ben Ineson & Tom Rodgers memorial fund.
5.so far 9 photographers confirmed covering various styles- more to follow - all welcome.
6.some portrait shots will be available at the start if requested(while your kit & bike is nice & shiney).
7.photos will be put on www.flickr.com for riders to download free.
8.copyright will stay with photographers.
9.as a fun thing we want everyone involved to vote for there fave picture of the day.(please wait a week till all photos are on).1
0.you may be flashed in the face if you take part(but i doubt it,unless you want us to).ha ha
11.this is not a race this is a chance for riders to get cool shots of themselves styling it up & for photographers to shoot those great shots.
12.David Tally has said he may do an uplift deal for riders taking part ( exact details T.B.C).
13.please ride & flash safe as there may be other riders on trails & you style it up @ your own risk.
14.remember its a fun day & for charity so please give generously.
15.if anyone wishes to shoot film footage for the riders feel free.
16.only riders that have donated will have there photos made viewable & downloadable
17.anyone wishing to help/or learn from the photographers on the day let me know.
18.this wil be updated as more info becomes available - many thanks.
19.not sure what runs will be covered by photographers yet - but probably be usual race routes.
20.can photographers limit the number of flashes you use to 10,000
21.anyone can donate but due to overwhelming response we can only shoot the first 100 riders that donate so arrive early to get tagged
22.this event is now sponsored by lowepro - prizes may be forthcoming
23.we are trying to get special race style numbers made for this event so we know who the riders are.24.arrive sharp to get as many runs or photos in as possible.we shall be there from approx 11am taking riders details & donations.
25.we may put photos on pinkbike & this facebook site, to cover all event supporters.
26.there will be a wee trophy for the winner of the best photo.
27.and we have yet another sponsor comet who are paying for a wee trophy
28.you dont need to get an uplift if you dont want to.
29.can all photographers also send there best 2 or 3 shots from the event to jamie@wideopenmag.co.uk as they are doing a piece on the event
30.the meeting place for everyone wishing to donate , will be at the innerleithen sign at the bottom of the usual race route.
31.pinkbike are designing a special forum thread & are trying to send some goodies across for the event,also they said they may pod the winning photo - youve gotta be in it to win it.

Confirmed Riders for BikeRadar LIVE

Check out this list of confirmed riders for Bike Radar Live....

Dual Slalom
Gee Atherton
Dan Atherton
Chris Kovarik
Romain Salidini
Steve Peat
Greg Minnaar
Brian Lopes
Nathan Rennie
Josh Bryceland
Matt Simmonds
Ruaridh Cunningham
Lewis Lacey
Lucas Mechura
Nige Page
Scott Beaumont
Dylan Clayton
Sam Dale
Dave Wardell
Marc Beaumont
Neil Donoghue
Martyn Ogden
Steve Taylor
Jordan Gould
Paddy Baker
James Norton

Dirt Jump
Jamie Goldman
Sam Pilgrim
Lance McDermott
Chris Smith
Dan Coggan
Phil Auckland
Pat Campbell-Jenner
Rory Backshell
Jack Gear
Daryl Brown
Chris Mohoney
Amir Kabbani

NPS4X Round 1 - UK Bike Park

It seems like there was a hell of a lot of racing going on last weekend with at least 3 race series hosting their opening rounds. The big one was of course Rd1 of the NPS 4X down at UK Bike Park in Dorset. We negotiated some of the poshest villages and windiest countries lanes the south has to offer to check it out...

I'll get a full repo in the mag but in short it was a pretty fierce day of racing with the bone dry and loose track claiming a few victims. Patt Campbell-Jenner ate shit big time down the first straight and had a really gnarly, mid-air over the bars that saw his day end early. Get well soon fella!

I'm still not entirely sure what's going on at 4X racing but as far as I could tell Chris Roberts had everything running smoothly. Scotty Beaumont took the Elite win followed by a super pro'd up Lewis Lacey in full team CRC colours.

It was also our first time meeting Wideopen team rider Chris Mucklow and his missus Laura which was great. He did really well in his first 4 moto's getting 2 1st and 2 2nds but got kicked in the heats after a dodgy gate. Good sign though of things to come though! Here's a snap of the boy himself leading one of his motos. Yeahhh boy.

Here's the rest of the winners with a few 'worthy mentions' from Chris R:

Juvenile - Dominic BARDEN
Youth - Alex METCALFE
Juniors - Tom Knight
Seniors - Kieron MCAVOY - Spank Prize Winner
Masters - Dominic BENT - Halo Wheel Set Winner
Veterans - Jason Carpenter
Ladies - Charlie PHILLIPS

Juvenile
Pint sized Joe BUCK taking 2nd Juvenile on a big bike.

Youth
Adam Thomas rode well to take second
Isaac MUNDY got push off the track but was really on it.

Juniors
Mike Yard won every moto but out in the Semi Final for crossing the start line

Seniors
Chris CUMMING man to watch out for in Seniors.

Masters
Big old Paddy Baker racing in skin tight jeans! UCI ruling on Skin Suits will have to be enforced to stop an more complaints from spectators!

Veterans
David HERMAN ripping it up on a little single speed jump bike

Ladies
16 year old Manon CARPENTER taking 2nd place!
Suzanne LACEY taking a hard slam but getting back on her bike and riding to finish.

Pro
Liam Phillips breaking four chains and not racing.
Will Evans was on a mission and trying every move in the book to win.

Next Round Bridgnorth 23rd May full details on http://www.nps4x.com/

Full results http://www.nps4x.com/2009/04/rd1-results-uk-bike-park-09/

Here's 2 charming snaps of the handsome Dave Lane and Andy Dunwoody who kept us entertained all day!

DHSpain.com video

Just a quick video from our week in Spain, take a look at www.dhspain.com for more info, I'm sure you can all see from the footage that it's an absolutely awesome place to go bike riding! Click HD for full quality!


DHSpain.com Video from Aaron Bartlett on Vimeo.

The MSC BIKES/DESCENT-GEAR NPS DH

The Race Season is now wheel spinning into action and the UK hosts the top domestic race series in the World. You must race at a high regional standard before you can get into the NPS which is widely seen as the stepping stone up to the World Cups. Peaty, Atherton’s, Moseley, Beaumont, Warner, Bryceland have all been through the ranks, how about you?

The MSC BIKES/DESCENT-GEAR NPS DH is supported by: British Cycling and Monster Energy.

Each event is held over a weekend with Saturday for full practise followed by a quick practise session Sunday morning then straight into seeding and one race run, do or die!

The first three rounds are UCI Category 2 which means points are available for the top ten fastest riders on the day. Accumulate enough points and you could be rubbing shoulders at the next UCI World Cup with Sam Hill and Co..

Rd 1 April 25-26th - Ae Forest - (UCI Cat 2)

Rd 2 May 30-31st - Llangollen - (UCI Cat 2)

Rd 3 June 27-28th - Fort William - (UCI Cat 2)

Rd 4 August 15-16th - Carlton Bank

Rd 5 September 26-27th - Caersws



International Rider? Race at a good standard back home and want to measure yourself against the Worlds best! Then send your entry form in and couple that up with a reference/link to your results and you are in!Parking, camping and spectating is always free at the NPS and we provide a large marquee, onsite catering, live timing, huge timing screen, live commentating, SERVICED toilets, music through out the day. Everyone is welcome to walk up the course outside of the tapes and catch all the trackside action.

Best four out of five rounds count for series overall prizes and points. Hang around for podium time as we run five man podiums giving more riders the chance to get their name up in lights and a nice custom trophy for the mantlepiece from Hope Technology.Top tip: Hang around for podiums, if a rider misses presentations then their prize and trophy goes to the little kid in the crowd!

Supporting the riders at the NPS in 2009 and sponsoring individual categories are:Descent-Gear.com - JuvenilesLizard Skins - YouthsFox - JuniorsSwiss and Swallow - WomenNo Limits - Master MenTicket2RideBC.com - Veteran MenContinental "Black Chilli" MenLeisure Lakes - Expert MenNema Clothing - Elite WomenNema Clothing - Elite Men

TF Tuned will also be on hand at each race and will be presenting a big fat cheque for £200.00 to the rider who wins by the biggest winning margin. Pete Evans from 2StageBikes in New Zealand will also be handing over £200 big ones to the rider with the fastest combined times from seeding and their race run!

Marshalling?
16 years of age or older on the day of the race then please read on:

Marshall for one day: £30
Marshall for two days that weekend: £65
Marshall for all five rounds, both days: You'll get an extra wallet busting £100 bonus at the end of the last round.

You also get fed and watered and get to see the top riders in the country and even the World! Priority entry guaranteed (as long as you have 5 BC points) for your son, daughter, cousin, mate etc...
Extra Bonus: Provide a marshal for both days at the NPS DH and your rider will receive a "Queue Jump" pass! No more queuing, unlimited runs and that’s another incentive to get valued marshal’s on the hill to look after you! Training is provided along with high visibility vest, whistle, flags and radio.We back Marshals up 100% and operate a zero tolerance policy to anyone who abuses or undermines a Marshall.

Steve Parr and Si Paton welcome you trackside and promise a warm welcome to everyone.

Photos by Keith Valentine http://www.phunkt.com/

http://www.npsdh.com/

http://www.npsdh.com/

http://www.npsdh.com/

NASS 2009 plans are GO

This year's National Adventure Sports Show is GO for 10 - 12 July 09.

Latest news is that they've just added everyone's favourite UK hip hopper Lethal Bizzle to the line up. He's joining N.E.R.D, Chase and Status, High Contrast, Shy Fx, Scratch Perverts, Sub Focus. I started typing this with the intention of taking the piss but that actually all sounds pretty damn good!

Also - plans are now up for the all new street course:

More here

Day 6 from Spain

Well today was our last day in Spain and didn't we make the most of it! I really don't have anything funny to say - it was just mint. We started by getting up at 11 even though we agreed to get up at 8. Then we went to pick up Scouser John from the local Cafe and ate bacon and egg butties and soon enough we were "on the road again" out towards the first track we went to: "Fonz's track" to do some filming. After 20 minutes of mangina, pubic hair and Rob getting his giblet out yet again and chasing after his brother when we were supposed to be getting some interviews done we finally got a bit of riding footage done.

Pretty much we then just drove over to the track which was in Re - Focus to do some riding. The top section was the loosest thing I've ever ridden in my life, it was about a foot deep in dust all the way down the open hillside with sun beating down on us. The bottom section was really jumpy with some fast rock sections and smooth berms, was equally as fun. But one of the most interesting obstacles was the massive step up off the road which has had a new lip put on it according to main man Rob. Basically we got an "epic"/"gorgeous" (two of Milky's favourite words) tracking shot from the roof of a landrover of Harry and Tom on this section.

Basically we just pissed around on the bottom section for an hour or so and then headed back to let Milky get a shot of Baz doing a scrub on a jump behind Rob's house, it looked mint so nice one.

Flying home tomorrow so that sucks but it's been an awesome week of filming and riding. Keep an eye out for a little vid from DHSpain.com online pretty soon, get saving and get on it.

Mono

Day 57 from "Track of Death" (Spain)

Bitches. Today was what most people would call the low point of their holiday. For some, it's breaking their leg whilst sunbathing, for others it's the day of rain on an otherwise sunny week and for the really unlucky ones who have a totally shit holiday it's the point where they pass out after too much absinth and wake up with a gnarly black cock up their bum. Today was our black cock in the bum day.

A local Spanish chap recommended a new track to us today. Anyway, he got a puncture and took us to what he described as the "best track", unfortunately in our opinion it sucked majorly (Baz described it as "Run of the Ken 2") and we missed out on filming on an awesome track that Rob Deacon had originally intended we ride - shame really. Basically I've ended up getting nothing on film today and walked all the way down a mountain and we missed out on the good stuff.

We actually rode a mint descent this morning (afternoon) on the way to "Spanish Track of Death" with some awesome slick rock sections and went on to ride a very Alpsesque flat out rocky walkers path style track; like proper gnarly loose turns and big rock sections all the way down the side of this mountain - I struggled a bit with my spike on the back (don't ask why I turned up to Spain with that) but it was pretty EL SICKO.

Milko came out with some proper mint questions like he has been all holday today. Highlight of today would be "What is that big church like building on the hill over there?" Rob - "That would be a erm church" and also yesterday "You can see Spain from here" (meaning Africa) and the other day "Why do they call it the Sram test track?", answers on a postcard please...

Tomorrow is our last full day in Spain, hopefully it'll be a goodun. I'll be busting out the camera in the morning on the "Fonz track" and hopefully spending all afternoon riding some rad tracks. Hopefully Milk pro will state the obvious and ask some rad questions to keep us entertained again as well. We are going to be strictly sticking to rad tracks tomorrow and not going anywhere near any Tracks of Death or Run of the Kens.

Im off to watch 40 Year Old Virgin now, we decided not to watch Ghost in the end.

A lake thing that we had a coffee by:



Adios.

Mono

RACH OUT FOR FIRST WORLD CUP

Bit of bad news from the Atherton clan. Rach won't be back up to speed for Rd1 of the World Cup in a couple of weeks.

"Despite more than a month of rest and rehabilitation, we are sorry to say there has been no major improvement with the nerve damage in Rach's shoulder.

Rach has visited a number of specialists over the last few weeks who have all been unable to give a clear indication on her recovery time. The current view is to wait a further four weeks to see if the nerve improves – which obviously means that Rachel will miss the first World Cup round. She is continuing to train with the view of returning as soon as she can.

Follow Rachel's recovery on:

http://campaignemail.nickellrich.co.uk/t/y/l/hrjhm/ihhhkjlhl/d

or for up to the minute updates on Twitter"

Chain Reaction/Intense Team Bikes

ChainReactionCycles/Intense team manager Nigel Page just got in touch with some photos of the new team bikes. I think I just ruined my monitor.... Click the images to go BIG

INTENSE EVO

TAZER 4X

"Well after a hectic week of dealing with UPS and customs and Dave and Jason working around the clock building all our bikes they are finally built and I have to say I have never seen better looking bikes. They look fantastic and most importantly very fast!

Chain Reaction Cycles have done a great job of getting our graphics done this year to fit the frames, Clayton at Manitou had us some custom blue Dorado graphics made, Hope have made us the blingest matching team blue brakes with the riders names on the levers. The Mavic wheel sets just look so trick, the new Easton Havoc 750 bars are wide enough for the new school but with the same great shape of the older bars. The new Intense frames have come out just as we asked. Jeff Steber has made us the best bikes I think Intense have ever built.

After riding for 2 days over the weekend Matt Simmonds said - "The new Intense EVO feels much lighter faster and with the new adjustability we can get the perfect set up on any course"

I would like to say a big thank you to all our sponsors on behalf of the whole team for getting us all our parts and gear to us in time for leaving for South Africa today.

Keep checking our website to for team news throughout the season. http://www.crcintense.com/

Sponsors:
Chain Reaction Cycles • Intense Cycles • Manitou • Easton • Hope • Fi'zi:k • CaneCreek • Maxxis • Shimano • e13 • Burgtec • Royal Racing • SixSixOne • THE • High Five

Espanola - Day Quattro (4)

Hello my pretties. Today we finally did what we came over here originally to do which is bang out some photos and videos of naked men on bikes. That's right, you did read that correctly; just check out this photo of Rob Deacon riding on location in Malaga:



To quote Harry "Bazbo" Heath "his cock was flopping about all over the place", unfortunately due to legal reasons we have had to blank out Rob's prized floppy although he assures me that anyone booking a holiday with DHSpain.com will have the optional extra of "naked downhill" on any track in the local area.

As I mentioned of course today we started shooting for FOFO2, unfortunately my two filming "butties" from Wales Paul Roberts and Tim Smith havn't been able to make it over the Severn Bridge to the airport at this time of year as apparently they are cutting down on the amount of Welsh awesomness allowed in England at one time - shame. Anyway here is a shot of the "Meatspin" Tom Deacon without his meat on show luckily, railing a dusty turn for my camera:



And another one of Harry Heath smashing it right in on another bit of cracking DUSTY track:



So that's about all that has happened today. It's been a lovely evening at the ranch enjoying the film Notting Hill and doting over Hugh Grant until the early hours (perfect film to watch with 4 other guys). Tomorrow we have planned another filming session and then we are going to snuggle up together under the duvet and watch "Ghost", I'm sure it'll be bloody fabulous.



I'll fill you in on the details of what happens during Ghost tomorrow.

Mono

RLS4X Podium for Team Rider Chris!

Today was round 1 of the RLS4X series over at the revamped Lemington track. It was also team rider Chris Mucklow's first race for Wideopen.

I got a call at the end of the day from the man himself who sounded pretty bloody excited. Turns out after a slow first couple of motos he got his race face on, downed a few Monsters and pulled a silver medal out of the bag! Great news and f-king great start to his time on the team. Nice work fella!

Look out for his race repo in our next issue. Race 2 for Chris is next Sunday at the UK Bike Park NPS4X.

Big thanks to Dialled bikes and Superstar components who provide Chris' frame and kit.

Day 3 update from Espanol

Well Milky has gone to bed after being up all night showing the Spanish ladies a thing or two, disappearing from the face of the Earth to get a pizza (although I wasn't aware of any pizza establishments that were open at 6am this morning) and so I thought I'd update you on what has been "going down" today in DHSpain HQ in Malaga.

Nothing interesting to say really apart from we got back at about 9 this morning and slept in until 2. Harry "Baz" Heath was crashed out until at least 5 and then secided to go for an epic run into town to burn off all that Spanish beer he had last night. Tom "Meat" Deacon only resurfaced about 10 minutes ago after being slightly worse for wear. Main man Rob didn't look like he'd left the house all night this morning although he must have been in quite a state judging by the middle aged Glaswegian woman he was attempting to pull last night.

The plan was to go and do a bit of filming this evening but that went out the window because no one cane walk straight so we've had to resort to watching "White Girls" on the box. Everyone is up early in the morning though as we have a full day planned tomorrow of media madness for Wideopen and FOFO2 so keep your eyes peeled right here.

One of the Spanish "babes":



Mono

Photogravity - Innerleithen april 12th

2 weeks to go until Keith "will shoot for food" Valentine's Photography bash in aid of the Ben Ineson & Tom Rodgers memorial fund.

Here's the latest from KV:

"Hi all only two weeks to go things looking good. Let's hope weather is good. Have ordered a wee trophy for the winning photographer, race numbers getting made for the first 100 riders. Still waiting to here about cheap uplift deal (will keep u informed).

Please arrive early, we will be there at 11am onwards to take details & donations. So far 57 confirmed guests 9 photographers, 1 filmaker & 88 maybes. Oliver Coats is setting up a forum for the photo votes. Riders don't need to get an uplift if they don't want to & if riders find a nice place to style it up you can just do it over & over again to get that good pic. Lowepro goodies on the way for prizes, I will shoot any clean bike portrait style shots at start if requested. Will update you all asap so get your race face on . Many thanks ..... phunkt.com
"

The spanish adventure... Day 2

Woke up to another stunning sunny day after a good night out on the town till 3am. Come about half 1 a storm rolled in and then cleared a bit so we spent the afternoon/evening riding the Sram test track in the drizzle.

The track was still deep in dust, flat out and rad. We then went for a huge shop to get stuff before heading home for pizza and ice cream , a bit of time on here. Once this is updated I'm gonna get half an hours rest and were going down to the coast for a BIG night out tonight! We've left tomoz free of all but a small evening photo sesh on a local track. Ha!

Anyway some photos from the Sram track, will be back there later on in the week to film for FOFO2 in sun (with any luck).

http://www.dhspain.com

The spanish adventure... Day 1

Right so Thursday night me and Mono went to Brizol airport, flight was at 7am so sat in the airport trying to sleep and not getting a wink!

But that's as bad as it gets. Got on the plane (delayed thanks to some mechanical issue ), got to spain, got off the plane, got picked up by Rob and Tom Deacon from DHspain.com, taken right to where we where staying, got all at home, built the bikes up and then spent the whole afternoon (2 till 7pm) riding and got 10 runs in on a great track that was loose, a foot deep in dust and fast as you like. Such a great start to what I think is going to be a good week. Harry Heath is here as well so I have lots of pinners to keep my camera happy.

Anyway off down the town for a few drinks now, lazy morning tomoz then off for loads more riding at the Sram test track I think....

Anyway some photos:

NPS4X 2009 update

Just like that TV show with Roy Castle this year's NPS4X is gonna be a RECORD BREAKER! Chris Roberts reckons last year was the biggest year ever for NPS4x, 2009 is going to blow it out of the water.

Here's this season's line up:

April 5th Rd1 UK Bike Park - Dorset
May 23/24th Rd2/3 Bridgnorth - Shropshire
June 13/14th Rd4/5 South West Extreme - Devon
July 4th Rd6 Redhill - Gloucestershire
August 9th Rd7 PORC - Kent
September 13th Rd8 Chicksands - Bedforshire

National 4X Championships
July 5th Redhill - Gloucestershir

Full Details of the whole series on www.nps4x.com

Saab-Salomon Lapierre DH-920 Team Bike

Our mate Pete over at Hotlines just sent these photo's of the team issue Lapierre DH-920. It's team only and at the moment won't be going into production.



Frame : Lapierre DH 920 Team edition
Fork : Fox 40
Rear Shock : Fox DHX 5.0 titanium spring
Gears : Shimano Saint
Brakes : Shimano Saint 203mm
pedals : Shimano DX
Wheels: Mavic DeeMax
Tires : Hutchinson Barracuda Hardskin DH 2.3
Handlebar : Easton Havoc DH
Seatpost : Easton Carbone
Saddle : Selle Italia SLR
Chainguard : E13 LG1 for Lapierre
Stem : E13 AliStem
Mudguard : Neoguard for Team Lapierre
Weight : 17.325kg / 38.2 lb

Pretty sexy - but obviously not as sexy as that leopard carpet. And are those pole dancing poles?!

www.hotlines-uk.com

http://www.lapierre-bikes.co.uk

Just Reid 2009 news

News just in from Ben Reid's race team 'Just Reid':



The 2009 season is about to jump into full swing in just a few days and the Just Reid Race Team (Irelands 1st official UCI Trade Team) is happy to release our full list of sponsors for 2009.

We feel that it will be a great season for both us and our supporters and we would like to take the time to thank everyone for their support so far and help in getting the team up and running.

Our websitewill be continuously updated with up to the minute race reports and announcements throughout the year so if you have any questions or requests at all, I would be happy to help out.

Thanks again on behalf of Ben, Adam and Myself. 2009 Sponsor List:- Iron Horse, Rockshox, Rockstar Energy, Thor, Giro, Shimano, Ogio, Gamut, Sun Ringle, Sixsixone, Maxxis, Aztec, Funn, P&O Irish Sea, Thule, In Touch Network Solutions.

http://www.justreid.com/

AXO SPORT UK online shop is LIVE‏

The guys over at AXO UK have just launched their new range of MX/MTB clothing and an all new online store along with it. Swing over to http://www.axo-sport.co.uk/.

NPS RD 1 is now at AE FOREST

By: Si on 25th March, 2009

Rather than cancel Rd 1 we have worked quick time behind the scenes to get Ae Forest up and running! Steve is up there this weekend with shovels so if you can help him out get up there and give him a shout.. If anyone wants to cancel their Rd 1 entry or transfer it then please contact Steve Parr ASAP before March 31st 2009!

We apologies for any inconvenience brought about from this change of venue.
www.npsdh.com

Jess Stone - 2 Maxxis Rounds 2 Silver Medals

The guys at 2Stage must be pretty pleased with their new girl Jess Stone. Get this. She's done just 2 international elite race in her whole career and both times shes brought home a silver medal... On fire right?

Here's the official press release from 'em:

Jess Stone is the new kid on the block. At her first international Elite outing at Maxxis Cup in Gouveia she scored a podium finish second place behind world ranked number three, Tracey Moseley, and that’s no fluke. She did it again in round two at Vigo last weekend.

If the Maxxis Cup is just a “warm up” for the UCI World Cup then Jess Stone is going to be threatening the hot seat all season. Training beside her UK 2Stage Factory Team mates, Tom Deacon and Alex Powell, the 2008 Junior Women’s English Champion is learning fast how to keep up with the boys.

Upon her arrival at Gouveia (only her second ever trip aboard), Jess was totally hyped and also facing the biggest jump she has ever conquered.

“Having never seen the track before, I had no idea of what to expect and was feeling both excited and nervous!" Jess explained. "This would be the first time I was to experience riding in dust (makes a change from UK mud!!), as well as trying to attempt the massive jump at the bottom of the course.”

Jess is riding a new bike – 2Stage Elite9, in new territory and with a new team, and taking it all in her stride. She’s as confident as ever. “Being on the podium for my first official race as Elite was mint.”

Next up for Jess is the first round of UCI World Cup in South Africa.

Follow Jess’ progress all season at http://www.2stagebikes.com/

Pictures from the BUCS

Just got these through from Joolze Dymond who was photographing at the BUCS this weekend. Check out her website www.joolzedymond.com for pictures of everyone who was there riding!

Wideopen Rider Ste Larking:


Vikki Hill:


Unibrow:


And the winner himself, from the South West - Rich Thomas: