BDS Round 5 Bringewood – Report

Rolling down to Bringewood on Friday afternoon it was strange to think that the BDS season was over already before August has even finished. Depressing to think that the season will soon be over and we’ll suddenly all have these weekend things with nothing to do. Before all that though there was the small matter of a race to get through.

Bringewood has been used for races for more years than I can remember by the Pearce Cycles/Midlands series and this was the second BDS trip here. The course was one of my favourites and was used for the Pearce Cycles race here earlier this year. Starting off the main point heading in to the middle line, lots of tight bermed corners putting you nearer the trees the harder you pushed and then over the small road/path gap in to more of the same type of corners. Down to the bombhole and double and then over the fireroad in to the open section. Staying to the right here through more corners with roots around the place to catch out the unwary. Down to the small tabletops and back in to the woods and a blast through the woods with some wide taping offering a choice of lines over the normal race run. Over the last fireroad and in to the bottom woods, skimming trees all over the place, braking as little as you dare and popping over little holes and gaps to carry more speed. Out of the last bus stop and down to the big table top, sprint to the line and it’s over. Described by someone I heard as being like a downhill pump track it was lots of fun to ride and rewarded those who could carry speed through the tight trees.

Ride.io – Harry Heath Helmet Cam from Ride.io on Vimeo.

Uplift was provided by the Pearce Cycles landrovers and trailers so lots of runs were possible for those who were keen. Rain on Friday evening meant that many chose to have a leisurely start to Saturdays practice session to try and let the track dry. The first couple of hours saw the top half of the track being very greasy making runs somewhat exciting in places regardless of tyre choice. As the day continued the track dried out and by early afternoon it was in pretty much perfect condition. With 9 hours of practice available the track never felt too busy and the uplift queue never got too out of hand.

The day ran pretty smoothly with only a couple of minor hiccups. The first being a landrover having a slight moment on the first bit of the descent from the drop off point and ending up on its side. This took a couple of hours to sort out with a bit of help from Dave Pearce’s tractor and some man power from the Army and SPS boys. Flipper as the landies now known was back in service in the afternoon and the driver was still pinning it up the hill in a different one shortly after! The second came late in the afternoon when Seb “Roots and Rain” Frost got it wrong on the bank just before the final tabletop and did about 4m on to his head after going out of the front door. Luckily the medics were right by this spot so quickly on hand to help him out. While Seb complained he was uncomfy on the back board we all waited for the ambulance and then helicopter to turn up. A big thanks to the air ambulance guys who as others were busy had come all the way from near Derby to collect Seb and take him to Shrewsbury hospital. Latest news is 3 broken vertebrae but he can still wiggle everything and is looking for photos of the crash and aftermath if anyone has any. Heal up quick Seb!

On to race day and another 2 hours practice in the morning before it was time to get seeding runs underway. Peaty took the elite lead 3 seconds ahead of Harry Heath with a 1m58s. In all other groups everyone got a time in ready to take it to race runs later in the day. Ben Nott was fastest Expert setting himself up well for race runs after Winning the pro am category at the MIJ Forest of Dean race last weekend.

Then it was on to racing for the last time this year with a number of riders looking for results not only on the day but also for the overall series standings too. First off were the Juveniles with Matt Walker (Rockguards) taking both the win on the day and the overall series title. He very narrowly pipped Kade Edwards (for those who’ve been riding as long as me his dad is Tom Edwards ex elite, world cup, team MBUK etc – who says talent doesn’t run in families!) by 0.2 seconds, not bad after Kade knocked himself out in morning practice. Third place was taken by Joe Parfitt.

Following these were the youths with only 1.5 seconds covering the top 3. Alistair Warrell continued his great season with another win here and the first of 4 for the Aston Hill Saracen team on the day. The happiest man in mountain biking Laurie Greenland was in second with fraer McCubbing rounding out the top 3.
Next up at the BDS come all the old men categories starting with the Grand Vets. This was won by national champion Howard Stuttard with Steve Felstead in second and Mick Giles for the Eckington Trail collective in third.
The Veterans were next with Mark Weightman taking third, a slight drop after seeding first. Second place went to John Cobb with Darren Howarth taking the win by nearly 3 seconds.

The masters category was tight as ever with big Dave List taking the win from James Risker and Craig Taylor getting his third third of the year.
The ladies groups run next. The upcoming world champs meant that the Elite category lacked some of the big names from other rounds leaving only 2 racers. Jess Stone took the win from Hope’s Rachel Walker.
In the Womens category Suzanne Lacey of the Aston Hill Saracen team took the win from Bex Barona of team NCA and Jess Greaves taking third.

The Juniors was tightly fought as usual, Will Weston got his first Junior BDS podium here and straight to the top step! Drew carters took the second place with Dan Farley in third dropping back slightly after seeding first.
Another Aston Hill Saracen winner in the Seniors category for Darren Evans with Mark Prior of TF tuned in second and DMR rider Richard Acott in third smoking most of the field on his 125mm travel DMR bolt.
A very tight race in the expert Category with Pearce Cycles rider Ben Nott taking third. Reece Langhorn of Team Skene in second and for the last time Aston Hill Saracen rider Glenroy Martin taking the win.

That just left the Elites to come down the hill. Rob Smith took the hot seat early on until Joel Moore came down and knocked him out. Sam Dale was the first of the big names down and went in to the hot seat 1.5 seconds up on Joel. None of the following riders could beat Sam’s time but a number were very close. Last man on the hill and fastest seed was Steve Peat who came down and was already 1.8 seconds up at the split which increased slightly to be nearly 2 seconds at the finish. Harry Heath and Ruaridh Cunningham were both within half a second of Peaty’s split but lost a little time in the bottom section to finish third and sixth respectively. Peaty’s now off to World Champs in South Africa, let’s hope this win gets him on a roll!

Thanks to Si and the guys for another years races and to everyone else who helps make them happen for us all. See you all at Round 1 next year, Antur Stiniog in March!