tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51162761337868277412012-02-16T11:36:27.352ZAaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18362238860648582979noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-17199381483613837982011-10-17T12:48:00.002+01:002011-10-17T12:49:48.330+01:002011-10-17T12:49:48.330+01:00

Good results for Elliot and Andy at Moelfre yesterday. Andy was 6th in a field of 93 Seniors - he had the escape of the year, doing the final jump and compression standing on one pedal!!  Elliot was 4th in Elite - Elliot actually got on the podium as the guy in 3rd place was Welsh. A case of what might have been as he had a mechanical on the fastest part of the track that cost him valuable

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-89123618998874330142011-10-17T11:44:00.001+01:002011-10-17T12:51:34.167+01:002011-10-17T12:51:34.167+01:00

It's been a busy few months for RGsquadron riders since Mount St Ash! Elliot Machin (Elite) has had some good results and a few instances of plain old bad luck, but his 5th at the Welsh Champs is a podium to be proud of! Getting out to Pila for the IXS cup was a real highlight for Elliot and is the first of a proper international career for Elliot. Elliot picked a fight with a tree at the final

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-45884653220351201862011-07-19T16:27:00.000+01:002011-07-19T16:27:19.131+01:002011-07-19T16:27:19.131+01:00

Last weekend RG Squadron riders Adam Halling and Elliot Machin took the long trip down to South Wales for round 3 of the Welsh Downhill Mountainbike Accociation's summer series. This series is a fantastically well organised collection of races at the tracks that used to be raced by the Dragon Downhill Series. The Mountain Ash venue is a long but seriously old-school track. It's a series of bus

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-23632686386280632312011-07-06T20:49:00.001+01:002011-07-06T20:49:47.530+01:002011-07-06T20:49:47.530+01:00

RGsquadron/Readytoridecycles rider Andy Hughes raced Kill the Bill 2 at Fort William on the 3rd of July. Here's his Victory weekend in his own words: The track was the normal Fort William track, the same as will be used for BDS round 5 in September. It's super rough, the longest track in the UK and amongst the longest in the world. It had a tight line in to the woods which was a bit awarkard to

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-56318857438628386162011-06-28T16:48:00.000+01:002011-06-28T16:48:21.748+01:002011-06-28T16:48:21.748+01:00

A wet and slick, super steep Llangollen open track was presented to riders on Saturday, but it slowly dried out meaning by the end of it, it was running a damn sight faster than the uplift was. We woke up Sunday to blissful sunshine, and hot heat by 8am! With the uplift running better than the previous day and shifting 220 an hour, our boys got on the practice train. Mick Whyte was attending

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-48598481595269273272011-06-21T20:46:00.000+01:002011-06-21T20:46:04.976+01:002011-06-21T20:46:04.976+01:00

Seb Frost at Rootsandrain.co.uk has drawn up the seeded start list for this weekend's BDS Round 3 at Llangollen. Seb uses clever maths and bases the seed on not only the current series standings, but on every downhill race you have ever done. That means that your place in the seeded start list ought to be a fair reflection of where you *should* be in your race run, a good day will see you beat

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-90698984175637146812011-06-13T11:24:00.000+01:002011-06-13T11:24:07.756+01:002011-06-13T11:24:07.756+01:00

Jim Lycett, Adam Halling and Mick Whyte hit Round 3 of the Pearce Cycles series this weekend. Saturday's conditions were dry and fast, with a few red flags pausing practice, and a spot of rain in the afternoon to keep the dust down. Sunday's conditions however were not so cheery. Driving up to the venue, rain clouds were unloading as soon as we passed through Shrewsbury and that stuck with us all

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-88890151803488711912011-06-13T10:23:00.000+01:002011-06-13T10:23:10.780+01:002011-06-13T10:23:10.780+01:00

High winds forced the organisers to abandon the meeting at the Halo BDS Rd3 Glencoe. Adam, Andy and Elliot travelled the 350+ miles up and rode well on the Saturday, despite appalling conditions. Sadly, the weather deteriorated further on Sunday and the chairlift was closed, forcing the race to be abandoned. Speaking late Sunday night Elliot said "I'm gutted that the race got cancelled, the

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-44872307702226296272011-05-23T00:12:00.001+01:002011-05-23T00:17:08.889+01:002011-05-23T00:17:08.889+01:00

First off, well done to Elliot Machin, who travelled to Ireland to compete in the Irish NPS, you can read about it here: http://www.southerndownhill.com/racing/reports/elliot-and-sams-big-irish-adventure.html A good result against Ben Reid's regular riding buddies! Action all over this weekend: Mick Whyte, Andy Hughes and Alex Thompson attended Racersguild on Saturday: Photo credit: Martin

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-11618948900741267842011-05-22T23:51:00.000+01:002011-05-22T23:51:24.282+01:002011-05-22T23:51:24.282+01:00

Mick Whyte and Jim Lycett attended round 2 of the Pearce Cycles series at Bringewood on the 8th May. Saturday practice was so wet, rainy and slippy/unrideable at the top that they had to cut a completely new line in during practice - the old school way.  We simply moved any big logs and debris and rode it in through the mulch.  Sweet.  This new line was not exactly easy in the conditions but at

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-72708286256317026692011-04-18T10:10:00.000+01:002011-04-18T10:10:07.659+01:002011-04-18T10:10:07.659+01:00

Last weekend four members of the RG Squadron/Ready to Ride team hit Moelfre for Round 2 of the British Downhill Series. Mick Whyte rails the final berm The track was classic Moelfre, down the ridge, fighting the grass turns over divots, over the quarry, over last year's bombhole and then steam down the hill through the berms and into the big stepdowns, that done, riders attacked the gorse lined

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-6824282951350330902011-04-06T23:35:00.000+01:002011-04-06T23:35:22.746+01:002011-04-06T23:35:22.746+01:00

Hopton is a familiar sight to any experienced downhill racer in the UK, but presented a fresh challenge to RGsquadron newbies MickWhyte and Jim Lycett. Pearce Cycles Round 1 is their first major event, a real baptism of fire on a track that's hosted the NPS and national champs in the past. Jim Lycett during practice Practice on Saturday went well for both riders, with RGsquadron old-boy Greg

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-75862345192512818202011-03-24T00:02:00.000Z2011-03-24T00:02:18.090Z2011-03-24T00:02:18.090Z

Nant G is a North Wales venue that's new to the BDS calender this year. The track is a tale of two opposites Out of the gate, it's straight in with steepness, roots, rocks and mud, following a stream for a ways. As it makes its way down the hill, the steepness sticks round and the rocks get bigger. Some sections really wouldn't look out of place at a World Cup. Half way down it's all change, as

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-47278912286556975042011-03-14T11:18:00.001Z2011-03-14T11:31:28.622Z2011-03-14T11:31:28.622Z

The first round of the Halo British Downhill Series takes place this Sunday 20th March at Nant Gwrtheyrn, just around Cardigan Bay in North west Wales. Spectating at this new track is free and the Elite lineup reads like a World cup entry list. Steve Peat, Matti Lehikoinen, Bryceland, Fairclough, Machin, Hughes, Halling, Event Details @ the Halo BDS site RG Squadron team members Elliot, Andy

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-17383829353174166422011-02-08T11:41:00.000Z2011-02-08T11:41:04.614Z2011-02-08T11:41:04.614Z

Mick and Jim’s amazing road trip and first foray into downhill racing, start lights, countdown beeps and all the razzmataz.It was an early start, leaving at 06.15am.  3 hrs later we arrived in a steady drizzle to register.We were told there was 120 riders spread across all the usual category’s.We set the bikes up and headed up the hill. The track was rumoured to be 1min 20secs in the dry but

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-37097282146176160812011-01-05T12:48:00.001Z2011-01-05T16:02:02.963Z2011-01-05T16:02:02.963Z

As most of you will know, Racersguild has run its own team for two years now, with Elliot Machin, Andy Hughes, Greg Hampton, Lee Gratton, Elliot Gill and Mitch Ingley all riding with RG the orange Squadron jerseys on. In 2010, the squadron saw its best ever results with Mitch Ingley very nearly scoring himself a place in Expert, and Machine Machin cruising his way to the top of his class and

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-35978245663921718612010-10-27T15:32:00.000+01:002010-10-27T15:32:08.389+01:002010-10-27T15:32:08.389+01:00

Well that’s it then! Another season over….and what a season! For starters maybe its best to reveal the worst kept secret on the hill – basically The Racersguild Squadron as we know it is no more; certainly not in its current format anyway. Lee and Elliot (Gill) moved teams mid-season and Elliot (Machin) and Mitch are now moving onto bigger things. I’m not one for sentimentality but I know that

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-17549401944738674692010-09-30T11:28:00.000+01:002010-09-30T11:28:51.961+01:002010-09-30T11:28:51.961+01:00

http://wideopenmag.co.uk/the-magazine

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-18829230761582722702010-09-27T15:03:00.000+01:002010-09-27T15:03:42.506+01:002010-09-27T15:03:42.506+01:00

Mitch, Andy and Elliot went over to Caersws for the final round of the British Downhill Series at the weekend. The track used was a modified version of the old NPS course. Incredibly the riders enjoyed two consecutive days of glorious sunshine (the last time this happened in Caersws was in 1842) which made for a fast and challenging race with most riders bringing it home in less than two minutes.

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-25113669351885091652010-09-06T09:58:00.002+01:002010-09-06T09:58:31.369+01:002010-09-06T09:58:31.369+01:00

Mitch and Elliot went down to Aston Hill for the Central and Eastern Championships at the weekend (4/5thSeptember). This race was surprisingly a National B race and thereby gave the riders the chance to race for the same points available at a BDS race. This at a push up event on a track a little over a minute long is questionable to say the least. With the track being so short any mistakes were

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-58751067242963400112010-08-24T12:20:00.002+01:002010-08-24T12:20:21.829+01:002010-08-24T12:20:21.829+01:00

The English Championship race was held at Caersws this year on what was basically the old NPS track. The general consensus of opinion was that it was in dire need of a makeover – be that as it may it proved to be a good race with the team putting in some really good rides.Needless to say the weather was typical of the venue - totally unpredictable! Saturday practice was marred by some full on

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-85290083994476869062010-08-09T11:50:00.001+01:002010-08-09T11:50:21.823+01:002010-08-09T11:50:21.823+01:00

With the recent departure of Lee it was down to Andy, Mitch and Elliot to fly the flag for The Squadron at Moelfre. This was round 4 of the British Downhill Series on a much modified track. Being Moelfre the weather was its usual mixed bag – Saturday was breezy with intermittent showers, eventually forcing most riders to get out the cut spikes or similar. Although the track had changed

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-64929674652968977232010-07-23T11:34:00.001+01:002010-07-25T09:32:14.814+01:002010-07-25T09:32:14.814+01:00

Elliot was the sole representative for The Squadron at The British Championships held at Ae Forest in Dumfriesshire. What a contrast to the dust bowl that was Llangollen! It rained for virtually the whole weekend. It was that super fine Scottish drizzle that somehow manages to soak you more than “normal rain”! Whatever, it was the same for everybody, and in fact it turned out to be a real test

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-63525920122201527582010-06-30T09:13:00.000+01:002010-06-30T09:13:54.589+01:002010-06-30T09:13:54.589+01:00

If you like dust, heat and very steep tracks Llangollen was the place to be last weekend! (26/27th of June). The team made the short journey into Wales for round 3 of the British Downhill Series. The race was held on the newer of the two tracks at this venue, which, although a lot more open, is every bit as steep as the infamous “NPS track”. Any rider posting a time around the 2 minute / 2:20

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116276133786827741.post-57201609440468970392010-06-16T15:51:00.000+01:002010-06-16T15:51:34.024+01:002010-06-16T15:51:34.024+01:00

Round four of the Pearce Series was held at the infamous Bala track and saw some good results for local riders. Despite falling off in both race runs (and cracking his right knee a good'un) Sam Maddison still managed 17th place in the Juniors with a time of 3:16.  In the Seniors Adam Halling was 13th in a field of 88 riders! His time of 3:07 was only 8 seconds of a podium finish. In the Expert

Alex Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02064561555801480897noreply@blogger.com0