After Andorra, Adam decided to head home for a bit to get his wrist checked out and spend some time training and tying up loose ends before he assault on fortwilliam in a few weeks. Here is the low down, straight from the horses mouth!

After heading home from Andorra leaving the just reid set up for the burgtec boys, it was a smooth drive home with scotty six pac, dc, dave and dude. Me scotty and dc put in the 1st shift driving the van listening to some mega beats and making up a few raps about lizards it wore us out quite quick knocking in some cans of v power energy drink 97octane, it was too much for scotty and he was ready for the sack the other lads were on night shift and we got some rest. I woke up just before we got on the ferry i didnt know where we were but it wasnt calais. Onto the boat and we all smashed in a full english breakfast, ‘dude’ some how blagged a supersized one and gave me his black pudding, i was shocked to see scotty not clean his plate up! It was mega to be back in england and on the road up to dcs house where me and scotty decided we could fit everything into the mondog, after a quick cup of tea we started to put the kit in the mondog, some how we pulled it off, sammy harts bag was almost the straw that broke the camels back and i was ready for throwing it out the window!

Fianlly i got home at 5pm, it was straight to the doctors the next day and i got my wrist xrayed right up! Turns out my scaphoid is broken but i have to live up to my hard man reputation and ride this one out till the end of the season! Im on the small 20week waiting list which should work out about right. I was back on the bike next day and it was feeling okay. Yesterday i went to a local mx meeting it was battle of the Braytons me and my brother were racing in B class after not being on a bike since febuary i was a little nervous. In the 1st race my brother holeshoted with his big 3rd gear start i was busy doin a burnout on the concrete start after getting out the gate i found an opening in the 1st corner and came out 2nd behind my bro i sat behind him the whole race waiting for my chance it came on the 2nd to last corner when ben came in too hot and stalled, I screamed at him as i went past and the 1st race was mine.
In the 2nd race it was the same again ben holeshotted and i was in 2nd i was pressuring him most of the race and on the final lap I went to work hitting up some different lines coming into the last corner i went wide and left it wide open almost going off the track and hitting a fence post i beat my bro by a bike length, he was raging! The 3rd race was a bit harder i was sat in 3rd so i had to get past these boys early on so i went to town and got past them both but i was pushed till the end by Suzuki man who finally took himself out i think as he couldnt handle the pace haha. I had my fresh Thor Core Kit on and Thor boots, this was the key to my performance so a big thanks to Ben and the guys at Madison for supplying me with the kit.
Im now getting ready for round 2 of the nps down in llagollen this weekend with big marv so im looking forward to that one.

[Show as slideshow]

Last season we made it to a couple of Italian national rounds and for the most of them, we had a really good time. So when Romano of the Playbiker team suggested that we race the opening round we were pretty excited about it. The weather is almost always great at the Italian races and there is usually a chairlift to get you to the top.
This was not quite the case in the village of Prarostino.

We arrived pretty late on the Thursday night after some riding that morning in Morzine, so we parked up, got the pasta on and stayed the night in a little playpark, next to the slide, opposite the 4 seater roundabout. It soon turned out that this playpark was actually going to be someones pit space, so we were soon moved on to the next car park.

The next morning, Ben jumped into the shuttle with some of the guys we had been riding with in Morzine, and started getting to know the track. I headed up the track with Kiwi Wyn Masters and got the camera out to film some of the dodgy Italian hucks that were littered throughout the track. We finished the day off with an Ice cream from the local Trattoria up the road, where Ben tested his new Italian phrases on the local ‘piece of rough’ behind the counter.

Saturday was the first day of organised practise and with the lack of chairlift here, the shuttle service was a complete mess. The pits were half way up the hill, but not even near to the track, and the road from top to bottom was only one way so the riders ended up waiting at the bottom of the track for up to 2 hours on a shuttle to pick them up. Some riders even found out that it was quicker to walk up the road to the top than wait on the bus. 7 hours and 5 runs later, they called it a day and headed back for a cold shower after suffering in 33 degrees of Italian humidity.

The rest of the night was spent with the Kiwis again causing some tension between the locals with their laser pen as they interrupted a game of “Botcha”. There were 4 old boys throwing big metal balls at a little metal ball but as soon as the little red dot was thrown in, tempers were frayed and the Kiwis fell about the floor in tears of laughter as ‘eyebrows’ and ‘snowflake’ got a bit personal with their hand gestures.

Sunday saw only 1 practise run due to shuttle service fiasco, then seeding runs followed a while after that.
Bens seeding run placed him 1st for the final and ended up finishing 1st place in the final. It was a close race with second place going to Nathan Rankin just 0.05 seconds behind. With the top 5 finishers coming from New Zealand, Australia and Ireland, there wasn’t an Italian in sight on the podium.
Were off to Switzerland now for an IXS cup in Verbier next weekend.

[Show as slideshow]

The morning after Andorra had finished, we packed up the van and headed towards Geneva to do some riding around the Portes du Soleil area. We arrived pretty late on  in the Cranves Sales where local rider Florian Pugin lives.

The following day she took us across town to do some runs on her tracks that over look the city of Geneva. The first one was a long gradual trail with a few fence crossings, and after the guys threw a few complaints at her, she told us she had the perfect trail in mind.

We drove up again and then embarked on what was the steepest and slickest trail we had seen in a long time. It was steep from the very start, and almost everyone was on dry tires. Florain tells us that the ground never really dries out so it was just a greasy film the entire way down. Nobody made it to the bottom without a crash, first to go was Nathan Rankin, though he did hold on to it for a sick looking drift before he hit the dirt. Then Baltic washed out a few moments later on a similar corner. I wrote my chainring off trying to make a steep right hander that only Florian could make it round with her local knowledge.

We finished up the day with a BBQ back at HQ and then hit the sack, ready for an early morning start.

The next day we hit the road and drove the short distance over to Les Gets and Morzine. Rankin had spent a few World Cup seasons based here in “Black Magic” his trusty black ford transit van before he left it to meet the crusher at the impound. Its white counterpart still roams the hills of the Porte du Soleil today piloted by Rankins Kiwi friends, Scholsey, Ari and Brook.

We rode a few tracks in Morzine to get back up to speed, then headed over to Les Gets in the afternoon to ride a track that Nathan had been telling us about for a few days. After one run, everyone had fallen in love with it also, so we sessioned it for the rest of the day finding new lines and hucks everywhere.

Once everyone was worn out, and Rankin had picked himself up off the ground after a high speed, Red Bull induced downsky, we headed to the lake to get some grub on. We spent hours tinkering with bikes, cooking steaks and laughing at old photos of Baltics scrapheap challenge projects.

Rankin and team mate Shaun had recently purchased some new sleeping bags and were eager to break them in, so they kipped in their rental van whilst we checked into the Thunder Truck Inn for another night.

The next morning was more of the same as we rode the same track over and over until it was time to pack up and head off to Italy for this weekends national round. Ciao!

[Show as slideshow]

Andorra, well known for being a tax free haven, was our destination for Tuesday night. We were almost there by late afternoon, all we had to do was drive through a few more tunnels and the customs checkpoint.

As we approached customs, there was a clear road through with no police to wave you in, this clearly meant that we could keep on truckin’ with no obstruction to the convoy that we had picked up. (more…)

Better late than never!http://www.vimeo.com/4680423

More Mountain Biking >>

More Mountain Biking >>

After a week in pila spent riding and eating pizza, we hit the road an
aimed for France. 5 hours later and a crazy detour up a dirt track
through some forest park, we got there while the sun was still shining.

The guys were riding well in practise and from the very start, were
feeling good on the track. It was steep an tight which seemed to suit
the guys. They were bucking a few step downs and talking Junk about
who was going to smoke who on race day.
Qualifying came round very quickly and after only one days practise it
was time to put in a clean run. Baltic managed a respetable time but
felt as though he had a flat tyre for the whole run. He held back a
bit and managed to qualify only 9 seconds off Steves 1st place time.
He was confident for the final that with a fast run he could pull out
a decent time.
Adam unfortunatley had 2 major crashes in qualifying, the second
impact was so harsh, he decided the best way to deal with it was to
throw up in his brand new giro remedy. This put him way out the arse
after a good 1st split and unfortunately outside the cut off point for
finals.

Ben had qualified in 32nd and set off from the start line just as the
rain started to fall. He had a good run and was happy to be able to
ride with his collar bone still looking like a cabbage. The time was
good, a 2.15 but unfortunately it was the lower end of the 15,s so the
more people down the hill, the further down he was pushed.
46th place in the end and plenty of motivation for the rest of the
season. Were now ready for an assault on Andorra this weekend. Just as
soon as we find our way out of cedrics podium cafe. He seems to have
an eventful week planned with plenty of parties to keep the riders
relaxed.

[Show as slideshow]

The grand finale, the big one, the mount Everest of races…Any of these could be used to describe the days events as the 2 lads woke on the morning after, the night before!

With all the hype and trash talk about who would be the victor on the track that has become like home to the 2 renegades, it seemed that they had forgotten the point of the training excercise and had only that top step of the podium on their minds.

Brayton was definately feeling “over confident” about his ability and this allowed Baltic to take a back seat and be the silent assassin on race day, letting his riding do the talking…Something Adam “Showtime” Brayton didnt really bother getting to grips with.

The 1st run of 3 was a close call with the previous days training clearly coming into effect as the lads were within 0.3 seconds of each other. Brayton had the lead after that which pushed Baltic to better him on the second run by almost a second.

It all came down to the final run, Brayton had talked himself up so much the night before that it really was ‘do or die’ for him. Baltic was confident he could scrub some more vital seconds off his time and secure the win and the coveted 85cent bottle of bubbly from the Lidl store down the road!

Adam set off with a cloud of dust, wanting to make the most of the light that was left of this sunday afternoon, then after avoiding the earlier runs, wildcard and local boy Lorenzo Slow-ding pitched up and was persuaded to take his race run. A small mechanical around 45 seconds in, would put the italian out of contention, so it all came down to the yound Irishman.

Adam “Slacker” Brayton would be sitting at the bottom with a time on his watch, unknown to Baltic at the top as he set off. After passing the stranded italian, he continued down to come across the line with a very respectable time that would secure him the win given the past results of the day so far.

However…… The little lad from the lakes had pulled a blinder and put in a run that even he was shocked with. The podium was set up and the bubbly cracked open. Team Cumbria walked away with its name in tact and a story to tell the sherrif when he gets home.

Race Run Times

Run 1 -        Ben = 3:25:86      Adam = 3:25:58

Run 2          Ben = 3:23:53      Adam = 3:24:36

Run 3          Ben = 3:22:59      Adam = 3:16:56

[Show as slideshow]

The boys have been training hard this week doing timed runs in Pila. After knocking the times from an inital 4:04, the fastest recorded time so far is 3:16 by a certain Mr Brayton. Needles to say, Baltic Ben Reid was up there early the next day working on taking Adams ego down a peg or two. (Footage filmed with Vholdr camera)