www.teamrockgardener.co.uk

New Website!!!

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:16:30 +0000

The new TeamRockGardener website is now live, the url www.teamrockgardener.co.uk should redirect you to www.trgracing.co.uk the new home of teamrockgardener.

www.teamrockgardener.co.uk/blog will still be available so you can still access all the last couple of years report.

Ilkley Mates Race PT2

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:39:08 +0000

Ilkley Mates Race PT2

Grass roots racing at its best, Banter, Comedy crashes & great company is how I�d sum up the race on ilkley moor this weekend. Well actually Windy, Muddy & a bit nippy up top would also qualify as a good description. Either way it really was a cracking event and great fun for everyone involved.
The course itself started on top of ilkley moor and firt off was a steepish chute with a generous helping on rocks thrown in for good measure, a good rider made this section look simple by hitting it fast, making a little hop though the rocks and a gracefull landing followed by confident drift rounnd the sweeping left hander that followed. My self on the other hand managed to plough through it on my first run, but the second run made for a comedy moment as I got spat to the left of the rocks and ito the bracken, well once I was in the bracken I figured just keep going, this resulted in me straight lining the next two corners! With the sound of cheers and laughter in my helmet I carried on regardless thankfull of the lack of track tape!
This top section really sets the tone for what is to follow as no sooner have you cleared this section and your flying down another very greasy chute followed by another drifty left hander and then on and over another crest into yet more mud rocks and cheeky bracken cuts.

The course opens out now and there are multiple lines to choose, or as I find you end up going with which ever rut you get stuck in. Only the bottom third of the track left now and at last gravity is lending a helping hand and it�s definitely a case of just how much grip do you think you have, the rollor coaster run to the finish can�t help but put a smile on your face as you drift across the finish line. The gap jump to finish was left out this time due to the high winds.
All in all a great mates race, well organised with the important factor of the day being fun.

More photo here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cycopath-Cycles/149004988504618?sk=photos

Caersws Cup Rd2 & Midland champs

Fri, 4 Nov 2011 16:31:17 +0000

Caersws Cup Rd2 & Midland champs

�Would the weather be kind to us this weekend� was the topic of conversation on the 3 and a bit hour drive down from Yorkshire to Cearsws, a rather wonderful hill full of downhill tracks and an excellent uplift facility.

A few spatters of rain on the windscreen were all we encountered, so all was looking set for a great days practice. First thing sign on, what a surprise my names missing from the start list, considering the hassle I had entering this race this comes as no surprise! Luckily this doesn�t turn out to be a big issue and after a bit of a faff the bkes are ready and we re too.

First practice run and it�s all familiar ground as it�s a track I�ve raced before. The course is a little sticky in places but nothing that warrants a spike tyre. The Jump at the top has been taped out because of the wind and the only other change to the course is the final booter into the field as been built up into a mighty gap for those with wings.

The day progresses nicely but unfortunately a Red Flag stops practice for over an hour(that gap into the field!) and by mid afternoon and the drizzle that�s been threatening to become does so, this makes for a cracking runs and the field is now like an Ice Rink, Big Rich finds time to do a Torval and Dean impression but other than that we manage to stay rubber side down. It�s time to call it a day and so we pack up for the day wondering as ever what the weather will do tomorrow.

Race day:
Well considering it has chucked it down the night before it�s no surprise to see the majority of riders fitting spikes as we roll into the care park on Sunday morning. We park up and set about doing the same.

Judging by the state of riders and bikes the course must now be a muddy mess, it comes as a pleasant surprise then when we make our first practice run of the day to find the track isn�t that bad, in fact it�s mine and Big Rich�s opinion it will dry future and after one run on the spikes we swap back to the ever faithful Kenda Nevagals.

Run one is due to start at 12:30 and we arrive at the top of the hill with half an hour to spare, we don�t mind though as by now the sun is shinning. Big Rich is away down the hill before me and I have to wait nervously for my run, eventually It�s my turn and I�m off. First impressions are I can�t believe how much the course has dried out � it�s even a little dusty loose on some of the high lines! All of which I�m hitting, in fact this is shaping up to be a half decent run � Red Flag! Bugger! A great little run comes to the end 2 thirds of the way down as the rider before me �Gunny� has dropped it, yep you guessed it, the gap into the field again and it�s a nasty one � I latter learn that the Veteran rider sustained a broken neck and leg!

A couple of hours latter, thank goodness the weather was nice otherwise the wait at the top wouldn�t have been fun. And it�s my re-run time. This time I�m still hitting the high lines and to be fair it�s feeling like a reasonable run but at the back of my mind is �get down in one piece� as the second rider down after the restart I really didn�t want to be the next red flag incident. Soon I�m down the worst of it and have only the grass sprint left � this comes as a shock as neither myself or Big Rich had really practiced the final grass section(no-body really does!) even though I just ridden a dry course I stil didn�t quite trust the grass corners and felt slow over the finish � But overall happy with the run and knowing that I could make up quite a lot of time in the final section alone. I find Big Rich and he too is looking forward to the second runs, as always it seems to take the first run the get the juices and red mist flowing!

Second Race Runs cancelled! The delays had eaten into too much of the available day light and so the race organisers took the decision to call it day after the first runs.
This was a real but unavoidable shame as looking at the times after the first runs it was shaping up to be very interesting with only a few seconds separating myself and 3 other riders. But it wasn�t to be and as always we have to learn from theses races � Maybe putting in a banker isn�t always the best policy?

Richard Marshall 6th 2:11
Richie Molloy 9th 2:21

NDH Round 6 Hamsterley North East Champs

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:23:52 +0000

NDH Round 6 Hamsterley North East Champs

Early start on saturday morning for TeamRockgarnener as having never riden the downhill course there - a track walk was in order! and as it happened it was a good call
because it wasn't long before the car park was rammed with eager downhill racers.

The DH course started at the top of the 4x course which gave it an open arena atmosphere, lots of double's and tabletop's before dropping off the 4x course down to a metal framed jump,
assuming you cleared the gap without crashing this lead into the trees, after a nice bit of single track came a good sized rock garden with a difficult to get right entry,
then followed serveral good sized drops with tight bends before and after, a couple of tight switch backs and one more drop in the finish area, finishing off with a table top.

With over 200 riders competing we new there was gonna be a que for the uplift, so after completing two full runs we decided to session the 4x section and we had the plessure of watching Danny Hart giving it the beans, a few more runs after lunch and a good look at the rock garden it was time to call it a day.

Race day with another early start and again big que's for the uplift, so to warm up we decided to push up, it was starting to rain but the course was holding up,
only full runs on race day so straight back down, slight adjustment to tyre pressures and off for the last practice run before the track was closed.

First race run had a slight delay due to timing issues but when we finally got off both Big Rich and Richie had clean runs but both found the rockgarden sketchy,
a quick turn around due to the earlier delay saw us off for our second run but neither team member could better their first run, a great weekends worth of racing at the final race of the 2011 northern downhill series.

Richie Molloy 1:58.80 10th vets
Richard Marshall 1:44.45 5th vet

Thanks to all the photographers for the pic's

Alwinton NDH rd 5

Tue, 4 Oct 2011 18:57:30 +0000

Northern Downhill 2011 - Round 5 - Alwinton from Michael Strangeways on Vimeo.

Alwinton downhill seems to land firmly in the category of a marmite course, yep you either love it or hate it!
This was my second visit and I think I was looking forward to it be then again I could still remember the bruises from rd1. Rd5 should have been Carlton back but for whatever reason that had gone pear shaped so after a steady drive up on Saturday morning I found myself on the uplift ready for another go at what is one of the steepest courses going.
The uplifts consisting of the ever faithful trailers pulled by trannie vans felt like prisoners being delivered to death row, polar opposite to the month before at ramsgill with it�s carnival atmosphere. You definitely get the sense that even if you like this track it�s a serious business and not to be laughed about.
On reaching the top we were faced by a overlong push up which unfortunately can�t be avoided as the uplift vans can no longer go past a house which had complained in the past! The new push up leads to the new start! A flatish sprint across a felled section of woods which is twisty and rooty before it joins the old start with an entertaining root jump, from then on we are back on familiar ground and the track continues to twist and turn with a couple of little drops before reaching the fire road where it drops into an interesting traverse through the woods with off chamber and rooty bits to navigate before the infamous switch back section. These are just as steep as I remember them and haven�t got any easier, they finish with a nasty step down 90 right into the rock garden. Up until now the course had been relatively dry and I was wondering if spikes were necessary, well what follows the rock garden is definitely spike territory, a good 6 inch of mud makes for slippy going and made for many comedy moments before finally descending down to the bridge and the bitch of a hillock that awaits on the other side! Just the small section to take us to the finish now and this is all plain sailing except for the chute to the finish line which demanded more than a smidge of respect.

Saturday practice would see a steady increase of speed and confidence from myself and team mate Richard Marshall. By the end of the day we were both knackered but felt we had done all we could.
Sunday morning and it was felt a singular practice run was all that was required. Big Rich leads out and I follow as I watch him weave his way down the track. All is going as it should with no dramas until I reach the rock garden and go down hard (I�ve still got a stiff neck a week later as I type this) but nothing is broken on me or the bike so I carry on, by this time Big Rich is long gone and so I decide to just take it steady, this in hind site is probably a bad move as I spend more and more time rolling around in the mud. By the time I reach the bottom all the confidence I�d gained the day before had more than disappeared.
My race run gets off to a good start and I�m pretty happy that it could shape up into more than just a decent banker when an OTB moment turning into the rock garden fouls that plan up, and from then on I never recover my composure, and struggle to keep the bike upright or in a straight line! Soon I hear �Rider� and I�m more than happy to pull over and let my team mate through, although it would turn out he wasn�t having much more luck then me either. Eventually I cross the finish line, glad to be in one piece and with the thought in my head at least I�ve ridden it, even if it was scruffy at best. Alwinton this time came out the winner as anyone that races knows can happen. I will however as will my team mate Big Rich will take away what we can, for instance sometimes clipped in pedals just aren�t suitable!
All in all still an enjoyable weekend and another well run event from carl and the gang at NDH.

Richard Marshall 5th Vets
Richie Molloy 6th Vets

Welsh Champs, Caersws 27/28th Aug

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 10:27:34 +0000

Not a good start to the weekend when my trusty Mazda Bongo let go on the M62, several hours later I�m passing the exact spot in the Magic Bus and having to put up with the bank holiday traffic, finally arriving at Caersws at 15:15 and then finding that the last uplift was at 16:00, a quick suit up and I managed to get two runs in before it closed, unfortunately both runs on the Kenda King Of Traction Spikes as I didn�t have time to swap the my Nevergals but I was presently surprised how well they performed on a dry track.

After a bite to eat I had a bit of a track walk to check out the cheeky lines the fast boy�s were using and then it was off to bed sleeping on the transit�s back seats.

It was a early start to try and get as many runs in as possible, this time changing my wheel set to a dry tyre set up, unfortunately it had rained rather hard over night and the course was like a qwog Meyer, I spent most of that run on my back side, back to the van and swap back to the spikes, three runs later they shut down practice ready for some racing, once again I swapped wheel sets back to dry as the sun was shining and the track was drying quickly.

My first race run was set for 11:55 and I arrived in plenty of time to find the course closed due to a young lady having a nasty off, 30mins later it was reopened and 60 or so riders began queuing for there race runs, with around 15mins to my slot it started raining, I couldn�t believe it and with 5 mins to go it was hammering it down, apart from the fact once again I was on the wrong tyres could hardly see through my goggles, with no time to worry about it I was off finding the first few proper corners a handful which didn�t inspire me with confidence for the middle off camber section, with more luck than judgement I got through clean and was approaching the last section which had tree cover so should be fairly dry, as i approached this section I could see I was catching the rider in front and it wasn�t long before I was right with him, with no where to pull over I decided not to shout �rider� as he might slow us both down it wasn�t until we came into the open field switch back that I had an opportunity to pass but the grass was so wet and slippy I had all on to keep the bike upright I tried an inside line which nearly had me off so I decided calm down and just pedal to the finish line.

After my race run I watched the rest of the riders come down into the field area with more than half sliding down after drifting it a bit too much. The weather had truly closed in by now and it wasn�t looking good for the second race runs, with this in mind and carrying an injury from the south west champs race the weekend before I decided to call it a day, this unfortunately wasn�t the end of my weekend problems as I then got the magic bus stuck in the bottom field trying to get out, with a hand from some generous spectators I managed to get the old girl out and on my way home.

Richard Marshall 2:55 5th Vets

Another good South West Champs Report

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:07:32 +0000

http://wideopenmag.co.uk/news/11293/the-south-west-champs-at-gawton

South West Champs, Gawton 104, 20/21st Aug

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 08:27:04 +0000

It was a wet start to the day that just got worst with heavy rain keeping most riders including myself inside there vans, the rain stopped around 1.30pm and within ten minutes I was riding my first practice run, steep-tight-slippy-rooty were the first things that came to mind, a long wait for the uplift and only one more run before the uplift finished, two runs for the day left me a little deflated.

Early start for Sunday morning and again problems with the uplift meant only two practice runs, the course was sloppy in places and difficult to get my bearings, my second run resulted in a fairly big off upsetting my left knee & foot, I decided after coming all this way it wasn�t going stop me from racing but I wasn�t confident in getting down without another off.

Race runs started around lunch time and it wasn�t long before it was my turn, the five second call sounded and I was off breaking the beam seconds later and after a couple of sketchy moments and I was two thirds down and now facing a steep rooty section that in practice I was unable the get through cleanly, with gritted teeth and I little luck I made it through without crashing, the rest of the course although steep was fairly grippy and it wasn�t long before I was breaking the finish beam.

Once back at the top I checked my time and decided not to risk a second run as I was racing the welsh champs the next weekend and I didn�t want to upset my knee any further, a tough weekend of racing but worth every penny.

Big Rich

1st race run 2:24

4th Vets

Another good report on the Yorkshire Champs....

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:03:44 +0000

Click Here

Yorkshire Champs Vid

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 15:53:54 +0000