There is no lying that the Vibe had become quiet and Jaded pre race season and morale was low. However the new kits brought thirst back into the team to have a kick ass season and make our presence felt throughout the racing community.
Vibe raced all the Sda's this year and certainly stepped it up a gear!
Dunkeld Round 1
A superb 2nd place from Vibe's on Lawrence Jullisen at the opening round Dunkeld and impressive results from other team members got us of to a flying start! We own dat place FOOOL!
Fort William Round 2
Fort William was solid for us with 2 top 20 places from Lawr and Neil Danskin. Unfortunately Sketchy Jim broke his hand on Sunday practice whilst hitting some sick lines and was yet again denied a timed run at Fort William (sketchy Jim has never done a timed run at Fort William due to injuries.)
Aberfeldy Round 3
OMG is the only phrase to use when describing the 3rd round at Aberfeldy. It was Bonkers!! Arguably the gnarliest track the SDA race series has ever seen! steep, tight and rocky! Think Dunkeld on ACID!!!! I felt very sorry for anyone who chose this race as their first. The Vibe (well most of it) were loving the track and with some nice weather and an awesome location it was one of the favourites of the year! Yet again results were impressive. Top ten finishes and great banter made this race a firm favourite!
GLENCOE SCOTTISH CHAMPS Round 3
There were lots of cynical riders out there when Glencoe was announced as the Champs venue as previous years the track was just not up to the torment of 300 riders sliding down it. This year the cynics ate humble pie. An absolutely amazing track and a chairlift to the top made the event a big success. Hats off to the SDA who really have pushed the boat out this year by taking the gamble to use new untested tracks and putting all the work in to ensure that they are loved by the riders.
Ae Forest Round 4
A more conventional SDA race and to be honest it was welcomed by the riders as the previous races had scared the living daylights out of half the entrants. A track that you could ride without having a bit of pooh sticking out your bum coming up to every section. It was by no means an easy track as it was fast and had some radical jumps and drops in it but compared to some of the other races it just felt a little tame. Ae forest never disappoint and with the weather just holding off and no more for race day we all had a blast! A top 10 finish for Sketchy Jim and some radical riding from everyone else it was a belter.
Innerleithen Round 5
What a way to finish a season. Probably the most physically demanding track the Sda have ever used at Inners left all of us with Wobbly legs and aching arms. Super long and super pedally with a good bit of tech proved to be a real challenge for riders. The physically fit riders really stood out at this race and with all the beer drinking we do results weren't quite up to standard! we sneaked a top 10 and top 20 finish which left us all wishing there was just one more race to go and little did most of us know there was! Evil G had a bad smash on the Sunday, he hit his head pretty hard and tried to kill the marshall which is always funny. Luckily there was no serious damage done to Evil or the Marshall but he missed the racing. Glad you made a full recovery G!
ROBOFEST 2008!
A short but amazing track, great banter, great jumps and enough RockStar to turn you into Tweak from South Park made this a race never to be forgotten. The Beauty of it was its sheer simplicity. No Uplifts and No Pressure, a great atmosphere and spectacular weather were the only ingredients needed to make this race go down in history!
RoboFest also saw the return of Vibe's Suga Daddy STUNTMAN STEVE! Seeing Steve race again almost brought a tear to my eyes as he has been sorely missed throughout the year. It really felt like there had been a piece of the jigsaw puzzle missing when he was away and having him back brought an awesome feeling back to the Vibe.
Chris Hutchens was an honorary Vibe Member for the weekend. Legend! Hopefully we will be out riding with the Oban boys sometime this winter!
The Vibe came and Conquered! With Vibe's own Neil Danskin taking the win in the senior category by a second and Sketchy Jim taking 3rd spot we proved that we are capable of good results and competing with the "fast" boys. Simon Heron got a strong 8th place and most of the team was safe inside the top 20!
Check out www.mtbcut.tv for some footage of the event.
Yet again a big well done to RoboEdge and everyone who contributed for making all this possible!
ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK
CHECK OUT www.rockstarenergy.co.uk for more info.
Summary
We seem to be a household name within the SDA, maybe next year we can venture out and make our presence felt elsewhere.
Keep your eyes peeled for us this winter as we will be riding like Rad Bad Dudes all over Scotland, whether its shredding XC, Smashing Downhill or being sick on our shoes in some seedy pub in Dundee. One thing is for sure, We will be out in force for 2009 so DEAL WITH IT!
Cheers for reading!
