SDA RD 2
AE FOREST 2006

After a months rest bite it was back on the road for Vibe Racing this weekend to begin the busy month of May with the second round of the Scottish Downhill Series at the well established venue of Ae Forest, near Dumfries. Some of us had made the trip down towards the borders the weekend previous for some sneaky last minute practice and enjoyed a dusty dry track and lots of sunshine, however, unfortunately this was not what was awaiting us come race weekend.

Almost all of the race heads from Vibe have elected to join the ‘Friday Night Hardcore’ and so, despite the SDA fire ban there was a vibrant atmosphere early on in the evening with everyone helping to get Vibe Central set up for the weekend (did you see all our pretty candles!?) and settling down to some world renowned banter and beers which carried on well into Saturday morning, or at least it did for Luke ‘Buffman’ Harte who did his best to keep the entire field entertained, although apparently this was not widely appreciated and so a warm word of warning (and noise curfew!!) issued we were all set to begin practice bright and early on Saturday morning.

The track that was taped for the U.K’s premier downhill series was largely unchanged from that set at the opening SDA of 2006 with the exception of a couple of new lines to keep everyone guessing. It was the usual affair starting way up top out in the open as you were welcomed with some crisp fresh air down the long starting straight before you were hit with your first test, a steep and rock chute down to a 90 degree left hander which spits you onto the off camber, this caught a lot of people out as the usual tight inside line was taped off forcing everyone out wide. Make it onto the off camber and fight to stay high as you begin to pick up speed and head into the trees to be sent from left to right a good few times avoiding some well polished roots and eventually arriving at the knocked over wall/rock garden which led you over the stream jump and into the switchbacks then table top.

The minefield was a welcome addition to the course this year and this high speed section of track always seems to flow really well. There were a couple of choices here before it was back into the single track and down towards the fire road drop. Sprint across the road and make your mind up. Bank left and hit the drop into the big rock garden or stay far right and take a smoother fresh cut line into the next turn, a 50/50 split with the drop perhaps being marginally faster but more of a risk at speed, as I found out on practice run number one! A little laughing gas later and it was back to business heading into the trees for 6 or 7 very tight and slippery switchbacks all dragging you in towards the Step Down jump and the final section of track. Hit the jump or go round to the left, rail the MASSIVE (perhaps a little too big?) berms, one more jump, over the gate and launch the elevator drop then hang on over the finish line. Around 2mins 30secs for the top boys, but anywhere under 3 minutes and you can be satisfied with a good weekends work. There were quite a few nasty crashes today which I think was testament to the technical track, but unfortunately put an end to the weekends racing for a fair few, including friend of Vibe Robin McGregor who separated his shoulder on practice run one and so hit the long road back to Aberdeen on Saturday afternoon.

Back to the important stuff. A short trip into Dumfries for supplies and let the drinking begin. The mood on Saturday night however was a little subdued due to the heavy rain and lack of fire, but good old Stella Artois, Mr Eagle I Neal Mackay and the Epic Shopping Trolley did their best to keep everyone going before we snuck off the our tents or in Mr J’s case, the Tardis!!

Come Sunday morning things had brightened up a little and so the track conditions weren’t drastically changed from the previous day, one practice run to get the blood flowing then it was time to chill out and enjoy some racing before heading up for our runs. Comedy moment of the weekend goes to Lawr Juliussen Senior, for hitting the final jump for the first time all weekend and managing to hold on…only to cross the line, fall off his bike, and tumble over into the crowd taking out a couple of old dears and their deck chairs on his way…pure dead brilliant!! First runs were average for the majority of us and with main contenders for the Vibe ‘fastest rider’ Pink Seat cover Lawr cruising his way down and Sketchy crashing it was left to Eagle I to take the Vibe Racing top spot, he really was on it this weekend, perhaps going some way to making up for missing the entry to Inners! Props also the Stuntman Steve for getting rid of his voodoo and hitting the Step Down for the first time on his race run, sweet! The rain came in time for second race runs and so what else to do but pull out the comedy card with fluorescent jackets and specially customised helmets, many a ‘’mon the Vibe’’ on the way down the hill always puts a smile on our faces, you Vibe Groupies rawk!! Not many improvements on time with the wet second runs and so Eagle has the privilege of the pink seat for the next instalment of the SDA Series at Pedal-like-feckie on the 17th & 18th June.

Other notable events this weekend include Stuntman Steve becoming a moderator for the new Vibe Section of the Descent-World Forum (it was only a matter of time) and of course James ‘Sketchy Jim’ Richmond’s finest hour. Whilst waiting on the uplift for our first race runs, one of the twenty tonne trucks was reversing towards us, after a couple of yards of backing up Sketchy had had enough and proclaimed ‘’I’m not moving another inch’’…crunch…the truck backed all the way onto Sketch’s front wheel and proceeded to crush and twist it in slow motion into a tangles mess, narrowly avoiding taking the forks with it, something tells me that will be the last time he argues with a cattle truck…the look on his face was genius!! All in all this was another awesome weekend put on by the SDA, seems they are living up to the hype. See you all this coming weekend for the second round of the UCI World Cup in Fort William, keep your eye on the home page for regular updates, gossip and lots of MTB celebrity pics and news!

Vibe Racing continues to be the backbone of world wide Downhill Mountain Biking!

Report by diddy