2009 will see some changes to the team, with new riders plus a few new sponsors. I will proudly announce the new team next month, with full rider profiles.

Sandy Plenty – Team Manager

National Downhill Championships 2008 (nr Bala)

Well the weekend finally arrived for the National Champs 2008 and we were all in good spirit and ready for a weekend of racing in the lovely picturesque area of Llangynog nr Bala in Wales.

Everybody arrived at the track on Friday night (except Chris) and the first impression of the pit area and track was first class with everything looking very professional and organized, as we have come to expect from Dave and Lindsey Pearce perfectly. By the time we had got everything setup it was getting dark so we decided it would be a waste of time to walk the track, so we had a couple of beers under the stars and talked about the track and tyre choice, amongst other things of varying degrees of sanity!

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Saturday morning came round after a poor nights sleep due to the heavy rain lashing down on the caravan roof all night. The track was very wet with spike tyres being the weapon of choice for most competitors apart from the hardcore few choosing to stick on high rollers (you know who you are Chris and Jed).

The first run down was a nightmare for most people complaining of lack of grip in the wooded mid sections and also on final field section where people were sliding around all morning. Luckily the weather did turn and the track soon started to dry resulting in some better moods around the pit area and some consistent runs being banged together by the whole team.

The seeding runs started at 3pm with the senior category of Myself (Chally) and Woody going down first followed by Chris and Mark in the Masters and finally Jethro in the Elite class.

Both Woody and I had good seeding runs clocking a 3:21.088 and 3:23.238 respectively which left the Woodvine in 1^st place and Chally in 2^nd spot. Then it was the turn of Mark (Weightman) who did a 3:24.902 to leave him 6^th and Chris (Whitfield) came down in a fast 3:20.949 to place him 3^rd. Finally Jethro (Whitfield) took off to clock a 3:24.844 leaving him 51^st in the super fast Elite category. That afternoon we all walked the track to check for lines and watch the remainder of the Elite category thunder down the hill.

A big thank you goes out to Tom the mechanic from Leisure Lakes Wolverhampton who spannered everyones bikes the whole weekend ensuring they were all running in tip top condition and ready for each run. All in all everyone seemed happy with the results of Saturday and were all looking forward to race day on Sunday!

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A little rain had fallen throughout Saturday night but the track was now dry and ready to be hit with full dry tyres and a new level of grip.

Most of the team did 2 or 3 morning practice runs involving various crashes as new lines were tried out and more pace being squeezed from the new conditions.

Racing started at 2pm, once again with Woody and Myself going up for the Senior races and leaving the start gate last in the group. I was off first and had a good run apart from coming unclipped in the mid section loosing some valuable time to finish with a 3:09.902 taking 14secs off my seeding time and leaving me 2^nd, then the last person down in our group was Woody who looked good for the win at the split with everyone was watching in anticipation as he came down the hill, a not so fast field section lost him a little in the final sector to clock 3:10.951 to place him 3^rd so we were both very happy with our results and could now relax and watch the rest of the boys take the reigns.

Master category was next off with Mark down first for the team, we were all waiting for “earthquake” Weightman to come into sight in the field and he didn’t show! due to a crash in the middle wood section which saw him leaving the bike and having to re-gather himself, he still came down with a 3:27.542 to place him 20^th but he was not happy with the result. Next down was Chris who was showing good form all weekend and capable of winning the group, at the split he was clocked at 2:01.170 putting him top 3, he flew into the field section cleared the double kept on pedaling hard to bring in a 3:16.681 to place him 5^th, a strong result but Chris knew he was capable of more.

Then it was on to the Elite category and all the big boys were looking strong, Jethro was mid way through the pack from his seeding run. He hit the split with a 2:04.659 which was quick but not his full force of practice pace, he came into the field looking strong to finish with a 3:19.823 placing him 51^st although Jethro wasn’t a happy man and knew he had more pace in the pot.

The man of the day was Steve Peat as he came down the hill with a 2:50.677 to take the win after Gee Atherton crashed in his race run! Steve Peat is still the boy!

Overall we had an amazing weekend with the weather playing a big part in the proceedings but still managing to keep it together! Thanks to Tom the mechanic for all his help!! What a weekend!………..

Chally Out!

NPS Round 3 (Fort William)

Ae forest near to Dumfries is a long established venue for the NPS series that has evolved over the years into a track that demands precision and offers little margin for error for a good result. This years track was a welcome surprise in that there was a new start heading down an open boggy section onto the existing track which then went off into a new wooded section with a mesh of exposed slippery tree roots then joined the existing middle part of the track. On the lower part of the track was another new wooded section also with plenty of lovely fresh exposed tree roots which then lead riders onto the near impossible (with Saturdays rainy conditions) “do or die” off camber down towards the infamous Ae drop-off into the cork screw of berms before launching down the steep bank into the finish.

Saturday, riders were faced with fog and driving rain beating down for most of the day. This made for the customary “timed seeding” to be abandoned, for which I feel for most riders was welcome, as it allowed for all day open practice. As the day progressed the track begun to ride like a race track, this left you battling with the ever increasing clog up of mud on wet weather suits and goggles with each run of the track

As ever, the end of the day cleanup operation took hours.

Sunday started as Saturday finished, no rain, and actually turned to bright sunshine all day. This help the track conditions a treat, so by the time racing commenced everyone was chomping at the bit for a good days racing, especially as no-one knew how each other was fairing (timed seeding was aborted on the previous day). This was what we had been waiting for, all the previous days carnage and mess would count for nothing, it was this one run what the weekend was all about, it is reason why we compete!

As it happened I had didn’t have a great run, one major error and the odd mistake, made for a scrappy run, but this was the new Ae forest which you could afford to make an error without all being lost, there are areas where you can try to claw some valuable time back. I was very surprised to have finished with a great result of 2nd(Masters). This I was pleased with, until I found out that it was sooo close 2/10 sec separating myself and the winner. This, as always, made for a 2:51 run to last the 4hr drive back home, going over and over in my head, with the ever so common phrase repeating itself “if only”.

Cearsws Cup Rd 1

By Andy Woodvine (leisure lakes team rider)

I always look forward to racing at Cearsws it has to be one of the best venues in the country, challenging steep tracks with the quickest uplift anywhere, which is always good cos your not spending half your day stood in a queue. Thought that the race could prove a bit tricky as I wasn’t able to practice on the Saturday, so it was straight in at the deep end on the Sunday, learning the track as fast as possible in the two hours of free practice. Conditions could of hardly been worse, we had so much rain down in the night me and Chally almost didn’t get there the back roads were like a river. Practice went pretty good but the track was so tiring in the mud and with a tricky section in the bottom woods you couldn’t relax at all, so I knew the race runs would be pretty tough. After first run I was lying 2nd three seconds of James Conneron who beat me at Bringewood so I was keen to try and put a stop that and thought I’d push a bit harder second run and see what happens. My run was mint hit all my lines good with no real mistakes and managed to take over 4 seconds off my first run, I felt it was one of my best race runs I’ve done in difficult conditions and luckly it proved enough to take the win which was a good way to end a muddy weekend.

Pearce cycles race series Rd 1 – Bringewood

Words by Andy Woodvine

Bringewood was the first race of 2008 for me and my first race as part of the Leisure Lakes race team. It was good to get back racing after the winter and it’s also an exciting time to see what the early season pace is like. I went into the race fairly confident after putting in a solid amount of winter training and Bringewood is a venue I’ve always enjoyed.

Conditions for the weekend were near perfect, with the track riding really fast, there was a tricky new middle section which slowly became harder all weekend as the roots where becoming more exposed. On the first run I just tried to put in a good solid ride and I managed to keep it neat and tidy all the way down and was in first place with a 1.35 which was a time I was fairly happy with. On the second run I could see I would probably need to improve if I was to hang onto the lead as the field was pretty close behind. I had a generally had a good ride could have hit some lines slightly faster, but on the whole couldn’t complain, I went 3 seconds quicker posting a 1.32 but it was not enough and put me back to second place behind James Conneron who did an awesome run posting a 1.28 I think it would have placed him second overall in the experts.All in all great weekend and start preparing for the next race which is the first round of the Cearsws Cup.

Congratulations goes out to Chris Whitfield as he takes a convincing win at round 2 of the Alpine Bikes winter series at innerleithen.

 Chris says, “It’s always nice to get the first race under the belt, and find out how fast you are riding. I loved the track and am really getting on with the V10, so just well happy to take the win.”

Also team rider and Chris’s brother, Jed Whittfield rode his SantaCruz into 4th place in the expert categry, so all in all a great start to the season for the Whittfield brothers.

We are proud to inform you that Leisure Lakes Bikes are putting themselves back on the UK race scene with there all new team line up.
The team will consist of: -

Jed Whitfield – Expert
Andrew Woodvine – Senior
Chris Whitfield – Master
Mark Weightman – Master

We will be focusing on the NPS and Dragon races, but expect to see the team at the masters worlds and other European events such as Maxxis cups.

With an even mix of experience and new talent, the team will be a force to reckon with. We will be receiving support from Hope, Race Face, Fox Racing Shox, Persist Components and Santa Cruz. All of which are supplying us with great components and kit to take us into the 2008 season.

Sandy Plenty,  LeisureLakesBikes team manager Says: -
 “ I’m excited about running the new team, I am working with some awesome brands and talented riders, with this mix I’m confident we will be able to obtain many podiums this coming season.”

Chris Whitfield, team rider says: -
“I’m really excited to be supported by leisure lakes and to be riding with some new team members this year, it looks like everyone will be riding V10s this year and I don’t think any one is going to be disappointed -awesome bike’s! I would just like to say a big thanks to Sandy Plenty from LeisureLakes for getting this team on the road.”

Andy Woodvine, team rider says: -
“It’s so cool to be joining the Leisure Lakes race team for 2008, having the race support and backing of such a team is going to be a big boost for me all year.On top of this the team is going to be riding the awesome new Santa Cruz V10, which look’s amazing and I can’t wait to start racing on it”

And finally – LeisureLakesBikes would like to take this opportunity to thank all involved.