This was filmed yesterday on a beautiful day over the Southdowns and at Friston Forest in Eastbourne

Next weekend I’ll be helping out at the London Cycle Show so if you’re there pop round and say hi.

Category: Mountain bike – Elite, Road – 2nd

Much like my brother Euan, I have been racing since a few weeks before my 7th birthday, when the promise of a Mars bar for all finishers was enough to make me want to race my little Apollo Atomic 5 around Birmingham Wheels. Now, as I enter my 22nd year of racing, I am still as enthusiastic about racing as I was back then, even without the promise of a free Mars bar at the end of each race.

Over the years I have taken part in just about every type of bike race, and ridden just about every type of bike that there is. From early ’90’s mountain bike races to this years Dalby World Cup round, Premier Calendar road races,  cyclo cross, crits, track, marathon and even a few touring trips, if you can do it on a bike, I have probably tried it!

I have been lucky enough to have a moderate degree of success in racing over the years,and have taken part in the World Marathon Championships (2006), the World Student Cycling Championships (2008) and two rounds of the mountain bike World Cup (Fort William in 2006 and Dalby in 2011).

2012 is going to be a really exciting year and I am looking forward to being part of the first Juice Lubes Team, and taking on some fresh challenges, such as a few more endurance and team events. We have a really strong team, so hopefully we will get lots of podium time this year!

Training for 2012 is already well under way. I have somehow ended up living in Southampton but working and living in Essex during the week, so I am busy exploring the lanes around Brentwood in the dark. I will get to see them in the daylight for the first time around March!

Even though we are still months away from the start of the season, I must say a big thank you to all at Juice Lubes for setting up the team and welcoming me into the team. If everything carries on the way it is now, 2012 is going to be a good year!

Name: Euan Adams

Category: Elite XC MTB, 2nd Category Road

Disciplines: MTB XC and Marathon, Road, Triathlon

I have been riding bikes since I can remember and competed in my first race when I was 6. I love everything about riding bikes, the freedom, the views from the top of that hour long climb and the massive adrenaline rush coming back down the other side.

I have ridden and raced pretty much every type of bike, but mountain biking is my first and one true love. Nothing beats thrashing round the trails with a group of mates for hours on end in the sun, snow or rain.

This year I will be finishing my MSc in Physiotherapy at Brighton University and entering the world of employment (hopefully), whilst racing the National XC Series, Southern XC Series, X-Tri Offroad Triathlons and a smattering of enduros and 12/24hour team races. My first goal of the year will be the 12hour European Champs in April, the only problem is that it is the weekend before my dissertation has to be handed in, so I’m going to have to pull my finger out and finish it early, whilst getting some serious miles in.

I’m really looking forward to racing with the Juice Lube boys this year, and hopefully we can pull some big results out the bag.

Ride it like you stole it!

Euan

Saturday practice was non-uplifted (push up only), so we sectioned and practiced the track enough to know all the right lines and to be confident on it. I had a few bins and so did my brother, as the track was loose and quite technical. It was hard trying to ride it fast and to keep the speed round the corners and the technical sections.

Imagine take from MoreDirt.com

Sunday came and we arrived late because of an accident on the motorway which meant we missed an hours practice before the race which wasn’t a good start. Racing went on and my first run came about. My brother told me to just try to cruise down but fast. It worked quite well, except in one corner which everyone was having problems on and I managed to come to a complete stop. This lost me a bit of time but I was reasonably happy with my first run as I was only 5 seconds behind 3rd place at that point. Second run came round and the top section was going very well until I clipped my bottom bracket on a log and managed to get thrown over the bars. I got up as quickly as possible and then managed get the track really nice all the way to the bottom. Unfortunately the crash made my second run slower but only 3 seconds with a crash which would of lost me at least double that so potentially i could have easily beaten my first runs time. I was annoying as I knew I could’ve gone a lot faster. I ended up coming 5th out of 6 which made me think I was rubbish, but then considering I was 2-3 years younger then everyone my brother reminded me that I should be pleased with the result. Looking forward to Combe Sydenham if they use it, which is a longer and faster track so hopefully I can aim to get top 3 and make a Juvenile Podium before I officially become a Juvenile next year.

Woke up early Saturday morning to a cold cloudy day. It had not rained much over night but was lightly coming down that morning. We grabbed some food, got dressed and slapped on the rain coats and made our way up the hill for a track walk. We needed to look at the whole track because none of us had been there before so had no idea how the track went. We made our way up, getting colder, the higher we went and visibility was terrible only being able to see about 10 meters in front of us not to mention the extreme wind. We scoped lines and knew roughly where we wanted to go. We pulled the bikes out the car; with spike tyres already fitted. We left them on and would see how we got on with them that day. First run down I couldn’t believe the wind, as I’m quite small, the wind kept throwing me about every time my wheels left the ground which was scary. However it was something I had to get used to and I started getting the hang of the track.

Sunday came round quite quickly and we decided to swap over to the dry tyres as the sun broke through the clouds and dried out the track a lot. The track being very hard packed made the dry tyre choice very beneficial as you could go a lot faster. Unfortunately I only managed two thirds of my first race run and I had a bad crash on an open and fast rocky section. My front wheel washed out and I landed with my thumb hard on a rock which was very painful. It seemed like it was over for me for the weekend as my thumb hurt so much. My brother came to me and grabbed me and my bike and took me down the hill to the medic. I had it checked over and then I tried to get back on the bike but I physically couldn’t grip the bar and my brother wouldn’t allow me to do my second run because it would be too dangerous not being able to hold let alone even brake. My weekend was in fact over, however you never go away from a race with only bad points. I pushed myself in practice and felt a massive improvement on the harder track which should benefit me next time I race Moelfre in the Nationals next year. I had great fun all during practice and all in all it was a great weekend, now it’s the end of the season for me I can get practicing and training over the winter and get prepared for the 2011 season.

A brief track walk was attempted however it was so dark and at this point (about 10pm), so it was hopeless as we were using a phone as a light and had walk up slippery roots. First day of practice, we woke up early and noticed the massive amount of people who’d turned up that morning compared to the previous night where there were possibly only 3 or 4 tents up. We got some food down us and then went for a proper track walk where we could actually see the track. Little did we know how long this welsh track was and we didn’t even make it to the top of the track but we saw all the technical sections and got a rough idea on line choice and where to go.

After getting changed into my riding gear and making a quick tyre change on the front to the spikes and splashing some lube on the stanchions we headed for the uplift and made our way to the top. It was a long rocky and gravel based straight which then got faster and more rocky with tighter corners which we didn’t manage to see when we did our track walk… So riding down it blind was one of the most scary things I’ve ever done. The rest of the day’s practice went well, I was still adjusting to riding a long track and also we had a good look at various sections in order to see the best line choice.

Race day came and the clouds came over with rumours of heavy rain after the previous day being bone dry on most the track except the wooded sections. I did two practice runs and had a big crash on an awkward section by landing a drop with my feet off the pedals and sitting on my top tube, woops, which wasn’t pleasant. After meeting back at the car with my brother I really didn’t feel fit to race and felt quite ill and in pain. However my brother persuaded me to just go on the uplift for my first run and I could just get the uplift back down if I really couldn’t do it.

I reached the top still feeling horrible but however as they called out my name I forgot about how I felt and the race nerves presented themselves which was good because I felt ready to race. First run went average but I had two crashes which left me with a poor time when I reached the bottom. I freshened up and took in some fluids and food ready for my next run. I headed off for my second run which was going great in the top section and I thought I’d be on for a great run. Unfortunately, the rider in front crashed and I had to stop and got stuck behind him until he got away from me and then I could continue my run. After thinking the run would have been worse then before I went 13 seconds faster which was great and I came 8th position out of 12 which was great seeing as the rest of the riders were much older as I’m still underage for my category at 11.

All in all it was a great weekend and it tested my abilities on a long track and I have come away with negatives but also positives and hopefully I can improve a lot when we go to Moelfre in October.

As you may have read already on our facebook page both our superheroes Chaz  (Chuffnuts) and Luke (Dangleberry) attended the national 24 hour championship Mtb race at Newcastleton – one of the lesser ridden 7 staines trail centres

Heroes

If you are going up that way, I recommend the riding here as the course was spot on!

As always when Juice Lubes is around the sun was shining high in the sky throughout the event (apart from the night bit)

From the minute we arrived on the Friday pm Chaz was repairing, tuning and lubing which continued until we crawled into bed at midnight. Which was nice. Word had obviously got around and we were faced with an oil hungry queue at 9am when we returned to the stand.

As a sponsor we were there to lubricate the field and keep their trusty steeds running as smooth as possible for 24 hours. So on the Saturday it was no surprise that Chaz was again repairing bikes from 9am until at least 11.30pm ranging from minor tweaks to bottom bracket rebuilds and more.

Sidekick Luke was prolific with bottle filling, rider motivation and lubing for many of the unsupported riders who were taking part as well as keeping  the powerhouse Chaz  running well with high octane coffee.

Riders were mainly running Ceramic Juice on their chains as conditions were very dry and dusty and plenty of Fork Juice to avoid the dreaded stiction

Dirt Juice was in action all weekend at the Juice Station which luckily was mainly removing dust and grime as opposed to heaps of mud that we might have had if conditions had not been so great.

The race itself was a thrilling one, led for the most part by 22 year old Josh Ibbett a talent to watch for the future and won by Matt Page a rider of tremendous tenacity who just kept up a relentless pace throughout the event and eventually overhauled Josh after 18 or so hours of racing. Although we must not forget the machine that is Anthony White who looked like a man possessed most of the time and eventually passed Josh to take second place on the very last lap of the race.

That rounds up the podium however there were many other riders (nutters) and categories on course who impressed Dangle and Chuffers with their ability to still smile after 23 plus hours in the saddle. As a bit of a sadist myself, I will be representing Juice Lubes on course next year. Maybe.

So if you are thinking about a solo 24 or 12 ride I strongly recommend that you get an entry in when they appear on XC racer in the next few weeks. Or check out SIP Events website, where else in the country do solo riders get the whole course to themselves? Big Thanks to Chris at Crankphoto for the pics \”Copyright Crankphoto.co.uk\”

Juice Lubes range. Funboy optional.

The event will be held at Ae forest over the weekend of 17th & 18th July and the course work has already begun to completely re-vamp the existing track from top to bottom – New lines, bigger jumps and completely new sections….. It will keep you challenged in every part of your run.

Entries will open on Monday 08th February at midday and will be open to British Cycling Licence holders only. Points are not required to enter.

Click here to get involved.  See you there!