Team rider Matt Pegelly had a great ride on the weekend of the 13th and 14th July to finish top 20″ rider and 3rd overall in the National Trials Championship at Radical Bikes in Essex. Its a great venue with lots of man-made sections that suited Matt’s style really well. Huge congratulations to Matt for bringing in a top result! Plenty more to come I am sure!
Joe Seddon and Matt Pengelly were joined by Pip Anderson, one of the top free-runners in the world, for a show at the Devon School games at Exeter Arena in Devon on the 28th June. They had hundreds of kids competiting in a host of sports from schools across the county. They also had a chance to have a go on a top level trials bike with our skills course and get some tips from Joe Seddon and Matt Pengelly!
Jack Gear was at the Cornwall School games on Monday the 24th June, where he had a crowd of literally thousands of school kids watching the show before they competed in their own sports. Great job Jack!
So after a mad few weeks travelling in South Africa and Dubai, I flew straight to Switzerland and headed to Bern, the venue for the 2013 UCI European European Championships. I arrived late on the thursday with the event starting on Friday, so not the best preparation coming form an 8 hour flight. But this did not put me off, I got on with the Semi-finals on teh friday and Qualified 5th for the Finals on Saturday. I was really happy with making the finals as I felt shakey on my bike due to the travel and riding my show bike with a different set up for the weeks previous.
My preparation for the finals was to go street riding with fellow British rider Patrick Donovan, who sadly didn’t qualify for the finals. We then headed to the venue to check over the sections, which were in a seperate part of the city to allow for bigger crowds. Amazingly, two sections were in an old bear pit! The town is famous for their bears and they have now been moved to a new inclosure just a few meters away from where we were competing. The bear pit made a great arena allowing many spectators to get a great view of the action and the terrain was perfect for trials too. Despite having a terrible first lap, my second lap pulled me back into the running and I qualified in 4th place, putting me into my first international Super-Final. I had some great rides in the second lap, getting through sections that many of the competitors didn’t manage to finish.
The Super-Final format is 4 sections, almost the same sections as the final, but you only have 15 minutes to complete all of the sections. This is a real challenge! It was a shame but as the scores are accumulative from teh finals, I was unable to make up the points to beat Aurelien Fontenoy into 3rd place. Gilles Coustellier and Vincent Hermance were happily in 1st and 2nd respectively – both puttingin incredible rides. All in all it was a gret event and I would like to say a huge thanks to Stephan Moore and the otehr organisers for all of their hard work to create the best event so far this season.
I would like to say a huge thanks to my sponsors Echo Trials Bikes, TNN Engineering and CrossKing for their support.
Thanks for reading, Andrei.
So the second round of the UCI Trials Word cup has come and gone. Qulified 7th on the Friday, then in the Semi-finals on Saturday I placed 11th. I have to say I was not so happy with my result, but the conditions were tough due to very heavy rain throughout the competition. It was an acheivement to get through the competition without a serious injury! The sections rode quite well and were a good level. Now I am looking forward to the next round in France in July. But Forst I have the European Championships in Berna, Switzerland. After being in Cape Town and Durban of course! More photos of the event to follow soon!
After my recent TV add with Berocca, I am now the face of their new campaign in Supermarkets and shops nationwide!
Jack Gear was up at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester on Monday the 27th May. Was a great day of shows, avoiding the rain! Good work Jack!
The Team was at Cadhay House in Ottery St Mary on the 25th May. Cadhay House is a beatiful estate in the countryside of Devon, where they hold an annual event to raise money for the local Parish Church. It was a great event and we were so lcky with the weather. We had great crowds and really enjoyed putting on a show for the crowds. Joe seddon had a great day, managing to get a static gap of a staggering 3m 18cm!!!
I spent the 8th to the 17th May training in Spain with Rick Koekoek and 12 times world Champion, Cesar Canas. We had a great week in the hills around Barcelona and rode some great natural spots, just check out the shots below! Its great to meet up with other international riders and train together. They also have some great training locations and a relaxed way of life, so its been nice to get away from the hectic show schedule in the UK. Hope you like the photos, Andrei.
On the 19th May, the team were in North Devon putting on a show for the crowds at the Barstable Grand Prix. We had great crowds and the sun was beaming down all day. We also got some great shots from the shows.
