Orange Bikes
SDA Aberfeldy 15 June 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008 - posted by Alastair Maclennan, photos: Ian Linton
The future's bright, the future's Orange!
Another race and another weekend dominated by riders onboard the evergreen 224. As you may already have seen from the report on Descent-World, Round 3 of the SDA series was on a track never previously ridden. Short but ever so sweet, this feature packed course had rider after rider crossing the line with a smile on their face an probably more than one bruise on their body! The track was steep, and as one rider put it, very much like a mini World Cup. Rock slabs, rocky outcrops, chutes, trees and fast turns led from one straight into another with no chance for a rest. With riders struggling everywhere even in the dusty conditions, we can only imagine what would have happened had there been the forecast heavy rain all weekend!
It was a good weekend for Orange, following on from the success of the Mojo boys the previous weekend at the Fort William World Cup., with many riders on the podium being onboard the citrus bikes.
The first rider to make the podium was the Youth rider Lewis Buchanan, riding on the luminous pink MTBCut.tv sponsored bike. He really was in a class of his own all weekend, with a winning margin of nearly 8 seconds which is incredible considering that his time was less than two minutes from start to finish!
Highland Bicycle Co rider, Naomi Williamson, took second in the women's with her apple green '07 224, proving that bikes last more than one season.
Vet's rider Alastair MacLennan is no stranger to riding an Orange to the top step of the podium, having raced the 223 & 224 for several years. He was onboard something a little different but this year returns to the 224 Evo to pick up where he left off. His winning time was 18 seconds clear of the next man!
In Juniors it was James Scott, riding for thecyclejersey.com, who held up the Orange corner with a time just shy of the winner and so slotted into second place to become the meat in the podium sandwich.
However, it was in the Elites where things were all happening with 5 of the 6 riders being on either the 224 or the newer Evo. If that doesn't show you racing pedigree then I don't know what does. Mojo rider Ben Cathro was in the pits but not riding as he had a flight to catch to Italy for the upcoming World Champs. After a storming run to 8th in the previous weekend's World Cup round at Fort William, big things are expected when he gets his first chance on the Senior team for the first time since breaking his hand at the Junior's several years ago.
With the riders who actually raced, it was Mojo's Dan Stanbridge who pulled into second with his prototype Fox shock on the rear having driven all the way from Somerset to race. His time of 1:47 was quick but it was Joe Barnes who set the world on fire with his 1:45 to take the win for MTBCut.tv which left most riders astounded as to how he'd managed it.
So a great weekend of racing and some superb results for the Orange riders. It's amazing to see just how many privateers have chosen the Orange as their race steed for 2008, from the 224 Evo through the original 224 and 223 right back to the 222 which just reinforces the reliability of these bikes.
This upcoming weekend sees the World Championship race happening in Italy. The best of luck to all the Brit's who are racing but especially to Mojo/Orange's Ben Cathro who should be capable of a great result. Tune in here for an update after the weekend from him.
For more on this event, check out the Descent-world report