Oliver Burton

"Welcome to Norco"

2012-01-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

After months of emailing and CV sending I'm happy to announce that I will be riding Norco frames for the 2012 season.

Hear is the official Norco press release.

"Olie Burton is a solo competitor on the World Cup circuit. As a privateer he has been making his own way to the races and fighting his way up through the ranks. This coming year he will be riding a Norco Aurum in all his racing endeavors. Olie is still on his own program riding for sponsors such as Kore, One Industries, 661, Adidas and Action Cameras but this year he has the power of the Aurum on his side.

In 2011 Olie injured his finger and was forced off the bike for three months. Disappointed, he struggled coming back and missed qualifying at a few of the World Cup rounds. As 2011 progressed he recovered and came back to finish in an impressive 68^thand 66^th at Mont Saint Anne and Windham and 62^nd at the world cup finals in Val Di Sole. These results were a great step forward and he is looking to improve upon them in 2012.

Some other highlights from this past year have been 4^th place at the Nissan European Cup in La Bresse, France and winning the overall Elite title for the Pearce Cycles race series. The Pearce Cycles series was a specific goal Olie had set for 2011 and hopes to continue through 2012.

Everyone at Norco would like to wish Olie a warm welcome to the team and offer the best support we can over the coming year. Here is to a great 2012! If you would like to send a message, you can connect with Olie on his facebook page."

2011 season round up.

2011-09-27T03:18:00.001-07:00

2011 season round up.

My 2011 racing season is now over. I have had a great year on and off the bike travelling around the world with some great results.

This year did not really start as I had planned, I picked up a finger injury in January and was out for three months. I felt that this set me back a great deal in my training as it was a very key time in my program. As a result, I missed the first round of the World cup series in South Africa. It was a very disappointing start but come April my injury was all sorted and I was back to training. Being very close to the start of the racing season and I decided that my time was best spent on two training trips to Sam Remo in the north of Italy one with some top UK riders and the other with my new team, Team Abarth MTB.

I was lucky enough to get on a great team this year and their support definitely made training and racing allot easier. It was a great experience to be part of a team with a big name sponsor and ride on Saracen bikes. It gave me a great insight of what being a professional athlete is like and I really feel like I have learnt allot of skills about how to publicise myself.

I was very disappointed to have missed qualifying this year at a few of the World Cup rounds, very frustrating to be out by 0.03 of a second in La Bresse, France. But I have some great results as well as placing 68^th and 66^th at Mont Saint Anne and Windham and a 62^ndat the World cup finals in Val Di Sole. This was good but my goal was to be a lot more consistent in my finishes and place in the top 80 throughout but this is something that I aim to fix for the 2012 season.

Some other highlights for this year have been 4^th place at the Nissan European Cup race in La Bresse, France and just last weekend winning the overall Elite title for the Pearce Cycles race series. I goal I had set myself coming in to the year.

Check out this great edit from Morzine between World Cupshttp://www.pinkbike.com/video/214481/.

I would like to thank all my 2011 sponsors and everybody that has supported me during the season. Your support is appreciated and I definitely couldn’t do it without you.

UCI Downhill World Cup – Rd 5 – Windham USA

2011-07-22T03:38:00.001-07:00

So today was the finals of Windham world cup round 5 in New York USA. Another day of great weather made me even more excited to get up on track and see how it was running with all the hot weather we had yesterday. The track had dried up a lot was running really fast. I went up for my third run and it was going great, before I had a big micanical at the end of the open section. My tryre popped of the rim and I was lucky not to have a big crash. When I had a look at the bike, it looked like the cause was a worn tyre bead. I decided the best thing to do would be to build a new wheel and and put a new tyre and tube on then I knew that there would be no risk of that happening again during my race run. I didnt have long to do this as my race run was at 2.18pm but everything went smoothly with the build so I was ok for time.

My race run went well, I had a clean run down the hill and hit all my lines, but just didnt feel like I’d pushed hard enough. I’m happy to put together a mistake free solid run but I know I need to push to get where I want to be. I finished up 68th today and really happy to get another top 80 result. Im looking forward to a few days of with my family in New York before heading home for some more training and our national championships at the super steep Llangollen track.

Portotype Superstar components Dreadnought pedals.

2011-05-04T06:03:00.000-07:00

I have been using the new prototype Dreadnought peddles for about a month now on my XC bike and on my downhill bike and I love them. These are set to be the first in- house made product for Superstar Components with some very nice new machinery. I really like the layout of the pins; it gives me so much grip under foot. They are nice and light as well and, of course, come with a Ti axel upgrade. I think they look really smart and I like the way that they have been milled out from one solid piece of aluminium.

These pedals were designed by the top man himself, Neil. Superstar to offer ultimate grip pedals which look good at a price to suit all.

Not that much more to say from me but keep checking the website (www.superstarcomponents.com) for their release later this month.

San Remo road trip - Report

2011-05-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

I have just got back from great Team Abarth MTB road trip in San Remo, Italy. We went to this area in northern Italy mainly because of the quality of the tracks in the area. We were out there as a team to get some time on the bikes and do some testing before the main part of the season kicks off.

I spent the first part of the trip working mainly on bike setup. I tested lots of things from different breaks and handlebars to springs in my forks and shock. As I got to the middle of the trip I really started to feel comfortable on the bike and was happy with how everything was feeling and from then I concentrated on going faster, only small suspension adjustments to help me feel even more confident with the bike.

We were staying in an apartment in the town of San Remo right by the sea. This was a great place to be based as we had easy access to some great road riding along the seafront and very central for all the different tracks. It was also nice to been in the town for the odd meal out and supplies.

I met up with one of my good friends Scott who was also out here doing some training and he showed us a load more tracks that I didn’t know about, including a new one that Fabien Barell had recently built. The track was very fast and rocky but good fun to ride.

After this I am heading home for a while. My plan is to try and put in some solid training in preparation for the main part of the World Cup season which is fast approaching. I am racing round 2 of the Pearce Cycles race series this weekend but my main focus is of course, the World Cup series. I am looking forward to travelling again and getting back into competing.

San Remo road trip - Days 1 and 2

2011-04-10T00:48:00.000-07:00

After an 11 hour drive down to San Remo we had finally arrived at are beach front apartment for the week, With amazing weather and everyone feeling well, we were looking forward to the next morning when we could start are week of training.

Day 1: San Remo to Sospel… 8/04/2011

We headed out on the road bikes for a quick spin to explore the sea front, covering a steady 12 miles with an average speed of 24mph. I think we all came to the conclusion that the sea front mountain views were some of the most spectacular scenery you could ask for, making for a perfect start to the trip.

After a quick breakfast, we loaded up the downhill bikes and headed back in to France, to the Sospel bike park. The tracks at Sospel are quite varied, going from fast and rocky, to Champery style steepness all on one side of the hill. We started off on the fast rocky track which was around 5 minutes long, and just so happened to have a car parked halfway down (which may have lost part of its wing mirror during the day). After more punctures than any sane person could cope (about 6 between Michael and John in 5 runs) we started to get to grips with the fast, rough nature of the track and grabbed the helmet cam (link here). A total of 8 runs, spectacular sunshine and an uplift road that would put a smile on anyone’s face (10 miles of switchback corners), we headed back to the apartment to have some well deserved food, and get some much needed sleep.

Sospel Downhill, Italy, Olie Burton follows John Holbrook form Team Abarth MTB

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjZbjvXCtCk

Day 2: San Remo… I’ll take that one please! 9/04/2011

08:55 1hour on the road bikes done, it was time to load up the van and head inland from the Italian coast. After yesterdays record number of punctures we stopped off at the local bike shop in San Remo to stock up on tubes for the day, 10 should do us for a few day…!

Tubes replenished, and a quick stop for another €100 of diesel in the Ducato, it was time to head to another new riding spot over in Pieve di tiaco, a fast rocky track about 30 miles inland from San Remo. The track was really worn in as there had been a wet race on the track during the previous weeks. The top half was rough, twisty and tight, leading into a fast, flat out bottom section. This traversed along the side of the mountain on old rock paths and had the tightest wooden corner out of a chute any of us had ever seen, before leading into a floating step down and on in to the town.

After 7 runs down the track, a load of bike setup changes, and getting a bit carried away with the banter along the uplift route, we prepped the bikes and headed back to the apartment. Tomorrow we’re keeping it local and heading up to San Romolo (just above Remo), as the annual Rally San Remo (which we forgot about) should be over now, meaning we can get some time in on one of our favourite tracks here.

Helmet cam footage from today. Olie follows John down the top section of the rocky Italian track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo2o2BHpVvk

BDS Round 1, Nant G

2011-04-09T22:31:00.001-07:00

I got the go-ahead a week before Round 1 of the BDS, (UK National Series). With my new Saracen all ready to go I managed to get a bit of time on the bike before the race but noting like I wanted to.

The track at Nant Gwrtheyrnin north Wales is amazing, it’s a mix of steep, rocky technical at the start and flat out jumpy at the bottom. I really liked the track and had a great day practising track with my new team.

Sunday morning brought back the normal Welsh weather and it rained pretty much all day. This made the track allot harder and more fun in my opinion. My aim for this race was to have fun and get a clean race run and see where I placed with all the time of the bike. I was stoaked to finish 23th in Elite which showed me that I was no worse of than I was before I got injured so from hear all I can do in improve.

Check back for more team new soon….

Injury and XC bike.

2011-04-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I have been out injured for over month now mainly with a Hematoma in my leg but now with a broken finger. My leg is nearly all better now but my finger is not. I have been having regular check-ups and healing is going slow but hopefully I will be back riding soon.

I have been trying to keep my-self busy with things at home. Mainly trying to complete the van conversion that I started last year and never got around to finishing. I will put some photos up when its all done.

I got a xc bike as well now. Not that I have been able to ride it much but it differently passes the car park test. Thanks to the guys at Specialized for that.

2010 Season round up.

2010-10-11T02:52:00.000-07:00

This season has been my best season yet. My first year on the World Cup circuit and my first year racing in Expert hear in the UK. After Champery and Val de Sole there was only one World Cup left this year and that was Windham in New York.

This was my first race outside of Europe and I was excited to be travelling to another country and seeing new things. Windham had put on a great event there and it really had a different feel to any other race I had been to. The track was good as well, It was fast and rough, very physical as well with some pedalling sections to. The course had a few big features on it, one was fast drop onto a of camber rocky landing which was hard to get right but all in all I had fun practising the course.

I was really happy to make it in to the top 80 for the finals and to finish a solid 72^nd at the race. This result ment that I finished 62^nd overall in the series. I feel that this is a great achievement for my first year as a World cup races. I have learnt allot and I am looking forward to coming back strong next year and to start making my way up the ranks.

After Windham I have one more race to go. This was a UK National at Caersws in north Whales and I was excited about going there because I have always loved Caersws. The trees there have been cut down recently for harvesting so it was a bit strange first run with no trees about. It was nice weather at the races and I got to hang out with some good friend which I haven’t seen for a while as I have been away allot. The race went well and I finished a solid 4^th.

I would like to say a big thanks to anybody that has helped me in this year, it has been greatly appreciated and not been missed. Thanks also to all my 2010 sponsors that have kept me and my bike going through the year, and my family as well.

Champery and Val de Sole World Cups

2010-08-24T07:25:00.000-07:00

Champery, Switzerland

World Cups Round 4 and 5 where back to back weekend starting with Champery in Switzerland. This track was raced a few years back for the first time and I would say this is one of the most talked about World Cup. Mainly because of how steep the track is and also the amazing run of Sam Hill the fastest qualifier by 15 seconds, coming down the heavy rain to nearly win and taking 2nd behind Matti who came down on a dry course.

I was really looking forward to this race mainly because of the track. I knew that the steep terrain would suite me and couldn’t wait to ride it.

After first practice the track was more amazing than I ever thought it could be. Every section was amazing and there was not a bad bit on the track. The rain moved in for the second day of practice and it was like a completely different track, I thought that it was more fun as it made it so much more wild to ride.

I had a good qualifying run that put me in 13th place so I was stoked with that. This has been my best qualifying result yet. For the finals the track was getting really rough so I was aiming to get down with a sold run. I ended up 25th which is my best result ever.

Hear is a link to my race run on Freecaster.tv.

http://freecaster.tv/uci-mtb-world-cup-dhi-2010/1011052/uci-mtb-world-cup-dhi-4-champery-replay

I’m run is around 2 hours 28 minutes.

Hear are some Dirt Videos I am in form the race.

http://dirt.mpora.com/news/dirt-tv-champ ery-qualifying.html (Small clip at about 3 mins)

http://dirt.mp ora.com/news/dirttvchampery-qualifyi ng-chit-chat.html (at 2 mins 20 ish)

Val de Sole, Italy

Next was the Italy World Cup, I was looking forward to this race as well because I had seen a lot of videos of it from when they had the World Champs there a few years back.

The track was supper rough and rocky. It was really dusty as well, we had a little bit of rain during practice and that didn’t change anything it was still the dustiest track I had ever ridden.

I had a solid quailing run which put me in 73rd, I maybe held back a bit too much, but there was plenty left in the tank for the finals.

Finals went well, I had good run and felt fast but in control. I finished in 54th which was another good result.

My results after the last 2 races has put me back up in the top 80 World Cup standings. I’m now sitting in 62nd coming in to the final round in Windham USA.

Hear is a link to my race run on Freecaster.tv.

http://freecaster.tv/uci-mtb-world-cup-dhi-2010/1011054/uci-mtb-world-cup-dhi-5-val-di-sole-replay

I’m on at around 57 minutes.

UCI World Cup series Round 2 Fort William UK

2010-06-11T02:53:00.001-07:00

Round 2 of the Mountain bike World Cup series was held in Fort William, Scotland. The hill has been used for many years now for World class events as well as UK Nationals. The course at Nevis range is very long and fast. The track is made up of a lot or rocks which makes the track very rough.

There were a lot of changes to the usual track for this race. They had redone some of the section and also there were some cool sections that had be made by digging down the bedrock.

Friday practice was going well. I was really enjoying the new bits on the track and though that the track had good flow to it. There was a new woods section as well which was cool.

After a good finish in Maribor I was now in the top 80, This means that I get extra practice on Friday and Saturday, Having this extra practise means you can be a bit more chilled out and you don’t have to cram in runs, you can relax a bit.

The cool thing about the World cup being at Fort William is that a lot of uk companies and distributors come the event with stands so its really good to be able to catch up with the companies that help me.

In top 80 you get timed practise at the end of Friday, I decided to do a times run just to see what I could do, My run was good, no major mistakes and I just cruzed the motorway at the bottom to save energy. My time from this was a 5minutes 20seconds.

I got up early for Saturday practice because I really wanted to try and make a good improvement on yesterdays time. Practice was going well, I felt fast and was loving the track. I did 3 runs and by the 3^rd I felt that I was going nearly as fast as I could so was looking forward to qualifying.

I headed up for my qualifying run, I was in good spirits but very nervous at the same time. I start of well but got a flat rear tire on one of the first rock features in the track. I was so disappointed that this had happened, I think that I just missed my like slightly and clipped a rock that gave me a pinch flat.

Im looking forward to the next world cup with is only 2 weeks away and is being held in Leogang in Austria.

Big thanks to Jez form Nema clothing. I am really happy to be running Nema clothing now, Its really nice kit and im looking forward showing it of in Austria.

Thanks to Specialized, Superstar Components, Funn, Nema, 661 and Maxxis.

World Cup, Round 1, Maribor, Slovenia

2010-05-26T05:03:00.000-07:00

The first round of the 2010 Downhill Would Cup series was held in Maribor, Slovenia. I was not too sure on how long it would take to get there and as its my first World Cup I decided to leave early to make sure that I was there with enough time to do everything I needed to do.

I arrived early Wednesday and spent the day sorting bike stuff out and I also took a walk up the track to see what it was like. The weather forecaster was for it to be wet for the whole race and it was quite obverse that it had been raining a lot before we got there.

The track looked amazing. It looked pretty long and was already quite rough form previous races. It looked like it had a really good flow to it. It had a lot of roots the whole way down and a lot of high-speed sections as well. O and of course there was the famous rock garden in there as well.

Practise was going well. It was so much fun even though it was raining a lot it was still amazing. I tried not to put myself under any pressure even thought I really wanted to qualify in the top 80 for the final so I just thought that I would try and do the best run I could and see where that put me.

Qualifying went well, I was still really nervous at the top but as soon as I started my run I relaxed in to it. I ended up in 47th which I was stoked on. I had a good run and was so happy make that top 80 final for Sunday.

More rain came down overnight and I don't think it stopped raining all day. Because of the wind on Sunday they did not run the lift for a while so we ended up only getting 1 practice run in. I was not too bothered about this as I already felt peaty good on the track. I headed up early for my race run just in-case there was any problems with the lift I didn't want to miss my run. Being up there so early made me quite nervous but I just tried to block that out and stay relaxed.

My race run went well, the track was much rougher. I had a good run down, I think I went a bit safe but I was happy to make it down clean and get a solid result for my first World Cup.

I finished of the 62nd place which I am so happy with.

Chilling with Joe Smith at the end of race runs, Joe got 8th, First ever World Cup top 10.

Looking forward to heading back up to Fort William again for the World Cup in 3 weeks time.

Thanks to, Specialized, Superstar components, Funn, 661, Maxxis and Axo.

Olie

Riding Shots by Jacob Gibbins, http://jacobgibbins.co.uk/

BDS Round 2, Fort William, Scotland.

2010-05-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

The second round of the new BDS series was at the famous Fort William track in the Nevis range, Scotland. Its a fair way to go form down south so we decided to leave on the Thursday evening. We arrived Friday afternoon and decided to have a look at the track. We were told that there were some changes on the track this year which is cool. I started walking it with Harry but only made it half way up as I was feeling pretty ill so decided to head back down and walk it in the morning.

Expert and Elite have extra practise on Saturday and I was up early so I decided to get on the first lift up and walk down, The changes to the track looked awesome, there were a lot of compressions and drops and it all look cool. I took a cruse down for my first run to see what the new bit where are like and see how I felt with still being a bit ill. I felt ok I just got tired a lot quicker. I got down to the bottom and realised that I had blown up my shox.

I managed to borrow a spare one of my friend Owen James as mine was not fixable, thanks very much Owen. The rest of practice went well for me, I was finding all the new bits really cool an having a really fun time on the track.

I have started working with K9 industries a bit lately and this was my fist race with there help with my suspension setup. I have been using some of their Boss forks and they feel amazing. I was having some issues with my bike wallowing at the back and feeling really hard to pedal but we changed a phew things about got rid of that.

I did a couple of practice runs on Sunday and everything felt good so I was looking forward to seeding. Seeding went well I was worried that I was going to get knackered with the track being so long but my training is defiantly paying off and I felt good all way down and had a good run. I Seeded in 3rd which I was happy with. My race run was good, I felt like I road well all the way and only had one sketchy moment at the end of the woods bit managed to save it. I improved on my seeding time and ended up in 3^rd behind Jack and Owen.

Maribor next week, can’t wait.

Thanks to Specialized, Superstar components, K9 Industries, Funn 661, Maxxis and Axo

Welsh champs, Llangollen.

2010-05-12T15:38:00.001-07:00

Welsh Champs, Llangollen 1^st -2^nd May 2010

Bank holiday had arrived and we set of for Llangollen, the steepest track in the uk. 300 miles later we arrived at the venue and already we were excited and looked forward to the Saturday practice. After what can only be described as a Michelin star dinner cooked by the Mum, we hit the hay testing out the new insulation in the roof.

We woke up early to go and walk the new track being raced. The track was open and very steep. The first section traversed across the hill and then dropped down into lots of steep switchbacks and rocky shoots. It then led to a triple step down to the finish line. The track looked real hard and challenging in places.

Practice began and mid way through my first run I was already loving the track. There were some really cool sections and the track seamed to flow really good as well. It we evident that the track was going to change a lot as well because of the steepness you were on the breaks a lot so it became very ripped up very quickly. By the end of Saturday practice I was feeling pretty good on the track. I was finding it hard to push to go faster as I rarely get to ride steep stuff so every time I tried to push myself I just ended up mucking up or crashing.

After washing my bike and a bit to eat I decided to head up the track to see how much it was changed and if there was any new insides appearing or lines to stay out of the boggy turns. I found a few things I wanted to try on the way down which was cool. I then chilled out, had some dinner and went to bed looking forward to tomorrow.

It had rained a bit over night and the track was a lot wetter and very drifty, which made it really good fun to practise it was a lot more blown out and moto.

We had to race runs and in my first I had a bit of a moment at the top and nearly went completely off the track. I was sitting in 5^th but new I could do better. It was drying up over the day so I knew I would have to go faster to get a good result. I pushed more in my second run bit the track was so hard to go fast on because of it being so rutted up and beaten. My second run was better bit still had a phew moments but was still ok, I ended up in 6^th which I was ok as I found the track hard because it was steep and I don’t get to ride steep stuff that often.

Looking forward to Fort William next week and Maribor the week after.

Thanks To Specialized, Superstar Funn, Axo 661 and Maxxis.

National, Round 1, Rheola (South Wales)

2010-04-17T15:20:00.001-07:00

I had spent the last 4 days before the National staying at Matt Simmonds house. A VERY hard week. We did lots of different training things and it was really good to see what he does to train for world cups. I will differently take away things that he dose and use them in my training to help me prepare.

I then headed down to round 1 for the new national series, renamed as the BDS (British Downhill Series). This was at Rheola forest in south whales. It was a really cool weekend, the track was really good. Really fun. fast and rocky at the top then it went in the woods in to some cool off camber stuff then in to old star wars section and in the steep finish that they used for the national last year. I think Rheola is one of my favourite tracks because it seems to have a bit of everything and has a really nice pace to it as well.

Practise on the track was going well. I look at lots of different lines on the Friday because I thought that there was a strong chance of the track getting very rutted up and there may be some better lines so stay out of the holes and carry my speed better.

The weather was set to be good for the whole weekend and over the Saturdays practice is started drying up. It didn’t dry up as fast as I though it stayed very tacky. I started by running dry tires but it soon became clear that it was not going to be the best choice. I changed to cup spikes and this seemed like a good move, they were a bit sketchy in places at the top but good everywhere else.

Early morning Sunday and the weather was nice, clear skys and a nice tempture. I gave my bike a check over and headed up for a practice run. My run was good, the track didn’t seam top be changing much and I felt fast already. I decided to only do one more practise run as I would have a seeding run as well before my race run. My seeding run was good, I felt fast and hit all my lines until I misjudged some roots and has a over the bars. I was not to bother about this as my run up until then was good and it was a easy mistake to make. I washed and checked my bike before heading up for my race run. My race run was going well and I was feeling fast hitting all my lines until I landed a bit far on a drop out of one of the terns before the first fire road and ended up going a different way to my bike. I ran back to my bike as quick as possible and carried on, the rest of my run felt good despite the crooked bars I ended up 12^th in Expert, I was 7seconds of 1st. I was very disappointed with this as my run was so good except for the crash.

I am back home now and training hard and focused. I’m looking forward to the next National and the first world cup which are only a month away now.

Thanks to.

Superstar Components, Funn, Axo. 661, Maxxis, Ti Bolts, Specialized

Olie.

Pearce cycles round 1, Bringewood (Shropshire)

2010-03-31T01:47:00.000-07:00

Pearce cycles round 1, Bringewood.

I went up to Bringewood, in Shropshire with Harry and Liam. We arrived on Friday at about 5pm and went to walk the track. We walked about half way up before deciding that it was really too dark and we couldn’t really see anything! After a nice spot of dinner we decided on an early night ready to walk the track the morning.

In the morning we could actually see what the track looked like. It looked like a really fun track to ride, it was mostly in the woods with one open section in the middle. The open section looked really cool, it was basically a moto whoop section with about 7 rollers in it. It reminded me of riding pump tracks. The track was surprisingly tough to ride because there were so many things that you had to pump and jump to keep your speed up, and it was really tight between tree in the woods so you had to be bang on your line.

Saturday practise went well. The track was very wet because all of the rain during the week but it slowly dried up over the day. I got quite a few runs as the uplift was running well. I was happy with most of my lines but wanted to walk the track again before Sunday practise, I thought that there were probably some more lines I could find to help me keep me my speed better. There were!

After a mix up with the clocks going back we ended getting up an extra hour early, we decided as we up we would walk the track again. At the top we saw a really nice sun rise. Harry and I found a couple of sneaky lines that we had missed before. That was cool

My first race run went ok. I made a few mistakes at the top of the track where I didn’t carry my speed that well and a reasonably good bottom section. I came down in second place with 2.minutes 30 seconds behind Jack with 2.27 . I was ok with this as I didn’t have the best run and knew I could do better. For my second run I tried hard to stay smooth and carry my speed but after a bit of rain and a rougher track I could tell it was running slower. I had a much better run, no major mistakes but I didn’t really feel fast enough. I got a bit quicker but not enough. I ended up second with a 2.29.29. 2 seconds behind Jack Geoghegan.

All in all a good weekend, I’m looking forward to the first national at Rheola, in south Wales in a couple of weeks. I am going there this weekend as there’s an uplift and to spend some time riding with my friend, Tom Attlee which will be fun.

Thanks to Funn, Superstar, Axo, 661, Maxxis and Ti Bolts.

Cheers
Olie

Aston Hill Black Run race

2010-03-23T14:44:00.000-07:00

The first Aston Hill race for 2010 was to be held on the famous Black run track. Here is my report of the race.

The black run was built many years ago by the well known track builder, Ian Warby. It is definitely the toughest track at Aston Hill but I would say the best one there. As most of you may have seen in the recent helmet cam of the track, it has fast sprint section at the beginning of the track with some high speed berms, this takes you over to where the hill starts to get steeper and has some of the best and well built corners I have ever ridden. A short but tough track for sure.

One of the best sections of the track.

Aston hill does not have a uplift but you can push up right next to the track which makes it really good for practising, making it easy to section and look at lines. I felt pretty confident with all my lines after Saturday’s practice. I had done a couple of full runs as well to see what the bottom section felt like after pinning the top section and it feels pretty good and I was not too knackered. After practice we retreated to race organizer Richard Abbott’s house for some of his finest home made Lasagne (best I have ever tasted) and some DVD action, We decided to hit the hay early and get a good night’s sleep ready for Sunday’s race.

We woke to a fresh but sunny morning. Before practice, I still had to finishing dishing over a new prototype 120 point engagement Superstar wheel I am testing. I had a few other tweaks to do on the bike but we were soon ready to go. I spent a bit of time looking at the first section of the track to see if there was any sneaky lines that straightened out the track and also looked for smother lines over some of the roots.

Chilling in practise with the man behind the tracks upkeep, John Holbrook

I tried not to practise too much to not wear myself out as it was a demanded track and 2 race runs. My first run went ok, I had the top section good but missed some important lines further down. I noticed this in my time as I was 3 seconds back on Nathan and 2 on Harry. My second run was a lot better, A couple of hesitant moment but apart from that I didn’t make any big mistakes. My run felt amazing and with everybody shouting on the track made it awesome. Final result was me 3rd with a 1.34.68, Nathan 2nd with a 1.34.50 and Mr Molloy 1st with a 1.34.16. All within 0.6 of a second made for some close racing in the Expert/Elite category. This was cool and it is always a good race against those two.

Expert/Elite podium

All in all, a sweet weekend, great track and I hope to be back to Aston for the race in September.
Thanks to;
Funn, Superstar Components, Axo, Maxxis, 661 and Ti Bolts.

Cheers
Oliver Burton

2010 British Cycling Awards

2010-03-04T04:04:00.000-08:00

Just got back from Manchester for the 2010 British Cycling Gala Dinner. I went up to collect the award for my Mountain Bike Downhill, Senior Men, National Series Win.

I was thrilled (to say the least) to win the 2009 series. It was my main goal for the year and a lot of hard work went into it. I have same goal for the 2010 National series but this time up a catagory, to Expert Men.

My mum, Steve and me.

Manon Carpenter winner of women's National series.

Hello

2010-03-04T02:40:00.000-08:00

So, 2010 racing season is so nearly here. Only a month 'til the first National and two months to the first World cup. It still feels like there is so much to do. I can't wait to get travelling again, so many cool places to go to and awesome tracks to ride.

Check back soon for updates, race reports and much more.

Thanks to Tom Grundy for this recent photo taken at Rogate.