In search of the Holy Grail?

The Holy Grail is a thing of legend, drinking from its hallowed depths is said to bring you eternal life…but what if you found a Cup that could do the same, well at least enhance it for a few minutes? Could it be the Caersws Cup?

Caersws, for those who don’t know is located in the mid Welsh borders…it easily accessible from almost anywhere and will host not only Naked Racings Caersws Cup but also the British Downhill Series later this season.

Sussing out the frozen lines...

Well believe it or not I was a complete Caersws virgin until now, even though the venue has been used many a time before but having not travelled here from our former Scottish base, it was one of those tracks I’d always hear about from anybody who had ridden/raced there. Since it’s now almost a local track, a chance to check it out wasn’t to be missed.

Originally it was consisted almost entirely in the trees, however it’s been clear cut recently and the tracks have now been opened out to the fresh air, turning them into a minefield of stumps in certain sections. With a lot of man made features on the hill, all the courses look fun to ride.

I could have raced this round but I still need to actually get back on my downhill bike on an uplift day first before I go up against the clock, so I headed with the camera. Even walking on the hillside was giving the old leg some jip…my ankle was like a balloon at the end of the day.

Fastest man of the day - Norco's Benard Kerr

Right back to the details of the Cup…Dreamed up by Chris Roberts a couple of seasons back, it’s a one venue series with 5 rounds and different tracks at each round. Great uplift, parking and some rad courses. All the ingredients needed to have a series which provides the avenues for new riders to get a taste of racing but also manages to challenge the regular racing fraternity with national standard tracks….A great format, I was just wondering why no-body in Scotland is doing an “Innerleithen Cup” or similar!!

With rider entrys from far and wide, prove that this series has a catchment area the size of the British Isles, even riders from Ireland are making the trip to keep them ticking over early season.

Being early in the season can sometimes have it’s problems, weather is a wee bit of a risk but after Saturday’s practice everyone was looking forward to race day. With the clear skies over night, it was soon well below freezing…some folk seen -7 degrees on their car dashboard displays as others struggled under canvas to try and generate a little heat. It was Baltic when I pitched up early doors Sunday.

The cold snap overnight didn’t help the early practice session, with a frozen track causing some comedy moments and some not so comedy ones, air ambulance to the rescue. It was inevitable that a few changes had to be made which as always meant reduced practice and a decision to only run a one race run in the pm. A hard decision but one that had to be made.

Broken Bones

By the time practice had gotten started the sun was warming up the ground and soon dust could be seen on virtually all of the sections. The speeds then started rising along with the temperature and the riders started looking more at home on the course.

With racing under way it was soon pretty evident that the speeds across the final off chamber section, that the grip was up there with the best of summer days…even though the cut down spikes seemed to be the tyre of choice.

I’ll let the results take care of themselves.

Full Results Here >>>

So if you looking for a new series to race in and around the middle of the UK, this is one of the ones at the top of my list, the next race of the cup is on the 22/23 May entries are still available…but hurry they won’t last too long!!