Alastair Takes The Win At Inners

The Alpine Bikes Winter Series Rnd 2 took place at Innerleithen over the weekend and it was the first time I got the chance to ride the Nukeproof Scalp under race conditions.

The track was a classic Innerleithen affair with plenty of fast swoopy lines between the trees coupled with drops tight turns and the usual roots popping up when you least expect them. The confidence inspiring ride of the Scalp made every practice run fun and I felt very comfortable with the track right from the word go and managed to pile in 6 practice runs on the Saturday.

Sunday morning came and it was time for race runs. On my 1st run I unclipped coming out of the start hut and tripped my way down the start straight before regaining control. I quickly got up to speed and hit most lines perfect and was really pleased with the way the Scalp eats up all that's thrown before it.

Pedaling hard across the finish line I wasn't sure how my time would compare after my shaky start but was stoked when the times came up and I had nearly an 8 second lead over Neil Wilson with Rich Simpson a further 2.5 seconds adrift.

2nd Run came and I managed a better start. Again I managed to hit most of my lines and felt really fast on the corners. Crossing the finish line I was sure I would put in a faster time but actually finished 1 second slower. How ofter is this the case

My first run time was still enough to take my first win on the Scalp with Neil Wilson keeping second place and Rich Simpson 3rd.

Overall it was a great practice weekend and I managed to complete setting up the Cane Creek Shock and got a real good feel for the bike.

The first real test of the season is coming up in a couple of weeks time at the Halo British Downhill Series race in Wales so I'm starting to prepare for that this week with a bit more riding and bike tweaking.

Photo appears courtesy of Ian Linton www.ianlinton.com