The Squadron at Moelfre

Find out how the Squadron boys did at Moelfre @ The Descent Gear Race in October

Words provided by Aaron Neumann - Team manager and rider

Words and Results by Team Manger Aaron Neumann on Descent Gear Moelfre race with the Squadron

Elliot Machin, Andy Hughes and myself - Aaron Neumann - decided to cap the season with the Descent-Gear Unclipped race at Moelfre. We were joined by a flock of folks from Racer's Guild for what would be a very memorable weekend! Check out the Racer's Guild site to see how the rest did.


www.racersguild.co.uk

We had a few mechanical issues on Saturday, as despite not being too rocky, Moelfre is an abusive track. It's very high speed and the suspension does a lot of work handling the high speed stuff as well as a few massive bottom outs. The rear end on Andy's bike decided enough was enough and went bang. Eight blown spokes was the obvious problem, but when Andy took off the wheel and the freehub fell on the floor - well that was another problem - in the shape of a snapped axle. I, of course, was on the case, and put together a master plan which would end up wasting most of Andy's morning Sunday morning. I'd found a guy who might be able to get the part, and if not, he'd loan him a spare wheel. We ended up with the spare wheel, a lovely DT Swiss number which didn't like Maxxis tires one bit. It took two guys to stretch the beads into submission, and they pinched two tubes in the process! When the rotor and cassette were finally on, Andy slipped it into the swingarm only to realize, much to his dismay, that it was a 150 mm hub, not 135 mm as we had all assumed. So that was the morning wasted, as well as a paragraph of words, so let's get on with the racing!


Andy decided to race on his broken axle and pulled a very solid 2:29 out of the bag. I was well impressed and didn't know if Elliot could beat it. Andy is a strong pedaller, and I know he was on it the whole way down the hill.



But a season of racing the NPS has turned Elliot into a truly formidable racer. Elliot would take 8 seconds out of Andy with a staggering 2:21, which would land him 3rd in Seniors and faster than all the Experts!


Andy's run put him in 12th place in Seniors, but it was certainly not slow - he would have been 3rd in Expert. It just so happens that Seniors is ultra competitive with guys about to move into the Expert category in 2010 - including our Elliot - an awesome achievement!


I enjoyed the weekend and I was feeling confident having had loads of clean practice runs, but such cleanliness would elude me for both race runs. Still, among the slower Masters I managed 8th place with a 2:41. The important thing is that I beat Richie!


It was an awesome weekend made better by great company. I drove home with a bit of a heavy heart - this was my last UK race before I return to the states. The sun was setting and there was a warm light that cast long shadows on the Welsh hillsides along the winding country lanes. It was stunning. I will miss this. The country, the racing, and the people. As much as I'd like to say you British are a bunch of pricks, sadly, it's just not the case - you're actually some of the best friends a guy could ask for. Quit while you're ahead they say - the weekend was definitely a high point and a great memory to cap off a great few years. Cheers guys and gals!

Words by Aaron Neumann!