Twisted Concepts Report – 2019 British BMX Series R1 & 2 | Manchester

Photo’s & text submitted by Team Manger Paul Hallett

Words by Miles Kirby

Photos by BMX Widow Photography | Abi Taylor Photo | Fifteen BMX

Twisted Concepts Report – 2019 British BMX Series R1 & 2 | Manchester

Photo’s & text submitted by Team Manger Paul Hallett

Words by Miles Kirby

Photos by BMX Widow Photography | Abi Taylor Photo | Fifteen BMX

After a long winter in the Twisted camp, with lots of changes going on with the bikes and line up, we were glad to get back to racing at Round 1 & 2 of the HSBC BMX National Series. As usual they were held at the home of British Cycling in Manchester, the formidable Indoor.

The indoor had undergone a serious facelift over the winter, giving the track a lot more flow, changes that have generally been received for the better within with BMX community. From the challenge 5 metre hill, the first jump has been tweaked slightly and is still pretty kicky.  The jump into the first turn has been completely changed though, it’s now a big step up to step down with loads of flow and pump on the downside, a fast improvement to the step up that was there before.

The second straight has had big work done, for the better in most rider’s eyes.  The long low step up out of the corner has been replaced with a double, which is a huge hit with the kids, who were sending it all weekend long, the middle jump is now a mellow triple and the final jump into turn two is a slightly tweaked version of the step up that was there before.  The final big change was to the third straight, the split pro and amateur straights have been completely scrapped and combined into one, with a nice wide-open following rhythm section.

This year we decided not to have a gazebo set up on the final straight, so we all sat up in the heated grandstands, the kids and parents mostly prefer the view, the proximity to the café, toilets, shops etc. The atmosphere is electric up there most of the weekend, especially for the block two finals on Saturday, when it filled pretty much to capacity. It was also considered not necessary to have a gazebo roof over our heads when we were indoors anyway.

Manchester Indoor is always and a physical and emotional roller coaster of an event for riders and parents and can take its toll. A lot of the team had done ‘Racing Under the Roof’ over the winter, so the new track was no mystery to them, but some of the more Southern based riders had only been there once for a team session when we hired it out.  Some hadn’t ridden it at all yet, so it would be a real test for them. Most of the team raced this weekend, with some very mixed results and outcomes.

We had Corey Brown in the 8-year-old boys. New to the team, Corey is known as #hungry as he’s hungry for success. On day one our little rocket had good moto and knockout round results, but made hard work for himself in the final. Going with gate 6 he got caught up in traffic in turns one and two, pushing hard to the end he came away with a 5th. Day Two, he went in flat out from the off. Again, great moto results at the sharp end. A brilliant semi from Corey put him in a good position for the final. Off the gate the riders both sides tried to squeeze him, but he stood his ground and got on the gas. A perfect first berm and Corey powered himself into second place, just nipping ahead of the previous E3. Into the final stages of the race, Corey was still defending with a text book last turn Cory held his composure down the final straight to take a brilliant 2nd.

Another new rider to the team Fred Dudman in the 10 boys. Fred loves jumping and going large, he’s not afraid to make the moves either. Fred was going for one of those moves in the first moto, trying to go from fifth to third when he hit the deck, this rattled him a bit for the day and he went out in the moto’s. Day two he got his composure back and got back down to business, getting some great moto results, he got through to the quarters rode a great qualifier to progress onto the semi and B final.  A great result from one of our rising stars.

Ben Hallett was out in the 9-12 cruisers. Having ridden both 20″ and Cruiser in past seasons, Ben has decided to concentrate on his Cruiser class this year.  Due to his diminutive size and weight, Ben has always struggled when racing against riders who, despite being the same age as him, are much taller and heavier.  What he lacks in power, he makes up for with technical ability, but sometimes you just need power!  Excited to spend time with his new team mates and some of his BMX buddies who regularly compete in the National Series, Ben was also hoping to make good use of his winter training sessions.

On both days, in the Moto rounds, Ben achieved mid-pack finishes (4th or 5th), which propelled him to the semi-finals.  He made the B final and achieved 5th place on both days.  A big achievement for a tiny lad!  Ben feels he had his best weekend at a National and came away very happy and proud of himself.  He is now more determined to improve his position and finals results at future events.

The 12 year old boys was full of Twisted livery, with three riders competing in this catagory.

Harry Kirby had suffered a dislocated knee playing rugby at school at the end of last season, so was kept off his bike for 4 months, which we thought at the time was a disaster, but turned out to be the complete opposite! While out of racing, Harry grew quickly, and he also realised how much he missed racing and came back a more driven and motivated kid. He’s been training under the watchful eye of Mark Seaman and Sean Freeman at Hayes Hawks since the new year and his riding, track presence and tactics have been instantly transformed. He put in easily his best national rides over the weekend, getting some great mid pack finishes, but in one of the hardest age groups there is you need to be capable of making an A final to guarantee you can progress into quarters, such is the depth of talent. Both days Harry had a moto that contained more than it’s fair share of A finalists and international standard riders, so with even one moto like that it makes it extremely difficult to make the cut and he missed out by a couple of places. With a bit of luck with the draw Harry has shown he’s more that capable of progressing through the knockout rounds and he’s starting to believe he can too, so we’re hoping for greater success further into the season.

We also welcomed onto the team Henry Clark from Tamworth. This was his first ever race at the indoor and he really enjoyed it. It was Henry’s first race of the season and in a very challenging age group he managed a 6th, 7th and 4th so just missed out on a quarter final. Sunday results were better with a 5th and two 4th’s, meaning he had his first ever national quarter final! It was a tough one and he came in at the back, but even making the quarters in that age group is now a massive accomplishment. Henry’s goal for the weekend was to get to the quarters and it happened, so he’s really pleased with how he raced over weekend.

Max Dudman, older brother of Fred is the final addition to the 12 year old boys, and like Fred he isn’t afraid to send it, recently jumping the CycloPark pro section! The steep and lippy tracks suit Max down to the ground and he was getting rad for the crowd over the double out of first berm on the second straight all weekend, getting some great pictures for his Insta in the process. Max made the quarters on the Saturday, but suffered the same fate as Harry and Henry with crazy stacked motos  on Sunday and didn’t manage to progress onto the knockout rounds.

Watch out for Max at CycloPark national round, he’s got that track on lock-down and we’re sure he’s going to make mains.

A fresh face to the team in the 14 girls is Evie Wood. Not a bad start to the season from Evie,she had a good 1st Moto on day  1, finishing 4th against the world number 3. 5th in the second, again up against world 3, then in Moto 3 she made a move in turn one for 3rd and had a slight coming together with two riders, so it didn’t work out for her. She ended up 11th overall and out of a qualifying position.  Now the girls classes have been split into separate age groups there isn’t enough riders for a B final, so it was early bath time for Evie.  Sunday was a very similar day ending up 11th again.  A bit to work on for the next round, but she’ll keep smiling.

Off the back of racing the 15+ girls at ‘Racing Under the Roof’ Morgan Haslam decided she really enjoyed racing a different range of girls, so she gained permission from BC to race up in the 16 girls to mix things up a bit this year. Manchester is one of Morgan’s favourite tracks and she was excited for the season to start and ready to go! Both Saturday and Sunday saw mixed results in motos, ranging from first to fifth, but she managed to make the cut with it going straight to A final both days. Outside gate picks worked well for Morgan on both days though, going from gate 7 on Saturday and 8 on Sunday helping her avoid the squeeze and she racked up two 2nd place finishes.  Buzzing from the first two rounds Morgan is really looking forward to the representing Twisted and Great Britain at the European Cup rounds in Verona in 2 weeks’ time.

And so, 2019 began for Fin Clark in the 16 boys with some success and a bit of disappointment. Day 1 went to plan with great Moto results, 1st, 1st and 2nd, a great set up for his confidence in the Semi Final. A mid pack start give him some work to do, but he battled through to 2nd, and onto the main. A great start, Fin was amongst it, but a bit of pushing and a tight squeeze meant he lost momentum and had to work a wee bit extra, which he did, but just didn’t get that drive he had in his motos or semi and crossed the line in 4th. A little emotional and hugely disappointed, but 100% effort, what more can you ask for.  Day 2 and the motos went well again, with a 2nd, 1st and 3rd, setting up more confidence for the semi.  His semi was a little bit more relaxed and he came home with a 3rd. So, time for the main, a great start mixing it in the top 3, chasing to the line, he was happy to improve on the previous day’s result with a 3rd place podium finish. All in all, a good weekend and onward to CycloPark, another big and burly track he excels on.

Another addition to the Twisted team is Taylor-Lei Mohan from Peckham in 17+ female. Taylor has serious power, track presence and a total racers attitude when she’s on the track, who wants to be at the front no matter what and nothing else is good enough for her. Taylor had a really good weekend at Manchester with the team. Winning her first national motos was a huge achievement. Making the semi and then A final on both days was a great result, getting a 6th on Saturday and a 5th on Sunday. She found Sunday more challenging as she got a bad start in her semi, so she was sat in 7th, but fought her way through the pack to get a 4th on last straight. The atmosphere from the team was great and she can’t wait for CycloPark.  Check her out on a track she knows well, being a London based Southern rider.

Princess Morgan’s Dad Tom Haslam has now joined her on the team and is representing us in 40-44 cruisers. Tom is well known for sending jumps and having fun on the track, so we can’t wait to see what he’ll be trying a clear this season! He was really looking forward to the start of the new race season and was loving the track changes at Manchester.  Saturday started off well with some good Moto results putting him in the semi’s, then qualifying to the A final. A crash on the 2nd straight in the final put an end to the weekends racing, but luckily, he walked away with just a shoulder injury. Tom will be back at CycloPark, another track he really enjoys and will probably be bullied into jumping the first straight triples again by his rad daughter.

The Hackney Insta boys Nathan Konggutong and Meeshaq Malone were fighting for places and going well in the 17-24 men’s category. Both of them are now finding their feet in one of the biggest and hardest categories there is. Nathan didn’t enjoy the weekend as much as he’s hoped, coming unclipped in his quarter on day one, then failing to weave his way through heavy traffic in his quarter on day two. He’s looking forward to better luck on a track he knows better at CycloPark. Meeshaq faired a little better on his striking pink custom SCR, dreadlocks flowing he managed to get through to the semi-finals on both days. Meeshaq had his cornering on point at the weekend, dominating the first turn to great effect, especially in Sunday’s quarter. His power is getting right up there and with a bit more luck we know he can make the A’s at CycloPark.

Vet’s got crazy hard this year, not the biggest field the class has ever seen, but all the big hitters were there, even Hugo Martin, the W3 from Portugal was over getting in on the action. With such a class field it was really hard to get out of the motos and into the semi, in fact every moto was like a semi. Spencer Cremin didn’t have any luck at all, crashing out in his first moto on Saturday, the big man forgot that the laws of physics didn’t actually apply to him and he hit the floor so hard the leaky ceiling shook and rumor has it that plaster actually fell from the wall across the corridor in the velodrome.  Luckily no fault lines appeared in the last straight (as usually happens with earthquakes) and racing could resume as normal. Obviously after a big off like that Spencer wasn’t himself in the next two motos and didn’t get though, then called it a day on Sunday.

Also, out in Vet’s was Twisted’s nobility, Miles Kirby. Miles loves nothing more than throwing out turn bars over doubles, but this weekend was serious, getting out of the motos was going to be tough, so back wheels were left on the track and the elbows were out in the turns. Everything was going well on Saturday, progressing with though the motos with some solid racing Miles made the semi’s where his luck ran out, he hit the deck in the first berm whilst diving up the inside pushing for a qualifying spot and was crashed into by a following rider, causing rumors that he was actually looking for a stash of nuts he’s buried earlier. The B final went well for him considering he was cut and bruised, he weaved through the chaos to get a 3rd. Day two the Lord was stiff and sore, but went out to give it his best shot. After having a disastrous first moto, being shut down at the first jump by the W3 who didn’t get the best gate Miles was pushed out of the back of a stacked pack and finished a disappointing 6th. Miles then had to fight hard for every place he could get in the remaining motos and scraped though to the semis on count-back, with an outside gate he struggled to get up into a qualifying position and had to settle for another B final. The B was chaos again, mid pack battling always the way round Miles held strong eventually crossed the line in 4th.

We had some fantastic news from our growing international family over the weekend. Twisted USA rider Tyler Hagan was getting the results he needed to qualify for this year’s worlds in Belgium, so massive congratulations to him for winning the chance to represent his county and Twisted on the worlds stage. With a bit of luck Tyler will be able to visit the UK while he’s in Europe this summer and get the opportunity to hit up some races here.

Please come and check out the Twisted team set up at CycloPark at the next round of the national series and see what full custom options we can offer on our dream builds. We’ve got 3k weave carbon rims different options on logo colour, we also supply custom laser etched Onyx hubs in any conceivable colour combination and also offer a complete wheel building package. We are the Onyx European Warranty and Service Centre and only use genuine Onyx parts. We are the sole-European supplier of SCR frames, welded by the legendary Sal Correa, provided in the most unique powder colours on the market and with custom themed frame graphics. We have led the way in disc conversion kits and now offer brackets with build in tensioners that fit most frames, from 10mm up to 20mm axles. 

Please check our website out to see the full range of products we offer, including Flow Vision Goggles and Eyewear, Fist gloves and Reckless racewear.

We would like to thank our worldwide sponsors and team partners for their continued support going into the 2019 season. Sal Correa Racing, Tangent Products, Onyx Racing, MTX Audio, HRV Fitness, Fist Handware, Reckless Race Concepts, Flow Vision, Joov Muscle Rub, High Roller Energy Drink, Powers Bike Shop, Sic Surface, Nik Nak Engineering, Fifteen BMX Magazine, Riders Life Australia, Auto Barn Hoppers Crossing.

Twisted Concepts Report – 2018 British BMX Series R11 & 12 | Gosport

Photo’s & text submitted by Team Manger Paul Hallett

Words by Miles Kirby

Photos by BMX Widow Photography

Twisted Concepts Report – 2018 British BMX Series R11 & 12 | Gosport

Photo’s & text submitted by Team Manger Paul Hallett

Words by Miles Kirby

Photos by BMX Widow Photography

For rounds 11 and 12 of the HSBC National BMX Series the team traveled south to Gosport. There hadn’t been a national at Gosport for 5 years, some of the team hadn’t even started racing the last time a national was held there and Harry Kirby did his first ever national in 6 and under.

The track had been re-built this year by French track builders Pro Tracks, the builders of Baku Worlds track and Zolder, next year’s Worlds track. It was nothing like the previous one, it had been returned to a more standard 4 straight inside/outside U shape and it’s much wider than the 6 or 7 straight marathon that stood there before. The track didn’t have a massive 5 metre monster start hill, it had a more standard height hill with a Pro Gate and a Nic Nak Engineering barrel. The gate and pad had probably the best grip of any gate in the country, it didn’t slip at all, your front tyre gripped perfectly, and you had no wheel spin at all, regardless of how bad the conditions got.

The first and second straight are similar in many ways to Telford, from the gate there’s a big mellow double, suited to a pump or manual, then a big triple into the first berm. The first berm itself is huge, reminiscent of Manchester Indoor’s first berm, giving ample opportunity for moves and it can accommodate multiple exit lines as the track splits into two for the second straight. Like Telford, the jump out of the berm is a low roller double shared by the pro and challenge straight; then the pro goes off to the right and is a huge step up with a normal lippy double on the left for everyone else, the final jump on the straight is a step up you can jump onto like the last jump on the Cyclopark first straight. The second berm has a big exit and is very steep, which is good, because you must carve a tight line to stop people cutting across the back of the pro straight landing and getting under you. The third straight starts off with an easy step up, but there’s a roller almost at the bottom of the landing, so most prefer the manual, because it’s really easy to over jump and go over the bars, something that was happening to riders all weekend, then a series of deep rollers, before a table, then finally a step up to step down into the last steep and sharp berm. The final straight has an awkward table right out of the corner, it’s pretty steep and kicky, but short, so very easy to over jump, most older riders either pick up for it, or tap manual it. Luckily the rest of the straight is a traditional rhythm, albeit a deep one, with a short sprint to the line.

The Twisted Towers team gazebo set up was in a great spot as ever, this time we were on the top of the final berm, giving us a superb view of the track from on high. We had the usual spacious 3 gazebo set up, which was handy because the weather predicted for the weekend would mean there would be lot of us in there all day. Some of the team had a chance to race the new track in the build up to the national, some of the South Region racers had taken part in a regional there a couple of weeks previous and a few of our Midland crew took park in a club race there the week before, so the track wasn’t a complete unknown quantity to at least some of us. The regional and club race held prior to the national were both wet and windy affairs and there was a very changeable forecast for the national too, so the wet and windy experience could be invaluable.

Friday night practice was a cold and windy affair with drizzle, most of the team took part, some of us stayed on for the open practice, but only did a few extra laps before throwing in the towel, the risk of injury and crashing was increasing, and we’d got what we needed from the session. Saturday was a much nicer day with the weather and the track ran considerably quicker, so there was a lot to be learnt in not very much time, you could realise the potential of the track too, you got to feel how it should be ridden. Sunday was horrendous, horizontal rain for the majority of the day and it was relentless, getting worse and worse as the day went on, so the organisers changed things a bit, making the day shorter with a two-moto transfer system, something very rarely seen in the UK. The meeting was pushed along very effectively, with only a few minutes break for administration between the knockout stages. The track held out superbly, remaining hard enough to race and not rutting up at all, with the track team working tirelessly to sweep standing water away as every race went past, a picture posted online shortly after the event finished showed every straight under water and only the jumps showing!

It was the perfect opportunity for us to test out our new goggles too, in all conditions. We’ve just picked up a new eye wear sponsor Flow Vision and we were really happy about that, because we were certainly going to be needing them!  With the whole squad running the pioneering disc brake system our bikes would be better suited to downpours than a lot of others, speed control would not be an issue any Twisted rider would have to deal with. The team, as ever gave it their best, we all had a great time and we got some great results along the way too, here’s how it broke down for them individually.

Ben Hallett | Cruiser 9-12

This was Ben’s first time at the Gosport track and his initial thoughts were that in places it was like the Telford track and at other parts it reminded him of Redditch.  Given that these are 2 tracks that Ben likes, we were hopeful he would do well.

Unfortunately, on Saturday, Ben didn’t make it past the Moto stage, which was very disappointing for him.  However, on Sunday, despite the incredibly bad weather conditions, Ben fought a couple of good battles and got into the semi-finals.  This was an enormous boost for Ben and he was both nervous and excited about reaching the semi-finals.  Ben was happy to make the B final as he has been competing against kids who are considerably bigger, and more powerful.

Ben’s technical skills are improving at every race, he is fast out of the gate and often in the top 3 at the first berm.  However, his lack of power means he loses positions as the race progresses.  Hopefully as he gets older, and a bit taller, he will start to develop more muscle, which will give him the power he needs.

Reaching the semi-final on Sunday was a great confidence builder for Ben which should help him going forward.

Harry Kirby  |  Expert Male 11

Harry had ridden the track at the regional a couple of weeks before and liked it, he was looking forward to having another go and seeing what he could do at the national. The Saturday didn’t go so well for Harry on the track, his gates just weren’t there, and he was struggling to get on the correct line though the first berm, his third and final straight were fast, it was just the first quarter of the race that was letting him down.

Off the track he was very happy to see his (and Ben’s) buddy Zion Poulter, who had a horrible crash at Telford national and he’d come along to the event to watch after being released from a stay in hospital. Harry even got to push Zion around in his wheelchair and cheer him up, which probably worried Zion’s dad no end.

Sunday was a better day on the track for H, he loves racing in the rain and it showed, his first moto he pulled out a strong mid pack finish, his second moto was a tough one and he pushed the previous day’s finalists to the line and if he’d have got a better gate could have been ahead of some. Harry ended up in a 6-way point tie for the knockout stages and lost out on count back. Harry knows he needs to work hard on his gates over the winter to start making the semi finials next year, so he’s going to start putting the work in now.

Morgan Haslam | Expert Female 14

Morgan had spent a few days at Gosport in the run up to the weekend, so she got to get some practice in before racing. She felt she could ride the track and had fun playing on it, but she said ‘if I’m honest it’s not been one of my favourite tracks this year to race on’.

On Saturday she had a good day, getting a 1st, 2nd & 3rd in her motos, followed by a second in her semi. A good gate from gate 4 gave her a good line into first corner, railing it into 2nd place and managed to hold it round the track.

Sunday was a challenge in the rain and wind, but for some reason Morgan feels she rides well in bad weather and Sunday was no different. She was buzzing to take a clean rack of 1st in her motos and semi, then topped it off with another 2nd place finish in the final. Gosport national has been her best ever weekend for results since she started racing nationals so she’s seriously happy about it!

Finn Clark | Expert Male 15

‘Let’s all go to the south coast for a bit of sunshine, a sneaky break in the New Forest for starters, meant Finn could visit Gosport BMX track for the first time and get some track time’ was the message from Finn’s Dad.

Day 1 started off not the way we would have hoped, the gate dropped and so did Finn, little sharp for the gate’s liking and he hit the deck! Oh dear, it was straight to semis on Saturday, dropping 16, so this was going to be a tough one. Moto 2 couldn’t have gone any sweeter, obviously no problems with the gate and 2nd into the first berm, chasing Macca down underneath him into the 2nd and brought it home, happy days, revival back on.  A nervous 3rd moto needing a 3rd, but a 4th could still be good enough. Not a great gate and 5th into first berm, he was battling with Jayden for that 4th, or he was out. The final straight was strong and 4th in the bag. The top 16 was on count back, phew, that 1st place did the business.

The Semi was a mixed bag, 5th into the first berm looked promising until a little mistake coming out of the 2nd turn, bonking the front wheel nearly putting him over the handle bars, he lost all the momentum, game over as 4th moved away. Even though Finn tried to make it up it wasn’t happening. In the B final Finn was in the mix for most of the race grabbing a 4th.

Day 2, well what can we say that hasn’t already been said, WET, reduced to two motos, so the pressure was on to progress to the semis. A great start with a 2nd and sealed it with a strong 3rd in moto 2. Semi time and like day 1 great start in 5th with 4th in touching distance, coming out of the last corner and this was it, lining Matty up for a drag race to the finish. Another oops, a weekend of mistakes, it was not going to be. Bonking and casing, whatever you want to call it, it’s losing momentum, so another B final. This was going to be the highlight of the weekend with the rain absolutely lashing down, as the gate dropped he never looked back, a storming 1st and a great result. So, all in all a mixed bag of results, but also lots of positives.

Meeshaq Malone | Expert Male 17-24

It was the official team debut for new signing, the super quick and awesomely stylish Meeshaq Malone in the mega tough 17-24 men’s category. Looking back at his weekend our dreadlocked style guru said ‘From racing at Gosport on Saturday and Sunday I felt like riding on the new SCR improves my confidence and my ability on the track. I enjoyed racing but cost myself a semi making a mistake on last straight which ruined my day’. Getting used to a new bike when you first get to ride it at a national is a tough ask as any racer will know, even for a rider as naturally talented as Meeshaq.

On Sunday he felt a lot more confident, and even had the snap in his second Moto, but the bad weather caused him to go off balance, causing him to damage his ribs. He’ll be back and ready for Leicester to show his potential, when he’s properly used to his bike.

Nathan Konngutong | Expert Male 17-24

After coming first in his Junior Elite A title in Thailand in July, Nathan was itching to get back to the Nationals here and racing on a decent track again, he said ‘the two tracks I’ve raced on in Thailand in the last two years were both really rough’.

Unfortunately, Gosport was a bit of a washout in more ways than one for him. He finished fifth in his first two motos on Saturday, then crashed on his third moto. This resulted in yet another hospital visit for Nathan, at the advice of the paramedics he had to be taken to A&E by team premier Paul Hallett. The crash put him out of contention for racing the rest of the day and the whole of Sunday. Fortunately, there was nothing broken, just cuts bruises, and a sore elbow, wrist and belly, but he should be back racing soon, as usual he can’t wait to race his SCR again as soon as possible.

Martin Smiley Brown | Cruiser 17-29

Any national near a beach is set to be a winner in Smiley’s eyes! After the long drive down to Gosport he got there to help with gazebo set up as planned. He thought the track looked amazing, he’d been really wanting to ride it since the videos had started appearing on social media. There was a head wind blowing on the first and third straight, so he thought it looked interesting when practice got underway. He said he couldn’t really feel the wind, so it was time to get his head around the track. He thought the Nik-Nak gate was truly amazing.

Saturday was a tough one in the cruisers, 30-39 were merged with his class 17-29, as they only had a few riders, but there were some very quick ones at that. Saturday saw Smiley get 3rd, 3rd, and 5th in the motos, then the dreaded 5th spot in the most stacked semi he’d ever been in. Smiley was disappointed to get 7th in the B final, his worst result of the season so far.

Sunday, Smiley woke up feeling fresh, but the weather was wet and set to get far worse as the day went on, and also forecast to get very windy, and boy did that happen. Luckily, he had his Flow Vision goggles keeping his vision clear. Listening to people moaning about lack of brakes etc. due to the rain made him feel so confident on his custom SCR with a disc brake! Cut down to two moto transfer he had a 3rd and a 1st, great results. He then got though the semi-final with a 4th and onto the A final with a 7th, a much more satisfying result then the previous day.

It was time to get packed up and well out of there for some beach fishing in the pouring rain with his son Harry, what a nutter! Smiley has a few weeks off now till the Brits where he has the honour of rocking the 1.1 plate. And another track near a beach, he can’t wait!

Tonn Haydon | Expert Male 25-29

Our backpacking Australian team mate was back for more UK BMX action after having such a great time at Telford national. Since then he’s been riding tracks all over England, then he crossed over to The Emerald Isle and took part in an Irish national. He couldn’t resist one more go at a British national before continuing on his European adventures. He said he really enjoyed the new Gosport track. In his considerable experience of riding and racing tracks all over the planet he thinks corners in England are shaped so much better than anywhere else in world. The racing went pretty well for him in the kind of weather he isn’t really used to and we’re not sure he really likes!

Tonn was racing in the combined 25-29 and Masters class, which is a pretty tough group. He got the job done and made the main on both days, getting a 7th on Saturday and a 6th on Sunday, having some superb mid pack battles along the way. He had to admit though that he spent most of Sunday wishing he got some Flow Vision goggles as well, they were defiantly needed!

This was Tonn’s last race in the UK until next year, so we’ll be sad to see him go and hopefully we’ll see him again soon. He said he had the best time with everyone and loved being in the Twisted tent, and we loved having him there too!

Rich Ayles | Cruiser & Masters

Richard was looking forward to racing a new track, but not looking forward to the forecast weather. He rocked up on Saturday morning and with very little practice quickly found his preferred lines on the track. He thought the layout seemed like Telford, with a first straight that suits his style of riding.

Practice was going great until a big OTB, thankfully he sustained only superficial wounds and was good to go! Rich was racing both bikes on the Saturday, and due to the low numbers in 30-39 cruiser they were mixed with a pretty stacked 17-29 class. Racing was going well and 3 good moto results, topped with a 3rd moto win put him into the semi-finals. Another good lap in the semi put him into the final and he ended the day with a 7th, which he was pretty pleased with given the strength of the group.

On the 20” his racing was consistent, and he ended the day with a 4th place in a tough group which seems to get harder as the rounds go on.

On the Sunday Rich was only racing the one bike, which was a relief as his legs were feeling pretty tired from the previous day. The weather was not looking good either, so in probably the worse conditions he’d ever raced, Rich ended the day with 3rd place and strangely he enjoyed the challenging conditions. Rich said ‘I’m looking forward to finishing the season off at one of my favourite tracks in Leicester. Bring it on!’

Miles Kirby | Vets

Lord Miles had a superb regional at Gosport in the build up to the event, getting a 2nd in combined 30+ (Vets and Masters) and he was really looking forward to trying to turn his luck around after crashing or being put off the track quite a bit in this year’s nationals and messing up more than his fair share of semi- finals.

Saturday’s motos went well, Vets is a super evenly matched class, full of riders of a very similar standard and speed, so things are always very tough. He was feeling good, but there was that familiar feeling of deja-vu, the semi didn’t go to plan and Miles had to settle for the B final. He led the B out, but coming from an outside gate he couldn’t get across quick enough on the big wide first straight and a couple riders got into the berm under him. Miles battled hard but just couldn’t back get in front no matter what he tried and crossed the line still in 3rd, but it was super close all the way round.

Sunday, Miles had two really hard draws in the motos and managed to keep a couple of riders behind even though he was caught in traffic, enough to get through to the semis, but not enough for an inside gate selection. In Sunday’s semi-final he was in another 3 way battle for the 4th place all the way round, coming out of the first turn he managed to get a glimpse of the 4th place slot, but couldn’t hold it, he got another shot out of the final corner too slipping up the inside from a high low, but the rider on the outside bounced the racer taking the middle line into Miles, stopping him more or less dead, so it was a B final for the second day running. The Lord didn’t make any mistakes this time, leading out from the front and putting down two very fast straights to pull clear, then he carefully rode the second two, making sure he made no mistakes with two of his closest competitors breathing down his neck, taking a commanding victory.

Miles is hoping to turn his semi-final block around at Leicester for the final two rounds, on a track that should suit his fearless cornering and powerful technique. Miles was especially impressed with his new Flow Vision goggles, they didn’t steam up at all, gave him great vision and sat comfortably in his helmet, giving him a clear view of the race in tough conditions, he also loved his Twisted Concepts disc brake system, giving him complete control and confidence in his bike in the torrential rain.

Myles Gault | Cruiser 45+

The unicorn pilot wasn’t really hoping for much at Gosport, it’s not a track he’s fond of, even though it has a brilliant gate and a power first straight. Saturday, moto one, Myles got a pretty good gate and was mid pack when all hell broke loose at the start of the third straight, he narrowly avoided the pile up and found himself battling for 3rd place, with a hard but fair berm move he secured the position. Moto 2 didn’t go well, after winding himself up and blowing his gate completely. Moto 3 saw some great battles but not good enough to make the cut to the knockout stage, so time for an early beer.

On Sunday the track and bad weather were not going to suit his style. Too many previous injuries saw him seizing up in the cold and damp, and in his words ‘riding like a corpse with rigor mortis’.  He said ‘at least my appearance was on point thanks to the Flow Vision goggles’. Myles is looking forward to Leicester and a track he thinks will suit his style.

Please pop by to see us at Leicester National, we’ll be more than happy to show you what we believe are the best factory race bikes there are. We’ll have Twisted signature FIST gloves for sale, as well as the super cool looking range of Flow Vision goggles. Our signature ‘3g weave’ carbon rims will be on display and ready to buy, plus all the rest of our hardware on show.

After the torrential rain at Gosport maybe you’re now ready to go down the disc route, which we have been at the forefront of in the UK and we’ll be happy to discuss our bracket options and advise you on which Onyx to get (and remember if you get your Onyx hubs from us laser etching is complementary).  We are also the European service and warranty centre for Onyx, we only use Onyx ceramic bearings and the same Teflon grease used in the Onyx factory, so your hubs will literally come back like new. Remember if you order hubs from us we can do them in nearly any conceivable colour combination and custom laser etching is complementary.

We now have SCR frames in all sizes, disc specific or V brake, and if you’re looking for a special colour and decal combination we can sort that out, no problem at all, with our custom painters and special relationship with ENV Graphics.

We would like to thank our sponsors and team partners Cranks Bros, Powers Bikes Shop, Lead Racewear, Custom Racing, Tangent and ODI Grips, FIST gloves and Flow Vision goggles.

Twisted Concepts Report – 2018 British BMX Series R9 & 9 | Telford

Photo’s & text submitted by Team Manger Paul Hallett

Words by Miles Kirby

Photos by BMX Widow Photography

Twisted Concepts Report – 2018 British BMX Series R9 & 9 | Telford

Photo’s & text submitted by Team Manger Paul Hallett

Words by Miles Kirby

Photos by BMX Widow Photography

For the latest round of the HSBC British National Series the team rocked up to Telford. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve had a national at the Midlands track and we were really looking forward to it. Most of the team know Telford track pretty well and a lot of us had ridden the last regional there.  We had also privately hired the venue for a team training session not that long ago, so the homework had been done.

The last time we raced there, gazebos were destroyed overnight (luckily not ours) and wind had caused absolute chaos, so sandbags were packed as ballast, but we wouldn’t need them as the weather was glorious, the sun was shining, and the wind didn’t get more than blustery.

The track is located on a hill by the Wrekin and has stunning views looking over Wales. Originally constructed by Clarke and Kent, it’s been tweaked lately, but remains like the original build. It’s quite short for a national standard track, with huge corners and invites action packed racing, with plentiful passing opportunities. After the last few venues with sharp 5 metre hills Telford’s seemed pretty mellow, but that helped show who had the best technique, snap, power and cadence, it also boasts of fastest start gate in the country and Bensink barrel gate you couldn’t hit if you tried. The first straight has a long low set of doubles, best pumped or manualled, then a step up/step down, slightly toughed out, making it a tricky manual for some and best jumped, which was fine on the Saturday, but harder on the Sunday when a tricky headwind picked up. The first berm is huge, with a super-fast inside passing line for the brave to drift out wide on the exit and block the line of the riders railing it, rather like Manchester Indoor. The second straight has another medium sized set of low doubles best manualled, then splits into a tricky step up table and big step up into the second berm on the inside, on the outside is a pro section that is just a pumped-up version of the amateur side with grass in the middle of the jumps. Turn two is pretty steep, most riders keep as tight as they can to the pro section on the inside, not to give anyone a chance to get under them into the third rhythm straight. The third is a succession of step ups and a table, not hugely technical, but easy to get wrong with the speed you’re carrying from the big corners. The final berm is super steep asphalt wall of death, where the moves come thick and fast, it really is a do or die turn, seeing lots of riders put into the grass exiting onto the final straight, or even put up into the wooden safety fence. The final straight is a pretty tricky and very peaky rhythm section, two sets of rollers to step ups, a final triple, which for the very best riders it’s possible to triple up all the way through. The team gazebo was the usual spacious triple set up, situated halfway down the first straight, providing us with some of the best possible views of racing at the tight venue. It was lucky we had the room, as all weekend we were inundated with visitors looking at our signature carbon rims, buying our super comfy signature FIST gloves and discussing some very exciting developments on the team front. Friday practice went well for the members of the team that arrived in time to do it and we were all set for the weekends racing.

We had a very special guest staying with us too, Tonn Hayden from our Australian team was here to get in on some UK BMX action in the 25-29 men category. Our backpacking Aussie had come to Europe via the World Championships, traveling around the more Eastern side of Europe taking in as many tracks and races as he could, and eventually ended up in England a few days before the event. Only Nathan Konggutong was missing from the current factory team line up, he’s been busy in his native Thailand winning the Junior Elite title at the Thai Championships, huge congratulations to him for that. So how did the Twisted crew get on?

Harry Kirby – Male 11

Harry really likes Telford track, especially the more mellow start hill and he’s a big fan of the technical last straight. It showed on the Saturday when he battled though his moto’s, getting some great mid pack finishes, driving well though the rhythm sections and getting lots of overtaking done, and being rewarded with a place in the quarter finals. His quarter was a chaotic affair, with crashes and incidents galore, but he stayed composed and cut though the pack after a poor start, unfortunately he could only make his way up to 5th place, his best result at a national.

On Sunday he couldn’t quite match the previous day’s performance, struggling in the heat and getting some super tough moto draws he missed out on the cut to the knockout stages and went out in the motos. We think he can definitely make the semis if he can just believe in himself a little more and be more assertive in the berms. He’s going to be working hard on his consistency on the gate too, something that can let him down on the bigger stage. He has some good race practice for Gosport national coming up, as there’s a Southern regional he’s attending in the build up to the event, and if he can get it right he’ll hopefully progress further and get even better results there.

Morgan Haslam – Female 14

Fresh back from her under 16 girl’s cruiser E3 adventures at the European Championships in Sarrians Princess Morgan was super up for the job at Telford. She said has always enjoyed racing at Telford as “the track is quite fun and it’s a jumping track – just what I like!” Friday practice was fun and was much needed as she had just returned from the Euro Champs in France, and it was over a week since she had been on her bike. This national weekend she was back to racing both cruiser and 20”, a tough ask in the draining heat.

On Saturday she found the cruiser racing tough, being one of only two girls racing a category stacked with the boys. In the motos she got 5th, 6th, 5th making the B final. On the 20” she raced well, getting 1st, 2nd, 2nd in her motos, 3rd in the semi. She got a bad gate in her final finishing in 5^th, not as high as she’d hoped, but Morgan has high expectations of herself.

On Sunday although she raced both bikes her energy was spent on improving on Saturday’s results on 20”. So, she decided not to wear herself out on Sunday with the cruiser and to just throw some turn bars and just have fun! The plan worked, she looked rad, got loads of cool pictures taken and saved the necessary energy to get the results she wanted on the little wheels. On the 20” she had an awesome day with a 2nd, 1st, 1st in motos, 1st in the semi and 2nd in the final. She said, “I just had an awesome weekend!!!”

Ben Hallett – Cruiser 9-12 years, male 11 (Saturday only)

Ben is a fan of the Telford track, so he was excited to be at the National event.  He decided to compete in both 20” and Cruiser on Saturday, but opted for Cruiser only on Sunday.

His first Cruiser race and Ben got a great start, mid-pack at the end of the first straight.  After a few battles, he crossed the line in 4th place, which was a great result for him.  Unfortunately a re-run was announced due to a fallen rider from the previous Moto and in the re-run Ben got 5th.  After his second and third Moto, Ben was 1 point away from moving into the semi-finals, so was gutted that his best result hadn’t counted!

 The fallen rider, Zion Poulter, is a good friend of Ben’s, so although Ben was disappointed that the re-run had cost him his place in the semi’s, he was concerned for Zion and relieved when he heard he was being looked after in hospital and, despite having a broken leg, was doing okay.  Heal well Zion!

As Ben has not spent a lot of time on his 20” this year, his results were to be expected and he did not progress beyond the Moto round.

 On Sunday, Ben was riding Cruiser only and had some great mid-pack battles in each Moto.  The class covers age 9-12, and although Ben is 11 years old, he is rather small for his age and for now, lacks power.  In his third Moto, he was riding against 7 of the 12 years olds in the class, all of whom are considerably larger than Ben.  However, Ben takes it all in his stride (in Midlands regionals he is riding Junior Cruiser, which means he rides against some huge 16 year olds!), and he is making progress.  His technical ability is really improving, he just needs to get some power in those little legs!

Finn Clark – Male 15

The weekend started off with some pre-event nerves for Finn, as this track has never been the kindest to be fair when it comes to results. Friday practice wasn’t going to plan with gates being an issue, until Aussie team mate Tonn Haydon thrashed him around for an hour and he was good to go.

Day one started off just as we could have hoped, with a stacked gate, this would be a test and he passed it with a 2nd, following up with a 3rd, then another 2nd, happy days. Now though to where the money is earned, the knockout stages. Quarters are always a nervous time, but Finn sailed through with a 2nd and on to the Semis. A great start, 4th into first berm, he just needed to hold it and we’re through, but no, the boy wanted some more and snatched a 3rd on the line. The A final, no matter what, this was going to be tough, and it was, from the start. Holding 7th for most of the lap it was tight, and that was proved with a tumble in the final berm, thankfully Finn just missed it coming home with a 4th, thank you Lady Luck.

Race day 2 saw a couple of riders dropping out because of injury we were down to 30 riders, which meant straight cut to semis. This meant consistent laps and no mistakes, he started off meaning business bagging a couple 3rd’s. With only a top 6 needed to guarantee a transfer spot Finn pushed to the line for a 4th. Semis and not a great start, there was a lot to do in 6th, but 4th was in touching distance, jumping into the second berm and almost hitting the riders in front the disc brake did its job, but it was game over with too much to claw back, but the boy never gave up as always to the line and made one place to the dreaded 5th. So, it was B final time, a good opportunity to gain some valuable points and everything was still to play for. The names in it were crazy, it could have been an A final. A great start and Finn was in the mix, all the riders were giving it everything and the drive out the final berm was the key, a great drag race until the end, boom 3rd place, happy days. All in all, a great weekend with some serious points gained.

Martin ‘Smiley’ Brown. 17-29 Cruiser

Telford national is the race Smiley had been waiting for all year.  He said “The weather was perfect, possibly a little windy, but trust me it’s been a lot worse there!”  He was at the track at 2pm on Friday to meet up with the team and help set up.  Smiley was a bit unsure about how the weekend was going to go, as this was his son’s first time watching him race and he wasn’t sure how Harry would be.  Smiley had a few practice laps on Friday, which went well, and came back to be told Harry has been as good as gold, so hearing that put him in a better frame of mind.

Saturday morning and Smiley was feeling pumped and ready to go, but had seen there was some seriously tough competition.  It was set to be the hardest race weekend so far of this year’s national series.  In the 1st moto had had gate 8, with a short and wide 1st straight, it was going to be tough.  He had an amazing gate and got across to take the win.  Moto 2 was also going to be from the outside, coming from lane 7, so just as hard, but he managed a 2nd, with another 2nd in Moto 3.  Semi time and Smiley chose gate 1, but sadly was shut down into the first berm and ended up in the dreaded 5th.  Through to the B final and a killer 2nd berm move saw Smiley take the win.

Sunday, the temperature was up and he was feeling it!  Smiley spent a lot of the day helping the club water the track, which probably took its toll.  The motos went very well with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd.  Semi time, and he needed this, getting 5th on Saturday had hit him hard, time for some redemption.  Hearing in the pens “no, Smiley’s in this one” just added that bit of fuel to the fire, the date dropped and he rode a very good lap, finishing 3rd.  Smiley said “The main was by far the hardest race I’ve ever done”.  From gate 1, feeling a side wind, his mind was on that and he didn’t get the gate he was hoping for and ended the race in 7th.

He said “certainly not my best result, but I was happy with it.  Massive thank you to the team for my support, but more importantly to me, making Harry so welcome and keeping an eye on him while I raced”.

Tonn Haydon – Masters

Representing Twisted Concepts Australia, Tonn had visited England to race a few years ago, so he was no stranger to the UK BMX scene and has quite a few existing friends here, but he had only met the Hallett family a few days before racing and nobody else on the team at all.  It was definitely very interesting to get his take on a UK national, as he is an extremely well-travelled rider who has raced all over the world.

Tonn struggled a bit with the speed of the Bensink gate, he said they are way faster than the gates he is used to in Australia.  He felt like had good track speed, but he was always playing catch up after bad gates.

The highlight of his racing in the super-tough combined 25-29 and Master’s class was the 3rd place he pulled from Lane 8 on Saturday.  He is now feeling super motivated and may change his travel plans to get back to the Gosport National, and we would love to have him with us. Tonn is such a cool, easy-going guy, fantastically easy to get along with and helpful with his team mates, always offering good advice if it is needed.  He absolutely loved meeting everyone in the UK team and had an incredible weekend, and is super thankful to everyone involved in it.

Rich Ayles – Masters & Cruiser 30-39

Telford National, Richard’s favourite national of 2018 so far, being a shorter, tighter track, it made for some great racing.  He registered for both classes and was keen to see where he was at on the BMX as it was his first national of the year on his preferred 20” bike.

Rich thought, as usual, that the team setup and location were on point.  He was consistently finishing in the top two in moto’s on the Cruiser on both days and ended up with a 4th and 2nd respectively in the finals.  He was a little disappointed with the 4th, but he will openly admit it was a terrible lap, making several mistakes down the third straight. 

On the 20”, he had some great laps and seemed to have some good first straight pull, which kept him in the mix.  He was happy to make the main both days in a very strong master’s class that had been combined with the 25-29 men.  He didn’t get the results he hoped for on the little wheels, after coming together with another rider in both finals, but a 6th and 7th were very welcome.  He said “I can’t wait to get involved again in Gosport in a few weeks’ time”

Miles Kirby – Vets

After missing the Glasgow rounds Miles was itching to get back out on the national circuit. He’s been getting some great solid results in the South and London recently and he was hoping to carry that form over to the big stage. Friday practice went well, his gates were looking strong after switching back to listening to beep, rather than watching the lights, he also got the jump into the first berm done early on, so he had plenty of time to get comfortable on it, so things were looking good for his assault on the Vets class.

As far as results went both days were similar, Miles rode very well in the motos throwing corner moves and smoothing out straights, getting good results in tough races. Both days he just missed the gate in the semi and couldn’t cut though the pack enough to make the A. Both B finals turned into pure BMX pantomime though.

Day one he was in second going into the final turn pushing for the win, when he was swooped and shepherded off the corner and sent cyclocrossing down the side of the track, so for a giggle he kept on sprinting on the grass, much to the crowd’s amusement.

Day two Miles was weaving through the pack heading to the front down the 3rd straight when a rider next to him lost control, Miles is a great advocate of the disc brake and it was called into action, he pulled a 180 skid up the take-off of the next jump, which sent him running across the infield and he decided to play the joker again and did a little jig for the crowd which went down very well. You can’t always win in BMX racing, but you can always try your hardest and have a lot of fun doing it, which is what Miles did this weekend.

Miles was also presented with an official Lord title by the team for his birthday, so now he must book the team meals under the name Lord Kirby! This also amused the commentators for the weekend, who got news of this on social media and he has now picked up the new nickname ‘Lord Squirrel Nuts’!

Spencer Cremin – Vets

Not the best weekend for the physics defying big man. He started the Saturday at Telford on the cruiser getting knocked off down the first straight in the motos, but still he had the results to make the semi. Spencer had a great semi taking 2nd, so he was happy to make the main. He had a poor gate in the main though and couldn’t battle though, so 8th it was, but he was happy to be there.

His 20″ went well all day in the super tight Vets class, progressing thought the motos and semi into the A final. Spencer had a great gate and was happy with his first straight but trying to hold on to 6th place on the table at the end of the third straight he came together with another rider and hit the dirt hard! So, race over and too injured to race Sunday,

After a trip to the hospital Spencer found out he’d broken his wrist. If Spencer is out for Gosport the fans are going to be missing out on one of their unorthodox favourites, the public love his science baffling riding techniques, even if Tonn kept covering his face watching the big man manual! Spencer said, ‘Love the track at Telford short and fast was great to race on and great to watch some close fast finals.’

Myles Gault – 45-49 Cruiser

After a good practice session on Friday, things were looking promising for Myles. After a rough couple of months his BMX mojo was coming back.

Saturday warm up, he thought gates were on point. Moto one he got a stonking gate and was in a drag race over the first jump, as the second approached he was reminded of his rookie national status and the door was firmly slammed on him.  This set the tone for day one and he was moto’d.

The moto’s on Sunday were going well, until 3 bikes tried to fit a gap for one, unable to avoid the carnage he crashed into another rider and bike and smashed his tiny foot into the floor, ending up 6th.  Stopping to check the fallen was unhurt was a decision he’d later regret. Moto 3:  got his best gate ever, he held his nerve and got a solid 4th place. Missing the cut by only one point was a gutter, but showed he’s making good progress.

Please pop by to see us at Gosport National, we’ll be more than happy to show you what we believe are the best factory race bikes there are. We’ll have Twisted signature FIST gloves for sale, possibly the odd giveaway, our signature 3K weave carbon to look at and buy, plus all hardware on show.

We are also the European service and warranty centre for Onyx, we only use Onyx ceramic bearings and the same Teflon grease used in the Onyx factory, so your hubs will literally come back like new. Remember if you order hubs from us we can do them in nearly any conceivable colour combination and custom laser etching is complementary.

We now have SCR frames in all sizes, disc specific or V brake, and if you’re looking for a special colour and decal combination we can sort that out, no problem at all, with our custom painters and special relationship with ENV Graphics.

We would like to thank our sponsors and team partners Crank Brothers, Powers Bikes Shop, Lead Racewear, Custom Racing, Tangent race products and ODI Grips.

Twisted Concepts are proud to be supported by …

Twisted Concepts Report – 2018 British BMX Series R7 & 8 | Knightswood, Glasgow

Photo’s & text submitted by Team Manger Paul Hallett

Words by Miles Kirby

Photos by BMX Widow Photography | Smithy’s Photography

Twisted Concepts Report – 2018 British BMX Series R7 & 8 | Knightswood, Glasgow

Photo’s & text submitted by Team Manger Paul Hallett

Words by Miles Kirby

Photos by BMX Widow Photography | Smithy’s Photography

The latest rounds of this year’s HSBC British National Series saw the team crossing north over the border into Scotland, but instead of Cumbernauld this year’s Scottish rounds would be in Glasgow.

The newly finished Clark and Kent track had only been completed and open to the public for a couple of weeks, so very few riders had the chance to ride it before the event. The track, home to Glasgow’s Western Titans is another jewel in the crown of British BMX. Social media updates from those who’d ridden the track were foreboding, video clips and pictures of steep jumps, massive start hills and technical rhythm sections were sending the race public wild with speculation in the build up to the event.

The weather forecast was looking ominous too, so provisions for every conceivable eventuality would have to be packed for the event. Some of the team arrived Thursday for extra practice and were passing back messages that the hard-standing track side wasn’t fully finished yet, so welly boots and cleaning equipment for the bikes would be high on the list of things to take.

The track is in Knightswood, Glasgow, at a custom-built BMX facility costing hundreds of thousands of pounds, especially built for the Elite European Championships, an event coming up in August. Aside from the track itself there is a permanent brick office and reception, as well as a hugely popular pump track. There is ample hard standing around the track and in the immediate vicinity, so when fully finished the Titans will be able to host huge events, that could house portable medical rooms, offices, media trailers etc. Camping was limited to caravans, camper vans and motor homes, but when the area opposite the track is available accommodation for tents shouldn’t be an issue, another boost for future events, as well as a huge overflow parking area.

The track itself is trademark Clark and Kent, very steep challenging jumps, deep rhythms and a monstrous start hill, all favouring the more fearless and skillful riders, especially those who can really jump. There are two start hills next to each other a 5-metre challenge hill and an 8-metre elite hill, but for this event only the 5-metre hill was used, mainly down to the weather conditions. The stairs at the back of the hill weren’t as steep as those at Manchester Indoor, which was a relief to most, as Manchester’s are nearly as tiring to walk up as the track is to ride. The hill is very steep, by any standards and covered in a man-made material that looked like laminate wood, especially when wet, but it has a rough surface strip for each rider that gripped well; it just gave the impression it would be slippery.

The first jump was a triple with a very steep take off, with riders hitting maximum speed by the take-off, so most younger rider opted to jump in and manual or pump out, the older heavier riders were preferring the manual option. Videos had come out in the build up to the event showing people jumping the whole thing in one, but this was not going to be a viable race option. Then came a roller to pump just before a huge step up/step down quad into the first berm. The berms were extremely steep and well-shaped, but it was possible to carry huge amounts of speed though them, providing you got the challenging straights before them correct. Your line out of the first berm had to be good, you had to cut back to the inside, if you didn’t you ran the risk of being push out wide into the second straight pro section, somewhere you didn’t want to be. The second straight was a triple out of the corner, too big to jump in one, so most of the faster riders were jumping the first part as a double then pumping the third, this was followed by a pump roller into a long low double, then time for a couple of cranks before a make or break, must jump step up into the second berm. The third straight was where it got really tricky though, many riders likening the first roller to a piece of Toblerone as it was so peaky, it helped if you could jump from it into the straight, using it as a double, then follows a deep technical rhythm of doubles, a roller to table and another double into the final berm. The last berm is as steep as the others with a big enough exit for the moves to come flying in from high lows. The final straight looked like the profile of a mountain stage from the Tour De France, a roller to step up double, two more rollers close in, then a long low double to roller across the line.

The team’s gazebo set up for the weekend was in the thick of factory row, track side, half way down the first straight with a great view of the first half of the track, but due to the size of the jumps no one would get a perfect view of the whole track. There is talk of grandstands for future events to solve this problem. Things in the team area were muddy, the walk ways tight and all the teams were in close together, but Twisted towers, running the standard triple gazebo set up held tight and dry, with a maximum effort being made to keep bikes, riders and equipment clean, looking good and running as smoothly as possible in the conditions. The atmosphere in the team tent was as fun as ever, despite the rain the laughs and fun carried on throughout the weekend. We had loads of visitors coming by to check out the hardware, talk frames and hubs and generally see what we’re about. Again, the Twisted gazebo was one of the places for the teenagers and young adults to pop by and be seen, hanging out with our team riders and seeing if any other big names had popped in for a chat.

The weather for the weekend was as forecast, heavy rain on the Saturday, making racing hard work, the track slowed slightly, as would be expected, but the quality of the build shone though and there weren’t any soft spots or ruts to speak of. Sunday was an improvement on the weather, the sun shone through the clouds and track ran at full speed. This allowed GB squad rider Kyle Evans to show the crowd what the track was really designed for as he did a full demonstration lap off the 8-metre hill and jumped his way through the pro straights easily.

This weekend we were down a few riders, with school trips, injury and illness taking its toll on the team members, so it was down to the remaining crew to make an impact. We did however have a new rider trying out an SCR and looking at a possible move onto the Twisted factory team, Meeshaq Malone and he made a great impression. Meeshaq is Nathan Konggutong’s Hackney club mate and training partner, and like Nathan he has an unbelievable level of skill and he’s sure to be a big name outside of London (where he’s already very popular on and off the track) very soon. On Saturday Meeshaq tried the poorly Rich Ayles’ bike in a couple of motos after only riding it up and down the road a couple of times and seriously impressed us all by getting a couple of mid pack finishes in 17-24, on a bike he’d never taken on a track and that was too big for him. If things work out and we get Big Shaq on a custom-built bike fitted exactly for him, we think we can expect to see big things.

Ben Hallett (Cruiser, age 9-12 and Expert age 11):

Having arrived in Glasgow on Friday lunchtime, Ben was keen to check out the track, immediately running up the stairway to the top of the start hill.  Impressive, yet daunting at the same time, Ben’s immediate thought was that it was similar to the Manchester indoor start hill, but the first jump seemed much closer to the base of the hill.

Ben has been concentrating on the Cruiser class this year, but after riding around the track a few times, he felt he would ride his 20” as well, so opted to compete on Saturday only for this class, while competing in the Cruiser class on both days.

Saturday was a cold, wet, blustery day.  The rain varied between a light shower to torrential downpours throughout the day, followed by short intervals of sunshine.  After morning practice, Ben was feeling apprehensive about his day.  The wet and slippery conditions had unnerved him.  In the Cruiser class, Ben had a couple of wet Motos, where the main aim was staying upright.  Like many riders, the mud and soaking conditions made it hard to keep his feet on the pedals and he slipped his footing a number of times.  Although Ben is 11, his small stature means he lacks power and he struggles to compete against some much larger opponents.  Unfortunately Ben went out after the Moto stage, but has already been talking about how he can improve his strength and stamina. 

As Ben lined up on the gate for his first 20” Moto, the skies opened and a torrential downpour started.  Within minutes there was a river running down the start hill and the Organisers stopped all racing for 20 minutes, while we all waited for the rain to slow down.  Fortunately, the start gate is under cover, but standing on the gate, getting cold in the torrential rain didn’t help Ben’s nerves at all.  While some of his competitors made light of the occasion by flossing on the start gate, Ben stood at the side and looked overwhelmed.  By the time the gate dropped, Ben was cold, wet and losing confidence.  Unsurprisingly he went out in the Moto stages.

Sunday and the weather was slightly better.  It rained during practice but dried up for the Moto stages.  Ben was competing in Cruiser only and was feeling a little bit more confident.  In his races, he was closer to his competitors and by Moto 3, he had a great battle with another rider, swapping positions a couple of times.

Overall, Ben’s view of the track were that it was more difficult than he had first thought as it had some steep jumps and was, in Ben’s view, very peaky.  He felt it was difficult to keep his rhythm on the 3rd straight, because of the Toblerone-style roller.  However, every race is a learning experience and Ben is already looking forward to the next round of the Midlands Regional Championship (at Huncote) and the next National at Telford.

Morgan Haslam (13-14 Girls):

Arriving at the new track on Friday morning for a practice Morgan’s first thought was how big everything was and after a roll out she realised it was definitely one of the toughest tracks she had ever ridden! Practice went well and she was confident jumping the first and second straight, she found herself actually quite excited to race!

Unfortunately, on Saturday the weather was against her and Morgan crashed out in practice, when her wheel washed out landing a jump on second straight. She was taken to the medics as she couldn’t walk properly and had badly bruised her thigh and hip, having landed in a heap on her handle bars. The medics patched her up and she went back to the team area, even the walk back was a struggle, so she decided it was time to see if she could actually ride.

Even getting on her bike was a challenge and when it came to pedalling she couldn’t even clip in, so Morgan thought there was no way she could race, she was gutted. Another injured rider Paul ‘Ginge’ Maidment from the BMX Talk team came over to see how she was and he got Morgan doing some stretches to ease the soreness and pain she was in. Surprisingly for Morgan she started to feel better and could move a little easier.  Next the team set her bike up on rollers and supported her in trying to pedal, the more she moved the more the pain eased! With 10 minutes to go before racing started Morgan decided to try one moto.  She said, “It was hard and painful, but adrenaline got me through.  I had some good motos somehow managing to get 2nd, 1st, 1st with a 3rd in my semi and 5th in the final!” 

Sunday was another tough day, feeling stiff and sporting some large purple bruises it wasn’t easy, but the results were good! She got a clean rack of 1st place positions through the motos and in the semi. Unfortunately, she got boxed-in in the final and struggled to squash the jumps pumping down the third straight due to restricted movement in her leg. This caused her to lose momentum and she dropped into 4th place.  She told us after the weekend “I am disappointed the injury affected my riding but that’s a risk that comes with jumping… and I jumped in every single race so overall not a bad weekend! Although I’m definitely feeling that crash today!”

We think Morgan showed a huge amount of courage and determination to go out and grind the results out after a big off in practice, where many would have thrown in the towel, she was defiantly our team rider of the weekend.

Fin Clark (15 boys):

Race day 1 of the weekend kicked off with some nerves for Fin as the last round didn’t go to plan.  We were going straight to Semis and we were dropping 16 straight away, A strong 3rd showed those nerves had been forgotten and it continued with a more impressive 1st and 1st in the following motos, so it was game on.

Semi Final time, the gate dropped, and Finn was 2nd into the first berm, it was looking like happy days, but this was short lived, (now the dust has settled he had what could be described as a racing incident) and he found himself in the Pro Section. He dives back in, colliding with others, only to end up on the floor, wounded. That was a sure spot in another well-earned A final gone.  Oh well he had to focus on the B final and gain some good points. He did just that, boom, a 1st, and it was happy days in the end.

Race day 2 started with the confidence of day 1, he came 3rd in the first moto and continued with a 2nd and 2nd. Semi Finals time, not as good a start as the Saturday, but a more sensible berm move found him sitting in 5th, with that all important 4th place in sight. It didn’t take long before he was in 4th and heading for the Main. It wasn’t all plain sailing though, with Edward Pole pushing him all the way to the line. A Final time and as always, these guys battle to the limits, and Finn was in the middle of the pack narrowly missing a rider as they slid out. Fin was holding a strong 5th until he was past with metres to go, so a 6th. He said, ‘A great weekends racing, earning some very valuable points…Thank you again to Twisted Concepts SCR BMX’.

Martin ‘Smiley’ Brown (17-29 Cruiser):

I think we can safely say that Smiley loved Glasgow, it’s the kind of track that suits the countries raddest cruiser rider down to a T. Luckily, Smiley behaved himself this weekend and didn’t go for any rebel runs though pro-sections, to prove how easy they are, as he’s been known to do on occasion. We asked Smiley what he thought of his performance and what went down, he told us: ‘What an amazing weekend! After 8 hours driving I arrived at 10pm, to what can only be described as an awesome venue!!! Big pump track. Changing facilities and one hell of a track!!!”

“Saturday morning, with 4 laps of practice I got every line that I wanted/needed. The Motos looked stacked, I got a 5th, 4th, then a 1st! A 3rd in the semi and 7th in the main. Sunday, I woke up ready and pumped. I got 2nd, 1st and 2nd in the motos, then a 3rd in the semi. In the final I managed another 7th. All weekend the bike felt good, so I felt good! Massive well done to all the team. You rock!!! Can’t wait to head back up there again soon!!!’

Spencer Cremin (Vets):

The big man decided to concentrate his efforts on one bike, his SCR 20” XXXL, leaving the cruiser back at home.

Spencer thought the new track, and especially the start hill building was impressive. He said ‘all the riders in Vets at Friday night gate session had trouble with the 5-metre hill and hitting the triple at the bottom, but by the end of the evening, and after getting advice from other good riders about getting down the first straight I then felt comfortable with it. Basically, ditch the manual, jump in was the way forward.’

After the motos on Saturday Spencer was enjoying the first two straights and he hadn’t managed to knock over Clark & Kent’s new masterpiece, but the third and fourth straights would need a lot more time for him to find a faster line.

Racing on the Saturday went well placing 2nd, 2nd and 2nd he had 3rd pick in the A final and finished 6th.

Sunday, Spencer battered out a 3rd, 3rd and 3rd in the motos and another A final 6th place, great placings all weekend.

He found the conditions hard, with rain on the Saturday and it being such a new track it was tough, but the team pushed him through all weekend and he enjoyed it. Spencer thinks with a lot more track time and a few adjustments after the Euro games it will be a great national track and a very elite looking place.

Nathan Konggutong (17-24 men):

Nathan found the track challenging over the weekend, he actually said his favourite bit was the pump track! He had the lines and the skill to get quickly though the hardest sections, like the super technical third straight, but possibly lacked some power and speed on the first straight.

On race day 1 he got though his moto in arguably the hardest class there is, a class stacked with former Elite, soon to be Elite and World ranked riders. The quarter was tough though, he got shut down on the first straight and couldn’t pick his way though as the race drew on as everyone was absolutely flat out and no mistakes were being made.

Race day 2 and it all started off well with a 4th place, but he was going to need to carry on with the momentum and 4th or better in the next two motos to get into the quarters again, but it wasn’t to be, the following motos ran out in a similar scenario to the previous day’s quarter, he was shut down and couldn’t slip though, so out in the motos.  Nathan said he enjoyed himself and had a great weekend with the team, even if the weather and results weren’t to his liking.

Twisted Concepts should be back to full force with a complete squad for Telford, so please pop by and say hello.

Check out our new gloves from FIST, they’re super comfy and available in Twisted orange and pink. We’ll have our custom 3G weave carbon rims on display, as well as an amazing array of Onyx hubs. We are also the European service and warranty centre for Onyx, we only use Onyx ceramic bearings and the same Teflon grease used in the Onyx factory, so your hubs will literally come back like new. Remember if you order hubs from us we can do them in nearly any conceivable colour combination and custom laser etching is complementary.

We now have SCR frames in all sizes, disc specific or V brake, and if you’re looking for a special colour and decal combination we can sort that out no problem at all, with our custom painters and special relationship with ENV Graphics.

We would like to thank our sponsors and team partners Onyx racing products Crankbrothers, Powers Bikes Shop, Lead Racewear, Custom Racing, Tangent and ODI Grips.

Twisted Concepts are proud to be supported by …

Twisted Concepts Report – 2018 British BMX Series R5 & 6 | Cyclopark

Photo’s & text submitted by Team Manger Paul Hallett

Words by Miles Kirby

Photos by BMX Widow Photography

Twisted Concepts Report – 2018 British BMX Series R5 & 6 | Cyclopark

Photo’s & text submitted by Team Manger Paul Hallett

Words by Miles Kirby

Photos by BMX Widow Photography

After the postponement of rounds 3 and 4 of this year’s British National Series at Leicester, it had felt like an age since Manchester Indoor and the whole of the Twisted Concepts team had got together, as the UK team are spread across 3 different regions. Rounds 5 and 6 were hosted at Cyclopark in Gravesend, a formidable track with a reputation for hard racing, lippy jumps and changeable weather conditions, especially the wind, which have lead it to getting a few nicknames such as ‘Psychopark and Cyclonepark’.

The BMX track is located in the middle of a large cycling complex on the edge of the A2, complete with a large outer perimeter road racing circuit suitable camping and overflow parking, a cafe, changing rooms and many other facilities, which makes it the perfect venue for a national (other than a small matter of the M25). The track itself was originally built by Clark and Kent, it’s been slightly altered over the years, some would say mellowed out, some would say tweaked, but it still has their trademark lippy jumps and deep rhythm sections, making it the ultimate challenge to race on. The start hill is reasonably steep, not quite as steep as Manchester Indoor, but still steep enough that you’re going absolutely flat out when you hit the sizable first double and it’s one of the only tracks you’ll see young kids sending jumps of that size. For the older riders the second jump, a lippy triple, is a real test, with the fastest route through being a double manual or just send it, if you have the room and the nerve, then finally a step-up triple most can jump onto or manual up. The first berm is massive, with plenty of scope for gaining and loosing places, and greatly improved now there’s no longer a step with a split for the second straight pro section.

The second straight amateur side is a nice long flowing straight of step-ups and doubles, big enough for the small ones to pedal through and the older ones to regain their composure after the roller-coaster first straight. There is room for passing in turn two, but you have to be quick and judge your line right as you’re un-sighted of the apex coming over the last step up into the corner and if you cross the tight inside line you’re in for a DQ.

The third straight has seen a bit of mellowing out, with a mid-way bomb hole being filled in, which certainly seems to have worked as there were considerably less big crashes and injuries this year. Turn three is the real game changer and not everyone’s favourite, it’s steep and tight with a pretty low/mellow exit, so you have a choice if your trying to get though the pack, you can rail it for exit speed and make the pass on the final straight, but that leaves you vulnerable to the rider behind coming under you, but if you go for a swoop it’s easy to get tangled up and the rider behind can easily pass you then.

The final straight is tight and the jumps quite small, compared with the rest of the track, a technical run of step ups and step downs in a rhythm section, with a table top thrown in right at the end for good measure and if you’re feeling tired coming out of the last turn it can really feel to the older riders like your racing over a bar of Toblerone.

The Twisted gazebo was, as usual, in prime location just by the first double at the bottom of the start hill giving the riders, families and guests a great view of the first straight action. This national the Twisted team area was even busier than usual as we were giving away team posters, something no UK team had done for years to our knowledge, we also had an Instagram booth with the opportunity to win some Twisted Concepts gloves which will be arriving in the store any day now. It was just as well that we had brought both bike racks and managed to put them across the road circuit from the tent because most of the weekend out the back our team area was the place for teenagers to hang out!  The weather forecast for the weekend was changeable, but apart from the Saturday wind, which got pretty scary at times and the overnight thunder storms which got pretty scary too (for the campers) it turned out dry and sunny for a majority of the time. All the riders on the team have very different opinions on the track and certainly had very different results on it, as you always expect from Cyclopark it was an emotional roller coaster and a completely mixed bag for almost everyone.

Ben Hallett, 9-12 Cruisers:

Ben has been competing in the Junior Cruiser Class in the Midlands Regional Series. Despite being only eleven years old, he has been racing against sixteen-year olds but has risen to the challenge and seen some great improvements to his riding. Ben hoped his new skills would translate to the National Series, but Cyclopark is renowned for being a windy track, and due to his small stature, Ben struggles when the wind gusts across the track.

Saturday was a struggle for Ben, with the constant windy gusts pushing against him, occasionally almost bringing him to a halt. Unfortunately, he didn’t get past the Motos.

Sunday and Ben felt more determined. In his first two Motos, he got pushed wide on the first berm, losing places. However, by the third Moto, he was ready for another battle and fought from start to finish, overtaking right up to the line.

Ben is looking forward to Glasgow where a completely new track means all riders have lots to learn.

Harry Kirby, 11 Boys:

It’s safe to say Harry has always been cautious of Cyclopark, but after racing the regional there a couple of weeks ago he’s gained a little more confidence, at least now he was fully committing out of the gate and peddling to the first jump with conviction. His first couple of motos he was still a bit over cautious, but he really went for it in his third moto and heading into the first double mid-pack, getting his best gate there so far, but disaster struck, a brutal crosswind came across and blew him and a couple of other riders off and over the first jump, he was fine, just a few cuts and bruises, but we were worried it would really knock his confidence back, it would also mean he would go out in the motos. It didn’t stop him smiling though, he dusted himself down and got on the rest of the weekend. On day two Harry was feeling stiff and sore, but still kept on committing to the first jump, he didn’t come last, but we could see he wasn’t at his best after the previous day’s tumble and with 21 to drop for semi-finals it was a big cut and he failed to make the cut again. 

Morgan Haslam, 13-14 Girls:

Cyclopark has never been Morgan’s favourite track, but she went into the weekend feeling positive. Saturday she was racing both bikes, on cruiser it was always going to be tough racing with the mixed boys / girls 13-14 category. She got 5th in each of her motos which ended her days racing there finishing in 9th overall. It was better on her 20” getting 2nd, 3rd, 2nd in the motos, the wind got up for the semi and it meant she couldn’t jump the first which was the fastest way through but she still made it through to the A final and finished 6th. On Sunday, Morgan only raced 20”, the wind had died down and she was able to jump again! She got 1st, 4th, 3rd in her motos and was buzzing to have got the nerve to send the triple on first straight in two of her motos (before her Dad too). Again, she made the A final and unfortunately was too boxed in to jump and got stuck at the back of the pack struggling to battle through but was happy with 7th. Not the results she was hoping for. Making more technical moves doesn’t always give Morgan the speed she needs, but that’s something that will come with time. At the moment Morgan is really enjoying her enjoying riding and stepping it up with her skills, especially jumping.

Callum Clancy, 12 Boys:

Callum was pleased to be riding a bike in the heat after such a long winter and he said it feel like Manchester indoor was last year now.

He likes Cyclopark and settled into it nicely after having not been here since last year’s rounds. First moto on Saturday was from gate 8 and he had to battle hard to finish with a fifth place from fellow country man Danny O’ Gorman who is riding very well. Moto 2 and he got the hole shot from gate 2 but left the door open a little in the first berm and two riders nipped in, he couldn’t close the gap on them and the dreaded Cyclopark wind was starting to pick up at this stage so he had to take 3rd. Moto 3 from gate 5 and an average gate left him in 4th on the second straight, he had to dab his brake as the boy in front came across him and another rider got past him too, so another 5th.

Then dreaded quarter time and at this stage the wind was blowing fiercely. From gate 6 he didn’t get a great start and manualed the first double but Sonny Flavell, who jumped it, landed wrong and into his path, they both came down really hard. Callum knew he’d hurt himself badly as he went into the face of the second jump with his left elbow first. He thinks Sonny was knocked out cold for a few seconds too, so a nasty crash all round.

They both ended up in the local hospital. After an x-ray he was told that he’d broken the end of his elbow. He took the news fantastically well, saying ‘as they say, that’s racing..!’ He would just like to thanks all his teammates/members and friends for all their well wishes. Also, he found sitting and watch Sundays racing from the Twisted concepts SCR gazebo was more painful than his elbow…!

Fin Clarke, 15 Boys:

Race day 1, the weekend kicked off with some positive Moto results 2nd, 4th, then 2nd which set the confidence for the knockout stages. Progressing onto the quarters he came 3rd, so onto the Semis. As in every age group the Semis are the bread winners and where the real pressure is, it didn’t start great, with him unclipping at the bottom of the start hill, so 8th was on the cards, but not for this boy. He plugged away and picked riders off one by one, until the infamous final berm, in 6th and the two riders in front decided to battle it out. He said thank you very much, as the boy read it like a book and dived under them both and took the 3rd place and a shot in the A final! The gate dropped and it was time to battle with the best of Britain his age in the main event, people were battling left, right, centre, creating gaps everywhere, plus mechanical failures, he got a great 4th place, his best National placing to date.

Sunday, race day 2. After dropping a couple of riders from Day 1 it meant no Quarters, so straight to Semis. On Saturday’s moto results that should be no problem, top 4 in each Moto should do it, but the computer gods weren’t with us and the motos were going to be a challenge. First moto, 4th, happy days. Then a technical issue occurred with his bike and he had to share bikes with a teammate for a race, but he showed his flexibility and class and smashed out a 5th, ouch. Now the pressure was on, he needed a top 3 to secure the semi-final place, with two 2nds on day 1 he knew it was possible. As the gate dropped it was going to be a challenge from there, by the exit of the first berm the top 3 had gone and it was not looking good, eventually finishing 5th. With all the excitement of the first day it was not a nice place to be for Finn, he was devastated…. Looking on the positive side he experienced the highs of day 1 and proved to himself he can run with the best and we’re sure he’ll do it again and again. He says ‘thanks all for a great weekend…see ya in Bonnie Scotland!’

Martin ‘Smiley’ Brown, 17-29 Cruiser:

What did Smiley think? He told us! ‘The dreaded Cyclopark!!!! Notorious for being a wind farm strangely I was really looking forward to it!!! Feeling in a playful mood the flat Crankbrother stamps went on for Friday’s practice. 1st lap was an eye opener after not being there for 2 years. 2nd lap everything that could be jumped was jumped! The weekend was set to be awesome!!! ‘

He woke up Saturday morning fresh as a daisy and ready to battle. He swapped the stamps for his Malletts and he was ready for business. The motos started and he was on fire! He won all 3 motos and then his semi. He got a bad gate in the final, so he was shut down going over the 1st jump ended up back in 8th! He managed to crawl my way back to 6^th, which at the time he was disappointed with, but realistically was a good day on the bike!

Then after a rubbish night’s sleep, being up watching the lightning till 2am on the Sunday morning he was rather tired!

In the motos Smiley had a 1st, then a 5th, followed by a more positive 2nd seeing him through to the Semi where he came 3rd. Not feeling his best, he decided to go with an outside gate for the final. By the 2nd corner he was in 6th battling for 5th, he went into 3rd straight on a charge, picked up the roller and somehow bonked it. Game over. He went over the bars and down really hard. After a good few minutes he climbed up and rolled the rest of the lap to the finish, he was in a lot of pain. After racing he went to the hospital because he thought he’d broken his heel and had a sore side. It turned out his heel is just very badly swollen and bruised but the sore side was a broken rib. His thigh is also black as can be and left arm has some nice gravel rash. So next weekend’s 4x Pro Tour race in Fort William is out of the window, he’s gutted. He said ‘All in all the weekend though was amazing. One slight mistake ended it, but that’s racing! My bike felt amazing all weekend and somehow, I didn’t rip my Lead trousers. My helmet not so good on the other hand!!!! The next national is Glasgow on the new Clark and Kent track, I can’t wait.’

Rich Ayles, 30-39 Cruiser:

Rich said he was in two minds whether to compete at rounds 3/4 of the National series with the worlds coming up the following weekend. Cyclopark is a track he likes but it takes no prisoners, with lots of crashes due to the (expected) wind and technical straights. That being said once you are on the gate your inhibitions go out the window and its full race mode. So, he chose to ride cruiser for the weekend as the class is (according to him) less aggressive than masters, but it served its purpose in keeping his legs spinning.

He came away reasonably happy with a 3rd and a 2nd and he was certainly happy to come away injury and incident free ready for the Words.

He said ‘I am now looking forward to getting back on the BMX for the remainder of the season and competing at the 2018 world championships.’

Spencer Cremin, Vets and 45-49 cruiser:

Spencer found it was tough on two bikes keeping the legs going and he’s got some big legs to keep going around! He made the B finals on both bikes on the Saturday, 1st in the cruiser B final and 2nd on the 20”, he found it was a very long day. Sunday his legs felt better, through the motos he felt he’d got used to the quick bike swap-around too, which is always an issue racing two classes. The big man battered his way through the motos on both bikes. He had a flying start on his cruiser in the Semi, keeping 2nd place all the way round. He battled hard in a closely matched Vets semi and got all important fourth slot progressing onto the A main in that too, so he made A on both bikes! cruiser final didn’t go to plan he got pushed up in the first berm and ended riding the pro section so crossed the line in 7th. In the 20″ main he felt he rode as well as he could with such a strong line up, he ended with a 7th in that final too. Summing up, he said ‘it was a good weekend with the team, Sunday ended as the best day.’

Myles Gault 45-49 Cruiser:

Myles said ‘After a high speed near miss at the regional a couple of weeks ago, this weekend’s mission was to get out alive. The weather conditions meant the track was riding fast and loose, way too fast for my comfort zone.  I had a couple of good battles with some old adversaries but checked out at the end of the motos.’

Miles Kirby, Vets:

After having a pretty successful regional at Cyclopark a couple of weeks before Miles was feeling reasonably happy with the track as that was the first time he’d even ridden it. Practice went well, he had ironed out all the first straight except for the mid straight triples, but not many in vets were feeling overly comfortable with them. His new carbon rims were giving his bike an even stiffer and more responsive ride and his bike was feeling faster than ever. Saturday the motos went well with some solid mid pack battles and onto the Semi-final, his gate was reasonable and he got into 5th place out of the first berm, chasing down Jon Western he didn’t have the track speed to pass him, so Miles sat poised for a mistake from John, which didn’t come so he had to settle for 2nd pick in the B final. Not a bad B final from the gate Miles was in a strong 2nd position, with the rider in front starting to the bobble he was about to spring a pass, but out of nowhere Brett Knight found an extra gear and went from 4th to 2nd, a blocked exit put Miles on the grass overtaken by nearly everyone, frustrating, but he appreciated the quality of Brett’s line and that’s Vets racing in such an evenly matched field.

Sunday, Miles gave it his best in the moto’s again, but seemed to get the tough draw in every one, qualifying down the sequence with 6th pick and ending up with an outside gate in the Semi. His gate in the semi wasn’t at all what he was hoping for and got shut down by teammate Spencer out of the gate, he ended up back in 8th over the first double, but after some determination though the pack Miles got in 5th place and he was about to try and take Spencer, winding it up in the last berm when again Andy Coryn came from nowhere and any chance of an A final disappeared over the red line and onto the grass again! It really wasn’t Miles’s weekend, but after some very deep breaths he got on the gate for a very special B final, because he was honoured to race Neil Gibson, making his first ever B final at a national, an amputee below the left knee Neil is truly an inspirational person. Miles wanted the B final, he had a plan to jump the triple, but after a storming gate he got caught by big gust of wind and over jumped the first double and he only just hung on to the bike landing it more or less flat. Heart pounding from the near-death experience he tried to cling onto the third place he was in but slipped back to fourth on the line.

Nathan Konggutong, 17-24 Men:

Another rider not having his best weekend on the track was Nathan. He said ‘It wasn’t the best weekend for me racing at Cyclopark National, I came 5th in my quarter final on a both days, I’m not happy with that, I knew I could do better than that, but sometimes thing don’t work out for you.’ Sunday saw him, like many others go to make the move in the last berm to get into the 4th place, only to be put onto the grass by the rider behind.

He still enjoyed himself riding and showed the crowd some unbelievable skill throughout the weekend. Nathan may have not got the results he wanted, but the crowd love him and it’s easy to see why, he’s regarded as one of the best technical riders in the country and the things he can do with a bike most riders can only ever dream of. Remember to always check his Instagram to witness for yourself what he’s capable of on his Twisted SCR.

Remember to come and see us at the next rounds in Glasgow, our gazebo door is always open to riders and parents who are interested in what we do and want to see the BMX equivalent to a moto GP bike close up. We’re planning more exiting competitions and giveaways in the build up to Glasgow, so keep a close eye on our Facebook and Instagram for details. Twisted Concepts are proud to be the importers of SCR frames.

We are importers of Onyx hubs, as well as being the European service and warranty centre, using only genuine Onyx parts. If you get Onyx hubs through us you can buy single hubs, not just sets, in any conceivable colour combination and with complementary laser etching.

We have started selling our own amazing looking Twisted carbon rims in the awesome 3k weave, available in a fantastic array of colours and sizes. We lead the way in BMX disc brake technology and constantly working on improving our products.

Twisted Concepts are proud to be supported by …

Twisted Concepts Report – 2018 British BMX Series R1 & 2 | Manchester

Photo’s & text submitted by Team Manger Paul Hallett

Words by Miles Kirby

Photos by BMX Widow Photography

Twisted Concepts Report – 2018 British BMX Series R1 & 2 | Manchester

Photo’s & text submitted by Team Manger Paul Hallett

Words by Miles Kirby

Photos by BMX Widow Photography

There have been big changes over the winter at Twisted Concepts, with Sal Correa Racing (SCR) coming on board as the frame partner for the 2018 season and providing us with a fantastic hand built 6061-T6 alloy heart to our race machines. Sal is a legendary frame builder from America, with over 40 years’ experience in race frame manufacture. Sal started off many years ago welding SE PK Rippers in their heyday and has fabricated frames for countless brands since.  You probably didn’t realise it, but if you’ve ridden a lot of handmade American alloy frames over the years, you’ve definitely ridden something welded by Sal.

There have been big squad changes over the winter too, with a few old faces moving on and fresh new talent coming in to strengthen the team and hopefully boost this year’s points score and push us up the elite team table. Every rider receives a custom-built race machine and Twisted Concepts are the first BMX team in the world with every rider using a disc brake.  This is partly due to the fantastic support we receive from our hub sponsor Onyx Racing, who’ve provided us with full custom hub bodies to take disc rotors, and RideMisc BMX Disc Brake Systems for the brackets that bolt on to our hubs for mounting the calipers and allowing full precise chain adjustment. Feet will be firmly attached to the pedals with the continued support from our pedal sponsor Crank Brothers, who’ve been amazing partners and supported us into our third season. We also have had a great deal of help from Tangent Racing Products and Powers Bike Shop, the coolest BMX shop on earth and ENV Graphics and Signage giving our bikes and plates. the custom Factory finished look.

Rounds one and two of this year’s national series saw the team arrive at the Manchester National Cycling Centre for this season’s opening rounds. The indoor is a foreboding place to race with large grandstands and screaming crowds down the first straight and ‘factory row’, with all the big teams down the last straight, giving the feeling that you’re racing in a gladiator’s arena. The challenge track runs alongside the UCI Supercross track and is just a (slightly) tamed down version of the championship track. The 5-meter start hill is steep and fires you up to race speed in a fraction of a second, then into a flat out first straight, the first berm is huge and easy to get lost lost in, so you have to be forceful and pick a good race line. The second straight is tricky, with a step up first, but the take-off is pretty low, the jump long and the landing high, then a very steep set of doubles and a huge step up into the second berm. The third straight is a deep and tricky rhythm section which sees more than its fair share of injuries and crashes, the last berm is the smallest of the corners, but see more than its fair share of moves with a few lines opening up into the last straight. The final straight is pretty hard, again a rhythm straight, easy to get wrong and hard to race, I’ve heard it likened by some to racing across a Toblerone bar! To get the full effect of what I’ve just described make sure you check out our live streams of the team rider’s races on our Facebook page. We ran a double gazebo in the prime position halfway down the last straight, with a half open back, and full hospitality area, as well as plenty of room for our growing squad to relax in. The atmosphere in the tent was amazing and when you rode past on the way back from your races, all you could see were smiling faces and laughing families, showing the world what we’re really about: having fun at the sharpest end of national competition. The freshly acquired Nic-Nac Engineering bike rack was positioned on the back wall hanging our team bikes, the freshest and most progressive bikes on the UK scene. With an entire winter of preparation, an afternoon of practice, then two full days of racing things went really well, but who did what?

Ben Hallett was first up on his beautiful new baby blue bike, with cloud graphics inspired by Andy’s bedroom wallpaper in Toy Story. He had his first go in the 9-12-year-old cruiser and the bike suited him perfectly. Both days were complete success, Ben made his first ever national semi-finals both days and represented the team in the B finals both days. He was understandably a little nervous, but if he keeps racing like he did, making the knock out stages his young nerves will settle and he’ll start getting even better results as the year goes on. Ben left the 20″ at home this weekend to concentrate on the cruiser, but he’s thinking of trying two bikes at Leicester in the next round.

Harry Kirby was out in the 11-year-old boys, the sole team representative in the class for first time, as Ben was out on his big wheels. He’s loving his new SCR frame and finds it easy to control and better to jump than anything he’s had before.  We dubbed his bike the flying pumpkin after it’s cool flat orange finish, and orange and gold parts. Harry rode well on Saturday, getting a couple of his best ever national moto results, but a mistake in the first berm in his second moto cost him places and ultimately his place in the quarters by one point, in a ridiculously hard age group. Sunday saw some solid laps, but super tough moto draws, getting mostly top 16 ranked riders in every race, so position wise he struggled, but the rides were not bad at all. He’s looking forward to the next rounds at Leicester on a track more suited to him. It’s taken a few years and many visits, but he’s finally looking really comfortable and enjoying it at the indoor, a track he really didn’t like riding at all not that long ago.

Callum Clancy from Ireland is the new young addition to the team in the 12-year-old boys, the happy kid fitted in straight away finding it easy to make friends with the other kids around his age.  Unfortunately, he has not got his new team race bike yet due to logistics, so he would have to carry on regardless on last season’s bike, but at least he was used to it and that was a good thing. Saturday’s motos went well and Callum welcomed the track repairs, saying they made it a lot smoother and were badly needed.  Quarter up and good gate from trap two lead him into third place going into the first berm and he kept it like that to the line. Semi time, Callum picked gate two and found himself coming out of it in fourth and heading for the second berm on the inside, he defended the inside a little too much and his friend Milar Gonzales nipped in under him to put him fifth going down the third straight only for another rider high/low him coming out of the last berm but he couldn’t get him on the line, so had to settle for the B final. From gate five and not such a clean start he found himself going into turn one in seventh and only picked off the sixth-place rider before the last berm and drive to the line quite disappointed with a sixth-place finish. He then stayed to watch his team mates do battle, which he thought was mega, and was impressed with the talent on the twisted Concepts SCR team. He loved watching the Pro’s race, he’s a massive Paddy Sharrock fan and thought it was awesome to get to see him ride there. Sunday, Ding Dong and Round Two, here we go. Callum was feeling a lot better about himself and really looking forward to it. After solid riding the moto’s it was Quarter time and from gate two he got a sweet one, heading into turn one in third, on the exit he went under Casey Markley and held it to the line from Bradley Russell. Semi time, and he up for this! From the gate the whole field was bar to bar going into the turn one. He come out where in the position he went into it, in third and held it there. Coming down the third straight He bonked a manual and poor Oliver James from Milton Keynes ran up the back of him and fell heavily (sorry Dude) from the footage we’ve seen, then Milar Gonzales and other’s ran into him. third will do nicely. And into an ‘A’ final for the third year in a row at Manchester. Wooo Hooo! ‘A’ Final time and he was really up for it! The final clime up those lonely stairs and they were the last final before the Superclass. Callum chose lane five and was now quite nervous. He thought the call out of all 8-rider’s name and team’s was cool, proud to hear his name being called out ” from Ireland riding #17, Callum Clancy for, Twisted Concepts SCR BMX Team” and the big cheer! The gate dropped and he got a stinker of a gate, cresting the step-up he was last but dived in underneath Felix and Scary to sixth, coming out of the berm. Up the second straight and he was making no real inroads on the others, coming out onto the third straight he pushed really hard and started to reel in Jack Bowditch. He took a tighter line into the final berm, still thinking of the lad’s behind him. He was catching Jack all along the final straight and his team mates were hanging out of the Twisted gazebo willing him on as they threw their bikes to the line only for J.B. to get it by an inch, a pity, but a great race. He said “We all congratulated each other as we do and I couldn’t wait to see my Dad and all the Twisted team in the gazebo”, I think he loves being part of the Twisted Family … “A super weekend for ME and for Twisted Concepts SCR Team where my team mates had some mega result also… Thank everyone… It was great. “

Morgan Haslam kicked off her second season with Twisted Concepts in 13-14-year-old females and she was more than ready to hit the track with her purple glitter fade SCR! Manchester has always been one of her favourite tracks and she was looking forward to it, after a really successful winter at the RUTR series. Saturday went well with two firsts and a third in her motos, a good semi left her with second pick for the final – gate pick is crucial at Manchester and she took a gamble and went for gate 6. Unfortunately, it was close going into the first berm and she came out of the turn in sixth but managed to pull back a couple of places on the rest of the track finishing 4th. Sunday was a new day, Morgan came back refreshed for her first ever race on her Fluro pink custom SCR cruiser, complete with full custom doughnut graphics. Because of the UK weather, the race weekend was her first outing on the track riding the bike – She had so much fun racing the mixed 13-14 girls/ boy’s category, getting to battle the boys she would usually only get to race at regional and club level. She had good motos and was proud to be the only girl on the gate in the final and was buzzing to take 3rd! In the afternoon she was back on the 20″ and again had strong motos and a second-place finish in the semi left her with a good pick for the final. After trying an outside gate, the day before she decided to pick gate one, which enabled her to take a good line into the first berm. We were super happy to see her take a second-place finish in the final! She’s looking forward to heading to Zolder for the Euro round in April before the next National at Leicester.

One of our new recruits over the winter was super stylish Fin Clarke, a natural jumper, skilful ride and all round nice kid. To say Finley had a great weekend is an understatement, he admitted he had lots of anxiety with a new team and especially a complete new set up with Twisted Concepts SCR, but that’s only natural. Round 1 kicked off with positive motos, 4th, 2nd 1st place finishes. The quarters were a great confidence boost coming first, on to the semi-final and Fin stormed home with a 3rd … The boy did it, hit the big time and made a national A final. The pressure was off, he just had to go and enjoyed it and he did just that coming a highly respectable 5th, happy days. Sunday round 2 and the smile was still there on his face from the previous day’s racing and again started with positive motos, coming 1st, 1st, 3rd. The quarters were a repeat from round one with another 1st place, but the pressure was now on. Semi-final time and Fin was in a comfortable 4th and on for a place in the final until Harrison Gee / Alex Brookes went under him in the 2nd berm, so it was race on, the 3rd straight was interesting with all 3 riders wanting that spot, but it was Finn who held on and came out the 3rd berm and booked his place in the A Final. It was his first ever double A final weekend and he enjoyed this one just as much. He was in the mix for the whole race crossing the line in 5th. The best debut he and us (the whole team) could have wished for, now the pressure is off slightly and he’s more relaxed we’re sure he can go from strength to strength.

The next new recruit to team was Nathan Kongatong from Hackney. Nathan is one of the most technically gifted riders currently on the British BMX scene, his Instagram posts are legendary, showcasing jump and manual techniques most of us can only dream of pulling, so make sure you give him a follow @nathanbmx19. It’s Nathan’s first season after moving up into the hardest class of them all, 17-29 the age group of death. There’s no pressure on him to win, we just want our super star from Thailand to do what he does best, give the crowd a skill showcase and leave them open mouthed, like he does us. He said he had good start to the season, enjoyed racing at Manchester for only his third ever visit to the foreboding track. He said “it was hard but I still enjoyed myself racing, on Saturday, but I didn’t get a very good result”, We all thought he did fine, he just needed to relax a little. On Sunday he came 3rd, 6th, 2nd in his motos, and he was much happier with those results, looking much more at home on the track and had much looser body language, looking much more like the Nathan we know. His quarter final was hard, he was trying my best to get into the semi, but it wasn’t to be. He’s promised us more training between now and the next National in April at Leicester. We know he can make the semi’s there and break into the top 16.

One of our biggest signings over the winter was Martin ‘Smiley’ Brown, 17-29 cruiser specialist, elite 4X rider and one-time roller skater. He arrived early to the indoor on Friday to help set up the team area and try and get used to the bike a bit before practice. After an early start from work he was already tired before going onto the track but he needed to get some practice in. Practice was very busy and he only managed about 5 laps before he called it a day. He said he was too tired and after not being on a Cruiser for about six months and felt very sketchy. Saturday morning, he woke up in a completely different frame of mind, saying “today was going to be a good day”. Practice went very well compared to the previous night. The motos went very well, with a second and two firsts. The Semi-final he finished second, securing him a place in the final and a good gate pick. Before the event he was watching who was registered and it was a very tough field, all he wanted to do was make the final, so it was mission accomplished! In the final he managed to pick gate one, but he didn’t get the snap he wanted and ended up following into the inside of the first corner, emerged in fifth position where he stayed for the whole race. All in all, he was very happy with this result. Sunday, he woke up in just as good a frame of mind but that little bit more confident. The motos went very well again, with a 3rd and 2 firsts. In the Semi he managed a 3rd. Another day, another final, so at this point he was very happy. With fifth pick he was expecting an outside gate but managed to get lane one again. After a solid lap the outcome was same result as Saturday and he finished 5th. He said he had an awesome weekend, after struggling being back on a Cruiser he very quickly got used to it. The bike felt absolutely solid and thanks to Paul, set up perfect for his riding. He said “the whole team made me feel so welcome for my first race with them you can’t say thank you enough”. Looking forward to Birmingham regional now in a few weeks’ time.

After a break last season to start up his own business Richard Ayles is back on the team. Giving the 20″ a rest at Manchester, Rich entered the 30-39 cruiser category. It had been 3 years since he last rode a cruiser but fancied a new challenge. After building up the SCR only a few weeks prior to the race he was surprised to feel right at home on it straight away. He said “these bikes ride amazingly. It was my first ever race at the indoor. I usually avoid the place like the plague but it was a “case” (literally) of getting on with the job”. He thinks he definitely didn’t ride to his best and he didn’t think he even put one decent lap together all weekend, but I could definitely see some improvements in areas of his riding which is positive. We thought he was being too critical of himself, winning motos for fun and only being beaten by one rider all weekend, getting seconds in the final both days, racking up a great points score for the team. All in all, though he said “it was a great weekend away with the team and still managed 2nd place on both days. I’m really looking forward to the next rounds at a more conventional track and back on my preferred 20”. Who knows, the cruiser may make an appearance as well! 

In the 45-49 cruiser category we had two riders out, the unmistakable Spencer ‘Bernie Clifton’ Cremin and Myles ‘General Banta’ Gault. Big Spencer leaving his usual 20″ and opting to have a crack on the big wheels. He wasn’t a fan of the early start for Saturday’s block racing and he doesn’t find black racing the best, like many other older riders. In the motos his gates got better with each race, getting some cracking straights in the end, had a great gate in his semi and hung on to make the main and finished 7th on the day, so was really happy with the start of the national series. Sunday went the same way through his moto’s, he was looking good in his semi too, but got pipped on the line so had to end the last day in the B with a 4^th. He enjoyed the weekend on a tough track came away safe. The highlights for the team and fans of our muscle man had to be the shapes his was throwing down the second straight, proving the SCR frame was as strong as anything he’d ridden and just as easy to ride. He was pleased meeting up with the new team, who he thought all rode amazingly and got on well. He’s now looking forward to Leicester.

Myles Gault”s rounds 1 & 2 at the indoor arena were admittedly never going to be more than a shakedown run for him. 5 months of injuries and only one test session on the SCR meant he was far from race fit, but he still went for a roll round and had lots of fun doing it. He was pleased the rest of the Twisted team made up for his short comings on the track. Myles was a huge asset in the team tent, helping lift riders and instill confidence in them, which is also a major part of being in a team. His bike dubbed the ‘Unicorn’ is the only 23″ SCR cruiser in the world, a real mythical beast in reflection copper, with antifreeze Onyx hubs. He finds it an awesome bit of kit, and says it handles like a far smaller bike and is super responsive. The Crank Bros pedals kept him firmly glued to the bike without any near-death experiences, which is a first on that track, he has made mentions of there being sharks hidden in the jumps there before! The conventional Leicester track should allow him to ‘unleash the true potential’ and regain some confidence. Reactions to the bike far exceeded what we hoped for, everybody loved it. Now it’s time for him to ride the unicorn, instead of marveling at how pretty it is!

The final addition to the team was Miles ‘The Flying Fox’ Kirby in Vets. Miles, father of Harry Kirby had taken an 8 year break from racing nationals to support his son, but had been lured out of semi-retirement to test out a 20″ SCR from an older rider’s point of view. Miles, a highly experienced rider, who started racing in the early 1980’s, only picked up his awesome new ride just before Friday’s practice and immediately gelled with it, finding it stiff, very fast and super stable on the treacherous track. He’d done the last round of the RUTR on his skatepark bike, just to get used to the track and felt as comfortable on the track as any slightly sketchy 44-year-old could on a 20″. Race day one’s moto’s went well in a stacked field including former world champions and the current W4, finishing solid 4th’s in every race, so made the semi’s, which was his goal for the weekend. With an outside gate lined up with two old adversary’s Warlock and Jool’s the trio would manage to steer clear of the carnage that ensued on the inside and roll though to a slot in the A final where he lost out on 7th place in a photo finish on the line. The crash saw some of the best Vet’s riders go down and unfortunately get some bad injuries and would lead to some gaps in the field for Sunday’s action. Miles motos on Sunday went brilliantly with the highlight being a 2nd place and respectable draw in the semi. More carnage in the semi, this time seeing the W4’s bike coming flaying at his in turn two, Miles lost some speed and desperately tried to hang onto the 4th place over two straights, but was just pipped for the 4th place on the line, so Miles had to settle for a spot in the ‘B’ final where he had a close run race for the second spot, but again got pipped and ended up in 3rd, but still a great result leaving him currently in 9th place in the overall standings. With more race laps to get used to his new bike and better fitness Miles hopes to consolidate on his current ranking at Leicester!

So, it was a job well done at Manchester, great results all round, leaving us currently 11th in the Elite Team Standings. If you want to come and have a look at the trickest rides in BMX please pop by and see us at Leicester, or have a chat to any of us, you may bump into at numerous tracks around the country over the next few weeks and see what we could do for you.

Twisted Concepts specialise in high end bespoke race builds and can offer your dreams on two wheels and make them a reality with custom finishes, custom ENV graphics and themes on SCR frames. We offer full custom colour combinations on Onyx hubs and free laser etching. We can provide a full disc brake set up and support with RideMisc brackets, making your braking responsive and constant in all weather conditions. Twisted Concepts are the European service and warranty centre for Onyx hubs, so we can help keep you rolling smooth at all times. We would like to also thank our team sponsors and partners who help keep us at the top of our game, Crank Brothers pedals, Powers Bike Shop (the coolest BMX shop on the planet), Tangent Racing Products and Lead Racewear.