Ric and Nick from MBUK ride Whyte hardtails at the Bristol Oktoberfest, see the video @ http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/video-mbuk-vs-bristol-oktoberfest-32261

Billy takes a great win in Thetford at Mud, Sweat and Gears…

Congratulations!

For his full race report go to…

http://www.billywhenmanracing.blogspot.com/

Read more @

http://www.billywhenmanracing.blogspot.com/

Race report to follow…

Read more @

www.billywhenmanracing.blogspot.com

March 2011 – Season Kicking Off…

After a horrid winter of snow and rain I was looking forward to kicking the season off with the Gorrick on 6th March on my new Whyte 19 Race Bike.

I was pleased with my 3rd place Elite here and report is now on-line.

I then jetted off to Italy for a week of Training & Racing, initially I set out to do 4 races, so day 1 was getting used to the altitude as I was way up in the mountains near Castle Novi Ne Monti. The racing was pretty tough, the 1st day consisted of a shortish time trial straight up a 15km road climb; this was  to set the gridding for the rest of the event. I had a good start and was soon pounding away up the mountain, I found the gradient comfortable but I was on my limit, no challenging terrain or obstacles just a nice smooth road sounds simple but I slogged my guts out. to Amazingly, I had won by 3 seconds. Hmm I thought maybe im going better then I had expected?

Day 2 we started on the same climb cresting the mountain before descending into the valley before the next mountain and then on to n the descent through Vogno. The road was not a closed road to my disbelief, I was in a group of 4 and moved over to the road edge as a truck was coming up, but was shocked to see a car overtake it and head on towards us, with very little reaction time and the possibility of a car crash I reacted and swerved off the road and off a small 15ft drop to be greeted by a nice soft landing onto Clay , Wet Clay !! My bike sunk in I went over the bars and rolled to the bottom of the bank, I ran up to the bike uninjured to find my rear mech hanger and mech was not in one piece. Great… Game Over ! I hitched a lift off neutral service with another 2 competitors who had also come off the cliff to find I wasn’t aloud to compete on the other days, so my trip ended up being a training expo, mixed in with 4 interviews by a local school and newspaper which was great trying to understand their phrases as my Italian is not great. Not entirely a wasted trip as I did gain some UCI points which will assist me to grid on the 2nd row at the 1st NPS.

Back in the UK…

I took part in 2 local club races, and presented the prizes to the younger riders, who were asking me a million and one questions about my bike and all wanted to get there hands on it. Must look attractive then …

I headed off to the NPS at Sherwood Pines feeling confident as ever especially after working with my sport hypnotherapy consultant.

After pre-riding the course I set up my tyres and bike accordingly, I opted for a Furious Fred on the rear and Nobby Nick on the front and a 42 tooth chainring.

The course was fast but not as fast as previous years, there was more single track with lots of bumps and corners which made the race interesting.

Race Day, ready to go. Gridded 2nd row due to my gained UCI points, and BANG off to a immense start feeling great, I chipped away with a Rabobank rider, we rode together for a few laps at an insane speed, I couldn’t go past him to do a turn of work, I was on the limit riding with him ( turns out he is 4th ranked in the world).  I blew a gasket and had to ease off the speed and let him go, 30 seconds went by and I was caught by the next group with some big names in, I had blown a gasket so i struggled to match the speed but i did hop onto the group and found myself on Liam Killeen’s wheel. I stayed with this group up until the last lap where my lights went out and I came in 27th place and 3rd in the under 23 cat… lesson learnt, the painful way!

All in all… I am very disappointed with this month, it hasn’t gone to plan, I wanted a podium at Sheerwood but I made completely the wrong decision to try and compete with the leader and over estimated my strength, I should have ridden defensively for a few laps (conserving energy) and sat with the lead group from the word go and I would have finished in the top 5 ! Gutted, but I am 21 and still learning. I  just wish I had eased off and ridden with the lead group at the start.

Dusting myself down and more determined than ever for round 2…Watch this space!

Thanks to all my sponsors and support, without you it would be impossible to compete. Most of all I’m sorry for the poor result gained and my lack of experience at that next level. I’ve learned from my mistake and lets roll on the next race and aim for that top 5 finish.

- Billy

This is own very own Whyte Elite rider, Billy Whenman riding the Olympic MTB course on page 3 of the Sun!

Next stop the Games!

Billy visited today to have his new race bike built.

Watch Billy in action in WC, NPS and other races across the XC season…

KCNC jockey wheel bling.

Hope Pro green set, perfectly matching the Works paintwork and best components FSA have to offer.

FSA loveliness…

A happy rider with his new wheels.

JP from Quest Adventure riding the Whyte 19c in thick South Downs mud…

Read more @ http://questadventure.wordpress.com/

Product training and testing at Cwm Carn….

MBUK Wrecking Crew shooting and testing at the same time.

Bike designer Ian and Whyte sales Neil training on the 146…

Whyte test pilot, Mike Smith getting air…

Cwm Down uplift day…

Neil as co pilot for the uplift.

Test day.

MTB legend, Paul Lazenby hitting the Cwm Carn trails.

Test pilot, Guy shredding the trails.

Pick up the latest CW to see Olympic hopeful, Billy Whenman riding his Whyte 19 around the 2012 course.