SUPPORTED BY
Team Rider: Clive Ely
Joined team: March 2007
Race bike: Scott Spark 30 & Scale
Category: Grand Veteran
Like many others, my formative years were spent competing in motocross - starting as a schoolboy at 14! Mountain biking became part of my training regime when one Dave Thorpe (world motocross champion from Bracknell) acquired one - if it worked for him why not me!
I remember my first xc race at Ash Ranges on my Muddy Fox Courier Comp about 14 years ago, and like so many others, the bike handling skills did not make up for the very different type of fitness needed to compete against the road riders! Never-the-less I was well and truly bitten by the bug, the freedom to ride and train almost anywhere, the low cost of maintenance (unlike the Formula 100 karting I tried for a couple of seasons), and the whole easy going 'new' sport attitude.
Having 'moved up' to the Grand Vets this year, I decided that having attempted to race when there was a spare hour on a race day during the last 8 to 10 years of helping organising the Gorrick's, this year it was time to take a step back from that and step up the training. All I need now is a job that would allow me to convert some of the 35,000 miles I travel a year in the car to the bike and who knows - with the encouragement and support of the Mountain Trax team - podium places should not be too far away!!
2008
National Points Series
8th Grand Veteran: Round 1Southern XC Series
1st Grand Veteran: Round 1
4th Grand Veteran: Round 2Gorrick Spring Series
3rd (54 points): Overall Ranking
4th Grand Veteran: Round 1
2nd Grand Veteran: Round 2
3rd Grand Veteran: Round 3
2nd Grand Veteran: Round 4
2nd Grand Veteran: Round 5
2007
British Mountain Bike XC Series
7th: Overall Ranking
9th Grand Veteran: Round 1
10th Grand Veteran: Round 3
8th Grand Veteran: Round 4
8th Grand Veteran: Round 5Southern XC Series
3rd: Overall Ranking
9th Grand Veteran: Round 1
4th Grand Veteran: Round 2
8th Grand Veteran: Round 4
4th Grand Veteran: Round 5Gorrick Spring Series
3rd (37 points): Overall Ranking
2nd Grand Veteran: Round 1
4th Grand Veteran: Round 3
4th Grand Veteran: Round 4
6th Grand Veteran: Round 5Gorrick Autumn Classics
5th Grand Veteran: Round 1Pro-Cup MTB XC
1st Grand Veteran: Round 1Summit Racing
4th Veteran/Grand Veteran: Round 1
1st Veteran/Grand Veteran: Round 2Enduros
19th: Gorrick/Gore Bike Wear 100 Enduro (3 laps, ~33 miles)