Stef Reeves - The Interview

Moredirt talks to Stef Reeves, a track builder and event organiser who is embarking on his first season running DH races on a track that he and a band of helpers have painstakingly built over the winter...

Yorkshire has a thriving riding scene with a multitude of trails all over the county but no official race series. We did have some back in the early 2000s with the NAMBS and more recently the Northern Downhill series holding an event but apart from that we've had to travel to race. Last year the Yorkshire Championships had to be held up in Northumberland because no suitable venue was available within the county. Thankfully this year Stef has stepped in to fill the gap and aims to provide a proper race venue. Building a brand new track is challenging enough but when you're planning on organising your own race series at the same time it really adds to the difficulty. Luckily Stef isn't a man who is fazed by such things. With the track running and the 1st round of his winter series coming up we speak to him about what made him take the plunge into track building and event organisation.

So Stef have you always been involved with bikes?

I've always ridden bikes from the 70's to present witnessing first hand the fascinating journey bike technology has taken.

On a business level, I've spent the best part of my working life self employed and after a knee injury took it's toll on my previous landscaping business I decided to follow a passion and Cycopath Cycles was founded 2 years ago. Bike repairs and servicing are the bread and butter of the business. Cycopath Downhill series is a long term project and dividing my time between the two can prove tricky.

A lot of people build small tracks for them and their mates to ride on but what made you make the decision to build a full length race venue?

The quest began after discovering that Yorkshire had no exclusive series on offer and I decided to try and fill the vacancy. There was also a certain amount of pressure from friends and riders to start up my own series.

Before I knew it a mate (Pyro) sent me a link to a Cycopath DH series Facebook page he'd created unknown to myself and that's pretty much when the cogs started turning.

What started out as a maybe became a mission to provide Yorkshire with it's own DH series.

Taking into account a large concentration of UK riders live in Yorkshire and have to travel usually long distance to race it was somewhat a no brainer.

The problem was finding a suitable venue preferably on private land to avoid build efforts being trashed which is all too often the case on public land. Liam McDermott of TRG racing was there from the start as I dragged him around the dales in the land rover testing various venues all with one complication or another.

I then took a call back in June 2012 from local farmer Tony explaining some friends of his were interested in making their land available if suitable. We scooted up there the following day to do a reccy and thanks to Steve and Alison of Gouthwaite farm we now have an exclusive Yorkshire DH venue with plenty of scope for further tracks plus we've also submitted planning applications for a permanent bike park with cafe, camping and bike shop etc. Happy days... me thinks!

The tracks looking good, when did you start the build and what problems did you face when constructing it?

With the help of an army of volunteers from the DH scene we set about the design and build in June 2012. We marked a proposed start and finish and gradually working against the elements joined the dots achieving a full track in October. The track will continue to evolve over time as we implement new ideas and work closely with rider feedback.

Like most projects of this scale, there's a few hurdle laying governing bodies to comply with. The biggest one to date are the AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty) who are working with us, not against us. As it stands we're entitled to build the track but all man made features within the track have to built in a temporary nature until hopefully planning is passed. This is the reason the majority of features are constructed from Silver birch and Spruce from the woodland and not earth and hardpak although Hansons quarry have donated 80 tons of hardpak for the cause which we'll put to good use given time.

Gouthwaite farm consists of several hundred acres of moorland, grassland and woodland allowing us enormous potential for further track and alternate line development enabling us to cater for most DH tastes and abilities.

Your running a push up winter series, hosting a round of the Northern Downhill Series and have the Yorkshire Championships all on your track. That's a hell of a first year in event organisation! Can you tell us a little about how it came about and a bit more about the events?

Yeah I can...I'm a martyr for pressure and ridicule!! Nah, seriously, ridicule I can handle but I despise pressure on any level and organising this Winter series has been slowly cookng it and then Rich Easton comes along and adds some more!

The idea of the Winter series was a toe in the water test. To run a basic old school, non BC grass roots push up to see how much interest it generated which in turn would provide us with some insight into potential numbers for our planned official larger uplift BC events. Fortunately we've also been lucky with the likes of Hope and Halo and local companies Hansons, Leyburn Bikes, Todds, Active event construction, Tig etc coming onboard with generous sponsorship.

I knew Carl at NDH had been struggling with sourcing Yorkshire venues to fulfil his series so after we'd invited him over to check the potential of the track we agreed to host for NDH which we're all excited about.

Bring on the sleepless nights!!

It must have been a big help having an experienced organiser such as Carl to point you in the right direction?

I remember been sat in the pub in Alwinton last March with Carls crew and discussing my quest. They did their best to talk me out of it for my own sanity. The more I had to drink that night the more convinced I became that it wasn't for me. On returning to our tents in the pub field I confirmed with TRG racing captain Richie Molloy that I was nipping it in the bud...until 2 weeks later when I had the whole team test riding a woodland on a military training ground!!

Aside from the above, any questions or advice I've needed Carl has been good enough to help me out.

I've called in a massive amount of help on this one from good mates, family, my tolerant girlfriend, TRG racing, Team Cycopath and the diamond that is Ben "The Berm" Cameron who's braved all weathers building the track with me. I just hope they don't decide to invoice me!

What does the future hold for the venue, any more tracks in the pipeline?

Plans for the spring are the crucial restoration of the uplift road and to start the build of a second track running more natural features.

Dates will be announced on our Facebook page and website of upcoming events for Spring, Summer and there on. We're also going to be having frequent track open days as the first one we staged in November drew in 60 plus riders!

It's a work in progress and with the support of the DH riders out there we'll keep up the work with the aim to place Yorkshire on the DH map for years to come.

Any advice to any budding track builders or anyone thinking of organising a race?

Always go through the legit channels, be prepared to jump through hoops, weigh up the costs and the risks and don't be afraid to push for sponsorship.

Pursue it for the passion of the sport and the financial gain will hopefully follow when you get it right. It's a gamble I've yet to realise!

Thanks to Stef for giving up his time to speak to us, if you want any more information about the track or winter series then head over to Cycopath Downhill Series on Facebook - www.facebook.com/Cycopath-Downhill-series