Enduro, Trials, and Rally with Craig Bounds
Yep, we've struck gold. An opportunity to sponsor a rider like Craig doesnt come along every day. He's competed in everything from the Scott Trial to The Six Day Enduro, The Red Bull Romaniacs to The Tough One and the World FIA Optic Rally...with some amazing results.
Our kit was first tested by Craig in October 2007 and he loved it so much he says he'll still be wearing it for his Dakar attempt in 2009 - proof enough that it truly is Adventure-Spec.
Update
Craig's kit includes
16.09.08 - Craig returns to form on day 4 by finishing 3rd in his class
Despite being diagnosed with concussiuon after his previous days acrobatic antics down waterfalls Craig chose to ride again preferring a finish regadless of his placing.
Despite stopping to be sick and complaining of 'not remembering much' his finish time still placed him an astounding third fastest rider for day four.
As soon as we hear final placings we'll let you know. Craig is safe back in camp now and despite spending the last three weeks trying to kill himself on a bike he is now healing well in anticipation of his Dakar 2009 Start.
Follow his ride LIVE on the Romaniacs link to the right of the page.
16.09.08 - Craig dropped more than just 10 hours!!!
A minor 'off' on a forest trail after being hit by a flailing branch led to a little more than Craig had bargained for after his bike continued on alone and dropped down a cliff...
...followed by a waterfall...followed by another cliff...followed by another waterfall...followed by a ravine.....
It took Craig 5 HOURS to reach his bike before beginning a rescue mission. As if that wasnt enough he slipped and fell down the second waterfall landing on his head and breaking another finger!
The rest of the days riding went in a blur as Craig repeatedly stopped to be sick and blackout!
Looking at the days footage below I'm not sure he did that badly really!!!
Follow his ride LIVE on the Romaniacs link to the right of the page.
15.09.08 - Craig dropped 10 HOURS on the leader...
After putting in a superb performance over the last few days Craig lost over 10 hours to the lead today, his total days riding adding up to 16 hours!!
Unsuprisingly after such a long day we havnt heard anything from him (sleep was probably a number 1 priority!) and dont know whether the failure was human or mechanical.
As soon as we know we'll pass the information on. Check out the video below for more CRAZY footage from the worlds hardest enduro.
Follow his ride LIVE on the Romaniacs link to the right of the page.
14.09.08 - Craig running 2nd in Expert Solo Class
Despite his injuries Craig's second day of racing over a seven hour period produced some outstanding riding and saw him take second place in his class less than two minutes behind the leader.
The navigation was described by most competitors as 'Hard, but not as hard as the riding!'. Criag's previous years racing included 4000km of desert riding in this years Optic 2000 and the skills he honed on the long desert sections have clearly held him good stead as his route finding on day 1 was perfect.
A superb result. We're all keeping our fingers crossed for three more great days of riding to match thge previous 2.
Follow his ride LIVE on the Romaniacs link to the right of the page.
13.09.08 - Craig wins Expert Solo Prologue
Once a racer, always a racer! Despite promises to 'take it easy' with his broken finger and elbow it seems that Craig was well and truly back on form today as he decimated his competition in the Expert Class making the short hard prologue look distinctly tame.
His words to describe the event were 'Totally Crazy', and he confessed that he was totally exhausted by the end of the day. Very few riders managed to finish...
How his injuries will affect the longer days riding to come remain to be seen, but you cant fault his start!
Follow his ride LIVE on the Romaniacs link to the right of the page.
12.09.08 - Craig to compete in the Redbull Romaniacs
Craig has chosen to compete in this years Redbull Romaniacs despite his injuries. Originally planning to take part in the, 'Pro', class he has chosen to move himself to 'Expert Solo' in an attempt to allow his body a little more space to recover.
His win of last years Prologue will be weighing heavily on his mind though, and I wouldny be suprised to see Craig pushing hard despite his best plans!
06.09.08 - ISDE Complete : The Welsh Team Manage 13th Overall
An amazing performance by Craig saw his team take 13th place in class (out of 72) despite his broken bits!
Craig is now resting and moving to Sibiu to decide whether to race the Redbull Romaniacs next week or to rest his injuries.
A serious problem now would seriously affect his chances in the Dakar 2009 starting in 4 months time....
04.09.08 - ISDE Day 4 : Craig Badly Injured
After two painful days riding at a moderate pace Craig was finally forced to the hospital by his team mates. A broken elbow and finger were diagnosed.
Craig has promised not to let his team down and says he will keep riding despite the pain and swelling. The team are now aiming for a strong finish.
02.09.08 - ISDE Injury : The Welsh Team fall!!!!
Trying to complete a 'double' on a motocoss stage Craigs engine blipped at the base of the first jump throwing him badly. Current problems include an elbow the size, 'of a melon', and a, 'very', sore hand.
Not the start the team wanted but even so a move upto 9th place in class shows they are still in the event to take a podium place.
Lets hope the injury isnt too serious....
01.09.08 - ISDE Day 1 : The Welsh Team ride!!!!
The heat and technical tracks took their toll on Craig today as he called in to say he was happy to have finished the first day with everything intact.
Check the video above for an introduction to the ISDE, the 'Olympics of Motorcycling' and check the web link to the right of the page for full timings and details on the ISDE website.
The Welsh Team finished 17th out of 74 and say they are, 'just settling in'. We look forward to the next few days competition!
Craig is riding a range of fully vented Mojave Klim clothing and is using the heat as an excellent opportunity to test the new Klim F4 Fully vented helmet, watch out for reviews and a photo or two soon!
26.07.08 - Craig entered for the Red Bull Romaniacs...!
After a quiet spell earlier in the year Craig seems to be going race mad!
His entry into the Redbull Romaniacs is no suprise after last years Prologue Win, but his entry to the event leaves little time after the ISDE for Craig to immediately head north from Greece to Sibiu for the start on the 13th September.
Known as the 'Hardest Enduro In The World' by many, the event is widely recognised as being more physically demanding than the Dakar rally.
As soon as we have more news we'll let you know!
26.07.08 - Craig selected for his countries ISDE team.
The ISDE (Internetional Six Day Enduro) has been called the Olympics of motorcycling. The best Amateur riders from over 30 countries in the world group together into teams of six riders to compete for their countries honors.
A veteran silver medal winner at the ISDE, Craig has yet again been selected to represent his country (Wales) after his excellent performance at the Welsh 2-Day enduro.
Craig will be heading over to Greece (who are hosting the event this year) between the 1-6th September to take part in a race recognised as one of the hardest of its type in the world.
We'll have all the news as it happens right here!
14.07.08 - Craigs Dakar 2009 Entry is in....
Craigs plans to ride the Dakar 2009 look to be confirmed as his entry is now paid up.
Keep looking here for some really exciting news about his bike and team mates over the next few months.
28.06.08 - Craigs back on form after a quiet spell...
Last weekend saw one of the oldest Enduro's run in the UK, the Welsh Two Day.
Run for 57 years this event is one of the most prestigeous on the UK calendar and had been firmly in Craigs sights since his return from Africa.
Craig needed to perform well here to be in with a chance of selection onto the six man ISDE team later in the year, so there was everything to ride for!
As usual Craig took it all in his stride donning the new Klim Chinook in boot pants and set off with nothing less than victory in his sights.
The first day went well with Craig less than 1 second behind the leader!
The second day wasnt so kind but Craig still placed an excellent second overall, hopefully enough for selction inot the Welsh ISDE team...
29.04.08 - Craigs Rally is over...
Finally news of the failure of the big ends on Craigs engine fill us in on the reason for his departure. Better a bike failure than an accident. But we're still sad to see him go...Craig will be back in the UK in one week and back his usual manic racing scheduke. Watch thispage for details!
28.04.08 - Stage 4 : Craigs Rally is over...
Late last night we learned that Craig had come off the bike at Km225 on stage 3. In typical fashion he continued to the end of the stage and even gained a few places as he was finishing, but ultimately the crash must have effected either Craig or the Bike. We know there have been no serious injuries so there are no major problems but at 08:00 this morning (Craig start time) the GPS tracking system showed his BMW staying firmly in camp. As soon as we have detils of the exact reasons we will post them up here.
An outstanding effort by an outstanding rider. We KNOW Craig will be back to the Desert for more. Thanks for your efforts mate!
27.04.08 - Stage 3 : Craig holds 24th place but moves up to second in class only 7 mins behind the leader!!!
A long desert section with complex parallel trails to only two checkpoints over 387 Km helped Craig to show exactly what he is good at. His consistent times so far are showing his level of experience as he pushes on steadily watching the less experienced riders drop by the wayside. Watching the live satelite updates from the stage this morning saw Craig pushing speeds in excess of 140km/h as his navigation ability obviously rises to the speed of his riding. An excellent day.
The early finish today (1:30pm) will allow Craig the rest he needs before tomorrows marathon 623km day. We're keeping our fingers crossed for that one!
A promo video for the Optic2008 with some short but excellent riding clips.
26.04.08 - Craig drops a place to 24th place on Stage 2 in southern Tunisia and one place in his class to 4th
A short liason section started today follwed by a true desert stage of 295km up to the Libyan border. Once through the border Craig pushed on south east to the bivouac for the night another 121 km.
Tomorrow brings the first of the sections of long desert plains with only two checkpoints in 400km of riding and only 28km of that on tarmac. If Craig is going to see a turn of speed we're hoping tomorrow will be the day!
25.04.08 - Craig holds 23rd place on Stage 1 in northern Tunisia but moves to 3rd in his class
A day in the north of Tunisia around the mountain tracks saw Craig running at speeds in excess of 80mph as he held his 23rd place but moved up to 3rd in class. Another excellent result for Craigs first true day of desert rally navigation.
Stage 1 was followed by a long transit section to the south of the country ready for the long desert days ahead.
23.04.08 - Craig finishes the prologue in 23rd place 5th in his class
After along journey down to the South of France by road Craig first run on his newly prepped BMW 650 X-Challenge saw the initla 2.5km prologue completed.
Muscling the big bike around a tight track Craig managed a respectable 23rd place and 5th in class. I doubt he'll be too worried about being 20 seconds down on the leader at this point, the 600km desert stages later in the event will soon sort out the men from the boys. Here at Adventure-Spec we wish him all the best!
Dont forget to check The Optic link for results and/or news every day
23.04.08 - Craig arrives in Marseille ready to ride the Prologue
After too many hours of preparation and a long drive south Craig will get the chance to ride the first 2.5km prologue section of the Optic Rally in the glare of the worlds press.
After a good nights sleep and along ferry journey Friday will bring a short 30km special stage before a 350km ride south to the heart of the desert.
After that the road runs out and Craig will find himself at the heart of the Tunisian/Libyan desert for 7 days and 4000km of the worlds finest desert rallying. Keep checking back here on the Rally Raidio link for results and/or news
05.04.08 - Craig begins his preparation for the 2008 Optic Tunisia / Libyan Desert Rally
After a few too many innoculations Craig is resting this weekend with ONLY a few trips to the gym and five or six hours riding as he prepares his BMW 650 X-Challenge for the rigours of the desert.
In the next week you can expect to see far more details of the event itself appearing right here, and although the route the riders will take is a closely guarded secret, we're really pleased to tell you that as soon as things happen out there you'll find out right here. We've teamed up with Rally Raidio again to bring you live updates from the stages of the event telling us what happens as it happens. The riders ring us directly and always tell it how it is, warts n' all. So if you cant be there, be here and find out exactly how it really is! Check the Rally Raidio link here or on the menu bars above.
28.03.08 - Craig wins his 3rd (!) UK rally in a row.
What a weekend it was! We turned up early at the Llandovery rugby club on a freezing and blustery Easter Sunday ready to open our shop, sell some kit, and support Craig as he made his bid for his first rally win of 2008 at the Red Kite Rally. Everyone agreed that the conditions were unbelieveably bad for an Easter weekend, but the usual buzz started as the riders briefing began. Three loops of 35 miles would make up the days riding and Craig was first off the start line.
Two hours later we caught up with him whilst he refuelled in an uncharacteristically quiet mood (but was still enough of a gent to offer us his second sandwich!). By the time we saw him again it was all over and a tired and mud/snow caked Craig pulled in to the finish. He was ecstatic about his Klim clothing and totally dry under his Klim Goretex Valdez Parka, but the main news was of the speed of the big BMW 650 X-Challenge through some of the twisty sections. No wonder Craig had been so quiet, it had required his total concentration to muscle the big bike at speeds regularly in excess of 100mph through the mud and snow caked tight twisty trails.
Two days later when the results were announced we were delighted to be able to phone and tell 'Boundsy' that his job was done. First place. He had not only won his class, but all classes, outright...An outstanding result by an outstanding rider!