DVD out now!

Those that ordered there DVD should receive it before New Year!
Mastered the final copies today and bought the boxes. It's a cracker... excuse the pun!

The 'premiere' may well not be a premiere per se - but is still planned for January.

Wideopen Issue 5

Wideopen Issue 5 is out now!
Packed full of the usual high quality content with articles by both myself, Scott and Steve amongst interviews with Sam Hill and Colum Walsh!

Go check it out:
www.wideopenmag.co.uk

ISSUE 5:
Sam Hill interview / Colum Walsh lives fast / Foel Gasnach / NPS and SDA wrapup / Diamonback / Cycle2007 / Roadtrips / Dirt / Minibikes plus loads more!

This is forever - finished!

After the grand finale at Gwydwr on Sunday the filming and editing for Episode 7 is now finished! The finished result? 20 minutes, wide-screen format with all the best riding from the year.

Line up looks like:

• Penmachno - March
• Scotland weekender - April
• Macclesfield - Summer
• Penmachno - August
• Scotland weekender - September
• Gwydwr finale - December

I'll be burning copies this week (emails going out shortly). If you don't let me know by Friday then there won't be a copy for you!

2008 is shaping up to a good one and ride plans will be going in the diary 1st week in January.

Grand finale... Sunday... Done

Good ride and a good laugh, only my third proper outing away from macc forest! (fair enough scotland was a fair few days). After spanking far too much cash on the forks and wheels was ready to push the limits and loved every minute, held the full suss boys all the way, I'll thank new forks and scotland jump confidence for that.
Bring on the new year may we ride hard and fast.
question? what else to spend my hard earned cash on? as james pointed out the only thing still to upgrade on the subzero is the frame! and thats not going to happen, I smell new bike!

Grand finale... Sunday

Yeah last ride of the year, later than usual - and also last section for the DVD.
Scott's visiting and will be riding his hardtail, Matt Simmonds is coming over with a few mates on short travel bikes. Jon will be out with his spanking new All Mountain forks and new wheels (mmmm!!).

Just hope the weather isn't like it was last night! Urgghhh.

Lady of the Night...

Here she is boys!

Rides like a dream, so much more fun and generally so much better than the Giant in so many different ways!!

Only bad side is that I am now known as Glyn O Brien... Haha!

Pinned first session at Tavi doing timed runs, got 52 seconds and 13th place out of 20 odd, just behind all the guys on dh bikes. Not a totally pinned run though, I reckon I can get it under 50 and probably down to 45 in the dry. Was a bit sketchy in the wet on the roots!

Fun fun fun!

This is forever preview

As promised here are the promo images of the DVD box and T-shirt for the forthcoming Episode 7.
If you're a regular you should have an email in your inbox about it.
News on the premiere in a few weeks :)

Help out a good cause... 5 mins of your time

Message from former Homegrownpushbikes owner and Wideopen Associate Editor Jamie...

We're competing for £50 MILLION to build walking and cycling routes all over the UK... Routes that are specifically designed to help people walk and cycle everyday without getting run over by lorries or choked by fumes. Good for people's health and good for the environment.

We're competing for the money and need people to go to http://www.thepeoples50million.org.uk/home today, sign up and then vote for **'Sustrans' Connect2'.**

It takes about 5 minutes and is really easy to do.

If we win, there will be 11 schemes built in the North West and 79 all over the UK - 6 MILLION people will live within a mile of the routes.

There's even a few routes that will improve access to mountainbike trails (like Afan).

I've voted. I think it's definitely one to support and only took 3 minutes!

This is forever...

Fearingout Episode 7 is due out towards the end of December featuring the best of the riding from the team in 2007 and I for one am dead excited.

Quality footage from Glentress, Ae, Inners, Penmachno and for the first time Macclesfield! With one trip left this year to Gwydwr on the 9th its your last chance for fame and glory with an appearance!

Titled 'This is forever' it'll be available on DVD in widescreen, approximately 20minutes with all the photos from the year on the DVDrom.

It'll be £5 for just the DVD or £15 for the DVD and limited edition T-shirt!

Cover shot and tee-design to follow later in the week. For now bang your orders in to my email inbox.

bedding things in nicely

Well, i was at Glentress and doing runs before 9am this morning. Excited is the word!
The new forks, brakes, stem and headset all make the Cove feel more capable and planted. Played around with rebound but didnt touch the air preload as it feels bang on out of the box. I run my stinky's forks pretty hard, but these are a tad softer but they are still supa stiff. Anyways, the bike performed all day, and off the big drops i felt a lot more confident with the new kit on. Sometimes it felt like the psylos may have imploded at any time doing the drops! Got the wall rides going hiiiiiiigh, got preps from the kids for the "cool bike man", so it was all going well. Until i bailed going off the top doubles. Part wind, part me, i was over the bars like an arse, but hey. Got back on it and continued all day, loving the wall ride in particular. Some of the locals were throwing down some nice style, as was I, but i'll be pushing it for new tricks again soon. Bar spins and no footers MUST be mastered!

Ended the day with a short red route through spooky woods. Pinnnnnnnnned it down there, bullied some gimps who quickly moved aside with "RIDER" coming from behind. Also saw Helen Gaskell training on a Giant XC machine. Good to see the DH pros getting their fitness in on these shores, not just jetting off to the sun! Just goes to show, if its good enough for the world cup pros, its good enough for me. I swear she was eyeing me up too...lol!

Anyway, billy no mates, so no riding shots, but just to prove i was there...

It's finished!

Here ya go folks, my new Cove Sanchez set up is all done.
New 2008 DJ1s, 2008 Avid Juicy 5s, new FSA dh pig pro headset, new Deity stem and a new headset spacer from halfords (!) cos the stack height is different with the Deity...LOL!

Looks mint, added some FO/WO badging, and had a play round the street. The forks are supa stiffffff, and i'll set 'em up proper tomorrow at GT FR park, on the jumps and all, piiiiiiiiiiiiiing. Brakes feel much better, need to bed 'em in, but def a nice upgrade in parts for her. Might be getting a custom FO/WO paint job for crimbo....we'll see!
Piece of pi$$ to fit it all, so I'm off to ride it tomorrow, woohoo :)

What's winter all about to you?

This time of the year is always difficult isn't it! The nights draw in early and the wet and cold weather make you less inclined to get out on the bike.
Some people use this time of year for other activities, some use it for training but I've another suggestion.

It seems every wet spring we say 'yeah lets just get out on the bike and not let the bad weather put us off...' Why not say that now too?

Infact cold dry crisp mornings with blue skies and gentle winter sun are my favourite riding weather. To this end I intend to get out and about on the bike as much as possible, and will be out this weekend in the Peaks with Jon exploring some new trails...

It's also perfect weather for getting the hardtail skills dusted off... can you really be arsed cleaning your complicated full suss after every winter muddy ride? Less to do with the hardtail - just a quick hose down.

2008 will be another good year for the team. Mono is branching out into video and will be working on his project along with greater support of Wideopen. Ste will be continuing in the SDA DH but also tinkering with the XC bike! Matt will be on board to some capacity and Milki will still document the south west for us. Goodridge are on board for the year which is nice, and I'm working on how to integrate the team with Wideopen in some respect. News soon!

Closing news is that with under a year under his back to biking belt, Jon is in the market for a new bike! Yes a full suss... Watch this space!

Update

Just thought I'd update seeing as I've been a bit dormant recently. The Giant is now up for sale, I'm buying a Cove Hooker off someone for this year seeing as I'm going to be filming for a lot of it. Means I can get out and learn to ride trails and all sorts of different stuff I've never been able to do. Should be awesome.

Just got to sell the DH bike first! Then next year in time for France I'll have a lovely new spanking Downhill bike ready for the new season! Woohoo!

Well done to the rest of the FO team on their results this year.

Winter Training?

Spent 4 hours today out on the XC bike (its sooo much nicer to ride up hills than a jump bike I tell you) seeing if I could keep up with the seasoned XC riders in the Uni club. Answer... I can't. But this has inspired me to start seriously working on my fitness over the winter. For anyone thinking the same you may want to keep an eye on wideopenmag for Elbry's Method articles. He'll be giving plently of advise in the coming issues on how to improve your fitness, and stay ahead of the game.
I will get a shot of my new steed up soon, however I keep forgetting to take a camera out with me (plus she's not stickered up yet!).

New Cove set up

Got the headset fitted today with some bodged tools in the garden, lol, then got the forks on. Then got my 24Seven wheels QR conversion off dead easy (these wheels are AMAZING!) and then the thru axle cups ready for the Maxle connection on the DJ1s. It's looking and feeling all good and stifffffff up front now. Am looking fwd to riding her and getting the forks set up as I want them. Just deciding on new brakes at the moment, so complete build should be done ready for my days off next week, on weds-sat. Prob hitting GT on Sat and maybe another of my days off. Check her out.....

Halloween Ride

Wednesday night me and a couple of others headed out to Glentress for a spot of night riding, as seams to be the tradition on Halloween. After spending the afternoon getting to know my new XC machine I opted to session the freeride park rather than head out round the red route.

One makeshift headlight and a fistful of glowsticks made riding a little easier but I wouldnt recomend jumping, dropping etc at night unless you've got some proper lights! Much fun was had though and we managed to get some decent riding in with only a few minor incidents on the way.

My first attemp saw me go head first into the wood... it's hard to judge distances in the dark.

Drop-FLASH=blind!-land....

What next..

Well, as James says, 2007 was a big year for FO. Lots of "stuff" going on, but on a personal note, thought I'd bore you with my current tales...

As I hinted of late...out with the Psylo's on the Cove and in with...
2008 Marzocchi Dirt Jumper 1's. Will help the Cove at the front end big time, and stop me bricking it on landings! Might also get me doing front end manuals over the tables and fun box at GT :) Also got a new headset and new knee gear!

Immediate plan is to get the forks/headset done this weekend, shortly followed by new brakes, giving me a proper hardcore hardtail :)
Also in the plan is a set of 66s for the stinky, lighten her up and give her higher spec kit at the front. Also in line is a full DH rig for me. Probably going to enter some of the SDA rounds next year, so need to make that call soon, tho I'll prob rag the Stinky on it if I can't finance it from my house move!

Full pics of the new Cove to follow soon...

Back on it

After a while off the bike with injury, and being a bit busy with wideopen, house hunting etc, i at last made it back to Glentress today. Hooray! Firstly I forgot how cold it gets in Autumn/Winter. Grrrreat. Nevermind, great news was that after my first run on the FR park the whips, tables, one handers and style were flowing. I was relieved to still "have it"! I varied my sessions up a bit and did quite a few runs on the "beginner" area, its actually quite good for pushing height off small stuff and the step up and tables are good. I really like the speed you can get down it, esp at the mini "shore" section and it would make a great dual-cross style race with the twin lines. If they removed the barriers...speaking of which WHY are they there? Anyway, i did the black stuff too and the Cove was feeling great on landings, I seem to have nailed planting the back end smoothly, so i did the big drops and the wallride...I was worried about the damp conditions for that, but the moto diggers and dry wood on the walls stood me up good.

I decided my fitness needed some work, so went for the abbreviated red route up the shortcut, down spooky and beyond, then back via the black then blue sections. It was great except i couldnt pedal up cos i forgot about single ring dilemma....keep it single for FR park or dual for general tossing around? Anyway, come the spooky descent my legs were alive again and i was buzzing. Popping off the jumps was awesome, good air was had all the way down. The rhythm of the constant tables half way down really is best enjoyed on a HT, not a full soppy bouncer. Did the black and blue descent including a verge ride caning it off a wet root, the FO hoody took some muck and i kept going! Back to the park and a few sessions before my legs were gone and the rain came on!



Top of spooky, gotta love it!

Last ride for the soggy Rockshox Psylos....new toys ariving tomo :)

Drifts and skids...

I've managed to get out on my bike for the past three nights running, and have managed to spend the majority of that time going sideways, or with the back wheel locked. Tuesday and Wednesday night me and a couple of others from Edinburgh Uni headed out to the Pentlands for a nice slow ride. We hit a couple of mega fast downhill sections and spent a good hour or so sessioning loose corners in search of the perfect drift.

I planned to spend last night studying but by half five I was out on the bike again, drifting my way around a gravel car park. I even managed to pull of a proper wall ride, which I was pretty pleased with (even if it was a little sketchy).

Tomorrow should see me out on my first ride of the new bike, a 2008 Spec' Rockhopper. The plan is to try and do some form of training over the winter, although if this week is anything to go by I may just end up learning to execute the perfect drift.

Oh and I've also been tearing up my flat on my other new bike.....

My 14" Raliegh Mini Max! Found and fixed from a skip last week. Look out for some kids bike racing soon.

Last week night ride of 2007

Yeah Wednesday was the last weeknight ride of 2007 (unless we all stump up cash for night lights) and Jon, Chris and myself were stifled by indecision so ended up riding the usual route again! (we will come up with some variation for 2008!)

Jon was having a few gear issues at the start of the ride but they ironed themselves out... I was being arse raped by the saddle again on my hardtail on the climbs (it'll be on my chrismas list for a more all mountain saddle!), Chris was still feeling a lack of fitness. It was cold but dry and had been for a few days. Charity Lane was grippy and fast - Jon and I set off together from the top and props to Jon he stayed with me, even catching me on the gulley. A slow 4x4 interupted our descent so we had a breather half way and the bottom half equally ruled - again in close convoy - Jon could see my back end twitching but speed and commitment I held it, a great feeling.

The singletrack was dry but leaf covered again - and unfortunately had a dog walker on the fast open bit meaning we had to slow down. Good laugh and the hardtail was predictable in the dryer conditions. Chris really enjoyed it too... but we'll stay clear now until 2008 as it's not worth riding at weekends.

This weekend is another Wales trip so expect some photos up on Monday/Tuesday next week.

The Goodridge hoses for the 2008 riders will be with me in the next month too - and the team DVD will be ready for Christmas so pre-order now!

Until next time - keep it simple.

Matt 3rd in NPS overall

http://www.npsdh.com/series.php

Great news for FO team rider Matt Simmonds - a solid performance all year sees him 3rd overall in the NPS. I'm sure we'll have an update from him soon.

Mono is starting to line up riders for his video project he's working on next year - and Matt will be featuring in that... the video will be supported by both Fearingout and Wideopen and will be available through us along with other distributors!

Another week another ride

Yeah was out last night again, this time with Chris and Jon - and since Jon hadn't ridden our usual ride since Scotland we did Charity Lane and the singletrack to see if he had found any more speed.

Weather was dry overhead but ground was wet and it was bitterly cold as the sun set - almost perfect riding weather. After climbing for half an hour the Charity Lane descent was awesome - different for me to last week, I was faster in some sections but felt slightly slower in others so I've still to put together a solid full suss run... and I might be out on the hardtail next week for a change anyway.
Jon enjoyed himself too - trying slightly less pressure in the rear tyre he said he found a lot of extra grip, but did worry about punctures... from the look of it, that didn't slow him down too much though!! Chris took a few snaps - and surprised me when he worked out it was only the 3rd time he'd ridden Charity Lane in 2007 (must be like the 40th time for me!)

Singletrack was wetter than last week - not quite so committed, quite sketchy but fun... will be nice when the cold weather dries it out.

More of the same next week - hardtail fun though I think!

Leo is riding at Hebden Bridge this weekend if anyone wants to join him. We're visiting Wales again at the end of the month.

Return of the Macc...

Back out in Macclesfield Forest again this evening - 1st time since Scotland and it was back to the old school with just Phil, Chris and I - all now riding full bouncers!

Weather was kind despite being wet overnight and the overcast and cool late afternoon proved perfect riding weather. Climbing wasn't so bad, Phil said not much in it between his old knackered hardtail and the new Coiler. Chris was struggling with his fitness a little but fair play hadn't been on a bike since the last trip to Penmachno!

Charity Lane proved dryish and LOTS OF FUN. Taking the new found confidence from my recent trip to Scotland I pedalled down as much as I could - awesome - so fast, just a little sketchy but there's room for improvement. After a quick push up for some photos we moved onto the singletrack - which was covered in leaves but fast as fook! Phil made my day with the statement 'bloody hell Hilton you were motoring through there!' - I was - deliberately pushing myself, focusing on the trail not the detail and throwing the Coiler about :)

Can't wait for next week when we take on Cumberland Brook.
Phil's out at the weekend exploring new trails if anyone's around give him a bell.

Edinburgh Urban DH

Before I mention the race I'd just like to say, you should never leave prep'ing your bike for a race 'til the night before. Lets just say the tape that was holding part of my bike together was on my mind all day. But it stayed in one piece and so did I.
Saturday was a great day of riding/racing. After seeding in 2nd, it went to my head a little by the time my race run came around. I used a couple of crowd barriers to get me round two corners and completely messed up one of the right handers at the bottom of one of the stair sets. Never mind, still pretty pleased with 4th, and it was great to race in front of such a large crowd.
Reactions from the spectators all seamed positive and it was good to see the sport being brought into the public eye in such a way. I just hope there is another race next year!
Expect to see a full report in Wideopenmag sometime soon.

Fat Face Edinburgh Urban Downtown race

Headed into Edinburgh (very hungover) yesterday for the worlds first ever night time downhill race. Awesome is the word!

Fearingout Race Team rider Ste Larking was on fire in the HT category, a baw hair off of 1st in his seeding run. What would have been like with two brakes?! An awesome field of about 300 competitors meant 3 runs and a seeding run squeezed in during daylight, followed by the race run in the dark gave an action packed day.

I camped at the bottom of the hill catching the final section of steps, the tricky fast right berm and car jump at the finish straight. Seeing some of the guys manual and double the bottom section of steps made me glad i wasn't racing, nevermind the crashes!

More coverage soon on wideopen and I'm sure Ste will post soon too. I only got decent pics from daylight, but more soon from our contacts...!

From memory Pager won Masters, Rachel won womens, Gump won Junior and Gee pipped Stanbridge in the elite. Ste came a very good 4th in the HT, if only he'd had 2 brakes!

.

Gethin Dragon 07

Hi just got back form a weekend shooting at gethin in wales for the dragon dh. full gallery of photos i got can be found on: www.jacobgibbins.co.uk email me if you would like any of them. thanks jacob

Dragon DH: Gethin

Went up to represent fearingout.co.uk at the latest Dragon at Gethin this weekend.

Team Rider Matt Simmonds finished up in 3rd, Rowan Sorrell in 2nd and a massive congratulations to Ash Mullane who took his first win for something like 2 years.

Great track and keep checking back for the video.

Here's a pic from Milky to keep you going:

EUCC Freshers Trips

Took the Edinburgh Uni Freshers out to Glentress and Inners this weekend. Had some fun riding spooky woods and the freeride park on Saturday (still no closer to landing a 360), and spent yesterday afternoon pushing up at Inners. It was my first full day on clipped in on the DH bike and the pedals were messing with my head to start with, and I was totally off the pace. After following a few of the fast guys down I soon got used to them and was much faster at the end of the day. Still need to do alot more riding on them before Im fully confident clipping in and out.
This weekend is going to see the racing come to me as the Fat Face Night Race takes place in Edinburgh City Centre. Spoke to Chris Roberts today and things are set for a great day of racing. I'll be racing in the hardtail category so its back on with both brakes and some fat tyres to handle the stairs. I just hope the Holeshot frame will take a 2.7"........

Personal progression

For anyone with Facebook the photos are now online on there - I'll be doing a full report and photo page on here this week, along with putting the final few layouts together for Wideopen Issue 4... BUT I'm on holiday with the family next week so there is a chance neither may be done before I'm back.

Scotland was amazing. I felt my riding progressed another level, my confidence in the jump park, my commitment on the DH runs and general arsing about on the hardtail - plus all round fitness - combined with good company (cheers guys, and good to see Scott and Ste again) made it a weekend to remember... roll on April!

FO Scotland

Met up with the guys on the road at Glentress on Saturday. I took the wideopen long term test bike for a spin up there to see how much it would kill me riding XC on a 4x/jump bike. We spent a few hours riding the black route, sessioning a couple of the downhill sections and riding some really nice downhill singletrack that we stumbled across. Once back in the car park we hit the freeride park for a while, where I met a couple of guys from Uni and I ended up riding for another 3 hours after everyone else left. All in all a long and exhausting day on the bike, but so much fun. Im sure James will post up the full Scotland report soon. (I didnt manage to land a 360 by the way...next time though!)

Welcome to the land of sunshine

James, Ross and Jon are up this weekend, caught up with them on Fri at GT FR park, i think James now knows I haven't photoshopped myself into photos to make me look good! Good to meet the guys, albeit quickly, tho i was hungover too. The park was windy, but we sessioned and even discovered the red/blue starter area can be fun. Ross and James even had an ad-hoc race. Nice idea, build more GT, build more!

I headed over to the drops and nearly ran out of height on the wall ride, Jon got excited and when trying 2nd time out had a bit of a high speed spill coming into the walls. Good lad bounced off the floor to discover ANOTHER holey T shirt lol. Back to Winkston (top place!) and then Neidpath for tea. Felt weird being on a roadtrip without being on a roadtrip if ye get me!

Anyways, the lads have had a good weekend of weather from what I've seen, shame I've been at work Sat and Sun, but hey. I'm sure their rave reviews of red, black, inners and more will be on here soon.

From the GT local :P

North of the border again.

Made the move back up to Edinburgh at the weekend so decided to get to know the area around my new flat by going for a little ride. On the way home I took a tubble down some stairs. It was one of those crashes that takes you by suprise when you're just rolling along not really paying attention. Damage done? Hurt pride, ripped new jeans and popped the brake lever out its housing. Oh well, I happen to live directly opposite a bike shop and they've sorted it in just a few hours. Hopefuly I'll be out riding with all those heading up to Scotland at some point over the weekend, so fingers crossed I can keep the bike in one piece between now and then!

Another FO roadtrip...

Well following the other FO roadtrip to the World Cup a few weeks ago 3 of us are off to Peebles for another long weekend of red and black route action.

Should be meeting up with FO's Scotland correspondant - Mr Warnock - I'm looking forward to witnessing his new freeride park skills! Jon's first trip north of the border so it goes something like...
Friday - Red / Park
Saturday - Black / Park
Sunday - Red / Inners / Park
Monday - Inners / Kirroughtree

Bring it on :)

FO road trip

Just back from Fort Bill. I left a day after the boys, having ridden the DH track yesterday.

What a trip, great larfs, some great riding especially at Wolftrax. See full post on Wideopen if ye fancy....

Road shot from Saturday (very) early start...

Ooops

Good fun tonight out on the hardtails - Jon had a spill though in the woods - good lad. Short on T-shirts for Scotland now though?

I hate you Milky!

For being at the World Champs when I'm stuck here in Tavi working at Co op all week!

Anyway, check out this pic of Minnar from the man himself:

Ready for my holidays!

Sooooooo excited about Fort Bill, heading up crack of dawn Saturday morning, go collect my presspass and join Milki who's been doing more networking than a showbiz wannabe! Good lad :)

Some last minute shopping arrived today...

...some new gloves as all my crashing has left a few holes in my existing pairs! The Descend ones feel mint, the mtx ones are a bit more lightweight and XC style. Also got new shorts and 2 riding tops, partly in prep for DH racing, as they are super loose to go over the body suit (yet to buy). they dont sweat up like cotton neither! also got brake pads and inner tubes, but they aint as sexy a picture lol.

Anyways, bring it on...even though my back still aches, hopefully will be more able to ride come monday cos i feel like a bag of nails right now!

Bang

Last pre Fort Bill ride today, and headed to GT as usual (I love saying that!). Took the Cove, and i'm loving the HT action so much. There were a few tricksters around, so was good to watch and learn.

Warmed up qucikly and got some props for my style, always good when someone bigs you up for your first run! I tried a few new tricks, dunno what ye call them tho! Sessioned a few areas of the the track, and was flying high on the wall ride on the Cove for the 1st time. Best move of the day was a manual I landed and held coming off one of the tables at the top. It was by accident tho! About twenty minutes later I was trying it for real and got my weight too far back and BANG, i had my worst ever crash (worse than Inners hi speed incident!)! My back aches, i'm torn to shreds from running down the track on my back, and my lower back is all bruised from the impact. I was winded and my hearing went funny at one point! Cheers to Sam and the guys for checking I was alright. Great to get respect for pushing the limits and casing it too, LOL!

Met Sam and his mates filming stuff, didn't catch the NZ bound guy, but his style was sick, shame I didn't get him in a snap.

Anyways, the HT rules, I'll be back on it soon, just dunno how fit I'll be for riding up north, doh! Really feeling The Cove and despite the forks, its all about the technique, so GET ON YOUR HARDTAIL and PIN IT!

As good as Friday's get

Well, nightshift tonight, so on my long turnover, I went to GT today. Arrived to some windy conditions, so having brought the Cove this time, I got to the top and started sessioning. Took a few runs to feel the HT love, but soon i was loving chucking it round. It was rather windy, so I decided the abbreviated red route option was a good idea. Headed up to spooky woods, and pondered how rough this would be! The stinky eats it all up, but i was keen to feel the Cove on the top jumps to bottom jumps and all.

Set off and bang, loved it, tho the heli pad clearing means the top is still exposed, so the crosswinds on the first 3 jumps made it sketchy city. Still, banging on I loved the middle forest tables, truly mint. Got to the bottom having tabled, whipped and tweaked the jumps on the trail route, it seems park practice is seeing the benfits! Loved it so much, went back up for run 2! Loved it all again, but decided to head back via the next section and some blue route to the park, for more jump park action! Also found some balck grade action, so many options at GT :) There also seems to be an alternative line being built near the red route at Spooky, tight and techy as opposed to wide and easy perhaps? I'm sure it'll be as much fun!

Anyways, got back and sessioned the park again, and the HT IS THE SHIT! Just need to get shopping on forks and maybe brakes, but we'll see. Now for some snaps....

Look who I saw at the top car park (didn't actually meet Chris, maybe next time!)...

Top of the Spooky woods, before SECOND run, arty styleeee...

Mad skills. Not only can I table round corners, I have the timing of a genius. Here I had an idea to set the camera, judge the time delay...so I pinned jump 1, then tabled round the corner and hey presto with the camera focussed on me...what a gem of a shot! There was no one around to even take the pic for me, so this is GENUINE!

Loving life.

Stickeeeeeeee

Look what came in the post today...


Thanks to Andy at Bigstone for sorting us out - I'll be running a pair as will team rider Ste. Expect to see them in future issues of Wideopen along with a different take on the flat pedal debate soon!

The perfect ride...

Imagine... finishing work on time and out the door with a smile in the cool late summer afternoon breeze. You get in the car and it smells of bikes (as your rig's been sat inside it all day) and you crank up the stereo as you drive to the forest. Meeting up with familiar faces, exchanging stories about recent upgrades and admiring clean bikes you're on the move before long and get the whole lot of climbing out the way in 40 minutes with plenty of banter. Admiring views and setting the world to rights on the way! Then follows your familiar route, but this time something is different. Whether its the weather, the conditions, the bike or you somehow the whole descent is dialled, pinned even - so good infact that you can't bring yourself to push back up for a second go for fear of sullying the memory of that perfect run. It doesn't end there though, and the second section of contrasting rooty singletrack is hit with a confidence that only comes with feeling 'on it'. Back in under 1h30m with a huge smile, a glow, no bike dramas just good riding. Why isn't it like this every week?

Can little wheels lead to big things?

Just a quick post to say I took the BMX away from its commuting duties at the weekend and hit Dumfries skatepark with a couple of mates. I was a bit rusty to start with as I haven't riden park for ages now, but it didn't take long for it to start coming back to me. It wasn't long before I was throwing the little bike round as I rediscovered my enjoyment for BMX. Anyway I managed to pull a few 360s clean which I've never managed before, but now I'm getting the technique maybe I can transffer it to the bigger big? We'll soon see at Mabie on Friday night.
Have you still got a BMX kicking about somewhere? Get the tyres blown up and get out and ride, I bet you'll enjoy it!....

Fun fun fun on a Tuesday

Headed to you know where today.
Sessioned the park, worked on my tables and hips, got confident on no handers again *after smash last time*, and didn't crash, phew!
Also got some snaps for the article in Wideopen, so a good day out.
It was also empty, so many runs were put in. Feeling the fitness getting better now I've started running!
Nice desktop shot from today...

Timing Charity Lane...

Good ride last night - just Jon and myself - and I has happy to make it round without pushing on the Coiler and its sticky tyres! Charity Lane was fast, and fun... but I missed the hardtail. The singletrack was fast and grippy on the full sus - swings and roundabouts.


Jon brought out his GPS receiver and new mobile - and we had a first play at figuring out ways of timing Charity Lane... more to come soon but on first look speeds of over 30km/h are reached!

Update!

Well I havn't updated the blog since I got back from France so thought I'd let you all know what's been happening down this neck of the woods.

France was incredible. Amazing tracks combined with baking hot sunshine and 5 minute downhills and the most spectacular scenery you could wish for, together with all the good times that come with hanging out with all your good riding mates mean an amazing two week holiday. The training is good as well, two weeks of flat out riding down some rather large hills is always good!

So more on that in the new edition of Wideopen mag. Back to England and the riding took a couple of outings to get used to again. Returning to Tavi Woods again in the wet was awesome but not so good in the dry. Pinned it today and got some good shots with Milky.

Racing at the UK Bikepark in Blandford in two weeks time, my lovely girlfriend has agreed to marshal for me which means I get to ride free! Woohoo!

I'll update after the race.

Mono

Scottish Champs

Mud, rain and more mud was pretty much how the weekend looked at Ae. Heavy rain for much of Saturday meant that by the end of the day most riders were brown from head to toe. The track didnt really cope too well with the conditions and became pretty tough to ride in sections. Most notably the off camber sections which turned into mud pits by the time it came to race runs. I messed up the top section on my first run and struggled to improve my time on a slower riding track in the second. In the end I finished 33rd with a time of 3mins. Top honours wet to Joe Barnes who pulled out two runs at 2min 19seconds. Full report to come in wideopen issue 4!

GT frolics

In summary:
Rode the FR park for an hour this lunchtime, opened up my wounds from last week doing a no hander, oops.
Got the camera out and got snapping, got some shots for the wideopen article. Some kids were throwing some sick whips and nice style all round.
Then Marcus arrived and we went and did the red route in brief, went the quick way up (so much quicker, even pushing!) and as my fitness is so poor, we did spooky and the next section, but came back to the car park via wicked black grade diamond chute onto the blue route. Nice quick loop of red, good to know, well done Marcus!
The weather was fine as usual...
....and i was getting snaps for the mag...
...no sneak previews, you'll just have to downlaod issue 4 in September!!!
Great days riding as ever, GT is my home!

Penmanchno no no no... yes!

6 of us headed to Penmachno today - a first ride there for Chris, and Tez's first trip on his new 2006 Coiler... so we looked a bit like the Kona gang with 5 out of the 6 of us astride the Canadian rigs... 4 of which were Coilers? Perfect UK trail centre bike for going big? Who knows...

Anyway I struggled today. Wheel bearings that are a bit fucked, sticky tyres, rubbing discs and hardtail based fitness meant it took me a long time to find my stride... but I did get there - even if it was slowly... The tyres which were a curse on the climbs were immense once the trails pointed down properly. My favourite bit, the first singletrack section after the shitty open bit, was amazing. I've never pedalled so hard and nailed something so sweetly EVER on a bike... and to be honest all day on the downs I felt a lot more confident even with a less then convincing rear brake set up (it did improve over the day though).

Right now I'm tired though so bed time. Not many stills but above are two screen captures of me from some of the footage. First off in the woods on the second of the 3 swoopy fast bits in a row - and secondly on the final section pinned for the camera. Nice.

PS - I'll be on the Coiler every week until Scotland now to try and build up big bike fitness! Hopefully Goodridge will come through on the hoses this week.

Monday is....

...Going to be mostly sunny, so with random shifts meaning I'm off, I'm gonna be down GT FR park all day riding and snapping to inspire me for an evening of writing the Freeride, Free Spirit article in next issue of Wideopen. Taking the camera, hopefully get some shots of riders...

Just hope the Beeb have got the weather right!

Loving the ride :)

Bloody hoses...

After Goodridge sent me the replacement hose under warranty I finally got around to fitting it this morning to the HFX Mag brakes on the Coiler rear.

Lots of expletives later the fitting for the level end has snapped with the hose bit stuck in the hose...

I've emailed them again so we'll see if they sort me out... but as I need a new set of wheels for the bike anyway I might look to get a set of Hope Pro2 hubs and Mono Mini's from Merlin Cycles...

Then again if you've seen the Cotic Hemlock... I fancy that with a set of Pike's too!

On a knife edge...

Tonight was fun. Chris braved it on his semi-slick equipped commuting bike! Good to see him out on the bike again.
This weekend is Wales again and a test for all the little mods to the Coiler! I also have heard Tez is now sporting a 2006 15" Coiler - be good to see that on Sunday.

Quick warm up.

Spent a couple of hours just feeling out the track at Ae on Sunday in preperation for the Scottish Champs this weekend. I didnt want to push too hard as i still have a hefty split in my rim. I was also stuggling with being clipped in on a DH track for the first time (read, I fell after being on the bike for all of ten seconds). May stick to the flats for the race. Met a sound guy called Les up there who was taking a few shots of all the riders up there in the morning. Check out his album on pinkbike.com here, he's had a few Picture Of the Day (PODs) but his shots speak for themselves, and I'm sure he wont mind me posting this one up of myself.

New rims should be arriving at work soon and will be built up for the Champs. I'll let you know how I get on.

Back on my BMX

Spent all weekend on bmx. Boss. So glad to have it back. I had sold it to a mate to part fund my mountain bike, but then that got nicked and I went crawling on my hands and knees begging to buy it back. I was horrified when I saw how it had been abused. People like that shouldn't be allowed to have kids, real ones or metaphorical "babies". This was my baby. For years, before I sold her, it stood the test of time whilst other BMXs came and went. Old faithful. It was my on/off lover, the Kate Moss to the Pete Docherty side of my personality. Brake pads were down to the metal against the rims and i had to respray crank and get new grips too. Other paint is badly scratched and it needs a new stem amongst a list of other things. Worth it though.

I'm rushing home every night now to get on it and apart from one disastrous drunken wheelie on Saturday night, everything is going great. But since when have all other riders been so young? Maybe I missed the watershed at 15 when most people realise they arent going to be a pro, and you need a car, not a bmx, to get the slags in my area to give it up. Got new red wall tyres for it on the way and a gold chain too so watch this space.

Sneak peak. Tinkering again pre Scotland in September... Shake down on the 19th.

The puncture episode

Act 1: Scene 1 - Arrival at the Leather Smithy
[James M has had problems with a recurring puncture in his front wheel for the past couple of days]

James M, bent over the decrepid wheel, whacks in a new tube of Leo's. Due to the tightness of the tyres, the metal tyre lever needed to put the damn thing back on trapped the tube and punctured that too.
James M: "Crap."
James H: "Whats up with your tyre? How come you're taking so long?"
James M: "Buggered."
Team effort to fix the puncture, eventually, fails.
James M, feeling like both tubes bent him over and screwed him backwards, is a little pissed off.
James M: "You guys go on, I'll limp home".
Enter Nice old lady.
Nice old lady: "Having a bit of trouble there?"
James M: "Yeah"
After much getting to know each other...
Nice old lady: "My daughter has just gone to get the car. She'll take you home."
Enter Nice old lady's daughter, Sarah, with son and Slovenian girl in car.
Sarah: "Whack it in my boot. Its a bit messy so don't worry about getting oil everywhere."
James throws his stuff into her boot, then jumps in the back seat.
Then, after much befriending and best public school voices, Nice old lady is dropped off at Sutton, James gives email adress to Slovenian girl and is taken home. And they all lived happily ever after.

A nice little story for a Thursday afternoon.

4X Champs and Charity Lane

Well it was a busy weekened of riding for me as you already know. The National 4X Champs took place at Redhill Extreme near the Forest of Dean this year. With each of the Championship events (DH/XC/4X) being held on their own this year, there was definatly a slightly more subdued atmosphere round the track. The track itself alowed for some really good racing though so expect to see a write up in the next issue of wideopen.
On Sunday I decided that it'd be good to go home via Macc and catch up with James but also to ride Charity Lane. It gets a mention on here at least twice a month so I wanted to know what its all about. Needless to say I wasnt dissapointed, very technical in places and with no line to speak of in others it was a real challenge on a small bike. And as for ignorance is bliss, well... I think I was probably quicker on my second run after I knew where I could really let the bike go. But I did get the buzz from that first run down, hitting the first line that came to me and pushing as hard as I dare on unknown teritory. For those of you that dont know what I'm on about go and read Scotts article on ignorance in wideopen!

A table for one...

Courtesy of Joe Colligan...here's me table-ing it round the corner at GT FR park on Sunday 29th July. Look out for more of the same in an article in Wideopen issue 4...working title "Freeride...Free Spirit"



Having been to GT FR park twice since then, I've tried to push my style and hopefully, it has come on a little and I think I might be addicted to the place! This weekend is the "Peebles Show", so will be out and about at possibly Lennoxtown woods, camera and all!

Unlucky!

Unlucky for James M tonight - joining us for the first time this summer and a spate of puncture problems (not helped by him holing the only spare tube we had with a metal tyre lever - doh!) Hope you got home ok James!

Phil, Leo and myself pushed on and got round in an hour. Charity Lane was very dry and loose, and Phil was surprised how fast I was on a hardtail - he's on the edge of buying a Coiler (go on Phil!) so tried Leo's for size.
Then the rooty singletrack in the dry - lots of grip but less confidence since last time was so treacherous - hope its dry again next week - its ace attacking though there!

Big order placed for Scotland trip bits - new headset and tyres for the Coiler with the last of my birthday money.

See you next week chaps - and then the 19th in North Wales!