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!

Mixed bag

Well, I'm loving my new job....in this context cos it means today for example I spent 5 hours at Glentress Freeride park (yes, again!). Took the Stinky back today as the Cove really needs a stiffer front end (we'll see how soon I get Argyles/DJ1s!).

Anyway, back in the 7" full sus' groove, I got up to speed and felt at home, taking my tables flatter and trying to concentrate on style. Got the one and no handers going sweet, aiming for suicide style soon. Also got my whips going better, and loved mixing it all together.

On the new trick front I've been watching "Drop in" on Extreme sports, and the table/whip/one footer those guys pull are so sweet...so....I tried a couple of times to pull a table with a one footer kick out. Gladly I had the raceface on, as I shinned it once! Will concentrate on those next time.....because....I have a fear of no footers! All the more so as I cased a landing trying it and ended up on the floor...and as I had no arm armour on (doh, I know!) I am now all gashed on my right arm, ouch. Nevermind!

The park was mental busy for a Tuesday, with kids attending the bub-in-the-forest biking school, with the kids getting taught manuals and all. Maybe I should go!

Anyways, no riding shots, but here's my scar...

6th at the Nationals...

News just in - Ste was 6th (in class) at the 4X Nationals at Redhill yesterday... he stopped by on his way back home to ride the infamous Charity Lane with Jon, Leo and I... newly clipped in and on his Dialled 4X longtermer for Wideopen he whooped us on the climbs and the descent! Reinstate. Check out the style in the photo!

No gimmicks, just basics

Went to GT FR park this morning, not too bad considering the 20 bottles of bud consumed last night!

Took the Cove, and having converted her back to single ring front and chain guide, she performed well. Was clearing the same tricks I have been doing on the Stinky, but it was a little more sketchy! That 7" of fun really soaks up the mistakes! Anyway, 2 other lads were out on Sanchez's, so we were looking like a mini Cove Clan! Had my tables, tweaks etc dialled all day, tho the Psylo's are sooooo shit for what is FR/DJ material, so shopping list for me is DJ1s, although Argyles are soooooo much cheaper, so we'll see. NO BAR ENDS FOR ME THOUGH, I HAVE REAL SHOPPING TO DO :P

I might single speed convert her too, not yet tho! Also dropped the Shore drop and did the wall rides on the Cove for the 1st time, all GOOD. No pics I'm afraid, just more memories of the best park in the UK and the usual Peebles sunshiiiiiiiiiiine!

'Strait' to the point...

The point being how to make my scrappy old ODI plastic bar ends looks a little more respectable...

Enter the Straitline ones... expensive yeah but it's my birthday so why not!

£16 and fitted in 5 minutes they look proper bo. A white set ordered for the Coiler me thinks! :)

New tyres and chainstay protector for the Chameleon, chain, rear brake hose and fluid and new headset for the Coiler.

Weakly blasts...a good way to relax after work

Another quick loop last night, enough to get the blood flowing and the body shook to pieces. Charity lane, different again but still nice and fast. We didn't have a run down the singletrack, time constraints and a worry that the surface is getting very worn with all this wet weather and grippy rubber wizzing down!

New cranks now fitted, need a proper blast on the to try them out but they look the business and I'm sure they'll perform, question is....me and chains? managed to snap my new SRAM last night??

Just looking forward to a weekend in Scotland to test me and the bike , hopefully not to destruction!

GT skills

As promised...a shot of moi from Sunday. Look out for an article on GT FR park in next issue of Wideopen. Looks like I'm watching my shaddow...so much time on my hands in mid-air lol! Mid-tweak, and a small hip :)


Thanks to Jo Colligan for the pic.

Keeping it simple...

Hardtail fun tonight (my Coiler's chain is snapped) and Jon and I (come on people where's your commitment!)

Good laugh. Short ride. Charity Lane nailed. Smiles and good banter. Perfect.