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!

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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"........