Wideopen Issue 8 ONLINE!!!

At long last the wait is over - Issue 8 has finally hit the press...
Packed FULL of the usual articles, reports and reviews go download your festive copy now!

www.wideopenmag.co.uk www.wideopenmag.co.uk www.wideopenmag.co.uk

Alpitude - winter testing!

From Macclesfield 07/12/2008

Today Chris and I headed to a cold, snowy and icy Macclesfield Forest. My first ride of the Wideopen longterm test bike (the Genesis Alpitude) and Chris's first ride for over a month!

Well the going was slippery to say the least but after chucking some air in the Genesis forks things were off to a good start. The climb was icy and Charity Lane was treachorous. Despite all this Chris and I had a ball...

And the bike?
I'm in love. More later.

New Wideopen Longtermer in my garage!!

A MAHOOOOOSIVE box arrived for me on Friday - inside was this beauty, a 2009 Genesis Alpitude, as previewed on Wideopen exclusively a few months ago...

First impressions on equipment and quality of finish are excellent. I look forward to hammering it around the Peak District and a few trail centres over the next few months.

Full photo set on Facebook - if you've not joined the group yet then why not?

Note - the forks are not pumped up yet hence the steep head angle and tiny travel!

Riding in a winter wonderland.

It's mighty cold up here in Scotland at the moment, and with the cold has come the snow and ice. Despite the weather I've managed to get out on the bike most weekends for the past month or so now. The Dialled Alpine frame has inspired me to rip down the hills faster than ever, taking me to 34th at the last round of the SDA in senior, and 3rd in the hardtail cat at Robofest last month just two seconds down on Chirs Hutchens and Ali MacLennan.

This is what the car park at Inners looked like a few weeks ago. Taken from the road looking toward the end of the trails. Uplift ran as usual but I was pushing that day anyway (hence bottle cage with matching purple juice!).

Last weeks uplift saw my good friend Iain take a nasty spill on the first run of the day. After coming round a bit he offered me his Intense Socom for the day. Since then I've spent every night working out how I might be able to afford a big bouncy bike again for next year.

As for next year plans are already running through my head about how seriously I want to take racing, but for now I need to worry about the Wee Triathalon in Fort Bill at the start of March. I've not been swimming for a good couple of years now so I'll let you know how that one pans out...

United, pre-order now!

Featuring the very best of Fearingout 2008, episode 8 'United' is now available to pre-order. Check your email inbox for more details!

• Scotland - Kirroughtree / Glentress / Innerleithen
• Wales - Gwydwr / Llandegla
• England - Macclesfield / Lee Quarry
• Wideopen - Llandegla
• Scotland - Ae / Innerleithen
• Wales - Penmachno

Cold and wet on a hardtail... so this is winter!

From Macclesfield 16/11/2008

Right so the clocks changed and the weeknight rides finished... it seems SO long since I've been out on the bike. Dark mornings and even darker nights, without lights Monday to Friday is a non-starter...

So weekend raids it is - Jon and I met at an early for a Sunday 9am and took a blast around Macclesfield Forest. We were either both mad or both lazy as we both had taken the hardtail option (hey it's easier to clean!). September was the last time I'd ridden the CHameleon, and it was good to get out on a trail ride on it again as Scotland just spent the time in the jump park.

The weather wasn't too bad, a little drizzly and rain earlier meant the going was always going to be wet but undeterred Jon and I made good time to Charity Lane. Here we found the surface to be quite grippy but some head sized rocks kept me on my toes. Jon's lack of a decent rear brake gave the impression that he was 'on it' as he came by me on the steep bit - his honesty at the bottom told me it was more through fear than glory! We did the whole loop (ahem for fitness) and found UU have created a new rider only section. Unfortunately it's a motorway fireroad... will they ever learn? Anyhow now sorely tempted to get involved with the Macc DH guys and help them out with there track, before seeing if we can build a more hardtail orientated descent.

We'll see.

Bring on the fancy dress!

We're just over 6 weeks from the end of the year and with that in mind I thought it a good idea to arrange the end of year events...

END OF YEAR RIDE
Thought it would be good for us all to get together one last time in 2008 and agree on a Sunday morning we're all available and just do a loop of Macclesfield Forest...

...with a twist.

Fancy dress anyone?

I'm down as 'Superman' and Jon as a caveman. Look forward to other suggestions!

How are people fixed for the 30th November or 7th December?
Let me know ASAP.


DVD PRE-ORDER
This years DVD (titled 'Episode 8 - United') will be available shortly.

It's 30 minutes long and includes the following sections:
Scotland (April 08) - Kirroughtree / Glentress / Innerleithen (James C, Phil, Ross, Chris, Jon and myself)
Gwydwr (Jon, Chris, Pete, Ross and myself)
Llandegla (Jon and myself)
Macclesfield (Jon and myself)
Lee Quarry (Damian, Jon, Chris, Ross and myself)
Wideopen - Llandegla (Jamie, Chris, Rhodri, Sam and myself)
Scotland (September 08) - Ae / Innerleithen (Jon, Leo, Chris, Scott and myself)
Penmachno (Ross and myself)

As per previous years this will only be available for a short period before I delete the original edit to produce next years video!
The price will be £5 collection or £6 delivered and will be supplied in a box with full artwork.

Please let me know ASAP if you wish to purchase a copy this year (Leo I've still got Episode 7 here for you as well!)


DVD PREMIERE
The grand unveiling of 'United' will be on the 27th November at Casa Del Hiltano (email for directions).
Copies of the DVD will be available for collection - posted copies will go out after this date.

We'll be showing a selection of classic Fearingout and Earthed videos along with the northern premiere of the Wideopen flick 'Foot out flat out'.

Kick off will be 7pm. Premiere about 9.15ish.

RSVP please!

Nuke Proof - we'll just have to see

Just fitted the Nuke Proof Warhead bars and stem for Wideopen testing.

First impressions are very good, excellent quality machining and felt smooth going on, one word WIDE, a definite improvement on the standard Specialized bars on the Pitch. Hopefully will be able to do the bars justice and give them a good thrashing over the winter.

Look out for the kit review in Wideopen Issue 9 out March(ish) 2009.

Penmachno no no no no.... yes!

From Penmachno 19/10/2008

Well another year another DVD and with Ross and I visiting Penmachno at the weekend the final section for this years video is in the bag! Episode 8, provisionally titled 'United' will be ready before Christmas so get your orders in now!

And the ride?
Penmachno did not dissappoint. It'd been several weeks for me, and months for Ross so a little out of bike fitness the prospect of gale force winds and drizzle somehow didn't put us off - and with a spill in the car park before I even got the bike out things weren't looking good! Glad to say they got no worse, only better!
The first climb wasn't too difficult and I enjoyed the flowing singletrack climb of the second section in particular. Once on the first open section the true extent of the wind became apparent as we were literally blown up hill! The 3 sequential singletrack sections didn't flow as well in the high wind, even in the trees you felt prone to being knocked off course - maybe we're riding it too fast (or too slow) to feel the flow but the memory here wasn't all it cracked up to be...
A little climb and another good flowy 'across' section before I adjusted Ross's headset to the point where he couldn't steer! Oh dear! About time someone did some pro-active bike maintenance I think!
Onwards and the epic beast of a mountain pass awaited. I was hoping it wasn't going to be too windy but it surpassed itself, and on the approach knocked both Ross and me off our bikes! Donning a second coat we ventured out into what can only be described as 'character building' man against mountain sort of stuff. It really took it out of us... onwards and we hit my favourite section (the third before last singletrack). After a gentleish pedally start things take a turn for the descent and it really turns on the gas - awesome stuff! Then it leaves another open traverse which was sketchy in the wind and slower than usual - before the final descent. I really was knackered by this point so was somewhat lazy when it came to pedalling and pumping - two things you really have to do to get the most out of it! Back to the car both Ross and I were glad of a dry change of clothes and some good food.

So want to see more? Check out the video... more on that another day.

Wideopen goodies...

The nice people at Hotlines have sent over some good looking product for testing at Wideopen.


RRP £49.99


Bars: RRP £49.99 Stem: RRP £59.99


RRP £39.99

RRP £54.99

All available from your local bike shop - or check out www.hotlines-uk.com

Penmachno this Sunday - see you there!

Motivation, or lack of...

I am itching to get back out on the bike again after Scotland but struggling to find the motivation to sort out a weeknight ride.

This year's seen a real downturn in attendance of the FO regular Thursday night session. Guess I'm just a little jaded.

Ross and I were talking about planning another ride in Wales - and settled on Penmachno. It'll probably be the last section on Episode 8 - unless the hardtails turn up for testing for Wideopen.

Keep your eyes peeled, and give me a kick up the arse to organise a week night ride! It's been tooooooo long.

Scotland September 2008

Scotland September 2008

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something... red?

Two days for me in Scotland, back late last night. Here are the photos, expect a section on Episode 8 and an article in Wideopen Issue 8!

For now, enjoy:

Is this a late summer?

We've had 3 good days in the last 4, what's going on!?!!

Anyhow, to take advantage of the unseasonally good weather we organised a pre-Scotland blast around the usual haunts in Macclesfield.

Jon, Chris and I took an early dash from work to catch the light and headed up to Charity Lane taking in some good chat and banter plus Scotland planning.

Charity Lane was dry (somehow) and very loose, I was really not feeling it that much today, think I've lost my riding legs with the distinct slow down in riding this summer. All over the place and hanging on I had a good laugh, but a bit ragged. Chris and Jon too the singletrack, I gave it a miss expecting a mud-bath, bugger I was wrong. Gutted I missed that, but got a good snap of Chris anyway.

Work's been mad this last week so it was so good to blow the cobwebs away. As always though thoughts of a new set of wheels and a fork upgrade a hovering away in the back of my mind, a set of 2009 RockShox Revelation Maxle air with Hope ProII hubs and some light weight hardcore rims are very tempting. Then at least the pedals won't clash with the rim!

From Macclesfield 23/09/2008

Wideopen longterm pedals with new pins were transformed from Llandegla with no foot slippage at all. In my opinion they should come with the long pins in the box.

Last ride before Scotland...

Tuesday next week will be the last ride before Scotland, so a good chance to test out the bikes and any maintenance work you've carried out before we head north!

I'll be on board the hardtail to give it a shake down following the Dialled/Chameleon rebuild situation!
Thanks to Martyn, Jon and a chap called Mark in work I've sourced some longer pins for the purple Outland pedals (on long term test for Wideopen) which when tested last night seemed to make a HUGE difference to grip.

Scottish DH antics.

It's been waaaaay too long since I last posted on here. Unfortunately due to working/exams I missed a few of the races this season. The last two weeks have been a little different though. First off was the Fort Bill Endurance Downhill race, basically how many runs can you do in 6 hours. I was there having my own race with Ace from Hardtail Nation. As the only two guys to race the whole day on our, less than suitable bikes, we were both awarded with a spot prize at the end of the day. After throwing myself at a big rock on my first run I was forced to take the rest of the day pretty easy, but still managed to squeeze 10 runs in. Ace who blew his rear tyre twice got 9.
After Fort Bill I spent half the week laid up in bed after my body started to complain about me riding for another 5 and a half hours after such a big crash. Thankfully I recovered enough to make it down to Inners for the last round of the SDA. With a rather long, flat and very pedally track, things were deffinately looking up for me on the hardtail.
My first run went pretty well and I was somewhere near the bottom of the standings. Second runs came round, and it was one of those moments that everything just comes together for the perfect ride and I knocked 12seconds off my first run. This put me 34th in Senior, roughly where I was placing on the full sus last year!
Expect to see full reports on both events in the next issue of Wideopen Mag. I'll also give you a peek at my new rig sometime next week.... Today I'm off to the Uni sports fair to sign up all the keen young freshers to the bike club. Then next weekend we'll be taking them all to Glentress and Inners so if you're heading up that weekend look out for the group of about 30 students on bikes.

Reborn

Jamie's photos

Jamie's uploaded a few of his photos from Llandegla last Friday to Facebook, but for easy access I've posted a few of them here. Again a good day out...

The Chameleon's reborn. More later...

Wideopen meet up...

Headed to Llandegla (again) today to meet up with Jamie from Wideopen. Good bloke and nice to meet Rohdri (sorry if I can't spell!), Sam and Chris too - hope you guys have a good long weekend.

Anyway the weather stayed dry and after LOTS of faff we headed off, Jamie and I onboard new hardtails.
The Dialled certainly felt stable, a lot more stable than the Chameleon but retained a little bit of 'flick', a happy balance? Not sure yet! I was plagued with problems with my gear cabling though so wasn't entirely happy with the bike. Outland pedals on longterm test for Wideopen were pretty in purple but at the moment I'm not too impressed with the pin length.
Anyway - here are my photos - Jamie's will be along later (with snaps of me).

Dialled spec list (as promised)

I didn't have much time the other evening so as promised here follows the eventual spec list on the Dialled.

• Frame: Dialled Prince Albert (2008 metallic purple 15.5" small)
• Forks: Marzocchi AM3 (repainted white and badged as All Mountain 2s)
• Wheels: F: Veulta rim, sealed QR disc hub, R: Mavic 36h XM321 rim, XT 6 bolt hub.
• Cranks: Saint (22/32 bash)
• Front deraileur: SLX top pull (double ring)
• Rear: SLX mid-cage
• Shifters: XT 8 speed (with Goodridge cables and outers).
• Bars: DMR wingbars
• Stem: DMR Headstock (50mm)
• Grips: ODI lock on (Yeti, red)
• Brakes: Hope Mini Mono (180 front 160 rear)
• Cassette: SRAM 11-32 (8 speed)
• Tyres: Maxxis Minion (F ST, R 60a)
• Seat post: Thompson Elite (330mm)
• Clamp: DMR
• Seat: Charge
• Pedals: DMR V8

Currently not planning any more spending - but will have a set of Outland sealed platform pedals in Purple being fitted as longtermers for Wideopen.
Looking forward to giving her a ride at Llandegla on Friday! Should be interesting as I only recently rode the Chameleon there!

The Chameleon is now hanging on the garage wall, some might say just waiting to be built up as a jump bike?

New toys...

Goodbye Chameleon and hello Prince Albert.
Full spec and a write-up soon - first ride planned this Friday and Saturday.

Scotland weekender (again!)

SCOTLAND - 26th to 29th September 2009
Put the dates in your diary, the money in the bank because yes, Fearingout are off AGAIN for a long weekend in the Tweed Valley.
This time round the plan looks like:
> Friday - Ae Forest
> Saturday - Glentress (black, then park)
> Sunday - Innerleithen (black, then Caddon Bank)
> Monday - Glentress (red - then home!)
The B+B is booked and currently Jon, Chris, Leo and myself are travelling up and hopefully meeting Ste and Scott for at least a days riding if not more.
We'll be doing a little filming at the places new to this years DVD (Ae and Inners black) but focusing on photography this time out. We may even have some Wideopen longterm test bikes in tow ;)

I personally can't wait. See you there!

Lee Quarry - Bacup

Headed over to Bacup to try a new trail yesterday, the fairly new and unpublicised Lee Quarry. Jon, Chris, Ross and myself joined new boy Damian and after a few issues finding the trail head we were all set in decent weather.

The actual trail is graded red, and was built with grants from the North West development agency. It's fairly short, probably only 30-40 minutes - but that in itself is a positive as you can session it very easily. That would be a problem if it was pants, but it actually is very well designed and flows quite well.

After one circuit we went back up and sussed out the Black section - this was Black as in technically difficult, not knarly fast downhill and the rock slab sections were hard to negotiate on a full bouncer. Good fun though and again well designed.

Will we be back? I'd have thought so - though next time on a hardtail!

3rd time's a charm?

Well, Llandegla...

I tried to keep an open mind after my previous two visits (reports here: 2005 and 2006) so when Jon and I decided a mid-week blast would be good for the system, and with just a day and not wanting to travel too far, Llandegla seemed a logical choice.

So third impressions? The old bits are still rubbish... the black bits we'd ridden before better, but the new black sections - awesome!! Proper flow at last... and something to return for...

Jon was on board the Pitch and not really feeling it, so I ended up leading most sections on the Chameleon. Awesome fun flicking about on a hardtail, well worth the effort to push back to the top of the black, despite taking 30 mins!

I'd say up from a D to perhaps a C+ or B-. For me it still needs something challenging and flowy on the way back to the car from the last of the black sections... still maybe next time!

On a more personal note, a sad and happy day for me - the last ride aboard the Chameleon as it's getting stripped down to build up a Dialled Prince Albert. It's taken me across the country and been a solid part of Fearingout and my riding progression for the last 5 years - I know already I'm going to miss it - how long before parts get sourced to build up a 3rd bike? :) Not long I can tell you! :D


:: CLICK FOR SLIDESHOW ::

Wideopen Mag ISSUE 7!!!

Issue 7 is out now - go check it out and download it's lovely goodness...

WWW.WIDEOPENMAG.CO.UK

110%?

Jon and I headed out for a blast last night - after a few wet days here recently the going was surprisingly dry. Setting off in the glorious sunshine was nice, and we had the video camera in the bag too! Jon (who was in jeans as he forgot his shorts) was fully faced up - and looking smooth on the Pitch.

We filmed a bit on the climb up, at the location of Scott's Swansong last year. Good little chortle, not that fast but looks quite arty.
On to the main event - Charity Lane - and we went to town filming, stopping in total about 7 times! FLAT OUT in highest gear down most of it, it looks awesome on film. Great camera work too from Jon, you can tell he's been watching a lot of the Extreme channel!

Out next Thursday, probably Llandegla, and then Delamere on the Bank Holiday weekend.

Will post one or two mini clips later.

Chris upgrades

After just 4 months of pecking Chris has finally sucumbed and splashed out on a fork upgrade for his Specialized Enduro. Replacing the 110mm AM SLs, which were a little short on his 140mm travel frame, with these 130mm beauties.

The 2004 model Z1 Freeride is a great fork, plush and great on the rough stuff as well as stutter bumps. I've had them fitted to the Coiler for 3 years - hopefully Chris will find they bed in as well for him over the coming months.

Reinstatement has been promised too... Chris we wait with bated breath!


In other news - planned ride for Thursday 14th August, and then the bank holiday weekend, Saturday 23rd August. Facebook me for more details.

Gwydwr delivers...

Well 6 months since the last visit and itching for a bit of North Wales trail centre action 5 of us made our way over to the real home of Fearingout - the Marin Trail near Betwyscoed.
A hazy start looked promising and as we made our way along the A55, making good progress in the light traffic.

By the time we arrived in the car park the skies had cleared and the first climb shaded by the trees was welcome rest bite from the sun - although the lack of a breeze made the atmosphere very close - good progress was made by all. After a quick breather at the top we dropped the saddles for the first 3 sections of singletrack. The first was lightning fast and got the blood flowing, especially in the dry conditions, tight twisty and a good surface. At the second extensive clearing had transformed this section visually, but no maintenance has made the trail quite rutted and off-camber and this has been worsened by people dragging brakes on full-sussers and drifting off course. Third up and the jumps are now just ruts due to the amount of traffic and again dragging brakes.

After another climb this time in the full sun - we re-grouped for a few quick singletrack sections which are in need of some repair. Still good fun and quite quick on a full-susser they're crying out for some decent jump and berm repairs. The short distance to Dragon's tail was reeled in quite quickly, and after stopping off to help some day trippers with rental bikes who'd had an off with a nasty elbow gouge we paused briefly to prepare for the assault. It's not worn out that much, being largely rock, but it's still rough as hell. For filming purposes we set off in tight formation, Jon and I cranking as hard as we could - in-advertantly leaving Ross and Chris for dust (in the dust!). Next up Ross offered to take the camera and after a small off after a front wheel drift he caught us dropping back onto the fireroad for the traverse round to Endor. Some lads with a Blur 4X (nice bike) and a Orange Crush were stopped with a puncture and no tools, so we helped out with Chris donating his spare. Endor is totally different - it used to be so dark through there now it's so light! 80% of the trees are down I'd say... The rest of the route passed by quite quickly with the short sections of singletrack interspersed by fireroad climbs - which were by now almost unbearable in the sunshine - so so hot.

Eventually we made it to the summit and the top of the last 3 descents. The first is hardly worth the extra height and was knocked off quite quickly. The second was dry dusty and fast and we did a bit of filming on the bottom jumps with a train of 4 - quite a good laugh and hairy if anyone had crashed. Jon was finding jumping the full-sus a different game to the hardtail and Pete was enjoying himself getting some air for the first time.

The final descent had some clearing work done on it as well turning into a dry dusty speed fest - absolutely bloomin amazing! I don't think there are enough supalatives in the english language for me to describe how good it felt for the 2 or 3 minutes it took to rag the arse of my Coiler through the rough sketchy conditions. I've said it before but I was grinning from ear to ear. Pete did a good job filming even capturing Jon's crash - blamed on 'showing off for the camera'.

Gwydwr yet again delivered in full. 100% satisfaction. A good ride, just long enough, not too many climbs, good for the fitness and awesome final descent. Beats the pants of Llandegla. Shame it's not a patch on the Tweed Valley... still first love and all that, I'm sure we'll be back before the end of the year!



:: CLICK FOR SLIDESHOW ::

Check out Facebook group for any one elses snaps!

Blog updates...

After some feedback on the blog - I've made a few mods to the Fearingout site to make it more useful.

First of all are the two boxes at the top of the blog.
The one on the left is a Chain Reaction Cycles part search - so for any of those last minute spares you need use the search bar and make your life easy!
The second is a BBC Weather search. You can enter a town name or a postcode.

Secondly, I've added a feed to the Wideopen News blog so you can keep track of developments in the wider bike world without needing to keep checking the Wideopen site.

Towards the bottom of the blog you'll find a button to take you to the Fearingout group on Facebook, along with a simple 'Update' link so you can easily sign into the Blogger to update the blog with your own stuff.

Any other suggestions or improvements give me a yell via Facebook or email.

July - summer right?

:: CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW ::

Chris and I headed out for a ride this evening - and the wet weather didn't hold off with the ride up to Charity Lane being spat on kept things 'fresh'. By the top it looked pretty threatening so we pushed on quickly... Charity Lane was quite grippy tonight but very wet - quite hard to find a line through the middle section. We continued on to do a full loop whilst the heavens opened! Ooogling the recently cleared part of the forest from the bridleway it would make a great place for a bike trail - what are the chances!?!! Slim to none! Don't you love Macclesfield Forest... anyway then down the bridleway descent Chris and I got into a bit of a 'race' situation, but the spray made it difficult to see - mind full pelt in top gear it was awesome fun - just a bit too easy on the full bouncer.

Project hardtail starts next week. Keep an eye out for that over the next 6 weeks or so...

Also started making enquiries about a September weekender so keep your eyes peeled.

Fair weather riders!

Chris and I headed out tonight after everyone chickened out with the rain yesterday. Fun and good chat, and the new wheels were amazing on my bike! Wet though - very!

Scotland Weekender - April 2008 - VIDEO!

Finally got round to polishing off editing the video from Scotland last April. Enjoy.

Wideopenmag.co.uk ver2.0!

Just put the finishing touches to Wideopenmag.co.uk version 2.0

This time it's built in blogger code to be Google-friendly. Take a look...

Wideopenmag.co.uk

Once bitten forever smitten?

:: CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW ::

Somehow from a promising start earlier in the week when it looked like 5 of us would be out come Thursday somehow it was just Jon and myself (can't wait to see Ross's whitened teeth though tomorrow after his dental appointment!)

It stayed dry but overcast after the earlier fantastic weather since last Thursday. Charity Lane was very dry, dusty and loose. No clear fast line really due to the amount of loose rock, in fact it was quite a sketchy fast run - resulting in a puncture for me after the second jump. After a quick repair the singletrack was awesomely quick, too quick for the little kink halfway, I think running in there as fast as I did actually slows you down - next week I'm going to try feathering the brake earlier.

Anyway Jon was out on the Pitch for the second time. At the start of the ride he's saying 'oh I'm not upgrading or changing anything incase I need to sell', half way round he's saying 'I might fit the bashguard off the Saints' and by the end he's on about forks, bars and stem! Have to see how long the XC rims last though - look like they might be the only wafer component on what is an amazingly specced bike.

But god do Specialized spec NARROW BARS!! So uncomfortable and confidence sapping - same problem as Chris has on his Enduro.

New wheels dispatched apparently - so that was a quick build. Hopefully next week I'll have a like new steed!

Upgrade fever 2008

Is it that time of year already? It seems every year around June I end up spanking cash on the bikes!

This year it's the turn of the Coiler Dee-lux that has soldiered on since I got it in 2005 with it's knackered LX hubs. Well after Scotland in April and 3 snapped spokes in the rear wheel I've finally decided enough was enough.
As much as I'd like to pimp it up with the Pro2 boys - I've been a little more restrained. Silver XT hubs laced with black spokes (and nipples) into EN321 rims will hopefully last as long as the rear wheel on the Chameleon (the older XM321 rim - equivalent to the EN321 with the same hub - 4 years old and still going strong). Despite not really needing too I also purchased a new seatpost - the NC17 Empire Pro - as I'm sick of having to keep polishing up the old one to stop it seizing in the frame.

Looking at about 10 days until I have them - can't wait!

Macclesfield Forest tonight and Jon, who's been riding every night this week, will be out on his Pitch for it's maiden Thursday night voyage (although he did cave and give it a run out yesterday!

Staying out for the summer...

With Dodgy's greatest blaring from my stereo and no cars on the road I met Ross early doors for a blast around Macc Forest today.

Absolutely gorgious weather brought the flies out in force, with them being worst on the Charity Lane climb. The descent was dry and loose and sketchy where the larger rocks were shifting on the sand - good though - and great feeling on the full bouncer again!
We returned the way we came and then took the old road through the forest back to the car :)

Saw Jon in Buxton later in the day astride his hardtail. Nice afternoon for an ice cream. He said he'd be out every night this week - git! See you all Thursday.

Goodridge gear cables...

Look what arrived today in the post...



They'll be fitted to the hardtail in the next few weeks and given a good going over for the next 6 months as part of the 'Longtermer' section of Wideopen... the idea being this bike takes more of the all mountain all year all weather beating - if they last on this they'll last on most.

First impressions?
Very beefy outer, the braiding makes it very stiff. The 'black' PTFE coating looks pretty trick on the cable itself, shame it'll be hidden completely! Yup this set includes the blue tubing to allow you to completely enclose the cable from end to end!
Good stuff.

Spring back in my step

:: CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW ::

After the fantastic weather of the past few weeks the start of this one was a lot less promising with overcast skies and rain. Today however was bright - and warm - but the moist ground made the going humid for the 4 regulars who turned out this evening.

Leo, Jon, (a late) Chris and myself did the usual circuit and after a whizz down Charity Lane braved the woods despite the recent weather.

I was back on board the full bouncer with Jon's old rear wheel bodged on to the Coiler Dee-lux. To be honest I was dreading the weight on the climbs but although I found it hard I didn't really struggle. Hitting Charity Lane on it though was divine! I know I bang on about hardtails a fair bit but you'd struggle to keep pace with a full susser on full tilt, hairy, lairy and a little bit scary I loved every second of each bull dozed badly chosen but very fast line! Great fun I couldn't stop pedalling.

The woods were a little slippery if you ventured off the trail into the grass (as I found out on the descent back to the road - nicely held) but either the roots were grippy as hell or I was going too fast to notice... I'd like to think the latter but who knows as I was going ahead to take photos!

So now I'm weighing up my options. I can get a set of XT hubs with DT5.1 rims for about half the price the Pro2s with Mavic EN321s come out at... decisions decisions... the one thing that's certain is I'll definitely be out on the full sus again soon.

Scotish Happenings - Summer IS here

Okay so this week is looking a bit dull but the weather is meant to pick up again for the weekend.
It's been a while since I last posted up on here (mainly due to exams) but here's a quick run down on whats been happening north of the boarder. For starters the Wideopen longterm test bike that I'm running has had a bit of a make over. The list of new parts is as long as your arm so I'll wait 'til I get a few photos of the final product before I tell you whats on there. It's like riding a whole new bike...
There's been more mini-bike childishness in the form of an afternoon at Glentress. The amount of fun that can be had on these things seriously makes you reconsider why we spend so much on proper bikes...

[WARNING: Video contains language that some may find offensive!]

Full run, chasecam style from Iain W on Vimeo.

Last weekend was spend at Innerleithen marshalling and watching round two of the NPS. Ran into our own man Mono up on the hill. He was up and down the track all weekend filming for Foot Out Flat Out

Is summer here? (probably not)

Wow 2 weeks of good weather now in Macclesfield - that's a record since last May (when we also had a really good early summer!)... it's transformed the forest from the usual winter slop to dry and dusty trails.

Charity Lane is really amazing. COMPLETELY different again tonight. The dry weather has meant it's dried out right down to the bottom layer I guess so that the rocky surface that's usually surprisingly grippy and solid was moving all over the place with the dust as a sort of lubricant! It had also dried out and made flat some really fast sections making them insanely quick with pedalling, especially between the two jumps. The bottom berm entrance is getting quite eroded though making line choice through there quite tricky. Awesome.

Then the dry weather meant Chris and I were tempted by the woody singletrack. I've not ridden it so dry for over 12 months I'm sure, even the boggy bit was rock solid and in the dry conditions the roots were SO grippy. Carrying speed through there pumping and carving the trail brought a smile back to my face and a yearning for a summer of dry evenings so we can continue to ride such awesome trails and such variety in a small space of time.

Might be out Monday too, and then again next Thursday.
Rock on.



:: CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW ::

GT update

Was back at GT park on Monday, met a sound guy called Dennis from Oz, via London. Anyway we rode all day til my chain snapped, bending my rear mech, rear disc, and punting me over the bars - I was cranking out of the berm at the time, so catapulted myself into the ground, just a bruised palm (how random and was very annoyed at stopping riding pre 6pm!). Bike has new mech on, new NEW chain (SRAM sucks ass!), straightened the rear mech mount/hanger area and now need new front chain rings as they're well worn, money money money.

Anyways, before then I decided to start playing with the camera and get footage, seeing as I can't take stills of myself! Basic, but hey...

News update from Up North (the real north, lol)

A few updates from moi.
In brief:
The stinky will be up for sale today! The beast no more.

New Commencal arriving with me soon, awesome test ride on Thursday.
Great trails 15 minutes from my flat.
DJ heaven in Glentress.
Long term vision for 'race scoot'.

In detail!:
I tested a Commencal 5.5 on Thursday night, was awesome! Managed to bend the Sun equalizer 27 rim, but it is a xc rim and I was doing 40ft near 90degree descents into big kicker jumps! Went to ride the Cathkin Braes, south of Glasgow where the riding for the Commonwealth games will be held in 2014. A while off, but the lads showed me some great natural trails and there is some BIG stuff to go at too. Great ride, and I'll be getting Spank hardcore rims on my 5.5XT! Great bike, so light and chuckable, yet no bottom out on the big stuff. Plenty travel for trails riding, and at about 30lbs, light enough for me to actually climb on. Never thought I'd ride an air shock! So Thurday was a great ride and a new spend secured for me. Not many XT's left in the country in large, so I had to commit :)

Friday I spent 7 hours at the FR park in Glentress. No pics sadly, but easily the best days riding I've had in years. Trails are awesome but 7 hours dialling in the tricks on the park is such a buzz. Met a sound rider called Daz, he's riding Mega and has an 11 week summer in France ahead of him, so we chatted all day and got our lines and tricks going. Despite it being a Friday, the park was dead, but we didn't mind! Sessioned the top jumps mostly, but included the second hip and subsequent two jumps before the rock garden. The last jump is SO BIG, I was sending massive tables off that, big smiles. Complete runs were awesome, in between the wind and my chain snapping! Also had a spill early on, so my ass and ankle hurt today, but hey ho, fun and games. 7hours, that will be my new daily session length, roll on the sunny days. Happy days!

Summer plan - get fit on the commencal, learn new tricks on the park, then january find some cash for a 224 and start racing next year!

That's all folks...

Nostalgia

Leo and I headed out this evening in beautiful weather (if a tiny bit hot for riding) - gorgious blue skies, not a cloud in sight and over 20 degrees even at 4pm.

We took a leisurely pace up to the summit - stopping for frequent chat about everything from work to families. Really nice to chill out after a hard day in the office.

We rode Charity Lane the traditional way, good fun, dry but still enough water around to dirty the bikes and turn us mud splattered! We then pushed back up to do the route Chris and I have been messing around with for a few weeks - descending down the climb (great fun today - very fast) then messing around on the banks before heading down the footpath back to the car. Great action in the trees letting my whole bike give beneath me, Leo could see I was on the 'edge' from behind but I was grinning from ear to ear.

As we reached the car I couldn't help but think about the innocence of my youth - long days spent doing nothing but riding and chilling out - no women to complicate things - and certainly no work. I can never go back, but a summer on the hardtail is beginning to look really really great fun... who know, even a new hardtail on the cards?

Donny on location shooting for Foot Out Flat Out

Check these badboys from this weekend's shoot:
www.footoutflatout.co.uk

First week night ride... welcome to 2008!

Well with wednesday down in the calendar as the night for the regular week night ride, what were we doing out on a Thursday?

Earlier in the week Jon had texted me to say he'd bought a bike and was picking it up Wednesday night... with that in mind, and to ensure the biggest turnout for week one I rescheduled for Thursday.

As for the new bike (a Specialized Pitch Pro - that he's now got his mits on, I'm sure photos will follow soon) it wasn't ready so in the end only Leo and I turned up this week - me with a filthy hardtail un-washed since Scotland, and him with a bike that hadn't turned a wheel for 4 months.

The evening weather was good, nice and warm in the sun and good chat - stories from China aplenty. We were lucky to suffer no mechanicals despite Charity Lane being freshly rocky (for some reason) but great fun.
Down to Standing Stone I launched off the 'verge ride' to the delight of some walkers, at least the old lady smiled!

A short one - no action shots - but next time... who know.



:: CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW ::

FO on Dirt

Check out this - FO team rider Aaron Bartlett, whilst filming for his upcoming film Footoutflatout was caught on camera at NPS Rd 1 at Ae forest.

Linkeo

Scotland weekender...

Well it's been nearly a week since we got back and I'm the first to get on here and do a writeup! Personally I'd have been up here quicker if it wasn't for running round like a mad-un trying to sort Wideopen Issue 6 (which is out now by the way).

We were not blessed with the best of weather but un-deterred we headed north at the crack of dawn on Friday and hit Palnure for Kirroughtree forest shortly before 11am.
The setup there is quite good, little bike rental shop, cafe and toilets, and on a Friday it was quiet...

It's always fun to ride a new location - the anticipation of what you'll find keeps you going... unfortunately Kirroughtree was a bit of a dissappointment. It was good but just never really seemed to get going, the flow wasn't appalling but the descents never really materialised... we won't be going back.

Up to Peebles via the red roads and James and Ross beasted across Rally style in the thirsty scoob - Phil and I also headed cross country whereas Chris and Jon went via Dumfries... in for 7.30pm and a nice bit of grub.

Saturday brought SNOW!!! and it also brought Tez! Yeah with the white stuff under foot the road to Buzzard's Nest car park was closed and we faced the mammoth road climb from the hub to get up to the red route. It was COLD and hard work and fairly slippy in places. Spooky Woods was an experience, lots of grip where it was clear but mid berm you could hit a snow patch and kill yourself sliding into a tree!! All fun. It cleared up but with the temperature we headed back early. Out Saturday night for the obligatory curry in brief Scott won the darts and the Keg was 'interesting' as usual.

Sunday the group split, half doing the black route at Inners, and the other half doing the black route at Glentress. I can't speak for the Inners boys but at GT we had an awesome time... I really am falling in love with the wilderness and more rugged natural trails on the black route versus the manicured red route.

Monday and we headed to Inners for a push up session on Caddon Bank. After discovering my rear wheel on the Coiler Dee-lux had 3 snapped spokes I joined Jon on the hardtail and proceeded to whoop Chris and Phil's full sus asses!

Home time came to quick leaving us with the nagging question of how soon can we go back?

20 minutes of footage is now on the Mac, and will be edited up. We didn't take many photos - I've captured some stills from the footage (which will be on DVD at the end of the year!)...



:: CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW ::

Rock on.

Mid-week riding

Managed to get a lift down to Glentress last night for a quick blast round the red route. Out of the car it was pretty chilly but things warmed up nicely by the top of the first climb. It was nice to get out on the trails midweek as they're so quiet, we only saw one other rider all evening.
In a bid to motivate myself to do a little more XC I'm entering 10 Under the Ben as part of a quad (the slackers option) at the end of May. After which I may hang around for the world cup. In the mean time I should really be studying over the next few weeks so the bikes may not see too much action other thatn the odd Pentlands ride.

SDA Round 1, Dunkeld

After failling to get entered into the first two rounds of the SDA races up here in Scotland I found myself on the other side of the tape on Sunday. And I'm quite glad too. Never have I witnessed so many crashes in one day. Everyone from first time racers to the seasoned eiltes were coming off their bikes on one of the toughest tracks known, made harder by the introduction of a new middle section. Talk to anyone who was riding and they wont start talking about "that difficult corner", because there wasnt any, the track went pretty much straight down the hill.
In the end Dan Stanbridge went home with the first win of the season with Fergus Lamb and Chris Hutchens took second and third respectively.

As for me, I wont be doing much riding over the next month or so due to Uni. This does mean that the bike is being treated to a bit of lovin'. I've a whole host of stuff to bolt on to the Holeshot in the next few weeks...

and there's more to come. Can't wait!

Goats

Yeah of all things to interupt a ride you'd have goats fairly low down (at least behind crashing and punctures!)

Chris and I headed out tonight and expected 'exciting' conditions after stories of how Jon buckled a DH rear rim last night on his hardtail! Apart from the cloud though it was good riding weather.

Charity Lane has changed again, the fast line at the top is different again, but I found it and to be honest probably didn't ride as flat out as usual - however it felt faster because it flowed much better... horses and courses lol!

We decided to do the loop for fitness, just after Standing Stone we were confronted by two families of goats - the kids were awesome but struggling to get back over the wall into their field - we waited a while then pushed past - and on for a fitness climb and fun descent.

Scotland news:
Tezza is coming Saturday/Sunday! Great news.

Alpine Bikes Winter Series, Round 3.

The third and final round of the winter series at Inners was held on the 23rd of March in possibly the most wintery conditions yet. Snow fall threatened to put a stop to racing on the day with the uplift unable to make it up the hill. Things carried on regardless, with riders pushing to the top for the morning practice and luckily the snow had melted enough for the uplift to run by the time it came to racing.

Racing the hardtail category again I managed third step on the podium this time round after two over the bars incidents. It was enough for the series win though, so now I have this

hanging proudly on my wall.

Overall winner on the day though was Gee Atherton who was a good seven seconds clear of the rest of the field. For a full report head over to wideopenmag.co.uk to download issue 6 (very very soon).

Talk has already moved to another series next year, but between now and then I'll be keeping you up to date with all the SDA happenings.

News from 2007 team rider Matt...

Just got a cool email from FO team snapper Jacob 'Milky' Gibbins, who's been out filming with Matt Simmonds this weekend gone for the new flick 'Foot Out Flat Out'.

Matt's just got his hands on his new Intense and team gear for Chain Reaction Cycles / Intense. Unfortunately due to the deal he's not able to continue with Fearingout in 2008, but has enjoyed his year with us and will be working with the team on Wideopen throughout the year.

We'll have the full lowdown, interviews and more in Issue 7 of Wideopen!
An update on filming for the flick 'Foot Out Flat Out' will be in Issue 6 (out VERY soon)

Footoutflatout teaser 2

The latest installment from Mono is now up on his video mini-site (www.footoutflatout.co.uk)
Go check it out!

New Bike

Check it out people, new DH bike ready for France in the Summer!

Oh god it's so smooooooth! Well chuffed. Anyway here are some pics.

Thanks to Jim at WRPphoto.net for the shots!

Ben Lomond...epic descent, climb to kill!

Well folks, I rode Fort Bill last year and boy-oh did my arms and hands hurt. Yesterday, I climbed Ben Lomond and the descent reminded very much of the Fort Bill feeling!

Passing climbers on the way I had some friendly banter, though I reckon they all had me down as insane. Up top, and with about a quarter of the 3195ft/974m climb still to go, I took the advice of some descending walkers and my own sanity that 60mph+ cross winds weren't worth the last wee bit of the climb. So, I got my armour on, full face at the ready and off I went.

In summary...rocky as fuck! Bottom half is more rideable and enjoyable, almost a techy singletrack feel to it. No end of twists and tricks thrown up to catch you out. No spills for me though and only one unpass-able section.

I was out riding to test some twenty6 products for issue 6 or 7 of wideopen. A big shout also has to go to the guys at Craig MacMartin Cycles in Glasgow for sorting my bike out, a wee brake service was just what the doctor ordered before attempting this descent!

Now for some snaps...
It's all about the twenty6 Dualielevers (and the bar ends!)


Camo, white, pink...whatever!


This was the only un-rideable section, it gets worse above the staircase here


Epic descent...the trail disappears in the distance...if only there was a helicopter drop off service!


As it got bleak up top, I decided to get a quick snap in, before descending at speed over what can only be described as "rocky as fuck" until the bottom half where it was mint

Reinstatement 2008 style

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Ross, Chris and myself headed out on Saturday afternoon for a local blast following some tinkering for the early part of the day. We'd fitted Ross's new Hone cranks, Maxxis super-tacky rubber and lock-on grips. The Chameleon was also sporting it's blingo saddle!

So with heavy looking clouds we set off from the Leather Smithy and Ross found that the gym had not helped his riding fitness as much as he'd like - mind fair play he stayed the distance without pushing until the road climb. Chris and him were a little jealous of my spritely hardtail though ;)

We sessioned Charity Lane a little - had some awesome runs down the bottom end, very smooth lines - Chris has some photos we'll share later. Luckily since I wear glasses I don't suffer with splashback, but Chris has spanked out some cash on a set of Leo style Captain Zeneca specs - only Leo got his for free, who's the loser there? hehe We may joke but Chris found it better with specs. Poor Ross used it as a (good) excuse for his distinct lack of pace. To be fair it was only the 3rd time he'd ridden it, and Chris and I know it like the back of our hands, plus Ross hasn't ridden off road much either!

After getting some good snaps we re-traced oursteps and then down the way we climbed for some chortles on the banking on the fire road again. I've a feeling it's going to get more and more fun along there as we ride it more... we took the old path down to the bottom, good fun in the dark muddy conditions and then back to the car.

Great ride - I loved the hardtail - new saddle was comfy, and somehow confidence inspiring. The forks were working well and the tyres held up well in the wet. Big smiles. Chris enjoyed himself too - having a few edgy moments always sharpens the skills. Ross took things easy and is looking forward to getting back into the swing of things - hopefully we'll see him out on mid-week rides imminently!

Next ride I believe is next Sunday for another local Peak District blast - contact Jon if you're interested :)

Fresh spring start...

News abounds here today!

Fearingout.co.uk team rider Aaron 'Mono' Bartlett is currently crawling round the side of DH tracks throughout the land filming for his debut DVD production this year. Titled 'Foot Out Flat Out' it already features some top UK talent with a lot more to come. Check out Aaron's blog for more details:

Footoutflatout.co.uk

Closer to home it's all about the big spenders again!
Ross has spanked £120 on parts ahead of Scotland in April - so this weekend we'll be fitting a set of Shimano Hone cranks, new tyres and grips. Good man!
Jon has had a good bonus and is in the market for a new bike - he's torn between the Pitch and Ransom - but can't bring himself to spend money on a bike at full retail (despite being able to afford it - bugger) so will probably end up with a Coiler ;) Come on Jon get it spent - a Pitch would be nice ;)
On the cheaper end of the spectrum I've got myself a new perch for the Chameleon...
Too bling?



That's all for now but with luck the constant needling of Chris will pay off and he'll splash out on some new forks for his Enduro!!

Bring on the weekend - and Scotland in April :)

2008 Student Champs

The 8th and 9th of March had hundreds of students flocking towards Cwmcarn in south Wales for this years BUSA championship races. Saturday was the DH race, and also the wettest weather I've ever had the pleaseure of riding my bike in. Fully converted to the hardtail way now I managed a sub 4 minute run of the DH track which was enough for 68th place, not as high as I would have hoped but still beat the majority of the field on their big bouncy bikes. Chris Hutchens took 1st place in the DH for Edinburgh, after landing back in the UK from Italy only the night before.
Thankfully Sunday dried up enough to allow for some XC racing in just a beater and tie, the EUCC race clothing of choice. After a manic dash to put bikes together before the Sport race started I managed to spank round the track in a reasonable time to take 28th. Special mention has to go to Pete 'Weeman' Scullion for doing the 9 mile race on a brakeless 14" wheeled kids bike (he didnt even finish last!). In the XC Champs race Oli Holmes of Swansea Uni took first place after an epic 3 laps of the 9 mile course.
I also ran into Jamie Edwards of Wideopen mag at the weekend. He'll be putting together an article for a future issue of Wideopen along with a few shots of the action/carnage.

Weekend Winter Winner.

Last weekend was the second round of the Alpine Bikes winter series. So it was back down to Inners for practice Saturday and some racing on Sunday. I did my usual trick of going out for "a few" the night before, so spent Saturday tired and a little confused as to why I was on a bike. I still felt confident on Sunday morning because of the fact that I'd had a sneaky practice there a couple of weeks before hand. With the hardtails category heading of first I was the second man out of the start gate and the first into the finish area, coming down the hill in 4:11 which was more than enough to take the win. Fastest man of the day was Marc Beaumont with a run at 3:09.
For a full report check out Wideopen Issue 6 which is due to hit your screens in the very near future.

Disjointed?

Well the FO calendar said the Wirral today but a low availability, shitty weather and other commitments meant James C headed to Llandegla on his tod, and Chris and I rode locally at Macc Forest.



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Just as we finished building up the bikes the rain started! We headed up the usual path to Charity Lane finding it very wet, quite grippy but with a layer of small loose gravel that sort of moved even though it was grippy.

After a run down we pushed up and sessioned the 2nd jump for some snaps before pushing right back to the top. For a change, and the first time in 5 years we rode down the other side - fast but not very challenging as expected. Method in the madness though as we wanted to ride the side trails to the motorway climb. We played about on the top bank near the barn for some photos before ragging down to the bottom and along the horsy trail at the side.

Good fun, cold but a nice blast. All good for the winter skills.

Should be a report up from Ste later as he's riding in the Innerleithen winter series round 2 today :)

Filming and Riding

Well it's been a while since I posted here but i have been proper busy recently, hardly even had time for riding my bike! The Downhill bike has gone replaced by a Cove Hooker, 3 inch travel beast for DH, freeride and singletrack. Bloody awesome!

Been riding a little bit more the last month due to lack of shoots for my DVD (supported by wideopenmag.co.uk check out the "podcast" style video on the blog). Went and rode some sick courses last weekend, Milky came along and got some good pics, see the bottom of the post.

France again this year, should have a new DH bike in the next few months, if anyone has anything for around a grand contact me at aaron @ wideopenmag.co.uk!

Cheers everyone,

Mono