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...