Last week the plan was simple, do a 30 miler on Thursday then a short ride on Saturday, but as always seems to be the way with my rides lately the weather was to be incredibly bleak, I decided to skip Thursday and ride the 30 miler Saturday instead, With my schedule set in stone I went about completly ignoring it, getting up early Saturday and heading to Danbury Common for some mid air madness instead. Tom Jones (I shit you not) turns out to be reliable for the yoof of today, turning up as planned about 7:30, (Leighton take note, it is possible to leave early for a ride!) I had already loaded the car up, TJ had left his bike at mine the previous day as his rear shock needed replacing. To be fair so did all the bearings and one of the bearing axles but TJ was happy to bodge it back together for the ride out. Good man!. We arrived in great time with no crappy traffic on the usually rubbish A12, got geared up and took the short ride to the trail head. Danbury is funny, the first few runs always feel rubbish, dragging the brakes, getting lines all wrong, no flow and in TJ's case stacking it on the first run but you soon warm to it, then without any realization it all clicks together, your flying through berms launching over 10ft tabletops and popping manuals off everything possible as smooth and as fast as Sonic the Hedgehog on ice, wearing a tux and smoking a cigar, at least that's what it feels like. After reaching normal operating temperatures (it was cold at 9 in the AM) TJ decided to pull his, what I can only call usual trick of throwing up all over the side of the trail, but the guys got guts (snigga) he assured me he felt much better, we continued to hit lines for another hour and a half after that and he was fine, flying in fact! After a while though it became apparent that the bodged on bearings were less than fine, the arse of his bike was wobbling everywhere, up and down side to side so we decided to call it a day. Back at the car sausage rolls were consumed with gusto and washed down with protein bars and water, surprisingly TJ didn't throw this concoction up and we headed home with the whole afternoon still ahead of us. Some times you just can't beat an early morning assault.
Check out th vid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZK_6EXtxA0
Sunday 11 December 2011
Monday 5 December 2011
Sunday 4 December 2011
Sunday bloody Sunday!
The Trek was overdue some TLC, there had been a few issues plaguing it but nothing serious enough to stop me riding, the pistons in my juicy carbons were sticking and I'd put off repairing everything else as I was waiting for the pistons to come. With the pistons turning up I spent a few hours Friday alone in the shed with nothing but the brilliant white light of my Magicshine for company. Sorting the pistons was a painless task, if not a little time consuming, after this a close inspection of the rest ensued and it was like opening a can of worms. The rear mech was bent, play had developed in the Bottom Bracket (BB) and I found a broken spoke in the rear wheel, the rear freehub was a mess and the bearings in the rear wheel felt like they were filled with grit. There was no time to order specific parts before the race on Sunday so the rear mech was gently teased back straight - ish (well it worked anyway) The bearings were removed cleaned and re-greased in the rear wheel and the free hub cleaned up, I had a spare spoke kicking about in the shed so this was threaded into the wheel and the wheel was trued up. The BB was left as I knew I couldn't get hold of a spare.(think I'll try the Superstar GXP one next as the Truvativ ones are proper pants). Feeling satisfied with my efforts I was looking forward to race day.
Beeb Beep. Beep Beep, my alarm was ringing out. It was race day. I had trained well and was confident I could improve on my last result, I wheeled the Trek out and decided to give it a quick spin. Disaster struck! The top Jockey wheel threw itself like a Kamikaze into the sharp rotating teeth of the rear cassette, it appears that the thread on the screw of the jockey wheel had been ruined in the original impact or the bending of it straight, either way the mech was dead. I could get a mech at the race. So I threw some tools into the car, got my shit together and headed off. Arriving at FR10 the bike was unloaded in a rush and I headed over to the very helpful chaps at the Chelmer Cycles stand who supplied me with a mech, some gear outer and inner, and the use of some cutters. Thanks guys. Now. And this was the straw that broke the camels back. Whilst rushing about trying to get sorted I had grown aware that my stomach was not happy, but after all the effort of the last few days this race was going to happen. But first I needed to go to the port-a-loos. Desperately. After queuing for some time on the verge of all sorts of accidents a port-a-loo became available, lets not get to bogged down in this (pardon the pun) I'll just say it was messy! and that was it, time had elapsed the race took off with out me. A fume-army rushed over me, all the training, the hours spent in the shed all for nothing. Sometimes no matter how hard you try everything is against you, I should have stayed in bed. Instead I got up at 7am, dragged my better half to Thetford, dropped £30 quid on a Deore rear mech, some cable and a chain link, made a mess in a port-a-loo and then drove home. In an Alan Partridge style all I can say is Sunday bloody Sunday.
Friday 2 December 2011
Wednesday 30 November 2011
Alone in the dark.
Tuesday was to be the last ride before round 2 of the Whyte/Thetford winter series at FR10 on the Brandon side of the forest, and boy what a ride!. After staying dry most of the day the rain crept slowly in, after about 1 hour it's full potential was realised, it came thrashing down, although down is probably the wrong word, it battered me from the side due to the brisk winds making the rain truly horizontal. I had set out for a shortish ride but the work out seemed much tougher as the wind was literally blowing me to a stop as it screamed through the air applying pressure to anything in it's way. What stood out most from the ride though was just how creepy everything feels when the wind is howling and the rain hammering. I ride regularly alone in the dark, on trails I know well, with easy outs if things turn nasty. But with the horror movie weather and some of my ride taking me to the most haunted village in Essex I found myself having some properly strange thoughts. It felt like the impending danger of a mad axe man or crazy beast attacking me was just around the next berm. Still, clearly neither of these things came to fruition as I'm sitting here writing this.
All in all it was a good ride and I'm feeling good about Sunday but on the down side it appears after giving my bike a thorough once over I'll be racing with - deep breath......... A BB which is on it's last legs, rubbing brakes due to sticky pistons (replacements still not arrived!) a slightly bent rear mech, a bent mech hanger and a snapped spoke, unless I just happen to have one the right length kicking about in the shed. But the gears shift so I'll try not to let it bother me too much, if I make it through this round I'll have plenty of time for tinkering afterwards.
Good luck and happy racing.
All in all it was a good ride and I'm feeling good about Sunday but on the down side it appears after giving my bike a thorough once over I'll be racing with - deep breath......... A BB which is on it's last legs, rubbing brakes due to sticky pistons (replacements still not arrived!) a slightly bent rear mech, a bent mech hanger and a snapped spoke, unless I just happen to have one the right length kicking about in the shed. But the gears shift so I'll try not to let it bother me too much, if I make it through this round I'll have plenty of time for tinkering afterwards.
Good luck and happy racing.
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Saturday 26 November 2011
Thetford/Whyte winter series, off track and Blog lapse!
Hi guys. Time has been a precious commodity of late due to numerous things I don't want to go into on here as a result Blogging has suffered, therefore this is what is becoming a trade mark sporadic catch up, For some reason i'm watching the Brazilian GP qualis with an evening to spare so here we go. With the fine weather dragging on my prep for the first round of the Thetford / Whyte winter series at FR6 on the 6th of November was not non existent but a lot of time was spent playing on the Dirt jump bike before everything turned to mush. So as the day of the race arrived I was aware in the back of my mind that I hadn't done enough specific training, but hay lots of wheels off the ground fun was had and my riding has improved for it. After all why just ride one discipline when for me the beauty of the sport is that it can encapsulate so many different types of riding, from smashing out miles in prep for a race, razzing down downhill trails and flying skyward through sets of jumps. and the real beauty of it is with modern bikes you can do all these things on one bike, just like they used to in the old days. but better. obviously! (Although I do have a specific bike for jumping, it's basically just a lot cheaper to replace parts on than the the Trek when i stack it) Anyway reader I digress. Coming in Fifty something at the first round I was fairly happy considering the sheer volume of people on the track (Nearly 400!) but was unhappy with the way I felt afterward, I put this down to a few weeks of really long days up at 5ish, getting home at gone 7 and then a drive to Ipswich Friday night followed by a trip to Surrey to service my Brother in laws bike Saturday, due to all this eating lots of junk. plus a lack of specific training added up to. Barely being able to bend over, wanting to curl up in a ball and die, trying to eat a cereal bar and nearly throwing up in the car. Seriously I have never finished a ride and thought to myself I never want to get on my bike again, It was probably a bit of an exaggeration as after about ten minutes I started to recover, the drive home was hard work mind. With the weather changing and the local jumps becoming un ride-able I've been fully focused on round 2 next week, If as I have heard the race is gridded out e.g. top 25 then next 25 and so on I should be starting nearer the front and have a bit more stamina due to my extra riding and hopefully barring any disasters better preparation in the few days before. If your reading this and are going to be racing good luck, I hope to see you their, i'll be number 98. And hopefully i'll feel a lot better after this one.
Random catch up over hopefully I can resume more normal updates soon. Also have a bundle of stuff to review. Brake pads, Mudguards, hubs and so on.
Random catch up over hopefully I can resume more normal updates soon. Also have a bundle of stuff to review. Brake pads, Mudguards, hubs and so on.
Tuesday 15 November 2011
Thursday 10 November 2011
Sunday 6 November 2011
Tuesday 1 November 2011
Monday 31 October 2011
Sunday 30 October 2011
Thursday 27 October 2011
Wednesday 26 October 2011
Tuesday 25 October 2011
Geese.
Wow! work was manic today, after running around like a headless chicken on speed for 8 long hours I was surprised to find myself very highly motivated for the ride. Heading onto valley walk I instantly felt better than my Friday ride.
Fun in the dying sun and blowing (out my arse) in the wind.
Yes tonight I was a legend, hills were dispatched with ease in hard gears, descents were attacked with massive gusto and technical sections were just a pure buzz, this is why I ride! The difference between this and Friday makes me feel like some sort of riding manic depressant, but it's best not to dwell on such things. Into the final third of the ride, darkness had fallen and lights were flicked on. Crossing a field strange black blobs in the distance held their ground, getting closer and closer there was no movement, was it just mounds of dirt? it was hard to tell, in the midst of the strange shapes they suddenly exploded into life. BAM! about 40 geese just hanging out in the middle of a field! needless to say as they all took off flapping around just inches from my head and sqwarking wildly I properly shit myself.
After about 18 miles in an hour or so I rolled up at my gate on fat 26's feeling proper alive. The difference between this ride and Friday was unbelievable.Not sure if it was the headwinds or what but tonight in my mind I was a riding hero. Speed + Flow = Happy.
Monday 24 October 2011
Saturday 22 October 2011
Friday 21 October 2011
Fun in the dying sun and blowing (out my arse) in the wind.
Thursday evening saw TJ and I heading to a small jump spot for a play on a small four pack, nothing too dangerous, the jumps are about 3ft high, 5 to 6 ft gaps which are more daunting than they sound. We arrived at 5pm and started hitting the line straight away, it was a real buzz. I hadn't rode stuff like this since breaking my elbow at Sudbourne way back at the begining of spring, this was brilliant. After about 20 minutes I was pulling little tweeks and whips with a massive grin plastered firmly on my face. It was short lived as come 6pm it was getting sketchy with the lack of light penetrating the trees, so I was homeward bound.
Friday is a short day at work, the clock tick tocked by slowly but finally at 2:30pm it was ride time. After feeling proper box fresh on my Monday night ride, somewhere along the line the freshness had gone, box fresh to sweaty crotch fresh in 3 days, this 2hr 30min ride was horrendous. From the very first incline I was struggling and this was not helped by the ferocious head winds, halfway up the first long climb from the bottom of valley walk to the top of little Henny I was already looking forward to the end. It could not come round quick enough, my legs were empty, my arse was sore, my arms were aching and my lower back too. Shutting my mind off I just spun as fast as I could but the whole ride was arduous. Spirits were slightly lifted on the final leg of the ride as I hit some nice little tech sections and flew through some tight single track but ultimately I arrived home not pumped up and buzzing as normal but just a bit disappointed, like I'd lost my mojo a little. These rides happen for me every now and again but that won't stop me, if I just keep going out and getting my head down the buzz will return. Besides I'm fully committed now, I just dropped £50 on some winter gloves and waterproofs. Bring on the bad weather! but not before I get in a few more sessions of getting airborne.
Friday is a short day at work, the clock tick tocked by slowly but finally at 2:30pm it was ride time. After feeling proper box fresh on my Monday night ride, somewhere along the line the freshness had gone, box fresh to sweaty crotch fresh in 3 days, this 2hr 30min ride was horrendous. From the very first incline I was struggling and this was not helped by the ferocious head winds, halfway up the first long climb from the bottom of valley walk to the top of little Henny I was already looking forward to the end. It could not come round quick enough, my legs were empty, my arse was sore, my arms were aching and my lower back too. Shutting my mind off I just spun as fast as I could but the whole ride was arduous. Spirits were slightly lifted on the final leg of the ride as I hit some nice little tech sections and flew through some tight single track but ultimately I arrived home not pumped up and buzzing as normal but just a bit disappointed, like I'd lost my mojo a little. These rides happen for me every now and again but that won't stop me, if I just keep going out and getting my head down the buzz will return. Besides I'm fully committed now, I just dropped £50 on some winter gloves and waterproofs. Bring on the bad weather! but not before I get in a few more sessions of getting airborne.
Thursday 20 October 2011
Tuesday 18 October 2011
Tuesday 11 October 2011
Monday 10 October 2011
Head winds and stings.
As quick as a whip crack I was over the bars face down in the moist dirt with the majority of the left hand side of my body in stingers, ironically I had been thinking how nice it was to be having a nice dryish ride without getting my shins stung to buggery, and just like that I was gone. As I lay there trying to figure out what had happened the thoughts of irony kept whirling round in my mind, mocking my should know better self. Dragging myself upright and turning around the Trek was laying flipped over on completely the other side of the ditch my front wheel had slipped in to. At about an hour and fifteen minutes in I jumped back on and pedalled really really hard to take my mind off the pain and tingling which was spreading through my arm and leg, it worked till just now, as I sit hear writing this the tingling is almost unbearable. Riding up to this point had been good. Riding a hard route my legs were fresh and the cold which had knackered my lungs had all but gone, at every turn the head winds were strong no matter which way I turned, but it didn't matter, my legs were good and I was relishing the challenge. After a two week break I'm really looking forward to more regular riding.
Saturday 8 October 2011
Saturday 1 October 2011
Friday 30 September 2011
Wednesday 28 September 2011
Tuesday 27 September 2011
Monday 26 September 2011
Saturday 24 September 2011
Wednesday 21 September 2011
Tuesday 20 September 2011
Mud Sweat and Gears, Langdon Hills.
The final round of Mud Sweat and Gears was upon me and the training I had done in build up to the superb Langdon Hills course seemed a bit wasted after spending a week in Yorkshire drinking and eating rubbish plus only doing 12 miles in total on the bike! I wasn't sure how I'd fare. I usually take it easy the week leading up to the race but even then I would manage 40ish miles. I had also sustained a few injuries on holiday which included straining my piriformis, spraining my wrist, hurting my shoulder, having my fingers shut in a door, oh and my little toe is black and looks like it might drop off. Yes I got that excuse straight from David Haye! Needless to say my enthusiasm for the race had waned before it had even begun. Whilst on holiday the opportunity for the Wednesday evening course preview was missed, so on Sunday I rocked up a little early to squeeze in a practice lap which you can see in the video. The course struck me instantly as a lot of fun. As the name suggests Langdon Hills located in Basildon, Essex is rather...well... hilly. The first half of the 4.5 miles is climbing broken up with some fun little singletrack section, after all that effort you're rewarded as is usually the case with some gravity assisted downs, there were three good tight tech sections and some wider swooping sections, all in all leaving me with a large grin on my face and some enthusiasm returning. This was short lived. As the the race started we all sprinted along the wide open swoopy climb, topping out I was ruined, everything I told myself to do went out the window, I was standing up and mashing the pedals rather than keeping a steady powerful cadence in the saddle and worse still I felt sick and my lungs were tight as a a ducks chuff. My mind was telling me to stop......Already!!! As all the riders slipped into positions I decided to settle and just stay comfortable, but I couldn't. There was a constant chain of riders on my rear wheel, my mean competitive streak wouldn't allow them to pass. By the second lap I was felling terrible but at least now I was alone. With no one visible in front to chase and no chain clatter or buzzing freewheels behind me I eased up all the way round, on the final descent I heard the dreaded sound of a freewheel behind me and I knew. I had taken it too easy for too long, I'd been caught up and still didn't feel much better, there was only one thing for it. I whipped out an energy gel I'd stashed in my side pocket and gulped it down, it tasted rank and sat on my chest and no amount of water seemed to shift it, I think this is the first time I have ever felt like I needed one. Boy did I feel I needed one, the lap times seemed to agree. On the third lap my lungs decided to open and I felt good. The lap time showed this to be the case. But for most of the lap I had a few equally determined riders on my tail, getting overtaken a couple of times on the final lap was horrible but I manged to pull the guys back and return to my position, then on the final downhill a young lad on a Focus overtook me and I couldn't get him back, I crossed the line gladly and wasn't sure what to expect, I watched the times roll in... I was joint sixth, my worst result of all the races I'd competed in but I didn't care. I'd enjoyed the race and it was good to see some of the guys I'd got to know from the previous events, most importantly though I feel I have learn't a lot of lessons to take with me into the Thetford winter series.
How will I fare in a two hour race?
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9So_kYVC3w
ReatinRides
How will I fare in a two hour race?
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9So_kYVC3w
ReatinRides
Monday 19 September 2011
Sunday 18 September 2011
Saturday 17 September 2011
Dalby
Videos Here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaZ4LgsJFJo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INZQWHzTbPs
Route Here : http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/u8jociXwBQU
Sunday 11 September 2011
Friday 9 September 2011
Katec bikes, product review.
Kael shawnasae is the founder and all round very helpful chap behind Katec tools and Bearings. The company come about after Kael had suffered a back injury whilst attending his local gym which left him unable to ride and therefore led to him spending his free time buying and selling cycle parts on Ebay, this went on for a few years whilst at the same time he learnt a lot about servicing frames and suspension which is where it really all begun. Kael started putting together bearing kits for frames and also taking high end bearings and modifying them specifically for mtb use, he suddenly found himself in a position where people were asking him for tools to fit his bearing kits and Kael set about making these to expand his range and satisfy all the constant fettlers out there. How did I come across Kael? Well the Trek Fuel EX7 was suffering from some up and down play in the rear triangle and I started looking about for a replacement bearing kit, being a bit tight I was unimpressed with the cost of the bearings from dealers and the cost of tools to do the job, after much scouting about I landed on the step of Kael's ebay shop. His bearings were cheaper than anywhere else and he had good feedback so I pinged off an e mail and Kael was almost instantly in touch. After being a thorn in his side for the next few days Kael came to the conclusion that it was the bushes and not the bearings and told me he could supply me with 10 bushes and a fitting/removal tool for the princely sum of just £25.98. (it's always good to have spares) Business was done and parts arrived promptly. The tool for fitting the bushes and getting the old ones out was very effective it certainly does the job with minimal effort although it looks a little basic, but when something works with no fuss and doesn't cost an arm and a leg who cares! Kael was spot on with his advice about the problem being the bushes and not the bearings too, with the bike back together all the play had been eliminated and I had saved myself a wedge of cash due to his good advice. I can only recommend Katec on this transaction but to be fair he could have just sold me the bearings, made more money and then have me come back for the bushings, this thought obviously didn't cross his mind. All in all I was very impressed with the service, advice and items I received. The bushes are going strong and the tool is a worthy addition to my tool box, when my bearings do finally give up I won't have any hesition in contacting Kael for replacement bearings and advice. Just waiting for my mates Fox Shox bushes to give up now so I can recoup some of my cash.ReatinRides.
Don't miss this.
Hopefully this will show the video the legendary Chris Akrigg was filming when his very unfortunate crash happened. If you don't know Akrigg get on you tube the guy is a truly unique rider. BBC - BBC One Programmes - Helicopter Heroes, Series 5, Episode 2
Thursday 8 September 2011
Tuesday 6 September 2011
Monday 5 September 2011
The dawn of Autumn
With the autumn chill beginning to blow through the cracks in the windows of an evening my time has been consumed with finishing the work in the garden and training for the final Mud, Sweat and Gears race. Between this and both my jobs, time for the Blog has been sparse and for that I must apologise. I find myself sitting here with some free time and a head swimming of thoughts from my last short ride on Sunday. The last four weeks have been filled with riding hard three times a week, the gym session pyramid interval training didn't materialize as I couldn't find my membership card so instead I have just been cramming in the riding. Next week I'm on holiday so I shall use this time for recovery then the weekend I get back it's time to get my race face on. After the last race I'll hopefully squeeze in some time on the dirt jumps with the Blender before the winter sets in proper, untill then I have a high intensity ride on Tuesday and then three more rides before the big race.
(One of these rides is going to be on the Dalby xc world cup course - more on that another time)
So riding last week and some familiar feelings crept up on me prompted by familiar sights for this time of year. First up is the build up to the DH World Champs which always reminds me that summer is almost over, with Danny Hart wiping the floor with the competition it feels like summer is saying bye on a high for us brits. The other clues are all around us. It starts in the magazine adverts gradually appearing for the latest super mega lumen powered lights for super silly mega money tying in nicely with the nights drawing in. It's about 2mins less light per day at the moment, that's a hell of a pace to be loosing daylight by anyone's count. On top of this the fields we all ride round, near, and through have all been filled with tractors of late taking in the harvest before it's too late. Then there is the chill, we've been blessed with a few gorgeous days this week but as the sun goes down the chill is there whispering on the wind "Here I come". I'll miss the dusty trails but then autumn has it's own charms, the beautiful changing colours as everything turns golden brown, the cooler but not freezing riding conditions and with any luck trails that are still ride-able at pace. Winter also has it's charms, less dog walkers on your favorite sections, less punctures due to hedges being trimmed all over the place and not having tingly shins from the constant slapping of stinging nettles. But by far my favorite bit is getting to dig out the lights for some winter madness, not only is it incredible fun it'll keep you fresh for next summer and is also more affordable than you may think (if you're willing to take a risk on the far east) not sure how risky it is as my MagicShine is onto it's third year with no issues. On top of this, if like me you get kitted up and ride from work in the evening people will think your even more eccentric and nuts than before when you come out all leg and arm warmed up with a buff round your head and neck and what appears to the untrained eye to be a car headlight strapped to your bike. So lets try and keep riding hard in the autumn and winter and hopefully I'll see you out there on the trails. Muddy, frozen, soaked but grinning like a loon, with all the gear you can buy to make riding in adverse conditions more comfortable the only thing stopping you from pushing through to the other side is.............You.
Danny Hart Champery 2011 Freecaster - YouTube
"How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big" Great run great commentary. Well done sir!
Danny Hart Champery 2011 Freecaster - YouTube:
'via Blog this'
Sunday 4 September 2011
Wednesday 31 August 2011
Tuesday 30 August 2011
Saturday 27 August 2011
Friday 26 August 2011
Tuesday 23 August 2011
Monday 22 August 2011
Creaks and groans.
As the last month or so has dragged on the EX7 has started to make all sorts of horrid noises. It started with a small amount of up and down play in the rear end, which turned out to be the bushings in the shock wearing out, and after much searching I found some very reasonable priced bushings and a tool to do the job with. Some back and forth emails with the supplier and the bushings arrived with the tool and I was confident all my creaks and groans were to be solved?!
After whipping the shock out of the frame, popping the bushings out and slipping the new ones back in I went to pop the shock back in the bike, just as I went to do this I noticed some horrendous creaking from the frame. Damn! The play had stopped in the rear end and some noises had disappeared but it was now apparent that the cables in the frame were sounding miserable. So over the weekend I decided to give the bike some over due TLC. Putting the bike in the stand I removed the wheels, pedals and cranks, cut the cables, undid the hose clamps and set to work (I left the Aheadset alone as the bearings were recently replaced). A while ago the length of the hydraulic hoses started to annoy me, they were just too long, luckily there were some hose olives and fittings in my bleed kit, so while there I set about shortening the hoses. This was straight forward but left the gear outer's looking a bit, well, gangly so these too were removed and shortened. A heavy covering of muck off was sprayed on all the nooks and crannies before being washed off lightly with the hose. With the bike looking sparkly all the outer's were re lubed and even a little dab'll do ya in the frame cable stops. Cables were re routed and brakes re bled after about two hours my work was complete, everything had been cleaned stripped and greased where necessary in the hope of getting rid of these last niggles. Tomorrow will be the first ride and would you believe it it's probably gonna chuck it down. Brilliant!
Thursday 18 August 2011
A week of riding in words.
I have now completed two races. These first ones were close together, which left me no time for training. With the next race being four weeks away that gave me five weeks to try some proper training, including trying to get back to where I was riding three times a week before fracturing my elbow back in early spring. The plan is simple - do one ride as hard as possible for an hour and twenty minutes, another lower paced two and half hour to three hour ride midweek, then something new to me, interval training instead of my short Sunday ride to try and build power. Starting last Tuesday the full pace ride went well barring a puncture then the long ride on Friday got skipped due to other commitments (great start I know!) then Sunday and interval training. I did not expect this to be this hard, the idea was to do a 10 minute warm up followed by 4 mins full tilt 4 mins of recovery, then the same for 3 mins, 2 mins, two 1 mins, four 30 secs, two 1mins, , 2mins, 3mins, 4mins and finally a 10 min warm down, just reading that has made me tired. I only managed to make it to the second set of 1 mins and I was done, my legs were wasted, my hart rate hardly recovered and I felt terrible, limping home slowly feeling sorry for myself but determined to do better next week. I'm toying with the idea of going to the gym to do this on an exercise bike until I feel more comfortable out doing it on the bike. I just didn't have the concentration to be doing something that took that much out of me on the open roads and on technical off road tracks safely. Back on to this week and the Tuesday ride went well barring yet another puncture, it would appear the Nobby Nics do have a weakness. I've had more punctures since switching to these than I ever did running the Fire xc pros but it's a price I'm willing to pay for such an awesome, light, well rounded tyre. Tomorrow will see me do my long ride and I'm looking forward to venturing out a little further than I have done for a while. After not thinking I'm going to take racing seriously, I'm now fully buzzing with the idea of a Thetford winter series then possibly an XC race bike for next summer. Shhh don't tell Stacey.
Wednesday 17 August 2011
Friday 12 August 2011
Thursday 11 August 2011
Tuesday 9 August 2011
Monday 8 August 2011
Sunday 7 August 2011
Brant Richards Rejoins On-One To Head Titus Cycles - BikeRadar
Wow how did i miss this amazing bit of news.
Mud Sweat and Gears race day.
I was roused early with the sun glimmering through the curtains waking me up at 7am, this was pretty much perfect leaving me with plenty of time to pack the car, have breakfast (why can't I ever get up this easy for work? ) and generally be calm before the storm. The drive down to Codham Park was far less ridiculous after getting completely lost on Wednesday, needless to say this time the Sat Nav didn't see the light of day. (See previous Mud Sweat and Gears post related to this event) Upon arrival I had plenty of time to do the registration thing and have a few little blasts round the last part of the course before getting called to the start line at 9:50am, Sitting on the start line was a crowded affair with the Males and Vet Males all starting out at the same time rather than staggered like at my first race, sitting on that line seemed to go on for ages and the nerves really started to ramp up as the anticipation built to a climax. Go! Off the line I used the tactic which had served me well in my first race, just pick off as many people as possible before shooting into more technical sections without shagging yourself up, (not really sure that's much of a tactic actually) I didn't feel that great after the first climb but this feeling was swiftly replaced with rage as a guy tried to ram past me without warning on a corner and clattered into me, my rage was compounded more when he repeated his reckless manoeuvre and passed me on a corner. Now I have only competed in one race before this but at no time in that race did anyone do this to me. Etiquette at my first race dictated that you tell someone if youre about to pass them on their left or right, not just come barging through on the inside elbows out. The temptation to yell some abuse was quickly overcome as I realised the guy was not gonna keep up his mental, elbow flailing, sporadic braking pace for long, soon enough I passed him and did not suffer the unpleasantness of seeing him again. I enjoyed a moment of brief satisfaction....eat my dust. Lap 2 seemed easier and I was feeling better, my lungs were open wide and I felt like I had plenty in the tank, spent the lap mostly alone picking off a few riders along the way, towards the end of the lap at the top of the biggest climb I had a good view of the last bit of the course and counted 3 people in front of me, could I be in forth? this spurred me onto a head down arse up pedal mashing spin through the start finish area where the head wind was like being hit in the face with a battering ram. On to lap 3 and I was aware that a rider was creeping up on me, as the lap went on my legs started to feel next to useless and I wasn't sure if I could hold this guy off, it seemed as if at every turn he'd edged closer and whatever I did didn't seem to put any distance on him. Through the wooded section and onto the open final climb and he was closer again, as much as my legs wanted me to ease up I was pretty sure I was a forth and did not want to lose out on the last lap., At some point I stopped paying attention to how close he was getting and just focused on mashing the big chain ring round the lake and onto the home straight, as I came through to the gravel start finish section I really went for it, and then to my horror a front wheel crept into my periferal vision. He had matched my effort all the way round and now as a chaser had the incentive to go for it, it couldn't happen, I wouldn't let it and out of nowhere an unintentional and slightly embarrassing Chewbacca type roar came out of my mouth and for some reason this gave me an extra bit of speed, had I edged him to the line? he'd pushed me hard and I felt sick but was sure I had nabbed it. I turned round to ride back down to the start finish area to find the guy looking as bad as me, "was that you?" I asked, "yes" came the reply. After chatting as best we could through the heavy breathing it turned out his name was Matt and that he had raced some other races around Essex, after congratulating each other on a good race I went over to check the results, I'm pretty sure he regretted pushing for the place as much as I regretted fighting him off for a good 5 minutes after. The results weren't scrolling up like they had at the previous race so I couldn't find out where I'd placed. I decided to head to the car and get a hoody and some sustenance then go back to find out later. As it turned out I'd came in forth one place better than my first race but still a bit off the pace off the top three. Now the questions are forming, how can I close the gap? Training more is something I have been slack on so that is the first point of call but ultimately my Trek Fuel ex7 isn't exactly a cross country whippet, after just two races I've already found my self unconsciously browsing light weight cross country bikes on the net. In 2000 Lance Armstrong released a book called It's Not About the Bike. It was more a philosphical title considering what he went through rather than a statement, but to push onto a podium position I'm affraid it might be a little bit about the bike.
So much for not taking it too seriously!
Thanks to Matt if your'e reading this, for giving me a real run for my money and pushing me till the end, also a massive thanks to Alistair and everyone else involved in Mud Sweat and Gears for putting on such a well organised friendly event, I can't recommend it enough.
Can't wait for tomorrow to have an in depth browse through the results and times here : http://www.mudsweatgears.co.uk/
And to check the photos!
So much for not taking it too seriously!
Thanks to Matt if your'e reading this, for giving me a real run for my money and pushing me till the end, also a massive thanks to Alistair and everyone else involved in Mud Sweat and Gears for putting on such a well organised friendly event, I can't recommend it enough.
Can't wait for tomorrow to have an in depth browse through the results and times here : http://www.mudsweatgears.co.uk/
And to check the photos!
Friday 5 August 2011
Charge Blender update.
With my wheel all built up I found
an hour to fit some tyres and strip the old black hydraulic hoses off and replace them with some awesome lime green ones.
Pimp!
Thursday 4 August 2011
Mud Sweat and Gears. Codham Park. Wednesday.
With my entry confirmed last minute on Tuesday night I loaded up the car, set up my phones sat nav for Codham park. The sat nav in all it's amazing glory decided that the best way to go was via some unused, car wide back roads with crater like pot holes and branches hanging so low I could feel them taking the paint off my Trek (which was on the bike rack for a change as it seems most of the marks on the Trek are from putting it in and getting it out of the car. The irony ). After what seemed like an age of this craziness my sat nav spoke words I was less than impressed to hear. Network connection lost. Great! This is why normally I always have a map. I had no clue whereabouts my sat nav had stranded me, and with no sign posts it was all just guess work, fortunately I found my way onto some better roads where a guy on a road bike came to my rescue and had me heading in the right direction soon enough. Once in the car park the first group of riders were about to head out so I hurriedly jumped on my bike for a lap. Being unfamiliar with Codham park there were no preconceptions of what to expect, after lap one it was clear the guys who put the course together knew what they were doing. Starting on an inclined gravel road speed soon picks up as you blast through a very steep dip carrying your speed into a couple of really good off camber turns. These spit you out onto a wide grassy sections then a left turn into a drop with a tabletop (at least that's what I was using it for) into a berm, a quick climb leads you to some nice wide fast S bends before a sharp drop and onto the anchors for a sharp left hander. Note to self:- don't launch off the drop! A couple more berms and some rollers sees you out onto a grassy section with some climbing thrown in for good measure before dropping right over a fast but rough downhill turn. Finally a section to catch your breath, as you spin along wide grass tracks twisting through young tree saplings which climaxes with a couple of rollers and what can only be described as a kicker. Because if you go over it at race speed without braking you won't be keeping your rubber down, this leads into a dense wood section which goes on for some time with ups, downs, berms and bridges, oh and some trees which are just too close together for trail bike bars. This wooded section ends with a real nasty, long, sandy, leg sapping climb, there was talk of this being avoided in the race, fingers crossed. You've made it to the final section hooking a right off the gravel track and go round the picturesque lake and you're back on the start finish straight eagerly spinning your cranks for the next lap. Sounds easy hey. I was told it was 3.2 miles a lap but it feels longer, maybe because of the amount of variation. All in all I'm really looking forward to raceday but am under no illusion, it's gonna be quite a hard race. Bring on Sunday I look forward to seeing you all there.
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JximBpjH3d0
ReatinRides.
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JximBpjH3d0
ReatinRides.
Tuesday 2 August 2011
Monday 1 August 2011
Charge Blender
I have finally received two boxes full of shiny bits for the Blender, I'm looking forward to getting the build underway and have already built a Mavic front wheel with a techno lime green front hub you can see the parts in the pic. I haven't built a wheel from scratch before although I have replaced lots of spokes and trued hundreds of wheels. It turned out to be less daunting than I expected, once the rim was laced my truing experience made the rest of the task pretty straight forward, being a bit tentative it took three hours all in but i'm proper happy with the final result, I guess only time will tell if I have truly done a good job. Sorry. No pun intended.
Sunday 31 July 2011
Thursday 28 July 2011
Wednesday 27 July 2011
Tuesday 26 July 2011
Monday 25 July 2011
Sunday 24 July 2011
Saturday 23 July 2011
Friday 22 July 2011
Thursday 21 July 2011
After an entry level fork upgrade?
These could be a good starting point if they can sort out the issues from last year.
SR Suntour 2012 Forks And Shocks – First Look - BikeRadar
Wednesday 20 July 2011
Tuesday 19 July 2011
Great vibes caught on film at round 5 of the DH WC from Lappiere.
Vital MTB | Mountain Biking Videos
Vandeyk Unveil €16,500 Mountain Bike - BikeRadar
A bike much like a car can never be art no matter how beautiful as it serves a purpose.
Vandeyk Unveil €16,500 Mountain Bike - BikeRadar
Sunday 17 July 2011
Friday 15 July 2011
Riding the Surrey hills.
Leith Hill.
An early start to miss the misery of the A12 was thwarted by leaving 45mins later than intended and as we crawled along that miserable road the thought that within a few hours we'd be clattering through some of the best trails in the Surrey hills seemed a million miles away. After the slow arduous journey we hit the M25 and things improved slightly, speed increased and we were soon over the Dartford bridge heading for the trails. The day was overcast but with no rain, strong winds when exposed and tempratures around 20 degrees, it was a pretty fine day to be blitzing through the trees feeling like you're on a Star Wars speeder bike. The first port of call was Leith hill, Leighton and I followed Adam to a car park that I don't think I would be able to find again on my own. After a short spin we arrived at the tower atop of Leith hill, we headed straight for my old nemesis Deliverance, I'm sure I could still see the forearm skin I left all over the roots on the last visit. The top of the trail was even more technical than usual as all the roots seemed more exposed, presumably due to the amount of rain that's been blighting the dusty trails lately, about three quarters of the way down we took a right to join on to the top of Summer Lightening. The top of the trail was full of weirdness first time round as the trees along the trail had all been felled, the lack of trees either side of me to slam my body into had clearly relaxed my reactions as I drifted haplessly wide on every corner and couldn't find my flow, I had to smile as the next section had not been felled I soon had my eye in and was back in the game. Amazing how the threat of body checking an immovable object sharpens up the senses, The three of us came out at the bottom grinning and the chat about the trail began as we spun gently backup for a second run. This time the top section came together and we flew through it straight into the second section, I nearly stacked as I was in awe of the way Adam was off the brakes setting an incredible pace slamming his back wheel into tree stumps intentionally as a control measure....apparantly!. After this we looped back round to the bottom section of Deliverance, which popped us out on a byway near The Plough Inn, we then had to ride back to the top to get back to the cars. At the risk of sounding cocky I was the only one to clear the climb right up to the tower, Leighton made an impressive initial effort but the final super steep rocky section saw him off and, well it's no secret Adam doesn't like going uphill, I graciously accepted some props from a guy who witnessed my incredible feet while doing some maintenance work at the tower, and we stopped for a bit of sustenance.
Holmbury Hill.
The next stop on our little adventure was Holmbury hill, I was uber excited about the four awesome trails I know of up there but Adam and Leighton seemed more excited about the pork and leak sausage roll offered by the post office in Peaslake, so from another obscure car park we headed straight for Barry Knows best. Taking the lead on this one I was unaware of the chaos that was ensuing behind me, Adam had to stop as his chain came off and Leighton wore completely through his rear brake pads pretty much using the copper back plate of his pads on his disc to keep his speed in check. As I went full tilt through the last set of huge berms I reached the bottom turned round and was alone, waiting.... waiting.... and then Leighton appeared, granted I heard him before I saw him due to his ruined pads, then Adam came down looking angry about his chain situation. With this it was off to Peaslake for a Sausage roll and a quick nip into Pedal and Spoke who although have a small shop had the right pads for Leightons brakes in stock and were good enough to let him use a screwdriver to whip out his old pads and resit the pistons, (Thanks guys). While Leighton was faffing about with his new pads I was suffering some severe bike envy about the brand new Santa Cruz Heckler and Butcher which were just outside the shop, those bikes really look so much more special in the flesh. In the post office Adam kindly let me order first and then to his disgust I went and bought the last pork and leek sausage roll, both he and Leighton were not amused, but all the baked goods from that little Post office are packed full of awesomeness so I knew once they started eating they would forget about it.
Time was ticking by and we were on a bit of a tight schedule from here on in, we slugged it out up the road to the right of the post office cut through where the logging lorries park up and pushed on to the top, took in the stunning (even on a overcast day) views before heading for yogurt pots. I love this trail it's like a roller coaster sweeping left and right round trees and off rooty drops you really need to be focused for the whole run or it could end badly. Once we were spat out of the end we rolled down and straight into Telegraph Row, over the initial hump of this trail it starts dropping down hill, speeding up, getting narrower and rougher all the time. As you approach the end the speed on the loose rooty terrain is ridiculous for the wideness of the little gully your nestled in and at the car park we all agreed we felt like we had been truly battered by it in a good way. Sadly that was the last run of the day, after popping back to Adams, Leighton and I left buzzing but with heavy hearts that we were leaving this great little spot behind. The journey home was a blur, we slipped through some sort of rush hour black hole, it seemed like it took about thirty minutes I guess the adrenaline was still pumping, As soon as it wears off i'll be planning my next trip back.
Quick edit from the day here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jXxQV_MNIA
Thanks again Adam for the guide work.
ReatinRides.
An early start to miss the misery of the A12 was thwarted by leaving 45mins later than intended and as we crawled along that miserable road the thought that within a few hours we'd be clattering through some of the best trails in the Surrey hills seemed a million miles away. After the slow arduous journey we hit the M25 and things improved slightly, speed increased and we were soon over the Dartford bridge heading for the trails. The day was overcast but with no rain, strong winds when exposed and tempratures around 20 degrees, it was a pretty fine day to be blitzing through the trees feeling like you're on a Star Wars speeder bike. The first port of call was Leith hill, Leighton and I followed Adam to a car park that I don't think I would be able to find again on my own. After a short spin we arrived at the tower atop of Leith hill, we headed straight for my old nemesis Deliverance, I'm sure I could still see the forearm skin I left all over the roots on the last visit. The top of the trail was even more technical than usual as all the roots seemed more exposed, presumably due to the amount of rain that's been blighting the dusty trails lately, about three quarters of the way down we took a right to join on to the top of Summer Lightening. The top of the trail was full of weirdness first time round as the trees along the trail had all been felled, the lack of trees either side of me to slam my body into had clearly relaxed my reactions as I drifted haplessly wide on every corner and couldn't find my flow, I had to smile as the next section had not been felled I soon had my eye in and was back in the game. Amazing how the threat of body checking an immovable object sharpens up the senses, The three of us came out at the bottom grinning and the chat about the trail began as we spun gently backup for a second run. This time the top section came together and we flew through it straight into the second section, I nearly stacked as I was in awe of the way Adam was off the brakes setting an incredible pace slamming his back wheel into tree stumps intentionally as a control measure....apparantly!. After this we looped back round to the bottom section of Deliverance, which popped us out on a byway near The Plough Inn, we then had to ride back to the top to get back to the cars. At the risk of sounding cocky I was the only one to clear the climb right up to the tower, Leighton made an impressive initial effort but the final super steep rocky section saw him off and, well it's no secret Adam doesn't like going uphill, I graciously accepted some props from a guy who witnessed my incredible feet while doing some maintenance work at the tower, and we stopped for a bit of sustenance.
Holmbury Hill.
The next stop on our little adventure was Holmbury hill, I was uber excited about the four awesome trails I know of up there but Adam and Leighton seemed more excited about the pork and leak sausage roll offered by the post office in Peaslake, so from another obscure car park we headed straight for Barry Knows best. Taking the lead on this one I was unaware of the chaos that was ensuing behind me, Adam had to stop as his chain came off and Leighton wore completely through his rear brake pads pretty much using the copper back plate of his pads on his disc to keep his speed in check. As I went full tilt through the last set of huge berms I reached the bottom turned round and was alone, waiting.... waiting.... and then Leighton appeared, granted I heard him before I saw him due to his ruined pads, then Adam came down looking angry about his chain situation. With this it was off to Peaslake for a Sausage roll and a quick nip into Pedal and Spoke who although have a small shop had the right pads for Leightons brakes in stock and were good enough to let him use a screwdriver to whip out his old pads and resit the pistons, (Thanks guys). While Leighton was faffing about with his new pads I was suffering some severe bike envy about the brand new Santa Cruz Heckler and Butcher which were just outside the shop, those bikes really look so much more special in the flesh. In the post office Adam kindly let me order first and then to his disgust I went and bought the last pork and leek sausage roll, both he and Leighton were not amused, but all the baked goods from that little Post office are packed full of awesomeness so I knew once they started eating they would forget about it.
Time was ticking by and we were on a bit of a tight schedule from here on in, we slugged it out up the road to the right of the post office cut through where the logging lorries park up and pushed on to the top, took in the stunning (even on a overcast day) views before heading for yogurt pots. I love this trail it's like a roller coaster sweeping left and right round trees and off rooty drops you really need to be focused for the whole run or it could end badly. Once we were spat out of the end we rolled down and straight into Telegraph Row, over the initial hump of this trail it starts dropping down hill, speeding up, getting narrower and rougher all the time. As you approach the end the speed on the loose rooty terrain is ridiculous for the wideness of the little gully your nestled in and at the car park we all agreed we felt like we had been truly battered by it in a good way. Sadly that was the last run of the day, after popping back to Adams, Leighton and I left buzzing but with heavy hearts that we were leaving this great little spot behind. The journey home was a blur, we slipped through some sort of rush hour black hole, it seemed like it took about thirty minutes I guess the adrenaline was still pumping, As soon as it wears off i'll be planning my next trip back.
Quick edit from the day here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jXxQV_MNIA
Thanks again Adam for the guide work.
ReatinRides.
Thursday 14 July 2011
Wednesday 13 July 2011
Boardman HT Pro Carbon - First Ride Review - BikeRadar
From a distance this bike doesn't look that special, have a look at the larger photos though, very nice.
Tuesday 12 July 2011
Monday 11 July 2011
YouTube - Joe Barnes rides Ben A'an
Blissed out riding from MTBcut. Lovely.
YouTube - Joe Barnes rides Ben A'an
Saturday 9 July 2011
Thursday 7 July 2011
Charge Blender (Thrash bike project)
Oh yeah! received a frame sized box today containing a second hand Charge Blender frame in white, it has some marks on it but not too bad considering what the frame is designed for. My plan is to use as much good stuff from the shed as I can to build up a bike for general thrashing, jumping and winter riding. The frame had to tick some boxes first, which were: Be able to use on jumps, 4x etc, be reasonable to ride to trails and finally to use in the bleak winter months. After much research I settled for a steel Charge Blender frame which will run a 1x9 setup when finished. Although I don't want to spend much on it (yeah right!) I already have the idea of a smattering of British racing green or Lime green bits splashed about, all just ideas at the mo. I plan to recycle what I can and then have a massive sell off from the shed, follow the build here. I'll try to put up regular updates and also tech videos as I go.
ReatinRides.
ReatinRides.
Wednesday 6 July 2011
Tuesday 5 July 2011
Gopro handlebar seatpost mount review.
I believe the Gopro HD hero itself didn't really warrant a review. The fact is that every time you see any point of view action being filmed by pros or on a t.v. shows the Gopro's always there, if however, like me you have bought one and looked at the cost of the official mounts and thought go Bo***ks then please read on.
Don't be confused by the look of the mount it is not just plastic, it is made from polycarbonate, the same as lots of bash guard and some high end mud guards meaning it's very strong. The strength of the material was confirmed after a couple of off's with this on the bars and it laughed them off, even if it should break the mount comes with a 1 year warranty. You can place the mount on any post between 0.75" to 1.4" (1.9-3.5cm), it's finished with stainless steel nuts and bolts so shouldn't go rusty either. Operating the mount is simple, with just two thumb screws to open up the bar clamp one of these has a cut out of the polycarbonate so you don't have to completely unscrew both thumbies to get it round your bars.
The camera then mounts with the standard interlocking Gopro thumbie set up, some rubber on the clamping area to stop damage to your frame or bars would have been a plus, but this is easy enough to do yourself. In the past I have knocked up a few different mounts for the Gopro but have never quiet achieved the stable image I craved. It was obvious this would not be the case as soon as the mount was attached. It felt very solid, no twisting or slipping, a little tap on the side of the camera showed very little wobble and out on the trail the results showed this to be the case. Overall although the mount looks like a very expensive piece of plastic once you put it to use you realise that quite alot of time and testing must have gone into it and that this effort was not wasted. It will give you masses of extra mounting options and leave you with footage which is stable and clear, all in all it's a great product. I would like to see some rubber on the clamping areas and maybe a slightly lower price, but if you have been trying to get a good stable image from your Gopro and have avoided this due to the price stop being tight and get one! You will not be disappointed.
Below are links to two videos straight off my Gopro unedited. note how stable the image stays even when landing jumps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzLskagocc
This second video is shot with the camera upside down on the bars, again note the smoothness of the image and also the feeling of speed this angle gives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOZD3Jcogk0
Thanks for reading / watching.
ReatinRides.
The camera then mounts with the standard interlocking Gopro thumbie set up, some rubber on the clamping area to stop damage to your frame or bars would have been a plus, but this is easy enough to do yourself. In the past I have knocked up a few different mounts for the Gopro but have never quiet achieved the stable image I craved. It was obvious this would not be the case as soon as the mount was attached. It felt very solid, no twisting or slipping, a little tap on the side of the camera showed very little wobble and out on the trail the results showed this to be the case. Overall although the mount looks like a very expensive piece of plastic once you put it to use you realise that quite alot of time and testing must have gone into it and that this effort was not wasted. It will give you masses of extra mounting options and leave you with footage which is stable and clear, all in all it's a great product. I would like to see some rubber on the clamping areas and maybe a slightly lower price, but if you have been trying to get a good stable image from your Gopro and have avoided this due to the price stop being tight and get one! You will not be disappointed.
Below are links to two videos straight off my Gopro unedited. note how stable the image stays even when landing jumps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzLskagocc
This second video is shot with the camera upside down on the bars, again note the smoothness of the image and also the feeling of speed this angle gives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOZD3Jcogk0
Thanks for reading / watching.
ReatinRides.
Monday 4 July 2011
Friday 1 July 2011
Crazy weather, new bits of singletrack.
Wow! A high of 30 on Monday and anticipation for the Tuesday ride was almost as high as the temp. Tuesday dawned promising to be cooler which was kind of a relief, as the day rolled on it was looking peachy, then 3pm heavy cloud, thunder and torrential downpours, luckily it had eased off by 5pm but I was going to get soggy and dirty - nice. With thoughts drifting towards skipping the ride, a memory of something I had read quickly popped into my mind: "Mountain bikers don't depend on the weather", so off I went. Lately my legs have been struggling and every ride has been an effort, the plan was to go in search of some single track I had heard murmurs about and ride everything else in between as fast as my legs would allow. So heading towards Melford along Valley walk my first piece of exploration began, I had seen some track running along the side which looked promising and bit's were, with a bit of axe work and some clearing it could become a good way to avoid the dog walkers that have a habit of taking up the whole walk, giving you evils and allowing their dogs to chase you. "Don't worry he won't bite", yeah won't bite you, will bite a strangely dressed man on some sort of mechanical beast! Is it just me or do dogs hate cycle helmets? After blitzing half the Melford route I reached a bit of track that I had rode about a third of but had it on good authority there was more hidden around. Riding up the road my eyes were darting about looking for an opening to get round the back of the houses and into the trees, eventually it appeared. Once under the cover of the woods I started following a nice tight piece of winding track that appeared to get little use, stingers and sticks were slapping on my shins, stinging nettles are more vicious in the wet. The track split at multiple points mostly going off to dead ends leaving me to double back on myself, there were also some old jumps which could be fun with a bit of spade work. The track narrowly meandered down to a road crossing which then spat me back into the trees for the final third which I knew, it's not as overgrown as the stuff previously and has a lovely little jump at the end. Now I had figured out the path through the woods I belted back up the road for another run to hit it with more flow. The end of the second run approached and I could feel a familiar sensation on my shins, they were cut, whipped and stung to oblivion ( I couldn't get to sleep because of the constant itching and tingling). Realizing that time was pushing on and wanting to take my mind off my shins, revolutions upped in line with speed and everything felt good, no aching legs or back and even my elbow was feeling strong. With this I pushed hard for the last part of the ride powering up climbs and thrashing the downs grabbing air wherever I could, all the time generally grinning like an idiot. Stacey was less than impressed with my mud faced appearance at the back door.
Route here: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/jgrB0R1EUL4
Reatin rides on.
Route here: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/jgrB0R1EUL4
Reatin rides on.
Thursday 30 June 2011
Tuesday 28 June 2011
What I wouldn't give to ride somewhere with a chair lift.
Rob Smith riding Borovets, chair lifts mean endless downhill. Would love that.
YouTube
Monday 27 June 2011
Sunday 26 June 2011
Acros A-GE hydraulic gear - Sea Otter // Mountain Biking Videos
This really looks viable to me, watching this video has made me want it more, seems pretty sound for the future too, Now I just need to win a large sum of money.
Acros A-GE hydraulic gear - Sea Otter // Mountain Biking Videos
Sunday
After working to many hours this week and spending Saturday night eating Indian, drinking beer and playing an old Mega Drive I acquired, it surprised me when I woke up early Sunday morning feeling good enough to go out for a blast. After spending a few minutes hooking up my new Go pro mount for the purpose of a review it was on, taking in a rather scenic route to work with plenty of fun sections I was enjoying myself but I seem to be struggling, maybe over exertion, everything just feels like a lot of effort lately, the ride was still enjoyable. The down side being that upon arriving at work covered in sweat and in my riding gear I was greeted with 56 bikes to lug upstairs, still it's all good exercise. Right:?
Route here: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/kWJmSgipYtI
Route here: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/kWJmSgipYtI
Saturday 25 June 2011
Friday 24 June 2011
knackered, crash the dreaded bonk.
I headed out solo with a feeling of weariness in my limbs, and a haze of thoughts about the working day in my mind, the usual routine started, trying to wake the limbs and clear the mind so I could get in the zone. This was proving difficult today. As I tried to spin up to speed the wind was against me, it felt as though the ground was sucking my tyres into the ground, this went on for a while and I wondered if it was due to the way I had been rushing about like a humming bird all day, now I was sitting my brain needed to adjust to the change of pace. As I ducked into the trees for the first tech section the cover bought relief from the wind, finally the speed picked up and my hollow legs began to work. My schwalbe Nobby Nics had proved a great addition to my bike, the grip and control they offer had me hitting berms and flat turns harder and faster than ever, and had also pulled me through some sketchy landings, but not today. Nearing the end of the tech section is a small drop maybe a foot high, which has a nice lip however at a good pace I usually pump it into a left hander and over the narrow bridge. Today the pace seemed slower I decided to boost off it and instantly I knew. The front had gone one way, the back another. As I came back to the ground instead of dabbing a foot I decided to ride it out, the Nics would get me through this. They tried hard and for a second I could feel them grabbing at the ground searching for traction, but it was not to be found. So there I was laying on the ground with a gash on my left forearm, left leg still clipped in and the red light on my GoPro flashing, laughing I'd recorded the whole thing ( I was trying out a new mount - more on this soon. ) Like the legend I am I carried on, the adrenalin was in full flow and I was spinning through the loop really well and then just after the half way point I got the dreaded bonk. Bonk: Noun. That feeling you get when you've pushed too hard or have not eaten enough, the feeling is nasty. Your legs feel hollow and disjointed, energy levels plummet and time seems to slow down, every revolution eating away at what little you have left, in my case the fuel light was definitely flashing red. I rolled a long downhill, crawled painfully up and then repeated this twice until I finally reached the road, pulled up and delved into my pack. All I had was a quarter of malt loaf and a cereal bar, tucking the bar in my pocket and holding the malt loaf in one hand decided to spin slowly along Valley Walk to Cornard while eating it. My route was set in mind and although I was empty I wanted to finish the loop. Passing the last crossroads where I could turn off for an easy ride home, I headed slowly onto the country park. The climb up is in two parts, at the top of the first section I felt like the fuel gauge had moved back in to the white but knew it would only be temporary. I hit the second section and then enjoyed the run back down the narrow shoot with a few kickers, my lack of energy meant I couldn't hit it hard and fast like normal, so instead I put in a couple of strokes and rolled it, letting the kickers do their thing with minimal input from me. I managed the rest of the route o.k. and the pace improved as the fuel got into my system. As I reached my gate I realised I was definitely feeling better now energy was restored. Reading this back the ride seems like a bit of a downer but I had really enjoyed myself, even the bonk had it's plus side, once it happened my mind went inwards. All other thoughts went from my head and all I had to focus on was the pain, I went to a dark place for sure but perseverance pulled me through and I came out the other side feeling good about myself.
Route hear: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/qS_AhvNq6hM
Check out the speed graph, can you see where I bonked?
Video of the stack here: http://www.youtube.com/user/reatin#p/a/u/0/TdHPB8BZOKA
Reatin rides on.
Route hear: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/qS_AhvNq6hM
Check out the speed graph, can you see where I bonked?
Video of the stack here: http://www.youtube.com/user/reatin#p/a/u/0/TdHPB8BZOKA
Reatin rides on.
Thursday 23 June 2011
Wednesday 22 June 2011
Carrera Vulcan frame, Tora SL's, x5/x7 gearing, £70?
A couple of weeks ago I got my hands on some half decent freebie MTB kit, a frame and some components, between these an old jump bike and a commuter I had enough spares to build a good Mtb for very little money. In total I spent £70 on Ebay on some 2010 Rockshox Tora SLs and a black front wheel. I get a very similar feeling from building a bike as I do from riding one, I do it because I enjoy it, that's it, just a man, a shed, his tools and time. First up was to strip the poor quality internal headset, clean and re-grease, this was pretty painless but I don't hold out much hope for the headset, the seals were very poor and once it starts groaning again it will be replaced. Next up remove the old square taper bottom bracket (BB), as is usually the case this was a pig. Got the non drive side cup out, easy, but the the drive side was solid, after soaking in GT85 and swinging from multiple spanners I was about to give up, then as luck would have it I remembered I had a car wheel removal tool with a long extendable handle and a quarter inch drive head on it, it fitted my BB tool perfectly. With this mutant BB tool attached I whipped out the drive side with minimal effort thanks to the extra leverage, I now had just a frame, a blank canvas to do as I pleased. Unbelievably the Toras I had bought were cut to exactly the right length for my frame, and had a star nut installed. All that was left was to fit the crown race for my headset and slot the forks in the frame, one 5mm spacer, an On One stem and topcap, BOSCH! Forks were fitted. With the forks in situ I fitted an old set of Easton EA70 Monkey bars, then started stripping bits off the old commuter, I needed the rear wheel, rear mech, chain and cassette. These were cleaned and then fitted again with minimal hassle, I couldn't believe how easy it was all coming together, and then it started. The disc rotor on the back wheel of my commuter was held on with 3mm dome head allen bolts, these were rusty and promptly rounded off. All was not lost though as I had a centre puncher, this is essentially a bit of steel which is hardened and pointy at one end. Put the point on the bolt head, give it a firm couple of whacks with a hammer then with the indentation in the bolt head made, angle the centre puncher so you can hammer the bolt round till it undoes. It's brilliant and I have yet to come across a rounded bolt I have not been able to remove this way. The bolts were replaced with more reliable Torx bolts, with the old tektro rotors off I stuck on the rather random 170mm shimano rotors I had somehow ended up with on the jump bike, then fitted my old HFX nines to it. It's pretty hard to find a 170mm international standard adaptor, so using some old v brake block cone washers I fitted the callipers in a similar fashion to the Avid tri align mounting system, the extra washers gave a perfect fit for the rotors. The same was done to the front, the Toras are post mount so it was just a case of fitting the cone washers between the end of the post mount and the caliper, job done. Onto the gears, on went the Sram x7 rear mech and Xgen front mech, these were combined with x7 rear and x5 front shifters, with the barrel adjusters slightly wound out and the high rear and low front limit screws adjusted I hooked it all up with a new set of cables. I always have the barrel adjusters 3 or 4 turns out so when you do the cable pinch bolts up, if the cable is too tight you can slacken it, too loose and you still have room to add more tension, with this done I changed the rear into the low gear adjusted the limit screw then the front to the high gear and did the same, gears were now running smooth. Lovely. On to the finishing touches, on went a set of Panaracer fire xc pro 2.1 folding tyres, the red really complements the bike, a set of slightly tatty Odi's an On One twelfty seat post and WTB saddle finished the build. I had earned my lunch with which I sat down and enjoyed what I had achieved. After, I called Stacey to try for size, the seat post wouldn't go down enough, this was whipped out, cut down and refitted, the fit was now spot on. I really do get a great feeling from fettling bikes and enjoy the atmosphere of being in the shed with all the specialist tools and making something that not just any old soul could do. It was a strangely easy build, I usually find that I think I have everything then find some parts are not compatible, the wrong size or just plain wrong, but not this time. I have a few more projects in the pipe line which I shall keep you informed of but until then see the link below to enjoy the fruits of my labour.
http://s1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa346/paulkingk/Carrera%20Vulcan%20disc%20spec/
Not bad for £70.
Reatin rides on.
http://s1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa346/paulkingk/Carrera%20Vulcan%20disc%20spec/
Not bad for £70.
Reatin rides on.
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