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.
Tuesday 21 June 2011
Four selfish days.
Due to my 21st (honest) Birthday things have been a bit slow on the blog front. I've spent four days doing things I wanted rather than things that needed to be done, this of course included biking and on Sunday I popped over to Thetford with my better half (Stacey). I had persuaded her to come along and ride the blue route with me to get a taste for off road cycling, her bike was a fully ridged Carrera Subway with dodgy gear and cable discs but she wouldn't let that slow her down, we hit the Blue route at a higher pace than I'd expected and covered about 7 miles, I was assured she enjoyed herself and would like to try something harder next time, this prompted me to dig through the shed and see what I could put together in a more MTB stylee (more on this soon). After the Blue we headed back to High lodge for a cuppa and some munch, with Stacey full of tea and me full of malt loaf I headed out to thrash round the Red. The trail conditions seemed really good, the recent rain making the sandy soil a bit more solid, I was blazing along and flying through berms and generally ripping the course apart, It's fair to say I was in the zone and at the cross roads I took the extra long loop to take in some trail I hadn't rode for a while, I was enjoying everything it had to throw at me. Upon finishing the route I flicked Endomondo off to see I had lapped the course in 50ish mins covering around 10.5 miles, Is this a resonable time? would be interested to know how quick others do a lap of the Red. With a total of about 18 miles covered I then headed over to see the guys from timber who were having their bike week, however by this time they were packing up and taking down the massive gazebo, it didn't seem like a good time to be hassling them, the ride on trail cutting type machine looked awesome though.
Sunday 19 June 2011
Saturday 18 June 2011
Friday 17 June 2011
Got an old bike you want sorting?
Paul keating (@Reatin) has shared a Tweet with you: "suffolkcycles: If you are near Cambs tmrw head down to Camb Utd footie ground where I'll be doing FREE bike tune ups with Outspoken. Dust Off Yer Bike" --http://twitter.com/suffolkcycles/status/81817929938780160
Big trix
A teaser for tomorrows 26 trix in Leogang. Those jumps are massive! Enjoy.
26 Trix Update and Day 1 Video - Pinkbike.com
Saracen ariel review.
Saracens reinvention is going well.
Southerndownhill | Saracen Ariel 1 - Long Term Review | Bikes
Thursday 16 June 2011
Wednesday Rage, nice sights, forgotten reasons.
My usual riding day has been restored. Untill next week, which I guess means although I think of it as my usual ride day it's not that usual at all.
Endomondo is showing that I put in just over 25miles which took me two hours, I think this may be at fault for two reasons, first 25 miles on that loop never takes more than 1 hour 45, and second it shows my slowest mile was the first one, over 7mins?! The first 3 miles are flat well trodden double track, I was spinning along at a good pace, for a mile to take 7+ mins, well I'd have to be crawling on my hands and knees with my bike on my back, it just doesn't add up.
My mind was elsewhere for the first half of the ride, it had been a day full of weird vibes and unpleasantness at work, I just couldn't empty my head of the strangeness, after riding with rage as a passenger for the first part of the ride two things happened that snapped me round.
I rounded a single track corner to find two Muntjacs playing on the trail, unusually they didn't bolt instantly, they were almost curious of me, it was really good to get up that close to them, when your out away from every thing with just your bike you never know what your going to see. Sometimes I probably forget to look for these things while i'm out, I'm to busy thinking about average speed, spinning at a fast pace and hitting all the tech sections as hard and fast as possible.
The second thing was the sight of two children, brother and sister I guess riding out past grove woods, no helmets, gloves, bags and completely inappropriate bikes for riding any sort of distance. The girl was drinking a soft drink from a can, they were both beaming out big smiles as they headed out on their bikes for an adventure, at least that was how I perceived the scene.
It reminded me of all the terrible, inefficient and down right inappropriate bikes I used to love riding, and how unaware I was of their faults that gave them their character, as long as the pedals spun the wheels and the brakes stopped you at some point, nothing else mattered.
What popped into my mind while riding along on my expensive full susser, with my £50 helmet, £70 adaptalight sunglasses, riding shorts, gloves and top was, take away all the trying to keep fit and improving my technique, ultimately I still ride bikes regularly for that feeling of fun and adventure. Deep down I was riding for exactly the same reason as those kids, except that I probably looked far more stupid.
Reatin rides on
Endomondo is showing that I put in just over 25miles which took me two hours, I think this may be at fault for two reasons, first 25 miles on that loop never takes more than 1 hour 45, and second it shows my slowest mile was the first one, over 7mins?! The first 3 miles are flat well trodden double track, I was spinning along at a good pace, for a mile to take 7+ mins, well I'd have to be crawling on my hands and knees with my bike on my back, it just doesn't add up.
My mind was elsewhere for the first half of the ride, it had been a day full of weird vibes and unpleasantness at work, I just couldn't empty my head of the strangeness, after riding with rage as a passenger for the first part of the ride two things happened that snapped me round.
I rounded a single track corner to find two Muntjacs playing on the trail, unusually they didn't bolt instantly, they were almost curious of me, it was really good to get up that close to them, when your out away from every thing with just your bike you never know what your going to see. Sometimes I probably forget to look for these things while i'm out, I'm to busy thinking about average speed, spinning at a fast pace and hitting all the tech sections as hard and fast as possible.
The second thing was the sight of two children, brother and sister I guess riding out past grove woods, no helmets, gloves, bags and completely inappropriate bikes for riding any sort of distance. The girl was drinking a soft drink from a can, they were both beaming out big smiles as they headed out on their bikes for an adventure, at least that was how I perceived the scene.
It reminded me of all the terrible, inefficient and down right inappropriate bikes I used to love riding, and how unaware I was of their faults that gave them their character, as long as the pedals spun the wheels and the brakes stopped you at some point, nothing else mattered.
What popped into my mind while riding along on my expensive full susser, with my £50 helmet, £70 adaptalight sunglasses, riding shorts, gloves and top was, take away all the trying to keep fit and improving my technique, ultimately I still ride bikes regularly for that feeling of fun and adventure. Deep down I was riding for exactly the same reason as those kids, except that I probably looked far more stupid.
Reatin rides on
Florescent
I would just like to tell people of a certain age, if you need a cycling jacket they do come in different colours!
Free skillz
Paul keating (@Reatin) has shared a Tweet with you: "timbermtb: Anyone want some basic MTB coaching for free from @timbermtb for Bike week? This Saturday from 9am @ High Lodge in Thetford Forest" --http://twitter.com/timbermtb/status/81089155198750720
Wednesday 15 June 2011
Brian Lopes
While most xc riders are shedding weight Mr. Lopes I'd carrying a Go pro. Good work.
Brian Lopes - 4x MTB World World Champion.
Tuesday 14 June 2011
BikeRumor Chainwear Challenge: Miles Are Finally Starting to Come In - Bike Rumor
If like me your hanging out on the 10speed transmission front till components have been through the ringer a few times, this could be worth a follow.
BikeRumor Chainwear Challenge: Miles Are Finally Starting to Come In - Bike Rumor
Monday 13 June 2011
Sunday 12 June 2011
Sunday.
I had planned to hit my 25mile local loop Saturday morning before my better half finished work, however at 8am when the alarm went off it was wet, so like a proper man I curled up in the fetal position and did not rouse until about midday, I can't remember the last time I layed in for that long but I must have needed it. So with Saturday gone it was my very good intention to go out at 3pm on Sunday after work, I pack my hydration pack and headed for work. It was a lovely morning, mild, sunny with a slight breeze I couldn't wait, at 3pm, BOOM! rain, strong winds just general unpleasantness. No more excuses I exclaimed to myself and off I went. Why is it when it's that windy no matter which way you go it's always a bloody head wind? Oh just before I left I had a stroke of luck at work which was too good to pass up but it involved me being back there at 5pm (more on this another time) so the 25 miler was out. I decided to cut the loop in half to take on the best bits. So heading from the local leisure centre it was onto valley walk. A really good long spin to warm up my legs, which were feeling really good - must have been a combination of having a very relaxed day off and a monstrous lay in. With this done it was a quick blast around Rodbridge it's very twisty and rooty I like to think of it as a special stage within the ride, try to do it with out dabbing a foot, on this occasion I failed. Next I headed for Henny to take on a couple of nasty climbs and some really grin inducing downs. On the negative side while shooting down spinal column, which is a downhill with really deep ruts either side of it due to farmers and 4x4ists driving up and down it, you are left with a column just as wide as your bars that you would not want to come off. As I was blasting down this I glanced up briefly just in time to notice a massive log maybe 8 inches in diameter laying across the track, if i'd hit it it would have been game over, with nowhere to go I heaved up on the bars and hopped over it clean, this little bit of improvisation gave me a little kick and big smile. Lately this seems to be a recurring theme on some of the fun fast sections of the ride, not sure if it's just unlucky or whether I have finally annoyed multiple local people with my riding and they are out to get me. If they are, unlucky! After this it was back along Valley walk and past Daq's house, it was his birthday today so I dropped in a card that was a little worse for wear as it had been thrown about in my camelback for the duration of the ride, he wasn't home, so Happy Birthday dude hope you had a good one, I'll get you a beer next time we are out. On to the country park and home, job done. 16 miles off road in just over an hour with a stop to post a card, not a bad effort.
Route here: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/hBC_Nz0AjDk
Reatin rides on.
Route here: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/hBC_Nz0AjDk
Reatin rides on.
Saturday 11 June 2011
In response to Thetford, and a quick catch up.
Below is a reply from The Timber chairman, I would like to thank you for taking the time to respond, and also to thank you and your volunteers for all your hard work thus far. The views posted in the blog were bought about by conversations with the people I ride with over Thetford who were under the same impressions as myself, as are quiet a few other people from the responses I have had, so it's nice to have those myths busted.
Thanks for your time.
Read on.
Reatin,
I did try to respond on your blog, but for some reason it doesn't love me, so perhaps you would do me the kindness of posting this response up for me.
The fact is that the FC do not make money out of High Lodge, in fact they lose it. Most of the other centres that charge less do so because they are heavily subsidsed, often by European job creation schemes, and thus don't reflect anything like reality.
At this point people in this neck of the woods usually point at Brandon Country Park and do a reasonable impression of
Well it might surprise you to find that BCP which belongs to Suffolk County Council has been up for sale for a long time ,and in fact would now be closed were it not for the simple fact that a lottery grant would have to be refunded if they closed it. Why? ...................... It loses a fortune.
Add to that the fact that MTB contributes pretty much sod all to the FC coffers in this forest, (most riders choosing to park elsewhere and ride in), whilst at the same time being amongst the most vociferous user group in moaning about the place and you'll understand why until recently that the prevailing sentiment at FC towers was to close trails rather than invest in them.
That being the case you might then appreciate the monumental job we have done in turning that perception around, and in recent times getting the FC to invest well in excess of £60,000 into the trail network. Not only that they have also recently invested a further £20,000 in making TIMBER into the premier volunteer group in the UK doing what we do. In that vein we are now the only volunteers in the entire FC estate who are allowed to work with powered plant. This will increase our ability to restore and maintain trails exponentionally.
So moving on to the Techncial Trail Features (TTF's) Myth.
The fact is the features we built were crap. They were poorly designed, poorly situated and dangerous. In the final analysis several extremely serious incidents occurred on them, the final one being an individual breaking his back in 5 places. Personally I fully support their removal, and am only surprised that the FC didn't rip them out before.
In the wake of that, we made a decision some time ago that out priorities were as follows:-
1) To turn the Red Route into a sustainable, and well maintained loop before it degenerated into the rut fest that the black had already become.
2) Once that was done to move onto the Black and do the same to that.
3) Then and only then to concern ourselves with the creation of TTF's on both trails.
We are close to completing the work on the Red, and we intend to start on the Black very shortly. Incidentally the black will soon be downdgraded to a red grading. In this you should note that Thetford was the first forest in the UK to embrace MTB, and that fact is clealry reflected in some of the outdated trail definitions and so forth. However, thats about to change and here again you are looking at some £40,000 worth of investment just to bring that signing and waymarking into line with your observations and current expectations.
That aside we are also engaged actively in planning and delivering a Pump track, and furthermore if we can pin the little bleeders down long enough we would also like to develop a Sudbourne Jumps style jump site in partnership with the local jumpy herberts.
These are not pie in the sky ideas, they are all very much reality and they are also receiving very active support from the FC.
So whats holding us back?
Well contrary to common belief its not the FC......... Far from it.
Its the lack of people who are prepared to roll their sleeves up. As riders we can make Thetford Forest Park into whatever we want it to be. There is absolutely nothing standing in our way other than our own imagination, and motivation. So rather than moan like a cheap Russian whores about whatever happens to annoy today, I would always encourage people to come and see what we do and get involved. Its actually a lot of fun.
We will be about over next weekend at High Lodge (Bike Week) and it would be great to have you pop in to see what we are about and to shoot the breeze. We are friendly, passionate about what we do, and we won't bite.
Cheers
G
TIMBER chairman
PS: Attendance at three full TIMBER build days in a year will secure you a free season ticket to High Lodge. So there really is no excuse to moan about parking fees or the trails at all, when the reality is its only your own lack of motivation thats causing you these problems.
Thanks for your time.
Read on.
Reatin,
I did try to respond on your blog, but for some reason it doesn't love me, so perhaps you would do me the kindness of posting this response up for me.
The fact is that the FC do not make money out of High Lodge, in fact they lose it. Most of the other centres that charge less do so because they are heavily subsidsed, often by European job creation schemes, and thus don't reflect anything like reality.
At this point people in this neck of the woods usually point at Brandon Country Park and do a reasonable impression of
Well it might surprise you to find that BCP which belongs to Suffolk County Council has been up for sale for a long time ,and in fact would now be closed were it not for the simple fact that a lottery grant would have to be refunded if they closed it. Why? ...................... It loses a fortune.
Add to that the fact that MTB contributes pretty much sod all to the FC coffers in this forest, (most riders choosing to park elsewhere and ride in), whilst at the same time being amongst the most vociferous user group in moaning about the place and you'll understand why until recently that the prevailing sentiment at FC towers was to close trails rather than invest in them.
That being the case you might then appreciate the monumental job we have done in turning that perception around, and in recent times getting the FC to invest well in excess of £60,000 into the trail network. Not only that they have also recently invested a further £20,000 in making TIMBER into the premier volunteer group in the UK doing what we do. In that vein we are now the only volunteers in the entire FC estate who are allowed to work with powered plant. This will increase our ability to restore and maintain trails exponentionally.
So moving on to the Techncial Trail Features (TTF's) Myth.
The fact is the features we built were crap. They were poorly designed, poorly situated and dangerous. In the final analysis several extremely serious incidents occurred on them, the final one being an individual breaking his back in 5 places. Personally I fully support their removal, and am only surprised that the FC didn't rip them out before.
In the wake of that, we made a decision some time ago that out priorities were as follows:-
1) To turn the Red Route into a sustainable, and well maintained loop before it degenerated into the rut fest that the black had already become.
2) Once that was done to move onto the Black and do the same to that.
3) Then and only then to concern ourselves with the creation of TTF's on both trails.
We are close to completing the work on the Red, and we intend to start on the Black very shortly. Incidentally the black will soon be downdgraded to a red grading. In this you should note that Thetford was the first forest in the UK to embrace MTB, and that fact is clealry reflected in some of the outdated trail definitions and so forth. However, thats about to change and here again you are looking at some £40,000 worth of investment just to bring that signing and waymarking into line with your observations and current expectations.
That aside we are also engaged actively in planning and delivering a Pump track, and furthermore if we can pin the little bleeders down long enough we would also like to develop a Sudbourne Jumps style jump site in partnership with the local jumpy herberts.
These are not pie in the sky ideas, they are all very much reality and they are also receiving very active support from the FC.
So whats holding us back?
Well contrary to common belief its not the FC......... Far from it.
Its the lack of people who are prepared to roll their sleeves up. As riders we can make Thetford Forest Park into whatever we want it to be. There is absolutely nothing standing in our way other than our own imagination, and motivation. So rather than moan like a cheap Russian whores about whatever happens to annoy today, I would always encourage people to come and see what we do and get involved. Its actually a lot of fun.
We will be about over next weekend at High Lodge (Bike Week) and it would be great to have you pop in to see what we are about and to shoot the breeze. We are friendly, passionate about what we do, and we won't bite.
Cheers
G
TIMBER chairman
PS: Attendance at three full TIMBER build days in a year will secure you a free season ticket to High Lodge. So there really is no excuse to moan about parking fees or the trails at all, when the reality is its only your own lack of motivation thats causing you these problems.
DirtTV:Leogang World Cup Friday Practice
Warm up runs from Leogang, I seem to be a little obsessed with DH at the moe.
DirtTV:Leogang World Cup Friday Practice
BRU video: Steve Peat – Fort William | bikeridersutd.com
A nice video of a day at the races for Mr, Peaty
BRU video: Steve Peat – Fort William | bikeridersutd.com
Friday 10 June 2011
Thetford Forest. Plus a quick catch up.
Since last week I seem to have been in a constant state of frenzied hurriedness ( is that a word? ) and with a trip to London scheduled in for Wednesday evening the usual ride was pushed forward, this coincided with Leighton's day off so after work I jumped in the car, picked up Leighton and headed for Thetford. Unfortunately due to Leighton feeling a bit below par and swallowing the worlds biggest fly it was a casual ride taking in the Red route, riding a lovely bit of off piste track, playing in the Bomb hole near the end of the black and also hitting the Beast a few times. I like Thetford and I think it has great potential the Red route, thanks to Timber mtb, is a gem if you have the legs to ride it hard, but it lacks anything more than single track, there were some technical trail features on it and it really was beginning to look like it could be bought bang up to date with what trail riding is all about today. Unfortunately due to an injured rider ( I believe ) these features had to be removed and it looks like they won't be coming back, this is a real shame, I believe that the Timber guys really want to bring the forest trails up to scratch with what you'd expect to be riding if you go to a trail centre, but are somewhat tied up in red tape by the Forestry Commission (Please correct me if this is not the case)
If this is not the case then why does it seem to be taking so long to do the trail maintenance? I'm only asking because last time I parked at Highlodge I was there for maybe just over 2 hours and it cost me over £7, so is this money going into improving the trails? I'm not sure, it seems to have taken an age to finish the Red route and as I rode round I couldn't help but notice some of the berms were getting a bit ropey. As for the Black, well it can only be rated as Black because it's so difficult to ride, not because of it's masses of technical challenges but because it is so terribly eroded nearly all the way round, the Beast is a great end but even that is becoming harder and harder to enjoy, some of the exposed roots are so bad you have to slam your brakes on to take an un-natural line and loose your flow, (there is nothing worse than loosing your flow) I don't mean this to sound like a big moan about the trails at Thetford, and I'm certainly not complaining about the people who give up their free time to maintain and improve the trails, I guess if I understand the situation correctly (again if I'm wrong please tell me) I'm moaning about the Forestry Commission for tying up all the volunteers in red tape and also relying on volunteers in the first place to keep everything running smooth when the cost of parking there is so high. The Red route is now a great cross country blast for the fit, the faster you can go the better it gets, it is littered with berms to flick in and out of and rollers that you can really push the bike into to pick up speed, you can't help but meander round the trail with a big smile on your face. What I don't get is why it's so expensive to park there when I can't see where all my money is going, I mean if anyone has seen all the solar panels on the visitors center roof it's not going on energy bills! Thetford forest is the only trail centre in the east of England so potentially has a captive audience, it always seems busy when I go there so why not invest more heavily in the trails? The reason for this little rant is that in the last few months I have been to the Surrey hills and Danbury, although these sites are completely different types of riding to each other and Thetford they are free to park at and the trails are always buff even in winter. I'm probably missing something here and if I am, please tell me. Why should I drive for just over an hour then pay through the nose to park so I can ride trails that just aren't really up to standard! I'd like to stress again that I think Timber are doing a great job on the red route and it is good, The Black route on the other hand is getting pretty desperate and it really is a shame, too make it a true Black route some sort of decision is going to need to be made about getting technical trail features in there and also some sort of skills area to bring in a different type of rider. The bomb holes we rode, the one mentioned and a couple of the others are getting quite eroded as well making them more dangerous. Anyway, sorry about the rant, these are just some observations from a regular-ish forest user who is being pushed away by the slow progress and extortionate parking fees. Yes! I know I could volunteer some time (between my two jobs) to help speed things up but then why should I have to volunteer when every time I go there I'm paying that amount to park? Yes! I know I could park nearby far cheaper and around the edge of the forest for free but I like to feel I contribute something to the up keep of the trails I like to ride however I'm getting slightly frustrated that maybe this money is not filtering through to the trails themselves. I would love to hear all your feed back on this.
Anyway moaning aside I again failed to put in a hard ride in preparation for racing, so I'm planning an early spin tomorrow. Looks like the weather could go either way, all this dry weather is going to turn me soft.
Reatin rides on.
Free Rob Warner sound board. Damn should have got an iphone.
Freecaster MTB Commentary for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store
Thursday 9 June 2011
YouTube - DOWNHILL FORT WILLIAM@UCI MTB WORLD CUP 2011
All the top runs from Fort Bill. Minnaar won because he didn't stop pedaling, not even of the Monster Energy kicker. Nice!
YouTube - DOWNHILL FORT WILLIAM@UCI MTB WORLD CUP 2011
YouTube - DOWNHILL FORT WILLIAM@UCI MTB WORLD CUP 2011
Yeti Cycles // BIKES
With all the talk of the SB-66 i checked out the website, and now aspire to own a Yeti. Love the build options.
Yeti Cycles // BIKES
Yeti Cycles // BIKES
Superstar Components's Photos | Facebook
Looks like the Blingtastic sellers of cheap quality bike stuff are delving into the frame market. Mmmmmm curvy.
Superstar Components's Photos | Facebook
Superstar Components's Photos | Facebook
Monday 6 June 2011
Superstar lock on grip review. (Supagripa) Long term test.
Superstar components are a great little company out of Lincoln, they source high quality components from factories all over the world then supply them direct to the customer at very reasonable prices, I first became aware of them a few years back when I kept seeing their brake pads all over Ebay but the cheap prices made me a little dubious. As time went on some of my friends tried their pads, headsets, pedals and wheels and all the feedback was positive, so the time came to grab myself a bargain and see what this company was all about. A quick squizz around their website and I had found some very cheap replacement grips, the Supagripa. I did the custom grip builder for a tenner where you can choose a multitude of colours and different end cap options or if your budget is really tight go for the standard grip with standard plastic end caps for £7.99. The order was placed and in a couple of days the grips arrived and with free Haribo! (Big props whoever came up with that idea) I'd been looking for grips for a while, all the similar priced ones I had seen seemed to be substandard in finish and with few options, I didn't want to spend £19.99 on the ODI Ruffians either.
Ruffians for me are a bench mark lock on grip, they fit my hands perfectly the grip is very comfortable and they look ace, the down side to the Ruffians and ODI's in general is the 2.5mm locking collar allen bolts which round off easy, I have had to remove a couple of old pairs with brute force, the Supergripas which I fitted about 5 months ago have a slightly chunkier 3mm locking bolt, In prep for this review I tried to undo them yesterday for the first time since fitting them and all was good. The grip pattern is similar to Ruffians except for the Superstar name printed across one face and a raised waffle pattern on the other. I'm not sure if there is a certain way round these should go but with the waffle pattern on the palm side of the grip and name across the front it feels nice, I did have some concerns about the life of the grip as the main grip pattern seemed to start wearing after a few rides, this seems to have worn so much and stabilized plus you can replace the grip cartridge for £4.99 so this is not really an issue here, the anodized locking collars are very nicely finished with the name printed on them, the finish seems to have got minimal marks on it after 5 months of being slung in the back of the car and lent against walls, the standard plastic end caps with logo on are still in pretty good nick too, initially I was worried they might go missing as they don't snap in like the ODI caps but this concern has proved unfounded, I will definitely try the pimped out end caps when these have had it because they look sweet.
Why did I bother spending more?
Reatin rides on.
Boardman FS Team Review - BikeRadar
Looks like Mr. Boardman is at it again.
Boardman FS Team Review - BikeRadar
Sunday 5 June 2011
Mens Downhill results.
Looks like a hell of a ride for young Brit Danny Hart
http://www.bikeradar.com/racing/racestage/report/uci-mountain-bike-world-cup-4-mens-downhill-dh-2-966
Saturday 4 June 2011
Saturday
Was up weirdly early today considering I had nothing to do, so I pulled the Trek out and went for a ride to make up for the lack of miles achieved in the week, not much to say really other than lovely morning for riding warm with a breeze and nice dusty trails, looped some bits I hadn't rode for a while and generally just enjoyed the ride. Oh I did get a big dog egg on my back, shorts and saddle which meant I had to wash the bike, but i'd had such a wicked ride it didn't really bother me.
Route here: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/lvKQ9s8Mw-I
Reatin rides on.
Route here: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/lvKQ9s8Mw-I
Reatin rides on.
Hope Technology - Behind The Scenes - BikeRadar
Great article and pics. Thats officially 90 people who i'm very jealous of then.
Hope Technology - Behind The Scenes - BikeRadar
Friday 3 June 2011
Not If, But When on Vimeo
I've been intrigued to see this video since I heard about Mr Akriggs accident.
Really hope he makes a speedy recovery so we can enjoy more of his amazing riding style.
Not If, But When on Vimeo
Thursday 2 June 2011
Blake Samson – Road Trip | bikeridersutd.com
Nice website, Good vid.
Blake Samson – Road Trip | bikeridersutd.com
Danbury
As Wednesday rolled around I was aware I was probably going solo again, my usual riding buddy had other kid-mitments due to the holidays and I was pretty sure know one else would be about, but then I remembered some brief ramblings whilst working on the weekend about maybe heading to Danbury Wednesday afternoon / evening if I could get a cheeky half day off work.
The work situation had been manic and I knew that going to my boss on a Tuesday morning asking for Wednesday afternoon off was unlikely, I asked already 90 percent sure the answer would not be in my favor, A miracle! With no pleading and minimal fuss the boss had agreed? had we got so busy he didn't / couldn't care anymore, like some sort of mad man who just wanted everything to fall down around him? I tried not to concern myself with these things, all that mattered was Leighton and I were off to Danbury. As it was all coming up aces I flung a text in Gs direction and in an almost instant response a reply......I'm in whats the plan. After all the failed attempts of trying to organize a ride, out of nowhere via one question and a text us three amigos were on our way to Danbury. Get in!
Wednesday afternoon came round and I was all geared up waiting outside work for my lift, Leighton rolled up bikes were loaded and we headed off, Leighton likes to knock my car because of it's age and lack of well anything so I was a little surprised to see that his newer Audi had a tape deck and blasting out was some old skool Helter Skelter. (whistle crew)
I have to admire Leighton's approach to finding anywhere, when questioned on his navigational ability his answer was quick and precise. I just get in and go. Nice! Nearing Danbury and it dawned on me that I hadn't swapped my spd's for flats, I was going to be riding stuff I hadn't rode for six months, getting more airborne than I had since breaking my elbow and generally looning around at speed trying to keep up with G all whilst clipped in which is a way I hadn't ridden for some time. This could get messy. As it turned out I felt confident clipped in maybe more so than running flats which doesn't seem right but I just felt I had a lot more control over the bike. It's fair to say that my spd confidence is fully back.
Danbury is a pretty compact place consisting of a network of trails all blasting downhill with various off shoots to take as you go and in the dry the trails were quick. Nearly every corner is bermed and there are humps, kickers, table tops and hip jumps scattered all over, the real beauty of this place though is nearly everything is roll able or has chicken runs so you could bring a real novice along and they could join in and no doubt improve vastly, that has to be a testament to the guys that put in all the effort keeping the trails so buff.
We trained round various different runs while we all got back in the habit of spending as much time in the air as we did with our wheels on the trail and things soon started to speed up, eventually we started doing a half run which incorporated a really long tabletop, I'm guessing it was about 10ft long and amazing fun we spent a vast amount of our time hitting this occasionally getting real smooth. It was a nice surprise that we virtually had the trails to ourselves except for a few kids, felt like our own private playground for the afternoon. In all if your a group of varying abilities this is a great little place and being only an hour away from me I hope to hit it a bit more often so I can really start to nail those runs.
The only downer is I have just entered my first race and this would have been my first training ride I was planning on hitting my usual loop as hard as I could and really smash in the miles, instead I went to Danbury, probably clocked up about seven miles, most of that was downhill. Not the best start to getting fit for a race but sometimes you just gotta go with the flow, and believe me unscheduled afternoons like that just don't come round often enough.
Thanks must go to the locals who keep those trails so nice. Great job guys.
Reatin rides on.
The work situation had been manic and I knew that going to my boss on a Tuesday morning asking for Wednesday afternoon off was unlikely, I asked already 90 percent sure the answer would not be in my favor, A miracle! With no pleading and minimal fuss the boss had agreed? had we got so busy he didn't / couldn't care anymore, like some sort of mad man who just wanted everything to fall down around him? I tried not to concern myself with these things, all that mattered was Leighton and I were off to Danbury. As it was all coming up aces I flung a text in Gs direction and in an almost instant response a reply......I'm in whats the plan. After all the failed attempts of trying to organize a ride, out of nowhere via one question and a text us three amigos were on our way to Danbury. Get in!
Wednesday afternoon came round and I was all geared up waiting outside work for my lift, Leighton rolled up bikes were loaded and we headed off, Leighton likes to knock my car because of it's age and lack of well anything so I was a little surprised to see that his newer Audi had a tape deck and blasting out was some old skool Helter Skelter. (whistle crew)
I have to admire Leighton's approach to finding anywhere, when questioned on his navigational ability his answer was quick and precise. I just get in and go. Nice! Nearing Danbury and it dawned on me that I hadn't swapped my spd's for flats, I was going to be riding stuff I hadn't rode for six months, getting more airborne than I had since breaking my elbow and generally looning around at speed trying to keep up with G all whilst clipped in which is a way I hadn't ridden for some time. This could get messy. As it turned out I felt confident clipped in maybe more so than running flats which doesn't seem right but I just felt I had a lot more control over the bike. It's fair to say that my spd confidence is fully back.
Danbury is a pretty compact place consisting of a network of trails all blasting downhill with various off shoots to take as you go and in the dry the trails were quick. Nearly every corner is bermed and there are humps, kickers, table tops and hip jumps scattered all over, the real beauty of this place though is nearly everything is roll able or has chicken runs so you could bring a real novice along and they could join in and no doubt improve vastly, that has to be a testament to the guys that put in all the effort keeping the trails so buff.
We trained round various different runs while we all got back in the habit of spending as much time in the air as we did with our wheels on the trail and things soon started to speed up, eventually we started doing a half run which incorporated a really long tabletop, I'm guessing it was about 10ft long and amazing fun we spent a vast amount of our time hitting this occasionally getting real smooth. It was a nice surprise that we virtually had the trails to ourselves except for a few kids, felt like our own private playground for the afternoon. In all if your a group of varying abilities this is a great little place and being only an hour away from me I hope to hit it a bit more often so I can really start to nail those runs.
The only downer is I have just entered my first race and this would have been my first training ride I was planning on hitting my usual loop as hard as I could and really smash in the miles, instead I went to Danbury, probably clocked up about seven miles, most of that was downhill. Not the best start to getting fit for a race but sometimes you just gotta go with the flow, and believe me unscheduled afternoons like that just don't come round often enough.
Thanks must go to the locals who keep those trails so nice. Great job guys.
Reatin rides on.
Wednesday 1 June 2011
RockShox Unveil 2012 Range - BikeRadar
Rockshox 2029er range. Ooops I mean 2012 range.
RockShox Unveil 2012 Range - BikeRadar
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