reatinrides: September 2011

Friday 30 September 2011

Steel is real.

Steel Hardtails From Enigma, Pipedream & Kinesis - BikeRadar

Wednesday 28 September 2011

Rays indoor mtb park.

Rays Odd Couple 2011 - Clinton McMahon & Jeff Lenosky on Vimeo

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Increased access for mountain bikers. Sign it.

Increased Access for Mountain Bikes - e-petitions

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

Straight outta Brompton! Watch this.

VIDEO: Freestyle Brompton riding - an emerging craze? | Bicycle Business | BikeBiz

Sunday 18 September 2011

Google Calendar

Timber mtb trail day, if your free try to pop along.

Google Calendar:

'via Blog this'

K-Edge Mounts Up GoPro Cams, Removes Excuses for Not Putting Di2 On Your Mountain Bike & More! - Bike Rumor

K-Edge Mounts Up GoPro Cams, Removes Excuses for Not Putting Di2 On Your Mountain Bike & More! - Bike Rumor:

'via Blog this'

SRAM X5 — First Ride Review - BikeRadar

SRAM X5 — First Ride Review - BikeRadar:

'via Blog this'

Saturday 17 September 2011

Dalby

I had spent two days in Yorkshire doing general holiday things, visiting new places and seeing wonderful sights but I would be lying if I told you I wasn't really excited about the trip to Dalby Forest on a lovely sunny Wednesday morning. I use the term morning lightly as I didn't set off till about 11am, and was staying about an hour and a half away from Dalby. Arriving around 12:30 the wind that had been blowing a gale for the last few days had subsided, leaving the sun and clear sky behind that had been teasing me throughout the week so far. The visitors centre stands proud at the bottom of the Forest with the typical forestry commission gift shop, clean toilets and what looked to be a very decent cafe, unfortunately time was against me and the chance to sample their delights passed by. The Purple Mountain bike shop is about 2 minutes away from the visitors centre, the shop covers all the bases from accessories, spares, clothing, a large range of hire bikes and even the opportunity to rent a helmet cam to capture your adventure. As it was I had bought my own. The first part of my visit was spent riding round the forest with Stacey who had rented a Scott Aspect hardtail from Purple Mountain for £25 for 3 hours which seemed reasonable enough to me and included a helmet. We spent the next couple of hours riding round the forest and finding our bearings and also climbing some seriously steep hills, whilst out we found that to get to the Pace Bike Park and World Cup course we would have to head about 4 more miles from the visitors centre to get there, so after a few hours the hire bike was returned and the Trek was thrown back in the car as we headed deeper into the forest for a bit of me time! First up was a play in the Pace Bike Park which is a purpose built area for honing your skills. It includes a skinnys/north shore area which I skipped some of the higher stuff, I was riding clipped in and didn't fancy an off of anything too mental, after all I had the rest of the holiday to enjoy. This led me back to the start where I started eyeing up the jump lines, they are all table tops large and small so anyone can have a go and gradually build up confidence. Unfortunately the large line was shut so I was left to play on the smaller line with some jumps, a looping berm that goes under itself and some rollers. Finally I stopped for a play on the pump track, it's small but really well formed on my first run I couldn't fathom how to get round with out a pedal stroke but once I found my flow I was bobbing round it like a nutter with a loopy grin on my face, I must have looked like I was having loads of fun because Stacey even got in on the act! Time had passed by quickly as it always does when your having fun so the time had come to face the Black rated World Cup course. Honestly those 4 miles round that track were the hardest 4 miles I have ever rode and I consider myself pretty fit and a good rider. I had time for one shot at it and not knowing what to expect and riding alone it was approached gingerly, The start of the course is a blinder as you're tossed into a succession of berms on a slight decline your soon buzzing along at speed, the ground is littered with small rocks and some larger ones all the way round. After this little teaser of speed and flow you're led in to a wide section which darts off to the sides over a couple of piles of rock, after this thrill ride the speed drops (well, it did in my case) and the reason this is graded black becomes very clear. There are twisty rooty descents with some very tight rock switch backs on and some eye watering drops pretty much straight into turns so you can't approach it like a trail rider and just hit it at speed and launch off the top, you are forced to slow down and roll it and to be honest with this many rocks around it's a proper daunting prospect. Some of these were so steep I bottled trying to roll them, how the pro's ride stuff like that on a hardtail with the saddle jacked up is beyond me, especially the section I believe is called worry gill. Once into this section it's like being on a star wars speeder shooting down the narrow gorge, this is the last really quick section as you are soon led to some of the steepest tech climbs I have ever attempted. Without my granny ring I would have been screwed, the sheer steepness does not come across in the video but I consider myself a quick climber when you watch it back it looks like it would be quicker to walk it. There are a few more tentative rocky tight descents before the final climb which isn't too bad when you consider the rest of the course, which even has some raised woodwork sections. To summarise this course is not a flat out burn, it is a slow, mega technical ride that would challenge any rider, half way round I was thinking this ain't the sort of route I would keep coming back to but by the end all I could think about was riding it again to nail all these little tech features that I didn't hit or couldn't hit with much speed. I wanted to go round again and again until I nailed it, and hopefully I'll get the chance to do this. If you're a good rider and want to see how good you are I really recommend giving this a crack. But only if you're a glutton for punishment.

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

Would like to have a race on this.

Eurobike 2011: Merida's New Ninety-Nine Full-sus Racer - BikeRadar

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.

Crash bang.wallop what a video.

Vital MTB | Mountain Biking Videos

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

I like this guys style.

Vital MTB | Mountain Biking News

Thursday 8 September 2011

Hope have been busy.

Singletrack Magazine | Eurobike 2011: Hope Technology

Tuesday 6 September 2011

New yeti's.

Vital MTB | Mountain Biking Photos

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.