RIP KMC :*(

Well, thats it, the end of an era, Kelstedge Mountain Board Centre is no more. We rode, we drank, we slept, we rode some more. While there is the temptation to be down about things, we've had some excellent times and met some amazing people.

So what does this mean for the typical middle-aged, midlands-based boarder?

1) Freeriding, and lots of it! We do it all through the winter months, there are woods and natural tracks waiting to be discovered. Plus, there are plenty of bikers doing exactly the same thing so use them for inspiration. Just take the usual precautions if riding alone.

2) Visit other centres! From the midlands the nearest ones are probably Court Farm (Hereford) and The Edge (South of Telford) and Hales Superbole (West of Nantwich). Plus Round 3 of the ATBA-UK National Series is being held at Hales Superbole on the 4th-6th September 2009.

3) Take up a similar sport, for example Snowboarding. Theres a rumour that Tamworth Snowdome is doing 3-hour evening sessions for £16!

So chin-up, make the best of a bad situation, get out there and ride! And if you do, email me and if I can, I'll join you!

KMC Closing? + James’ Birthday = Party!!! - This Weekend

For reasons that I won’t go into (because I’m not the right person to do so), there is a strong possibility that Kelstedge Mountain Board Centre will be closing down for good within a matter of weeks. This makes me a very sad panda.

A good attendance this coming weekend by anyone that can make it, may (though with absolutely no guarantees) allow the centre to stay open at least till the end of July.

What is certain right now is that there will be riding this Saturday, there will be evening drinks at the Old Poets Corner in Ashover, there will be camping Saturday night, and we will be riding Sunday (hangovers dependant).

It’s also local rider James’ birthday (21 again).

I’m only posting this now to give people as much notice as possible. Hopefully more details will be posted by someone soon.
Please don’t contact me directly for details, best off contacting KMC through the details on the website.
http://www.mountainboardingatkmc.co.uk/
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=53.171944&lon=-1.492909&z=18.3&r=0&src=msa - KMC
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=53.162791&lon=-1.480256&z=18.4&r=0&src=msa - Old Poets

Feel free to add your messages of support below.

Cheers!

New ATBA-UK Website

Just a heads up on the new ATBA-UK website

Linky

Home page to the 'All-Terrain-Boarding-Association', the not for profit, membership organisation set up to administer, represent and promote the sport of mountain boarding.

Website under construction so check in periodically.

MBS Rockstar Pros

After my Rockstar hubs went a bit 50p shaped, decided to upgrade to the Rockstar Pros

Linky

Not a huge amount to say about them, except the ride feels a bit smoother due to less wheel wobble than before.

To give a indication of weight difference, the Pros weighed between 163-165 grams, whilst the Standards weighed 140-141 grams. Weight in both cases did not include spacers, bearings, or tyres, but did include nuts and bolts. This equates to a weight increase of around 94 grams for 4 tyres i.e. not very much really.

Converting the hubs over took around half an hour although most of this was taken hunting round for a correct size spanner and removing the old Rockstars, them being quite a tight fit onto the tyres. One method that worked really well was to pop the really sticky ones into the freezer for 15 minutes. This either causes the hubs to shrink slightly, or the tyre to become rigid enough to come straight off. Tip taken from mbs.com.

The benifits of the Pros are as follows as taken from ATBSports website:

The Extra strength allows them to be run on harder pressures for higher speed and faster accelleration on race tracks. The web design also adds extra side forces strength for kite flying. Available as just hubs or with bearings and also as a single hub for replacements and now in Black and Gold options as well as the chrome standards.

The outer rim edges are the same as a standard hub so they can be run at all normal pressures without breakages they do not need to be run max pressure.

These are also narrower than a standard rockstar making the tyre sit higher and run faster. All in all the top of the line hub that performs as well as it looks.