...The early bird gets the grainy footage.
Couple of weeks ago something amazing happened....I set the alarm at 6am for an early morning ride and then come 6am, managed to get my arse out of bed and up into the hills to the undisclosed Dirt Box downhill training grounds (no, not Allestree). Normally an exclusive night-ride location, I was keen to hit the down hill under first light to film the track following a couple of failed attempts to film at night using a copious amount of torches. So the benefit of a bit of light but with the problems of added dog walkers and golf course groundsmen.
So, just before 8am and just before sunrise but with reasonable viability I set off from the peak. Camera was preset with +2 contrast on 'dusk' setting to get as much clarity out of the low light. Not the fastest run ever with a slow midsection leading to a bit of tic-tac-ing just before the final 'left-right' hander but got to the bottom just in time to see the first golfers of the day teeing off and home for breakfast.
On playback I found that levels were poor especially when passing trees in shadow, and when dipping my head towards the ground. As a result, I've had to boost the exposure in post production and made a note to angle the camera up a bit on the next filming trip. Still definitely easier to ride unimpeded at night but I will be back for some filming, probably in the Summer when the sun rises earlier.
Either way, excuse the film quality but enjoy and give me a shout if you want to go for a ride sometime, cheers!
Sunday 25 December 2011
Thursday 22 December 2011
Pole-Cam - initial testing
After a long period of night-riding, finally got out for an afternoon, yesterday. Others in the area had reported Allestree to be a bit wet so decided to give Darley Park a go for the first time in a long while. Unfortunately, conditions proved to be just as bad, if not worse with most areas either slow and boggy, or wet and slippery. Shoved a set of 9 inchers on which improved things slightly, but still nothing much worth writing about. Got some interesting shots though using the new pole setup for the Contour cam whilst rolling down a couple of the footpaths. Most of the camera footage recorded so far lacks the interest of having someone in shot, so the options are to follow someone else, or to film yourself from behind (so to speak).
The pole itself I've taken from an old electric power mop. It features an ergonomic handle, handy grip section half way down the shaft, and ready made holes at the bottom to attach the camera bracket. For the custom camera bracket I've taken the mounting that the camera was originally packaged in and firmly adhered this to a wooden block. This provides a firm object to bracket onto my power mop pole. Overall, it's relatively heavy, but easy to handle and transfer from hand to hand mid-ride. It can be held mid length as shown in the video above, or at full length to put even more of me in the shot. Image quality looks nice and smooth filmed at 60fps and I hope to film a bit more once conditions improve a bit.
I've been warned by Contour not to use the mounting bracket due to the possibility of it shattering, so care must be taken not to clip the ground when using, or wiping out generally. Hopefully the wooded block mount should improve the overall strength a little.
So, making the most of a bad riding day. It's not something I'd do that often either as it distracts from the riding a little, restricts body movement a little and I'd have to move either the pole or the brake to the left hand if filming some of the faster tracks. Still, provides some nice effects so all good. Hope to film some more soon over the holiday period. Really hope it will snow, but I wont hold my breath....
The pole itself I've taken from an old electric power mop. It features an ergonomic handle, handy grip section half way down the shaft, and ready made holes at the bottom to attach the camera bracket. For the custom camera bracket I've taken the mounting that the camera was originally packaged in and firmly adhered this to a wooden block. This provides a firm object to bracket onto my power mop pole. Overall, it's relatively heavy, but easy to handle and transfer from hand to hand mid-ride. It can be held mid length as shown in the video above, or at full length to put even more of me in the shot. Image quality looks nice and smooth filmed at 60fps and I hope to film a bit more once conditions improve a bit.
[ergonomic handle]
I've been warned by Contour not to use the mounting bracket due to the possibility of it shattering, so care must be taken not to clip the ground when using, or wiping out generally. Hopefully the wooded block mount should improve the overall strength a little.
[camera mounting block]
[comfy handle]
So, making the most of a bad riding day. It's not something I'd do that often either as it distracts from the riding a little, restricts body movement a little and I'd have to move either the pole or the brake to the left hand if filming some of the faster tracks. Still, provides some nice effects so all good. Hope to film some more soon over the holiday period. Really hope it will snow, but I wont hold my breath....
Wednesday 9 November 2011
Hillbilly Repairs
One benefit of being home with small baby (and a not so small toddler) is the opportunity to get stuff sorted. In this instance, general repairs to my Hillbillies. This certainly isn't a moan about Hillbilly - these gloves are around 18 months old and have regular weekly use with plenty of ground contact. With 90% of the glove in good condition, it makes sense to repair where possible, particularly as cash isn't flush right now.
Being made of leather, Hillbilly are very easy to restitch, in this first case along where the strapping was coming loose. Good, strong, tough string should keep this in place for a while but I've no idea what string I've used here - it's some my Dad got for me for repairing my shorts a while back.
On the other glove, a section of leather, again sourced through Dad has been used to provided thumb protection. In this case the leather has been cut to size and then glued into place. Araldite seems to do the job nicely.
Not a bad evenings work and makes a nice change from stinky bearings.
Being made of leather, Hillbilly are very easy to restitch, in this first case along where the strapping was coming loose. Good, strong, tough string should keep this in place for a while but I've no idea what string I've used here - it's some my Dad got for me for repairing my shorts a while back.
On the other glove, a section of leather, again sourced through Dad has been used to provided thumb protection. In this case the leather has been cut to size and then glued into place. Araldite seems to do the job nicely.
Not a bad evenings work and makes a nice change from stinky bearings.
Tighter Corners, Faster!
'Dave', the downhill competition earlier this year got me thinking hard about several aspects of my downhill riding style. Riding longer tracks over a longer length of time gave me that opportunity to see where my strengths and weaknesses lay and what area needed to be worked on.
Lets look at the relative times. An average time around the 4m30s mark verses the winning time of 3m24s over a 1.3 (ish) mile course relates in real terms to an average speed of ~17 mph verses ~22 mph. But just belting down the straights before slamming on the brakes for the corners is not good tactically, particularly in the lower sections where there is simply not enough gradient after each corner to keep pace. This is especially true over the long final straight where I'll guestimate the faster riders were passing the line twice as fast as some of us slower riders. Again, a guestimation that the final stretch was covered by me in approximately 40 seconds means that 20 seconds could be shaved straight off through a good bottom section alone.
What I believe is important, and where I've been spending a lot of my time recently is working on carrying sufficient speed through the corners to maintain speed. Furthermore, I've also been trying to establish how to carry more speed around tighter corners.
Seems reasonable that effective tight turning relies on using both trucks. By applying similar weight over both knees and going through the motion of dropping to your knees should enable a tight, effective corner. Easy to do whilst still, but I had an issue for a while trying to do it with a bit of speed. 1st issue was committing to some of my local corners. Most of them are sufficiently wide, evenly turny (corners don't become suddenly sharper part way round is what I mean), and usually blind, i.e. to commit to them means hitting anyone hiding just round the bend. This is far less of an issue at night.....
If I can just say a few words about night riding. Many people who have not tried it imagine the lack of light makes riding harder. I'd argue that riding at night actually makes things simpler for the following reasons:
1) Gravel tracks appear lighter and grass appears darker at night. With the human eye sensitivity, seeing the contrast between the two is easy enough. You might not be able to see the bushes off to the sides, but then you're not going to ride into the bushes are you? You might not be able to see the beautiful scenery either but then hopefully you have ridden this track during the day??
2) Less walkers at night. Or non even. Even if there are deaf walkers shuffling around the park at night, they will see your torches a mile away, even through the bushes. Even if you do crash into someone, will they be able to recognise you in the dark?
3) More focus. Less distraction. Win, win, win. (Except that GoPros don't work very well. Hey ho!)
2nd issue was getting the front knee to bend sufficiently. I was having an issue persuading my knee to do exactly what I wanted it to do under these circumstances, but found that raising my leading arm naturally caused my front knee to bend and I could control my arm wonderfully well at speed.
3rd bit of mental block that I have to keep repeating to myself is to "keep your chin up (mate)!" as the benefits of looking further down the trail seem to do wonders for my sense of balance and for providing that sense of flow, when I remember to do it. Again, its all about riding in a way that both looks and feels natural; I want to be at one with the board, not to be fighting it all the way down. My aim is to reach a stage where my board feels like a natural extension to my own body; a device that enables me to travel faster, higher and further through the woods rather than be a hindrance that needs to be overcome.
Stance? Well, I guess that this depends on what feels comfortable but for me right now, I'm finding cornering tricky when using a typical downhill stance, say +25/+5, but feel far more comfortable in both the straights and cornering with a +10/+5 stance.
So that's toe-side turns much improved and hopefully my general down-hill technique will have improved sufficiently to improve my Dave timings for next years event (fingers crossed). However, I get the sneaking suspicion that everybody else will be improving too - downhill is very popular right now! Now off to work on heel-side turns - anyone any advice?
Operation: Convert a Snowboarder
Here's the scenario. For the past couple of years we've had pretty good snow here in the Midlands and with fingers crossed, we'll get some more this winter. Each time it snows, Allestree Park gets a reasonable number of snowboarders, a popular destination due to its reasonably long and steep slope (fairway) and its close proximity to Derby city centre. Weather conditions last November were especially bad and so venturing out further into the peaks was particularly sketchy.
The plan this time round is very similar to last years - to chat to as many snowboarders as possible and explain that we ride these hills and the surrounding area all year round, and ultimately to try and convert some of them to the dirt-side. This time however, I'll be a little more organised and will be arming myself with a few ATBA flyers with the facebook derby details scribbled on the back. Maybe it'll be worth laminating them so they don't get wrecked in the snow.......
Its worth keeping some flyers to hand generally for those occasions when you get chatting to the dog walkers and a selection of promotional material can be downloaded from the ATBA-UK website.
So, fingers crossed we get some reasonable snow some time this winter, and perhaps we'll get some new riders in the area. Watch this space.....
The plan this time round is very similar to last years - to chat to as many snowboarders as possible and explain that we ride these hills and the surrounding area all year round, and ultimately to try and convert some of them to the dirt-side. This time however, I'll be a little more organised and will be arming myself with a few ATBA flyers with the facebook derby details scribbled on the back. Maybe it'll be worth laminating them so they don't get wrecked in the snow.......
So, fingers crossed we get some reasonable snow some time this winter, and perhaps we'll get some new riders in the area. Watch this space.....
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Giving Birth to RAD Mag...
It's the tricks Tom Kirkman rejects that makes Tom Kirkman the best.
Giving Birth To RAD mag! from tom kirkman on Vimeo.
Giving Birth To RAD mag! from tom kirkman on Vimeo.
Friday 28 October 2011
Lets Get Going!!
Lets say that either you've crashed out half way down a slope, or alternatively that you've simply stopped half way for a breather and an admiration of the local scenery. No need to unstrap as you'll be setting off in a mo...
Trouble is that you can't go because try as you may, you can't get back up and onto the board.
The reason for this may be because you're attempting to get up from a sitting position where your current centre of gravity is relatively far from where you need it to be (i.e. directly over the board).
No need to unstrap at this point. Simply roll over onto your knees with the board on the downhill side of the slope.
In this position, it far easier to position your centre of gravity over the board, stand up and ride off and looks far more dignified in the process.
Now ride on and try not to fall off this time!
Trouble is that you can't go because try as you may, you can't get back up and onto the board.
The reason for this may be because you're attempting to get up from a sitting position where your current centre of gravity is relatively far from where you need it to be (i.e. directly over the board).
[It's hard to get back on your board from this position]
No need to unstrap at this point. Simply roll over onto your knees with the board on the downhill side of the slope.
In this position, it far easier to position your centre of gravity over the board, stand up and ride off and looks far more dignified in the process.
Now ride on and try not to fall off this time!
Wednesday 19 October 2011
Movies, Movies, Movies!
If a picture paints a thousand words, then video must be a whole dictionary or something, and something I hope to be doing a bit more of now that my Contour HD has arrived!!!!!
Been thinking of buying one for a while and in all honesty, liked the look of the GoPro, but did get a bit confused by the various options - I still don't quite know what the 'naked' model involves. On-line opinions between the GoPro and the Contour seem a bit Marmite but I do think the GoPro comes out on top on many of the youtube comparision videos. However, the GPs do seem to be generally more expensive and not being the most flush for cash right now, I needed to hunt around.
Contour 1080p's seem to be reasonably cheap right now with three newer models available: the 'Roam' that seems to be a bit more automated but doesn't offer 60fps, the 'GPS' that tracks your route simultaneously, and the '+', a higher end camera with more professional features such as HDMI output. The 1080p spec looks pretty good and most come with 2 Gig card as standard, which would do me for starters.
http://jtote.com/product_info.php/contourhd-camera-p-10466
Jane's Tote seemed to be the cheapest with the price fluctuating on an almost daily basis, but I was able to buy at £117 with a maximum price observed over the past two weeks of £130. Although based in the USA, Jane's Tote will post to the UK for free so this didn't need to be considered, though there is always the possibility that I'd be stung for Import Tax when it arrived in the UK. Only a possibility though because I don't know quite how these things really work...... Anyway, as a comparison, the cheapest that I've seen the same model for sale in the UK is £149. So question is, do you want it quicker, or cheaper?
Cheaper of course! Made the purchase through JT who accepted payment by Paypal. This made me pretty optimistic that should items not arrive or should the wrong items be delivered then hopefully my money would be safe. Put the order in on the 6th of this month and it arrived today on the 19th - just under two weeks, which considering it came from Los Angeles for free, is not bad I reckon.
Tracked delivery (included in the free postage) gave me confidence that things were moving and informed me of delivery. A nice touch was writing the Customs Declaration form stating that the total value of the goods was $16, the main reason I think that I wasn't charged any additional postage by Parcel Force.
So, so far so good and I hope to have some moving footage for you all soon. Lets just say the the test footage shot so far looks pretty good, but I'm not going to share shots of the office! I'll update this post with any issues should they happen (non touch wood) so watch this space.....
Been thinking of buying one for a while and in all honesty, liked the look of the GoPro, but did get a bit confused by the various options - I still don't quite know what the 'naked' model involves. On-line opinions between the GoPro and the Contour seem a bit Marmite but I do think the GoPro comes out on top on many of the youtube comparision videos. However, the GPs do seem to be generally more expensive and not being the most flush for cash right now, I needed to hunt around.
Contour 1080p's seem to be reasonably cheap right now with three newer models available: the 'Roam' that seems to be a bit more automated but doesn't offer 60fps, the 'GPS' that tracks your route simultaneously, and the '+', a higher end camera with more professional features such as HDMI output. The 1080p spec looks pretty good and most come with 2 Gig card as standard, which would do me for starters.
http://jtote.com/product_info.php/contourhd-camera-p-10466
Jane's Tote seemed to be the cheapest with the price fluctuating on an almost daily basis, but I was able to buy at £117 with a maximum price observed over the past two weeks of £130. Although based in the USA, Jane's Tote will post to the UK for free so this didn't need to be considered, though there is always the possibility that I'd be stung for Import Tax when it arrived in the UK. Only a possibility though because I don't know quite how these things really work...... Anyway, as a comparison, the cheapest that I've seen the same model for sale in the UK is £149. So question is, do you want it quicker, or cheaper?
Cheaper of course! Made the purchase through JT who accepted payment by Paypal. This made me pretty optimistic that should items not arrive or should the wrong items be delivered then hopefully my money would be safe. Put the order in on the 6th of this month and it arrived today on the 19th - just under two weeks, which considering it came from Los Angeles for free, is not bad I reckon.
Tracked delivery (included in the free postage) gave me confidence that things were moving and informed me of delivery. A nice touch was writing the Customs Declaration form stating that the total value of the goods was $16, the main reason I think that I wasn't charged any additional postage by Parcel Force.
So, so far so good and I hope to have some moving footage for you all soon. Lets just say the the test footage shot so far looks pretty good, but I'm not going to share shots of the office! I'll update this post with any issues should they happen (non touch wood) so watch this space.....
More Stuff and Things!
Sorry for lack of content recently. It's not even been from the lack of motivation or lack of material to work with - there's about 5 posts that just need prettying up and posting but finishing stuff right now seems to be the issue. Still, life keeps rolling on in the background so I've incorporated a few things I wanted to mention into this post. No particular order so lets start with.....
www.mountainboarding.info
www.mountainboarding.info
...is still in it's early stages but is well worth a visit. Roger S describes the project aim to 'provide a community-generated, comprehensive, accumulated resource of all the mountainboarding information we can find'. There certainly is plenty of knowledge out there so if you have some spare time in front of a computer and want to help, please contact Roger.
UK Snow Map
I like this amalgamation of existing technology. uksnowmap.com searches Twitter for real-time snow reports and displays them on the map. In return, all that twitter users have to do is to tweet the hashtag #uksnow, their location (postcode, town name or geotag), and rate the snow that is falling out of ten (0/10 for nothing - 10/10 for a blizzard).
Nothing up there right now, but then it's probably not snowing right now. When it does though, it could be a really useful resource.
Mountainboard Tutorials
After compiling an 'Ultimate Mountainboard How-To Video Guide', Jasper of OneDayMedia has been a busy, busy chap producing not one but two guides covering both scrubbing, and how to drop-in on a hill.
Jaspers Channel with all of his work is linked to below so that you can go and 'like' him:
http://www.youtube.com/user/0neDayProductions#p/u/0/9pl4pjmyhVk
Mapping Data
So, if I understand things correctly, (and there's no reason to believe that I do), elevation data used to produce those lovely 3D Google Earth images is set to become a lot more accurate and detailed. The project joint funded by NASA and Japan can be read about on NASA's page here, but the interesting detail that 'Each elevation measurement point in the data is 98 feet (30 meters) apart' improves nicely on the existing 50 meter resolution. Far more applications use this data than just Google and given that the data can be freely downloaded, should mean that everyone wins.
The Annual Official Surfing Dirt Pumpkin Carving Contest...
...is back again, and goes to show that when out in the woods, you just can't be too careful. Don't have nightmares!
http://www.surfingdirt.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4926
Master of the Hill 2011 Trailer?
Master of the Hill 2011 Trailer from all4ride on Vimeo.
That must mean that the full video must be on its way soon!
Random Blog
http://www.great-rock.co.uk/blog/
Forget the bikes - just look at the scenery. Plus I have beard envy.
My word, this blog post has been random! Best get out riding and enjoy those Autumn leaves! Feel free to inspire me with your lovely messages or let me know what I've forgotten to mention today, cheers!
www.mountainboarding.info
www.mountainboarding.info
...is still in it's early stages but is well worth a visit. Roger S describes the project aim to 'provide a community-generated, comprehensive, accumulated resource of all the mountainboarding information we can find'. There certainly is plenty of knowledge out there so if you have some spare time in front of a computer and want to help, please contact Roger.
UK Snow Map
I like this amalgamation of existing technology. uksnowmap.com searches Twitter for real-time snow reports and displays them on the map. In return, all that twitter users have to do is to tweet the hashtag #uksnow, their location (postcode, town name or geotag), and rate the snow that is falling out of ten (0/10 for nothing - 10/10 for a blizzard).
Nothing up there right now, but then it's probably not snowing right now. When it does though, it could be a really useful resource.
Mountainboard Tutorials
After compiling an 'Ultimate Mountainboard How-To Video Guide', Jasper of OneDayMedia has been a busy, busy chap producing not one but two guides covering both scrubbing, and how to drop-in on a hill.
Jaspers Channel with all of his work is linked to below so that you can go and 'like' him:
http://www.youtube.com/user/0neDayProductions#p/u/0/9pl4pjmyhVk
Mapping Data
So, if I understand things correctly, (and there's no reason to believe that I do), elevation data used to produce those lovely 3D Google Earth images is set to become a lot more accurate and detailed. The project joint funded by NASA and Japan can be read about on NASA's page here, but the interesting detail that 'Each elevation measurement point in the data is 98 feet (30 meters) apart' improves nicely on the existing 50 meter resolution. Far more applications use this data than just Google and given that the data can be freely downloaded, should mean that everyone wins.
The Annual Official Surfing Dirt Pumpkin Carving Contest...
...is back again, and goes to show that when out in the woods, you just can't be too careful. Don't have nightmares!
http://www.surfingdirt.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4926
Master of the Hill 2011 Trailer?
Master of the Hill 2011 Trailer from all4ride on Vimeo.
That must mean that the full video must be on its way soon!
Random Blog
http://www.great-rock.co.uk/blog/
Forget the bikes - just look at the scenery. Plus I have beard envy.
My word, this blog post has been random! Best get out riding and enjoy those Autumn leaves! Feel free to inspire me with your lovely messages or let me know what I've forgotten to mention today, cheers!
Friday 16 September 2011
The Ultimate Mountainboard How-To Video Guide!
Sometimes it's easier to copy than to describe, so 'do as we do, not as we say', is the premise here. There a quite a few videos on-line where people have taken the time to produce quality short films showing you exactly how they would repair their mountainboard or tweak a shifty or something... All that I've done is compiled a list of some of the better ones and linked to them below.
I'll update this post as and when more videos are found so hopefully it should be pretty comprehensive. Feel free to suggest further links either covering more subjects, or if there are ones that are better than the ones below. Alternatively, feel free to make your own and show the others how it should be done. If there are videos that you would like to see, but can't find, then shout and we'll see what we can do here!
Set-Up / Maintenance
'Bindings Tutorial' by JDiurba
'How to change a tire' by munroboards
'Changing Griptape' by munroboards
'Painting Your Board' by Terrainriders
'Filling and Bleeding a HS33 Rim Brake' by Magura
Egg-shocks
'The 'easy' method' by AdeMcC
'Second Spring' by enotramone
'Changing Truck Springs' by munroboards
Riding Technique
'How to Tic-Tac' by Jasper James
'Scrubbing Speed' by Jasper James
'How to Drop In on a Hill' by Jasper James
'Nose Control Tutorial' by JDiurba
'Jumping Tutorial' by JDiurba
'One Foot and Backflip Tutorial' by JDiurba
'Frontside 180' by agline27
'Noseroll 180' by munroboards
'How to Drop In' by munroboards
'Power Slide' by boardoffroad
I'll update this post as and when more videos are found so hopefully it should be pretty comprehensive. Feel free to suggest further links either covering more subjects, or if there are ones that are better than the ones below. Alternatively, feel free to make your own and show the others how it should be done. If there are videos that you would like to see, but can't find, then shout and we'll see what we can do here!
Set-Up / Maintenance
'Bindings Tutorial' by JDiurba
'How to change a tire' by munroboards
'Changing Griptape' by munroboards
'Painting Your Board' by Terrainriders
'Filling and Bleeding a HS33 Rim Brake' by Magura
Egg-shocks
'The 'easy' method' by AdeMcC
'Second Spring' by enotramone
'Changing Truck Springs' by munroboards
Riding Technique
'How to Tic-Tac' by Jasper James
'Scrubbing Speed' by Jasper James
'How to Drop In on a Hill' by Jasper James
'Nose Control Tutorial' by JDiurba
'Jumping Tutorial' by JDiurba
'One Foot and Backflip Tutorial' by JDiurba
'Frontside 180' by agline27
'Noseroll 180' by munroboards
'How to Drop In' by munroboards
'Power Slide' by boardoffroad
Wednesday 14 September 2011
How to change a set of MBS egg shocks in under two minutes...
...without breaking into a sweat.
So, this is me dipping my toe into video blogging. Shot a video a couple of nights ago and recorded some audio yesterday. Thought it may be quicker than text and pictures but actually took much, much longer. Still, I know the basics now, which is always useful.
Hope it's explanatory enough and helps a few people, otherwise it's back to the ramblings! If anyone has any better ways of changing egg shocks or wants to share their maintenance videos, then please get in touch! Alternatively, if you have any suggestions for any further videos then let me know, Cheers!
So, this is me dipping my toe into video blogging. Shot a video a couple of nights ago and recorded some audio yesterday. Thought it may be quicker than text and pictures but actually took much, much longer. Still, I know the basics now, which is always useful.
Hope it's explanatory enough and helps a few people, otherwise it's back to the ramblings! If anyone has any better ways of changing egg shocks or wants to share their maintenance videos, then please get in touch! Alternatively, if you have any suggestions for any further videos then let me know, Cheers!
Sunday 11 September 2011
Why did I sell my board?
Sometimes the hardest thing about getting people to mountainboard is persuading them to have a go in the first place. Some people do decide to buy a board but then decide to sell on again. A quick search on ebay reveals a little about some of the reasons why....
Tits and motors!
"This was my sons Mountain Board and we had some really great fun with it but he's now 17 and isn't interested in anything that doesn't have an engine or a chest!!!"
What reason not to buy?! (The Death Machine!)
"Fancy 3 months of work with a broken leg? Then this is the sport for you! Imagine the thrill of hurtling downhill towards trees, rocks, and sheep, with nothing between you and imminent disaster but an oversized skateboard! Brilliant! ...... I'm selling it cos I haven't really used it since I moved back to the midlands, not cos I'm too scared of it anymore, honest!"
Brake, or no brake, Your choice!
"the brake can be removed if wanted but it is useful for hills that dont have anywhere for slowing down, except for the hedge"
It's not a fault, it's a feature
"there is one of the foot straps missing and i don't have it i find it better like this as its safer for the beginers."
What could go wrong....
"Selling as I’ve broken my leg and am now skint."
Bad timing....
"PURCHASED AS PRESENT FOR DAUGHTERS BOYFRIEND WEEK BEFORE THEY BROKE UP"
What's the long term risk?
"I bought 4 years ago from Newquay and used it in anger only once
I realised my kness wouldn't cope and stopped and put it into storage"
Young man's sport
"I'm
selling it because I haven't really used it for sometime - getting too
old, and perhaps could use the money for something else, not because I'm
too scared of it anymore, honest!"
Serious point in all of this being that there are some great bargains to be found on ebay from people who like the idea of mountainboarding, but don't actually like the reality. Walking uphill isn't to everyones tastes, especially with a 7kg board dragging behind you, and a fall, even at slow speed without pads can really hurt. Many people reach a point where they feel that without other riders in the area, they are unmotivated to go ride or get bored of their local hills and don't feel like exploring a little further.
On a different slant, perhaps if you see someone selling locally then consider sending them a message and ask if they want to go for a ride if they don't sell? You may be the motivation that gets them riding again and you'll have a new riding mate. Otherwise, get in there and make the most of the depreciation. A few spares are always useful!
Thursday 25 August 2011
101 Alternate Uses for Grab Handle Holes - Part 1
But what if you have the holes there and don't feel the need to take either foot out, but want to utilise these holes and maximise all that wasted deck space on your board? Well, read on for Part 1 (of many) to be continued until we reach 101 or we run out of ideas.... Which will come first? Only one way to find out!
Only one problem - I can't do technical drawing and haven't the time to make these a reality, so ignore the blatant use of gaffa tape but open your imagination to these useful* suggestions and enjoy a few fun facts** along the way.
Lets go!
* - may not be beneficial to actually riding
** - may not be absolute fact
No. 1 - Handle!
Mountainboards are so cumbersome these days. Not a problem with a handle!
Handles - it's the future!
Where's a picture of a handle when you need one????.......
Quick Joke Time....
Teacher: What are you making?
Student: It's a portable.
Teacher: A portable what?
Student: I don't know, I've only made the handle.
Lolz.
No.2 - Spare Tyre
tire (in American English and Canadian English) or tyre (in British English, New Zealand English, Australian English and others)............Thanks wikipedia, always get these spellings mixed up!
No.3 - Drink Holder
Dehydration - the third biggest killer of mountainboarders in the UK after collisions and polar bears.
No.4 - First Aid Kit
If you are on your own and injured, then it's easier to reach between your legs and grab a plaster or paracetamol than into your backpack or deep pockets. Patch yourself up and ride on soldier!
No.5 - Backpack attachment
It's like a portable, but hands free enabling you to point at things or carry a small dog.
No.6 - GPS / Phone attachment
Hmmm. No photo for this one as my phone is my GPS is my camera. But think about it - how many scratches do you have on the topside of your deck? Not many on mine and so a perfectly*** safe place to keep your delicate electronic valuables.
No.7 - Tool holders
Tools - can never have too many!
Well, that's enough blue sky thinking for one day. Feel free to post your own uses for the space normally used for a grab handle and we can do Part 2. Only 94 more to come up with.....
*** - usual disclaimers and all that.
Wednesday 24 August 2011
Weekend Kit List
Equipment
Board(s). One to lend out if needs be or use if other broke.
Pump. Tyres up a bit, down a bit, up a bit....
Allen keys and wrenches. Lots of adjustables.
8"/9" tyres. Can swap for variable terrain, weather, or in event of puncture.
Protection
Helmet. Protect your noggin.
Spine protector. If someones likely to run into me (unlikely if I'm at the back)
Elbow pads.
Knee pads.
Bum pads. Gotta protect that coccyx!
Ankle support. Ankles hurt if I ride for more than a few hours without them.
Hoodie/T-shirt . Depending on weather.
Shorts/Trousers. Depending on weather.
Boots+Socks. I like my high ankled boots to ride in.
Wrist guards. Good old Hillbilly.
Food
Beans/Rice Pudding.
Can opener.
Spoon.
Water.
Relentless. Nice balanced diet for a weekends boarding.
Other
Fuel.
Spare contact lenses
Money
Tent/Pegs.
Sleeping bag/ground mat.
Head torch.
Can't think of anything else right now but at least I'm okay if I loose my paper list.
Thursday 11 August 2011
The Mountainboard Bugle - Monday 8th Aug '11
You know what they say, 'all work and no boarding makes for sporadic blogging'. Well, only a few bits and pieces to get off my chest this week so they're lumped together into one big blog. Enjoy!
Fun at Chicksands!
Turn out, loads is the answer! Parked up at the parking sign, crossed over the road into the woods, through the new gate fencing off the site and explaining 'bikers only, no walkers', and through the woods before finding myself at the wooden bike 4X roll-in. Couple of biker dudes sorting some stuff out by a car so I ask if they mind me using my board on their facilities. "Not at all!" is the response, "but you'll still have to pay the day-rate of £5". Fair enough I think, "plus it's almost like a bike anyway" he says. Nice of the bikers to be so cool about it all.
Started off on the 4X but didn't enjoy it so much as they seemed to like random logs here and there in-between berms and it flattened off in the mid section. One of the fellas advises me to try the dual slalom as the gradient is a bit more constant.
My usual turning technique of...
turn a bit
will I get round the corner?
no
turn a bit
will I get round the corner?
no
turn a bit
will I get round the corner?
yes!
...was useless here with precision and speed the name of the game here. The KentATB photos in the SD thread above just shows how much fun two people can have riding at the same time.
Only had a handful of hours at Chicksands before having to head home, but after a brief bit of freeride further round the hill, concluded that there is loads to do there and people tell me that there is loads more I didn't see. The bikers are cool and all chatty, and the vibe is good. Rumour has it that there is a burger van there most weekends so that sorts out food.
Map of Chicksands here.
Ps. Watch out for them squirrels - they'll pinch your chocolate. Is anywhere safe these days?
Edensor Success
As written about previously here, for a while now I've had the intention of riding a 1 mile drop into Edensor, just outside of Chatsworth. In summary, the route is relatively rocky but perfectly rideable as long as you watch out for the track dropping away sharply to the left on a couple of occasions. Nice and quick if you want it to be with the road starting point essential to get past the first shallower section. Popular with walkers unfortunately and one of them chased me through the middle section on my second run, forcing me to hide behind one of the stone walls for a while until my exit was clear. Possible on 8s, but more fun on 9s.
I parked at the top of the hill but had a good chat to one walker on the way back up who was a little hostile till he realised that my contraption didn't have an engine, then he was more than happy to share his mountain biking downhill routes. If only his memory had been a bit better and his descriptions a bit more clear then we'd have some more tracks to check out. In the meantime, Ladybower will probably be the next exploration trip.
ATBA Round 4 - Court Farm
All the details on the facebook page, here!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=194054727318930
Want Videos?
Follow what's going on on Surfing Dirt TV and you wont go far wrong. Rumours that a big atcproductions/projectdoc/magicmedia film is on the way are brewing.
http://www.surfingdirt.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=9
New Blogs on the Block
http://leapb4ulook.wordpress.com/
Nice one Roger!
That'll do for now. Right then, back to work.
Tuesday 9 August 2011
DAVE - Going Downhill Fast
In the words of the ATBA, Downhill is back!!!
The Mountainboarding Downhill discipline is looking pretty healthy right now. When the first UK downhill comp was announced to be held in the heart of Wales, it certainly wasn't a treck too far with 25 riders turning up, some travelling over 4 hours to get there.
This attitude shows the mountainboarding scene in very good light but also says a lot about the attitudes of the people who take part in this kind of thing: happy to go that bit further to ride a track that no one will see you do but in a backdrop of beautiful Welsh countryside with a whole load of like-minded individuals doing the same thing.
The vibe was good. The uplift worked - the payoff of a few minutes stuffed into the back of Rogers car was 1.3 miles of lovely fire track; 9 corners, each with it's own characteristic, some tight and dropping away, some wide and sweeping, all with the knowledge that pedestrians and vehicles weren't going to interrupt proceedings. A steeper top section where the emphasis was to control speed for the tight corners and occasional cliff versus the lower section where smooth corners and a good line could maintain speed sufficiently to shave vital seconds off the overall time.
A synchronised watch system allowed times to be calculated with riders setting off from the top in one minute intervals. Once people got the concept of this, times were quickly established with some astonishingly quick times from both brake and brakeless riders. A full list of the quickest times is shown here: http://atbauk.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/dave-uk-downhill-the-results/
All in, a very good track selection and a huge success for downhill mountainboarding. More of this sort of stuff please!
Right then, the media:
Remolition Preview Words and Video
Travis' on board competition run vid:
Chris 6th Degree's most excellent Write-Up here (subscribe to FreerideNW whilst you're at it)
http://freeridenw.blogspot.com/2011/08/dave-all-wrapped-up.html
So, in the meantime, do you know of any long, descending, tasty firetracks in the Midlands that might be suitable for downhilling? Please get in touch!
And finally, big, big thanks to the ATBA, Roger, Joe and everyone involved for putting this on - much appreciated! Lets all do this again soon!
The Mountainboarding Downhill discipline is looking pretty healthy right now. When the first UK downhill comp was announced to be held in the heart of Wales, it certainly wasn't a treck too far with 25 riders turning up, some travelling over 4 hours to get there.
This attitude shows the mountainboarding scene in very good light but also says a lot about the attitudes of the people who take part in this kind of thing: happy to go that bit further to ride a track that no one will see you do but in a backdrop of beautiful Welsh countryside with a whole load of like-minded individuals doing the same thing.
The vibe was good. The uplift worked - the payoff of a few minutes stuffed into the back of Rogers car was 1.3 miles of lovely fire track; 9 corners, each with it's own characteristic, some tight and dropping away, some wide and sweeping, all with the knowledge that pedestrians and vehicles weren't going to interrupt proceedings. A steeper top section where the emphasis was to control speed for the tight corners and occasional cliff versus the lower section where smooth corners and a good line could maintain speed sufficiently to shave vital seconds off the overall time.
A synchronised watch system allowed times to be calculated with riders setting off from the top in one minute intervals. Once people got the concept of this, times were quickly established with some astonishingly quick times from both brake and brakeless riders. A full list of the quickest times is shown here: http://atbauk.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/dave-uk-downhill-the-results/
All in, a very good track selection and a huge success for downhill mountainboarding. More of this sort of stuff please!
Right then, the media:
Remolition Preview Words and Video
Travis' on board competition run vid:
Chris 6th Degree's most excellent Write-Up here (subscribe to FreerideNW whilst you're at it)
http://freeridenw.blogspot.com/2011/08/dave-all-wrapped-up.html
So, in the meantime, do you know of any long, descending, tasty firetracks in the Midlands that might be suitable for downhilling? Please get in touch!
And finally, big, big thanks to the ATBA, Roger, Joe and everyone involved for putting this on - much appreciated! Lets all do this again soon!
Monday 18 July 2011
Dropping into Edensor....
The proposition:
One that's been on the hit list for a while. Dropping from 325m to 125m in 1.4 miles. Surface seemed okay when walking it early last year. Didn't think anyone else knew about it till I found this earlier today:
Great minds and all that. Anyway, watch this space. Fingers crossed I can get someone parked at the top to head North, take the first right and collect me from the bottom, and head back up and do it all over again, and again, and again. . . . . . . .
[Click for bigger map]
One that's been on the hit list for a while. Dropping from 325m to 125m in 1.4 miles. Surface seemed okay when walking it early last year. Didn't think anyone else knew about it till I found this earlier today:
Great minds and all that. Anyway, watch this space. Fingers crossed I can get someone parked at the top to head North, take the first right and collect me from the bottom, and head back up and do it all over again, and again, and again. . . . . . . .
Wednesday 13 July 2011
The Monday Papers: 11th July 2011
It is with sadness and regret to announce that this edition of 'The Monday Papers' will be the last.
Following allegations and subsequent revelations involving phone hacking and other unscruplious methods in order to bring you the latest cutting-edge stories (long after every one else has moved on) it has resulted in a scenario where we are not in a position to continue, having lost the support and respect of our loyal readership.
Our editor-in-chief, Rebecca Black has agreed to stand down quoting "It’s Friday, you've got to get down on Friday, everybody is looking forward to the weekend", referring of course to Round Three of the ATBA-UK International Series this weekend. Nice one Rebecca.
All proceeds for the post will be given to charity and we will ensure that plenty of extra copies of this post will be available to meet what is expected to be extremely high demand for this historic occasion. Rumours of a new section coming to The Dirt Box called 'The Mountainboard Bugle' are not yet confirmed.
On that positive note, let's go!
Andy Milenkovic does the double!
So this big news has been everywhere this week,
Okay, so the big surprise really was almost how easy Andy made this look - he did it twice more to show that it wasn't a fluke, once without pads.
Congratulations Andy, this is a significant milestone breached; the possibilities for big air in mountainboarding in the future is looking very good.
If you're going to read all about it anywhere, you might as well read it at Remolition who include the Project Doc video as proof that if you are going to do something, you might as well do it with style.
Round Three of the ATBA-UK International Series - this Weekend!
As Rebecca has already stated, Round Three takes place this weekend at Out To Grass, Cradley Malvern, WR13 5JW. Usual format of BX on the Saturday and Freestyle Sunday. Details on the Facebook link here.
PUATB Hits Ride the Hill
If you're reading this now then probably you are either there already or it's too late. On the off chance that you have a couple of days free and a tank full of petrol, then head down to Ride the Hill and hang out with the Plymouth Uni Mountainboarders and friends. Plenty of details here. (Seriously, how did this all work before electronic media???)
Dave - Ride it Hard!
You should all know about Dave as the details have been around for a couple of weeks. Details in full at Remolition here!
ATB Film Fest
Just something to bear in mind for all you film-ers, the ATBJunkies International Film Festival is taking place at the finals of the Cream Teas & Jam event, Bugs Boarding on the 10th September 2011 with the theme of "Road Trip".
If this sounds interesting then details can be found on the official website at www.atbjunkies.com.
Blogs of Note!
You want on-board videos of Round 2 of the ATBA BX? Then Chebs your man!
http://www.chebsite.com/2011/06/30/atba-round-2-on-the-chebcam/
Get well soon, Andy!
You want tales of exploration, dark woods and suspicious activity? Check out:
Whinlatter Episode 2: Return of the Osprey
I will make it to the Lakes at some point - it is my mission!!
In conclusion.......
So, that's all from the Sunday Papers; it's been emotional. Leaving things so abruptly means that a few articles currently in draft will be shredded along with countless other documents that we were saving for a a really big expose, or future blackmail. Articles you didn't get to see (but may emerge in the future should things suddenly take an unexpected upturn) include:
- FreeRide: Free as in 'Free Beer', not as in 'Free Speech'.
- Fair Weather Rider or just weather curious?
- 10 reasons why one board is not enough (and tips to keep your partner in the dark)
- 30+ and riding hard! Just why are there so many middle aged free riders around right now?
- 101 uses for those grab handle holes!
- How I learned to forget the weight and love my noSno!
Till next week, bye!! :-D
Tuesday 12 July 2011
Lets all ride Dave!
Downhill mountainboarding. Start at the top, ride to the bottom. Person with the fastest time wins,nice and simple. After the apparent success of the Kent Descent a month back (that I couldn't make due to familly commitments), it's happening all over again at the track they call 'Dave'.
Show your interest by signing in at the official Facebook Events page, read all the details on the Remolition page, then watch the video and hope that the next few weeks don't drag by too slowly.....
Thursday 7 July 2011
Bradgate Country Park, a review
£2.50 to park for three hours, but you won't take paper money or card and there's no one around to break a fiver? Pfffffffffft. Thankfully I didn't bring my horse box.
Bradgate Country Park for those with cash to splash can be found here:
http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm?lat=52.693808603646524&lon=-1.2258182815576715&gz=15&oz=8>=1
Tuesday 21 June 2011
Project: Mini Quarter - Part 2: Got Wood
[It's a bit bigger than I imagined in my head...]
Note this blog post is the second in a series documenting the ongoing build of a mini quarter. Please see Part 1, here. For those that have already viewed Part 1, please note that Part 1 has now been updated with sexy photos so if that's not an incentive, I don't know what is.
Also just thought that not everyone will be happy dealing with feet and inches. In which case, ask a grown-up ;-D
Right then. Since last time, I've chopped 2"x4" timber to length 3'10'' 1/2. I guess the sides make up the extra 1''1/2 to make it 4' wide overall. Did this by hand initially before realising that a lot of cutting was going to be necessary so borrowed Dads hand jigsaw. This made work much easier - Happy fathers day, Dad!
[Using one side as a template for the other]
Chopped side pieces out of my precut 2'x8' lengths. I couldn't follow the method used on the website I had got the plans for, but used two lengths of 5'6'' pieces of string to find the centre point before tracing the line three times. (got it wrong first couple of times). Rather than measure everything a second time, I used the first side as a template for the second side. Compared the two side by side, and apart from minor imperfections they seem to be close enough.
Chopped a section of Ply 2'x4' for the top. Easy job!
Back to Derby Timber Supplies for a 4'x8' sheet of 3/8'' Ply. This I will use to cover the ramp and to fit in the car, got them to cut me the sheet into two: a larger 4'x4'1'' and the smaller 4'x3'11''. This I'll need to cut down to 3'9'', but that's easy enough. The sheet of ply cost £12 and whilst I was in there, bought a large box of 60mm screws for £5. The cost of materials so far is on the rise, but I do have some good off-cuts that'll be useful elsewhere.
So, a couple of bits I can work on, and I now know that by Masonite, they mean hardboard! Still need to source me some steel tubing though. I need a length minimum 4' of 2"OD, Schedule 80 steel pipe (~60mm steel pipe). If you know where I can get some, or can suggest an equivalent, please get in touch!
Tuesday 14 June 2011
Project: Mini Quarter - Part 1
I've got the garage, I've got the tools, I've almost got the materials - time to build!
I didn't want to build a jump as a) it's pretty flat at home and b) I didn't want to shift it very far. I used to have a small, plastic ramp and it still took up lots of space and was cumbersome to carry.
So, why not a mini quarter?
Whilst I could work out an optimal size and shape for the space that I have, I reckoned that first time round I just find some plans on-line and build like-for-like. On completion, I'd ether have the optimal mini quarter, or have one to sell or destroy. Either way, I'd have the experience for the next time that I wanted to do something similar.
Never done anything like this before, so follow my progress and see how far we get before it all goes terribly wrong.
So, first things first: find some plans!
DIY Skate have some good ones here: http://www.diyskate.com/quarter_01.html
There may be better ramps around, but the instructions seem intuitive enough and they rate this project 'Medium' difficulty, so hopefully slightly challenging without being a total pain.
They list the approximate cost to be $80, so around £50. I'll keep a note of costings as I go along and try not to go over this figure.
Next up, materials!
Whilst trying to keep I could pinch stuff off building sites and keep costs to a bear minimum, for a variety of reasons, I wont be doing this, this time round. We don't do badly though locally for timber yards, and if that fails, there's always the possibility of trying B&Q/Homebase/Focus etc. Also, to keep costs down, I'm buying untreated wood as it shouldn't get damp in the garage and probably won't be used outside right away if ever.
I've run into problems in the past trying to get sheets of timber into the car of 4 foot width or greater. Length is not a problem and the 8 foot lengths of 2"x4" slid nicely down the passenger side of my Ford C-max. I've purchased 6 lengths of 8 foot 2"x4" for £3.20 a length from Fletchers Timber (Derby). Unfortunately, when it came to large sheets of 3/4" ply, they only had large 4'x8' sheets that they were unwilling to cut down for me, or smaller, rougher sheets, that dimension wise, didn't fit with the plans that I had. Time to explore to DIY superstores.....
Ok, forget the DIY superstores. Although many of them had a 'cutting service', the cost of timber is astronomical - I could have blown the budget just on wood for the top and sides of the frame.
Next stop, Derby Timber Supplies. Once I'd returned during office hours (7.30am to 4pm), they were more than happy to sell me a 4'x8' sheet of 3/4" ply and cut it lengthways down the middle, all for £20.40. I was going to have to cut it this way at some point anyway so so far, so good!
Next up, Part 2 where I envision having to source the ramp surface material and coping. The ramp material will be tricky as it'll have to be 4'x4'1'' and won't fit in the car, and I've absolutely no idea where I'll get the coping from unless for now I use plastic piping. Now that I've got some materials, I could always make a start so watch this space.
I really haven't done any more than this yet, so any build tips or suggestions appreciated!!!!
I didn't want to build a jump as a) it's pretty flat at home and b) I didn't want to shift it very far. I used to have a small, plastic ramp and it still took up lots of space and was cumbersome to carry.
So, why not a mini quarter?
Whilst I could work out an optimal size and shape for the space that I have, I reckoned that first time round I just find some plans on-line and build like-for-like. On completion, I'd ether have the optimal mini quarter, or have one to sell or destroy. Either way, I'd have the experience for the next time that I wanted to do something similar.
Never done anything like this before, so follow my progress and see how far we get before it all goes terribly wrong.
So, first things first: find some plans!
DIY Skate have some good ones here: http://www.diyskate.com/quarter_01.html
There may be better ramps around, but the instructions seem intuitive enough and they rate this project 'Medium' difficulty, so hopefully slightly challenging without being a total pain.
They list the approximate cost to be $80, so around £50. I'll keep a note of costings as I go along and try not to go over this figure.
Next up, materials!
Whilst trying to keep I could pinch stuff off building sites and keep costs to a bear minimum, for a variety of reasons, I wont be doing this, this time round. We don't do badly though locally for timber yards, and if that fails, there's always the possibility of trying B&Q/Homebase/Focus etc. Also, to keep costs down, I'm buying untreated wood as it shouldn't get damp in the garage and probably won't be used outside right away if ever.
I've run into problems in the past trying to get sheets of timber into the car of 4 foot width or greater. Length is not a problem and the 8 foot lengths of 2"x4" slid nicely down the passenger side of my Ford C-max. I've purchased 6 lengths of 8 foot 2"x4" for £3.20 a length from Fletchers Timber (Derby). Unfortunately, when it came to large sheets of 3/4" ply, they only had large 4'x8' sheets that they were unwilling to cut down for me, or smaller, rougher sheets, that dimension wise, didn't fit with the plans that I had. Time to explore to DIY superstores.....
Ok, forget the DIY superstores. Although many of them had a 'cutting service', the cost of timber is astronomical - I could have blown the budget just on wood for the top and sides of the frame.
Next stop, Derby Timber Supplies. Once I'd returned during office hours (7.30am to 4pm), they were more than happy to sell me a 4'x8' sheet of 3/4" ply and cut it lengthways down the middle, all for £20.40. I was going to have to cut it this way at some point anyway so so far, so good!
Next up, Part 2 where I envision having to source the ramp surface material and coping. The ramp material will be tricky as it'll have to be 4'x4'1'' and won't fit in the car, and I've absolutely no idea where I'll get the coping from unless for now I use plastic piping. Now that I've got some materials, I could always make a start so watch this space.
I really haven't done any more than this yet, so any build tips or suggestions appreciated!!!!
Monday 13 June 2011
Things I broke this weekend......
....in no particular order.....
1: Brake Cable
1: Brake Cable
[Old pic, but you get the idea]
Yep, mearly a couple of weeks after getting the brake repaired and it's broken again in exactly the same place. Strangely, I don't recall snagging it on anything; nor had it been used much in the run up to this point. Either I try and get the local bike shop to bodge something again, send it back to ABS (who kindly offered to sort it last time, which I didn't do as I was thinking about postal costs), or try and do something myself....hmmmm...
2: Axle Hanger
[Bent noSno Axle Hanger]
Well, bent rather than broken, but it does look to be a bit more bent than it was a week ago and looks quite different to the rear hanger which is around about the 27 degree mark. One to keep an eye on and replace if necessary. Question is, do I go for the standard hanger or pro version....???
3: Big Toe
I would have loved to have done this in an extreme way. Unfortunately, all I did was fall off a bouncy castle in an awkward way at the weekend. Few more beers kept the pain at bay and it's alright at the moment when sat down. Broken, or just very, very bruised, I'm not sure. Hopefully a bit of TLC and it'll be fine. Hopefully.....
Tuesday 31 May 2011
Wet Weekend Wander: Colwick Park, Nottingham
Bank holiday Weekend = Rain! And this weekend was no exception, but keen to stretch my legs and go for a trail search....
Jonathan Rimmington on the Mountainboard Derby Facebook page suggested a couple of sites in and around Nottingham. I got a bit confused and wrote down the name of one and the directions to the other but eventually ended up at:
...just off Greenwood Road, plenty of parking space!
Bar the obvious grassy slopes, several possible trails were found. Nothing too long but a nice mix of tighter grassy channels, tracks, grass slope to wood tracks and wood tracks to grassy slope.
Some pics below so that you don't have to imagine....
Okay!
In summary, Colwick park has a good number of tracks that would suit people who are bored of the open slopes and want to start hitting some tighter tracks instead. A lot of the tracks are straight and narrow and could be a bit of a squeeze with all the dog walkers around, but nothing a good spotter wouldn't sort out. I reckon there's possibly a bit more to discover around by the reservoir though the woods generally are a bit dense so its the footpaths or nothing. A nice location though and I'll certainly be back if I want a change of scenery at any point.
Jonathan Rimmington on the Mountainboard Derby Facebook page suggested a couple of sites in and around Nottingham. I got a bit confused and wrote down the name of one and the directions to the other but eventually ended up at:
...just off Greenwood Road, plenty of parking space!
Bar the obvious grassy slopes, several possible trails were found. Nothing too long but a nice mix of tighter grassy channels, tracks, grass slope to wood tracks and wood tracks to grassy slope.
Some pics below so that you don't have to imagine....
[A Grassy Slope]
[grass to track]
[Path to drop]
[Grassy Channel]
[Nice track]
[Nice bottom, 200m or so further down]
[More grass!]
[Nice, short bit of track leading to the grassy slope shown above]
In summary, Colwick park has a good number of tracks that would suit people who are bored of the open slopes and want to start hitting some tighter tracks instead. A lot of the tracks are straight and narrow and could be a bit of a squeeze with all the dog walkers around, but nothing a good spotter wouldn't sort out. I reckon there's possibly a bit more to discover around by the reservoir though the woods generally are a bit dense so its the footpaths or nothing. A nice location though and I'll certainly be back if I want a change of scenery at any point.
Friday 27 May 2011
Wrekin: Heaven or Hell?
Wednesday night, 10pm, mental note to self, 'don't forget to reattach the brakes before leaving in the morning'. Fast forward 14 hours and I've parked up and hiking generally upwards from the parking point trying to find the top of 'The Wrekin'. Once I hit the main path the route is obvious and clear.
Getting to the top is easy enough and getting down shouldn't be too bad as long as enough speed is held on the short flat or slightly uphill sections. Too much speed shouldn't be too much of a problem with the quite wide path and the ABS brakes. Ah. Knew I'd forgotten something.
Still, the view is fantastic with a nice feeling of remoteness despite the M54 being only 3 minute drive away and the powerstation on the skyline. From the trig-point at the top the track leads further down to the South West, even further from the car, or I can head back the way I came.... But before I could make a decision to head back, the weather made it for me, the rain dropping like hail and the wind buffeting me from the west.
[Wrekin Hell]
Could be worse - the car is only a mile away and I've a complete change of clothes in the boot so, to the amusement of a bunch of ramblers, I rode a couple of the lines from the trig point, first to the South West, stopping as the path rose a bit before dropping away steeply, then back to the North East.
[Wrekin Heaven]
I'll be honest, the route back down was not the most pleasant, but this wasn't the tracks fault. On a better day when the wind wasn't blowing and the track wasn't wet and slippery and the ramblers weren't everywhere and I had a bit more balls on the steeper sections or had remembered the brakes, then this would have been a fantastic route. According to the ride guide, if you can do it top to bottom, then you have 1.26 miles of track ranging from 'Stony track, into leafy woods, onto mud track'.
[At the top]
I will be back; it's only just over an hours drive from Derbyshire and as mentioned above, parking is very close to the motorway so access is fantastic. I was surprised just how many people were on the hill despite it being Thursday lunchtime with quite miserable weather, but there did look to be a few more tasty looking tracks here and there in close proximity. 9 inch tires may assist, as would a riding buddy for insurance on some of the trickier sections. For me, brakes definitely, but then a clear run through the woods on some of the banked corners on a nice summers day would be ace in itself.
Clearly, there is more to come from the Wrekin.
Map link and Rogers routes here.
Tuesday 24 May 2011
Hales Superbole 2011 - A BX Writeup
First up, this is a big old post containing an overview of what happened last weekend from my point-of-view. For anyone looking at this and thinking TL:DR (only found out what that meant the other day!) then in summary, great day, fantastic people and pleasant weather. Those of you who couldn't make it really should check out one of the remaining rounds. Anyway, I've not done a looooong write-up in a looooooonnnnnng time. There are probably mistakes and I'll probably do a few edits as and when I remember stuff. Should photos be preferable to you then I'll shove a load of links to various media as and when they emerge to the bottom of this post. Also, I didn't make the freestyle, any comments on how this went appreciated!
That's enough of my ramblings - lets go!!!!!!!
Lets begin at the beginning. Phill and I left Derby at 6.15am Saturday morning, both eager to get to site early to check out any recent updates, get registered and get a couple of practice runs in before the track got too crowded. Hour and a half later fuelled on hot coffee, Relentless and adrenaline, we arrive in good time despite stopping off for supplies along the way.
Not intending to stay the night, we parked in a position close to the gates and wandered over to the ATBA tent to find Roger looking his usual calm and relaxed self but otherwise not a huge amount of activity yet - it must have been a good night on site. Pick up our very professional laminated numbers and wander on meeting up with Rob Goodall, one of the last of the remaining KMC riders.
So, a good an opportunity as ever to get padded up and get rolling; the sun shinning and the forecast looking promising for once. "Do you want to see my lunch for today?" asks Phill, who had the foresight to make sandwiches the night before. He shows me the contents of the Tupperware pot that appears to contain half a pound of mince meat. That'll be the wrong Tupperware pot then - I thought he looked a bit bleary eyed this morning!
Early training runs showed the mid section of the course to be a bit treacherous, especially to the right of the track where it has got quite sandy. Phill took a blow to the head early on and another lad dislocated his shoulder around the same place. A bit of on site maintenance by the on-site crew to firm up that side of the track and a bit of carpet in place seemed to do the trick (plus a mental note to stay to the left as much as possible).
Still, once I'd tightened up my trucks a smidgeon and hit the bottom section a couple of times, it was time to head up to the top, especially as Team BAD looked to be nailing the course already. Had a breather half way up and had a change encounter with Nat Gaydon, him being the one who took time out to teach me the basics and advised me on Trampa Dampas and heel straps right back in 2006. Top fella!
Strapped in at the top. Looked down the course. Went through my short (but effective) mind control technique to calm the nerves and 'get in the zone', and promptly fell out of the gate. Hahaha. Convinced myself that it was inevitable that this was going to happen at least once today and it was better now that during racing. (They are tricky staring gates - you have to almost launch yourself out horizontally. Try to roll out and you do get caught up on the rear axle, or maybe it's just me).
Couple of runs from the top to bottom clean and things are feeling good, though I'm a little cautious as my legs are feeling a little tired and there's still no sign of the uplift. Bump into Cheb from the 'Mountain Board Diary' blog who is very well travelled having come down from Newcastle as well as attending a Court Farm event a couple of weeks previously. Great blogger and equally nice guy which is always nice! He's driven down with Andy Dumelow who's nowhere to be found. (Evidently, he was still in bed and later got up the hill just in time for his first race - good man). Still, it's time for a breather as the horn has blown for the 9.30 riders meeting.
Usual stuff: non contact racing, stay in your lanes, wear protection - sort of thing. Then "to keep costs down, we have no ambulance here, so any first aid volunteers appreciated"! Best not injure myself then. Not like Mark Sewell who broke his fibula (leg) 6 weeks earlier after being hit by a Royal Mail van. 'So I'm taking it easy by racing in the senior category' he states. If coming a close 4th in the final is taking it easy, then good grief!
Back to practising and the announcement that 'racing is delayed until transport back up the hill is sorted'. Good opportunity to catch up with Rich Sykes on life up in Leeds and possible plans for a new centre in that neck of the woods. He's thinking of an building an intermediate level of features as a step up between beginner and some of the Hales' larger stuff. Sounds interesting and being only around hour and half up the M1 will certainly be worth a trip up at some stage.
The sun is still shining, the hill is getting busier, Tom Kirkman and the ATC Productions crew are going wild on the freestyle. Life is good. Then the news that transport is sorted, the starting gate works, everyone is in place - Qualifiers are on!
Numbers of people appear to be slightly down - it is GCSE/A-Level exams for a lot of folks so the consequence of qualifying is not whether or not you will be racing (you will), but rather to determine who gets first lane choice. I quite like lane 4 on the right hand side taking the outside lane into the first corner and hopefully staying out of trouble.
First of my qualifiers up against Steve Morris and Mat Lunt; Mat of whom turns out to be reasonably local living in Donnington Park. Decide on a slow start and make it clean out of the gates. All's good till the second feature where all I can remember is things getting wobbly and crashing out. Disaster - the top bit's supposed to be the easy bit! This setback means I have to hop all the way up the 3rd feature - a step-up which is no mean feat with a noSno strapped to the legs. I ride the rest of course cleanly finishing 3rd/last, but survived which is always a plus. Half way back up and Simon Neck of PUATB informs me that Steve had fallen just after the steep section half way - had I stayed on then 2nd place could have been a possibility! Wishful thinking maybe, but spirits high for the next race.
Next up I'm up against Lee Campbell of Team BAD. I've seen Lee put in some solid runs already today and I know the other fella (who's name now escapes me) is quick so how I got into the first corner in 2nd place (despite my efforts) is anyones guess. From there onwards I've found the best tactic is to 'just go with it' - the course will spit you out at the bottom one way or another, so held on in there to get a second place - woohoo!! Back up to the top as the rumour is that there will be no stop for lunch. Everyones now at the top and the news comes in - one hour break for lunch. Mass Descent!!!!!
The timing couldn't have been better. I'd had a couple of Weetabix at 6am and half a Marathon (Snickers for the younger folk) mid morning. Fortunately, unlike Phill I'd remembered my lunch: the food of the gods, Ambrosia rice pudding. Rice pudding - check. Tin opener - check. Spoon? Arse biscuits. Daft thing is it certainly isn't the first time I've eaten out of a tin using the tin opener. Certainly stops you eating too quickly and a good opportunity to take my boots off. And relax.
Mark Hale wanders over to say hello and suggests that I need to get out of the gates quicker and 'make some trouble out in front'. Generally my tactic has been to stay back and worse case scenario, I'd rather be crashing into someone else rather than have someone else crash into me. But he's right in the sense that once out in front, in the racing line, then it is up to everyone else to go faster on a worse line. I mull it over with another can of Relentless (I'm happy to product place anyones products - please get in touch!).
Back up the hill and 'Now we are racing'. I thought we were racing beforehand but apparently not. In the whole 'randomness of nature' type of thing it appears that I'm up against Steve and Mat again (unless I did take a blow to the head and all of this is just dreams...). 'Riders Ready?!' and we're off, as I once again practically fall out of the gates. Nooooooo! Very slow start, but I'm on my feet so lets go for it! Riding clean all the way round only to see two balls of dust cloud on the final 'S' (or Corkscrew as Cheb refers to it). Think I can make it clean around the outside of both fallen riders but clip something, or someone falling merely metres away from the finish line. Steve is already up and riding over the line. Mat is up but rides into me. I'm finally up and tic-tacking and I'm told just over the line in second. All a blur but I know Phill had some footage so it'll be interesting to see exactly what happened. I've seen it before where people have fallen early on and could have finished in a reasonable position due to later events - I'm just lucky that luck fell on my side this time. First two go through to the semi finals so on we go.
Don't mess with the tires! Panic stations as I decide to let a little bit of air out of my tires. A bit of slime gets into the valve and as much as I fiddle with it, all I can hear up close is the inevitable Sssssssssssss as the tire slowly deflates. Arse!!!!! There's rumour of a bike pump at the top of the hill but this has disappeared. I don't think anyone was trying to knobble me but surely someone would have a pump. Inevitably, it's back to the hut to reinflate the tires and a slow climb back up the hill on legs that really could have done without it. Big, big thanks though to Raph of Team Ironside who kindly offered me one of his tires in the worst case scenario. We didn't get to that point but the offer was very much appreciated, as was his sterling work all weekend. Point being, don't fiddle with your tires mid afternoon when you're supposed to be top of the hill waiting to race!
Semi final and I'm back in the starting gates with Raph La Roche, Steve Morris (again!) and Paul Butler. It was busy enough racing two others last time so curious to see this one play out. Couldn't keep up with Steve or Paul on the straight but had Raph in my sights and was able to take and hold third by the first corner (though I think he was holding back a little...). Once again, first two went through to final, though third in the semi finals is plenty enough to keep me happy.
All good for time so Phill and I stuck around for the prize-giving meeting up with Travis from the Surfing Dirt forums in the process. Good to meet you Travis - we'll have to ride Macclesfield forest at some point!
All in a great days riding with some absolutely top fellas and ladies, all giving it some welly on the hill. Bring on Round 2 in a few weeks time and lets do it all over again! Cheers everybody!!!!!
Other notable events of the day included.....
Josh and Zak Campbell riding the closest race I have ever seen!
PUATBs Lisa showing the guys exactly who's in charge in the Pro category.
Plus loads of stuff that I can't remember right now but will probably add later on.....
Right then.......results of the competition can be found at:
http://www.atbauk.org/results.html
Lots of photos can be seen here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150197412258449.316005.44994738448
and here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150186348136044.311140.94440181043
and Travis' photos up now here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150206159404395.326455.503404394
Chebs write up of the entire weekend here including intreaguing cave exploration!!!
http://www.chebsite.com/2011/05/22/riding-atba-round-one-2011-at-hales-superbowl/
First of the vids from Ben Rye: (Appears to show my Race 3 collision and scramble aftermath...)
http://vimeo.com/24175757
Very fun vid from Cheb:
http://www.chebsite.com/2011/06/16/atba-uk-mountainboard-comp-2011-round-1-videos-straight-from-hales-superbowl-to-your-brain/
Plus more media as and when it emerges.
That's enough of my ramblings - lets go!!!!!!!
Lets begin at the beginning. Phill and I left Derby at 6.15am Saturday morning, both eager to get to site early to check out any recent updates, get registered and get a couple of practice runs in before the track got too crowded. Hour and a half later fuelled on hot coffee, Relentless and adrenaline, we arrive in good time despite stopping off for supplies along the way.
Not intending to stay the night, we parked in a position close to the gates and wandered over to the ATBA tent to find Roger looking his usual calm and relaxed self but otherwise not a huge amount of activity yet - it must have been a good night on site. Pick up our very professional laminated numbers and wander on meeting up with Rob Goodall, one of the last of the remaining KMC riders.
So, a good an opportunity as ever to get padded up and get rolling; the sun shinning and the forecast looking promising for once. "Do you want to see my lunch for today?" asks Phill, who had the foresight to make sandwiches the night before. He shows me the contents of the Tupperware pot that appears to contain half a pound of mince meat. That'll be the wrong Tupperware pot then - I thought he looked a bit bleary eyed this morning!
Early training runs showed the mid section of the course to be a bit treacherous, especially to the right of the track where it has got quite sandy. Phill took a blow to the head early on and another lad dislocated his shoulder around the same place. A bit of on site maintenance by the on-site crew to firm up that side of the track and a bit of carpet in place seemed to do the trick (plus a mental note to stay to the left as much as possible).
Still, once I'd tightened up my trucks a smidgeon and hit the bottom section a couple of times, it was time to head up to the top, especially as Team BAD looked to be nailing the course already. Had a breather half way up and had a change encounter with Nat Gaydon, him being the one who took time out to teach me the basics and advised me on Trampa Dampas and heel straps right back in 2006. Top fella!
Strapped in at the top. Looked down the course. Went through my short (but effective) mind control technique to calm the nerves and 'get in the zone', and promptly fell out of the gate. Hahaha. Convinced myself that it was inevitable that this was going to happen at least once today and it was better now that during racing. (They are tricky staring gates - you have to almost launch yourself out horizontally. Try to roll out and you do get caught up on the rear axle, or maybe it's just me).
Couple of runs from the top to bottom clean and things are feeling good, though I'm a little cautious as my legs are feeling a little tired and there's still no sign of the uplift. Bump into Cheb from the 'Mountain Board Diary' blog who is very well travelled having come down from Newcastle as well as attending a Court Farm event a couple of weeks previously. Great blogger and equally nice guy which is always nice! He's driven down with Andy Dumelow who's nowhere to be found. (Evidently, he was still in bed and later got up the hill just in time for his first race - good man). Still, it's time for a breather as the horn has blown for the 9.30 riders meeting.
Usual stuff: non contact racing, stay in your lanes, wear protection - sort of thing. Then "to keep costs down, we have no ambulance here, so any first aid volunteers appreciated"! Best not injure myself then. Not like Mark Sewell who broke his fibula (leg) 6 weeks earlier after being hit by a Royal Mail van. 'So I'm taking it easy by racing in the senior category' he states. If coming a close 4th in the final is taking it easy, then good grief!
Back to practising and the announcement that 'racing is delayed until transport back up the hill is sorted'. Good opportunity to catch up with Rich Sykes on life up in Leeds and possible plans for a new centre in that neck of the woods. He's thinking of an building an intermediate level of features as a step up between beginner and some of the Hales' larger stuff. Sounds interesting and being only around hour and half up the M1 will certainly be worth a trip up at some stage.
The sun is still shining, the hill is getting busier, Tom Kirkman and the ATC Productions crew are going wild on the freestyle. Life is good. Then the news that transport is sorted, the starting gate works, everyone is in place - Qualifiers are on!
Numbers of people appear to be slightly down - it is GCSE/A-Level exams for a lot of folks so the consequence of qualifying is not whether or not you will be racing (you will), but rather to determine who gets first lane choice. I quite like lane 4 on the right hand side taking the outside lane into the first corner and hopefully staying out of trouble.
First of my qualifiers up against Steve Morris and Mat Lunt; Mat of whom turns out to be reasonably local living in Donnington Park. Decide on a slow start and make it clean out of the gates. All's good till the second feature where all I can remember is things getting wobbly and crashing out. Disaster - the top bit's supposed to be the easy bit! This setback means I have to hop all the way up the 3rd feature - a step-up which is no mean feat with a noSno strapped to the legs. I ride the rest of course cleanly finishing 3rd/last, but survived which is always a plus. Half way back up and Simon Neck of PUATB informs me that Steve had fallen just after the steep section half way - had I stayed on then 2nd place could have been a possibility! Wishful thinking maybe, but spirits high for the next race.
Next up I'm up against Lee Campbell of Team BAD. I've seen Lee put in some solid runs already today and I know the other fella (who's name now escapes me) is quick so how I got into the first corner in 2nd place (despite my efforts) is anyones guess. From there onwards I've found the best tactic is to 'just go with it' - the course will spit you out at the bottom one way or another, so held on in there to get a second place - woohoo!! Back up to the top as the rumour is that there will be no stop for lunch. Everyones now at the top and the news comes in - one hour break for lunch. Mass Descent!!!!!
The timing couldn't have been better. I'd had a couple of Weetabix at 6am and half a Marathon (Snickers for the younger folk) mid morning. Fortunately, unlike Phill I'd remembered my lunch: the food of the gods, Ambrosia rice pudding. Rice pudding - check. Tin opener - check. Spoon? Arse biscuits. Daft thing is it certainly isn't the first time I've eaten out of a tin using the tin opener. Certainly stops you eating too quickly and a good opportunity to take my boots off. And relax.
Mark Hale wanders over to say hello and suggests that I need to get out of the gates quicker and 'make some trouble out in front'. Generally my tactic has been to stay back and worse case scenario, I'd rather be crashing into someone else rather than have someone else crash into me. But he's right in the sense that once out in front, in the racing line, then it is up to everyone else to go faster on a worse line. I mull it over with another can of Relentless (I'm happy to product place anyones products - please get in touch!).
Back up the hill and 'Now we are racing'. I thought we were racing beforehand but apparently not. In the whole 'randomness of nature' type of thing it appears that I'm up against Steve and Mat again (unless I did take a blow to the head and all of this is just dreams...). 'Riders Ready?!' and we're off, as I once again practically fall out of the gates. Nooooooo! Very slow start, but I'm on my feet so lets go for it! Riding clean all the way round only to see two balls of dust cloud on the final 'S' (or Corkscrew as Cheb refers to it). Think I can make it clean around the outside of both fallen riders but clip something, or someone falling merely metres away from the finish line. Steve is already up and riding over the line. Mat is up but rides into me. I'm finally up and tic-tacking and I'm told just over the line in second. All a blur but I know Phill had some footage so it'll be interesting to see exactly what happened. I've seen it before where people have fallen early on and could have finished in a reasonable position due to later events - I'm just lucky that luck fell on my side this time. First two go through to the semi finals so on we go.
Don't mess with the tires! Panic stations as I decide to let a little bit of air out of my tires. A bit of slime gets into the valve and as much as I fiddle with it, all I can hear up close is the inevitable Sssssssssssss as the tire slowly deflates. Arse!!!!! There's rumour of a bike pump at the top of the hill but this has disappeared. I don't think anyone was trying to knobble me but surely someone would have a pump. Inevitably, it's back to the hut to reinflate the tires and a slow climb back up the hill on legs that really could have done without it. Big, big thanks though to Raph of Team Ironside who kindly offered me one of his tires in the worst case scenario. We didn't get to that point but the offer was very much appreciated, as was his sterling work all weekend. Point being, don't fiddle with your tires mid afternoon when you're supposed to be top of the hill waiting to race!
Semi final and I'm back in the starting gates with Raph La Roche, Steve Morris (again!) and Paul Butler. It was busy enough racing two others last time so curious to see this one play out. Couldn't keep up with Steve or Paul on the straight but had Raph in my sights and was able to take and hold third by the first corner (though I think he was holding back a little...). Once again, first two went through to final, though third in the semi finals is plenty enough to keep me happy.
All good for time so Phill and I stuck around for the prize-giving meeting up with Travis from the Surfing Dirt forums in the process. Good to meet you Travis - we'll have to ride Macclesfield forest at some point!
All in a great days riding with some absolutely top fellas and ladies, all giving it some welly on the hill. Bring on Round 2 in a few weeks time and lets do it all over again! Cheers everybody!!!!!
Other notable events of the day included.....
Josh and Zak Campbell riding the closest race I have ever seen!
PUATBs Lisa showing the guys exactly who's in charge in the Pro category.
Plus loads of stuff that I can't remember right now but will probably add later on.....
Right then.......results of the competition can be found at:
http://www.atbauk.org/results.html
Lots of photos can be seen here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150197412258449.316005.44994738448
and here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150186348136044.311140.94440181043
and Travis' photos up now here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150206159404395.326455.503404394
Chebs write up of the entire weekend here including intreaguing cave exploration!!!
http://www.chebsite.com/2011/05/22/riding-atba-round-one-2011-at-hales-superbowl/
First of the vids from Ben Rye: (Appears to show my Race 3 collision and scramble aftermath...)
http://vimeo.com/24175757
Very fun vid from Cheb:
http://www.chebsite.com/2011/06/16/atba-uk-mountainboard-comp-2011-round-1-videos-straight-from-hales-superbowl-to-your-brain/
Plus more media as and when it emerges.
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