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.....

Mountain Board: Derby

Starting up a group, getting peoples interest up and dispersing relevant information to the right people is so much easier these days, especially given the stuff that's available through facebook and other social media outlets.  That's what Mark Sewell's done, creating a 'Mountain Board - Derby' group on facebook. 

http://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_149613061758799 

What this should mean is that anyone out having a cheeky board session at any point can post up the details if anyone wants to join in, or organising larger meets should be easier, or if anyone wants to share their local spot for others to check out they can do so.

It's an open group, so if this is your sort of thing, drop by and say hello and let's get a good representation of mountain boarders in the Derby area!

Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance

Had my eye on  tonight's route for a while now.  Running in at approximately 1250 metres in length, it's a gravelly single track used for service vehicles to gain access to one of the very posh golf courses north of Derby.

 

Fortunately, there's a public foot path right that cuts 90 degrees to this track, allowing good access under the cover of darkness to the mid section. Then, with a bit of luck the gate will be left open.  This allows you to take the track up approximately 400 metres till the gradient really rolls off and there's no real gain in going further up.

Riding down, there's a couple of spots where it flattens off a bit but with the 10" Primos on I was able to roll through with a bit of tick-tacking and I reckon with a bit more confidence on the top section, should be able to take the midsection with a bit of speed.

Further down there's a large right-left s-bend; over a speed bump (drainage perhaps?) before the track feels strangely sandy under wheel (?!?), dropping down back towards the golf club car park.  Just as momentum runs out there's another public footpath on the right should the green keepers (who live in the buildings situated half way up the track) be hot on your heels...

Certainly worth a return visit, especially as I can be there in 15 minutes drive, (plus 15 minutes walk), and although not the steepest track, is of decent length.  If I can't be in the Alps, I can ride this in the dark and pretend that I am, even if a stair-lift is out of the question : (

Huge Edit: I wrote the title (the 7 Ps) as I had intended to list 'what went well' and areas that required 'room for improvement', but then promptly forgot, meaning that I've got a night write-up with a completely different title.

So to rectify, What Went Well?

Firstly, the previous recce meant that I had previously walked the track and had removed a couple of the larger rocks.  I also knew the approximate location of a handful of potholes to avoid.

Walking up the route at the start meant that I knew that all the gates were open and that there was very little activity to get in the way.  On some nights the local dogs are known to roam the course.  No signs of this tonight.

Having two torches to hand turned out to be a very good idea when the head torch decided to turn itself off unexpectedly half way down.  New batteries should hopefully sort things out.

Room for Improvement?

Having not ridden the noSno for approximatley a month, I really should have given it a good going over before leaving the house rather than at the top of the hill.  Trying to adjust truck tension, tire pressures and generally tighten the whole thing up with gloves on and by torchlight is not the best idea.  It's only going to get colder as winter draws in and the less hanging around, the better.

I'd love to download the gps trace off the blackberry to google earth to get some nice route overlays.  I would if I could find the right cable.  Why so many usb cables that look similar, but just won't quite fit?  It annoys me as the cable is probably in a 'safe place' : (

The hardest thing about using a mountain board brake is learning not to use it.  Yep, a little less caution next time round will go a long way.

An afterthought is that perhaps a local headcam rental service would be a good idea.  I'm not fussed right now to spend ~£300 on a rugged helmet cam, but the opportunity to have occasional use of one to record tracks like this would be handy...

Skateboard of Death(TM) gets new bearings

I don't think I've talked about my skateboard before on here, mainly because I very rarely skate.  I can't do tricks on it - not even kickflip, but I do keep hold of it for one good reason - it scares the life out of me.

Bit of history for a moment.  I bought the board during a long 9 month period between leaving university and convincing someone to give me job that was loosely related to my degree.  This was the time when Derby Storm was still in its prime i.e. open (before the bmx'ers made holes everywhere from their pegs) and there was loads of lines to ride.  Not that I did much more than carve up and down the shop floor (t'was an old factory) with the occasional go on the small half pipe.  I didn't wear any protection back then - nobody did except for the occasional in-line'er (fruit-booter? you all know the jokes), but they wouldn't do up the helmet strap because that wasn't cool.  I think I did as much damage to myself over that 3-month period as I have done in three years of mountainboarding and most of it was preventable if I hadn't of been worried to wear protection.  My right knee still aches when the wind blows the wrong way...

Anyway, less of the morality tail, point being I still pull out this board occasionally because it is ace.  Put together by some lass in one of Derby old skateboard shops down Saddler Gate in around half an hour.  She asked me if I wanted one off the shelf or cobbled together from a few slightly better bits.  I opted for the latter and have told everyone since that it was a 'custom build'.

But the thing it does best, as mentioned at the top, is it scares me.  The deck feels far too small, the wheels look ready to crumble at any time, the trucks....well, I think I put them back together correctly last time???? And the bearings?  Well, my biggest fear is them seizing up and last week one of them did.  Any other tale would involve this happening on the biggest hill you can imagine leading to my serious escape or demise.  Rather boringly it fell apart in the back garden, and I fell, rather ungracefully into the wood chippings.

Turns out they don't make bearings the same way they used to - you have to insert a separate spacer separately.  Bought the bearings off ebay thanks to a tip-off from River from the mighty Lush Longboard forums here.  £2.75 for 10? Sounds like a plan - I bought 20 just to be sure.  Postage was only 95p either way.  Spacers I picked up very cheaply (free) from Rollersnakes located very cunningly just round the corner from me.

We don't do badly for small skate parks dotted  around Derby despite the demise and closure of 'the Storm'.  There's one in Markeaton Park and a slightly larger one in Alvaston Park down London Road, right next to the huge BMX track.  (I've tried to mountain board both the bmx track and the associated pump track - no luck and ended up with big gash to underside of deck).  But there is the intention of £200,000 to be spent on a city centre open park which could end up being rather good.  Details at this stage are a little sketchy, but if you want to keep up with the news then the Derby Skatepark Project is a good place to start.  Definitely one to keep an eye on anyway and could be very well placed for a quick lunchtime session or drop in after work....

Spot Location - Alvaston, Derby - Freebord

As mentioned previously, I intend to include spot guides in the blog. No thoughts as yet on the best format so I may well edit this entire post at a later date. Anyways, lets give it a go:

Alvaston Bypass Underpass

Location <-Click
Surface Type: Pavement
Width: 5m approx
Surface Condition: Very Smooth
Steepness: Relatively Shallow
Board Used: Freebord
Run length: ~115m max (taken from google maps)
# of cars: None, it's all off-road
# of pedestrians: About 2 an hour
Skill Suitability: Beginners / Practice Session

To anyone thats done any kind of downhill boarding, this location will seem ridiculous, but being shallow, smooth, no cracks and extremely quiet, this is a perfect spot to learn to freebord. With two slopes, one steeper and short, the other shallower, longer and with a sweeping bend this spot allowed me to carve and to start practicing slides with almost no one around to bump into, and at no time get faster than was possible to run out of.

To the side of the path is small stones and drainage and grass so no worries about running wide. The underpass has a bit of broken bottles and rubbish but nothing too bad to ride over. If kids do loiter there, they are not there during weekday lunchtimes which is when I try to go. At 5-minutes drive from the office, it a great spot to get away from things and freebord in peace.

Parking is tricky with no official parking spots so I park just off the roundabout to the north west.

Video hopefully to come soon. Must find a way to work out gradient.

Freebord

I first heard of Freebord (no ‘a’) through the mountainboard forums as a skate/long board that behaves more like a snowboard than any other board but on the roads. ‘Snowboard the streets’ as you might say. Its main feature is the two pivoted caster wheels underneath that allow the board to slip sideways allowing not just carving but the ability to slide in a controlled manner.

Anyways

Freebord Ride explained - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98-RhKZwJG4 Note the ability to stop very quickly if desired.

The ‘how to ride’ video that comes with the board -http://www.freebord.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13790 (can be a little misleading by making it look easier to ride than it actually is)

The original ‘how to ride video’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDI-u7PGzcQ&feature=related (some people prefer this one to the one above)

Freebord main webpage - http://www.freebord.com/main.html

Freebord forum - http://www.freebord.com/forum/index.php

Afraid to ask? - http://www.freebord.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7002

A Derby freeborder (not me) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nJYLUHn580

I bought my bord in August 2008 i.e. I am a total beginner. I aim to document my progress through this blog as I (hopefully) improve.

I bought my bord from Bucks Boarding Centre, Milton Keynes. The people are nice, helpful and ride themselves which helps a lot. A range of Corporate / Revolt / Fader in sizes 80 / 83 / 85 (board length) and choice of bindings were available though I’m sure stock fluctuates. One thing to note is that the G3 range of boards are now available in the US and these will filter through to the UK hopefully sometimes soon. Upgrade wheels as recommended by the forums were not available at the time but I hope to comment on these as time progresses.
Freebords are not cheap at approximately £165 for a complete setup, as there is one manufacturer and they are US based. Like all things, ebay is your friend if money is not immediately available.
The best piece of advice I have been given so far is in the 3rd video from the top.
“Freebording looks easy. It isn’t”
Damn right.