Mystery Parcel Suprise!

*Edit - I clearly cannot spell Surprise.

Every morning for the past week or so, we've been woken up by our two-year-old son at very-early-o'clock.  Ever since he learned to scale the baby gate across his door, he's made his way out and into our room, climbing on the bed, waving the TV remote in our faces and shouting, "Pig, Pig!".  He's a big fan of Peppa Pig.  No difference this morning as usual, but it was unusual to also have an early morning knock at the door from the postman....

Especially odd, as I've nothing on order right now apart from a Raspberry Pi, and that won't be with me for months yet.  Let's have a look inside.

"Hi Ade, Sorry to hear about your camera being stolen.  Hope this gets you back filming."

How mega-cool is this - Oregon Scientific read my blog!  In a nutshell, for those that may have missed it, my car recently got broken into and they took my beloved Contour HD.  A bit more of a delve and I find:

An Oregon Scientific ATC Mini Action Cam and Surf Mount!

The box says, "Records 720p HD", and "Waterproof up to 20m (60 feet)".  That would have been useful given the weather we've had recently!

I'll not have time to look much further right now as I'm at work unfortunately with an ever increasing pile of stuff needed my attention, but I'll be out riding tonight as ever with the Mountainboard Derby guys and will get some footage with full write-up later this week!

For now though, I can 't thank the Oregon Scientific guys enough for doing this for me.  It's much appreciated and I'll be sure to give it a good and thorough testing over the next few weeks.  That's a thought - it'd be perfect for Dave and I might be able to cobble enough footage together to enter the ATJunkies Film festival.

Stay tuned, there's lots to look forward to!

New Year Stuff

2011 - What a year!  And I'm not the only one with Roger 'LeapB4ULook' and Chris '6th Degree' looking back equally fondly.

But no time to reminisce...2012 is here!  No point making definite resolutions since we're all going to die horribly in several apocalypses anyway, so on the off chance that we survive another 12 months, here's the run down of what I'd like to do.... 

Work less!!  Not ride more, as I do quite a lot of that anyway.  No, I'd prefer to work less so that I'm less tired when I do ride.

Ride more often at Hales Superbole.  I love the 'bole and everytime I go, they've built even more stuff.  Plus Mark's a top bloke.  And the BX gets my heart racing a bit too much (in a good way).

Ride at both 'Dave' and Whinlatter for Rounds 1 and 2 of the new UK downhill Series.  Probably not Dunkeld though, it's a bit far for me unless I can convince the family to have a nice holiday up North.

Freeride at:

• Wendover Woods with the Rem boys, 
• explore more of the Chicksands bike park, 
• ride The Wrekin (remembering larger tires and brakes this time), 
• ride the Lickey Hills (new contract job not far from here, fingers crossed), 
• ride Burton Dassett with Jay (beautiful location not far from M40).
• Macclesfield Forest (easy one this - all arranged here)

In general, I'm going to try and film on a semi regular basis, but not so much as it gets in the way of the riding.  Playing with mounts is fun though so this'll keep it all fresh.

Buy some flexi composite axles from noSno.  If I put away a pound a day, I'll be able afford them by August :-D

Plus, I'd like to ride more with more riders in general.  Want to ride with me in the Midlands or can suggest somewhere awesome new to try out?  Please get in touch! So, unless we all die in the meantime, Cheers and happy riding in 2012!

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, but what you probably didn't know is that a close source to to Andy left him a voice message to say "........." [Enough of all that - Ed.].
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

Things I broke this weekend......

....in no particular order.....

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.....

Very cool start to the day...

...as I nipped home to get a bit of lunch and found a package in the front room.  Actually the package was hidden behind the sofa as my 16-month old lad had found it first, but that's not the point.

I'd won a T-shirt, beanie and comic from entering a competition through Remolition to win prizes courtesy of Scartissue Gear.  Supprised me as I never win anything!  All very cool and high quality merchandise.  Point being, if you want some clobber to accompany your shredding, then Scartissue Gear is certainly worth a look!

...In other news

Morning folks, long time no writing....My apologies - I moved house last Wednesday but as yet do not have a working BT phone line, nor did I feel inclined to nip into work to use their connection.  Shame really, as loads has been going on.

Firstly, you don't have to be an eagle-eyed viewer to spot our new fantastic graphics, lovingly created by *WiL* of Decreate and Remolition.  A big, big thank you for your hard work and talent!

A couple of freeride meets in the pipeline, depending on how far you wish to travel - Hemlock Stone this weekend (originally planned for weekend just gone but postponed).  The link takes you to the Surfing Dirt discussion thread.

Alternatively, if you wish for something bigger, Sunday 20th March sees the monthly freeride meet moving to Llantrisant forest, South Wales with good interest already.  The SD discussion thread is here.  If interested sign up on the FB page here.

In the more distant future is the large Allestreee Park meet up with information here, and then not long after, the 2011 ATBA comps start.  It really is quite busy busy!

Back to now though and a quick word about my garage.  In a nutshell, I'm quite excited by the possibilities and potential of the space.  Rough dimensions are 15' x 9' wide with a nice, high ceiling with the only limitations that one corner has to accommodate the washing machine and that I have to leave room to allow the wife's car occasional access.

The jobs to do in no particular order then are to:

• add in extra power points to allow the use of tools in all areas; 
• build a workbench for some of the heavier jobs; 
• build a rack to keep the boards out of the way / display;
• build worktop space for various repair / maintenance tasks.
• generally have some sort of system to keep everything tidy whilst being accessible....

Lots to do then!  Expect a couple of posts in the near future to show updates as and when they happen.

Last, but not least is news that the Derby Skatepark has started already with plenty of digger action taking place right now.  Plenty of news and pictures up on the Derby Skateboard Project blog.

That's all for now...back soon!

Want to plan your daytime (or night -time) riding?

This time of the year is quite limiting for daytime riding, for those of us with regular jobs anyway - the options being: get up early for a pre-work ride, ride during the weekends, or to take a day off.  It'd be nice to know when the daylight will be sufficient for a nice evening, post-work ride.

Thankfully, there is a website I use to help you out! http://www.gaisma.com/en/

Click the pic, select your continent, select your country and select your city, and you'll get the following information:

...detailing sunrise, sunset, dawn and dusk times along with how this will change over a period of time.  Whereas this graph...

...shows the data graphically.  Don't worry about the apparent shift in the lines - this is due to the effect of British Summer Time and the +/-1hour where we all change our clocks.

...Not sure what this graph means, but it looks scientific!

So now you know what daylight you have available and when, so there's no excuse to get planning!  Alternatively, give night-riding a try - it's what all the cool kids are doing!

News in brief.....

A couple of bits and pieces worth making a mention of this week, but in the meantime, welcome to the all-new shortened addressed T-D-B!  After coming top of the recent poll with a staggering 64% of the vote, the change was made, along with lots of little tweaks here and there to make sure all the links were all working.  I'm sure there are one or two that I've missed, or bits that don't quite work yet and for that I apologise, although I'm sure the search box down the right hand side never seems to find stuff correctly.
A new title picture as well, again in the form of find a reasonable photo from the archives and stick 'The Dirt Box' in big letters across it.  Perhaps this one represents a passing from the old, to the new....hmmm.

I'm still not sure that it's very obvious sometimes that this is supposed to be a mountainboard blog for the UK specialising in stuff happening in the Midlands.   I'm not being paid for this so hey ho, on with the updates!

Freeride Sessions: Mam Tor, January16th

The recently started Freeride Sessions Blog has posted details of a freeride session taking place
a week Sunday at the (in)famous Mam Tor.  This disused length of road has been popular with boarders over the years keen to get a bit of quiet road riding, along with a couple of drop-offs - sections of road that have collapsed, hence the lack of vehicle activity.  Not a huge amount of details known at this point though there is a Surfing Dirt thread about the subject here.


View Mountainboard Ride Guide in a larger map

Not sure if I'll be able to attend due to the wife breaking her foot on Tuesday night, but hopefully we'll get to see some words, pictures and videos afterwards.  However, I am loving the 'Freeride Sessions' philosophy of getting peoples interest in a place to then get them interested in a big old session there and hopefully with something happening on a monthly basis, there'll be opportunity to attend something near to all of you in the near future.

December Freeride Revisit: Macclesfield Forest 2010 Rem Write-Up

As hinted about previously on this blog, I was really, really keen to have a repeat of last years visit to Macclesfield forest, a series of trails set in a beautiful setting only around an hours drive away.  A small but select group of us overcome the early mornings and illnesses to ride for a good proportion for the daylight hours and all have a thoroughly good time, despite me loosing my hat somewhere along the way.  I took photos (that came out blurred), and a video as linked to below....




...but for the full monty, you're best off checking out the Rem Report by clicking the big link below...Enjoy!

http://www.remolition.com/features/field-reports/286-macclesfield-forest-dec10-field-report.html

New Year from the-dirt-box.blogspot.com

Happy New Year 4 x4 offroad wheely boarders!

We've got a new web address (assuming the settings work), new articles in the works covering lots of aspects regarding mountainboarding in the East Midlands (and further afield), lots of news covering exciting people doing exciting things on-line and plenty of opportunities to meet-up with like-minded individuals in your area.

Lots to be excited about and it all starts soon...watch this space!

The Big Vote!

 I don't like having two names associated with this blog.  Do you think I should:

• Change the URL to "The-Dirt-Box"
• Change the banner to "notanothermiddleagedboarder"
• Change them both to something shorter/less rude e.g, "The Board Room" or similar?

Eagle eyed regular readers will have spotted the poll that's been running down the right hand edge of the screen and so far the voting is pretty close.  Have your say and I'll implement the results when the poll closes in the new year.

In other blog related news, one to keep an eye on is http://www.freeridesessions.blogspot.com/.  From the creator himself, Marvin writes, "The idea is to pick a place post pictures maps video's onto the blog for everyone to enjoy and to inspire them to make the journey and then we will see you there on the date announced!

Have a say into where the next meet should be on the Surfing Dirt forum here.

Meanwhile, we're sat here in work watching the skies, watching the weather reports, wondering if a bit more snow is on it's way.  If you're wondering how the recent Macclesfield freeride meet-up went, there's the promise of a write-up on the rem-extra blog here.

The Weekly Catchup*

* disclaimer - may not be weekly.....

2011 ATBA-UK Series Dates Announced!!

Round 1 - 21st and 22nd May.
Hales Superbole, Harthill nr Tattenhall, Cheshire, CH3 9LQ .

Round 21 - 8th and 19th June.
The Edge Mountainboard Centre, Much Wenlock, Shropshire, TF13 6PP

Round 3 - 16th and 17th July.
Out To Grass Mountainboard Centre, Malvern, Herefordshire, WR13 5JW.

Round 4 - 20th and 21st August.
IRONSIDES Court Farm Mountainboard Centre, Tillington Herefordshire HR4 8LG

No official word yet on the 2011 downhill course, but a first look has been reported at Remolition here.

New Gear!

Turned 26 for the 7th time last week.  Got a lovely new Protec helmet from the wife (moss green, yum, yum), (little bit tight but hoping it's going to ease in a bit), and some new Hillbilly gloves from Mum and Dad.  One of the issues with the old pair was that towards the end of their life, the palm splint would occasionally fall out.  Hillybilly have addressed this issue with a large rivet that appears to attach splint to glove.

More New Gear!

Like the Hillbillies but don't like the colour?
http://www.mbs.com/productcart/pc/vi...?idProduct=384
http://www.mbs.com/productcart/pc/vi...?idProduct=383
You can purchase them in all black via the MBS website.

New Routes!

I've not shown labels on this map due to wishing to keep it on the hush hush as practically the entire route is private land.  Scouted it out on foot last week, will ride it this week and report back.  Biggest worries are a couple of flat sections mid route, but if the momentum can be kept up, I've got a 1300m single track route literally 15 minutes from my front door.

Weekly Quiz!

To work on most building sites in the UK these days, you need to produce a CSCS card which is gained from passing a test every 5 years or so.  Fortunately, the test is multiple choice and the level of difficulty is similar to those viewers quizzes found at the end of most TV programmes these days.
I'll give you a sample question from the revision book provided....

3.2    Look at these statements about illegal drugs in the workplace.  Which one is true?

A: Users of illegal drugs are a danger to everyone on site.
B: People who take illeal drugs work better and faster.
C: People who take illegal drugs take fewer days off work.
D: Taking illegal drugs is a personal choice so other people shouldn't worry about it.

The test doesn't get much harder than this.

Be safe folks.  More next week! (no guarantee of this)

Fustrating Couple of Weeks

The above photograph pretty much sums up my attempts at recent trails hunting - nice track approximatley 5 foot wide, reasonable gradient, no ramblers or dog walkers, good length, but unrideable in full due to the frequent use of a locked gate or style.

Seems to be the way for footpaths, but not so bad for bridleways (got to get the horse through!) or single track routes which more than often seem to deliver the goods a bit more. I suppose that discouraging anything that might be considered fun is a particularly good way to keep people off your land.

Big disappointment this weekend that I was unable to attend the ATBA-UK Round 4 Final due to a stinking cold; the initial reports seem to suggest that it was a good'un with great weather for the BX at the very least.  As usual, I'll put up a separate post to link to the various articles and videos that should crop up over the next couple of weeks.

Past, Present, Future 27th July 2010

Completely forgot to mention last weekends 'Cream Teas and Jam', the fun-tastic comp run by the BFC lads.  Rather than being a formal affair, riders session different different sections of the centre, (in this instance Bugsboarding) before selecting their top 5 riders.  See how it all went down straight from the Yum Yum BFC pages with a video from Tom Sharp here.

Edit: Official BFC video now online!

Cream Teas and Jam 2010 Round 2 from Rhys Crilley on Vimeo.

(Wonder how long we'll refer to them as videos since the medium is fast disappearing?  Will I ever get opportunity to watch those dusty Jackie Chan videos ever again?)....

Meanwhile, get pumped for this weekends ATBA Round 3 competition down at Haredown Mountain Board Centre. Weather may not be looking all that good, but that doesn't usually stop the die-hards.  Usual format means that it's assumed that the BoarderX will be on Saturday 31st July and Freestyle on Sunday 1st August.  I'll not be there myself due to other commitments (and because its a long way), but am holding out for Round 4 towards the end of August, details as always listed on the ATBA-UK website.

Closer to home, my mate Phill's progressing well on his brakeless Comp 26X.  After adjusting the trucks appropriately it seems to carve nicely and bar the deck starting to become a little floppy, has good quality components throughout.  Is weird to ride due to lack of heel straps, but then that's just me.  We had a nice little session Wednesday night which was going fine till I got a puncture right through my Primo Strikers.  Typical that I spend the week before riding through thorn bushes and all sorts, and then get a puncture on a golf course.  On the advice of Mutley on the Surfing Dirt Forums (instructions here), I've Slime'd my tyres.  Not had opportunity to ride them yet, but I can feel a report coming up soon....