101 Alternate Uses for Grab Handle Holes - Part 1

The Grab Handle - mounts directly to all Pro, Comp and Core series decks or holes can be drilled so that a handle can be fitted enabling kiters and mountainboarders somewhere to hold on to whilst doing their one-foot and no-foot tricks.  "Is a 360 varial possible?", ask MBS?  I have absolutely no idea.

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!

Why bother with puncture repairs in the woods when you can just slip on a new wheel and away you go!  If it's good enough to keep a car tyre in the boot of the car then it's good enough for us, plus we don't require a jack or warning triangle - result!  Just don't forget the correct sized spanner.

No.3 - Drink Holder

Dehydration - the third biggest killer of mountainboarders in the UK after collisions and polar bears.

Keep dehydration at bay with a convenient drinks holder.

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.

Weekend Kit List

My list-of-things-not-to-forget-to-bring-with-me-on-a-mountainboard-weekend is getting a bit tatty now so lets make an online version!  It's been comprehensive enough for this years events and may explain why the boot of my car is a bit of a mess most of the time.

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.

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!

Inspired by a recent Surfing Dirt forum thread, I had opportunity yesterday afternoon to ride Chicksands Bike Park.  Work needed doing just up the road in Bedford, but not too much work fortunately and it seemed like a long way to come without checking out what the woods had to offer.

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.

Dual slalom is ace fun!  I thought riding the bike track at Hales was tight but this is mental.

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.

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!

Dropping into Edensor....

The proposition:

[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. . . . . . . .

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

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'.

190m drop over 1.3 miles equates to an approximately 1 in 11 descent that folks were riding in four and a half minutes on a wet day. 

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.....