Last ride of the year

So much has changed at Woburn that I barely recognised it. Even with the cold weather and puddles it was a great days riding. But seriously who wrecked the hip jump?

Fixed!!! Well, it's rideable

The brakes have no power and the rear wheel bearings have just gone but it works. Just about. If the rain finally stops then I'm going riding tomorrow.

Snow ride

I'm back home in the 'shire and there's still a bit of 'snow' kicking about so I put some thermals on and went out for a little ride. It was so fun. Everyone should try it.

Christmas came early

A trip home at the weekend meant a trip to my local bike shop to pick up some new parts for my Stinky. I think I've got everything to get it going again; there's a mech hanger, a new mech, a new chain, new brake pads, a new skewer and new bearings.

There's also some new gloves but they're not going to help get my bike built. I've probably forgotton a load of parts but right now I think that's everything.

Interview ideas

How do you come up with interview questions when you have the attention span of a six year old? Well, first you put on a riding DVD, grab a pen and notepad and scribble down whatever comes to mind.

When the film's finished, type them up on your mac and get it printed off. Then cut them out and re-arrange them into an order that makes sense. Finally send them to your editor and hope to God that he likes them.

Crackers

This is barely news. And it's not even about mountain bikes. I just wanted to show off what I got in my Christmas cracker last night. Enjoy!

Cannock Chase with IMBike Mag

I was like the kids from the Disney Land advert last night. I think Rou had already woken up and set off before I'd managed to nod off. Rou had invited me to join him on a ride so I had to get my bike clean and fixed sharpish.

Cannock Chase is an amazing place to ride with something for everything. Check out the next issue of IMBike mag for the full write up and pictures of riding rather than my bike in the living room.

Learn with Laurence

Two years ago one of my mates announced that he couldn't ride a bike and never wanted to learn.  Over the summer he changed his mind and I've been helping him to learn. By helping I mean I've lent him a bike and laugh at him when he falls off. 

Laurence set up a blog about learning to ride which you can find by clicking here. By Christmas he wants to be able to take part in a charity ride so if anyone knows of any taking place in Stoke on Trent please let me know. 

Also if you're after movie reviews click here, and to read about someone giving up beer and fast food click here.

Twitter?

I'm still not sure about twitter, but it could be useful for doing really small posts on here. Anyway, I've set one up and there's a feed to it on here now. It might stay. It might not.

Back to Soke

I've been back at uni for a few weeks now. Normally this means only riding every few weeks but I've been out at least once a week so far although most of it's been XC rides. Still, it's good to get out and ride. 

There's a few new members on the cycling club who've shown us some new places to ride and there's still lots of places left to explore. My new house has got a cellar making it safer to keep a bike up here so I've brought my GT Moto with me. 26'' wheels and gears make the XC outings a lot easier!

With a bit of luck my student loan will come through and I'll be able to fix my stinky. Or not

Morzine Video

I put this video together weeks ago but the internet out in the sticks is rubbish so I didn't try uploading it till last night. And it worked! Hope you enjoy it, and a big thanks to Max from Collisions and Consequences for the music.

What's been going on?

So, my first real post since Morzine. I've been working as much as possible to try and get my bike fixed but temp jobs don't pay well and don't last for long so my Stinky's still sat in the shed looking sorry for itself. 

I've been out on my hardtail a few times. Aston Hill was an interesting experience, not sure I'll try that again. 

Pete recently moved to a new flat with space to keep a bike. A few days after he moved I got an excited call from him as he'd found some tracks. Minutes later I got another phone call telling me about some jumps he'd found. 

So the next day me and Mark drove down to check them out. Pete wasn't lying. The trails were seriously fun and great for riding on hardtails. It was already mid afternoon by the time we got there so we didn't get much riding in. 

The following weekend I woke up and drove down to Pete's before he'd even got out of bed. We spent the morning riding a brilliant little BMX track then after lunch and a nap headed back to the woods.

If you want to check the woods out for yourself they're opposite the festival site on the other side of the river. Up on the hilly bit. You know the bit I'm talking about right? No? Then have a look on Google Maps.

Morzine Photos

Mark took over 400 photograph's while we were away. Obviously not all of them could be used in posts and not all of them would fit on here so here's a selection of the best that haven't been posted already. There's some action shots, some scenic shots and some messing around shots.

Morzine by numbers

250  Pounds spent on repairs 

100 Euros spent each on a lift pass 

85 Degrees celsius, the top temperature in the sauna 

52  Pan au chocolat's got eaten 

6 'Celebrity' bikers spotted 

5 Spokes had to be replaced 

4 Sets of brake pads were worn out

3 Punctures 

2 Rear mechs and hangers got smashed 

AND 

1 Marmot was spotted from a chair lift

Morzine day thirteen: C'est finished

I'm done. Smashed another rear mech when I landed a road gap on the Chatel Mountain Style course. I can't afford a new one and no-one in Morzine had a mech hanger for a Kona Stinky so I couldn't even ride chain less for the rest of the afternoon.

The run in to the gap was proper steep. I had my brakes on the whole way down and on the take off and I still went too big. I landed a bit far down but was able to ride it out.

It's meant to chuck it down with rain tomorrow so I probably wouldn't have ridden anyway. I'm off to have a few Mutzig's. Thanks to anyone who's followed my blog, left a comment or just popped on here once in a while.

Morzine day twelve: Mechanicals on Mont Chery

We all got woken up at 5 this morning by a huge bolt of thunder so none of us were in the mood for an early start. By the time we got up the weather wasn't that bad but no-one was in a rush to ride. 

After lunch we went over to Les Gets. Me and Pete rode the main track on Mont Cery while the others rode some of the lesser known tracks. On my second run I heard a nasty crack near the end of the trail. 

I washed my bike and checked all the welds but it looked fine. I had a bit of a play around and saw that the shock mount bolt had snapped in half so that was the end of my day. After a bbq at the Sherpa bar I fitted a new bolt while Allen replaced a spoke for me and Dave had a go at fixing my  rear brake and Pete stripped and cleaned my BB. 

It's meant to be nice and sunny tomorrow so gonna try and get as much riding in as possible. Hopefully I'll get to ride Mont Chery again. Love the main track and apparently this is the last year it's going to be open.

Morzine day eleven: Morgins etc.

We all went separate ways this morning. Myself and Pete went to Morgins; Mark and Allen went to look at the Mountain Style course, and Alex and Matt got in a stranger's van and went to Pila.  

For the first time this holiday I woke up and put some sun tan lotion on so I was a bit surprised when I got rained on on a chairlift. I'd been wanting to go to Morgins since we got here. Last year the track was so smooth and physically demanding, but this year it was a bit of a let down. 

There weren't as many braking bumps as the local tracks but there were still some pretty big craters in some of the corners. The rain didn't really affect the grip on the track but after I slipped a pedal and shinned myself we headed back to Chatel. 

We bumped into Allen and Mark and spent the rest of the afternoon riding some tracks in Chatel and Linderates. It's now chucking it down with rain with some lightening thrown in for good measure. It's meant to be like this all day tomorrow so don't know what we'll be riding. 

Morzine day ten: Le hangover

I'm flying home on Saturday and when I get back I think it's going to be a while before I head out on my bike again. Everything on it is breaking. The bearings in the frame and rear hub are gone and on three separate runs yesterday I snapped my chain, bent my mech hanger and snapped a spoke. 

With that in mind I went out with a few of the guys from the chalet for a quick drink. I think we got back at half one. The plan was to wake up early and go for a ride in Morgins but my hangover didn't wear off till about three. 

I stayed local and did a run of Pleney with Alex and Matt. We sweated our faces off in the chairlift and about a minute into the ride I got a puncture and had to push down. Should probably go and fix it so I can ride tomorrow.

Weather's meant to be good and I haven't had any drink tonight so Morgins is on the cards.

Morzine day eight: Chatel bike park

Pete slipped a pedal yesterday and did a pretty good job of messing his shin up so he had a day off today. The rest of us went over to ride at the Chatel Bike Park. Before we even made it to the main trails Alex sent it off the road gap, making it look so easy. 

There's a huge jump in the difficulty of the tracks over at Chatel. They're either pretty easy and flowy or steep and proper technical, but still fun to ride. Alex and Matt spent the day trying to ride every track going. Me and Mark joined them for a few but also spent some time in the drop zone.

On the way back to Morzine we stopped off in Linderates for a quick ride of 'Zeus Juice'. The track had completely dried out and was so fast, but was a little bit beaten up. Still fun though. Then it was just a case of getting on the road and coasting it back to Morzine. 

Simple. Except I took a corner too quick and skidded out. Pretty scary actually! Thought I was going to get run over by a car. My knee's a little sore but it should be fine by tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow the weather's meant to be cloudy but still dry.

Morzine day seven: Game over?

Headsets shouldn't look like this. Mine does. Whilst riding yesterday the top part of my headset felt a bit loose so I fitted an extra spacer on it and it rode for the rest of the day. Heading out to Morgins this morning  my bike started making a horrible clonking sound. 

I tightened everything up but the sound wouldn't go away. When we got to the top of the Monsette uplift I loosened the stem bolts and headset and the lower cups fell out. I had no choice other than to get back on the lift and take it easy back to Morzine. 

A french guide told me the word for 'broken' but the uplift guy didn't understand it. He also didn't understand 'snapped', 'kaput', 'cracked', or 'busted' but the word 'fucked' got the message across.

My bikes in a repair shop right now but it's not a case of simply fitting a new headset. The lower cups need to be really deep so the forks don't hit the down tube when I x-up and there's a pretty high chance the head tube has flared. 

Anyone wanna buy me a new frame? Solid Mission 7,  Specialized SX Trail or Morewood Izimu would do very nicely.

Morzine day six: A trip to La Clusaz with the search

Before we flew out here Mark booked a few of us on a day trip to La Clusaz with the search. Mark had ridden there before and wanted to go back, and I fancied a day of riding trails that weren't covered in braking bumps.

Nick and James arrived bright and early and soon had our bikes on the trailer and our 'dirty box' in the back of the van. La Clusaz's just over an hour away from Morzine and the trip was worth every penny.I wasn't really awake when we left and when we got there I realised I'd left my gloves and Knee pads back at the chalet. James took pity on me and lent me a pair of spare gloves and his elbow pads which stretched over my tiny legs. 

It's gonna be pretty hard describing the tracks they've got up there. There's only so many times you can write the words smooth, fun, and flowy. The top section on the first mountain is pretty narrow but still really fast with some tight berms and loose rocks. 

Then it opens up with some big table tops, step downs and a road gap big enough to scare some riders and excite others. Nick and James hit it straight away. On the last run down I followed Nick into it and realised what I'd been missing out on.

The second trail on the mountain cuts into the forest and twists its way down. It's a pretty long track with more tight corners. The track is really satisfying but by the end of it my arms and even my feet were aching like mad. 

The second mountain is much more open with some big berms. If you prefer steep off camber rooty corners then the guys are more than happy to point them out to you. I can't remember much of the track except there's a huge tabletop on part and an indiana jones style rope bridge! 

The guys from the search rode with us all day but it was always up to us where we rode and how fast we rode. They were great. The journey back to Morzine was a bit of a challenge to see who could stay awake the longest. Luckily Nick who was driving won.

Morzine day five: More rain!

When it rains here it sounds like someone is blasting the window with a pressure washer. And that's what we all woke up to this morning. We waited till it stopped then got on the Super Morzine uplift to go and ride the trails at Linderates again.

After all last nights rain and the rain from the morning, "Zeus Juice' was insanely sllippy. I think everyone must have slipped off at some point. Me and Pete didn't even bother with the other trails and Mark went home after just two runs. What me and Pete did do was go and ride an all mountain trail with Paul and Lewis over in Switzerland.

There were a few uphill sections and pedally bits but it was still a fun track and Paul and Lewis are great to ride with. When we rolled back into Linderates we bumped into Alex and Matt who'd been riding 'Tuna Kebab' or 'Poke the Pasty'. Something wet and slippy.
Me and Pete had to head back to Morzine via Gravellanche so we could get are bikes clean for our trip to Les Clusaz tomorrow and so Pete could buy some more spokes. He's picked up and expensive habbit of snapping them on rocks.

Anyone staying in Morzine needs to buy some meat and get themselves to the Sherper Bar on Wednesday evenings for the weekly free BBQ. You provide the meat, they provide everything else. I stuffed my face. The others are still there now but I couldn't afford to buy €7 bottles of Magners.Weather for Morzine is meant to be more rain tomorrow, although where we're off to is meant to be dry. Hopefully. 

Morzine day four: Another ride, another mechanical

Once again it was another late start today. We all woke up nice and early but to the sound of it pissing it down outside.  

After lunch we waterproofed up and headed out to the trails at Lindarets for a bit of wet fun. The main chair lift was above the clouds and it was freezing. The tracks were new to all of us but they were great fun.

Lots of big open berms, some jumps and the odd technical section to spice things up, oh, and a herd of cows trying to knock us off. Had a few wipeouts on some corners. Wet trails on dry weather tyres just doesn't go well. 

Heading down to the end of the track I noticed my back wheel felt all over the place. One of the bolts that holds it in place had loosened and come off so I had to take it proper easy on the road back to Morzine. Gonna try and bodge a quick release skewer on it so I can keep riding. 

Weather's meant to brighten up tomorrow. Alex and Matt are thinking about going Swiss side to Morgin. Myself, Pete and Mark might pop over to Chatel. At least then if it's wet we can always head back and ride Lindarets again.

Morzine day three: A day in Les Gets

Another late start today. We woke up early enough but after yesterdays rain and the chance of more rain later on meant that no-one really had much motivation. We waterproofed up, fitted our neoguards and headed out to Les Gets. 

On the way over Alex slid out on some board walk and I decided to join in on the action and spanked it as well. 

When we got to Les Gets we jumped on the Chavannes chairlift then rode over to the new tracks. They're pretty fun but a lot of the jumps on the trails don't really work and sap up loads of energy. Although the jump at the start of the black run (pictured) is pretty cool. 

I can't remember the name of the trail but the bottom section of it was awesome. Nice big berms and some rooty sections in between. 

We caught up with some other guys from the Chalet and they took us down some of the unmarked tracks then me, Mark and Pete did some runs on Mont Chery while Alex and Matt went back to the new trails. 

The predicted rain didn't show up so we were all sweating a bit in our waterproof trousers, except Pete who tore his open at the crotch, and spent the afternoon showing off his pants to anyone and everyone. 

It's meant to rain all day tomorrow so I don't know what we'll ride. Especially now Pete's waterproofs are useless.

Hi Marian and David!