Forget the flu let's ride

Me and Mark had been planning a trip to ride Chicksands and Woburn Sands in the same day but last night we both watched the BBC news and weather and got the impression that by morning we'd be dead from swine flu and living underwater from all the rain. 

So we were pretty relieved to be alive in the morning and find that the sun was shining. Unfortunately though, due to me waking up late we were only able to ride at one park and we chose Woburn. 

Dust masks stopped us from catching the flu and the predicted foot of rain didn't turn up. For a couple of hours we were the only riders there so we were able to get some really good riding footage. Rather than just throwing it all together I'm going to take some time and put together a good edit. 

As ever with Woburn there were new features, this time a different line into the hip that jumps over the old track and sends you towards the hip with way more speed than before. I soon found out that ore speed isn't always good. Luckily Mark caught it on camera so keep your eyes peeled once the video's uploaded. 

Solid Bikes Mission 9

Today Peter returned from a holiday to Herrenberg, Germany. Whilst out there he went to a beerfest but more importantly hired out a Solid Bikes Mission 9 and rode the small, but fun little bike park at Bad Wildbad. 

 

The bike park at Bad Wildbad is hidden away in the hills above the quiet little German town. Riders are carried to the park by a funicular, then a T-bar ski lift. There's a choice of two downhill tracks, two freeride tracks, a dual slalom track, a mountain cross track and there's probably some xc loops too. 

When asked about the Mission 9 Pete replied: "Yeah it's really good. I didn't notice riding over any rocks or anything". Luckily a picture paints a 1,000 words so here's 4,000 words worth of photo's. 

Morzine 2009

I've literally just finished booking my Summer riding holiday. I'll be spending two weeks out in Morzine in July, staying with Riders Retreat. 

I've used one of their Chalet's before and they're brilliant. The chalet's got a secure garage for the bikes, a drying room, shoe driers, a sauna and a hot tub! Plus it's about a minutes walk from the Super Morzine uplift. Perfect. This year I'm going with my brother Pete, and hopefully I'll see the Smedley brothers out there too.

Chicksands Video

There was a bit of a theme with yesterday's ride. I forgot to pack any allen keys and Michael forgot to pack spare batteries. I was able to borrow a multi-tool off some riders but no spare batteries means a very short video. Enjoy.

 

Chicksands

Last week I spent an afternoon reliving my teenage years with local boy Michael. We rode around the village doing wheelies and messed around on an Argos kicker ramp for all of five minutes before I got bored and gave up.

So I agreed to take Michael on his first off road experience at Chicksands, Bedfordshire. Chicksands is the perfect place for beginners. All the jumps on the 4x and dual track can be rolled and they're all tabletops so you if you come up short you won't damage yourself or your bike.

We warmed up on the dual track then moved onto the 4x, which Michael preferred. After a while we moved over to the freeride area. It's been about seven months since I last rode Chicksands and a lot of the freeride stuff has changed.

A lot of the original 'chickshore' has been removed. Apparently it's going to be replaced with some new ladder sections. The wooded berm is still there so we both had a go at riding it.

Pushing up from the ski jump I felt something in my back click and I was in agony. Walking, let alone riding was painful and I spent the rest of the afternoon moaning like an OAP.

After lunch we went back to riding the 4x track. Michael had a brilliant attitude towards riding. At the start of the day he was rolling the jumps, maybe catching just a little bit of air, but by the time we went home he was having a great time clearing everything.

Even if he made a mistake and had a near crash he still had a smile on his face and wanted to push back up to the top for another try. Once my backs stopped giving me grief I'm packing him up and bringing him to Aston Hill with me.

Severe weather what?

Last night the MET Office released a sever weather warning for South Wales. To be honest if I hadn't prepaid my £24 for the uplift service at Cwmcarn then I probably would have just stayed in bed.

Looking back most of the bad weather and drama happened in England. Whilst driving down the motorway in the foulest of foul weather a bird flew into my windscreen wipers and completely mangled them.

I floored it onto the hard shoulder and bent them back into place before they broke my windscreen. My temporary fix didn't last long and after another three mends I gave up and called the RAC. Whilst waiting for them to arrive my two favourite blonde brothers the Smedley's arrived to poke fun and keep me company.

Once it was fixed we set off again and convoyed it the rest of the way. As we pulled into the trail centre car park the rain eased up and we began building our bikes up and getting changed.

This was the first time myself and Mark had ridden at Cwmcarn but Alex had raced here at last years student champs race. The black run is the best downhill track I have ever ridden in the UK.

Even in the wet the ground still had plenty of grip and you could really fly down the course. The speeds you get in some of the corners are unbelievable. It was almost impossible not to ride the track without a constant grin.

Unfortunately I was the first one to crash. Riding through the wooded black section I caught a pedal on a tree stump and was sent flying shin first into my handlebars before hitting the ground.

At the time Mark was riding the quicker and truth be told, more fun red route and caught up just as I was rolling on the floor in pain. I moved my bike onto the red route, watched mark fall over and pick himself up then followed him down the rest of the course.

We didn't get any riding shots or film but for anyone who's never been to Cwmcarn here's a video of the track's builder Rowan Sorrell, who I met whilst working for Singletrack, pinning it down his creation. Enjoy.

O'Neal Generator shorts

Being just over six foot tall means that getting a decent pair of riding shorts that fit has always been a bit tricky, but the generator's from O'neal are the perfect length. Unfortunately they don't have any waist adjustments so instead of flashing some leg I'm now flashing some bum. 

Luckily though a mistake at Chain Reaction Cycles meant that I only paid around £30 for them rather than the £64.99 RRP. For my full review check out issue 49 of Singletrack, out next month.

Wellgo MG1 Pedals

Weighing only 377 grams for a pair, the MG1'a are some of the lightest pedals available. With a retail price of only £39.99, and featuring sealed bearings, they are also extremely good value for money. 

I'm a big fan of slim pedals and the Wellgo's didn't disappoint as they feature a very thin profile. Before I tried the pedals out I was thinking about ordering some longer pins, but the standard replaceable ones provide more than enough grip.   

These are the nicest pedals that I've ever ridden and are seriously good value for money. If you're looking for a new set of pedals or trying to shed some of your bikes weight then the MG1's should be at the top of your list. 

Outland Freeride Upgrade Kit

Forty pounds for handlebars, stem and grips is dirt cheap. And they're good pieces of kit as well. Made by Outland this short stem, wide bar combination is brilliant. The grips are lock ons which makes the asking price even better. For more details and my full review check out issue 49 of Singletrack, out next month.

Polaris Outlaw jersey

The Outlaw Jersey from Polaris is a three quarter length offering made from a clever breathable fabrics. It features subtle styling but is a little bit too slim for me. For my full review check out Issue 49 of Singletrack, available next month.

Easter at Aston Hill

Back in January I made my first ever new years resolution; and yesterday, four months into the year I managed to stick to it. When I woke up the ground was covered in puddles and it was still trying to rain. Pete had travelled home from Reading just to ride so going back to bed wasn't really an option.  

When we arrived at Aston Hill and started getting kitted up we were still at cloud level so couldn't really see much. We did a run of DH3 and soon found that as soon as you stopped pedaling you stopped moving. Nevertheless the track was still fun to ride. After pushing up to the car park we met up with the Smedley brothers. 

DH3 turned out to be the safest and most fun track to ride. DH4, my favourite track was a struggle to stay on, and the black run had us all bouncing off trees. Unfortunately it was too wet to even think about the 4x track. 

Whilst the top downhill riders in the world were sprinting down a dry sunny track in South Africa we were sliding down a muddy hill in South England, having just as much fun. 

My Neoguard kept most the mud off my goggles and my waterproof trousers were amazing. They kept my legs warm and dry, stopped mud pulling my leg hair off and stopped the saddle sore you get from riding with a wet arse. 

Seal Skinz socks kept my feet warm and more importantly dry, allowing me to keep on riding. I really enjoyed riding in the wet which is good as the outlook for Fridays trip to Cwm Carn is bleak to say the least.  

I woke up this morning to the sound of Pete hosing down both bikes. By the time I'd had breakfast and thrown some clothes on all that was left to do was put some oil on the chain. Result.

Loose lips sink ships

It's a bit wet at the moment so I've been out making the most of the soft ground by doing some digging, and that's all you need to know until everything is finished. 

Aston Hill video

As promised here's a quick video of yesterday's riding. Like all my vids the editing isn't great but the riding is... 

Aston Hill

It's been over a year since I last rode at Aston Hill and a lot has changed up there since then. Thankfully it's all changed for the better. 

A team of volunteers have put in a lot of hard work to keep the trails maintained and riding better than ever. 

If I'm honest I never used to have a lot of good things to say about Aston but today was great. DH4 is still my favourite track up there with it's drops and tight switch backs but even the infamous black run was fun to ride. 

A fair amount of time was spent playing about on, and filming the jumps on the 4x track so there'll be a video posted up here soon.

I had a few attempts at the road gap but never quite managed to clear it smoothly. Alex on the other hand managed to float over it on his first run. 

Surprisingly the hill was pretty empty with just a handful of other riders making the most of the good weather. 

No write up of Aston Hill is complete without mentioning the push up. Yes it's tiring and an uplift service would be great but there's no denying that the 15 minute struggle isn't worth it.

Woburn Sands ride

This weekend my older brother, Pete joined me and some riding friends for a trip to Woburn Sands. The original plan was to wake up early so that we could spend the morning riding at Woburn and the afternoon at Chicksands. 

Unfortunately Pete's bike had other plans and he spent the morning getting it fixed at our local bike shop who have always done a great job of looking after both our bikes. They managed to get his cranks secure and spinning and we were able to spend the afternoon riding. 

Pete is an annoyingly naturally talented rider. He often goes months without spending any time on a bike, only to be riding at his usual high standard within minutes. 

One of the fun things about riding at Woburn is that it's constantly changing, and today was no exception. The trail gap has had a bit of a revamp with the take-off being raised and moved further away from the landing. 

The trail gap is now bigger than ever but still has the super smooth landing it's always had. For me though, the best part of Woburn is the hip jump trail which we spent a lot of the day sessioning. 

We all put in a couple of runs on the smaller road gap, which we managed to get a video of before the camera ran out.