Winterberg Ski and Snowboard

With two riding trips to Morzine, racing in the Megavalanche and going to mulitple weddings, me and my girlfriend never really had a chance to go on a proper summer holiday together. A couple of weeks ago we saw people boasting about German Christmas markets coming to their towns. We got talking and she said she'd really like to go to a real one, but she also wanted to go skiing again.

I'd never been on a snow sports holiday but really wanted to get into snowboarding. She'd never been to Germany but wanted to go to a Christmas market. Hmm, a plan was hatched. To Winterberg!

I went  biking here last year and loved the town so was keen to visit again, and learning to snowboard gave me an excuse to buy a cool coat and more goggles! Love my goggles. I booked a few lessons at Xscape, spoke to Ellis who I'd stayed with before and soon enough we were on the flight over to Dortmund.

In the weeks leading up to the holiday I'd been frantically checking the live web cameras of the slopes, but had yet to see a single snow flake. Needless to say it was a massive relief to start seeing more and more snow as the train made it's way to the small town. In fact we were incredibly lucky and had fresh snow every day! More than enough to have our own beer fridge on the balcony...

The first day was spent on a blue slope, with both of us trying to remember how to ski or board. By the second day we'd figured out how to use the maps and ventured out. It wasn't until the third day that I made it down a red run without nearly killing myself! Great fun though.

On Thursdays the slopes are floodlit so you can stay out till late and ski in the dark. The lifts run until 10pm, and while we weren't overly tired, cold or worn out, we didn't make it to the end, just because we couldn't take anymore euro-pop! On the way back to the B&B Harriet went a bit 'urban' skiing down the roads. Not quite J.P Auclair style, but pretty cool to watch!

By the final day we really didn't want to leave, but it was Christmas Eve and we really needed to be heading home!

Downhill World Champs 2011

Danny Hart has cemented his place in the history books, winning the 2011 World Champs by an incredible 11 and a half seconds! Champéry is without a shadow of a doubt the steepest and most technical track out there and conditions could not have been any worse. Rain poured down the mountainside for the entire race, and the fog and mist made it almost impossible for the riders to see more than a few feet in front of them.


Brendan Fairclough was the first contender for the World Champion title, and was up at the first split onboard his new carbon-fiber demo 8. Fairclough has had a pretty tough season, after seriously damaging his knee in the opening round of the World Cup at Pietermaritzburg. Fairclough opted to have his ACL removed so he could be back on his bike as soon as possible, his sole aim for the season to do well here in Champéry. He crossed the line in 3:55.124 putting him in the hot seat and earning him fourth place. Not the result he would have wanted, but still a great performance none-the-less.

Fairclough’s MES team mate Sam Hill was also a serious contender for getting the gold. Hill may have missed out on the final rounds of the World Cup series after aggravating his shoulder injury in a crash whilst training, but as he proved last year he’s never one to rule out, especially on a track as steep and technical as this.

With his title to defend Hill put on one hell of a show, picking some crazy lines and looking seriously fast. But it wasn’t to be enough and he crossed the line just over two and a half seconds behind Fairclough, but still taking a top ten finish. Hopefully next year Hill will be able to stay injury free throughout and make a return to form.

According to the rumor mill the French team has been training at Champéry ever since the final round of the World Cup at Val di Sol. However true that may or not be, any time the French riders had been putting in, it certainly paid off, with Damien Spagnola and Mickael Pascal finishing in second and fifth place respectively. Fellow countryman Fabien Barel was waiting to congratulate both of them as soon as they crossed the finish line. No doubt his racing experience played a huge roll in the team’s success.

Josh Bryceland was hotly tipped to do well, however after taking the high line on a berm early on in the track he crashed out over the bars and his carbon V-10 sailed passed the crash net and down the side of the mountain, leaving him unable to finish his race run and understandably devastated.

Kiwi rider Sam Blenkinsop was also tipped to do well here and he didn’t disappoint. Blinky seems to really excel on tracks such as this and he proved that once again today finishing in third place. Like so many other riders Blenkinsop was caught out by a blown out berm that also trapped many others.

Blenkinsop’s former team mate and fellow New Zealander Justin Leov is a solid rider and top ten regular but he crashed out and ended up finishing 23rd. Andrew Neethling and Brook Macdonald were also unable to beat Spagnola’s time.

All eyes were on Danny Hart as he set off from the start gate. At just 19 years old Danny has had the season of his life and he was looking to end it with another stellar performance. Hart was the first and only rider to tackle the blind log drop putting him over four seconds in the lead at the first split. Riding his incredible, all-out loose style Hart was in a different league to everyone else and went up an incredible 10 seconds at the next split! Coming into the final section, Danny pulled an insane whip and sprinted across the finish line over eleven seconds faster than anyone else. No question about it, Danny absolutely destroyed the competition.

Only three riders could knock Hart off the top spot, and Gee Atherton was one of them. A former World Champion himself, and winner here last year in similar conditions, if Gee held it together the title could be his once again. Gee hadn’t had the best couple of days in the run up to the race, knocking himself out in a crash in practice, and the nightmare continued for him today, crashing twice in his race run and ending up way down in the field.

Minnaar can always be relied on to succeed, but he just couldn’t put everything together, and although he put in a great run, he just couldn’t match Hart’s time and finished in eighth place.

Just Aaron Gwin left. Could he be the first American rider to win the World Champs since 2000? Gwin exploded onto the race scene with a top ten finish in his first World Cup race at Mont Sainte Anne, and this season with a new team and a new bike he’s had a second wave, winning five of the World Cup rounds and taking the season overall. Gwin seems to find time where no-one else can, so if anyone could beat Hart it would be him.

At the first split Gwin was just under a second behind Hart’s time. With so much of the track left Gwin had every chance of making that time up and taking the win. But a crash nearing the final second handed the title to Hart. Today Danny truly is the champion of the world!

1st Danny Hart (GBR) – 3:41.989
2nd Damien Spagnola (FRA) – 3:53.688
3rd Sam Blenkinsop (NZL) – 3:54.982
4th Brendan Fairclough (GBR) – 3:55.124
5th Mickael Pascal (FRA) – 3:56.631

Of course it would be impossible to talk about today’s race without mentioning Fabien Barel. After finishing fourth at La Bresse at the start of August, and on home soil, Barel announced that he would be retiring from racing and that the World Championships would be his last race.

A few days later, whilst on a training ride Barel crashed and broke four ribs leaving him unable to compete at the final round of the World Cup in Val di Sol. Barel was one of the most determined and focused riders on the circuit and has come back from injury before. Riding clipped in pedals and with his ribs still broken Barel sprinted across the finish line and finished 10th.

No doubt bikes will continue to play a huge part in Barel’s life, but he will be sadly missed from the race scene. All the best Fabien, and thank you for being one of the best riders out there, both on and off the track.

IMB Issue 12 Goes Live

Issue 12 of IMB has just gone live. It's quite funny looking back through the last launch post and reading the words: "here's to hoping it won't be as bad next issue!". It was as bad. This issue there was the added challenge of trying to write the Trail Guide with no recollection of any of the day's riding.

After driving all the way up to Fort William for the World Cup it made sense to visit one of the 7Staines trail centres, and we hooked up with ride guide/coach Clive Forth. The photos from the day look amazing, so I can only assuming the riding matched it, as I overshot one of the jumps in the skills area, crashing on the take-off to the next jump and knocking myself unconscious. Smooth.

I woke up on the ground with no idea where I was, what I'd been doing or where the brand new DaKine clothes I was wearing had come from. Hopefully it'll make for a good read!

Fort William

Mabie Trail Guide

Leogang World Cup

Please somebody tell me they also got confused by the whole time difference thing and missed out on an hours racing!

After a month of waiting we've been spoilt with two back to back weekends of top notch World Cup racing. Trek's Aaron Gwin has now won two of the three races this season after beating second place Gee Atherton by just over two seconds.

Brook Mcdonold was looking for a repeat of last week's success at Fort William and once again found himself on the hot seat watching the rest of the field coming down trying to better his time. Sadly Brook's hadn't done enough this week but he still finished in an impressive tenth place.

It was Sam Hill who knocked him off the top spot and went on to finish fifth, giving the Monster Energy Specialized rider his World Cup podium since 2009. Team mate and fellow Australian Troy Brosnan finished 15th after a small crash on a corner that caught out many. Brendan Fairclough came in a disappointing 31st on a track that many thought would suit his riding style.

Danny Hart really excels on these steep tracks and was surely hoping for another spot on the podium. He was the fastest rider down in Friday's timed practice so knew he was capable of something special. Hart looked much more in control of his bike this week and almost seemed to float over the roots strewn across the course. Hart came so close to Hill's time and ended up finishing in sixth place.

Blenkinsop is another rider who laps up the steeper technical courses. Blinky finished fourth here last year after qualifying first but just couldn't find it this year and ended up in ninth place.

Last year's winner and next man down Greg Minnaar was up on Hill's time at the first split and took the lead by three and a half seconds. Justin Leov couldn't catch Minnaar's time, then Andrew Neethling and Fabien Barel crashed in their race runs, guaranteeing Minnaar a spot on the podium.

Steve Smith's first split time placed him in 21st but he went on to put down a solid run and earnt himself a place on the podium finishing in fourth. Gee Atherton was absolutely flying down and looked faster than anyone. Atherton proved exactly why he's the defending World Cup champion and finished three and a half seconds up on Minnaar's time.

All eyes were now on Aaron Gwin who had once again finished first. Even with a crash at Fort William Gwin finished fifth. How would he cope today, would the pressure of being last rider down get to him again? Well, the short answer is no! Gwin looked to be in a league of his own and was up at the first split by five seconds. A slip on the pedals cost him time but he still won with a two second lead!

1st Aaron Gwin - 3:44.181
2nd Gee Atherton - 3:46.294
3rd Greg Minnaar - 3:49.902
4th Steve Smith - 3:52.123
5th - Sam Hill - 3:53.406

Gwin's win means that he is once again heading up the overall standings, with a lead over Minnaar of 46 points. There's now a three week break before racing continues at Mont Saine Anne, Canada; home to last year's World Champs race won by Sam Hill.

Full results as well as press releases from all the teams can be found here.

Fort William World Cup

Santa Cruz Syndicate's Greg Minnaar and Trek World Racing's Tracy Moseley have now made it an incredible five wins each at Fort William after an afternoon of some of the most exciting racing ever seen on the world cup circuit.


After a bad start to his World Cup Season in Pietermaritzburg, and a disappointing qualifying run Mick Hannah was keen to make amends and promptly did so, getting himself onto the hot seat.

Few riders came close to Hannah's time but no-one seemed able to match the power Hannah put down in the final part of the track. Josh Button managed to knock Hannah off the top spot, closely followed by Scott 11 rider Fabien Pedemanaud. Then Brook McDonald smashed Pedemanaud's time by over seven seconds, really putting the pressure on every at the top of the mountain.

McDonald's time was untouchable and it wasn't until Minnaar crossed the line that he was knocked off, but with only three riders left McDonald was guaranteed a place on the podium.

Danny Hart was the next rider down and was getting seriously wild on the top section of the track. He was over the moon placing third in qualifying but would he be able to step it up on his race run? He crossed the line greeted by the loudest roar from the crowd just over a second behind Greg's time.

Next rider down Gee Atherton was under so much pressure after winning here last year, but as he crossed the finish line it was clear that something wasn't quite right. In fact Gee's rear wheel was smashed to pieces yet he was still able to ride to the bottom of the course and finish in fourth place.

All eyes were on Aaron Gwin as he set off from the starters gate. After winning the first round and the US open many people were expecting Gwin to walk away with first place again today. Gwin's time at the second split would have put him in first place, but a small mistake cost him dearly and he ended up finishing in fifth, allowing Minnaar not only to win at Fort William for the fifth time, but also to take the overall lead.

1st Greg Minnarr - 4:43.854
2nd Danny Hart - 4:45.153
3rd Brook McDonold - 4:45.788
4th Gee Atherton - 4:46.858
5th Aaron Gwin - 4:47.047

Full results here.

Need a new car? Buy a shitter!

Yep, that’s my top consumer tip for the day. If you’re into mountain biking and you’re in the market for a new car, buy the worst one you can find. Why? Because bikes ruin cars.

Anyone who knows anything about bikes and the havoc they’ll cause has ever even thought about designing a car. I’ve been driving for six years and had two ‘good’ cars and two awful ones. Without a doubt the best ones for lugging a bike around have been the rubbish ones.

I learnt to drive in a Peugeot 205 1.1GL with a manual choke and only four gears. Just to make it even more appealing the body panels on the front of the car were a different shade of red to those at the back. But it was my first car and I loved it.

Well, at first I loved it, but then my friends started getting cars as well, and they all managed to get better cars than me so I ended up being the butt of most their jokes. But the jokes on them when you don’t care about the car you’re driving. After all, if you’re ever driving in convoy, why should you stop just because they have?

And the whole not caring attitude is what makes crap cars perfect for bikers. The 205 did it’s service and lasted just under a year and a half before it gave up and was scrapped. Actually thinking about it, I was a bit sad when it got towed away. It may have been an awful car, but it was my awful car.

Anyway, the money I’d managed to save by owning an economic meant I had some put to the side and was able to buy my dream car.; a 306 1.9tds with gti6 alloys. Fast car, nice wheels, useless at getting a bike from A to B. I absolutely loved that car; right up to the point the cam belt snapped on the fast lane of the M6 to Stoke.

Loving the car was what made it so bad for biking. At first I went down the bike carrier route to get everywhere with, and you can see why. No muddy bike on the boot? Sounds ideal? Almost, but the straps rub away on the boot paintwork and the weight of a bike rack and downhill bike pushes the bumper off the chassis.

I was in my final year of university when my beloved 306 tried to kill me. Getting through uni without a car wouldn’t have been a problem, but I’d agreed to do a week’s worth of ‘work experience’ at a local paper when the term ended so was in desperate need of a car to get me there and back everyday.

I had about a hundred pounds to my name at the time, and thankfully my Dad offered to loan me the money for a new car, that he would also pick out.

What followed was probably one of the most depressing weeks of my life. I broke up with my at the time girlfriend, saw my 306 get taken away for scrap, threw up in a Tesco’s car park in front of my dad and worst of all was greeted by a 1996 red Ford Fiesta 1.2 Classic upon my arrival home.

To try and force some sort of bond with it I named her Ruby, thinking maybe if I personalised her she would grow on me and I’d learn to like her. It didn’t work like that. For the first month that I owned Ruby every time I drove her I cried with despair.

Everything about her annoyed me. I could and probably did make a list of everything that annoyed me about it. The ‘classic’ badge stuck on the boot just added insult to injury. This wasn’t a classic car, not by a long shot. Ford just had a delivery of sh*t Fiesta’s they couldn’t budge before they bought out the new version so they stuck a ‘classic’ badge on the back and sent them out to showrooms across the country.

In the short time I had the full Fiesta experience, the boot lock broke with £££ worth of bikes in the back, two wheels buckled, my mate threw up down the side of it and the exhaust fell off.

But being so rubbish at being a car, made Ruby so good at being a bike carrier. My friends were too embarrassed to be seen in it, or even let me park it outside their houses, so I never had to worry about giving people lifts. Not having to cart people around meant I could tear out the bike seats and left me with more space for bikes.

As I didn’t care about it, I didn’t care about the state of the bikes and kit when I chucked it all in the back. It was perfect, even if I could only drive everywhere at 55mph. And that was pushing it.

I knew the Fiesta wasn’t going to last forever and I didn’t exactly have high hopes for it as the MOT loomed. I pretty much knew it was going to fail, but I had no idea it would fail so spectacularly; it was almost as if it didn’t try.

The mechanic at the garage felt too bad about breaking the news to me, so waited for me to phone him before he let me know the damage. It turned out he’d given up on the test after writing a page worth of notes with the words ‘engine rebuild’ scribbled at the bottom. Needless to say Ruby’s days were numbered. Still, I got £70 for scrapping her. Truth be told that’s the only money my dad ever saw for it. Sorry dad.

So, it was time to look for another car and I decided to give Ford another chance to shine and found myself a nice Focus. Amazing car; rubbish courier. Within days of owning it and after one trip out with a bike I’d managed to ruin it.

Pedal scratches on the bumper, chips on the door panels and mud everywhere. A few months down the line and thing’s aren’t getting any better. Slowly but surely bikes are destroying the best car I’ve owned. It’s got to the point that I’ve found myself reminiscing about the Fiesta, in all it’s terrible glory.

There’s no two ways about it, my next car is going to have to cost about 50p, be falling apart and come from the dodgiest dealer around. Or be a van. Actually you know what, a van would probably be much better. Forget everything you’ve just read and do what I’m about to do and start saving for a van.

Rogate DH Take Two

Work a three day week? You must be mad! I did what so many other people across the country did and booked them off and headed out riding. So on Wednesday me and Pete loaded up the car and drove down to Rogate.

I absolutely loved it there last time and it was eve better the second time round. A lot has changed since my last visit, not least the weather. All the tracks are now taped out making them, and the push ups much more obvious. The bottom doubles have also been turned into tabletops, making them more accessible for those new to jumping. Although it did make them look a lot tamer in photos...

The top section at Rogate is so exposed and had dried out so much it was like riding in a sandpit, but rather than complaining we just stuck to the tracks that started at the fireroads. Some of the little drops and jumps caught us out on the first run down and later on I managed to set myself up on a proper sketchy line!

As well as the two main tracks we tried out some of the tighter slightly technical runs. I had a go at seeing how far I could get down without using my breaks, almost doubled up two drops and then wiped out on a berm. I'd seriously recommend giving it a go! Maybe not the crashing though.

We had the whole place to ourselves all day which meant we could mess about with the camera without getting in anyone's way. Can't wait for the next visit!

Transition TR250

I've got this on loan from Surf Sales for a few weeks as a 'first ride' test bike. Only been out on it a few times but it's as good as it looks! Plenty more riding planned for as long as I've got it. Check out the 'first ride' review here.

Pietermaritzburg World Cup

What a start to the season for Trek World Racing with Aaron Gwin and Tracey Moseley both taking the win at Pietermaritzburg, South Africa!

Peaty set the standard for the day smashing his qualifying time and looked more than comfortable in the hot seat. It was so good to see Peaty back on form and back on top, especially after the trouble he had last season.

Devinci's Steve Smith came close but just couldn't catch Peaty's time. Sam Hill was up at the first split but lost time in the unforgiving flat section where every pedal stroke counted.

But it was Aaron Gwin who put together the run of his life and destroyed Peaty's time by nearly seven seconds! Gwin didn't even look out of breathe as he stepped off his bike.

Fabien Barel was the next man down with a brilliant comeback to racing but didn't have it in him to nudge Gwin off the top spot. Even a new line on the hip jump from Gee Atherton didn't turn out to be enough.

Cedric Gracia had made a brilliant return to form at Pietermaritzburg with the fastest run in timed practice and qualifying in fourth, but on race day he just couldn't get it right and ended up finishing 16th. Fellow French rider Julien Camellini also had trouble putting a solid run together and couldn't match Gwin's time.

All eyes were on Greg Minnaar as he set off. Pietermaritzburg is his hometown and the crowds were out in force to cheer him on, would he be able to secure another win on home turf? As hard as he tried Greg would have to settle for second place.

The only man that could stop Gwin now was GT's Mick Hannah, but a crash early on soon ended Hannah's plans for a victory, and Gwin secured his first World Cup win.

1st Aaron Gwin - 4.08.634
2nd Greg Minnarr - 4.08.875
3rd Gee Atherton - 4.10.555
4th Fabien Barel - 4.12.880
5th Steve Peat - 4.15.443

In the women's race it ended up being a British one two with World Champion Tracy Moseley winning and Fionn Griffiths taking second place. They were joined on the podium by French trio Emmeline Ragot, Sabrina Jonnier and Floriane Pugin. Madison/Saracen rider Manon Carpenter managed a top ten fnish and crossed the line in eigth place.

Check out the full results and press releases from the teams here.

IMB Issue 11 Goes Live

IMB Issue 11 went live yesterday morning, and it's one of the best ones we've made, with the Kielder Trail Guide, Merida trip to Mallorca and a big feature on the World Cup.

Deadline week is always pretty tough, and this issue was no exception. By the end of it you're pretty ruined. Lack of sleep is probably the worst thing, but my knees started giving up from being sat a desk for so long, and my shoulder felt like it was hanging off from leaning on said desk for so long.

A bit of casual seep depravation is the order of the day and the more tired you get, the worse your language becomes, to the point the worst words you know become the norm. That always takes a bit of adjusting to when you break free of the office and let out back into civilisation.

But after seeing what Karen's done with all the text and photos it all seems worth it. So here's to hoping it won't be as bad next issue!

There are some breaks from writing though, and sneaking out on a bike is the best way to use them. On one such break Will came along with his camera and one of his shots of me ended up on the cover. Will is a great photographer and he's also seriously fun to work with.

Not massively sure how I feel about being on the cover of the magazine. We needed a photo of someone in a half-lid and we couldn't find one so the best thing to do was to make one. It's a bit of an achievement but I'd much rather see a pro rider who isn't pulling a stupid face on the front!

Mondraker Kaiser

Jealousy is a terrible thing, and that's why I'm trying my hardest not to be too envious of Pete's latest purchase, a 2011 Mondraker Kaiser. Not only does it look pretty stunning but the spec and value for money is spot on too.

Fox Van R shock, Boxxer Race forks, Sram gears, Formula brakes and a sweet Race Face finishing kit. You see how it's missing a set of pedals? That's to keep me from riding it!

Aston Hill Black Run Race

No bike meant no racing for me, but I guess that was a blessing in disguise as in meant I got to brush up on my photography 'skills'. These are my first attempts at getting some riding shots for about a year. Last time I gave it a go I hated every second of it but this time I actually enjoyed taking photos!

I found a few nice spots, chose a favourite and waited there for my friends who were racing to come down so I could get some cool photos of them. What I forgot was they'd seeded quite high so I ended up with about 200 images of the same corner! Oh well, lesson learned.

Anyways, pretty happy we a few of them, and pretty keen to get out and try it again sometime. Enjoy.

Life Without a Bike

Sucks. Or at least that’s what I thought it would be like. It’s been a few weeks since the Glory was sent back to Giant and I haven’t got round to sorting a replacement yet, and if I’m honest, I’m not really in that much of a rush.

It’s still not massively warm here yet and it still rains quite a bit so the trails haven’t fully dried out. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself as I sit here almost trying to convince myself I’m not missing out on too much.

When I had the glory I was riding pretty much every weekend and if possible sneaking out for a mid week mess around. So not having a bike has changed pretty much everything.

With all this extra time I’ve got my social life back. At the weekends I can now go out and not force myself to have an early night because I’m going riding the next day. I’ve even managed to find the time to get myself a girlfriend. Mental.

As I’m not driving around all over the place at weekends my car seems to have a never ending supply of petrol. And with that costing a bomb it means I’ve got money in my pocket for the first time in months!

So do you really need a bike to be into biking? Thousands, if not millions of people across the UK are into Formula One, and I’m willing to bet good money that not one of them owns a formula one car. I’m still following all the latest news and watching all the newest videos so I know what’s going on in the world of mountain biking.

Of course every time I watch said videos I’m reminded how much I miss going biking. I need to sort my life out…

Kielder Trail Guide With Scott Bikes

Fun times this week heading up to Newcastle to have a look round Scott Bikes' new warehouse, ride on of their bikes and get shown around a brilliant track up at Kielder. It was one of the funnest trail guides I've done and once I've got a bike sorted I'll be keen to give it another ride, after all, it's only four hours away!

Rou got some great shots with his new 7d, although I'm pretty confident these ones won't get used as I'm not quite in focus and there's some serious fly catcher mouth action going on. Right, time to make a start on the write up.

Six Pack in Six Weeks

Also just spotted over on Rou’s blog that his next challenge is to get a six pack in six weeks. There’s roughly six weeks until the next IMB deadline when I’ll be down staying at his and working in the office.

Everywhere you go on the internet these days you get bombarded with adverts offering you to get ‘super ripped’ or ‘mega hench’ in a few weeks and I’m convinced it can’t be done.

So while he’s dieting and counting the calories, maybe even watching some ‘how to’ videos on youtube, I’m going to continue eating bread, pasta, potato’s and cakes. Come deadline week we’ll compare and see who’s got the best ‘abs’.

I’m not really sure this is going to prove anything, and I’ve lost where I’m going with it; I just like to winding Rou up. Plus this is great motivation for Mission 365!

Mission 365

February’s come to an end and with it so to has Rou’s ‘Mission 28’. For 28 days Rou set himself a challenge that everyday he had to ride a bike, kitesurf, or workout. Even with two magazine deadlines and a few press launches he managed it so fair play to him for that.

But 28 days isn’t really that many. I mean, February is the shortest month of the year so it’s an easy option. With that in mind I’ve created my own challenge, ‘Mission 365’. It’s a bit like Mission 28 except instead of all the faffing about with riding and exercising I just have to get out of bed everyday.

Obviously starting a project like this in March is a bit dumb so I’m going to back date it to the start of the year making today day 59 out of 365. I’m pretty pleased with myself that I’ve made it this far, and I’m quietly confident that I can use this momentum and build on it to wake up tomorrow.

Things are looking up for the rest of the year. Mission 365 is go!

Goodbye to the Glory

So, the day I've been dreading has finally arrived and the Glory has gone back to the nice people at Giant. But rather than wallowing in sadness and mourning, I'm going to try and remember the good times I had on it, so here's a few photos that should help.

IMB Issue 10 Goes Live

IMB Issue 10 is due to be released any minute now. Meanwhile I'll be on my way to the Merida Press Launch in Mallorca. Adios!

Once again somehow everything had been left right until the last minute and on Monday evening I honestly didn't think we had a chance in getting the magazine finished in time. It might not be the best magazine we've put together but there's a few features that I'm pleased with.

I was absolutely blown away when I saw the film Life Cycles so getting to interview it's director Derek Frankowski and seeing his photos in the magazine was amazing. Also this issue I wrote, photographed, filmed and edited an entire feature on trail maintenance. It also gave me a chance to relearn and get to grips with Final Cut Pro.

Having so much to do in just a week has left us pretty determined to work harder on Issue 11, starting straight away. On a beach. In Mallorca...

Morzine 2011

I got to travel to quite a bit last summer and ride loads of places but there was one place I didn't get to visit. I wanted to give Morzine a miss last year and find somewhere new to ride, but half way through the season I found myself wanting to get out there again.

So I'm pretty pleased that I've got a 10 day trip booked up with Riders Retreat in Morzine. As well as the main tracks I want to explore a bit more and do a day trip to ride somewhere away from the Portes Du Soleil region again.

Here's last years 'chalet boys' and owner Paul Thomas riding some of their favourite tracks:

Rogate DH

So, first off that isn't me in the photo, it's the Maidestone Massive's George Amos.

A big group of us arranged to ride Rogate a few weeks ago. But none of us thought to check where it is until the night before. Luckily we found the place and got in an awesome days riding. Rogate's kind of like the tracks at Woburn on steroids. Some proper sweet DH runs and some big jumps waiting for you at the bottom.

The top section features loads of loose, tight and steep corners, then the gradient mellows out and you get to enjoy some flowy berms and some small drops. The photo is of the bigger double at the bottom. You can either cut onto it from another jump or ride a hip line into it.

I wasn't too keen on the early start to get there but I can't wait to ride there again. If you want to give it a go hopefully the map borrowed from Google will help you find it.

Start As You Mean To Go On

This was my first weekend of the New Year (too much celebrating wrote off last weekend) so I was keen to get in as much bike related action as possible. The plan was to ride Woburn Sands on Saturday then help out at the Aston Hill dig day on Sunday. And that's exactly how things panned out.

So, Saturday I was up early and met Mark and Paul at Woburn. It was raining a bit on the way over and when I got there but when it stopped the tracks quickly dried up and started running faster and smoother. With no snow this time we rode a mix of everything, from all lines to new tracks

Amos was the only member of the Maidstone Massive to make it today. He left his at nine but thanks to traffic on the M25 didn't get there till just before three. Like a happy couple picking up their newborn baby from the hospital, Ben and Will spent the day picking up Will's new frame, a Morewood Makulu with a BOS Stoy rear shock.

Talking of rear shocks I played about with the Vivid Coil R2 on the Glory and got it set up quite nicely. Basically just stiffened it up and slowed down the rebound. Makes the bike corner better in tight turns and it jumps a lot better too.

As soon as Amos started riding the pace picked up; everyone started riding faster and jumping higher. I followed him down and did the large road gap, something I hadn't done for a while. I remember on Kona having to sprint like mad into it and getting bucked about on impact. On the Glory though I just had to put in a few extra cranks and the landing was smooth as.

We kept on riding more tracks and sectioned corners until we could barely see, then headed into Woburn itself for a post ride drink.

Still pretty tired from yesterdays riding I got up even earlier today and put a spade in my car along with the Glory, ready for the build day at Aston Hill. I ride at Aston as regularly as possible and it's home to some of my favourite tracks in the UK.

This wasn't the first dig day at Aston but it was the first one I've been able to attend and it felt good to help out and 'give something back' for a change. So I spent the morning doing some maintenance work on the 4X track; getting rid of the grass that had grown on the jumps and berms, moving fallen branches off the track and clearing nettles.

The work was done by about one or two and everyone was rewarded with cake and brownies back at the car park. I thought about putting the Glory together and going for a ride, but in the end I decided to head home so I could give it a bit of TLC in the light. Although I still forgot to sort out the front tyre, but that's another story...