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!