"Got everything lads" Oh yeh yeh sure. Good one. I swear me and Jol double checked we had everything buy of course he didnt have his goggles and i was missing a shinny.....
A half 7 start saw the dhp van head up noorth towards Hamsterly. First stop was Rotheram to pick up Mo, note : poundland is the way forward for bungie cords. Aftwer wacking on an episode or two of family guy on jolleys laptop, the journey up the Msomething lasted no time at all. We had to make one last stop at the services to catch up with Dom (and his kid Sam), whos one of the top dogs over at www.grangers.co.uk who make the best waterproofing gear in the business. If your off up everest or just attacking your local muddy trail, this is the stuff to be wearing, check it out...
After the over 40s meeting had finished we headed off on the final stretch towards Hamsterly. Climbing up towards the pinnacle of the hill, your hit with a view across the valley, which just shows off the potential this place could have. But it's one side of the hill where interested in today.
Kitted up and ready we hit the main track which is infamous amongst downhillers. Hit the first left hander and float the first step down into the bombhole, making sure you avoid that gruesome looking root on the right.
Pin it through the trees and through those first flat out berms and into the open slightly. Sky or tuck those first 2 small drops and hit those next two catch berms mach 10 with no hope of slowing down into "that" tabletop. Coming out of that last berm your faced with a mother of a booter at the end of a intimidating straight. Jolley was hitting this flat out on his hardtial all day, skying it into the rocks afterwards and only coming off once! Good effort mate, definetly one to look out for in the hardtail cat this year.
Video of the tabletop in videos section....
Skim or sky your way thorugh the next rocks and take a left leading you towards the halfway hut (which makes a mean sarny btw)and pop over the road off the kicker, sending you into a mother of a man made rock garden.
It looked a bit tamer than last time i headed up here, but at speed it still sends you everywhere.
Duck your way round that tight left hander and shoot down into a right off camber setting you up for a rock fest that would challenge woodstock. Wherever you go here your going to get preety beat up, so hold on and try and stick in your line and hope for the best more than anything. Those last few switchbacks get better and better everytime i go here. The slight improvement to the last corner had over the bars brusing my ass! By the end of the day.... Style the last jump or hang on for dear lif ein jolleys case and there you where!
There are so many other dh tracks at Hammers and from what we saw of them they looked top notch, especially the newest one, which with a bit of bedding in will prove an awesum race track. Watch out for the last drop though shes a steep'un!
Onto the 4x....
Holy cow it was windy, the second me jol and little sam got to the top of the start ramp we nearly lost our bikes. Pedalling into the first tabletop in a straight line was a mission in itself, sky this and ur on your way to clearing the first straight , styling it out into the last step up, you hit a mother of a berm and into a triple.
Pump or jump your way up the next few step up/downs and hit the sickest straight on a 4x track ever.
Littered with lines of tabletops, with tonnes of inside and outside lines which set you up in turn for the last berm sending you over the rollers and onto the finish line.
4x vid in the video section......
The duel is also like a scaled down version of the 4x with smaller jumps and tighter berms, all smooth as. Almost harder to ride than the 4x at speed..
Awesome day out.
Cheers to the over 40's and to Don and his kid Sam for making the trip up!
Monday, 12 March 2007
Hammers
Saturday, 3 March 2007
Weapons of mass destruction, explained....
First. A definition....
The word in Old English is spaedu, cognate forms being Dutch, Swedish and Danish spade, German Spaten; also related is spoon.
Now if that hasnt enlightened you, well i just dont know what will. For many years the spade has been at the forefront of mountain biking if you think about it. Whistler didnt come from the heavens (has been rumoured...) and your local jump spot didnt appear over night. For a trailbuilder the spade is the first and last tool allways off the mountain, for some it is like a 3rd arm. Like a paintbrush for an artist a spade to a trailbuilder is a way for them to create their own piece of art. There is so many different shapes,sizes e.t.c these days so heres a rundown for you....
1.The classic garden spade
This needs no introduction. Classic shaping and bombproof design. Plastic handle with a solid timber stem branching out onto a steel digging head.
Ones to look out for: wilkinsword,spear & jackson
2. The border spade.
Not soo much use to trailbuilders,but a spade non the less. Think of this as the garden spade on the slimfast plan. Smaller narrower head to get into thoses tight spots.
3. The silver surfer
A chavved up version of the garden spade. You get a stainless steel digging head that makes dirt slide off your spade, like shit off a shovel.
Bonuses: No rusting. Looks pimp. One for your mum when she hits 50 fo sure.
4. For professional use only. "A professional gardener never blames his tools". You heard it here first. This work of art is practically all steel to give you no flex and no failures. Normally spades of this calibre come with a lifetime guarantee aswell so if you do somehow manage to break it then jobs a gudden.
5. Suspension. (oh yes)
When i first saw one of these i was in awe. I mean come on the handle flexs and everything. A true tool for the hardcore. One for all you dan cowans out there.
6. Personal favourite.
Read and weep............
Yes i thought it aswell. My god. If epic could be summed up in one object then this would take the biscuit. Im saving up right now....
Well there you have it, the most worryingly sad review ever. Most of you probably havent even got to this bit without falling asleep, but if you have just take a minute and think what your mates would think of you reading an article on spades.....
:)
Monday, 22 January 2007
Ghetto sites triumph
Staying up till half 11 on a thurs night trying to botch together a hardtail makes you question why you do this sport. Nothing ever seems to fit, every brake has a different mount and the same goes for forks. Universal mounts anyone? Anyyywaayyy, after snapping robs fork axle (its in the post) and setting the record for the most rotors fitted in a night it was time to set off for Mss round 1 Hopton.....
After crushing Jeff in the back of the van with all our gear we naile dit up the motorway to burger king to stock up, and i have to say, mbuk has excelled itself with yet, another shocking issue! Gotta give it to the staff at the travelodge in Ludlow, not only did they make sam cry from laughter from their conversation with 'shelly' but the man there was like a walking toolbox! Cheers for the cable cutters mate.
In the morning it was off to little chef to savour the 'olympic' breakfast, which didnt really fill any holes to be honest. Swampthings or maybe spikes was the choice of tire for most over the weekend i think. With all the new regulations floating around about uplifts, saturdays wasnt the fastest of uplifts with most having to wait up to 40mins sometimes for a trailer. But this wasn't anyones fault really and it was all sorted towards the end for the day and throughout Sunday.
Now onto the track. From the mini hill at the top, which had a few of the smaller riders on there asses due to strong winds, you cranked down a muddy slope which resembled a 'slip n slide' and into the first woods. Over a small jump and rail two berms and hit the sunlight for a split second. Drop back into the woods and hit a short uphill section whihc throws you into a labryinth of roots. Float like a butterfly sting like a bee needed to be used to get through here smooth and the elites were looking rapid thorugh here all weekend. Dart through a couple more rooted truns and your out into the open, by now i had no chain so it was a hell of a long pump track to deal with. Skim the reall greasy roots n hit the two stump jumps into that tight right hander which caught even some of the best out this weekend. Pedal like crazy thorugh the next section, but the key was to keep it smooth through here i reckon to keep your speed. Out into the last open, you dart through some switchbacks and go for glory on the roadgap and pummel into those human size brekaing bumps. Ben Morgan in expert hit this the fastest out of anyone this weekend, landing preety much in the next corner and took half of the mud with it. Awesome. Hammer through the last switchbacks and pop over that greasy root on the last corner of the track which wiped the smiles off many racers faces, just in sight of the finish line. Pedal like a mad man through that greasy field and your home and dry.
Onto results and Irwin from monkeyspoon.com came in 47th with a 4.12
Josh, after having a nightmare with his bike came home in 30th with a 4.45
I pumped and shook my way down to 1st with a 3.47
I think jeff over at monkeyspoon took more pics than he can count and me and Sam got some awesome flukes (well mine were flukes) so ill get them up in the gallery a.s.a.p
Cheers to my dad for ferrying us around all weekend and to Rich Burgoin over at Burgtec. Shout out to Timmy over at nocycling.com who came 2nd in seniors who was flying all weekend.
The next round is over at Bringewood on the 17th/18th of Feb so we'll see you there with the full team this time. rumour has it Fabien Barel is even coming....
Morining Guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HARDTAIL
1 1414 BOWMAN Joe www.dirtyhalfpipe.co.uk 3:47.583
2 1403 BEATTIE Jonathan 4:29.297
3 1402 LINES Jack 4:40.022
JUVENILLE
1 1303 PETFORD Sam Pearce Cycles Race Team 4:14.515
2 1305 PHILLIPS Tom 4:35.790
3 1301 GLASS Alex 4:36.632
YOUTH
1 1102 BREWIN Gareth Descent World 3:24.744
2 1115 KERR Bernard ExtremeMedics.com/Marzocchi/Bike Fairy 3:26.928
3 1144 MOLLOY Harry Muddy Fox/Lifestyle Ford/Resurgence.com 3:29.835
JUNIOR
1 903 DALE Sam Solid/Electric 3:17.817
2 915 SMITH Joseph Ancillotti UK 3:18.613
3 914 SHIELDS Bradley Pearce Cycles 3:28.888
VETERANS
1 817 HARVEY Trevor Aston Hill 3:45.572
2 809 RAMSAY Seb ticket2ride/descent-gear 3:51.361
3 805 SIMPSON Jono Pearce Cycles Race Team 3:52.678
MASTERS
1 600 BURGOIN Richard Burgtec 3:33.332
2 630 LEWIS Alun AW Cycles.co.uk 3:35.678
3 623 WILLIAMS Colin mtb-direct.co.uk 3:36.163
TOP 3 WOMEN
1 1513 DIX Aimee Team Skene 4:10.824
2 1500 HORRIDGE Emily Marzocchi UK 4:13.804
3 1511 MAHONY Sue Psyclewerx Bristol 4:28.416
SENIORS
1 266 GRIFFITHS Craig Brooks Cycles 3:28.043
2 255 PEARSON Tim nocycling.com 3:29.465
3 263 TAYLOR Adam mtb-direct.co.uk 3:34.047
EXPERTS
1 115 BRAYTON Adam Keswick Bikes 3:15.809
2 108 MORGAN Ben Pearce Cycles Race Team 3:17.782
3 102 DAVIES Jason Brooks Cycles 3:23.915
ELITES
1 1 BRAITHWAITE Tom Giant Racing 3:11.489
2 5 SMITH Robert Electric/TitaniumRacing/Airbrush 3:16.958
3 8 JONES Ralph Dirt Magazine 3:17.087
Sunday, 7 January 2007
Read this you might learn something....
I sit here writing this with my ears red raw form having my headphones in them,too long,too loud and the music. Too heavy....
You know you've been sat on that shoddy ikea folding chair way too long, enduring that savage wedgie with your balls feeling like you've been on a bus journey to butlins and back. Youv'e been staring at that same spot on the wall for at least 10 minutes now and to be honest you can't even remember what you were meant to be revising.
From revsiing you can actually see life through a hardcore emo's point of view. You find yourself flicking thoruhg you ipod selecting the most morbid, whining songs which make you drift further and further into that static trance.
Every other hour you get that little window of hope when you get a break, but when you can finally do what you want, your too dried out to do anything and all you really want is your bed.
Over a day. Say if you were in your room for 4 hours 'revising'. I reckon if you added up the amount of time you actually spent doing work it wouldn't even come close to an hour.
God knows what your rents think your doing up there. Do they actually think your going to re enact periods 3 and 4 on a wednesday with miss alan. On a saturday? Didn't think so.
Some of the stuff you start to think about is so random. You no longer have a sense of humour. You start to feel tired constantly and you allways develop that, revision 'cough' which you never knew you had.
I think over these last two days ive decided, what i want to do after 6th form, i've realised how much i hate business studies, and planned the mother of all gardens over the road. Great how much work you can get done really isn't it?
You just know that there are hundreds of people our age sitting in their room saying to themselves ' what am i doing in here when it's the first dry saturday in months? ', whilst peering through their blinds like a convict.
Anyway rant over.
Head down.
Book open.
Pen primed.
Eyes drifting.......
Saturday, 30 December 2006
Chicksands
Couldn't of been a wetter start to the day, but still as we set off from Bens after some 'plumbing' issues we were well on our way down to Bedfordshire to the infamous chicksands.......
All pics by Domnic Worrel, cheers mate!
The journey down takes about 2 hours depending on traffic e.t.c or in our case my bladder which could be seen from the top of the duel track, i was that desperate! Car parking is easy once you get there, tonnes of space directly next to the mian features is a big bonus. The first thing you hit is the massive start ramp for the new 4x track which is unreal. Flat out and flowy the whole way and awesum fuun to race your mates down and is rollable so anyone can have ago. The big triple caught a few people out when i stopped to watch inculding me when i came up short on my front wheel. Definetly one for the dry.
Next up is the duel track just 50m away (conveinient?) This is like a mini a line with constant drops jumps tables and berms littering the two track which run paralell to each other down the hill. Awesum to race down and to train some good vids and pic sof it are up on www.disfunktional-dirt.co.uk, check it out!
Next up are some jumps which you will probably have seen many times in the identiti, dmr, 24 seven ads many times. Theres on huge set and a couple of smaller sets. NOt for the faint hearted with their almost vertical lips.
The place we spent the most time on was over at the freeride area, where theres infinite lines of north shore spread out alll over the place, you gotta see it to belive it to be honest, some real time and effort has gone into it. There are kickers, step ups and drops everywhere and we all sessioned this one drop, to step up then down into a double line for ages. Alex had some awesum x ups goin on off the drop and step up.
A big session broke out on this obe piece of shore trying to rid eit both ways, which got everyone who tried it a bit wound up. Shame about it being a bit greasy, but in the summer this place should be on top of everyones list.
After this everyone was pretty fubared and sacked it off back to the car. Cheers to Ben and Dom for sorting me out with a way of getting home or i could be typing this from a homeless shelter in sheff right now.
All pics by Domnic Worrel
Tuesday, 19 December 2006
Download Festival 2006
9,10,11th June ’06 Donnington Park
FRIDAY
First thing I got asked when we got there: 'Is your boyfriend better looking than me?' to which I would have replied 'If I had one...Yes' if I hadn't been taken by surprise by some fat 40 ticket chavtastic tout.
After getting lost on the way to Donnington Park (pppffffftttt!) we missed the Audition but arrived to have a mooch around and check out what else was going off. When we walked in it was like woooooooaaaaaahhhh cos there were like TWICE the amount of people than there was last year. Like billions and trillions! Ok, maybe not that many but there were LOADS!....
Got into the pit for Clutch by accident because I got my times wrong and we thought we were waiting for Inme haha! Spotted Joey from The Audition from the side of stage but at the time I didn't know who he was so I just grinned back. Managed to escape the Clutch pit when the sign for them came down and we looked at eachother like 'WTF?!!?!' then went mooching off to the shops. Discovered the almighty fair ride which was a bit awesome.
At 6:30 we headed back to the Snicker's stage to see InMe. We missed them last year but saw them at Sheffield and they were as amazing as that night. We actually knew more than one song as well wooohooo! They had the crowd singing along to the classics like Just A Glimpse, Faster The Chase, So You Know and Seven Weeks as well as plenty more. They didn't sing Safe In A Room, though which Ash was pissed off aboooot.
Left during the last song to go and meet All American Rejects at the Kerrang Signing Tent. They were so so nice. You walked in and they all smiled at you as if you're the only person they'd seen all day. They all said 'Hi you Ok?' when you went in and I ended up having a short conversation with Nick but then had to go because I was pissing everyone else in the queue off haha! They didn't let you take pictures which was a bit rubbish but I suppose Kerrang have all the rights on them so look out for me in the magazine. I'm bound to be on at least one...spent enough time at the signing tent being the stalker that I am haha!
No idea what we did for the next hour or so. We didn't manage to see Atreyu though so we must have been pretty busy.
Headed back to Snickers Stage for the All American Rejects and got joined by a random (haha). Shout out to POL!! He's a skater from Scotland yay!
All American Rejects were amazing! I was pogoing like a kangaroo when they encored with Move Along. They sang quite a few old songs which was awesome because I'm not too familiar with the new album. I can actually remember their set list:
Night Drive, Stab My Back, Change Your Mind, Dance Inside, Dirty Little Secret, My Paper Heart, Swing Swing, The Last Song, Time Stands Still and Move Along. I think there were a few more actually but I've forgotten them.
Headed to the Snickers Bowl for a bit and said bye to Paul but the queue was massive to get in this year so I don’t have any interesting BMX stories for you guys…sorry!
Didn't bother with Tool, just went back to Ashley's to get some sleep for the weekend ahead!
SATURDAY
Got picked up from Ashley's nice and early so we could watch Johnny Truant, who we missed because, as soon as we got there we noticed a mahooosive queue outside the signing tent. Being nosy buggers, we had to find out who it was for and it happened to be with Ashley's (possible) favourite band, Trivium! So of course, we had to join the queue in the sweltering heat. I got a free Kerrang inflatable guitar out of it haha!
We've met most of Trivium twice before but never their frontman Matt Heafy who is Ashley (and Po)'s ultimate idol. So I'm there like 'Hey Matt hows it goin?' and Ashley's a nervous wreck. She came out shaking from head to toe like 'Oh my god I just met Matt fucking Heafy!!!!!!! *imense scream and victory dance*' Trivium don't impress me much so I was just like 'meh'
Went over to the Myspace stage to phone Billy during Exit Ten who were awesome by the way so thanks for that Billy! Rubbed it in that we met Matt Heafy because he came with us to the last Trivium concert along with Po. Rang Po who starting screaming 'noooooooo' down the phone but I promised he could have my Matt Heafy autograph.
We were meant to go and see It Dies Today but, again, for some reason we didn't. Met pro-skaters Christian Hosoi, Neal Hendrix and Tony Alva while waiting for Ashley to go to the loo. Got myself a new boyfriend haha. Alva had a t-shirt left and he was like 'You want a boys t-shirt?' and I was like 'Oh go on then' and he goes 'You can give it to your boyfriend…or girlfriend'. I laughed and said 'HEY! I would if I had one…boyfriend that is' and turned around and gave it to the guy behind who was like 'OMG awesome! Free t-shirt and I've pulled. I'm her new boyfriend apparently.' Haha shout out to YOU! Shame I never found out his name ;)
Watched Stone Sour and Avenged Sevenfold from the hill. Got rather burnt actually but it's all worth it. Can't believe how hot it was! Avenged were really good! They got two huge circle pits going and there was dust flying everywhere. Megaaaaaaa! They played nearly all the songs of City of Evil (?) and the cover they did as well. We sang along to our official download theme song Bat Country and then I abandoned Ashley to find The Audition (who were apparently doing a performance at the Victory Records stall tenty thingy) while she watched her Gods (Trivium) on Main Stage. I can tolerate them but, not that much. 
The Audition didn't perform anything but they did keep me company for two hours. Along with three of the guys from Aiden which was a bit cool.
I know your jealous because we saw Darth Vader!
Can't remember what we did for the rest of the day. Lazed about in the sun mostly. Didn't watch much Metallica because mum came early to pick us up.
SUNDAY
Determined to get there for 11:00 to see Breed 77, Ashley legged it to mainstage while I went to the Signing Tent to see when Funeral For A Friend were signing. There were loads of people about so I almost had a panic attack, thinking I wouldn't get to meet them but they were all queuing for Aiden (haha they should have come to the victory tent on Saturday :p)
When I found her again I decided Breed 77 were actually quite good to say that they were the very first band on today (they get some right echo on their mics) and then we went on a huge trek all the way around the park to bits we'd not seen yet.
Watched some Dragonforce and went to the Signing Tent to meet Bullet For My Valentine. The queue got absolutely ridiculous because people were pushing and squishing everyone else. We were next to some weird guy in a leopard print dress who was wearing no underwear...It wasn't nice. They crowd surfed this little kid down the queue on an inflatable sofa...was hilarious!! haha! Extremely pissed off though because we were about to go in and they stopped us like 'they're not signing anymore' because their 40 minutes were up! If all those people hadn't pushed in front then we would have met them dammit!
Slightly angry at missing 36 Crazyfists, From First to Last and Bring Me The Horizon because of the Bullet queue we decided to start queuing about two hours early to meet Funeral for a Friend so that we'd definately meet them.
Hooray for us because we did! They were all really friendly and Matt Davies was really hyper yelling 'Hi! Hi! Hi!' at everyone who came in. I came out of the tent screaming 'OH MY GAAAAAAAAAAWWWWD I JUST MET FEEEERRRFAFFF!' I got weird looks off people but IN THEIR FACES! I'd just met Matt Davies! Woohooo!
Legged it over to Snickers Stage to see the end of Hundred Reasons. When I say end I mean like, a chord. We'll go and see them on their own tour anywhoo.
Then we returned to our spot on the hill to watch Bullet For My Valentine who were amazing! They played Tears Don't Fall which is my favourite so that was a bit good. They got three circle pits going at one point in one of the songs. 
Abandoned Ashley on the hill to join the main stage pit for Funeral for a Friend.
Bounced and sang my heart out for 40 mins, which was actually meant to be and hour and 15 mins..grrrr!! Chris the guitarist's brother was in front of me and he gave this random kid a VIP wristband! Made his day the lucky get! Looked like he was going to cry...was so cute!
Crowd surfed at the very end and got did a somersault over the barrier...backwards. Knocked about seven security guys flying. All the medics came over and I was just sat there laughing my head off! I walked off and got patted on the back by every single security member stood at the front hahahaah! It must have looked really bad because they thought I was properly injured. Felt like saying 'Nah my face always looks like this. No damage done' LMAO!! Ripped the arse out of my favourite cut-offs though bah!!!
Ran off up the hill to find Ashley who'd been watching from a safe difference and I was stood there yelling 'I just crowd surfed the main stage at Download! HOLY HELL! WOOOHOOOO! Did a back flip ooooooooh yeah!'
We went over to the Myspace stage to watch Lordi...yes, it was hilarious and yes, they were wearing their costumes but they had this horrific sound effect of a child crying playing for ages! The tent was still overcrowded and people were stood outside it to try and get a listen. Then we ran as fast as we could to Main Stage when we heard the beginning of Welcome to the Jungle (properly echoed around the park...was amazing!).Guns 'N' Roses were on!
They may be legends but they got a bit boring. They stopped after every song so Axl could do like a ten minute solo on whatever instrument he prefered. So we headed towards the fair. Got spun on the Waltzer by guy in cowboy hat who thought he was cool and then almost threw up on some ride that flips you over backwards. I never watched it before I went on...spend a lot of time upside down on this day.
Went on the ultimate ride once again (the money they got out of us!) before we had to go.
Saw one of the guys from Aiden on the way out and then waved goodbye to Download for another year.
Had another amazing time.
Can't wait until next year when we get VIP and Camping!
WOOOHOOOOO! The review will be likely 10x better as well. This was a bit shit and boring to be honest.
Wednesday, 13 December 2006
Autumn trails
Autumn is definitely the most picture perfect part of the year, but it’s also the season where days rapidly get shorter and cooler, the nights rapidly get longer, to the hatred of riders all over the world....
When you wake up, even at eight it’s still as dark as night, which doesn’t do anything for your motivation levels to get out there riding. When you do finally drag your ass outa bed, even the cold metallic feel of the key to your shed reminds you of what awaits you outside. However well you cleaned your bike after the last time you used it, it still somehow grinds and squeaks its way out of the shed door. The sound goes right through you making you cringe after every painful rotation, and it almost makes you feel like sacking it off and slobbing out instead, but remember you’ve just gotta grit your teeth and bear it for those first few cranks.
When your chains finally wet and it no longer embarrasses you because you can no longer see the rust that reminds you that sometimes you can even neglect the things you love most in life.
The cool air saps your breath when you make the first ascent, that in summer felt like nothing, but no it’s a whole different ball game. As you get to the top of the climb you start to get the “autumn sweats” that coolly snake their way down your face. Every time you take a lair off you suddenly change your mind as the cool autumn air hits you.
It seems that ‘easy’ Straight across the tops on the road in summer is no more, because in autumn wherever you go I swear there’s always a headwind battling with you.
Your favorite downhill which in the summer that you could hit flawlessly, railing every corner and skimming every rock garden, is now a completely different track. Every corner is a game of death or glory and rock gardens are now hidden, wreaking havoc with your mech. However well you maintain your trails, somehow that slimy, grassy surface mud (im sure you builders know the type) always seems to settle on top making it impossible to grip. The one thing that gets me the most though is leaves. It’s like riding on glass half the time and I don’t think anyone has big enough ‘guns’ to be raking them off the trail 24/7.
There may be many bad points about autumn that shadow the good, such as the perfect conditions for trial building, so come summer you can have it all pristine and ready to ride. Or the picturesque shots you can capture waiting for you round every corner, thanks to this season.
So next time you set your alarm for 9 on a Sunday to go ride, stick to it and haul yourself out of bed and onto the autumn trails.