New Bike Day.... the baby blue bouncer of travel !

[weeksy]

Not much in the way of practice videos from today I'm sorry to say.

Last night the boy came down with smally man flu, he was useless last night and in bed by 8.15, so we went today, he did 3 runs of practice, I did 4.

I'll be the first to admit I find elephant Man challenging to ride. Steep drop in, jumps, drops, then into tech. But I got down 4 times ok.



The Fury is awesome, really nice to ride. Front end grip is exceptional. It makes me feel fractionally less rubbish.

I did flat in the car park, hole and sealant leaking out, so the dhf is in the bin and a shorty stuck on the rear for tomorrow.

It's obviously a very focused bike to ride and next year it'll go back to being the boys spare DH and sprung to suit him once again, but for now as we have no big races upcoming, I'll get to enjoy it.

[weeksy]

3 runs of practice. Crashed on run1. Hurt my pinkie finger lol. 2 others were ok. He's off 12.26. I'm of 13.13.
Although they never run to time

I'm feeling pretty confident of propping up the final spot in Grand Vets. But in honesty, I'll be happy getting to the bottom in 1 piece.

[weeksy]

Well in that case, I gor true value out of it as I was last in Cat.

Am I disappointed, a little bit in honesty yes. But today gave me things I struggle to find in any other walk of life, in terms of emotions, excitement etc. I was horrifically nevervous in the lead up this morning, the crash in practice not helping either. I ripped off the end of my grip and I'm not quite sure if I've potentially broken my pinkie, or just bruised, but it's properly sore.
The drop was playing on my mind all day, despite the fact it's only 3' or so it kicks you up and along the trail, so a bit of air time. Then the tech areas lower down, I was a bit daunted.
I've raced motorbikes in the past and done 150 trackdays, people who do trackdays tell me they're crapping themselves before going out, however I'm an empty shell of emotionless darkness. Today though, yeah I was on edge.

Getting down without being caught up from behind and without stacking it, was a massive relief. The result, I'm not too fussed.

I now feel I can say "I've raced DH" which I think is a big big step at 50+ years old.

I hate to sound like an arsehole but it's so so different. Doing it when taped, with people shouting and cheering, it's so so different. It's a trail I've ridden before but bears no resemblance to racing it

[MingtheMerciless]

Well done, at least you were out there. I might try and do the Ard rock next year on the the Epocalypse but we’ll see.

[ChrisW]

I hate to sound like an arsehole but it's so so different. Doing it when taped, with people shouting and cheering, it's so so different. It's a trail I've ridden before but bears no resemblance to racing it

That rings true - familiar tracks or trails during a race are like your childhood home on christmas day. They just feel different somehow.

[weeksy]

This arguably wasn't my best photo up to now of the day, but i had very few with me in goggles and in full on DH mode.... I only wore the goggles for practice 1 in the morning, i not only find them very uncomfortable and claustraphobic, but i also can't see properly without glasses, so the goggles were binned after run 1.

Oh and i'm pretty sure, on that run of morning practice.... my finger is broken. HAHAHAHAAHA muppet.

randr-photo-9251163-4000px-by-gareth-dalley by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Another interesting point, i was chatting to our suspension tech at RSR Bikeworks who was also racing (and won), he was saying that due to changing the spring rate massively on the bike i should have slowed the rebound both ends by 2-3 clicks as a start point... Sadly we never had this discussion until AFTER the race, so i was probably running way too fast rebound, but hey, that's OK

[weeksy]

I think after this weekends racing i'll have to put the blue GT back to the boys weight for racing... We saw a few instances over the weekend of crashes that would mean 'game over' without a decent amount of spares and or a new bike to replace, things like a wheel here, a mech there, a set of bars etc.. But i wouldn't like to see the lad miss a decent result potentially just because of not having something.

We were lucky that when i stacked the GT i ended up ripping and destroying the grip on the left side, but i had 2 spare sets in the box, so was a doddle to swap. But if it'd broken the brake, that would have been a bit more complex and we may indeed have not got it fixed before race (we arguably would have, but not always)

So it'll get sprung back to his weight.

I'm currently debating whether i keep the Trek Fuel ex9.8 and buy myself a DH bike in a couple of months, or swap the Fuel for a 170/180mm bike. Having both would be nice.... but is a little excessive.

It's a decision running round my head currently that's for sure.

[Numnut]

I'd be pretty happy with just finishing a DH race (or even starting one)!

Would something like a T160 work as a middle ground instead of an out and out DH bike?

[weeksy]

I'd be pretty happy with just finishing a DH race (or even starting one)!

Would something like a T160 work as a middle ground instead of an out and out DH bike?

It''s a funny one, i'd have got down it on my Trek which is 150 front and 130 rear, but the DH just ignores the roots, rocks, drops, terrain.... So in some ways it's just easier... but they're different to ride, which brings it's own complexity. You get a lot less 'judder' on the terrain on the DH... but it takes more work in other ways. I'd be curious to time myself on both bikes and see a difference if any. Or if i was just more confident on particular sections over the other.

[Numnut]

I guess it's worth a go doing a few back to back runs and working it out from there. A good excuse for a day out on the bikes if nothing else!

[weeksy]

Lol like I need an excuse these days. I've not been at home in the last 5 weekends

[Couchy]

Ace report, being out there sounds great. As for bikes wait have two the trek and a DH

[weeksy]

At times it hard to 'be out there' as primarily I'm there in a support function. But that said, I do have my own life too of course and I'm not done yet.

We're/ I'm thinking of potential plans, but honestly with other things coming up it's starting to get ridiculous as I could end up with 6 bikes for the 2 of us

[Couchy]

At times it hard to 'be out there' as primarily I'm there in a support function. But that said, I do have my own life too of course and I'm not done yet.

We're/ I'm thinking of potential plans, but honestly with other things coming up it's starting to get ridiculous as I could end up with 6 bikes for the 2 of us

Not seeing any issues with that tbh

[crust]

Not seeing any issues with that tbh

Nope, seems entirely reasonable to me

He's going to need the Trek to keep up with me in the new year anyway

[weeksy]

Not seeing any issues with that tbh

Nope, seems entirely reasonable to me

He's going to need the Trek to keep up with me in the new year anyway

Bring it on boy.

At this moment I know nothing other than the fact I reckon I need some coaching to get faster. Affordability of time and £££ will make that trickier.

[crust]

I reckon I need some coaching to get faster. Affordability of time and £££ will make that trickier.

I'll coach you, brake less, pedal more. Sorted

[weeksy]

I reckon I need some coaching to get faster. Affordability of time and £££ will make that trickier.

I'll coach you, brake less, pedal more. Sorted

Ace, see you at the weekend, you're leading us down the run.

[crust]

Ace, see you at the weekend, you're leading us down the run.

For a footy bloke you don't seem to understand how it works, I stand at the edge shouting at you.

Pedal, pedal, pedal.

Now where did I put my sheepskin coat.

[Couchy]

Not seeing any issues with that tbh

Nope, seems entirely reasonable to me

He's going to need the Trek to keep up with me in the new year anyway

Ebike ?