The journey from small guy to teenager...

[weeksy]

7/36 on run 1. Decent run but hopefully a bit more to give in run2

[weeksy]

[weeksy]

8th final result. Had issues with the low sun in run 2 but went 0.02 quicker

[Count Steer]

8th final result. Had issues with the low sun in run 2 but went 0.02 quicker

Solid start given he's moved up a notch, if I understand correctly. Would a yellow tinted visor/mask lens help with the sun issue?

[weeksy]

8th final result. Had issues with the low sun in run 2 but went 0.02 quicker

Solid start given he's moved up a notch, if I understand correctly. Would a yellow tinted visor/mask lens help with the sun issue?

Yes, but we didn't know/suspect until after the race. 1 minute it was cloudy, the next sunny, the next it was dark.

[Mr Moofo]

Don't kids get called Dave or Pete anymore?

[weeksy]

He’s happy. 8/36 is good, obviously he’s now one of the youngest in his Cat which at this age can be a factor. But he’s not exactly lacking in size at 5’11

He raced on the Fury and did practice on both the Fury and the Privateer. He went slower on the Privateer despite us thinking he may go quicker. So he raced the big bike.

Long long weekend. Lucky we’re not doing it next weekend too. Oh, well, errrrm yeah we are.
At least we have the one after off…. Oh

[Count Steer]

Don't kids get called Dave or Pete anymore?

There's a George, a Thomas and a James. TBH it's nice to see Fletcher make a comeback...Shades of Mutiny on the Bounty.

[weeksy]

Well that was slightly funny/interesting. Yesterday in practice the boy says to me "should the forks be the same height" well... There's a question, i have absolutely no idea. Looking at them, it could be argued that with the measuring point being the top of the right adjuster and the line on the other leg, maybe they were.
2023-02-27_07-10-00 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Last night we jumped on google and downloaded the RS Boxxer manual. The bike was setup how we bought it, so we assumed they were correct. The Axle fitted correctly etc. There were no tell-tale marks that the forks had moved in the triples... so the assumption was, it was correct.

2023-02-27_07-09-51 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

2023-02-27_07-09-47 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

The Boxxer manual shows the measurement for both the tops and the overall length between triples and neither of ours were correct. The legs should indeed be the same height. As you'd expect.... They are the same now. LOL. But just shows that you should never assume other people have done things correctly.

[weeksy]

2023-02-27_07-42-29 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Suspension stripped out and sent to TFTuned for tweaking/tuning.

[weeksy]

Race day report (dad perspective)
The day started pretty chilly but importantly dry.... We made a bit of a mistake arguably and got to the start for practice WAY early... He does like to be down first, but we took this to the extreme. He'd done a track walk the previous night and 1 descent... Why was it a mistake? well, he was freezing by the time he went off, which didn't help much. He came back from run 1 grumpy... but after run 4 he was getting his head around it. He'd got the top half right and wanted to session the bottom, luckily there was a nice drop-in point so did 5-6 runs, trying lines, popping or squashing different bits etc.. You could see who was quick and who was REALLY quick... The boy didn't look REALLY quick, but we'd discussed this and he was told not to pin it every time, just nice and easy yo save the legs, look at the lines, try this and that. Mrs Weeksy commented "he's not getting the power down through there" but i was OK with it.
Race run 1 didn't come until 1pm... and he was warm and happy by then, feeling good on the bike and content. Watching him coming down you can mostly see in his style how he's going and he was doing OK... He crossed the line in 7th and 4s off the leader. He's raced the leader a few times and on some tracks he's beaten him, on some he'll lose ground.. So 4s was OK... Time was a 1min 22 (just so you can gauge it).... Run 2 came about 3pm, everyone was getting a bit tired by then, the sun was low and the cold was back... It was cloudy, nice, cloudy, dark, nice...
He looked happy again on run 2, but was only 0.02 quicker, "missed half a dozen corners as i couldn't see"... the setting sun had caught him (and others out listening to them) and he'd lost a bit of time.. but i don't think it would have changed a heck of a lot... That's where he is at the moment in the world. But we all went home happy and completely tired, my calves are killing and aching from walking up the hill pushing the DH bike 8 times lol.

Next weekend is FoD, 100% race, a place he knows well of course and a track he'll have ridden and raced a fair bit. It's all the big boys out next weekend, including yesterdays winner, 2nd place and of course his team-mate Drew. So will be a tough day out, but if he can go well and finish happy, we'll take that. Not sure if we'll head over for practice on the Sat yet... i'm tried and need a rest LOL.

[weeksy]

2023-02-27_11-42-16 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

We were out doing some testing today. I rode the purple DH bike. Jeepers it's that slowest rolling thing in the world.

It's got a Maxx Grip Assegai on it and a DH22 on the back. I could barely pedal.

We swapped bikes and it was the same in reverse for him. I'm not sure which makes the most difference but I wonder if the grip makes up for rolling speed. I think the answer is likely No! But it's an interesting one.
I don't think they'll both be staying on

[MingtheMerciless]

Found that with Michelin Enduros on the Speccy Enduro, well grippy but they don’t roll as well as Maxxis DHF/DHR combos. Used to struggle to keep up with mates on flatter single track. The Curtis runs a Rekon/Minion SS combo and is much faster but definitely much more “entertaining”

[weeksy]

Had lots of not-fun last night trying to trace and chase a noise.

The new shock seemed to make a 'doink' noise quite often, not all the time, but a lot. So took it to RSR Bikeworks to get it checked who stripped it down and checked and confirmed it was OK... we had multiple bikes/frames there to use as checks. But even after checking the shock we were still getting a noise... Ended up removing the chain, the mech, still getting it and it transpired it was the rear Hope Pro4 wheel. Now i did notice it was a bit quiet, almost silent when running. But i then thought "meh, must have always been like that" But after fitting one of our spare wheels, the doink seemed to have disappeared along with another minor noise we had which was as though something was loose.
"mate, somethings loose here" he kept telling me, but i knew everything was tight and snug... However the wheel is being dropped off to Rotec Cycles today to get it looked at.. They're less than a year old, which isn't ideal, but he does obviously use them pretty hard.
The last thing RSR noticed was the idler pully bearing which seemed a bit grumbly... So he told me to whip it out and swap it, which i've now done, but got to wait for someone else to wake up at home as it involves opening the garage/van and i don't want to wake people up

Will then hopefully be golden for the weekend.

[weeksy]

Well the upshot of the day is... the spring and pawls were in 100 pieces

So that's currently being rebuilt at Rotec... Depending on plans we may pick it up later and use at the weekend... but we've got enough either way.

[weeksy]

Testing the spare wheel along with dialling in the shock

[weeksy]

Fab service from TFTuned and especially Ruth, getting his Privateer suspension sorted, tweaked and tuned. Along with a rebuild/service on his Bomber CR shock which was a bit on the yukky/broken side. All smooth as silk and installed in the bike for the weekend now.

Well the Bomber isn't, that's currently one of the spare shocks.

2023-03-03_12-50-35 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

2023-03-03_12-50-20 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

2023-03-03_12-50-55 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

Proper proper laugh today photo and video shoot for the team. Details will be revealed in coming weeks

2023-03-04_06-53-51 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Practice day all day for both me and them.

The boy came home very happy and feeling great on the 141, he was flying on it.

I had a big crash on the drop/step down. Pretty pathetic attempt in truth. I'd done 4 runs and not taken it, in run 5 I thought "go on then" but it was such a bloody poor attempt. Over the bars, under the bike, broken saddle, few bruises and aches, but went up for run 6&7 and went ok.
I'll still be out in race tomorrow, but I don't think I'll be hitting the drop of despair. Lol

[weeksy]

Well today was, for me, the lads best ever race. The way Katy is bringing him on is just fantastic. She seems to know how to get into his brain, little ideas, thoughts , techniques that just make him faster.
Watching him a couple of times he's just flying.

He was down about 40th out of a pack of 62 in Youth and his team mate had come down in a 1.03 with a rival we know and have raced lots, Ed, sticking in a 1.02
The fastest youngster finished with a 55.6.
Weeksy08 put in a 58.5 which I'll be honest, almost brought me to tears. Just to see him put in a fast time, a happy run and see his attitude all weekend of excitement and joy just really made me well up with pride. He was at that stage in 6th. We think he got 11th or 12th. Will confirm when it's all official.
For info, Ben Deakin put in a low 57. Preston Williams was racing who races for specialized and is stupid quick and I think he was a 53s in Elites.
Run 2 I'll post a video up when we have it, but he crashed on a loamy left handed and lost 10s. But we can see how and why and it won't affect him.
His teammate put in a 59.8 to break the magic minute barrier on run 2.
Scarlett their 3rd teammate won the u16 girls cat.
We came home very happy.