The journey from small guy to teenager...

[weeksy]

We'll be there Fri Sat and Sunday night of 16/17/18

[Noggin]

We'll be there Fri Sat and Sunday night of 16/17/18

Not making promises, but I'll see what I can find/who can help!! Will let you know if we get anywhere x

[weeksy]

There's hopefully more to come on the above discussion later..

But for now, we're into just over a week until 2024 racing is a GO..

The Boxxers were stripped and serviced yesterday which now gives the right number of clicks on the rebound adjuster. It was only getting 6-7 maybe 8 clicks the other day, i guess due to grime
IMG-20240117-WA0001 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr
The oil looking somewhat yukky.

The Pro5 rear was fully rebuilt with new bearings, pawls and springs, tension on spokes checked. The Bontrager rear has a Kryptotal in super sticky DH now to match the Pro5's, so if we swap wheels he's running the same rubber.

I just need to wait for some new tubeless tape to arrive today so i can do the Argotal on the Bontrager front wheel.

Off out for a bit of testing this afternoon after he finishes school and then off to FoD this weekend if the weather holds.

[weeksy]

And for the Instagram crowd

[weeksy]

All fun today with sorting wheels, gears, brakes, number board, cleaning van, hoovering van and just generally getting ready for race weekend next week. Apart from a bit of additional dirt it's now sweet and ready to roll.

[weeksy]

So this weekend brings the crazy again It's race weekend.

The observant and clever ones will have noticed a large chunk of his recent instagram was from a particular track in FoD. There's no real shock there as it's the track they're racing this weekend

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/event ... l-Jan-2024

77 racers in his class... that's a LOT of kiddies to beat for sure lol.

The bike is ready, but the rider is currently down with a bit of lurgy. I'm sure he'll be firing and fighting fit by the weekend though so no worries on that score.

We also put in his entry for the National Championships today, so that's signed and sealed for later in the year.. He won't be winning that one though unless he finds a lot of form this year .... But he'll try his best i'm sure.

exciting times ahead now.... lets see what crazy comes.

[SSS]

If your up in Scotland, might pop up to visit you and see the lad in action. I remember that you were thinking about Glencoe and doing that last year.

I see that you may do Glencoe a week before France. Wont that be a bit hectic?
Looking at the DH dates, swap Rd 4 Glencoe to Rd 5 Innerleithen? Less driving and no France trip the week after?

Oh and what happened to the STW thread? (i think i can guess tho)

[weeksy]

Yup it'll be a bit hectic for sure. But that's the deal we signed up for with the universe.

Swapping Glencoe to Inners would just change a little as we'd then have Inners and Rhyd-y-felin back to back instead. Mrs Weeksy is away that weekend so we'll have nothing to do anyway

I asked for the STW thread to be closed. I was simply giving out more information than i was happy to do. I was having to justify all my decisions just to shut-up some internet randoms who were never likely to agree with them no matter what i did. I don't generally open myself up for this sort of thing on the internet and just felt it was time to step back from a certain level of negativity.

[SSS]

Fully understand the rationale. Everyone is a critic, especially if theyre not on the 'pointy' end of things.
When things like that happen i always go and re-read the 'Man in the Arena' speech by Roosevelt.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

As you will (may) know, we have horses. Young SSS is 31 now, but when he was younger, we were in the Showjumping circuit competing for glory.
We were lucky as we were in Central Scotland (lots of showjumping shows) and in the early days I didnt have my own place with land, but my parents did, which helps a lot.
Mrs SSS would be out mid weeks, weekends, driving up and down the country with SSS Jr in the horsebox to some qualifier or another. Along with the lessons from Olympic showjumpers etc etc. He was actually very good at it - also the young male to young female ratio he particularly enjoyed and all the 'attention'
However as he got older he decided not to pursue it as a career option (Hes now a Plumbing and Heating Engineer).

So i can (and someways cant as ive never needed to face them) fully understand your sacrifices and decisions.

Risk everything for everlasting glory? Moderated approach to see how it grows/goes?

Like us, the only opinion which truly matters is yours and his.

Edited to add the quote: cos its awesome....

[weeksy]

At times i'd post on there, not for validation or advice but just as information. But then it'd turn into "you're doing this wrong" or "he''s not good enough that it matters" when in reality i know exactly how good he is or isn't and where our place in the big wide world of racing is. Just because we're not at the pointy end doesn't mean we don't want the knowledge on certain aspects of racing/riding just in case we do get there, it's always good to have enough info

I don't think of what we're doing as having any sacrifices to me, it's @Welsh Muffin who has the sacrifices missing out on trips, days out, holidays in the sun, where me and the lad get to hit bike parks. Yes i put in a crazy amount of time, money, effort, but i enjoy it, i really do.

[Yorick]

Oh and what happened to the STW thread? (i think i can guess tho)

STW ???

[weeksy]

Oh and what happened to the STW thread? (i think i can guess tho)

STW ???

Cycling forum where a duplicate post ended up the same as on here.

[weeksy]

I see that you may do Glencoe a week before France. Wont that be a bit hectic?

It's a valid point though, something interesting when you look at the list of entrants... now it could be because it's the European Champs that weekend that a lot of the big hitters are not currently entered, maybe they're waiting for BC to pick their riders first and see if they're in the Euro Champs or not. I don't think we'll be in danger of getting picked for them, so it could be a double edged sword.

1 side, it's a long way and close to France trip
2 side, it'll be a slightly weaker field so a good chance for a decent result in National.... Maybe.

[SSS]

To be fair, i was getting mixed up with British Downhill rounds and SDA (Scottish Downhill Association), where they both share rounds 2 and 4. Round 5 Innerleithen is SDA only. Do you get points/kudos credit for SDA events?

As to Glencoe - if its possibly a weaker field, because of the Euro Champs, then you have to take every advantage going- bit of a no brainer, Its all about strategy, timing and luck as well as talent
In the grand scheme of things, Glencoe and the National(s) are more important than Morzine just now (not to take anything away from the France trip)?

[weeksy]

SDA is points yes, but not as many as Nationals, more than a B race like FoD though.


edit. chatting to the lad "Glencoe please".... that settles that debate... he's aware it's not the best track/location/etc but that's his answer so that's what happens

[weeksy]

We've had confirmation in the last 24 hours that TFTuned will be working with the DH bike for 2024.. Offering a LOT of service time on the bike as part of the deal. I can't say how cool this is and how much it'll save us. Brilliant work by both Katy and TFTuned.

We're now whipping the forks out after this weekends race and getting them fully serviced by TFTuned in time for BPW the weekend after.

We also have another potential sponsor coming onboard, but that's currently waiting for full confirmation before i can say anything.

All these little things (or big things) make a massive difference in terms of viability. As you can imagine, even getting the forks and shock serviced twice a year stacks up massively in terms of costs.

[weeksy]

Well in a slightly amusing twist of fate, the track we thought it was on, isn't the track it is on.

Whoops



This is Sunday's track so practice for the lad tomorrow, race Sunday

[Skub]

HTF are you meant to know where you're going?

[weeksy]

HTF are you meant to know where you're going?

You can tell, apart from the bit he gets lost. But the lad tells me earlier, oh I'll be missing half of them and gapping it. Lol.

Plus it'll be taped but it's taped wide enough that there's multiple lines.

Sad thing for me, if I'd known it was that track, I'd have maybe raced it.

[weeksy]

Faster guy