The journey from small guy to teenager...

[weeksy]

It varies from organiser, this one was a beam on the line at both ends.

The results are now up, however his class is missing from the results.. But no explanation as to why yet. It is, somewhat of a farce. We had similar last year but they did get results last year.
The only reason we went back is because he's racing Nationals there on the weekend, so it's good practice.

[Count Steer]

Well, in my book, if you pay money to enter a race and it turns out not to be, they should refund the money.

Unforgiveable really after the problems they had last time.

That's the negative side though. It sounds like his confidence should be well boosted for the Nationals.

[weeksy]

I hear you matey, it'll be interesting what today brings.

Roots and Rain (who are NOT affiliated in any way to Gravity, they're just a results site) have added an update

https://www.rootsandrain.com/event12573 ... a/results/

Youth results currently outstanding - I expect to have them by 11am today.

So lets give them the benefit of a 'maybe' here at the moment and see if we end up with anything. From our perspective it's more about the 'where about is he in the grand scheme' than the actual results. He's got 5-6 racers who he's raced plenty and been in the same rough ball park as and several he's NOT... so it's more about 'where is he compared to last year' more than he got 4th, 10th or whatever. I guess it's like a pre-season testing in a way as he's put in the work over winter, put in the effort and you want to see how that does in the big picture. We know he's improving, we see it, others see it, but until it's down in a timesheet, you're not sure of anything.

[Count Steer]

Those timings and comparisons between categories are interesting. Billy Pugh (and the rest of his group) look handy. One or two of the old geezers look like they know their way down a muddy hill too.

[weeksy]

Billy races for the YT Mob, he's a semi-pro racer even though he's only 16. He's actually in the same year as my lad and doing his GCSE's this year as mine is. Billy was born later so weirdly they're in different race Cats. But my lad has raced him a few times in the past, but not beaten him.

Billy is off to World Cups this season as part of the GB allocation and i was chatting to his dad yesterday about it all as that in the dream-world is the goal for the boy, to make it to world level. We're moving closer, but as we get closer the incremental steps up the ladder get harder of course as with any sport. But i don't honestly feel that it's completely impossible for him to make it to the level where he could go to a WCDH and not be put to shame.

So yeah, he's a fast boy

[weeksy]

So today is the clean up.

Just to give you an idea of what's involved in an after-race prep for the bike/kit/everything

Some jobs are mine, some are Mrs Weeksys, i'd love to say some are the boys... but well, he's a teenage boy and sometimes you're better off doing it yourself.

2 pair of shoes, clean, dry, check and sort cleats and boa
4 jerseys, clean a TONNE of mud off, wash, dry
2 jackets, clean, wash dry
2-3 pair of trousers, clean, wash, dry
2 helmets clean, wash, dry
2 sets goggles, clean wash dry, fit new roll-off system
4 pairs gloves, clean wash dry

1 cold box, empty, clean
1 'box of stuff' for camping to sort
1 gazebo clean, dry, put away including sides

Bike, go through completely, every nut, bolt, fixing, fastening.
New pads if needed, if not, strip brakes, clean and sort
Headset, check, lube, replace if needed.
Chain off the bike, cleaned, lubed
Wheels out, bearings checked and replaced if needed.
Frame bearings checked
Pedals checked
grips checked/replaced
Fit new longer front munguard from mudhugger
fit new numberboard from mudhugger

After that's all done, we're pretty much getting there. It's little things then like the lights in the van that need re-charging, tools that need sorting/checking and any parts used at weekend replacing (this weekend that's a 10sp quick-link)

Lastly it's cleaning the inside of the van, front compartment and rear... Sometimes that's a quick hoover (that's this week) and sometimes it's a full wash and clean. But as we're out on Wed, it's just a quick hoover.
I've had to order 2 extra water containers this weekend, partly for water for washing bike, but partly as weights for the gazebo

I think that's about it for the day... Once that's done we're pretty close.

[Taff]

Billy was showing talent waaaaay above all the other kids when he was in fodders aged 7 or 8. He's done so many different competition styles, obviously Inc loads of downhill, BMX was his focus for a while, freestyle, he regularly rides off road motorbikes etc etc. anything on 2 wheels.

I can remember seeing him at about 10 yr old, chasing Charlie Hatton down GBU and he was flipping rapid.

It looks like you had a fun weekend though, and you know that MiniWeeksy is improving all the time.

[weeksy]

Screenshot_2024-04-08-19-50-20-086_com.android.chrome by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

We'll blow me! That's a hell of a result, honestly. He's beaten guys who creamed him many times. The lad in 4th was the Pearce overall champ last year and dominated it.
I'm not thinking he's now going to beat these lads week in week out, but heck that's bloody incredible and a proper list of proper racers in there.
There's lots more coming in for the National this weekend, but wow, just wow.

[weeksy]

I've got a beer and having a few tears.

[Count Steer]

You said he was enjoying it.

That's ultra-bonzer and that time would have been v respectable in the other categories too.

[weeksy]

Back to the reality of the world again then today. Getting the bike and kit ready for tomorrow, as it's still half-term here he/we have a day at Windhill tomorrow, fun little place and good variation in terrain for practice. He's got a day with TFTuned https://www.tftuned.com/ who are giving us support with servicing of the bouncy bits this year, but on top of that they're offering/giving a day of setup of his bouncy bits. Obviously we could sit here and argue that his bouncy stuff is working pretty darn well right now. But i'm also hoping it gives him something in the way of knowledge/feedback to increase how he notices things on the bike.
I also picked up a shock for the Session at the weekend. It's the exact same shock that's on his bike and came off a Session which was swapped for a Coil shock on collection/new. From my persepctive it gives me 1 extra change of something breaking (his shock) and me having a direct replacement that i can swap.

At the weekend it was shown to me just how important spares can be. One of his competitors and our mate Frank smashed his brake to bits. Luckily for him it was a SRAM Code RSC and i happened to have 2 in spares, so within 10 mins of him stacking it, i had the brake fitted and bled to his preference and he was back out for another run of practice. I did a few other jobs over the weekend as well, but that was one that really highlighted the need for spares.

[Count Steer]

Some riders must turn up and go 'Phew! Thank goodness, Weeksy's dad's here'.

(Hope they pay you for the parts so you can re-stock - I bet I know what happens though.... ).

[weeksy]

Some riders must turn up and go 'Phew! Thank goodness, Weeksy's dad's here'.

(Hope they pay you for the parts so you can re-stock - I bet I know what happens though.... ).

LOL you don't realise just how close to the truth you are with some of that mate. It has been discussed that i should stick up a sign on the owning with prices.
The brake is being replaced by them yes..But that's a £150 part so i'm not in a position to give that away. The rest of a parts are £2 here, £3 there, so i don't ask for anything. I did get a 6 pack of Stella from one of the parents this weekend who's bike i repaired on the Sat, they went out to the Supermarket in the evening to get it

As we've established, i enjoy the spannering and the satisfaction of getting someone out who would otherwise be in the van and on their way home. I know how tough this thing can be, so try and make it easier for them all.

But it's reciprocated too, this weekend i forgot the box is the awning pegs in it, so the awning was in danger. One of the other guys had some spares and was more than happy to give them to us for the weekend.

[weeksy]

Tell you what impresses me most.

2023 Rheola he raced there twice.
4min 19 was his first race
4min 07 was his race the weekend after

This weekend
3min 26

That's a MASSIVE improvement and just shows what he's done as a rider in the last 12 months.

[MingtheMerciless]

At the level he’s racing at does any particular bike/component give a stand out advantage ?

[weeksy]

At the level he’s racing at does any particular bike/component give a stand out advantage ?

To be honest, his bike is about as good as it could be. The Trek Session with his spec (maybe better forks on some) is winning World Cup races. I can safely say it's not the bike. He's got the best of everything on it, including his tyres, brakes, etc.
It's all on him to get any more out of it, and I believe in time he'll do exactly that.

[weeksy]

So after last weekend at Rheola, we're at .... Rheola.

This weekend is the big boy, the National DH Series. (think of last weekend at National Superstock and this as BSB)

He'll have a pile of super pros to play with this weekend including racers like Rachel Atherton, Charlie Hatton (current world champ), Jordan Williams, Laurie Greenland etc etc. These are all current World Cup racers so the game is upped massively from last weekend in terms of riders there. Although happily not in his Cat for racing of course lol. But he's got the cream of the crop of Youth against him this weekend.

When we set out in 2024 the target and goal for the season was "to reach top 15 in Nationals" and i guess that's still the goal at the moment. Looking at the field, somewhere between 10-15 could and should be possible i think, but getting inside the top10 will be a big ask. It'll also depend on what a few of the lads from this weekend who he beat put in as races, they're still fast and he had a cracking weekend.
There's currently 72 in Youth so quite a massive bunch, although Rheola is considered the hardest track in the UK and we don't expect to see 72 of them make it to Race run.
You've also got the factor that it's 1 race run only. Saturday is all day practice and Sunday is seeding run, then race run. So 1 chance, 1 mistake and you've blown it.
But for him there's hopefully very little in the way of pressure (apart from inside his own head) and with a bit of luck and a fair wind, maybe top 15 would happen.

We've hopefully got our kit/system/plans all dialled now, it was only a weekend ago after all. He's got the coach with him all weekend both for moral support and tech discussions on lines, track-walk etc etc. So will be interesting to see how that plays out.

It'll also slightly change my plans for the weekend in terms of my job as i'll potentially be a bit less in the discussion side of things and more on the mechanic/crew side of things this weekend, although in truth my feedback is minimal as I can't see the things they see/do at the best of times.

It's looking slightly less wet and windy, but a long way from lovely however there's very little any of us can do about that of course. We just do what we do and go with it.

[weeksy]

LOL there's always something to do after all this slop in the last 6 months.

This morning i was moving the bike about in the garage getting ready for weekend. "Hmmm them cranks are a bit stiff"

Recently i've replace the bottom bracket, so was hoping it wasn't that. I've also swapped the jockey wheel bearings, so again was hoping it wasn't that. First job is to pull the chain off so i can see what moves and what doesn't. My thoughts were on the high-idler or the lower chain tensioner.

It ended up being the upper high idler bearing. It's a 6903 which i've got plenty of in stock but it wasn't completely terrible so for now i've re-greased it and that'll be perfectly OK for the weekend and longer. I'll swap it after the weekend as it's got one of the funny circlips and i didn't want to risk breaking or bending that
I may even order a new idler wheel which i expect will come with bearing and circlip already installed.

10 mins later, it's all done and the bike spins like a dream. I know it may come over like he/we are quite hard on bearings, but we do spend a fair bit of time with the washer on the bike in a given weekend, mostly because we want it as clear of dirt, mud and anything that can clog up the drive-train at a given race run. So before races it gets blasted (lower power than a jetwash) and these little places are the sorts of places where the dirt clogs up so it needs a bit more blasting out. But we're also pretty good at cleaning and sorting so it evens itself out
Ideally we'd use warmer water and a sponge, soaking rathter than jetting it.... but that's not happening on the side of a mountain in Wales is it

[Count Steer]

For us non-specialist D/H people

How important are the gears (range, ratios etc)? I always imagined you click through them at the start and then gravity + the occasional mad pedal to keep the momentum going on any upslopes or after heavy braking. (Watching the vids, pedalling doesn't feature a lot - particularly in the twisty stuff for obvs reasons).

(My old bike had 18 indexed gears but it was pretty short geared for going uphill, the longest still meant pedalling rather too frantically on the flat/downhill. ie going round Rutland Water I'm pedalling away as the missus floats past, in 'Sturmey Archer' type 4th on the Bickerton, with a cadence that was like it was filmed in slo-mo )

[weeksy]

Plenty of track at WCDH (World Cup DH) you can drop a chain off the line and not lose out. There's been a winning run before now where a rider snapped chain out of the gate and still won.

Some UK tracks, again the same, you could lose the chain and still get down respectably, plenty do.

Gearing you run a 32/34 on the front and something like an 11-25 on the back. Short range of gears and not massive gaps between them. It's a 7 speed box (most MTBs are 11 or 12 speed now),

Gearing we worry about not massively in truth, sometimes after runs/crashes/mud he'll get 5 gears out of the 7 perfectly but 2 may be dodgy.. If we've got time we'll sort, but we've sent him out with less than optimal gears more than once. He just then compensated on his run for it.
I do try my very very best to make sure his gears are perfect at the start of the weekend though.

Some things this year have shown that 'expensive' is better. A gear cable can be found for £1. However we're running £5 gear cables now and he came in last weekend with "wow, the gears are amazing". Even though it's a DH bike he's running high spec components, like carbon SRAM X01 cranks and an X01 mech... they're excessive for most parts, but it came on the bike and i've got spares of the same spec in there.