Count Steer wrote: Tue May 13, 2025 12:31 pm
What was the recipe for success? Just 'everything came together when it mattered' or was there something major changed? Looking at the time for the race run he'd have been respectably placed in some of the top level stuff.
Awesome.
That is the big question arguably. There are a few guys missing this weekend gone and a few had issues, but even considering that, it was an amazing run and I would like to know how we replicate that speed for sure. It's really hard to know the answer, but you can bet we'll try.
I'm hoping self belief now plays a factor. On sector 2 he had the fastest spilt time, which is just unthinkable and brilliant.
So we're onto this weekend. Lets just say this week has been somewhat bonkers, but as always i'm afraid there's a lot of it i can't get into... but it's been very very interesting for sure.
We're sitting watching Socials with a lot of interest this weekend as it's Poland WCDH and a lot of his close rivals are playing (although arguably they're quicker than him, but he's chasing them). So can't wait to see how some of them get on in the coming months with their GB jerseys.
We're heading up to Dyfi for bike Demos, A200 and S200. If i end up coming out of there without a £7000 bill i'll be quite impressed lol. Nah, seriously though, at the moment we're not buying or ordering anything, but we're both very curious as to what the weekend will bring with them and the back-to-back tests against the Session.
He's been out a couple of times this week, only at the local which isn't hugely tough for him, but IMO it really does mean he can work on the details, precision, line choices, technique in a way that he can't do at other places as he's concentrating too much. I can't see any way that more bike time and more riding won't help him, so i'm all over the idea when he wants to go. It also helps that he's been giving me some tips over there in terms of riding, lines and body position.
First job for today is to get his forks and shock installed when they come back from TFTuned after being serviced. I'll also be running the Session this weekend at Dyfi, but with his settings and my pressures to work with, i don't generally fiddle with the bouncers much so i'll just set the pressures and go.
Once that's done i'll get the Halo wheel (on the Bontrager hub) installed to see how that does at Dyfi and whether the hype is justified. The DT Swiss EX511 is completely dead so is getting rebuilt onto a new rim, but we'll see how this Halo does on Sat before we decide what rim ends up on the wheel.
I've been looking forward (and partly dreading) yesterday for a while now as it was Dyfi on the Atherton Bikes demo rides for the boy.
Apart from the fact it's 4 hours door to door,you've then got the potential expense of a new £7500 bike LOL.
Anyway, we got there and were met by Horatio, a top lad and really easy to chat to.
The days format ended up being
4 laps on the S200 (alu version)
4 laps on the A200 (carbon)
4 laps on the Trek Session.
The boy liked the S200 when bouncing on it with discussions of how it felt playful and fun (but we knew this in advance really). After his rides, not a lot changed in terms of him liking it "it's ace at fat whips" which i believe is a compliment.
He then knocked out fast laps of Racetrack with mostly (due to traffic) full top to bottoms on it.
Moving onto the A200 i was met with "Oh this feels awesome".. eeeeeek, £7500 bouncing around my brain lol. After 3-4 laps on that nothing had changed and he felt it was both faster and more stable than the S200. He deffo preferred this carbon version it seems.
But the order of the day was not about buying a cool bike, it was about buying the fastest bike too, so he grabbed some food and then set out on the Session, his old friend. The suspension was serviced this week by TFTuned and it had a new Halo rear installed we were trying out (it had done 3 runs with me riding it in the morning and was fine). So the bike was sweetly running and ready.
As you'd expect, the old comfy slippers didn't let him down at all and stuck in fast or in his world "that was rapid" laps.
It was the a fairly lengthy discsussion with Horatio, me and the boy as to which, why and how long.. The chat deffo veered towards us ordering an A200 in the not too dim and distant future, there's a LONG wait which poses somewhat of a complication because at the moment due to other discussions i simply have no clue what 2026 is going to bring. We're in a very incredible position of having 'options' at the moment which brings not only a lot of good things, but massive complications to any decisions we make on bikes too. I can't really be in a position where i spend £7500 on a bike that in 2 months time we don't actually want/need. So i'm pretty torn as to a few aspects of our plans now.
It was then back in the van for the 4 hours home and an hour of GoPro analysis with some fancy timing apps.
The tale of the tape
P1. Trek Session
P2. Atherton A200 + 1.4s
P3. Atherton S200 + 3.8s
Now that really is interesting as the A200 was running Fox 40s which he's never used before, along with Hayes Dominions which isn't a brake he's ever used (but felt great actually) and finally a Coil DHX2 which isn't his preference as he likes Air on the back (or maybe not now lol). So is 1.4s in the same ball park... Well yeah, it's right up there, but it's still a smidgen slower. I need to have a chat with a few people who 'know stuff' in terms of riders jumping on new bikes and the expectations from there.
Does that mean we're buying an Atherton... Not today, although Mrs Weeksy is happy that if we're going Atherton then we have approval, but we've got a few other tests lined up (sadly not at Dyfi for comparison) on other bikes/options, before we even consider pressing the button on one.
We (me and wife) want him to demo/hire an R3 Session at BPW for the day, but he's really not feeling the bigger Session depsite the fact it is arguably going to fit a bit better and is a 'known' options, i think he sees it a bit as "same thing different day" and isn't wanting to jump on the plan.
As you've worked out i expect, this is more than a hobby for him. It's a life goal, a job, career, etc. Whether that's racing or riding or coaching or something within bikes, that i don't know. But i expect this to be his 'thing'
I'm not surprised about the times, he's so used too his current bike he could probably beat you and me with one arm tied behind his back and his eyes shut.
It'll probably take a good few rides on whatever the new beastie is to get it and him dialled into each other.
Could you hire an Atherton for a week and take it to FOD or some other known track to really play with settings and how it wants riding?
What else is on the test agenda?
"Of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?"
"My dear Doctor, they're all true."
"Even the lies?"
"Especially the lies."
I'm not surprised about the times, he's so used too his current bike he could probably beat you and me with one arm tied behind his back and his eyes shut.
It'll probably take a good few rides on whatever the new beastie is to get it and him dialled into each other.
Could you hire an Atherton for a week and take it to FOD or some other known track to really play with settings and how it wants riding?
What else is on the test agenda?
Me neither in some ways, I don't think any particular bike will be the difference between say 10th and winning races. Assuming the bike is a top of the range either way.
It's very very hard to demo and test DH bikes due to availability but we have an option on a Mondraker and a Zerode.
Shortlist of potentially bikes in order currently
Atherton A200
Zerode G3
Canyon Sender
Trek Session 25.
The new Trek isn't released yet so we're not sure.
I can't see ya getting the Atherton for longer than a day, but Dyfi is the perfect place to test as it's the closest to the trickiest EU tracks he can end up racing.
We've got a shit tonne of background crazy that I can't post about, but that's also stopping the purchasing at the moment as we could end up with a new bike by other means but currently we've rejected the offers.
It's all interesting stuff but the priority is next weekend which is getting the suspension setup and the TMD installed and tested within that process. Then it's half term riding and straight back into racing on the 30th.
weeksy wrote: Sun May 18, 2025 3:29 pm
As you've worked out i expect, this is more than a hobby for him. It's a life goal, a job, career, etc. Whether that's racing or riding or coaching or something within bikes, that i don't know. But i expect this to be his 'thing'
Trust me, kids change. My lad did a couple of years playing RU for Northampton Saints academy, same but RL for London Broncos. Ended up getting offered a contract with Broncos which he turned down to go to uni, which he now regrets.
weeksy wrote: Sun May 18, 2025 3:29 pm
As you've worked out i expect, this is more than a hobby for him. It's a life goal, a job, career, etc. Whether that's racing or riding or coaching or something within bikes, that i don't know. But i expect this to be his 'thing'
Trust me, kids change. My lad did a couple of years playing RU for Northampton Saints academy, same but RL for London Broncos. Ended up getting offered a contract with Broncos which he turned down to go to uni, which he now regrets.
weeksy wrote: Sun May 18, 2025 3:29 pm
As you've worked out i expect, this is more than a hobby for him. It's a life goal, a job, career, etc. Whether that's racing or riding or coaching or something within bikes, that i don't know. But i expect this to be his 'thing'
Trust me, kids change. My lad did a couple of years playing RU for Northampton Saints academy, same but RL for London Broncos. Ended up getting offered a contract with Broncos which he turned down to go to uni, which he now regrets.
Fingers crossed it works out for your lad.
It's hard to think that you can go back to uni later if you want to I think.
My nephew said he was going straight from school cos if he didn't and he started doing seasons from school, he wouldn't go to uni - I didn't think this was a bad thing, but he's studying biochemistry and learning French in the hope that he can work in Europe in the future !! (We're trying to find the info on his great grandad to maybe sort an Italian passport).
Who knows, maybe he'll make some sort of wild breakthrough in medicine ?? !!
Life is for living. Buy the shoes. Eat the cake. Ride the bikes. Just, ride the bikes!!
"Of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?"
"My dear Doctor, they're all true."
"Even the lies?"
"Especially the lies."
It's just unfathomable to me in truth.. I can't comprehend the speed. It's like a WSB rider and an Inters trackday rider, there's just nothing in comparison to both riders. It's a completely different sport to the one i do and i think at times i'm not completely terrible on a MTB.
I generally can't watch the whole video It scares the crap outta me to watch!! I have mates up here that do stuff like that (for fun, so probably. not so fast, maybe steeper?) all summer - absolutely terrifies me!!
BUT - I can totally appreciate a lot of the skill etc. It's freaking awesome how good/fast he is.
Life is for living. Buy the shoes. Eat the cake. Ride the bikes. Just, ride the bikes!!
@weeksy a good few years ago (29ers were new and unproven at this point) I did the Bontrager 24/12 at Newnham Park near Plymouth, The Torq Energy Team were racing there and entering one of the singletrack descents one of the team riders came up behind me "faster rider behind". When I let him past I thought I'd sit on his wheel and annoy him all the way down. He was on a proper head down, long stem, bum up, skinny tyred 29er, after about 4 corners and drops I had to back off as I was going to hospitalise myself trying to keep up, the speed differential was mad
"Of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?"
"My dear Doctor, they're all true."
"Even the lies?"
"Especially the lies."
I'd quite happily find my way into the trees even at a slow pace I reckon. great skills, but scary as hell. And to think there's people probably quite a bit quicker than him as well????
Nordboy wrote: Mon May 19, 2025 8:29 pm
Nope, nope and thrice nope!!
I'd quite happily find my way into the trees even at a slow pace I reckon. great skills, but scary as hell. And to think there's people probably quite a bit quicker than him as well????
It scares the crap outta me to watch!! I have mates up here that do stuff like that (for fun, so probably. not so fast, maybe steeper?) all summer - absolutely terrifies me!!
