The journey from small guy to teenager...

[Count Steer]

New awning for National Champs

IMG_20250624_123247 by steveweeks59, on Flickr

Is that an outdoor sexpool I see!

Or, as a medic described them to me, a 'human soup bath'.

[weeksy]

That sir is an ice bath thing.

Justify it how you like ...
But we now know

LOL with my knees i can barely get in it, let alone with someone else.

[weeksy]

[weeksy]

After a bit of a break due to a gap in racing calendars for all the organisers, we're back at it this weekend. It wasn't our plan as we were hoping to head out with the coach but a bit of a crash has put her slightly out of action so unavailable to play.

So we've got the last FoD Thursday play-race along with a mate and his boy on Thurs, but then on Sat we're heading back to FoD for the MIJ race. It'll be made slightly more complex due to some work i've got to do on Sat, but we'll make it work and Sat is only practice. It won't be the biggest race ever but a chance to catch up with riding mates who we're spending half/most of the summer with this year, so will be good. I expect it'll be over the Elephant man side of the hill which isn't necessarily his favourite tracks, but it's a last chance for a race simulation before heading to Fort William the weekend after for National Champs.

The Session is going well after getting the larger frame, along with setup and work from TFTuned and RSR, so we're happy that we're good to go. We've not done the camping thing for a little while now so it'll be back to it as we're hitting FW on the Weds and there until the Sunday, so a good chance to get back to it.

[weeksy]

This weekend is a little bit of MIJ racing at FoD. For no other reason than, why not?

Next weekend is National Champs at Fort William, so it's a day back between the tape and dialling in the bike and setup.

It's over on Enduro hill which is not exactly a DH track usually but it's sunny, warm and dry, so let's see what happens.

New set of Deathgrip2s installed for the weekend and bike was checked today after being thrashed last night

[weeksy]

MIJ this weekend and fun in the camping field, but to be fair, when it's 20 Deg overnight you don't actually mind being in a field. A kebab, pizza and a couple of beers and it's all good.

Practice went ok but the track is massively blown out due to hundreds of riders and no rain for months

He stuck in a good lap though and is 3s clear after run 1, so we'll see what run 2 brings for everyone. Got about an hour till next run.

[weeksy]

Went slightly slower on run2 due to an issue on a blown out corner, but took the Win. 

[Mr Moofo]

Went slightly slower on run2 due to an issue on a blown out corner, but took the Win. 

A win is a win!

[weeksy]

[weeksy]

Excellent weekend had, i had to work on Sat which was probably a good thing as it not only got me a day off this week to go to Fort William, but it was also DAMN hot so good not to have to get too sweaty until later.

Beer had while setting up the gazebo
IMG-20250712-WA0022 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

It was then straight into practice for the boy and his mate who we were looking after for the weekend as his parent couldn't make it. So i was spannering both bikes, but as they were both Sessions it was cool for me

Practice went mostly well, it was a completely new track and it got insanely blown out and dusty, so much that the boys had to give bigger gaps than they usually would otherwise they couldn't see. On one run the boy caught someone and stacked it into a tree through lack of vision, giving himself a dead leg in the process. But with a bit of a rest he was relatively OK.

We then headed out to Coleford for Pizza and kebab (way too much chili sauce !) and back for beers. It was a lovely evening so some bike chat and analysis of a mates golf swing was the order of the evening.

Sun brough practice which went pretty smoothly all round, our mate rarely hits a podium so was trying to pick up pace to get him to the pointy end.
They were chatting lots about line choices, what they were hopping/clearing.. He couldn't quite clear everything the boy was, but pretty much.

Run 1 saw them both come down happy enough, the boy was 2.98s clear at the front with a good run. Our mate came in P5 for run 1 and not exactly unhappy as his teammate was P3, but wanted better.
Lunch and banter with more mates who came to spectate and then back for run 2.

Our mate came down into P4 which was soooooo close.

The kid who was in P2 came down and was faster than his first run (he's a super fast BMXer) but didn't get past the boys time (just over 1s away) so by the time he crossed the line the boy was confirmed in P1 anyway. Sadly he didn't get quicker due to a corner he went high on the berm not having the same berm lol. But the targets for the day were 1. Race Win, then 2. Fastest time of the day.

He managed both goals and we're more than happy with that.

Today is stripping the bike down, cleaning, lubing and checking, sorting the TMD, checking headset, sorting chain and gearing. Getting a new rear 27.5 ordered as a spare and checking things like pads, rotors, clearances, pad rub etc.

After that it'll be cleaning the van, sorting all the kit in there, getting the 'catering' box all ready.

Weds we're off to Fort William for National Champs. The weather is looking somewhat dubious and 'Scottish' so we'll see how that goes

It'll be a tough one of course compared to an MIJ, but we'll do our best to have a bike and a rider that does as well as humanly possible.

Long weekend for sure, we're not back to lunchtime on Monday.

[weeksy]

randr-photo-16208801-4000px-by-fstop-media by steveweeks59, on Flickr

[weeksy]

Came up to Fort William yesterday via Liverpool.

Weirdly it was VERY light even at 10.30pm
IMG_20250716_221651 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

This morning brought sunshine at the moment.
IMG-20250717-WA0000 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

IMG-20250717-WA0002 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Currently WFH with the cafe wi-fi and enjoying a coffee and some power for the laptop Didn't bother bringing the generator as i knew i'd get power here. The fact they have things like the cafe, power and a shower block that's lovely, really makes this an epic place.

Sadly it's due to be wet tomorrow and with the fact i've got to work today means i didn't bring mine to ride, so a bit of a shame but not much i can do there.

Once this is charged i'll get the boy up, get him fed and sent out on the track, it doesn't open until 9.30 though so no major rush to get out.

[Numnut]

Good luck - Hope you've got plenty of wheels!

[weeksy]

Funny you say that. He killed one about 30 mins after your post.
Nukeproof, dead, like pretty dead.
I spent an hour trying to buy a new rim locally but no good.
I fitted a spare which had a load of play in it at the hub. So checked and after some swearing and sweating I swapped the bearings and it's all good.
We had more luck than some, there's a few who've done 2 and one who did 3. So, not a disaster for us lol

We then headed out to buy food which we've had and now it's time for a beer.

[weeksy]

Seeding morning.

[Mr Moofo]

Seeding morning.

Bet its not that clean now

[weeksy]

Sure is, still completely dry.

For now

[Tricky]

Sure is, still completely dry.

For now

I'm jealous!
This was the view for me an hour or so ago, it's even worse now, I'm off out in it again in 15 mins, deep joy....

[weeksy]

https://my.raceresult.com/351951/

[weeksy]

Racing on hold for an unknown time die to boardwalk collapsing. Just waiting like lemons currently