All Reved Again

Went for an uplift day at Revs again today with the man who is James Corbett and Ash Stockton, lovely weather, warm sunshine, no wind and bone dry, the tracks were running fast with plenty of grip.

I had a couple of things I really wanted to get dialled so it was time to give them a try, first was the gap jump at the bottom which leads on to a step up jump, James had been telling me I could do it no problem but it was playing on my mind a little, all I needed was speed around the berm to get me over it.

 

Keep the speed up was on my mind all the way down the run and yes I did it and without even thinking did the step up jump straight after it and guess what all the James told me was right it was quite easy and I did it every run afterwards, so I was buzzing now and we did loads of runs and also did loads of different tracks it was a fantastic Saturday with a Henblas uplift on the Sunday to look forward to as well.

First Race Day

Dan Cartwright enjoyed his very first downhill race at “Conquer The Cliff” at Aberystwyth. He even managed 2nd in Rippers category which was great for his first race and he got a lovely trophy. He was the very first rider to start of the whole event and the first run was a dry run and he was just 5 seconds behind the first place rider but as there were thunderstorms rain and lightening just before his second run he didn’t manage to improve on his time. The first place rider in his category fell off hard on his second run so didn’t complete the lap. A lot of riders took part in the event and Caersws had a good representation on the day with 3 x 2nd place in categories and one 4th place, not bad for a small village in Wales (boys pictured above).  Dan saw his hero Rachel Atherton who was also riding  but was a bit quicker than him on the day ! An enjoyable event to start his downhill racing career off and a great first result.

Showing The Old Ones How It’s Done

 

Went up the Hafren on Saturday with Kev and dad on very windy and wet day, we did several tracks and the splashes lived up to it’s name with a lot of big puddles, when we got to the top of false flat I said I would like to have a play in the old quarry and ride down some of the scree slopes which was great fun.

 

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After I had a play in quarry we made our way up to descent 1&2, on descent 1 there were several big puddles and by now we were soaking wet, on the last big puddle you can go up the bank on the left, as I went up my front wheel washed out and I came off nearly falling into the puddle I was trying to avoid, but dad was right behind me with nowhere to go and fell off as well,  just as Kev came round the corner to see us all diving off the bikes in different directions, we were all soaking wet and cold feet but a great spin around the Hafren.

Dan Up The Hafren

A Very Big Thank You

 

A very big thank you to everyone who’s helped me out this season, I really hope I have a chilled and fun season.

Rapid Racing Products For keeping me clean.

OKO Magic Milk For keeping the tyres rolling

Also for a change I’m trying Maxxis tyres to see what I think of them, so I hope I stay rubber side down Maxxis MTB Tyres

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Yes Boy A Bit Of GMBN Fame

Well a bit of GMBN fame for me and Perry at Coed Y Brenin skills park, January sender of the month, quite nice to see Blake and Martin looking quite impressed.

You can see there video here GMBN January Sender Of The Month

Slip & Slide

Cracking day at Pearce Cycles Brindgewood with James, weather wasn’t to bad but there was a lot of rain in the night so by looking at the car park it was going to be muddy, we got kitted up and had a roll down the track and boy was it slippery for the second run we let some air out of the tyres to see if it will help with a bit of grip and no it didn’t.

we tried a few different tracks to see if they were any better and again no they weren’t the track we raced last year was like it was covered in ice it was that slippery, we did run after run and the more we did the better it seemed to get, I don’t think the tracks were any less slippery just we were getting more in tune with the bike.

We stopped for lunch and dad had cooked us cheese burgers and after all the runs they tasted real good, there’s set of jumps just above the car park which seemed really weird I had been doing them in the morning but so many people were getting wrong, dad said he had watched one fella try them and go straight over the bars in a big way, looking at them the main problem was you went down a big ish drop onto a bomb hole which was full of mud and you had to the line spot on where the mud was compressed or you would slide or lose momentum, the other thing was not go down the drop with too much speed or on the jump out it would buck the backend up, by around 3.30pm the heavens opened and we called it a day all in all it was a good day learning to slip and slide one thing was really noticeable compared to many other people bikes was the amount of mud build up on the down tube but with the Rapid Racing Products mudguard the difference is amazing.

Pearce Cycles Brindgewood Ludlow

Rapid Racing Products Testing

 

Pearce Cycles charity up lift at Hopton today, conditions were cloudy and the tracks were muddy/sticky which in a way I was pleased about as I wanted to test the new RRP mud guard on the big rig,

I think I did somewhere between 10 to 15 runs and all was going well bar for knocking my rear tyre off the rim and loosing all my Stans fluid, dad had been out for a trail ride and when he came back mentioned “haven’t you done many runs” as my bike was so clean and his down tube was covered in sticky mud, dads guard isn’t as long as the RRP but his bike was covered right up to the steering head.

Which was quite surprising so at the end of the day we looked again and fair play the mudguard had done the job, I’ve tried two other makes and none of them had kept the bike this clean, we will have to see what it’s like in real wet conditions, but so far spot on.

Bit of a Go Pro from today from Pearce Cycles Hopton Up Lift

New Stuff To Try

Some new stuff to try out, nice stealth Fox Rampage helmet with a nice quick clip buckle to do it up saves all the fussing with D rings, I will give a good testing tomorrow at Black Mountains DH Park.

What Fox say about it.

Infused with a championship winning formula the Rampage Comp Helmet from Fox Racing is extremely lightweight and crafted from a fibreglass shell that helps to dominate the trail.

A race-ready mid-level full face mountain helmet, staying competitve on the beaten path and in the helmet market ensures you rule the roost. The Rampage Comp personifies style and grace on the trail having been modelled on Fox Racing’s outstanding Rampage Pro Carbon. Destined for glory, the extremely breathable capabilities of this lid keep you cool no matter how hard you attack the downhill sections and improved ventilation ensures performances are kept to the highest standards.
Perfect for mountain bike aficionados that are seeking a blend of protection and performance, this Fox Racing creation has multiple EPS and shell sizes to provide that all-important pro-level fit. When pushing yourself hard, the poured PU chinbar construction enhances protection and safety to inspire any offroad ride with confidence.
It’s time to go on the rampage with this popular Fox Racing lid.

I also had a Go Pro Session which I can wait to do some edits with, bit of learning to be done to get all the best settings.

Big Rig Mud Free

Big rig all mud guarded up ready for some shredding, this should keep the mud at bay over the Christmas got a couple of up lifts booked so can’t wait to try it out.

Rapid Racing Products

Big thanks to Rapid Racing Products for hooking me up with this mudguard going to need it this time of year the mudguards look very strong and well made looking forward to testing it out on Saturday at Coed Y Brenin so as soon as I have given them a real good ride I will let you know how well they work.

Will try and get the bigger mud guard on the DH rig the weekend and see what it looks like.

Up date on the RRP mudguard on the enduro bike, fair play it works spot on keeps the crap out of your face and eyes, I went up Henblas the last couple of days and it’s really wet and soggy, instead of my mud splattered face I have kept quite clean and it also kept my new Go Pro lens clean so keeping the images clear, so again RRP thank you very much for all your help.

Testing RRP Mudguard Up Henblas

Good Bye Old One Hello New One

 

Well my old DH bike is no longer as it’s gone to a new home ( which is quite sad really had some amazing times on it ) but instead I have swapped it for a Giant Trance 2 with some nice up grades, Shimano XT brakes and 11 x 46 Shimano cassette to help up those hills, so looking forward to getting out and doing some shredding / training.

Yeah 14!

Fantastic birthday at Revs loads of people came  from far and wide ( Thanks to you all )

Day started with Spoons breakfast Richard came to join us as well we were all fuelled up and ready to go, when we arrived at Revs Perry, the Upson’s and Hills were already there and soon after Dean, Glyn, Henk, Willoughby’s and Charlie Holt turned up.

We all got on the uplift and went up to the top for a warm up and get in the flow everyone seemed to be getting on and down the tracks really well, I think I did two runs and dad and Richard went off for a bit of a trail ride and we kept banging the runs out on Far Side, Ginger Bob Cat, Ghetto, Downhill Red and Free Ride and I also had a bit of a play on 50 01.

With all the riding we were getting hungry so it was time for the Revs famous burgers and a shed load of food Mom had brought for everyone with the amazing large chocolate fudge cake, the afternoon seemed like riding and snacking we had shed loads of runs before it was getting to dark to see in the woods.

After we had finished at Revs it was time to head back and back to Spoons for dinner what a day, the weather , friends and riding was amazing, roll on next year.