Splash

finally bought and downloaded a hi res pic from Selkirk mtb Marathon …

 

and cropped to get rid of the 121 yr old behind me (prob on the 25km course)

Selkirk MTB marathon review and thoughts

Went down on the Saturday afternoon and saw a lot of cars with road bikes heading in the opposite direction after the sportive. Event camping was  in Selkirk. After weeks of rain the weather forecast was true and good and after a cold clear night where the temp in the car got down to 1 degree C – the blue skies and May sun woke the riders up and set the tone of the rest of the day.

After the ride got off at ten o’clock with the Championship riders leading the field out it only took a little more than three and a quarter hours till the leading championship riders came back into the event village.

Go rohloff Go

Highlights of the race were the scenery in general and the sections of trail centre singletrack at Innerleithen, part of the renowned 7Stanes network. This part of the Scottish Borders is stunning, with rolling hills as far as the eye can see, gorse in full golden flower, and a superbly remote feeling. I do however have a gripe – being mid field some of the technical single track sections were really bogged down up to 20cm of mud and quite unrideable. Hate to think what the riders 300places back would have thought.

Feel that they could have had multi sections were another option was opened after the first 250 riders passed through … a minor gripe and just that i would have loved to ride it all instead of having to walk 3 sections.

always suspect something when a camera and puddle are this close together …

there was also a section where the 70km (actually 60km if I had another moan) came back to join the 45km lot and there was a hill that i didn’t see anyone ride – up to 22% according to the Garmin … again think the organisers should have picked a gentler route this late in the ride as it is the people on the 45km course that they really should encourage to come back and a 600m walk will not help them do that … Then a lovely descent – most people like me just riding down the side of the heather … a few of the full course 85km guys came flying past as well … then the water pic above – need to buy the Hires version for vanity reasons ….

Lastly the finish and another t-shirt which i said No to. The race must appeal to people that care about the environment and then they give out cheap horrible t-shirts that no-one with any fashion sense would wear out … they should copy the marathon and run events and give out small medals instead …

finished but hot

Must say that the greatest post finish bit was the routine …

1. WASH THE BIKE

2. WASH MYSELF

3. Get a physio

4. Eat … and Eat again. 4300calories leaves a dent.

ride profile

Monday Bike Style: self portrait

Me post Selkirk MTB marathon

it’s all about the taper

Selkirk MTB marathon on Sunday – Anyone else doing it and still deciding whether to enter the long or medium ride. (reminder to oneself check weather then decide)

So last nights 5 a side game was my last exercise …. taper down now so that I am super fresh for Sunday …..

Polar Training load – looking nice and low for Sunday …

mtb travelogue through Scotland

i love this video – simple narrative story and looks like an adventure …. nicely done guys.

400km 7000D+, Scottish breakfast, sheeps, 3 cowboys and me for a backpacking WeekTravel in Scotland !

Fort Williams to Inverness by Singles & bikepark as the Wolf Track of Laggan,
We arrived the day of the MTB Ben Nevis Tour.

Video Self-produced with a basic 550D and monopode
With the MTB riders of travelingexperience during their Friends backpacking trip in sept / oct 2011
(Nicolas Marchais – Pierre Tsikis – Fabien Leduc – terravtt.com)

Direct edit & shoot by me – Pierre Managed the Gopro captures (endings stuff)

Thx much to Todd from Arms for the music use
Go and listen to them : myspace.com/armsongs
And lukhash.com -”Hi-Land-Coo” for the endings…

Next step, soon In Bretagne so… “stay tuned”
Thx for watch till the bonus )

616 Bicycle fabrication

following on from the reblog below look at these 650b beauties …. they also do a 29er for taller bods …. here is their site in full glory

We are all 29er junkies over here, but let’s face it not all size riders belong on a 29″ wheel. Over the years, we have observed many shorter riders grinding through trails on a 29″ wheel. What really caught our eye were the angles of a frame that seemed so whack to have to accommodate for the shorter top tube length but yet still allow for sufficient tow clearance. We decided there had to be a better option, so we turned our sites on the 650b.

Our intentions from the beginning were to create the best riding custom steel 650 to feed this niche. What we discovered is that the 650 is not only the optimal bike for a shorter rider but it is also one of the most fun rides for a rider of any size.

A smaller wheel equals better leverage to the rear tire, plain and simple. In our prototype process, we noticed immediately the quick off the line response especially riding a technical trail with many switchbacks. The front tire seemed to roll over everything and cut through sand just like a 29er. Overall we knew we were on to something. Matched with our custom steel formula we created the fastest xc riding machine on the planet. Frame weight: 3.5 lbs (medium).

• Hand selected tubing per customer ride preference
• 4mm custom poured headbadge
• Laser cut stainless bridge plate with logo
• Custom laser etched ID plate with customer name, serial #, tubing used,  and year it was built
• Decorative lug head tube piece (per customer request)
• Custom paint with painted logo (no decals!)
• Custom geometry per customer request (additional charge may apply)

Selkirk Marathon Coming Up … Are you ready

Next marathon – Selkirk on the 19-20th May 2012

The next round will take us to the other spiritual home of the MTB-Marathon Series – Selkirk in the Scottish borders. But this time the Scottish round is not just earlier in the year but it will also feature the UK Marathon Championships.

 

You can enter Selkirk HERE

The Legend is Reborn: Santacruz Superlight 29′er

The Superlight is the bike that launched Santa Cruz into the stratosphere. It was a combination of low weight and capable full suspension performance. It blended technology and reliability and offered it at reasonable price. Well those qualities are still important so Santa Cruz is offering the Superlight with 29er wheels now. Travel is 100 mm or 4 inches and geometry is optimized for a 4 inch travel fork with the head angle at 71 degrees.

Here’s the specs and available kits:

Claimed frame weight is 5.9lbs for a medium with shock.

 

The venerable Superlight gets big wheels this year. The addition of 29-inch wheels is the biggest change to this cross-country full suspension bike since its introduction in 1999. No VPP, no ABP links to adjust the shock rate, just a straight-up single-pivot XC bike with 100mm of front and rear travel.

According to Santa Cruz Bicycle’s marketing honcho Mike Ferrentino, the growing popularity of 29-inch wheels necessitated the development of a budget-minded full suspension platform for the masses. “The Superlight is the ‘gateway drug’ to Santa Cruz for many riders,” said Ferrentino. “Many first time buyers are now buying 29ers. These riders don’t want to buy a $5,000 mountain bike.”

The Superlight has a standard 135mm quick release rear end.

The Superlight frame retails for $1,050, complete bikes will start at $1,850. Complete bikes are available now but it will be several months before the frame-only option will be in stock.

While carving through the red Sedona dirt I felt the Superlight 29 did most everything one looks for in a cross-country full suspension.

The rear suspension is firm and did not feel as active as the company’s VPP bikes. The suspension firms up while grinding away in the granny ring—not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion. The Superlight’s rear end did not feel as stiff as the Tallboy’s, though I didn’t consider the flex significant enough to be detrimental to the bike’s handling.

Full suspension does not get any simpler, nor lower maintenance than this. The Superlight 29 could be a good choice for new riders looking to buy their first full suspension, and a great option for up-and-coming NICA racers.

Spotted: Raleigh DynaTech ti mountain bike

Was on a shoot today filming at a small house in Edinburgh when I chance upon this classic lurking unlocked around the corner of the house.

they are quite rare now most confined to a scrap heap or worse … Dynatechs aren’t made of pure ti they are made of grade 3 ti(ok nearly pure)
But ti could never be described as brittle, grade 3 is increased corrosion and fatigue resistant, and as to the bonding to the lugs was a method used by other makers and many other well known brands suffered failures as well, i think it was just your luck as some frames survive today, these were the heady days of experimentation when the choice in the fledgling mbt market was steel, steel or steel ,a very light smattering of alloys but usually steel in 1 form or another
I remember when alloy became mainstream ,oh! the horror stories ,of sudden failures ,yet now you can ‘horse it’ on an alloy bike

Raleigh DynaTech mountain bike from the famous special division of Raleigh.

History
The demise of the European team in the early 1980s led to the closure of Ilkeston but resulted in Gerald O’Donovan and Melvyn Cresswell teaming up on product development at what became known as Special Products Division. Shortly before this, and supported by his ‘indulgent boss’ Yvonne Rix, Cresswell had designed and launched the Randonneur tourer. It was based on personal experience and inspired by his first ‘serious’ bicycle, which Gerald O’Donovan had built for him many years previously. Although Raleigh’s most expensive complete bicycle, it was an instant success. The Randonneur proved that Raleigh could still sell high-end product if it was thoughtfully designed and manufactured.

The small team gathered together at Special Products built on this success. They produced many viable new bikes, which initially sold in good volumes. Derby encouraged this development work and Ed Gottesman, leader of the Derby buy-out, was particularly supportive. An avid collector of high-end Raleighs, he was always looking to add to his collection. Moreover, he always paid for his Special Products bikes.

Managing director Sandy Roberts was also a keen supporter of the unit. However, after he retired in 1990, support waned. Despite pioneering work on thermal bonding technology (DynaTech) and frame manufacture using titanium and metal matrix composites, the Raleigh board was unsure how to make use of Special Products Department. Should it be required to make a profit? Should it be a development overhead? Was it a marketing tool and hence part of marketing costs?

Meanwhile the sales department had little interest in Special Products and was so tied to the Raleigh 5-star dealer network that access was denied to quality independent dealers capable of selling the product. The decline of Special Products was therefore inevitable.

This one is for sale if anyone is interested – I can give you contact details ….

Ladies Only Trail – Mountain Bike

Well according to the video. Trail looks fantastic ….

Properly set up suspension is barely a luxury for technical trails on little bikes. Arthur and his Tallboy, solo “Ladies Only” rip, thanking Todd for his hard work every time his tires touch a new patch of gold dirt.

Find part II of Arthur’s interview below:
nsmb.com/4804

Created By Matt Dennison

 

New Olympic velopark gets mixed reception

London Olympic Legacy Velopark – the original plan
From today (Monday) potential users of the planned Olympic Velopark can have their say on the designs for the road, mountain bike and BMX facilities that will form part of London’s 2012 Olympic legacy. road.cc

Last Thursday in what was billed as a pre-consultation event the new designs for the road and mountain bike areas were unveiled at a public meeting in Stratford Town Hall. The meeting was attended by around 30 people with interested parties from cycling groups across the London boroughs represented, as well as British Cycling and the Eastway Users Group (EUG) representatives from all sides that we spoke to agreed that the meeting was positive and constructive even so reaction to the plans was mixed – essentially it boils down to the thorny matter of access, what needs to be decided before the designs go forward for planning permission later this month is where the balance lies between ‘velo’ and ‘park’ in the proposed Olympiic Velopark.

So what’s changed from the original plan you can see at the top of this story? Well the good news is that the road circuit has actually gotten slightly longer, 1.656Km instead of 1.6Km and the crossing of the River Lea has also been retained from the original design. Both British Cycling and the EUG were very keen to retain such an important element of variation in the circuit from the original design. The eastern third of the circuit around the BMX park is virtually unchanged, the big difference is that the river crossing becomes much more of an out and back affair – freeing up access to more of the riverbank, which is what the OPLC wanted – now, when the circuit comes back over the river after a longish straight it takes in a circuit around the outside of the velodrome.

The Olympic Park road circuit Mk11, slightly longer and now centred on the Olympic Velodrome

The other big advantage claimed for the new road circuit design is it’s flexibility, as well as using it as a full circuit it can be used as either a fast truncated circuit – omitting the loop of the velodrome, or as up to three smaller coaching circuits. The full circuit has 23m of elevation change – the same as the old Eastway.

From what we understand aside from some technical questions about run off areas and fencing around the bailey bridges that take the circuit across and back over the River Lea (oh and slight concerns that the circuit narrows from 6m to 5m on the bridges) people were broadly satisfied.

There was less satisfaction though over the BMX and mountain bike facilities, according to the EUG report on the meeting the point was forcibly made that existing Olympic BMX park is simply too difficult to be left as a legacy provision unchanged. The feeling was that it will need fencing off as a matter of public safety. There were also concerns as to how suitable an Olympic standard course was as a legacy provision for non-Olympic standard riders the point was made that of 400 entrants to the recent SE Championships 120 withdrew when they saw the “gnarliness’ of the course at practice.

Possibly more problematic though are issues surrounding the mountain bike course, this too is bigger than the original plan and now also comes back under the A12 to occupy what appears as an empty rectangle of land to the east of the road and BMX circuits on the original plan – which you can see at the top of this story. The idea from the planners is that the mountain bike circuit ‘reaches out’ from the park to the neighbouring borough of Waltham Forest which is adjacent to the park’s north eastern boundary. The problem is that the boundaries to the MTB area are open and the portion of the circuit that lies south of the A12 is bisected by a diagonal path which to the consternation of the EUG only appeared on the new plan as late as mid-September. While marshalling should prevent problems during actual races the concern is what happens when the circuit is simply being used for training or leisure purposes, that is still a concern for the road circuit too.

“The designers and planners don’t seem to appreciate how disadvantaged any cyclist is by all the things that the general public does in parks. Footballs and dogs are disasters waiting to happen if you get too close,” Michael Humphreys told us and anyone who has used the commuter routes through some of London’s royal parks will know exactly what he means.

While the old Eastway was effectively walled in so riders could race or train secure in the knowledge that a member of the public was not going to wander across their path unexpectedly, or indeed at all accessl to the new Velopark would appear to be largely open. The Velopark itself is a part of the much bigger Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park one of the biggest tasks given to the Olympic planners is integrating the park and all its facilities with the existing local communities to avoid the creation of a gentrified Olympic enclave and spread the benefits of Olympic regeneration out in to the boroughs that border the Olympic site.

The Lea Valley Regional Park Authority intends to have the new cycling facilities up and running by the autumn of 2013, there’s plenty to discuss before then and users, and potential users of the Velopark can have their say this week 7-11 November before the planning application is made on November 30th – once that is done there will be a further statutory period for the public to comment on the planning application.

When the rain and mud cant put you off line

Incentive for the half marathon in the rain and wind – if Danny Hart can do this in downhill – a little jog shouldn’t put me off

Great Britain’s Danny Hart gave us a master class in downhill racing as he demolished the wet Champéry track in a show of dominance not seen here since Hill’s infamous run of 2007.

Coming off the back of an amazing 2nd place at the last round of the World Cup in Val di Sole, Hart went one better to cut more than 11 seconds off the time set by silver medalist Damien Spagnolo (FRA)… even finding time to showboat over the last jumps.

A defining moment in Downhill racing, the 2011 World Championships are sure to go down in history. Roll on the 2012 season…

The buck stops here – Mountain Biking in South Africa

Mountain Biker, Evan van der Spuy of Team Jeep South Africa got taken out by a RED HARTEBEES at amountain bike race at Albert Falls Dam. Check out this crazy footage which was taken by team mate Travis Walker on his GoPro Camera (great footage watch at 480)- The BUCK sure does STOP HERE with Evan van der Spuy

That there Ruthin MTB marathon I did

map of the 50km route

A race weekend and I felt ill prepared. I had not bothered with the 100mile Sportive the weekend before due the remnants of the hurricane hitting Scotland’s shores. I did however make the most of it by going kitesurfing and filming it on the GoPro - see last weeks blog post for that bad video ….

I am currently working on a CH5 series which will go out in 6 weeks – I can’t give out any details but suffice to say that some of the subjects are a lesson in taking care of yourself (both in what you eat and exercise) So I was in the edit when ‘he who shall remain nameless aka NICK’ started sneezing away spreading germs by the ton.

I knew then that I would get it being confined in a small room with the sick bastard and true to my prediction come Saturday afternoon as i packed the bike and set off down the road I had a sore throat and the start of a runny nose.

In retrospect had i realised this was a 4+hr drive I might not have bothered to do it by myself. I got down to Ruthin about 9pm as the Exposure Big Night Out race was finishing … amazing to see the guys waltz in after 40km looking as fresh as a daisy.

I went to the table where they were getting tea and begged for a cup of boiling water … it was a lemsip for me then and there and quickly going off to crash. I hadn’t bothered with a tent, instead sleeping in the back of the estate which was remarkably comfortable.

Up at 8am and off to the catering tent for porridge and tea. Prepare the bike – making sure the Racing Ralph was still holding air … I ripped the sidewall out of the last one in Selkirk in August. then set shock and I was ready to race.

Porridge and tea please guv'nor

My race plan due to the cold was this:

Do the 50km race not the 75km

Keep heart rate below 150bpm

Start and better still ... FINISH

10am Start – at 10:06 hit the bottom of the hill that would only go up for the next 30 minutes, quickly wished I hadn’t started at the back as idiots all around stopped pedalling and thought about walking and in a lot of the cases did. My rohloff speedhub goes down to to about 19 gear inches so I can get up most hills as long as I have traction and can keep the nose from rising too much.

nice singletrack through moor

The weather was alright although the rain had made the course very muddy – something I regretted having the Racing Ralph on the back which held the claggy mud and made it pretty sketchy at times. Plodded along the whole way …. cleaned all the technical sections although had two very stupid falls, both times breaking on nearly level grass before a sharp turn to a technical section. A bit of back brake and the RR shot out sideways leaving me feeling rather stupid but completely unhurt.

down to the reservoir - big gaps between riders at this time

I only stopped at the first feed station but had enough to keep going through the rest. The finish was the biggest challenge trying to follow the signs through town and then not seeing the turn in to the park and the finish. Ended up down at the roundabout looking for directions before retracing my steps and eventually seeing another marker.

more mud and shorten course blob of paint for 75km entrants that did 50km

End result 3hr 54min (-2min spent looking for finish) AVE speed (a slow) 13.5 km/h

HR average 145 / 173 max

Nice to be finished – had a quick bike wash, shower for myself then treated myself to leg massage before the 4.5hr drive home.

Bontrager RXL shoes are fantastic fit and really stiff and comfy. Lost a bit of disco white with mud but cleaned right up.

proof on the speedo

OVERALL:

Course not great – pretty boring the Selkirk event was more varied and challenging

Camping and Event site – fine and would have been good if family were along as well.

Entry fee – a bit sharp

strange man and penny farthing - my rohloff'ed ti bride 96'er

Were you there at Ruthin? …. how did your day go?

SIDE NOTE

Was using the Bryton Cardio 30 on the bike as well as the Garmin Edge 305 (which is great and now around £175) and there was quite a large difference in readings.

There was a small section in woodland but not enough for this difference.

Blue=Bryton Green=Garmin

I am still testing the Bryton Cardio 30 and so far I would advise people to hold off buying … their website was playing up and there are various things missing from their functions that should be addressed.

Time for a Night Ride

I was very impressed down at Ruthin for the MTB marathon to see the night racers in the Exposure Big Night Out race coming in … a 40km race with beams searching ahead in the darkness to make the darkest trail ridable. Makes you realise the change over the years since I last did it – riding along with my full power 100 lumens showing me danger just before I hit it.

Just a few years ago, HID lights were the rage and every manufacturer was out of contention if they didn’t have at least one in their line.  At Interbike there wasn’t a single HID system on display.  Just a year or two ago  LED lights put out 500 lumens on the bar and 180 on helmet.  Wow have times changed, as a matter of fact I don’t see any segment in the bicycling industry that has changed so much.

 

LED systems have really jumped to the front of the class with several manufacturers producing systems with 3000+ lumen.   Niterider has joined Lupine in producing super high powered systems that can accommodate everything from mountain biking to motorsports in one powerful unit.  Many other manufactures are producing 1500-1600 lumen units and many of the commuter segment systems have suddenly eclipsed many top end systems from just a couple of years ago.  Everywhere you go a Interbike there are blindingly powerful systems that can burn for several hours and aren’t terribly heavy.

Some of the top end systems at the show:

• Lupine Betty 12 puts out 2600 lumen
• Niterider Pro 3000 LED puts out 3000 lumen
• Cateye Sumo 3 comes in at 1600 lumen
• Serfas True 1500
• Sigma Power LED EVO at 900 Lumen

Even the new mid range systems are putting out 500-750 lumen.  It’s time to go for a night ride and try these systems out.  The prices, power and burn time have never been better.

Am I ready for the Race – No! Am I entering …. YES

It’s done. Weekend planned heading down to Wales for this ……

MTB Marathon – Ruthin 18th September 2011:
Following the ELBNO Night Marathon on the evening of the 17th September 2011, the MTB Marathon is the daytime alternative or the extra ride for the real ‘hard core’ riders out there. 

The route will cover four different course lengths:
full marathon – approx 100km course
middle marathon – approx 75km course
half marathon – approx 50km course
mini marathon – approx 30km course

The Sunday courses will use some of the ELBNO course. But we can promise you that it will feel completely different to ride this course first at night and then again in the daytime. As in previous years we will be working with LPFRA (Llanferres Playing Field and Recreation Association) who did a fantastic job providing 65 marshals and making all the tweaks to make the Ruthin course work. 

For 2011, LPFRA are intending to rework the 2010 courses adding some new sections for good measure, polishing off certain sections and include lots of the best bits from the former Ruthin rounds – fast and flowing tracks along the open hill-tops mixed in with challenging and technical single and double tracks through the various wooded areas whilst providing spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and N. Wales coast. 

They are all well-experienced mountain bikers with extensive local knowledge who work in partnership with North Wales Mountain Bike Association (http://www.nwmba.org.uk), so once more we keep the riders on their toes and will create an event which will stay in people’s minds for months to come. Well worth checking out if you are new to the Ruthin location or if you are a regular. The marathon will be once again based at the Ruthin RFC, which will be signposted from Friday afternoon onwards. 

Start time:
The MTB Marathon will start at approx 10.00am on Sunday the 18th September at Ruthin’s RFC. 

Registration opens:
Saturday from 12.00pm – 8.00pm
Sunday from 7.00am – 9.00am

And even pre-booked the ticket

Life Cycles Trailer

From a comment posted – this film is so beautiful ..

ORDER THE FILM AT lifecyclesfilm.com
AVAILABLE ON DVD / BluRay & Itunes

The “official” Life Cycles teaser starring… Graham Agassiz, Mike Hopkins, Matt Hunter, Cam McCaul, Riley McIntosh, Evan Schwartz, Brandon Semenuk and Thomas Vanderham.

Music: “Ghosted” by Data Romance cargocollective.com/​dataromance/​606523/​Music-Ghosted-Single

This video is mad – inches from death (or a mangling at least)

These guys are insane …… that ledge looks a tad narrow at times (like all the time)

Its a video type of afternoon – best video I have seen in ages

If Only Every Mountain Biking Video Was Shot Like This – Afrojacks.flv

 

In canada – these guy make the trail look so smooth. I would be broken by 10sec in. Love the zipwire camera angle as well. It is not just the riding but the amount of work needed to make the trail that deserves a big thumbs up.

Think these guys are behind it …. Coastal Crew

 

Klunkers – the birth of the mtb

I love the bit in here where a young Gary Fisher (who works in a bike shop) speaks about klunking …. ‘it’s come a long way in 5 years and it’s going to go a long way ….’

This segment, Klunking, is from the late 1970s, hosted by Steve Fox, and comes from the Paul Colardo (an Evening Magazine crew member) collection. This is one of the first segments that Paul produced.

Steve Kotton was the cameraman on this shoot and remember having to climb up the steep hillside. There was also a lawsuit against KPIX brought by one of the riders. He claimed that the camera crew were in the middle of the road and he crashed. He lost the lawsuit because the video clearly showed the side of the track location of the crew.

It is believed this piece was edited by Jim Farney.

Segments from the original Evening Magazine are brought to you courtesy the School of Multimedia Communications archive at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and Jan Yanehiro.