2012 comes to an end

So another year on the bike comes to a close. Its been a odd but good year on the bike,photo shoots and coaching along with racing: 3 podiums in XC, 5th in the X-fusion enduro series, 68th in the Rapha worldwide 500 challenge. We started the year as a factory MTN Cycle team rider.. but it was clear come Feb that any new bikes that were said to be on the way were not coming, So we killed it all year without a bike frame sponsor and ended the year with a bike frame sponsor on the cards for 2013.. But with a new love for road riding and getting back in the hills freeriding that deal would fizzle out. So bring on 2013, we have a load of challenges and events to hit up along with skills coaching to make another packed year. Have a good one tonight peeps.

THE BEAST FROM THE EAST

The Exmoor beast event has been rated as one of the hardest and in the top echelon of sportives thanks to its demanding loop and terrain. Still 1,500 riders take part in either the 100k or the extreme 100 mile beast. The events run by former Royal Marine training instructors and will again be brutal. The event in 2013 will be on the 20th of October so wet weathers almost a guaranteed done deal, I have raced on the road but never done a sportive.. So im jumping in with what looks like two wet feet and will ride the 100 miler.

River crossings are all part of the beast..
join in?  http://www.exmoorbeast.org/

Rapha 500 .. Day 5.

Well thats it all done, a nice little 122 mile spin today put the Rapha to bed. Moving me to the 68th rider to get to 500k (out of 14,k+ riders worldwide)  and 12th rider in the UK,  We said we had a plan at the start of the week and it worked.  Godd luck to the rest of the Rapha 500 riders. Till next year.

Rapha day 4 part 2

As planned we started in Barnstaple today and went for two loops of the Taw mid week group ride. I like this loop as it has some good sections, Long climbs, flat and some long quick downhill sections, It was a real blast and i felt very comfortable smashing out another 40+ mile ride. You go up past muddiford where i took part in my first ever xc race back in the 80's and an area i trained on the road back in the early 90's, It would be my first ride up this long hill solo in about 20 years and it was cool to see i got up it quicker solo than i have in the two Tuesday night rides that i have done, It was also the first ride this week that i have done without my rain coat, loved it.  I have to say i feel fresh and with a nice 54.9 miles for the day banked for the Rapha challenge. Its not looking good for day 5! Rain and high winds all day are on the cards and a challenging route planned...

Rapha 500 day ..4..part1

Windy as hell and rain coming down sideways, We got out for a short 12mile spin, A few days ago a local KOM of mine got smashed by 2 seconds. so on our way round we dug in and and got it back, We are now 50% done on the Rapha event and the plan will be to get another ride in later today, speeds will be low thanks to the high winds..

Rapha Festive 500 day 3

Day three was a 7am start, lights on as where we live street lights are a thing of the future, Today we set off on a new loop i have not done before, After a nice mellow start we clicked off 25 miles and was feeling good, legs felt good and we got the power down and clicked off a solid 50 miles today in the rain and wind again with out much trouble even getting another PR on the way. Almost half way now and it feels like the days when i trained back in the 90's. Kind of liking it and its great prep for the challenges i have set myself for next year.
As i write this i move from 2,000+ to 425th out of 13,000 riders. good luck to all the Rapha 500 riders.
follow me if you like  :  http://app.strava.com/athletes/951069

Rapha day 2

The plan was simple, same as day one but with a few miles more on the out loop. Weather looked like it should be better, but day 2 was even harder than day one. I did the extra miles and put in a real hard ride even if the av speed and the time did not show it, thats because as i got going the rain came down what i dont mind but it was the wind.. Almost blown off the bike heading to Tiverton and almost a dead stop on the loop home. Such a hard ride, Day 3 will be a new loop..
Plus side i got a 4th on a strava section without trying, same section i got a PR on day one.
Other than that things are good, legs felt a little dead as they would as i have just had a week off the bike before giving the Rapha a crack and before that i was only doing small rides with less than 1 hour 20 a week as my av. But feel im riding still within myself and looking forward to a new loop and maybe a dry ride?

Rapha ride 1 report

So the plan was a 35+mile ride, But we clocked up a solid 45 mile ride (75k) for the first day, Things should be going good, but the rain was coming down hard, so much that the lanes were a good 6" in water and over the top of the main hill on exmoor we had to have my front light on as you could only see about 10m in front, But the big news was that my legs were blowing at the 35 mile mark and the last 10 miles were slow and hard going, I have only done one longer road ride in the last four months as the Rapha's the start of my longer riding ready for my challenge i have planned for next year and its clear this is going to be a lot harder than i thought. Dog walking this morning before i hope to get another 75k on the board.

Rapha challenge day 1..

Just a coffee away from starting the Rapha event... Rain keeps on coming down and finding a loop not under water for today maybe a challenge in it self, after Sundays flat tyre thanks i think to a sharp stone in a  puddle we hope todays wet fest goes a lot better.. I have added my lights to the Tarmac comp and also a second bottle cage for later in the week, i have a plan of sorts.. as im sure the other 13,000 others have! good luck to all the #festive500 riders on the Rapha challenge .

check the coaching blog for more details.
http://trailheaduk.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-festive-500.html

Kicks off in the morning! #festive500 .
Good luck Rapha 500 riders. 

Rapha Festive 500 Ride 500km between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve

http://app.strava.com/challenges/2012-rapha-festive-500

Im not sure i have the time to do this.. but we will give it a crack and see how we do.. #festive500

Brechfa, Wales

Just had a great stay up in Wales for a week, see the trail head blog for more details.

http://trailheaduk.blogspot.com/2012/12/brechfa-wales.html

1992 7UP BMBF National Mountain Bike Cross Country Round 3 NEWNHAM PARK ...

plymouth back in the day.. retro flash back for you..

greg lemond = my hero growing up.

http://www.rapha.cc/rapha-continental-with-greg-lemond

New Trail: Afan Bike Park.

will be hitting this up in the new year  :)

KORE 2013 / 2014..

 Pump track bike gets some fresh plastic pedals, i love these pedals on my pump bike.

 Went for the new bling looking 2013 dirt jump kore stem and OCD bars cut to 770mm.

 the new 2013 flat pedals from KORE-USA,

 35mm bore stem and xxl bar size! very cool. got the bars still uncut at 800mm

 above and bellow, testing some carbon proto bars,  thats all the info i can tell you for now.

Davi Millsaps 2013_Motocross Action Magazine

not long now till A1!

Tarmac

No big shock, my next road bike.. A Tarmac .

Soggy bottom round 1 race update

So the first rounds always the round to hit and the last big race of the year, the Masters class was stacked with top riders and i was happy to get off the line first and come out turn one in second spot, First main climb would see me slip down and out the top ten before the singletrack  dh section kicked in and we moved up to 10th, I would hold down 10th for the rest of the race, The track it self had one grass climb, a long flat grass section, a steep climb and just one long mellow dh. most top riders run a garmin/strava and i was happy to get the top speed out of anyone on the day. Roll on 2013 with a focus on adventures rather than racing. so 3 trail spots in a day will be back again! We have a few more cool trips and ideas we are doing both on and off road. Other news.. I think its time to get a fresh road bike! more on that in the next blog.

till next time peace.

Soggy Bottom Winter MTB XC Race - Round 1 2012

Soggy bottom round 1

This event may not have the cool name factor but the first round of the Soggy series has always been a must hit event for a range of riders, xc, dh, freeriders all seem to come to the first round to kick back, meet new and old mates plus some hard racing on the former world cup xc track. Its this Sunday and the cream of the south west crop will be in action, weathers looking mixed and the track will be in the park area only and not on the moors this year  (so sharp steep climbs and flowing singletrack). I may have a cold and limited time on the bike the last few weeks but im still going and giving it a good crack and see what comes of it.

KORE 2013

 New jump bar and stem combo.

 Fresh OCD, MEGA and RIVERA bars. check http://www.kore-usa.com/

rebirth of the pump track bike . Kore Elite bars.

Grogley DH , Cornwall

 Good to get the KBC big lid out and get some DH riding in.

RMX with its 888's killed it at Grogley, sadly a blown back brake made things hard work.

GROGLEY

Ok so it was muddy, wet,slick and nasty.. But it was also fun, a lot of fun, small kickers, tight singletrack and steep rollers and some fine switchbacks and even a rock garden makes Grogley Cornwalls top up and coming DH venue, With 3 main tracks and more getting built by the locals the spots growing with some fine trails and a great hill to build 2min plus DH and enduro trails. If you get the chance head to Grogley! Just make sure you have your mud gear ready, you dont get many dry trail days at Grosgley.

fresh goods

 KCNC Scandium tubes and Ti bolts cut over 200grams over the nuke proof post of old.

Bontrager xr4 tyres have been my tyre of choice for enduro this year, so for the winter we have gone for 1.8 jones mud x tyres front and rear.

 Kore test sample saddle.

KBC my freeride helmet sponsor dont make a road/xc lid, so im free to pick what ever i like. for me i like the fit and finish that the moto based helmet brands bring to the market and so it was a no brainer to pick the new top of the range road lid from Bell, The Gage being the lid of the pro Bell team riders and this being the BMC edition looks amazing and almost fails to get a reading on the scales.. such a well made and designed bit of kit.

Enduro1 finals

Sweet shot from the last section of the last stage from the last round of the 2012 Enduro1 all-mtn series.
Roll on 2013 and a lot more enduro races.

road roost

Stone damage to the Fox lid after getting stone blasted from a car on my sunday road spin..
New lid, top and shorts ordered, fresh new colourway and look for the winter.

S-WORKS ENDURO 29ER! SPY SHOTS..

http://www.mtb-forum.it/spyshots-una-specialized-enduro-da-29/

Elbry goes 5th overall in the Enduro1 all-mtn series

Stoked to finish the series in 5th overall and in the mix with the top dudes, just got an invited as one of the fast south west enduro racers to race a underground enduro in a few weeks . good times!

Soggy Bottom series makes its winter return

This Winter there are 2 Soggy Bottom races so get your entries in quick to get your Winter racing fix. (word has it that round ones just about sold out!)

This will be the 10th year of the Soggy Bottoms and they continue to provide a unique race experience. Excellent facilities include hardstanding carparking, flushing loos, water, cafe, electronic timing and commentary! Racing for male/female in all categories with prizes for all on the podium. 

Entry on the day may be available but will subject to an additional £5 entry fee.

The course will be around 5k with a fun mix of climbs, descents, singletrack, technical sections and Newnham niceness.

http://www.xcracer.com

2013 Bell super enduro lid..

could this be the best enduro lid on the market in 2013? sure looks to tick all the right boxes.

WEIGHT: 375 GRAMS
VENTS: 25 vents, 4 brow ports
SIZES: Small 51-55cm
Medium 55-59cm
Large 59-63cm
TECHNOLOGIES:
SpeedDial™ Fit System
Overbrow Ventilation
Integrated, removable camera mount
GoggleGuide™ Adjustable Visor System
Fusion™ In-Mold Microshell
w/ low coverage rear X-Static™ Padding
Lightweight Webbing
Lightweight Buckle
Lightweight Cam-lock™ Levers
Registered Graphics
£124.99

Enduro1 all-mtn finals

Results are in, 10th at the final stop of the three race tour ends a great first year of enduro, Series standings going in to the final was 5th overall so we should of locked that down, results,race report and photos to follow in the next blog.

Martyn Ashton - Road Bike Party

edit of the year

Twitch representing Famous Stars and Straps at FreestyleXtreme!

2013 XTR - 2 X 10

Added some sweet new 2013 xtr cranks, shifters and mech to the Rocky Mountain Element and have gone 2x10. will report back on a future blog.

Dre Test

2011 Rocky Mountain Slayer Design Process -SingleCrown.com

can not wait to get some enduro races done next year on a Slayer.

Specialized Demo

ONE LAP: Wade Simmons and Richie Schley at Whistler | Vital MTB

ONE LAP: Wade Simmons and Richie Schley at Whistler | Vital MTB

Go On A Tour With FMX Super Star Ronnie Faisst

sponsor AD : Fuel

enduro action

 

Smashed chain device,chain in the back wheel, spokes coming out, rear tyre going down, mech in the wheel.. still charging, final stage.

DownievilleAdventure3

Enduro action

flat section, stage 2.

SHIFT 2013

Mondraker Gravity MTB Rally epic timing fail

Another UK enduro and another timing mess.. Shame as the event was good fun, good stages just killed a little by a lack of times... Day one was an odd day, just one stage, but not a blind run, no take as many runs as you like, your fastest time taken? so it felt more like a dh race, still got up to the top and smashed a blind run in, wild but fast (2mph faster than i would do on my other runs on the fastest section) only to catch a girl mid run, still put the hammer down the rest of the run, Turns out my beep did not go off at the top so no time given... Headed right back up and hit it again, bit smoother, happy with that run. (would find out on sunday that the timer failed to take my time on the line and a time of 50mins was given,). Thinking one solid run was in the bank we hit the bar for a few drinks! in the afternoon we went up to do one more run, no effort on the up hill section, just to see if the track had changed as this would be the last stage sunday.. Turned out this would be the only time taken of my 3 runs.......(24th)

Day 2, heading to the first stage a large rock kicks up and hits my lopes mrp and takes out the bottom roller.. Stage 2 had a sting of a final section that would take a few riders out, i put in a quick but safe run not to drop my chain,with the next dh stage not timed? we walked rolled and put little effort in saving all we had to smash the last stage and make up time on riders that had not rested as well... No point by turn 2 of the last stage as my chain came off after smashing the top of the mrp to bits, mech/hanger and the rest bust and we ran the rest of the track in the hope that the first stage of the day had gone ok i would not have dropped that far down the order..wrong, because of the timing issues only the first days stage (what only got my slowest of 3 runs) and the last stage (what i walked and pushed the bike) would count (both these stages being the same track?).. so that was it from 24th after a slow day one to about 117th... what a f*ck up.. still good event and if the timing gets sorted and more timed stages added could be a an epic once a year event.

Enduro update..

banging on the door of the top25 after day one even after a mellow day of riding, drinking and having fun in the main area. how far down the 220 rider start list will we slide!

Mondraker Gravity MTB Rally

 Kicks off today, ends sunday!Marzocchi 55's are on and looking good! thanks marzocchi uk.

The Way I Roll - Chris Van Dine

Downieville Adventure Part 2 with the WTB crew

wales, part 3

Rocky Mountain Bicycles SOLO RSL.mov

loving my road cycling right now since getting a garmin and strava.. must be getting old! cool RM edit of mtb icon Sydor.

wales afan trip

Downieville Adventure with Mark Weir, Ben Cruz and Jason Moeschler

cool vibe WTB edit.

afan

Trail Head triple crown done and dusted

Great day of riding, first visit to Afan and get a 5th fastest ever time on a DH section, also a 24th on the Ashton Court loop, again blind run never been to ashton, Props to Wayne and Stu my riding bros for the trip, great day of shredding.

Fresh build on the RM

Dropped some Easton 90 xc wheels, Ti wheel q/r's and some low weight rotors. If your looking to shed some weight then rotating weights a good place to start as you will feel it out on the trail.

Jeremy McGrath - Firsthand

Trail Head triple crown of trail Centres! green light!!

Three trails centers in one day! 

Afan W2-44km then on to Cwm carn-18km plus hit bristol and smash a few laps of Ashton court as fast as we can. Its going to be an amazing day with wayne Buckingham and Stuart Ross.

Inside Jeremy McGrath’s ’96 Factory Honda CR250 | Features, News | Transworld Motocross

Inside Jeremy McGrath’s ’96 Factory Honda CR250 | Features, News | Transworld Motocross

2013 Rocky Mountain Altitude Launch Ride

XC2 Haldon xc

 Well i thought i was having a bad race and got stuck behind a lot of traffic on the early laps in the singletrack, but it turned out i was only 1min 33 off the win at the mid week xc event, and rolled in 4th.

thanks to moredirt for the photos.