RAPHA 500

You can follow us on Strava, this week we just finished up for the year with the Rapha 500 event, 500km in a 7 days, we finished it in 5 days with a solid block of riding the week before helping get my training back on track ready for the Revolver ride in May.

Cody Garbrandt Vs Dominick Cruz Full Fight 31/12/2016

The 2017 Rocky Mountain Pipeline test!

The Pipeline name has been used before by Rocky, It was a mid stroke freeride rig, maybe over looked by the RMX range that followed, But for 2017 the Pipelines back, but its an all new beast! First off its a + tyred bike, If you have not been on a + yet then try one, If you have been on a fat bike you know how well they roll for the size of the tyre, So the plus rolls even better than a fat bike, maybe as well as a large enduro style tyre, So Rocky have teamed up the new big tyres with a new bike, Its front section comes off the much loved Instinct trail bike, So its sexy carbon and for a Rocky it has a roomy top tube, its not crazy long like some magazines would like you to think is the way forward (more on this in a bit) but its not short either. The back of the bikes alloy and the frames built for a stealth dropper and has the Ride -9 chip so you can switch the angles from 67.2 all the way to 68.8 in seconds. Rocky are a cult brand and so its never going to be a low cost bike, but unlike some brands this bike has a parts list that needs no real upgrades thanks to Rockys long time links with fellow BC boys RaceFace along with Rockshox, maxxis, SunRingle etc..

So out on the trail you have a 150mm fork and 130mm in the rear, climbing the bike feels like im riding a 150mm trail/enduro bike, its no xc weapon but i can dig deep and keep up with the 120-130mm  trail bikes on the climbs. Then we head down hill! + bikes give you so much grip!! you can brake later coming in to some turns while other turns you always brake at you dont have to hit them at all, it just never slides and lets go, It always grips and holds its lines, You soon find this bike giving you PB times on trails you had blasted on a 150mm enduro bike, What i loved was the sizing, the super long top tubes from the like of whyte just dont work for + bikes, they were never designed with plus in mind, we are now getting the grip and stable feel from the tyres, this means the top tube can return (not all the way back to the 90s) to a more standard size what gives the bike the pop and feel that had gone with the limo top tube sized bikes. So a bike with more grip than we have ever had and a geo that wants you to pop off stuff and ride the most badass lines makes this one fun bike that blurs the lines of a trail bike/enduro and even freeride! If you like your trails tight,steep, super tech with loads of roots and rocks then you need a Pipeline, Its that simple, This will let you hit tech lines that you feel should be done on a trials bike and you can see why this bikes on a must have list for a lot riders on the North Shore where this bike was developed as its perfect for this type of trails, At a xc trail centre i felt i did not get the best out the bike and it felt slow as it made the trail so easy (even if my times on strava were very fast), But if you like and ride a lot of natural trails and thinking of hitting the odd enduro or more trips to BikeParkWales then look at the pipeline, Also if you like mtn biking but have never mastered the wet roots and rock riding skills then try the Pipeline, it will make the best of the skills you have, The Pipeline gets the very best out of the + tyre size better than any other i have ragged yet. A very cool natural terrain weapon.

The Book of John J: Punched with Positivity | S1E7

My Everesting on a Bike Fail (A Cycling Story/Documentary)

Big fan this fellow plant eater and its great to see him have a crack at this endurance challenge

"Rubber Side Down" - presented by Maxxis - Season 3, Danny Summerhill

Troys Inspirational Story

Great story.

2017 305 legends ride

Looks like we have a new crew joining JC and myself on next years 305 ride, the Revolver ride will be 405+ miles up to Scotland in 24 hours, Then a good nights sleep, charge the lights and Garmins and then ride the 350+ miles back down to Devon in another 24 hour stint on the bike, This will be going off in May!

(4 of the 5 305 legends AKA the class of 2016)

(JC & i from Greenover will be back for more in 2017)

How to Race Smart

Thats a wrap

Well this years just about done and its been a great year on the bike again, First off a big thank you to Greenover sports, Thompson bikes, Rocky Mountain bicycles and anyone thats helped me out this year. 

(taking the win at Bike Fest in the 12 hour solo)

 The data :

Distance	5,400.6 mi
Time	337h 33m
Elev Gain	319,970 ft
Rides	219

(up to 4th in the south west cross series till i came down with the flu)

We got the year off to a slow start with my focus on bikefest and going better than i did the year before when i got 4th, my goal was to do more miles in the 12 hours, if that got me better than 4th great, if i was 10th, it was fine as long as i did better than the year before, just before bike fest we did the first ever Eat Dirt on Exmoor off road sportive, It was a geat event and the strava times showed i was smashing it and going better than i thought. I dropped in and did an enduro to get my skills on point and we were ready for bikefest..

(the 305 ride)

BikeFest was a classic, i lapped everyone! i crushed it, taking the win!! my year was done , well it could of been.. Later that summer i would team up with the greenover crew to ride at 24-12 in the team event in the 24 hour race, my form was not great, I did the exmoor round of the xc endurance series to get fit and try and peak for this key event,  plus i joined the rest of the wednesday crew at a 130 mile ride to lands end, we did it with a 20mph av!, We put in a solid ride at 24-12 but the form was not what i wanted, we finished second and we had a blast, but the following weekend we had a new challenge..

(racing never get old)

Yes the following weekend we had another 24 hours with no sleep, 5 riders that did not know much about each other with a plan of sorts hit the road to do 300 miles in 24 hours! My form was great (a week late) and we had some dark times in that 24 (turns out a lack of sleep and foods not a great idea) but at the end of the ride we had taken our riding to a new level and opened our eyes as far as rides for next year! The 305 crew was born!

(xc,enduro,endurance and cross we have done it all this year)

Plus we did the Triple Crown, another classic and a true hardcore ride, maybe the best one yet,sure was another hard day on the bike, we have since clocked up some miles on and off road, gone to some demo events and then jumped in to the cyclocross series, I might have focused on endurance over speed work but i love a race and i have never had a proper go at cross till now and im loving it and had some great battles and made some new riding bros. Now its time to end the year with the Rapha 500 and get ready for 2017! Its going to be an epic year!!