few GoPro rides

SWE  on the Rocky Mountain Bicycles Slayer
Haldon on the Rocky Mountain Bicycles Blizzard LT
Barnstaple on the Rocky Mountain Element 970 BC

Exmoor Explorer

The Exmoor Explorer has been on my to do list since i came home first in the 75k Exmoor marathon event a few years ago, This year looked to be perfect as i was in ok shape and the Rocky Mountain 970 BC Element on paper would be the perfect bike for such an event, We lined up right at the back behind 200 riders and we were soon off.. well we should of been.. We walked and chatted for the first three miles till we got a chance to get on the bike and start to pass some riders, We hit the first few DH sections and it was dropper down and some sweet lines as we cut our way through the pack and having a blast. At the first check  point the back pads were shot from all the braking behind slower riders but we cracked on the outer loop feeling strong and pushing on over the moors with just a front brake, i had a real boost when i got told that i was the only full sus that had passed this rider all day and a lot of others loving the 29er Rocky as i picked off riders ahead of me that were few and far between now i was closer to the front and fewer tyre marks in the mud as we headed for home after the last check point, never once getting passed i started to smash out some good lines on the dh sections and kept it pinned on the moorland climbs . Come the final section and we shot passed the taped trail and ended up along with some others lost and way off track.. As we rode back up and on to the track i spotted a rider i had passed some miles back and we hit the final sections flat out and making ground hitting up the jumps and railing the turns till i spotted the front tyre was feeling a little soft.. i had a slow flat thanks to a big old thorn and so backed off and rolled in 7th. 29min down on the leader and with our 30min hold up at the start showed that we had a great 3 hour 30min  ride in some of the hardest conditions that the event has been run under and the Element 970 BC was the perfect weapon.

Would i do it again.. Roll on next year and maybe some dry weather.

Fresh art from sponsor GW- DESIGNS

Stoked on how my fox lid for trail riding and enduro racing came out from the boys over at GW-Designs. 

 Above: Picking up the lid from the GW HQ.
Bellow: kit and lid ready to shred on my next Rocky Mountain Bicycle trail ride.

Big props to GW- Designs for doing such a top job and hope to rep it well for you.

BIKE CHECK

Bit slow on posting this! But thanks to the HTN boys, see you on the hills!

Blizzard bike check.

Rigs from the last few weeks..

Rocky Mountain  Element 970 BC after bikefest 2013.

 Rocky Mountain Element 970 BC after its gravity enduro

 Rocky mountain element 70 pump track bike turned in to the beach ride for a week.

 Rocky Mountain Blizzard fresh from some bmx track laps.

Rocky Mountain Slayer pre enduro.

Enduro update

The QECP GRAVITY ENDURO was a real cool event run by riders for riders. The trails were some of the best singletrack i have hit up this year and we got a few runs in before the race so did some blind and some with an idea of how long the trails were but not much time to pick lines, just foot out flat out and have a blast, As for the bike i went for the 29er Elemenet bc from my sponsors Rocky Mountain Bicycles and it paid off,  I love riding this bike and it shows how rad it is by the fact i raced to 7th in the pro class at a gravity enduro on the very same bike i got 3rd at the 12 hour xc just a month ago.. I could of done with a bit more of a all-mtn/enduro front tyre and i think we could of been on the box. But It was a great days riding and i can not wait to race the event again next year.

Exmoor gravity rally turned in to a bit of a joke event for the second year in a row, Last year the timing was a little hit and miss, this year was just plain dum, Timing was done off some £12 app on phones, im sorry when people are paying £50 timing should be a key point.. Still trails were fun and we had a good time blasting the dust trails on the Rocky Mountain Slayer. 3rd time lucky maybe for this event..

BIKE FEST race report

So bike fest would be my first paired race and my first 12 hour, what seems a little odd after almost 25 years of racing, Still i paired up with Stu Ross a former bike fest racer from a few years ago and we were both keen to put in a strong ride.

The wheels kind came off our race at the first hand over about an hour in, i waited and and waited, but i did not see Stu come in, thought he must of had a flat, But Stu then turned up from the car park, he had come in over 10 mins before but failed to spot me also.. So i set off now just about last and had to make some solid moves past slower riders and we would switch after two laps (about one hour),

It was also my first race for Rocky Mountain Bicycles and my first race on a 29er, and i loved it,

Come the end of the 12 hours we both rode hard and we ended up 3rd, less that 10 min behind second place.. what could of been.. but still on the box we were both happy. Bring on bike fest 2014!