Spring is in the Air...

Sitting here and looking out of the window at the clear blue sky, all I can think about is getting out of work and getting out on the bike. Trails are starting to dry out and we've been able to get out until late every night this week, finding loads of new routes and clearing away some of the winter debris ready for a summer of fantastic rides.

Having planned to do all three of the Ten Under series as well as the Tour de Ben Nevis and Relentless, I've made now made a big decision not to race this year. The costs of racing just seem so high so I'm aiming to spend that time and money looking for some epic rides and getting out into the real wilderness as much as possible. Cape Wrath looks like an exciting possibility and I'd like to get the bike over to Skye for some big mountain riding.

On thing I am going to have to spend some money on is the World Cup at Fort William in June. I hope to get there for a couple of days and I'll try to get some video of Steve Peat, Sam Hill, Greg Minaar, Tracy Moseley and friends letting gravity do it's thing and I think Brian Lopes and Jared Graves will be riding in the 4X so right now I'm getting pretty stoked at the prospect of an awesome weekend. Let's hope that the warm weather is here in force by then and that we get glorious sunshine for a fantastic summer of riding.

No Fuss Events: Relentless 24: 2009

What's it like to take part in a 24 hour Enduro?

So I've finally got round to editing the footage we took at Relentless 24 last year... only six months on... We had such a good time at the event and I thought I might as well post the finished video on here. Relentless 24 is run by No Fuss Events and takes place in October at the Nevis Range track at Fort William. This is the home of the infamous black downhill course (with gondola access), the World Cup XC course and numerous other brilliant trails made up of great technical climbs, fantastic single-track and tons of linking fire roads. The Relentless takes place partly on the World Cup course, partly on the Witches Trail and also on other bits and bobs linking it all together.

I raced as one half of a pair, you can choose from solo, pairs or quads in a team and one member of the team can be on course at any one time, so you just keep one person on the track for as much of the 24 hours of the race as you possibly can... Sadly I didn't have the technology to video whilst riding at that time so there's no footage of the track itself, which was pretty technical and after a while very muddy and very slippery.

This is definitely an event we'll be doing again, although possibly as a team of four. In a pair, you really don't get as much time between laps as you might wish you could have whereas in a four you'd get a few hours between each 10 mile lap...

I'll be posting about the races I'm considering taking part in during 2010 at a later date, but for now, here's Relentless 24 2009.

click here to go to the video...

Just Get Out There...

I've been really enjoying my local trails lately. It's easier for me to do that than it might be for some others, living as I do in the Highlands, but even so, I've been enjoying riding locally more than I ever have before.
It's easy to get into a rut on your local trails, riding the same old routes. You get to the stage where you can ride around with your eyes shut... that log there, that stream, that hill, oh look, I'm home.
Lately though, I've become an explorer. To get the most from the trails closest to you you have to be adventerous.
We spend so much time and money traveling around the country in search of great riding. Glentress, Golspie, Fort William... A little bit of thought can bring you great rides like these so much closer to home.
I've recently found some amazing trails in my local woods that have been made by the logging machines. The chaotic trail left by these machines is as technical as half the stuff you find at a distant trail centre, it goes on for miles and it's right on the door step. Best of all, if I get bored of any one of these tracks there's always another just around the bend.
And why stick to the trails anyway? If SnowBoarders have the most fun going off piste why can't we? try going off the trail and down through the trees. As long as you have the right equipment, with a bit of care for yourself and the environment you can have a total blast. Isn't that what freeride is all about?

Riding to Work Could Damage Your Health

Here's a link to the STV news report on the train crash... That's me with the bike pack and the muddy face!

So I've been riding down to the station these past few weeks, getting the train into Inverness then riding out to where I work. I use my Specialized Hardrock singlespeed conversion for the journey (it's mostly road riding) and I love it, it means I get to ride so much more than I would usually in the winter and it helps me to make sure my fitness is there for racing when the sun comes out.

It's been difficult for the past couple of weeks riding on 4 inches of ice on the cycle paths but I figure if I can do it now it's only going to get easier as the days get longer and the air temperature begins to climb...

So the riding is wonderful, and actually getting the train is nicer than driving for 2 hours a day (although I have to get up at 5.50am to get to the station on time!). The only issue has been getting home... last week the train was totally cancelled on one occasion and then on Friday night... WE CRASHED!!!!

That's correct, my efforts to spend more time on my bike have resulted in my being in a train crash. The train derailed outside Dingwall station on Friday night and we were suddenly surrounded by dozens of Fire crew, Police and Ambulance crew. It was all pretty exciting, starting with a massive bang, followed by the train snaking along the gravel, clearly no longer attached to the rails...  The only nervous moment came when we all felt that the train was beginning to tip onto its side, but as we came to a halt and realised that we were still upright everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The whole thing was actually a pretty exciting experience, nearly as much adrenalin as riding downhill at Golspie.

Well it hasn't put me off. The trains were cancelled for a couple of days whilst they sorted the tracks and got the train cleared, but it's all fixed now.

The best thing about it is that when I got the train this morning it was strangely quiet and there were lots of empty seats to choose from...

Garmin over all excited...

I've been trying out my new Garmin Edge 205 over the past week or so and I'm pleased with it so far. I need to get to grips with the finer features of the device but so far it logs onto the satellites quickly and seems accurate in use. It's great to have a computer on the bike that doesn't need a sensor on the forks or spokes, and therefore has no complicated setup or installation. It really is a case of just fit and go.

The only issue with this is that it doesn't know whether the wheels are moving or not, I got on the train yesterday and glanced down to see the speed registering 73 mph and the calories at 2346...

The Edge 205 has lots of interesting functions for me to get excited about, including the ability to race yourself over a set course. I'll be posting a full review of the Garmin Edge 205 as soon as I get used to using it.

Snow Falls...

Ah, the last day of freedom before returning to work. If work opens tomorrow that is, latest news is that the car park and pavements around the buildings may be too icy to allow access... we can but hope. All the snow is still here, although we've had no new falls up here for several days. The temperature is so low and the ground is so cold now that nothing is melting. Altnaharra, just to the north of us has recorded an incredible low temperature of -22.3C and the temperature here at night is generally between -7C and -10C. Still, it means more fun snow riding for us. I'm posting a wee video of my friend and I out on our local hill. It's not a video of us riding as such... more a video of us falling. We were wondering how soft the snow would be if we fell into it in a crash, so we decided to throw ourselves into a few drifts to find out. I'm planning on riding to the station tomorrow to get the train to Inverness, then riding out to where I work. Wish me luck...

NHS - Join the Wall of Life