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The more the merrier tymbian!
Post the best vids you've found up here please. 🙂
I remember thinking Revolution Bike Park looked easy on video. Oops.
Snow forecast in the afternoon now apparently!
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and Willy Waver[/url]
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Wobbly[/url]
[url= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYaXaqLnnV8 ]Enter the Dragon[/url]
There's [i]loads[/i] on youtube, some bimblers, some shredders, all look like they're having fun. There's an Irish guy who just whoops and hollers all the way down but I can't find his videos.
The 2nd video is stw b4sher, filmed the week before the park opened. The day the sun came out in Wales.
I think 'Enter the Dragon' may well be above my skillset... who's first down that ?
Cheers dabble.
I think 'Enter the Dragon' may well be above my skillset... who's first down that ?
I'll be happy to be first to mince slowly down Enter The Dragon avoiding all the gap jumps.
Was there any chicken runs for it though ? The rest of it looks no worse than the reds... but i'm still 4 weeks away from being Jedi'd so i'm not ready to gap jump yet
The only proper gaps are on the Pro lines. There are some drops on Enter the Dragon but there are no chicken runs - It's a proper downhill course and there are warning signs before the drops. The worst is about 2 1/2ft vertical, but by the time you land the transition you'll drop at least 5-6ft. If that's not your bag, stick to the reds and blues, you'll still have an awesome day.
Thanks Twin - this is about the biggest one I've managed I think (not me in the pic)
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Sounds like it might not be tooooo dissimilar. Will have to see how I'm feeling on the day.
That pic there would require several attempts of VERY badly landed ones and possibly hospital trips before we got to that level of competence.
You should be ok if you can manage the one above. Transition is a bit steeper and there's a berm very soon after landing so take care. I may well be up there next week, I'll be the in the larger lads section at 18st.
you can give us lessons
At what? Eating?
LOL considering i was once over 20st i don't need any help with that mate. I was thinking more about how to do jumpy/droppy type stuff.
I've done it, but I wouldn't take lessons from me! Some of the sketchiest landings I've ever done, can't seem to get the berm after it out of my head and it's really hard to focus on the drop.
Trust this to be my first day back at uni!
Twin - Member
I've done it, but I wouldn't take lessons from me! Some of the sketchiest landings I've ever done, can't seem to get the berm after it out of my head and it's really hard to focus on the drop
You landed without going to hospital, that's a cracking start as far as i'm concerned.
I wouldn't mind a crack at a couple of the blacks, especially the more natural stuff. I reckon that drops doable, might acquire some elbow pads this weekend.
With danger of setting myself up for a fall 😉 drops are not that difficult once you have mastered the basics. I.e. if you can reliably drop properly off a kerb, you can drop a 3 footer too, without doing anything different. The issue is that generally, as the drop gets bigger, the landing gets steeper, which is a good thing, as it makes the touchdown much smoother. However, when you sit on your bike at the lip of said drop, looking down the trail, the ground looks a LONG way away, even if the drop is only 2 feet! Often i find a good technique is to lie along the takeoff ramp, so you see things from a "tyre level" persepective. Suddenly that 2foot drop, looks like, er, a 2 foot drop, not an 8 foot one (assuming you are 6 foot tall 😉
Obviously, that technique is not recommended for busy trail centers as you may find yourself an un-intended speedbump!!
The trails all start and end esentiually at the same place so people don't need to stick to same route as each other etc. So even know if 1 guy only wants to do blue it doesn't affect everyone else
Was there yesterday, blues were built for flow, but all the rain and traffic has made surface very loose and lots of braking bumps on the berms.
Reds are more natural surface so not affected as much, a few mud patches in awkward places. Be aware that a lot of the trees in the wooded sections are unstable in the wind. We stop to let a hail shower pass and a tree came down across the trail about 10 yards from us. Noticed a lot of movement in the roots when windy.
But I would say reds running best at moment.
Just tested the new Thule rack, 3 bikes, no problem.
Looking lovely for Weds...
Well, if you class lovely as cold and windy that is 🙂
Looks like i could be joining the party, day off booked with some riding planned, was thinking FoD but looking at the videos this looks good for a change.
Nice one! Shout via email or meet us as caste about 9.15 or so for pre ride coffee!
rain all night and all day 🙁
Hope you all enjoyed one of the driest welsh days of the last 6 months 🙂
I only managed one run with some of you, down melted welly & vicious valley, before I had to shoot off after mate my mate broke his bike.
Going back Sunday.
Broke his bike?
Nicolai by any chance?
No, an alpine. Only snapped a bolt but called it a day as we're local
There was a guy who nosed the gap jump on Tuesday.
His nic looked pretty ****ed.
His forks were at a 88 degree angle......
Nice one chaps - great day - thanks to Weeksy for the push to do it and lovely to meet you all.
Hope you all enjoyed one of the driest welsh days of the last 6 months
Yeah it was a pretty decent day really weather-wise - nice to meet you (briefly)! I'm sure we'll be back. 🙂
Yesterday was the return of BPW, once again, it was truely superb.
The night before was monsoon season locally, if it wasn't for the fact it was me who organised the day, i'd have bailed...The morning was chilly, but dry loading the car, the Thule rack, well that's simply brilliant...really impressed with it. Solid, stable. However does seem to affect fuel consumption. Although that may have been the fact we never dropped below 80mph mostly there or back.
I stacked it at the first blue, about 5 corners into it, large left hand sweeping full on hairpin, out into a fast exit, just got it all wrong on the exit and lobbed it into a tree stump. I was leading at this stage, due to my course knowledge from having been there once before LOL. I hoped it wasn't the shape of things to come for the day. Few cuts and bruises but essentially OK, we carried on.
THe uplift service turns the whole day into a trackday, you get to the bottom and the van is there, loading adn ready to go, straight up again, to fly back down.
Run 2 was red, then another blue and then onto what i thought was again a red. "yeah this is red lads, you'll be fine"... within 20s i came to a massive table top i'd never seen before and knew instantly this was "tail of the dragon", black route. But the lads were all ahead of me, so we were doing this whether we liked it or not... In the end it was 90% fine, some jumps, some tricky rocks, but all OK. Until you get to a 4' drop down. Where i stalled and managed to stop and get off... 4' is out of my depth, WAY out of my comfort zone and simply not an option.. but i admit, this REALLY doesn't please me. It has now become the thing i must conquer this year. It's my nemesis.
The rest of the day got better and faster, plenty more reds, more cracking fun blues and leading a few, trying to go faster, jump more, brake less and keep the faster lads slightly entertained.
After i think 7 runs, i was getting tired in the arms and fried in the brain so called it a day.. came back to the cafe to asses my day.
I was jumping more than last time, carrying more speed than last time, attacking rocks and drops better, clearing jumps more and holding my lines better. Also i felt the technique was there and improving, my transitions of feet was better, my body movement better and i was flowing more.
Today i feel i became a mountain biker. Now as i've ridden the Alps, raced XC racing, endurance events etc, that may sound ridicuolous, but in my mind, i've not ridden down mountains until yesterday, i'd just fallen down them slightly gracefully. I now think i'm mountain biking and i'm riding the bike rather than it just dragging me down the hill.
Cracking day with a great bunch of lads... can't wait for the next one 🙂
Indeed it was a fun day yesterday at BPW! Thanks Steve for sorting out the trip and providing transport, and great to meet more people from the STW massive!
I have to say i'm pretty impressed with BPW, good trails, surprisingly dry considering the non stop rain of late, and a nice mix of more natural feeling red/black options with smooth swoopy blues. Add in the seamless uplift, good food in the warm cafe, decent bike wash and even a hot shower before driving home, and well, it's pretty civilized way to get muddy and tired... 😉
No punctures or serious mechanicals either (bar a few minor bits falling off one bike 😉
Cracking day out!
Good to meet you all, was a fun day, even if it was an eight hour round trip and an overnight stop for us up north, I will definitely be back for more 😀
Today i feel i became a mountain biker.
Nice one weeksy
No punctures or serious mechanicals either (bar a few minor bits falling off one bike
I'm a great advert for my philosophy of not cleaning bikes aren't I. 😳
I was impressed with the setup too - would like to have a bit more of a go on some of the black runs.
Would definitely like to back when I will have compiled a new list of excuses for being a bit crap. Yesterday I went with: aldi gloves with no grip, wrong bar/lever angles, excessive arm pump, no rear brake pads (last run), granny ring falling off.
Wonder what I can come up with for next time....
So, when you boys say "next time". You mean March 5th ? currently 8 places free 🙂
or 12th is 12 spaces free.
I could do either of them at the moment actually (especially if dabble drives me down again 😛 ).
Great to hear you guys had fun yesterday.
Just got home from today's trip. As said above the setup is fantastic. A lot drier than I expected it to be, although the view from up top was the inside of a welsh cloud. Rode up for the first run, well walked most of it. Then had a big off on Sixtapod. Lack of talent and a big rock colluded to put me over the bars.
Thanks to the guys who were watching, genuine concern and helped me get untangled from the bike. Lots of grazes and I ache like hell now. The expensive part was the broken Hope seat post.
Did the uplift after lunch and came down melted welly, blue belle and norkle. The body gave up then we called it day. We'll be back with a bit more fitness, hopefully some more talent and a seat post that stops the seat spinning like a top.
Sorry, but we were kinda having too much fun to take many photo's for the STW armchair experts to diss!
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Ace stuff 🙂
Right lads... new date is ready to go, me and Graham are once again booked on. I don't know if we'll have any spare car space at the moment yet though, depends on another mate who's coming to Morzine with me. I think there's likely to be 8 spaces left currently
12th March.
I'll be there, Pm only most prob.
Good man! You can show me the wall drop on the black!
Like the arty chainring shot! Need dabble to sort out the time off work and we'll be there. 🙂
That drop is nothing to worry about, I'll try to post a video of my mates 9yr old son doing it now but I'm no good with videos & pics.
I'd be up for going back, just need to see what's on at work.
Mind if a wuss joins in with the big boys on the 12th? I can bring a skirt along so i dont move far away from the red runs!
Of course not mate, get it booked!
If any other northerners fancy it I can get 3 bikes and people in my car. So if dabble comes I'd have one more space. Travelling from West Yorkshire.
Uplift and ticket paid. See you on the 12th!
A bit worried that I get duped into taking a day off work to spend with other middle aged men in Wales - hey ho thats mtb/STW internet dating for you!
We'll look after you.
You see that mondeo in PIC,I'll be in that with a big green clown bike!
I've got an uplift pass booked for the 12th March, I've got a clash and will have to change the date. If anyone wants the slot then let me know and we can work out a change of name or something.
I could be tempted but haven't actually got a working bike at the moment...
You've still got a week and a half to put it back on the trail 😉
I've got until Tuesday next week to change the uplift ticket. I'll switch the date then so let me know if you want it