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Right the trail is 100% OK for Enduro bike... Funnily enough me and the lad are off there tomorrow evening doing uplifts with Katy to test between 141 and DH. I'd say my lad will be in the minority on a DH bike... maybe 10 out of 70 riders... 15 out of 100 will be on DHers.
However we do have another option for you which is to either use my Slayer or our spare DH GT Fury. Don't just say no because it's a hassle, honestly it's really not a hassle 🙂 I'll have space for a spare bike in the van and happy to bring whatever really. I exepct mine to race on the Trek. The Fury is running mullet, the Slayer running full 29. Both are sitting in the garage and 100% ready to roll.
If you'd rather just have a tyre, we can probably find you something less worn and swap it for you.
The track is loamy, bermy and a bit jumpy at the start, small rock garden, but a reasonable red rather than a black.
MIjs are deffo laid back, it won't be a paddock full of motorhomes etc and always a good vibe.
By the way, MANY congratulations on the results... that's bloody awesome.
Wow - that's incredibly generous Weeksy!! He's desperate for a go on a proper DH bike... if you'd be taking it anyway he'd bite your hand off for a run on the Fury, but I'm not sure about racing it - it's a very different beast from his bmx (74 deg head angle and 1.5" tyres at 100 PSI)! I'll send you a PM...
It's just a bike man... 🙂
He's more than welcome to play on it for 1 run or 5 runs and race, or not.... no pressure either way from us.
If he needs a tow down for a run or two i can either give him the lad, or give him a mate or two we know depending on his speed, we know a few lads at MIJ races of varying speed/ability that he'll be able to get a wheel down from.
It'd be great if he could get a few runs in and some tips! No idea how fast he is but 'not very' would be my guess. He's a good rider but good trail speed and good race speed are pretty different, and he's never had to push on riding mtb. I've had a quick look at his bike in the shed and realised that I've already swapped out his DHR... for a minion semi-slick!! Perfect for hitting hard pack jumps at Belmont but maybe not so good for slowing down on a DH course. But I also discovered a hill billy and a wide trail DHF so we should be able to get something sorted with a bit more grip depending on the weather.
Jesus BMX is cheap and easy compared to DH!
LOL you don't need to tell me about costs. This weekend gone just cost me another £400 on top of usual stuff as he's now thrown the 27.5/Mullet into the debate. I bought a 29er Hope Pro5 last week for him so he'd have a spare rear. Now i've just bought a Pro5 in 27.5 and a Nukeproof as the spare... £400 gone... That's not including tyres yet but i think we have plenty.
My lad will happily do a few chill runs if he needs... You may be surprised, the BMX boys usually go pretty damn well... especially ones as quick as your lad seems to be... So maybe he'll shock you and go well 🙂
Last night was a properly interesting evening. We met up with @ianpv and his boy for a chat at Elephant Man where they're both racing this weekend. Me and the lad were with Katy and Drew and lapping the track using uplift, they got 10 runs in 2 hours on the race track.
What made it interesting was some of the tactics, training, coaching etc. They were working on line choices and with James and Drew being almost exactly matched on the first few runs, it was great to then test different lines and see if a rider gapped another, one high line, one low line, one inside on a turn, one outside.. Then see the consequences of the actions. My boy also did a fair bit of testing and swapping from the Privateer to the Trek. It's potentially a pedally track on the top section so was interesting to see on timed runs which was quicker... But also interesting to see where he lost time or gained on Drew in sections to compare together.
Really was a cracking night and everyone came away from it happy and laughing.
We were using the GoPro for timing which gave times of
1.07.2 for the Trek
1.07.4 for the Privateer
Considering he's got the Trek setup better i'd argue in terms of suspension that's pretty impressive from the Privateer and not what i was expecting.
The boy last raced this track in MArch of this year, coming in 4th place and a race run of 1.09.2 in what were arguably better and grippier conditions. So another interesting little thing picked up there too. The next 7 riders behind him were all within 1s, so he's going to have to bring his A game anyway 🙂
It'll be different on Sunday anyway as the rain is coming Sat and Sun, but we'll have a decent array of tyres to pick from, which won't give him ulitmate grip of course as nothing can do that, but it'll give him as much grip as anyone else.
<p style="text-align: left;">@weeksy and @ianpv- sounds like a good evening and good luck both for the race on the weekend. Have to get there pretty early to get parked. I went to fod last weekend without realising there was a mini enduro on. Got there at 8.30 and there were only a few spaces left in the main car park.</p>
Glad to hear the aether is still going well - is it worth checking to see if CRC still have those cheap 27.5” Mega’s frame only if he’s getting a bit big for the aether - think pretty much everything would swap over?
Ah it was the Vitus Sommet that was really cheap (£399 with shock) but it’s showing out of stock now in 27.5
Parking is fine, it's in another location for parking/start, so no issues there.
Lap of the track
Yeah I rode elephant man on the weekend - albeit quite a bit slower than that 🤣
No idea how long it took as we stopped to session the little slab jump thing near the top
I'm trying to work on the upload quality to get the higher resolution, we're doing it on a new super GoPro so i should be able to get this cleaner than it is...
I think it’s a YouTube thing isn’t it? I’ve got a hero 8 black and the picture quality watched on the pc or through Google drive is perfect. You upload it to YouTube and the quality goes to crap. A lot of videos I watch on YouTube seem to be like that - I wonder if there’s some premium account they want you to buy to get decent resolution?
I think it’s a YouTube thing isn’t it? I’ve got a hero 8 black and the picture quality watched on the pc or through Google drive is perfect. You upload it to YouTube and the quality goes to crap. A lot of videos I watch on YouTube seem to be like that – I wonder if there’s some premium account they want you to buy to get decent resolution?
There's apparently some settings on 'upload quality' but i can't find that within my settings. I've uploaded another and left it as Private, which apparently lets it go to full resolution in the background... but i do seem to be missing something here. Which is a bit of a shame. I did used to have another App which i managed to use, but not sure if that was the video or the Youtube that worked, Mmmmmm.
Some of my other vids give me the option of viewing at 720p, but these only seem to allow 480p.
Nice vid! And nice to meet you both last night. Joe wants to know if James got the GBU footage 🤣
I think he forgot to press the button sorry mate... but i'm sure we can do the same on Sunday if it's dry enough and send them for a run down it before heading off.
that's the sort of thing I do... no problem! Weather looks bad for Sunday so I'm not going to race with my bad back! I also missed pre-entry so will have to enter Joe on the day...
@Joebristol - I think we're sticking with bmx for next season, so I'm reluctant to buy another bike, but we're vaguely thinking of buying a shared bigger bike as he's pretty much my height now. I wish I'd got Mark's old aeris, as Joe is a bit wary of big wheels being a bmx-er.... I guess a frame/fork swap for him is an option, but he really loves the aether at places like belmont and bikeparks as he can chuck it around pretty well. He'd definitely be quicker on a bigger bike.
When you say bigger bike @ianpv
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52711288487_f939a52a2b_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52711288487_f939a52a2b_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oiV8CK ]2023-02-26_08-43-27[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Getting there on the settings... Hopefully this looks better, but if not you should be able to increase the resolution.
I was thinking more about an enduro bike so I could ride it! He'd love a DH bike without a doubt, but it just wouldn't see much use when he's racing bmx 20 weekends a year... but maybe he'll swap disciplines. Be a shame to miss the BMX world champs in the USA though, although that would be a good way to sign off on bmx!
LOL i was mostly kidding anyway matey. It's not really worth us selling the GT at the moment due to a crappy retail price we'd get.. I can't see it making more than about £1800 and it's worth more as a spare to us than that.
We are sitting with a random bit of crazy on the Pinkbike watch list.. https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3585900/
another Session frame, then have the spare bike the same as the race bike again... but in truth, we've got better things to be spending the funds on in the next 12 months.... (more on that to follow in winter) as we've got lots of potential plans in our heads... none of which are cheap as you'd expect 😀 😀
I’m sure @weeksy will be along soon, but just to say massive thanks from Joe (and me!) for the loan of the fury today, he loved riding it and is full of DH bike love this eve 😂. And congrats to James on a great result 👍
Once again i'm a bit tired and drained from the weekend. Pearce was a long day with a 6.30am start and by the time we'd headed for food at the pub it was 9.30pm home, but the bike was cleaned and the kit was ready.
We headed to FoD for the MIJ race. He knows the track, likes the track, so all was good. He did 6 runs of practice with 3 on the Privateer and 3 on the Trek Session. He decided the PRivateer was being used for run 1. The rain had been forecast and hadn't arrived, right until about 15 mins before the first class was due out, it started spitting . By the time my lad went out for his, 30 mins later it had turned into rain rain, but the track was holding up mostly fairly well. I went down to the bottom and this is where it went a little wrong as the rain turned from rain into RAIN !!!! He then decided the Trek may be the better choice but it was with me at the bottom and no phone signal meant he was racing the Privateer.
He stuck in a time of 1.10.300 which gave him 5th place... We were slightly surprised with the lad in 1st who'd put in a 1.06 or 1.07 and normally isn't that quick.... (however we found out he'd been sent out to check the timing when dry and got his run in... Not exactly sure i agree with that)... But the 1.10 and a 5th place was happy.
Lesson learned from last weekend and we stayed for the duration this time, by the time i got to the bottom it looked like this
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53193615817_30de9156ee_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53193615817_30de9156ee_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2p3xbKc ]IMG_20230917_153224[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
As we were waiting for run 2 a guy comes over, still don't know why i seem to be 'mechanic' in the pits but i was as usual. He'd snapped his 12sp chain on his Rocky Mountain E-bike, not a racer but just here with his mate and couldn't get home. Happily i had a 12sp link, well that and another 1 and a 10, 11, 8, LOL ... just to be safe. Well his Ebike had more idlers than i've EVER seen, it had 2 above the motor along with a tension from MRP on then bottom... Weird weird.... Wasn't too hard a fix, fiddle with the idlers, but sorted..
As i'm finishing that, another lad comes over and he'd broken his bike... "Give me 2 mins .."
He comes over with a Blue GT Fury Team !!!! Arrgghhhh. He'd been dropping his chain which was as always caused by the idler pulley, yup we know that one !!! Easiest way to get it freed was to remove the crank, it was a Shimano Saint with the usual Shimano system so 30s and it was free. But then looking at his chain alignment that needed sorting, so the idler setup was tweaked while the dad sat and chatted with Mrs Weeksy as the went to school in the same village.. Anyway, Job done... Oh... wait...
I had to then re-tension 12 of his spokes, 4 of them were finger tight and could moved SO much... But that was done in 5 mins, not a pro-job, but a "get down race run 2" type of job.
So i sends the boy out in the monsoony rain 🙂
Yup, proper wet for sure. The riders in front of him were not improving their time, mostly losing between 4-8s on race run 1.. Apart from 1 kid who went from a 1.10.0 to a 1.07 !!! Jeepers.
The lad came down with a 1.10.5 and retained 5th place.... Absolutely made up but a bit gutted he'd not been on the Trek in run 1. He was really really happy... Filthy and happy he'd put in a proper hard run.. I was suitably impressed.
https://youtube.com/shorts/BLUrLvn_ie8?si=oalZK4qgq8e02kzQ
We then had to clean up, sort, dry stuff and get back home... Another long long day.
Back home, washing the bikes, cleaning loads of kit and a bit of food.. the gazebo is drying, the sides are drying and i need a lie down 🙂
I’m sure @weeksy will be along soon, but just to say massive thanks from Joe (and me!)
Honestly, it was a pleasure to see the lad so happy and desperate to do both runs on it 🙂
Honestly, it was a pleasure to see the lad so happy and desperate to do both runs on it 🙂
Yeah he was thrilled to ride the Fury. I think he'd have probably gone quicker on his own aether (he certainly looked quicker on it, and it was marginal whether a DH bike was quicker on that track, especially if you've never ridden one before!), but he was more concerned with the experience of riding a big bike than his result.
Also didn't help that he started in his lowest gear on his first run when the track was still holding up! He still got a 1.16 and 10th out of 30 odd in the age group below James, which seems pretty good for kid who only gets out on his mountain bike a couple of times a month.
So thanks again and maybe see you at another one soon, he had a great day despite the pissing rain - he was always going to do a second run on the fury whatever happened!!
He did really well man, but i wasn't shocked at that as BMX fast kids quickly turn into MTB fast kids, so whilst i was impressed, i wasn't astounded... They're just skilled boys.
We'll be hitting the next one there in Oct and he's more than welcome to use the Fury again if he wants.. It's actually useful at times for me as a parent/owner that someone rides the Fury every now and again to keep things moving. It also means they can pick up any issues, we had one of the lads try it at 417 once and snapped a chain on his first run... So it got a new chain. I can also the get someone to see if over lay-up any bearings have struggled etc... So honestly, it's a benefit to me and now i know that it's ready for Antur Stiniog this coming weekend. I'll just be giving the chain a 2nd clean this morning and then a dry/lube and it'll be golden.
Regarding the track... I think your lad had the right rubber in that he actually had the best wet weather combo we own lol. The Hilbilly is a great wet tyre, so played nicely into his hands and would have helped for sure 🙂
We made the mistake in run 1 that he had the Assgeai on the front which was ace, but he was running a High Roller on the back for rolling speed... It wasn't until after i'd left and it started raining more than he felt the combo was wrong for run 1.... But as always with racing, you'll never know the answer, he may have gone quicker or he may have fallen off and broken an arm, you simply never know, you make your choices and you go out. 🙂
Run2 on the Trek he had the Magic Mary on the front which again, was a pretty decent front, i don't know what he's got on the back, either a new DHR or DHF, but again was pretty decent, hence a good time. He actually was 3rd quickest in Cat on run 2.... but as you said, 0.2s off his run 1 time.
ahh - I hadn't thought to look at run 2 times on their own - Joe's would've got 5th in category, but there were 2 DNS and 1 DNF from the boys quicker than him from run 1. So perhaps not quite as much an improvement as that looks, but he did pick off a couple of the quicker kids and stayed upright!
He'd love another shot on the Fury obviously - I'll see what we're up to for the Oct race although I think that may clash with a race at the manchester indoor bmx track - it never rains at those!
So straight away we're onto next weekend now. Yeah i know... but it does come to a bit of an end soon. Or certainly at the very least a bit of a calming of the storm.
Antur Stiniog this weekend for National DH series. Obviously having missed Glencoe and Llangollen he's not put in quite the results he'd have liked in Nationals this season. But his form is good and he's riding nicely. The only main downside is that we've never been to Antur before, so it's all going to be very new to us.
Somewhat weirdly i get the impression that the non-pro-pit paddock is in a very different part to the pro-pit.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53196719755_3bb62cff5c_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53196719755_3bb62cff5c_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2p3P6rn ]antur[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
But having never been i don't know exactly how these 2 locations relate to eachother.. or indeed how the parking will actually work. Due to times and distances i've booked a B&B for the Friday night for us, despite the costs being higher, if we drove up in the morning we'd have to get up at 4am which is somewhat silly... so we'll get a bit of food, a decent nights kip and suck up the costs.
We don't know (or really care as we've not been before) which course/track it's on. So he'll turn up, learn it in practice and see how he gets on 😀 None of the team are racing Nationals so it's just us. But we both know plenty of people in the paddock nowdays so we'll have people to chat to for sure. I'm still debating what we do regarding camping overnight as the 'camping' field seems to be 1.1miles away and i don't know how we'll manage parking if we head off from our location from Sat... plus there's the weather, which is looking typically north welsh and wet... It's possible we'll end up in the same B&B overnight as we are in on the Friday lol.
We're still learning, still making mistakes, still picking up knowledge of racing, riding, tracks.. I'm really hoping that next year which is year2 of Youth all of this will come into play and we start paying dividends as we arrive at tracks knowing a bit more than this year.
The boy still seems to be enjoying the racing and we have a fair few deep and meaningfuls about where, what, how and he tells me he still wants to race more and more... So that's how we're playing it.
I'm starting to find a bit of a happy place for myself too with racing/riding, i have been missing out a fair bit due to not being able to ride the tracks he's racing, so i've been doing more outside of race weekends, but also learning what and where i can do a bit when he's out playing too.
Part of me is looking forward to a break in the racing, part of me will be climbing the walls all weekend looking for something to do 😀
<p style="text-align: left;">Antur has always been wet each time I’ve gone there. It’s a very bleak place if you get sideways rain and the trail surface stays grippy but a bit of a grinding paste. Pretty sure that was what finished off the stanchion on my old Yaris.</p>
The yellow triangle at the bottom looks like the main car park that has toilets and a cafe there - although it’s hard to tell from that picture. The uplift there is very efficient / it goes out the car park and up the tarmac main road and then right onto another mostly tarmac track to the top from memory. I assume it’s either non official trails especially for the race, or one of the blacks from the top. If so they’re not wildly technical - there’s a funny rock / droopy arrangement near the top and then the bit near the trees at the bottom can be tricky if wet. There is a large drop on an alternative route at the bottom but wouldn’t imagine the DH race would use that.
If you end up going into Dolgellau a lot of the takeaways were cash only last time I went there a few years ago - and just the one cashpoint hidden away in a corner.
We appear to be staying in Ffestiniog which I think is almost walking distance, but I can't see us getting there before 8pm with traffic so it'll just be a bite to eat, a beer and bed.
There's on site catering for the Sat evening of Mexican which is cool for us. Sunday, we'll just wing it and it may just be XBuns and cereal bars lol.
Absolutely agree... in all the time we've been there i've never seen anyone photgraph from that position, it's a fantastic angle that's for sure. The funniest part is, it's not nearly as drastic a feature as it looks in that pic... it's a true pic that shows off the rider for sure.
I've removed the Hillbilly for the weekend on wheel #3, didn't see much point in a mud tyre for Antur. so that's now a DHR on there. Had a brand new one if you recall from a kind STW member a few months back.
Still not really sure how the logistics will work this weekend with parking/pitting due to space and areas, but we'll work something out i'm sure. It could well mean i'm kipping in the front of the Transit though, which will be a somewhat challenging nights sleep potentially.
Weather looks dry for Sat, but monsoony for Sunday.. But we'll make the best of it and just get on with things. Still debating whether to take the BBQ etc and do our own catering as usual, but in truth for me and the boy it's arguably more hassle than it's worth so i rekon we'll just use the cafe facilities this weekend.
It's the last National DH race of the year, so we're looking forward to it, but the lack of track knowledge will play a small factor in things, but there's only so many places you can visit and Antur is a LONG way from home to be heading up to on a weekend. The good news is, we got the entry for Hopton @ Pearce the weekend after 🙂 We were on the waiting list due to logistical errors, but we're now paid up and in for that, which is brilliant as he knows the track a lot better than many he'll race
You’re right that most of Antur is hardpack / rock stuff so most tyres will work there - just use strong casings.
There is one black trail into the woods near the bottom that has some mud on it - no idea if they’ll be using it. Can be fun getting stopped after the first few corners into a couple of rooty / muddy drop bits. I always make a meal of it as I’m crap at that sort of stuff - your lad will be fine.
The full video above shows the course, they do use the woods bit at the bottom you mention yes.
We've got mostly DH casings on fronts and deffo DH casings on the rears. We're not running cushcores at the moment, but i'll likely take one with me, but it'll only be in 27.5 as that's the only one we have at the moment.
I'm half looking forward to the weekend, half dreading it... it's going to be a 4-5 hour drive on the Friday... wet all day Sunday and then 4-5 hours to get back home after the racing (while he spends most of the drive home sleeping i bet)... After we leave the house on Fri lunchtime i don't expect to be home until 10pm Sunday... Then monday will be cleaning, sorting, drying, fixing... so yeah, i'm 50-50 lovehate with the weekend potentially 🙂
But it's all part of the game, part of the process and both me and him accept it 😀
(well i think he does)
As soon as he’s old enough you’ll have to get him driving….share the love. He can drive whilst his mechanic sleeps for a change lol
As soon as he’s old enough you’ll have to get him driving
Damn right i will... but a big part of me hopes that sort of thing takes as long as possible as i feel i may be left behind at times, which as we've spent every waking minute of every weekend together for years i'd still like to hold onto 🙂
If i had an intense/pressured/hard job as some, i think this would be too much to do all the time, but being in IT, well it's OK as it's just 'click... watch bar..... watch bar...... click'..... repeat 🙂 obviously there's other stuff, but again it's not digging holes with a shovel or lifting heavy objects, so i'm pretty relaxed by the time i get to the insanity of the weekend.
I've just picked up a spare 220 HS2 rotor for the wheels, just to make things simple.
Also picked up my Slayer forks as they've been getting a lower service. Some jobs i do farm out to Rotec and he gets them done quickly and without fuss 🙂
Good luck for the race 👌
We drove Abigale all over the UK and Europe for the racing. Got to visit and ride in some amazing places.
Once she was old enough to take the Tourneo she still wanted us and the camper at races and her dad for the spannering
Couldn't get her insured for the camper due to age and when we could she disappeared to NZ
Could have done with her the last couple of months to help with the driving of it 🤣
Good luck with the event. I’ve ridden there a couple of times, scared me a bit as it’s really exposed and there is no give whatsoever in the ground, it’s like riding on bedrock. Make sure he wears all the pads!
He's done 4 runs of practice and as is usual for him he's feeling slow. But we're used to that with him.
Seeding has been moved to today which may end up being his race time with the incoming weather
Enjoy it ...absolutely love stiniog
They were fettling black powder only a few weeks ago so it should be prime
Still never had the balls to do the near vertical slab after the bridge yet though
Been there when it's 30c and been there when there's much snow come in they've closed it half way trough the day and rained sideways it stings your face but loved every trip
Still never had the balls to do the near vertical slab after the bridge yet though
Apparently he swerved it on run1 but has done on the others
Still never had the balls to do the near vertical slab after the bridge yet though
Me neither, I've done the smaller one to the left,but the big one is scary
48/61. Clean enough run. I think lack of track knowledge is a massive thing here, was 15s quicker than this morning. As we know, it's a tough gig in this Cat. So not exactly ecstatic but not too unhappy. We fight another day. Or, well, maybe not. Massive wind and rain due tomorrow which could easily mean tomorrow doesn't happen.
Race cancelled. Position taken from seeding
Race cancelled.
Just need some waterproofs surely?? 😉 Was there a waterfall over that subsequent drop?? 😳 Terrifying in any weather.
Don't think there was waterfall. They got all the riders together and discussed it. Many, including mine would have raced, but it was the right call due to safety, it was 40mph+ winds and driving rain. Even yesterday was windy at the top and that was showing 15mph, so I do t know what they're have been up there today.
The drop was laughable to normal humans, just so so massive.
It's shown us that we need to keep driving, visiting and trying places. It was the first visit to Antur and he got faster every run. So we need to establish next year which series is his primary focus and make sure we cover those tracks more.
That's obviously easier said than done as Antur is 5 hours away. Llangollen the same really etc. I dunno, my brain is mush from beers and lack of sleep, so just need to chill and see how things look.
Onto Hopton next weekend, it's never ending
right call due to safety
Comment was genuinely tongue in cheek. Not surprised they called it off. DH is nuts in good weather never mind bad weather. Roll on the next outing. Hopefully the 'day off' meant an extra bacon sarnie for the Team Manager though?? 😂
Hopefully the ‘day off
The day off was driving the van for 5 hours, then cleaning and drying the gazebo (still-ongoing), sorting all the kit, sorting the bikes, sorting the rider, maybe a shower and a shave to feel half human.
They're a different breed, it made me laugh that they were going to ask a bunch of nutter DH racers if they want to race LOL... well of course they do, they're all bonkers.
This was the last National DH race of the year and it's been eye-opening for me and him, the tracks, the weather, the exposure, the jumps and drops, it's all just next level crazy. Every time we do a track walk my respect for him (and all of them) goes up massively, it's just crazy how they can ride some of the tracks. It's also been really interesting in terms of chatting, last night i spent an hour and half chatting with Andy who i thought was the GT Viris team mechanic, but it transpires he's Andy, the owner of Viris the goggle brand.... But we know a few people and was good to chat about some of the plans for GT and his team goals... Not really something i can get into on here, but really interesting.
Then chatting with other parents of racers, fast ones, less fast ones, boys, girls, all of them really and picking their brains about who's doing what, going where, racing what in the coming years. Again, all incredibly interesting (to me, i won't bore you lot with it that's for sure).
I'm actually really looking forward to the winter break after this year. It's not really felt like it's been needed before, but the intensity every weekend has been next level. The relief when you see your rider (and son) come out of the woods into the final section time and time again, esepcially in the race, it's just huge, your body just surges with adrenalin/whatever as you know the day is done again. So yeah, this winter, it couldn't come soon enough.
Whilst Hopton next weekend is still an important event to him, it's a track he's ridden lots, raced a bit, so it'll be a bit more relaxed hopefully.
I'm sure there'll be pics bought... but as a preview...
https://www.rootsandrain.com/photos/11845589/rider/111960
https://www.rootsandrain.com/photos/11845584/rider/111960
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53209349537_682a8b5cb3_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53209349537_682a8b5cb3_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2p4VPQe ]IMG-20230923-WA0008[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Pic taken by a mate.
We didn't take the decision today lightly but if you'd have been able to visit the top of the hill everyone would have understood. We headed up around 9 when it felt pretty mild at the bottom of the hill, the top felt very, very different. It might have been possible to start lower down at that point but lighter folks would have been disappearing down in to the next valley.
By the time I left after clear up at 1.30-2 the wind at the bottom of the hill was very strong, blowing stuff around in the car park etc. It was definitely the right choice in the end but still a real shame to finish the race that way.
We didn’t take the decision today lightly but if you’d have been able to visit the top of the hill everyone would have understood.
Absolutely mate. If you wouldn't have, Id have tried to talk him out of it. As above, it was 100% the right decision
Despite the finish position it was interesting to analyse his performance. He finished 16% from his Cat winner, which is actually the closest in a National he's been. So in some ways it was his strongest finish, even if the position doesn't show it much.
Was also interesting that 2 lads he races often were a lot quicker than him this weekend, but had been to Antur 3 times in the last fortnight, including Thurs this week.
The wind can be absolutely brutal and imo was the right call looking at some people's go pro footage
If you ever go for fun @weeksy let me know.
We generally stay up at Trawsfynydd log cabins 5 mins away spend the wkd riding penmachno coed then finish off with a day at stiniog
But there's a few times a year we head down just for the day
It's 2.5 hrs for us each way
As for junior weeksy the what he will of learned for next time will be Invaluable
I love riding there for fun but racing there is a different ball game
I some ways I hope the no race Sunday gave you a bit of a breather
Sounds like it was the right call.
Any thoughts on moving up North 🤔
Any thoughts on moving up North
Lots yes. But he's in his last year of school and doing GCSEs in summer, so wouldn't be until after that. But we've been planning and discussing it. As to where, that is the question.
Ross on Wye, Hopton, etc or go further into Llangollen area, we're not sure really yet. But the wheels are slowly in motion on it.
It's also going to depend upon his future ideas and plans too. But that's a whole other kettle of crazy there potentially
That drop is intimidating but it's 15 feet tops.
Obviously it's Monday.... so it's picture time.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53212208328_d7e3b3331c_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53212208328_d7e3b3331c_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2p5btDJ ]IMG-20230925-WA0037[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53212287109_575bf25fe3_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53212287109_575bf25fe3_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2p5bT52 ]IMG-20230925-WA0023[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53211020137_ecbde48951_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53211020137_ecbde48951_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2p55orF ]IMG-20230925-WA0018[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53212208393_4421c27584_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53212208393_4421c27584_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2p5btER ]IMG-20230925-WA0029[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
It’s shown us that we need to keep driving, visiting and trying places. It was the first visit to Antur and he got faster every run. So we need to establish next year which series is his primary focus and make sure we cover those tracks more.
I know this sounds harsh, but is that the difference between where he is and the top riders that they can just turn up to any track and ride at a level ?
If you pick a race series that you know well and is in your 'comfort zone' he wont progress as quickly.
I know this sounds harsh, but is that the difference between where he is and the top riders that they can just turn up to any track and ride at a level ?
It's not harsh 🙂 Yeah i hear you... As always, some of the things i write are to get a different perspective and ideas from you guys as much as throwing thoughts out for me and him. There's obviously some kids who are just pure talents, like George Madley for example. My lad is a bit of a slow burner in tracks and builds up to them. His final practice run on Sat was a 3.31, which was his fastest of the day, then in seeding went 3.17, even in the top section he said he was flat out in practice, but his split was 47s, in seeding it was a 44.. So took 3s off just because he got his game face on.
If you pick a race series that you know well and is in your ‘comfort zone’ he wont progress as quickly.
Again, another excellent point... and again, i really really don't know... We're still mostly just winging it 😀
this is currently high on the list and being debated...
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/140009930#/?channel=RES_BUY
Looks nice. Don't forget to factor in the camper van 😉
LOL i'm not sure that allows for a camper van in budget... The place i want is compeltely different and radical, but talking Mrs Weeksy into it is a LOT harder.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/138238922?currencyCode=GBP#/?channel=OVERSEAS
That's quite a radical move obviously... but i'm far from against the idea. But as earlier, his exams are going to put a bit of a blocker on any decisions really as we'd like to get them done first.
I totally agree with you on the exams. Even if they don't get used it still good to have something to fall back on.
Abigale raced throughout. School, college and University and manage to do OK.
Not used her teaching degree but has started her new dream job today. After two weeks off the bike relaxing in Bali she is now a Trail Patrol Officer in Rotoura
Oh wow, that's epic !!! Congratulations to you all 🙂
So this weekend brings the last of the big races for 2023. Pearce @ Hopton. A track he knows well enough, although there's multiple layouts and i think they're racing one that isn't the one he's ridden most, but he's ridden plenty.
The bikes are ready, the kit is ready, we've got a van full of meat, beers, gazebo, bacon, chairs etc... So we're in for the weekend. Plan was to do a mates ride, but that may change as the weather isn't exactly looking as it was, it's a bit more on the rainy side of things than first forecast.
After that... we're onto 'winter' and 2024. There's a LOT of background stuff going on at the moment regarding things and lots of plans and some other stuff, but that's all a whole different conversation 🙂
That first house, the decor looks like Mr Tumble lives there
The Pearce events are quite bike parky arent they? Usually very small time difference throughout the top 30, usually indicates its quite flat out and not too technical? Hope the boy does well.
Is it £85 a round? I know there's a lot of costs, so not knocking thise who run it at all, but that must be massively prohibitive for all the kids racing 15 year old iron horse downhill biles they've paid 300 quid for (or their parents).
The Pearces are fairly tech, but obviously nowhere near the level that they'll ride Nationals at. They'll be closer to 1.30-50 in time i think for Hopton. Track is fast/rooty/woodsy, with a steep bit near the end on this one and then a couple of jumps.
Price does take into account 2 days uplift though and Sat is 9.30-4.30 so they'll get a bucket load of runs in.. Sunday they'll get 3 runs of practice and 2 race runs, so £85 for that i'm more than happy with.
However of course you're right, but racing is crazy expensive, even a 1 dayer at FoD with MIJ is £39.00 in advance and £45 on the day... Non-uplifted. So it's not a cheap sport.
It may sound ridiculous though, but the actual race entries are the least of the issues with racing costs, i probably spend more on fuel/food this weekend than on the race itself. But this is where we've found ourselves and the path we're taking, so we just go with it i guess 😀
You can afford it so why not. That isnt a bad price as didnt realise it was uplift weekend included. And i didnt realise how much BPW is these days either as ive not paid to ride apart from car parks since covid
Yeah it's a bit of a shame really - when I was a 6th former, a kid I knew rocked up to the DH nationals on a cheap crap bike, won the 16-18s in a time that would've been top 5 in the elites, and got a sponsored ride by the end of the day. Ok it was his local area, but still!
You can't really imagine that kind of thing now - it's so popular, the courses so challenging, you probably just can't be seriously competitive without some money and parental support behind you. Times change!
It's quite a serious sport in some ways yes, even at youth and juvenile levels you get a fair chunk of kids who get full support from teams, which is of course brilliant to see, but I can see how it could put some people out of the sport.
There's a lot of expensive bikes, kit, stuff, motorhomes etc. I'm not saying we are not guilty of some of it of course but compared to some teams, we're just playing at it.
When did the spawny git get a Session? I must have missed that deal thread...