Black Canon Collective

Month: March 2010

  • DH Dig Day

    This Sunday is the first Dig Day of 2010, and we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

    The winter hasn’t been kind to the ground and has tested our drainage to it’s limits, but thanks to some great work last year the damage is minimal. This Sunday we’ll be giving all the tracks a once over, some TLC. They’re almost weather resistant, but need some tweaking here and there.

    We’ll also start building the next big feature on ‘Puppets’ a large berm-fly-off at the bottom of the ‘Battery Hill’ section.

    We’ll bring the lot sof tools, tea, coffee and cakes, you just need to bring some elbow grease (and a rake)…

    See you there (@ the Allotment, 10:00)

  • How to fix broken people

    …after mastering the french kiss we learnt lots about rolling people over, punching them in the back, sticking a foot in their crotch and the importance of ASSESSING THE SITUATION! Joking aside though, we all learnt loads and are now all very capable of dealing with most MTB first aid situations. Thanks to Alan from AS Training (and the ITC) for a great course.

  • blisters…what blisters?!?!

    A couple of people were asking me what to do to stop their hands from blistering up at the Mega, i’d say – tape ’em up!

    I’ve done a few Mega’s and did a week in whistler last year know that and if you aren’t riding hard 2 hours + more than 4 times a week your hands will fall apart quickly.
    I didn’t bother taping them one year and really regretted it, my hands were a mess in two days and it really buggered up the second half of my holiday.

    So here’s a little how-to that should sort you out…

    I’ve tried a few different ways of doing it and found one way which I think is a good balance of comfort and toughness (too much tape bunches up and is really un comfy, too little and it falls off). This way the tape it stays put half a day and is done by the time you are!

    Get some good quality micro pore tape on a wee roll with a serrated edge is best. This is the stuff your after it’s very thin and has light adhesion and it’ll absorb some moisture (it doesn’t have to be the Tesco variety by the way).
    For a weeks riding you will go through at least two rolls. I’d take four as it’s also good for temp bike repairs and first aid.

    Use 1 or 2 layers tops (just enough to stop your gloves from rubbing your skin)
    Also carry a spare pair of gloves in a backpack if out all day and change them at lunch time for nice dry ones – sweat soaked gloves really mess your hands up (remember to use new tape after cleaning your hands at lunch).