Chairman ARC Denham:
“Can you announce the Tickertape Got Beans winners are Will Hardy for his incredible commitment to carrying on despite 18 crashes. Ben Batt for committing to every corner as if his life depended on the amount of roost he created. And Simon Truelove for riding fast despite a lack of chain, then beating rival Jim on Jim’s bike after some balls out runs. Stems to Will and Ben, T to Simon.”
I have heard it said that the reason downhill is such a great sport is because it’s social and friendly – you’re only racing against the clock. This cannot be said of today’s Tickertape:
Firstly we were all battling against the rain, sloppy mud, and mechanicals. Bird was against Jim, Neil against Denham, Denham against a tree, Dave against himself, our shoes against traction, Sam (Wells) refusing to compete against anyone.
Sam and James were competing – to be muddier or crash better than the other while Will & Ben Batt were against full runs, preferring not to not finish each run rather than go any less than 168%.
Highlights of the day included very vocal support (or abuse), shouts of “PEDAL” to those with no chain, Ben’s MC Hammer trousers, everybody going on everyone else’s bikes, Will “sending” the biggest of the Spork drops and finally the Cobble Wobble King surprising himself by enjoying the wet – and snatching the fastest time of the day right at the death.
Many of you will be aware that the trails at Still Woods have been closed down, this is terrible news for the local riding community but not unsurprising given it’s scale and illegitimate nature.
The good news is that the locals have teamed up to save the trails, working hard towards a lease agreement (or similar) with the land owners.
Now this is pretty much exactly what us Longleat locals went through a couple of years ago, so we’ve offered to help in what ever way we can. We’ve sent over club documents, important contact info, and any and all guidance docs we could lay our hands on, hopefully this will all help them get to where they need to be quickly.
If you want to keep up to date with what’s going on or would like to help please check out their website below:
They’ve worked hard and fast to get themselves organised as quickly as possible, launching their website and producing a great document outlining their intentions (see here: http://www.bristoltrailsgroup.com/downloads/StillProposalfinal.pdf ). It’s clear to see that these guys respect the place and deserve to be taken seriously by the land owner and authorities. As has been proven many times before – when user groups and land managers work together everybody benefits. Lets hope that the land owner realises what a dedicated and passionate group of mountain bikers they are , and gives them the chance they deserve.
You may have heard of Jack and Sam Wells, they’re brothers from Frome who are pretty flipping handy with a shovel and even more so with a bike.
Having suffered the loss of many a ‘secret spot’ the brothers Wells have decided to team up with the BCC to build some great freeride trails at the Allotment.
To give them some ideas, and show them something outside their normal frame of reference Chris Smith, Ian Crook and I took them to Glyncorrwg yesterday to ride Whites Level.
The weather was pretty bloody awful; raining sideways with the trails running fast (with water) . Jack definitely had the most fun on the climbs; pushing a big ring with road cassette whilst wearing the least technical clothing and biggest trainers he could find. To be honest all three seemed stoked to be spending so much time going up, at one point I heard Chris ask if we could session the climbs rather than do a full loop. All this whilst Sam was trying to convert Chris, Ian and I to many benefits of riding glove-less.
After The Black Run and Windy Point all three had cheered up no end, but that didn’t last long: Halfway through Energy Jack lost grip of his bars (due to hand cramp) and crashed onto rocks. Not good. Due to his distinct lack of gloves, Jack’s hand was gashed pretty deep as was his left knee. For Jack and I that was ride over, as we walked and rolled our way back to the Drop Off cafe. Ian, Sam and Chris went on ahead to sample the delights of Goodwood and the Darkside, leaving each with a rose tinted view of that first climb.
The Drop Off cafe was as welcoming as ever, and a hard place to leave, but with dinner to get back to and three hours of road works, side winds and rain to battle we headed off.
I think we all learnt a few things yesterday;
Ian learnt that the M4 goes all the way from London to Swansea,
Chris learnt that its almost impossible to find a back issue of MBUK that doesn’t have his face in,
Jack learnt that gloves are more than just a fashion accessory,
Sam learnt that 1 man, 2 bike relay riding is bloody tiring,
and I learnt that eating jam and coconut sponge with custard after a Drop Off main causes an almost instantaneous urge to sleep.
Jack and Sam will be working of their new trail very soon, so check back here if you’d like to be involved.
First Stage: Tuesday 17th November – Route confirmed and first rake complete.
Second Stage: Sunday 22nd November 13:30 – More raking, bench cutting, log cutting. Volunteers very welcome!
(Feedback and suggestions for the name welcome)
I think the headline tells you most of the stuff you need to know so get it stuck in your diary and follow the instructions below for a festive evening of general merriment.
The evening will start at 7pm with the aim of eating at 8pm. Some hardy night riders may wish to do a short ride before and arrive at the pub around 8 o’clock.
This social is open to all members plus a partner (please contact me if you want to invite additional guests) and I would like to think that a good mixture of XC, DJ and DH riders will attend. This will be an excellent opportunity to meet other members or catch up with members you may have ridden with but never seen without a full face helmet on!
The Horse and Groom can accommodate 32 diners so seats will have to be on a first come, first served basis. Alternatively, you are welcome to join us for drinks.
The next step is choosing food from the menu
Please e mail me (simon.truelove@blackcanoncollective.co.uk) with your menu choices and send me a cheque (payable to “Black Canon Collective”) for the full amount (£16.95 for 3 courses or £13.00 for 2 courses). If you want to pay by cash (do not send by post) I will be at the tickertape jam at the weekend and I’m usually out on the Tuesday night rides too (but please bring the correct amount as I might not have change).
For the address to send cheques to please see the forum thread http://www.southerndownhill.com/forum/index.php/topic,211588.msg1752645.html#msg1752645 or ask for my address when you send your menu choices.
There are a maximum of 32 spaces – lets see if we can fill the whole joint!
Please send me your menu choices and cheque before next Tuesday so that I can confirm the number of attendees
See you all soon
Simon
It’s that time of the month again!
With so much rain the trails will be riding very differently from those dusty days only a month or so ago. .. Depending on the ground conditions we’ll be running OneFourThree or BBMS, into Moron. Either way you can expect a great day of racing riding and the chance to win some great Transition Bikes prizes.
Hopefully we’ll have a good turn out this Saturday as it may be the last chance to ride a TickerTape until the Bumper event on the second of January.
If you don’t fancy pitching yourself against the clock, no worries ; the other two trails will be open as usual.
Remember ; if you do want to get involved you must be a members and wear a full face helmet. Non members are welcome to come along and watch though.
Cheers
Post written by Mark Amor
After all the wind and rain over the last few days, it was nice to see clear bright skies, with dare I say it, a little sun. We all meet at 8am on Sunday. Geraint pulls out the map and shows us the route, which looks like a lot of miles! We drove to Exford in convoy, well two vans. As we entered Exford, we go down a very steep hill and realise we’ll have to ride backup the hill; why can’t we start rides without instantly going up! Geared-up and ready to go UPHILL! Up and up and up we rode slicing through the mud and over loose stone through the gates until we reached the Beacon. Wow, with clear views, you can see for miles. After a quick break we begin our first descent; very nice, we had earned it! Chris (no brakes) Sheppard soon lives up to his reputation of getting his moneys worth, as he pulls over to let Christian pass him, he sets of down hill with only a front brake: loose rocks and lots of water, he can handle it – nice! While installing new pads, I get a text from my lovely wife asking, “Is there anything you want to say to me?” after a couple of texts back and forth, I realise it’s my 24th wedding anniversary, will I make 25!?!?
After a further decent and then up granny’s rise, she was a fit granny – it was so easy – NOT! We got to go down Exmoor’s version of the chimney that reminded Chris and myself of both the Quantocks and the Peaks. Half way through our ride, we stopped for a break in Porlock, before starting our return loop back.
Into the woods and crossing the streams we worked our way to the top of the coombe where across the valley we could see the Beacon from our morning start. We start crossing a marshy part of land when Chris’ back wheel starts sinking; he jumps of and quickly pulls the bike out of the peat marsh. Great, tarmac at last for approximately one mile, then a left turn takes us through a nice looking track. Cows from a distance looked nice and fury. However, up close, they have long horns and look menacing standing on the side of the road. Very slowly and nicely, we rode past them hoping for no trouble. Finally, back down the track to Exford. Geraint puts the kettle on and makes tea for all, what more could you ask for after four hours of riding. Can’t wait to go back and ride Exmoor, it’s great to ride open countryside, and there was no RAIN!
A few weeks ago Stacey organised a trip to Cwmcarn for a day on the DH uplifts. It was an awesome day despite the weather, with all the newbies finding out (the hard way) what riding a bigger track is like….
Jim snapped his seat post flipping into some trees, Nige’s crashes gradually robbed him of clothes (though he did look very comfortable in those bottomless…..), Stace found out how hard rocks are and Bart managed to break his forks, discs and tear a pair of CK waterproof chaps. Burv…., well Burv was in a league of his own – wearing an all-in-one baby grow that was disturbingly tight around the crotch leaving most of us feeling dirty and very confused.
Dispite all the trauma (did they really need to be that tight!?!??) , everyone was buzzing by the end of the day, no one more than Chedge who was like a silent assassin – getting quicker with every run.
We finished the day with coffee and cake in the cafe, then I got punched by one of the canteen staff for offering to buy her a muffin. Wales is a funny place.
We’ll be organising some more trips to uplifts soon so check out the club forum for more details…
(Click on the image above to view the photographers images)
Over the next few months we’ll be working to design and build three new trails / trail areas; project Groovy Blue, project Skills Area and project Spine.
Chris Sheppard, Chris Smith and Ian Crook will be leading each of these projects respectively, with the full support of the rest of the committee.
These projects have been the topic of discussed for some time, but with so many things going on in the club we’ve been unable to fully commit to any of them up until now.
We will be following the existing industry best practice so that we can ensure we achieve high quality sustainable trails. The Forestry Commission highlight 7 stages of Planning, Constructing and Monitoring Mountainbike Trails:
All three projects are currently hovering around stages 1-3, but we’re aiming to get to the end of stage 4 and start of stage 5 by April 2010. This won’t be easy, and will require a lot of fund raising, so we’d really appreciate your help. Keep checking the website for progress and please contact any of the project leaders if you have any questions.
Thank you!