Black Canon Collective

Author: Archive User

  • Mud Mud Crash Mud Crash Mud Beer

    Last night was our third weekly night ride.

    It seems that the promise of seeing Chris go over the bars was enough to entice a further 6 people to attend!

    We started at the Bath Arms in Crockerton, all 8 of us raring to go after waiting for my forgotten battery to arrive (courtesy of Chris Snell).

    We only had a 200 yard wait before Will managed to go over the bars on the very first off-road section. Good stuff.

    The route was claggy and slow going, but Will kept us entertained with short bouts of speed before suffering a mechanical, falling off or flipping into a puddle.

    We finished after just over an hour and a half, wet through but pretty happy.

    Great beer, lush crisps and some very muddy kit!

  • Magic

    Last weekend’s dig and ride days were a great success…

    We got loads done thanks to a really good turnout and some ace sausages (thank you Mark)! 

    By mid day on Sat we’d significantly improved the drainage on both BBMS and Spoons then raked and remarked both.

    The afternoon was spent renovating 143; an old favourite with lots of flow, some nice undulating corners and floaty jumps.

    The jump spot was also the subject of some hard graft thanks to Chris, Garry, Jack and the other usual suspects. 

    Over the course of the weekend we met 10 new people, 1 even helped dig all day Sat despite having hoped to ride (thanks Adam!) and has since joined along with two of the others.

    It’s great to see that we’re still growing despite the time of year.

    To see so many people getting stuck in is also fantastic, it’s what we need if we’re going to succeed.

    Sunday was spent riding the trails, unsurprisingly 143 saw the most action leading to a relaxed day of sessioning and the freelap staying in my bag.

    There’s something magical about riding homegrown trails with friends, and what a large group of friends this is becoming….

  • Night Rider

    Last night we ran our second weekly night ride.

    It was wet and very cold.

    This week only 2 of us showed up, Chris Sheppard and I.

    Chris managed to go over the bars twice, and I managed to come to a standstill mid way through a large axle deep puddle resulting in two wet feet and a jammed mech.

    There was ice on the ground by the end of the ride and even the trees were shivering.

    We rode for exactly 1.5 hrs by which time my lights ran out and my right foot ceased to feel as if it was a part of my body.

    We finished at the pub by the open fire with a pint and some chips.

    We’re still scoping out the best route but once we’re happy we’ll publish the details of the ride so that more can come and join us each week…

  • SALE

    That’s right we’re having a blow out 42.8571429 % SALE here at the BCC. From now until March ’09 we’ll be offering Full Membership for just £20!!! Don’t worry if you’ve recently joined up; we’ll be refunding the difference to anyone who joined since October this year. 

    Even more impressive is our offer of Full Membership for £15 if you join during one of our Dig Days. We’re growing fast (just under 40 members) but want to encourage even more people to take part especially during these wetter months. We will of course gladly accept the full amount from those happy to contribute to what we’re doing, but for those of you who have been sitting on the deer fence we hope that this will help.

  • If you go down to the…

     

    … woods today (well tomorrow),

    You’re sure of a big surprise (hopefully not that big especially as we do this every month).

    If you go down to the woods today (again it’s actually tomorrow),

    You’d better go in disguise (although funny some warm clothes would probably be better).

    For every member that ever there was (we hope)

    Will gather there for certain because

    Today’s the day (see comments above) the BCC members work on their allot-ment.

     

    (You can make up your own second verse)

     

    Sausage time for me-mbers;

    The BCC members are having a lovely time today (I can’t emphasise enough that it’s not actually today).

    Help them build some super lush trails,

    And see them work hard on this Saturday.

    See them gaily gad about (unlikely…).

    They love to eat and dig,

    They’ll be wearing lots of layers.

    At four o’clock they’ll pack up and leave

    They’ll go off home to bed (they’ll probably eat dinner and watch some TV first)

    Because they’re tired BCC me-mbers.

  • Leeks, cabbage and brussel sprouts


    In the short time that we’ve been working on our little allotment it’s been very fruitful; 

    We’ve had days of digging, riding and banter

    We’ve jumped, drifted, crashed and tried again

    We’ve sawn, raked, dug then raked some more

    We’ve eaten sausages, cakes, pasties and drunk tea

    We’ve had a blast!

    But Winter is now here, a time to prepare for the spring and summer ahead; when the real harvest can be had

    Our existing trails aren’t yet robust enough to be reaped all year round so we must step back to see how we can improve them

    We must improve drainage, collect wood and make markings

    It’s the time to build shelters,  dig more drainage and gather rocks

    Most importantly; it’s the time to plan ahead

    Over the next two months we will be forming and then committing to a plan for the entire allotment, an exciting prospect, but one of such importance

    We have a growing membership base, pledged support from a renowned trail builder and importantly; we’ve just negotiated a 3 year licence

    We also have a blank canvas on which to work, and heaps of enthusiasm

    Please help us to make the right decisions by telling us what you think we should create, how and where (just leave a comment below)

  • Great potential…

    Today Neil, Ian and I were lucky enough to walk around the allotment with a renowned trail builder.

    We had our eyes opened to just how big an asset our little area of woodland is, what great potential it holds and how lucky we are to have it.

    We were mesmerised by how much there is to learn about building truly sustainable trails, and how simple changes can make the difference between a great trail and one doomed to erode.

    We came away from our walk with a new found enthusiasm but twice as many questions as we’d had answered. 

    Our plan now is simple; identify what everybody wants from our little allotment then work hard to make it happen.

    What’s great is that this particular trail builder wants to be a part of what we’re doing, something we could only dream of not so long ago.

    Today was a very good day.

  • BCC Weekender – Reschedule

    This months BCC Weekender has been rescheduled for the weekend of the 22nd-23rd November. It’ll be the same format with a day of digging followed by a day of riding. We’ll be cooking sausages and making cups of tea for all those that get stuck in on Sat and we’ll set up the timing system for those that fancy training on Sunday.

    If you’re not a member please do come along anyway – we’d be glad to meet and show you what we’re up to. You’ll even be able to join as we’ll have forms that can be filled out on either day (just remember to bring your membership fee). 

    There’s lots to be done so please come along and we’ll lend you a pair of gloves….

  • National Mountain Bike Conference – MP3

    http://www.ctc.org.uk

    The CTC have kindly produced recordings of each of the speakers presentations from the National Mountain Bike Conference held on the 9th of October.

    If you have even the slightest interest in mountain biking development at trail level then these are a great listen:

    “The CTC & IMBA-UK joint conference looked at the current state of mountain biking across the UK and beyond. The conference aimed to help everyone involved in mountain biking to learn from successful trails and to get ready for the challenges ahead.”

    You can listen to them now (left click on a one of the links) or download them and listen later (right click on a link and select ‘save link as’)

    Speaker.jpegMike Van Abel – Executive Director of IMBA
    Mike is based in Colorado, USA. In his presentation he examined the latest trends and developments in mountain biking from an international perspective. He also shared IMBA’s thoughts on the future, the threats mountain biking faces and where IMBA stand on a range of topics from trail centre location through to the global footprint of destination mountain biking.

    Speaker.jpegKevin Mayne – Director CTC
    Fresh from bringing £19.9 million worth of Big Lottery Funding into the Active Travel Consortium, with just over £5million worth of funding for CTC’s Cycle Champions, Kevin knows a thing or two about attracting funding for cycling. In his presentation he talked through how to make your project attractive to funders and how you can tailor it to fit funding criteria. 

    Speaker.jpegMike Nelson – Founder of Cascade Environmental 
    Mike has worked on two of the mountain bike world’s choice destinations, Whistler and Squamish in Canada. Mike brought to the conference a wealth of knowledge on mountain biking’s environmental footprint, and information on how we can plan, build and manage
    projects in the future that both complement the environment and meet the needs of mountain bikers.

    Speaker.jpegDuncan Mackay – Policy Specialist at Natural England
    Drawing on the latest government thinking and policy, Duncan shared his unique insight into the way forward for mountain biking. He looked at how everyone involved in mountain biking can make sure their projects will stand the test of time and ensure a sustainable and prosperous future.

    Speaker.jpegChris Ford – Director CycleActive
    Chris outlined how important it is to create the right mountain bike experience and match the trails to the riders and the riders to the trail. He examined what mountain bikers are looking for and how we can make sure that we meet their expectations. Plus how we can create trails to bring new people to mountain biking and keep them coming back.

    Speaker.jpegJohn Ireland – Forestry Commission Visitor Safety Expert
    Although to many Health and Safety (H&S) might not be the sexiest of subjects, H&S’s legal and practical implications are far reaching for mountain biking. John has been working on improving visitor safety in the Forestry Commission’s forests and has developed a range of practical guidance for the MTB sector. John looked at how H&S can have a positive effect on mountain biking and how it’s in everyone’s interest to adopt a professional approach.

    Speaker.jpegJulie Cartner – Mountain Bike Development Specialist
    Julie examined the effect millions of pounds of investment has had on mountain biking. She discussed how successful public money has been at broadening the market and how that investment is reflected in the trails that have already been designed and built. Furthermore, she shared her experiences from across the globe. 

    Speaker.jpeg

    Dafydd Davis MBE – Trails By Dafydd Davis
    Drawing on his work on trail development projects around the world, Dafydd focused on where his approach to trail design and building has really made a difference. He shared the lessons learnt from key case studies and gave a unique insight into the many mountain bike projects he has worked on. 

    Speaker.jpegVince Bartlett – London Development Agency and Ian Warby – CTC
    As the capital prepares for the London 2012 Olympics, Vince and Ian explain how one of the first legacy projects was delivered – the Redbridge Cycling Centre. Their presentation focuses on the off-road trail and how the LDA, its partners and CTC put together the pieces of a complex jigsaw to create an exciting urban trail project.

  • Fish finger sandwiches…

    15 turned out for the first BCC XC ride, 11 men and 4 women. 10 of us are BCC members and 5 who are prospective members.

    The day started with a quick walk around the allotment before we all headed off around Longleat.

    With a broad spread of fitness and ability we could have split up into two groups, instead we decided to keep the social element and simply stop a little more frequently to allow us all to regroup. I set the pace at the front while Ian rode at the back of the pack ensuring that nobody got lost.

    Other than a puncture and some shifter confusion the day was incident free with even the weather on our side!

    We stopped for lunch at the Horse and Groom where the food was hot and beer was cold; so we were all happy.

    After a few (chips and beers) we meandered back to the allotment via a river crossing and one or two horse poo covered climbs.

    Some pushed the last climb whilst others mashed up but everyone made it back in one piece.

    The day was a great success with everyone loving the ride and enjoying the company.

    Special thanks to Ian who organised and ran the day, he rode the whole route (at first light) to ensure it was all ride able given the recent bad weather. That’s dedication.

    look out for more BCC rides in the not so distant future…we’ve even negotiated a deal with the Horse and Groom so that we can pre order food; we will arrange for it to be ready upon our arrival and will get 1 out of every 10 meals for free (oh and they do fish finger sandwiches)!