Black Canon Collective

Category: BCC

  • Big Grins with Bigfoot MBC

    I can sum up August’s Ride-Away in two words.

     

    “Epic singletrack”.

     

    There. Write-up written. Thanks for looking.

     

     

    Longleat’s trails have already returned to their ‘Winter setting’, and after slogging round their deep, sandy gloop on Saturday, I was resigned to putting the mud-tyres on for our club visit to the woods around Cranham the next day.

     

    Good job I didn’t.

     

    As part of my very informal trail exchange programme with other MTB clubs in the area, we were to be guests of Bigfoot MBC, a large and very active club based in Gloucester. Nine BCC members (Steve, Simon, Kevin, Will, Andy, Ryan, Pete, Sean and myself) met with 12 of the Bigfoot clan in a pub carpark on the A46 just north of Painswick.

     

    The woods around Cranham are their local patch. And what a patch. A large, deciduous, not-too-steep-sided area to the east of Gloucester…. And absolutely stuffed choc-full of sinewy, natural singletrack and interesting features.

     

    To my astonishment, it seemed that all the rubbish weather we’d had this summer (especially recently) had completely bypassed this corner of Gloucestershire. We were treated to three hours of the most amazing, hard-packed, dry, dusty – and above all fast and flowing – singletrack. And all in stunning condition with nothing badly overgrown,  and nothing unrideable.

     

    We got our accidents and mechanicals out of the way early on. With a fast-moving group of 21 riders – half of whom were on unfamiliar trails – there were always going to be a few problems. Will had a worrying spill at the bottom of the very first descent, spectacularly going over the bars. Thankfully he was a just a little shaken and suffered nothing more serious than a squashed banana and a bent saddle-rail to show for his acrobatics. A singlespeeder’s chain snapped on the way back up. Simon suffered pedal-strike shortly after and toppled over sideways. A Bigfoot went over the bars in the bottom of a deep bombhole, his forks compressing to the max catching him out. A tyre was gashed at about the same time as someone’s freehub expired. The second-half of the ride went hitch-free.

     

    Ryan in shock and awe.

     

    These outstanding ribbons of singletrack seemed to go on forever. Due to some trick of the local topography, the downs seemed to be an awful lot longer than the ups. Throw in a drifty corner here, a little kicker there, a steep-sided bomb-hole over there and a short/sharp climb way over there, and you’ve got some world-class XC stuff that many man-made trail centres would be envious of.

     

    After an hour or so we all stopped for a breather at the top of  Coopers Hill – the famous cheese-rolling hill – and admired the stunning views over to the Malverrns. According to local MTB folklore, some one HAS managed to successfully ride down the near-vertical grassy slope.

     

     

    After another hour of more singletrack we were led to a little jump-spot where the Yoof amongst us amused themselves briefly on a series of smallish dirt ramps thrilling us oldies with their low-phat air.

     

    We headed off again and had ­– yep, you guessed it – about another hour of yet more singletrack. Eventually our time was up and we were about to head back to the pub. A number of our party were beginning to reach their limits, and at this point I may have cajoled our guides into showing us a few more trails instead of taking the road back to the pub. Glad I did.

     

    What a ride. 99% flowing, woodland singletrack. Over three hours of it. Seriously, 99%.

     

     

    Oh and the sun came out too. Quite possibly, the best ride of the year for me.

     

    *HUGE* thanks to Jason and the Bigfoot MBC for a great day.

     

     

     

  • Satisfied Customers

     

    Last Wednesday evening, as part of my YSUYTAWSYO Inter-Club Exchange Programme (that’s “You Show Us Your Trails And We’ll Show You Ours”), I had the enormous pleasure of showing the “Bath Wednesday Night MTB” guys round our patch. Andy Stewart (old friend and organiser of the Midsomer Madness ride) very kindly copied me in on his ride report:

    “Was that enough singletrack for you?

    Yep, Chas’ ride turned out to be “all that it was cracked up to be” – he even delivered on the promised ‘warm, dry and dusty*’.

    12 of us in all I think it was (Chas, Conrad, Tony, Will, Steve, Mat, Dave, Dan, Justin, Kevin, Lee and Andy). Lift sharing worked ok. Thanks to those who drove and took others: Justin, Dave, Andy. Even Tony managed to get to Widcombe for 6.15 😉 and we got away bang on 6.30. Conrad and Will made their own way and were late though so we didn’t get away until 7.15 which mattered as proved later we needed all the day light we could get.

    Don’t ask me where we went but it consisted of all the best singletrack in and around Longleat with the odd bit of linky tarmac and fireroad, I reckon 80% was on tight, twisty, loamy, sandy, pine needly trails, squeezing between the trees in ‘just wide enough for your bars’ gaps. Plenty of swooping down and climbing up. With added views (we spotted Kelston Round Hill in the distance), water features and lakes.

    Special mention must go to the XC downhill trail in their Allotment – by now it was properly dark and all bar the first few lost the line and ended up making up their own. Especially Dan who’s lights packed up! It looked mad from the bottom to see all these lights coming at us through the trees.

    Special mention must also go to the “S&M Singletrack” – tight and twisty between the holly bushes. I was going to say I’ve never felt so many small pr!cks in one night but Chas had already accused us of being “the most gay group he’d ever ridden” with by that point 🙂

    *Final special mention must go to Chas’ own version of ‘The Badger Run’ near the end – ours is guaranteed wet and muddy, his was sandy and rocky. I had fun trying to see (and breathe!) due to all the dust kicked up by those ahead as we flew down it.

    Steve was carrying his new Go-Pro HD camera for the first time, strapped to his chest! He got 2 hours of footage so it’ll be interesting to see that.

    Much talk of  “we should come out more than once a year” and a possible Sunday ride (I think September was mentioned)

    Chas’ also mentioned their regular Tues night rides – 7pm from the Church in East Woodlands. You can ride as a guest but will need to join up if you plan to become a ‘regular’

    Details here: http://www.blackcanoncollective.co.uk/

    Cheers again Chas for a great ride 🙂

    Andy”

  • Batchelors Facebook deals

    Batchelors Cycles in Warminster is pleased to announce a series of special deals only advertised on their new facebook page, just like batchelors on facebook to keep updated with their latest deals AND remember that BCC members get 10% off when they show their valid membership card.

  • BEHOLD!!! The Pub-Bike Of Doom…

    .
    A recent glance round the Man Cave (my bike shed) and a quick stroke of the chin revealed two things:
    1) I have too many bikes.
    2) I have nearly enough spares to build another bike.
    .
    For those who don’t know me, aside from the acquisition, riding and maintenance of bicycles, I have very few other interests in life. Two things which fall into the ‘other interests’ category are possibly “building bikes”, and “cake”.
    .
    I don’t think I’ve ever bought a bike off the peg. For me it’s way more fun to source the components independently and build it up myself. Somehow it will always ride better that way, and I can have every confidence in it having tightened every nut and fitted every component myself.
    .
    It’s like making a cake (and like I say, cake is one of the other few thing that REALLY interest me). I make my own recipe. I source all the ingredients myself. I stir in the right… and bake it for… no, that metaphor is failing.
    Anyhoo, the point is this.
    .
    By now I know what fits me and what works best. If I were to buy a whole bike, I’d only end up changing half the componentry on it. This way, I get exactly the spec I want and know that it’ll be ‘right’. I also really enjoy the whole process of the build. Breathing life into a pile of individual items, making the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Patiently fitting everything, never rushing. Getting oily in the shed. It’s all good.
    .
    This latest build was bit different. All I was lacking was a frame. A mental check meant I (probably) had everything else I needed. A visit to eBay and a little patience rewarded me with an ancient-but-useable Giant frame in Chas size. It’s been kicked around a bit, sure, but it’s 6061 Alu and aside from the odd dent and scratch, it’s rideable. To be honest, I don’t think deborah5669 actually knew much about bikes when she placed her ad, otherwise she might have mentioned that the bottom-bracket was permanently seized in the frame. But then she probably found it in a skip and thought “I can sell that on the ‘bay”.
    .
    Still, for the princely sum of £5.61, I now had all I needed to complete a build.
    .
    Old headset that had been languishing on a shelf for a couple of years. No idea of brand.
    .
    Some old steel ‘touring’ forks. These are obviously for 700c so I’ll have to stick that old Aksium wheel on there and call it a 69er. The rear wheel of that pair failed long ago so the odd front one has been in the attic for some time. Waiting.
    .
    Stem? Nasty old 3-bolt Kore thing. Old on-one 2″ risers gave a goodly 28″ of width. Ripe for singlespeeding. Mismatched v-brakes… managed to salvage front and rear from two different sets. Just about work fine. Cables weren’t a problem. I always recycle old cables where possible. An old rear one, becomes a new front one. Outers were some lengths of old, braided gear outers off an old roadbike. Some old DMR brown grips completed the ‘controls’…
    .
    The seized-in square-taper BB meant that the HT1 chainset (and BB) I had planned to use now wouldn’t fit. Luckily, I had an old Deore square taper crankset. The lock-ring on the spider has ‘play’, but it’s all staying in place. Not enough matching narrow chainring bolts, so a mix of colours and brands.
    .
    Rear wheel is an old v-brake-only Shimano thing. With a Mavic 317 rim. All silver to clash with a the all-black front wheel.
    .
    Seatpin? Well, I guessed that I probably had accrued enough shims over the years to get anything to fit. In actuality, I had a 30.4 seatpin which, when I fashioned a coke-can shim, fits the 30.9 internal diameter of the seat tube perfectly. It’s only a 350mm, so legally it’s way over it’s “Minimum Insert” mark, though.
    .
    Surely I don’t have a seatclamp that’ll fit? Oh wait. Yes I do. Just needs a bolt. Ah. There’s one.
    .
    Saddle was picked out of the bin. Literally. I had just thrown it away. After years of use/abuse, my not inconsiderable arse had finally split the covering. A yard of insulation tape soon saw to that, though.
    A half-link chain, an old tensioner and some tyres of comparable width completed the build. I actually have enough parts to fit gears, but why on EARTH would I want to do that???
    .
    So, total cost of build: £5.61
    Hacking through familiar, local, dry-and-dusty trails on a perfectly good rigid singlespeed bike for four hours on a Sunday afternoon: Priceless.
    .
    Sure, it’s a little short in the cockpit, and it’s a bit twitchy/light on the steering, but then it’s old-skool geometry. It’s fine. It’s a bike. It goes and stops. No creaking, no rubbing, no rattling. Rides like a dream. I built it.
    .
    Yes it IS purple and yellow.

  • 4% Dig Day

    Massive thanks to the die hard; Ian, Sam, Will and also Ryan.

    We worked really hard to get every DH trail running sweet (after all the recent rain damage), put up a sign on the notice board and erect two new tool stations to encourage members to do some maintenance in between sending it off spork, chatting in the seating area or hiding bikes in trees.

    We had to completely rebuild the flat berm (after spork) on spoons, as whoever had recently “repaired” it had done so by using a lot of wood and some crazy stakes about an inch from the riding face. Please don’t do that again, we appreciate the effort but the end result meant that we had to start from scratch after removing all the wood.

    We also managed to scope out the whole of the Xc descent, including the very top.

    There are two new features already lined up on Puppets and BBMS that we couldn’t start and a load of bigger projects just waiting to be started but with so few people we did well to achieve what we did.

    Imagine what we could do with even 20%…. ?

    Re-surfaced kicker on Puppets
    Completely re-dressed weeeeeee-boing on Puppets, removing barrows of rain washed silt.
    Battery hill repaired after much water damage, but it's rougher, that's for sure!
    The first of the new tool stations. Please use them!
    No excuses, there for all to see…
    Raised the level of the base of the table top take off on 143 to help with drainage off to the sides.
    Re-cut and shaped the lower berm on BBMS, removing loads of silt.
    Cut the rear-mech remover from the mound, just after the berm on BBMS.
    BRAND NEW option routed, marked and raked, instead of the c***y rooted corner on BBMS.
    Slight tweak to the next section too, it's no longer straight… (BBMS)
    It's going to be super drifty and fast… (BBMS)
    Looking back up at the new bit, flick flick flick, full speed, drifty fun…got a kicker to build too. (BBMS)
    Removed barrows and barrows of silt from Rolo and the original double on Spoons.
    Re-filled the deep drainage rut across the Flip-Flop landing on 143.
    Completely re-built and shaped the flat berm after finding some crazy stakes… (Spoons)
    The second tool station, no excuses now…if it's leafy – please rake it, if its broken – please repair it.
    Who put stakes in our berm??? We had to completely rebuild it….!
    Took the knuckle off of the Spork landing to reduce the chance of any nasty over the bar action on Spoons.
    Look there's 20 of us…oh no, wait, it's just 5 people working really hard…!

    Now I don’t like to be negative, and I know that many were away this weekend, but there are many more who weren’t. We all love riding at the Allotment but that’s only because of the hard work and dedication of a few of us who spend hours looking after the trails and building new stuff at the rate that we can given the numbers who turn up. If you want use them please come along and help us to not only look after them but make them better and add more of them too.

    It’s not a lot to ask really, just that everyone start pulling their weight so that we can all enjoy the trails together…

    Thanks

  • Tickertape winter series 10/11 round up

    Riding bikes is great, riding bikes with friends is brilliant, making more friends riding bikes together even better, collectively running an unequivocally successful low-fi grass roots downhill event series on your tenderly hand groomed trails, for the benefit of the local cycling community…..priceless.

    We asked Charlie Sheen (Actor, Philanthropist, Hero) for a few words on how he felt the winter series went; ‘’Well I felt it went a little something like this, ahem (pause) …… uh, Winning?’’ We digress.

    The whole series was point based, with the points weighted to encourage people to attend each round and the points staggered to encourage friendly competition.  This made the events more interesting as people could take it as seriously as they want with all the competitive elements at their disposal, turning leisure into sport and sport to competition and vies versa.

    Over the series we had 45 riders take part over the 4 rounds with an average of 22.5 riders per round and 29 at our final round, I lost count of how many times were recorded, but it was up around 400.

    Now for the results

    After the final round in March I can tell you that Andrew Denham (2nd,2nd,6th,4th ) won the overall series finishing on 521 points, 11 points ahead of Ben Irons (4th,4th,2nd,5th), noticeably neither rider managed to score the fastest time of the day at any round.  A special mention goes to Curtis Saunders who only managed to enter 3 of the 4 rounds due to other racing commitments, but made good use of those 3 rounds posting the fastest time of the day at each round he entered, we awarded Curtis the title, ‘should of, could of, would of’, because if he had entered all 4 rounds we’re sure he would have won the points race.  Also a special mention goes to Liam Arkell (8th,8th,3rd,3rd), for most improved rider, Liam really impressed us with his commitment and improved performance over the winter, sadly Liam’s managed to break his wrist at a race recently, so we wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him progressing even further in the sport.

    Overall it was great series, we were really happy to see more people getting involved and riders of all ages and abilities getting along and encouraging one another, helping each other out and seeing people make real progress with their riding.  Basically lots and lots of beans, black canon collective beans that is.

    Thank you to Rose Bikes for supplying us with all the beans awards, and ‘madison’ for the special race tape.  We also managed to raise £180 over the series for more timing equipment for future tickertapes (from our bank breaking two pound a round entry tax), so THANK YOU!


     

  • Dig Day this Sunday

    Please join us on Sunday between 10am and 4pm at the Allotment to repair the water damage on the DH courses and design and start work on the very top of the new “Downward Facing XC Trail”.

    Water, food and midge repellant recommended.

    See you there!

  • BCC Featured in MBUK August 2011

    Mr Denham has been flying the flag, and his BCC jersey in this months MBUK. Check out the article on page 31 for an insight into the mind of Mr D.

    Great bit of coverage for the club again.

     

  • Mid-summer mudness…!

    Andy Stewart’s words:
    “A great turn out, 51 in all. Lots of familiar faces but lots of new ones
    too. Some good connections made.

    No disasters. A few crashes but no injuries. The route worked well,
    despite the wet and mud.

    The ‘led rides’ idea seemed to work ok too (most people still took
    maps). A few mechanicals and some splits but I think only one guy (who
    arrived late) lost his way a bit.

    Most stopped at the pub near the end for a pint and a chat. Lots of
    smiles, ‘thanks’ and positive feedback.

    Thanks again to the guys at http://www.cadencebikeshop.com for the
    ‘prizes’. Lots of nominations, plenty of ‘spirited’ descending and
    climbing – most had a go at riding the ford and some had a go at the
    unrideable bog, loads of friendly encouragement and support too. After
    much debate amongst the ride leaders we decided to award them to:

    Emily – she rode on her dinky little Spesh Rockhopper with her dad.
    Split off near the end of the short route (it was past her bed time!)
    made a real effort and kept smiling!

    Celia and Rich – They rode over from Bristol. Rode with the ‘Tony, Steve
    and Aileen’ ‘Hard’ Group, were both a real laugh, got muddy and bloody
    and were still smiling at the end – and Rich did it on his SS!”

     

  • Cotswold Capers

    The wetter the better

    Sunday morning, 7.30am. Outside the Cheese & Grain. It’s raining. Really quite heavily. Five cars had assembled ready for the short trip up the A46 to Wotton-under-Edge, there to meet with a couple of members of Edge MTB Club for a guided tour of the South Cotswolds.

    A quick scan of the impressive array of bikes atop the cars in the car park revealed something of an oddity: Black, silver, silver, black, silver, black, black, black, silver, pink, silver, silver, black.

    Pink? A pink bike? Surely CHAS wasn’t coming too? Forecast for today’s ride was for prolonged rainfall. Occasionally heavy. Chas is allergic to rain, isn’t he?

    His noble appearance aside it was certainly an impressive turnout of 13 BCC riders for a wet Away-Day. A few noticeable – but unavoidable – absentees would have boosted the numbers yet further. Kudos to us lot.

    Under an hour later we assembled in Wotton-under-Edge’s long-stay car park, the less-hardy members of our group (*cough* Chas *cough*) staying in the cars for as long as possible, while the more waterproof among us pfaffed with bikes in damp preparation.

    Kev set a new Personal Best in puncture acquisition by managing to get a flat tyre while secured to Paul’s car roof.

    Soon, Simon and Phil from Edge MTB Club appeared, and all 15 of us headed off up through the nearby woods. To say it was wet is something of an understatement. The sunshine, warmth and bone-dry dusty singletrack that a couple of us had enjoyed during Heaven Of The South just a few weeks before had vanished. Instead there were all the hallmarks of winter: cold, lashing rain, strong winds, deep puddles, mud everywhere, dicey descents and traction-less climbs. If it weren’t for the trees in full-leaf you could be forgiven for thinking it was January and not mid-June.

    That said, we did enjoy darting through the maze-like network of trails in the woods en route to a ‘play area’, via an open section with a folly where – on a clear day, I’m told – the views are staggering.

    The play area was an old, small quarry with interesting little routes and features all over the place. A deep plunge followed by a Double was attempted by a few, but only cleared by Will. A couple of other would-be DHers managed to land safely but unintentionally one-footed.

    A long descent down to the village of North Nibley followed. The muddy, rutted slope proved too much for excitable birthday-boy Kevin as he hit an unexpected patch of clay at speed and parted company from his bike. At the bottom the situation was reviewed and it was decided a trip to a Minor Injuries Unit was probably a good idea. First-aiders Mark and Andy tended the patient’s wounds – a deep cut to the knee and some lesser ones to his shin. Here, we decided to split. After wrapping Kev in two space-blankets, Paul and Phil (guide) headed back to Wotton to fetch Paul’s car, while Chas stayed with Kev at the bottom of the exposed bridleway. Eventually, a nearby house took pity on the shivering, soaked pair and let them shelter in their double-garage.

    Paul, Chas and Kev headed back to Trowbridge MIU where, after treating his wounds under gas-and-air, it was suggested Kev may have broken his ankle. No x-ray facilities in Trow Vegas, so, referral in hand, Chas and Kev headed off the RUH in Bath. A lengthy wait there, but the x-ray thankfully showed no broken bones.

    Meanwhile, with much more of the route to ride, the other eleven cold, wet, muddy bikers carried on riding. Shortly into the ride, a few of the guys requested some hills to get the bloody pumping… they were not disappointed and the heat finally resumed to their bodies. Just a short ride on tarmac led them on to a gravel fire track winding through a wooded single track. Every ride has awesome views and Wooton-under-Edge did not disappoint as they scooped the edge of the town’s golf course near Stinchcombe. They ploughed over the undulating fields coasting every bump, dip, and descent, a true WAHOO moment!!

    Many tree roots lined their path but gave little resistance to their ride. However, a number of slippery slopes were a little challenging for some riders and Leanne took an unscheduled slide on her butt cushioning her bike on top of her, very professional biker move… always protect the bike!

    Phil aimed to please all by suggesting a section of jumps and technical riding for a few of the down hill guys while the rest of them had some munchies.

    After shaking the adrenaline off, it wasn’t long before they re-entered the town of Wooton-under-Edge. Eleven gritty eyed, squidgey toed, soggy, muddy bikers began an extensive babywipes clean-up operation to make themselves presentable for some well-earned drink and food.

    Enormous thanks to Edge MTB Club. We will return!

    (Chas and Mark)