Black Canon Collective

Category: BCC

  • 2011 BCC Calendar on sale NOW!

    That’s right the 2011 BCC calendar is available for pre-order now!

    Browse through it below, then click on this link to go and place an order….it’s only £5!!!

    (The sooner you get your order in the sooner we can get them delivered in time for Christmas)

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  • First freezing night ride this winter.

    Eleven of us set off from the Horse and Groom last night, it was proper cold with a clear sky and a bright full moon.

    Within a mile from the pub Paul had a mech through spokes incident and he and Adrian were heading for an early pint.

    Nine of us continued, the trails were sticky in places but on the whole good for November. We rode a trail the far side of Centre Parcs that we found quite recently and we’ve called ‘Vancouver’ (Al’s fault)

    After crossing the ford on our way home to the H&G  we noticed the grass was white with frost, a taster of what’s to come but it does feel nice when you’re toasty warm from your exercise and yet it’s freezing.

    We had our pints in front of the open fire while discussing the Ceilidh and where to ride Sunday.

    If you’d like to try a night ride please contact us we can even loan lights  🙂

  • Ceilidh – supper deadline!

    Make sure you have bought your tickets by noon on Wednesday 24th if you want to have the supper included! It’s going to be a great night!!! [Click on the poster to go to the online shop so that you can buy tickets].

  • TickerTape WS – Rnd 1

    The ground was pretty wet for first round of the TickerTape Winter Series yesterday, but its winter right? so what did you expect!?!

    Spoons was riding well with plenty of grip on offer, well except perhaps for the new fast section after spork which offered 15meter drifts and giggles rather than traction or control – apparently it’s at times like this that the word gripery is used, yeah that’s right; gripery!
    The day started well with over 20 people signed up to ride, with a £2 donation being made by each we’re chipping away at our Freelap fundraising total of £680 (having already raised over £300 at the Triple Crown) and hope to pay it off by the end of the series.
    There’s been plenty of banter going back and forth between Chris Smith and Steve Geall recently, with Steve adamant that Chris will be resigned to second so long as Steve is on the start sheet. Of course Chris has won more TickerTapes than any other rider so he’s earned his bragging rights but things change; Chris has lost out in the last two events and there’re plenty who want to take the top spot.
    As with every TickerTape mini races develop as the day progresses, less than 1 second separated 1st to 3rd, same with 6th to 9th and under 2 seconds between 12th and 14th; it was all very close!
    While everyone rode well it was Charles Mountford who showed more beans than anyone, faceplating off of Spork which in all seriousness is pretty flipping mental. The day ended with Charles in A&E but thankfully he only had a mild concussion, sprained wrist and a bloody knee. Amusingly though he had lost most of his short term memory which made the trip there to the hospital pretty funny. So in the end Charles was awarded the Beans trophy and Stuart Ireland the ‘King of the Hill’ T-shirt for riding his hard tail with bald tyres yet still being more ‘up for it’ than anyone else. Curtis took the win with a last minute run just before the race was halted and my van turned into a neee nawww van. The sod. He’d been riding well though and it was only a matter of time before he put down a fast run. As for Chris and Steve…well…see the results sheet, apparently Chris was running the wrong rim tape or something….

    If you’ve missed out on round 1 don’t worry, entries are open at every round and with the points spread so tightly it’s always worth taking part!

    Thanks to everyone who helped set up and pack away and a Special thanks to Rose Bikes for providing the trophies and prizes for the series.

    Next round is Sunday the 19th December on Puppets…



  • TickerTape Winter Series – ENTER NOW

    Just click on the image for ful details!

    All the proceeds go to fund our freelap timing equipment, so go on, sign up and get your name on the start sheet!

  • As far as the eye can see…

    Stacey, Chris and I couldn’t make the XC Ride Away this month because of other commitments, but we managed to squeeze in a quick blast around Rowberrow at the crack of dawn instead.
    The air was still, the mud was wet and we had a great time.

  • Following a dog while he chases a monkey…

    It’s that time again, our monthly XC Ride Away, and this month we’re off to Cannock Chase.

    We’ll be riding the following – (red graded trails):

    Follow the Dog –
    The Midlands first dedicated mountain bike trail. Follow the Dog is a red graded 7 mile intermediate mountain bike trail aimed at competent mountain bikers. Opened in 2005 the trail was completely designed and built by Chase Trails and more recently additional sections have been added including the all new Tackeroo descent which was built as part of the contractor works to the Monkey Trail and was opened in April 2010.

    The Monkey Trail
    Opened in April 2010 the Monkey Trail is an optional extension to Follow the Dog. Again it’s a red graded trail but this time it’s a far more technically challenging and demanding trail. It includes bigger climbs, more technical descents and optional black graded lines. The trail is intended for experienced and technically competent rider.
    The Monkey Trail can be ridden by starting Follow the Dog to approximately half way and then turning off to ride a further 7 mile trail before returning to complete Follow the Dog. A mix of machine built trail and handbuilt trails created by our volunteers, the Monkey Trail provides a superbly engaging ride.

    As always you will need a good quality, well maintained bike with plenty of brake pad material, a helmet and suitable clothing and spares i.e. – spare tubes, power links etc. There is a bike shop on site.

    **** The surface of the trail is buried pebbles, drains very well, but now that the weather has turn damp they are very slippery / greasy so anyone who has winter mud tyres on their bike will really need to change them to an all round use type of tyre. Please ask us if you have any questions.****

    The trail centre does have a café and a bike shop on site, however the café was very busy when we went last and the wait at lunchtime will likely be about 20-30mins, so we suggest everyone take something to eat and drink so we can get back out on the trails quickly.

    Departure time will be 7am Cheese & Grain, Frome, so we’ll meet at 6.45am to arrange bikes etc. We’ll car pool as much as possible to keep costs down, can anyone who can drive and take bikes and passengers please let us know.. the trails are a lot of fun you won’t be disappointed.

    Can’t wait…

  • FromeFM – MTB special

    listen into this months FromeFM ‘Sport Pie’ with Dave Watkins for a MTB special staring World Champion DH rider Petra Wiltshire, our very own MBUK cover boy Chris Smith, Richard Evans owner of local bike shop Live2ride and ….well…me (representing the BCC)!

    Click on the image to listen to the whole show (MTB starts at 15 mins)

  • November 2010 Committee Meeting Minutes

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    The minutes above are for today’s committee meeting, soon we will have a page of meeting notes for all the previous (and future meetings).

    Have a read!

  • mmmmm doughnuts

    Thanks to everyone who made it to the Dig Day today, collectively we managed to rake every inch of every trail exposing every root and letting the air get to the ground so that it can dry a little in the wind.
    Oh, and we ate some of doughnuts, jam doughnuts that were baked this morning.