4 hard days and meltdown

Jack and Ian Reporting In from sunny but freaking cold Espana. All the news here is of frozen Oranges on trees and -22 degrees in Granada (15 miles from us) Iv'e been wearing 2 fleeces and a wooly hat forever.
done some fantastic riding though, today we were chased by Guide Nick with a helmet cam on, so as to be expected all 3 of us performed spectacular crashes for the Camera, not much blood so loads of fun.

Right now we are in the local bar/disco wathing the collective on a huge screen and I'm drinking John Smiths, Its hell but we are coping.
Hey and the tinternet use is free too, I love this place.

Enjoy work, miss you guys NOTTTTT, ---sorry miss you a bit Clare ;

Thetford Enduro Rant

Thetford was fun on Sunday, and what a fantastic course those boys laid on for us. It was really good to do some of the popular sections in reverse, its like doing a whole new track. Captured the route on GPS too, so will be able to find my way back round it one day.
Start was a bit manic, luckily got away well ahead of the crashes, then let all the whippets go. My plan was to do the second lap faster than the 2nd, which is easier said than done. Seemed to be going so slow in places on that first lap, I had to bite my lip when some of the vets I was after came past and chill out, even followed Nige round for all that first lap. 2nd lap and poor old Lloyd was begging for a tube, so I threw him mine, and then let rip.
Suddenly it felt like I was on fire, munching the fireroads in top gear and sprinting through all the singletrack, i was eating up other riders. Honestly felt like I was going twice as fast as the first lap, but in reality it was all the other riders who were dead. Passed Andy Pegg the last round winner and then Jeff Sharpe like they were going backwards. Makes you feel so good when it happens like that, much better than desperately hoping for the finish to be round the corner.
Bugger me I was amazed that the 2nd lap was 1min30 slower than the first, I'd have put money on being faster, mentally I was. Looking at the results it's a good indication of fitness, Rob Lee managed it so he obviously got great pacing ability, and Geoff Beetham in winning even did it going under an hour for both laps. Geoff your an Android mate.
Holly cow look at the Almeria region of Spain forecast waiting for us weather world=4610
7 degs and -7 at night when we land, that's not part of the plan, at least its sunny. Later on this week I'll put the rant up on the site front page and hopefully me and Indian can report in most evenings over a beer, check in for Jack and Indians bogus adventure.

Oh look I can use some of Bikemagics web space, cool I can load pics up in Spain. Sorry Gav and great result on Sunday.

Who am I again

After my recent tarmac headbutting seeion I went to have my head examined yesterday.Seems I have some short term memory damage. I argued that I was always crap at remembering names and places before the crash anyway, but the quack insisted. At least now I've got an excuse if you see me out on the race course and I blank you,sorry. Come to think of it I've always done that before now!

Can't forget whats coming up next week though, should be a days fun on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada too, just look at that sunshine, well it was on Friday.



Found some bike info too if anyone fancies being independant.

This is an apt link for today give bush a brain game
See you at Thetford.

Hard mans ride, or is that Mad mans

So after saying I was doing no training what the hell was I doing out last night I hear you ask. After the work session I had on Monday I had to get out on the bike as therapy. 9-5 I worked! your average day, big deal. That's 9am to 5am Tues morn, eek, the things I do to keep the power on so you guys can use your electric toothbrushes and cocktail stirrer's.
Also I promised the lads I'd be out every Tuesday so I stuck to it, and where were you softies. Actually I was amazed Steve turned up, secretly I'd hoped to turn round and go back home.

It was a Classic though with the wind behind us and the rain eased it was a blast, then we turned. Full on horizontal hail in your face, and roads that looked like rivers, the amount I could see its almost possible that's where we were. New waterproof worked a treat though, toasty warm and not sweaty, marvellous. Feet still died though, there's nothing like the pain of dropping blue feet into a nice hot bath.......Might get some of these babies on order;

£12 of Smartwool makes the most comfortable
socks ever.... Made with merino wool, they are bacteria resistant, shrink-free and strong.
The wool strands are left naturally crimped, making the socks stretchy and creating air
pockets for warmth and evaporation. Each fiber is a fourth of the width of a human hair,
so there's no prickle.'
edinburgh-bicycle sock thingys


Ahhh one week from now, sun sun sun.

Race till you drop

Just stuffed a load more dates into the calendar, you could race untill you explode this year if your wallet and other half will let you. Gorrick Spring dates are always worth a look and there's 2 new venues to explore..... The Nationals have been confirmed at 5 dates for the XC and 4 Trek rounds, but no Scotland this year.

So have you seen the front page tyre picture then, what? your reading this a week later. I'll reproduce it here then.



That's the result of the Marin trails finest slate, first tyre slash I've had for years and it happened at about 5mph up hill too ???? No problem I though, just get out the trusty cut up toothpaste tube I always take on Epics.................................
Doh, well nearly always. So what you see here is the old inner tube cut up and stuck on with several layers of band-aid from my first aid kit, good enough for the hammering it got for the rest of the day, there...there...there.

Try this but not at work bongobabes.co.uk

2005 Goals

My body is talking to me again (just) after some well bad chemical abuse in France for the Aud langseye lip synching we play at, and I've now regained the finger control to type again.Its no help that the froggies are an hour earlier than us, so you can blast it at their midnight, then go for it again on the official UK new yr time, burp.

OK enough of the new year appathy, lets get down to buisness.

Today was National CX race day, so how did I do. A 280 mile round trip for 40 mins racing, so.....I slept in on a smile born of some nice Leffe. So not quite out of it yet, wasn't a goal, just a mad Impulse.
Theford next weekend, better set up the caffine drip all week then.


Time to set some goals for 05.

1. Do the cost to coast off road, no excuses.
2. Ride the lakes big time.
3. Cruise the 7 stanes in the week around the world cup.
4. Ride area's not done before, Forest of Dean is one of them.
5. Racing........well I'll go to some,the tide is turning.
5a. Ride Enduro's with people not against them.
6 Not buy any more bikes......we all know that ones a crock o' shit.
7. No ferking moaning, that's a tough one.
8. Get someone else to write some drivel for this site, don't be shy now guys.

See you Sunday those that's going.



come on Adi you know it makes sense, good times await.