Video: Winter in Wales

On one Friday morning we felt it had been too long since we were out on the bikes. The weather had been grim that week and was still grim on the Friday but we had to get out. After a while of sitting indoors I get fidgety and need my fix of trails.

Dan and I chose to go and film on a track which we had discovered just weeks before. Unfortunately Dan's bike was in the local bike shop having a new shock bushing fitted meaning that he would be fixed behind the camera rather than occasionally in front of it. This was OK though as he wanted to test his new Canon EOS 70D which he had bought over Christmas.

The weather was horrendous when we arrived in the car park, so bad that we considered heading somewhere else on lower ground. The car was blowing around while we were in it taking cover from the rain. After 15 mins we got a break in the rain and quickly put the bike together and scrambled to the forest for cover.

The track was fairly wet and slippery but with grippy rock underneath in some parts. This made it difficult to judge when the wheels were going to slide. Some people have criticised the video because there's not enough mud in it to justify it being winter! It's not a sloppy track because of the rock underneath I think. It was wet though! Anyway, you can judge for yourselves.

It took me a few goes at some of the corners to make it look fast and aggressive and after a couple of hours we had all the footage we needed. I am pretty happy with the final result!

Feel free to leave feedback in the comments!

Mega Photos!

I forgot to share these with you guys! When I arrived back at uni after Christmas with a clean bike I thought it would be a good idea to try and get some good photos. My friend Dan had just got a new camera which he wanted to test out so...

 

Here's the results:

And here's one I added a HDR effect to with Photomatix.

Flats vs Clips

This has been a choice which splits riders since the beginning of time. I've always been a flats man till now. Since I started riding properly in around 2007 I've used flat pedals and have never had any problems with them in general. They suited what I ride which is a great variety of stuff! When people ask what I ride I usually just say 'trails'. Under that umbrella comes downhill, freeride, trials (not trails), all mountain, enduro cross country... I could probably name more. My point is that the flat pedal allows you to ride all of this. Ok, so maybe you don't have the security of your foot being clamped to the pedal through a rooty downhill section like you would on clipless pedals and shoes. Or not having consistent power for those steep loose climbs, but I felt like flats were a good compromise at the time. I'd grown up on them and gained confidence, so why change?

Cleat

The simple answer is that I wanted to experience clipless shoes and pedals properly to see if they could offer me any advantages. Some people would say "don't fix it if it ain't broke" which is a good point but what if it could be better? I opted for a pair of Shimano M647 DXs as I wanted something durable with a big platform. This is exactly what you get with the DXs but at the expense of weight. For shoes I went for the Shimano AM-45s as I have used Shimano's flat pedal equivalent AM40s and AM41s for ages and have had good experiences with them. Lots of people use this combination and rate it highly.

AM45s

Old and New

Unfortunately due to the bad weather and workload at uni, I've not been able to test them out on proper trails. However, I have managed to squeeze in a few street rides where I have also ridden up and down Constitution Hill here in Aberystwyth. I managed to get my PB climbing up Consti on a windy and rainy night. So climbing, tick. Clipless definitely makes a massive difference in that department. On the descent I was a little hesitant to give it full beans just in case I had to dab. I was practicing getting my foot in and out on the switchbacks so that clipping and unclipping would become a natural reaction. I was definitely more hesitant than usual on the descent but I am going to be persistent with till I am as confident with them as I am with flats.

Shimano DX

At this point there is not much more to say. I shall report back once I have done a bit more riding on them!

Introducing the new Theme / Layout!

So dudes, after sticking with the same theme for a long time I decided it was time for a change. I think it's easier to read now and a bit neater. I've added a Strava widget to the left of the page so you guys can see when and where I've been riding. Hopefully navigation is easier too.

It's been a bit of an ongoing project alongside my uni projects and exams so I've been messing with CSS and Javascript rather allot lately! This is partly the reason why I've not been getting out on my bike as much as I'd like to. This will all change soon when my new modules start and I don't have much work on!

Feel free to give me feedback, be it positive or negative!

Cheers