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On Sunday I decided to go out biking. I wanted to go somewhere which could offer me some more technical riding. A mate suggested Carlton Bank which is a good location with many routes spanning out from Lordstones cafe. I agreed, this would be a great test of my Reign 3's performance. It's probably about a six mile on-road ride to the cafe from my house which doesn't sound too bad but when you consider the climb which we had to endure to get there and and the weight of my bike, the task starts to feel much harder. I am very surprised with the climbing capabilities of my Reign. It's no climbing goat but it just seems to get you up there. When we got to Lordstones cafe we decided it would be best to follow the stepped path to the top of Carlton Bank. The Reign was making light work of the steps, it was hauling me on through. I eventually stopped due to my lack of energy, had a little rest while my mates pushed their bikes up, then I pressed on and rode all the way to the top. Once we got to the top we stopped for a while to catch our breath for this monster of a descent.
Saddles dropped, we ripped down the start of the downhill track. After the first few turns I came to a large jump with a landing ramp. I gave it a go but halfway towards it I realized I had not got enough speed to make the jump but it was too late to pull out, so I ended up landing between the jump and landing ramp making a bit of a fool of myself. Luckily my mates were far enough behind that I could give it another go. As my mates can confirm, I am very determined when it comes to my riding. I will usually give something another go if I muck it up or even crash. On the second go I hit the jump and landed it well. I followed the trail down to find a massive step down jump. I braked and stopped before it as I didn't have the nerve to hit it before seeing it first. Once I had checked it out for myself I got a run up and jumped it. It was a very hard landing so I must have done something wrong. I felt the shock and fork bottom out simultaneously which was worrying. I checked to see if their was any damage to the bike which their wasn't. I carried on, coming down to rather large jump. I did the same and inspected the jump first then hit it. First time I wasn't carrying quite enough speed but I still landed fine. I had a few more goes at this to improve my technique. after a few goes I was hitting it well with enough speed to land on the landing ramp.
At the point where the downhill track crosses another path we decided to divert to head towards Clay Bank. I had got some adrenaline from the jumps on the DH track, time for some XC now. We headed along this path for a few minutes with me leading the way. I was hammering along enjoying myself when I came to a raise in the path, split by a rock, I took the path to the left of the said rock, bad mistake. I couldn't see that the path curved to the right until it was too late and I didn't have time to turn. This bad line choice resulted in my front wheel washing out and getting caught in some ferns, me face planting onto the dry mud and my watch snapping clean off my wrist. I got up thinking I had broken my jaw or something but it turned out I had grazed my arms and chin (this is still numb as I am typing). There are some crashes which are actually quite enjoyable for me. Most of the time I crash superman style I.E over the handlebars and flying through the air. This is usually fine as I get a sort of slow motion feeling of flying through the air which is actually quite nice. Not this one. One second I was enjoying the trail, the next I am on the floor wondering if I've broken anything. I tidied myself up after I'd stopped feeling slightly dizzy. we pressed on down some nice bits of single track until we reached the road. I was hoping for a nice easy ride home on the but unfortunately it started raining pretty heavily which meant I had to clean my bike when I got home.
Overall it wasn't one of the best rides to be honest, but I was mightily impressed with the way the bike performed on the downhill track. Here's a short video of me doing one of the Carlton Downhill track jumps.
Saddles dropped, we ripped down the start of the downhill track. After the first few turns I came to a large jump with a landing ramp. I gave it a go but halfway towards it I realized I had not got enough speed to make the jump but it was too late to pull out, so I ended up landing between the jump and landing ramp making a bit of a fool of myself. Luckily my mates were far enough behind that I could give it another go. As my mates can confirm, I am very determined when it comes to my riding. I will usually give something another go if I muck it up or even crash. On the second go I hit the jump and landed it well. I followed the trail down to find a massive step down jump. I braked and stopped before it as I didn't have the nerve to hit it before seeing it first. Once I had checked it out for myself I got a run up and jumped it. It was a very hard landing so I must have done something wrong. I felt the shock and fork bottom out simultaneously which was worrying. I checked to see if their was any damage to the bike which their wasn't. I carried on, coming down to rather large jump. I did the same and inspected the jump first then hit it. First time I wasn't carrying quite enough speed but I still landed fine. I had a few more goes at this to improve my technique. after a few goes I was hitting it well with enough speed to land on the landing ramp.
At the point where the downhill track crosses another path we decided to divert to head towards Clay Bank. I had got some adrenaline from the jumps on the DH track, time for some XC now. We headed along this path for a few minutes with me leading the way. I was hammering along enjoying myself when I came to a raise in the path, split by a rock, I took the path to the left of the said rock, bad mistake. I couldn't see that the path curved to the right until it was too late and I didn't have time to turn. This bad line choice resulted in my front wheel washing out and getting caught in some ferns, me face planting onto the dry mud and my watch snapping clean off my wrist. I got up thinking I had broken my jaw or something but it turned out I had grazed my arms and chin (this is still numb as I am typing). There are some crashes which are actually quite enjoyable for me. Most of the time I crash superman style I.E over the handlebars and flying through the air. This is usually fine as I get a sort of slow motion feeling of flying through the air which is actually quite nice. Not this one. One second I was enjoying the trail, the next I am on the floor wondering if I've broken anything. I tidied myself up after I'd stopped feeling slightly dizzy. we pressed on down some nice bits of single track until we reached the road. I was hoping for a nice easy ride home on the but unfortunately it started raining pretty heavily which meant I had to clean my bike when I got home.
Overall it wasn't one of the best rides to be honest, but I was mightily impressed with the way the bike performed on the downhill track. Here's a short video of me doing one of the Carlton Downhill track jumps.
