A New Riding Location

Hello Again,

Now that I am going to be spending most of my time in Aberystywth I need to go and explore in order to find new riding. There are three main locations which the bike club regularly use. Clarach is the nearest, it's a small forest which has lots of downhill trails and a few tamer cross country style ones. I can get away with riding most of this on my Giant Reign.

Capel Dewi has another forest which is a little bigger than Clarach although it is less developed. It has one or two full trails with one including a pretty big road gap which I am determined to do one day. There are many trails which are still being built but they look like they will turn out sick when they are finished.

Nant Yr Arian is the nearest trail centre which caters for XC. It's not very well known considering it has a few good red routes. It's about a 10 mile ride there but it's all quiet roads so you can just chill out. There's also a few natural trails on the outskirts such as White Fridge or Secrets. It's not like other trail centres in that the trail surface feels natural, it's rocky rather than this gravelly stuff which they are using to dumb down other trail centres. Don't get me wrong, the trails are not technically demanding it's just that the surface is a little closer to how things would be on a natural trail.

On Saturday while my friends back home were inside watching the snow and rain fall, I was out filming on the Mark of Zorro section of trail at Nant Yr Arian. Enjoy and ride safe!



Nant Yr Arian - Mark of Zorro from Jack Reeve on Vimeo

Cadair Idris

Hi All,

After going through the laborious process of attending university open days, writing a personal statement and applying to universities, I find myself in student accommodation at Aberystwyth University. I am studying Internet Computing with Systems Administration. The reason why I chose Aberystwyth was because it seemed to have a friendly atmosphere and it isn't in a big city. I don't think I could live in that type of environment. The Computing department seems up to date and well facilitated. The less important factor (at least, that's what my parents think) was the landscape and ultimately, would it cater for my style of riding? That is why I chose Aberystwyth.

The AberMTB Mountain Biking Club are great. They seem to follow a very chilled out approach to organising rides which suits me. On my third weekend at uni, a suggested ride was posted. The plan was to catch the train from Aberystwyth to Machynlleth then ride up Cadair Idris. I was up for this. I love these big mountain rides even if they do involve a bit of pushing.

We set out early on a chilly Sunday morning. I started the day as usual, hopped out of bed and into the shower, sat down at the table and tucked into my supermarket own brand fruit and fibre (I am a student). The ride down Penglais hill made things even colder. I freewheeled almost all the way from my flat to the train station where I would meet two fellow riders.

At the other end in Machynlleth I knew we had lots of road riding to do. It was not so bad for the other riders who were pedaling hardtails, but it was a different story for me on my Reign. The roads were fairly hilly which made things worse. We eventually got to the bridleway which we were going to take which marked the end of riding on tarmac. I was pleased by this. Early on, while riding up the shale double track I suffered a pretty horrific puncture. A dagger shaped piece of shale had pierced my worn out High Roller. I wasn't surprised really. The tyre had pretty much reached the end of it's life.

Dagger shaped shale

The rest of the climb up was fairly steady and rideable with no real technical terrain apart from the last section to the top which had some loose scree and rock gardens. There was also a very technical line near the top which I wasn't to sure about riding.

At the summit!

On the way down I had a few goes at the technical section as described above. On the first couple of goes I couldn't keep balance in the tight groove and so my front wheel kept on slipping but on the third go I nailed it and felt proud. I led the way down the rest of the top section, drifting on the scree and getting loose across the rock gardens.

I have to be honest, having ridden Snowdon and Helvellyn, this wasn't as much of a fun descent. The top section was fun and very challenging but the rest just felt like we were loosing all of our altitude on double track which is not the kind of riding I find fun. The thing is, sometimes it's not all about the ridding. It can be about the self achievement of riding a mountain like that. And even though the majority of the descent was double track, it was still worth the ride up to have a stab at that technical top section.

Giant Reign Update and a Couple of New Videos

How's it going,

After doing lots of riding in these very poor riding conditions my Reign has developed a knocking noise which seems to be coming from the frame pivots / shock bushings. It suddenly hit me that this is now a 7 year old bike and I've never replaced the frame bearings in the time I've owned it. Who knows whether the previous owner did.

Through lots of searching on Google I finally found confirmation of the bearing codes. I didn't want to totally dismantle the bike to get these numbers, only to find that a good set of bearings would cost extortionate amounts of money. I eventually found an eBay Shop selling good quality bearing kits for a range of bikes including the 05' Reign.

Now comes the tricky part. I've always dreaded fiddling with bearings due to their delicate form and that thought in the back of my head saying 'if you do this wrong you could potentially ruin the frame'..... and that would be bad.

What have I got myself into!?!?!

After removing the rear triangle and the lower and upper linkages I set to work making a little jig out of some threaded rod, nuts, washers and some old headset spacers. Strangely the headset spacers were key in this process. They were just the right size so that the bearing would fit through the spacer but the spacer would have good contact with the linkage / rear triangle.

After a couple of hours of gently easing them out I was finished. This was not as difficult as I first though. The main thing for me was just to restrain from just using brute force and take my time. Now all I have to do is wait for the new bearings to come in the post and pop them in. I'm so glad I found the eBay seller due to bearing companies wanting about £12 per bearings and I need 6 of them. The eBay seller is retailing sets for £27.99 meaning I will be able to put more money away to go towards a new Go Pro HD Hero 2 which will allow me to shoot some sweet footage!

Talking of sweet footage, here's a couple of Edits I have made since my last post. Enjoy!

Home Trails

Monday's Ride

Getting ready to hit the trails in Wales!

It's now three days until we leave to go to Wales for two weeks. To be honest I've not been this excited about a holiday for a long while. This is probably down to the amount of mountain biking I have got planned. I've recently been kitting out both the Scott and the Giant with replacement parts to get them fighting fit. You may ask, why both bikes? Well, after evaluating the state of my dad's 1999 Specialized Rockhopper it became apparent that he would stand little chance of staying alive if he tried to ride it down MT Snowdon therefore I've decided to lend him my Scott for the holiday, coz I'm nice like that.

New tyres, cassette and chain were needed for the Scott to convince my dad that it would be safe enough to ride down some big ass mountains. For the tyres I just played it safe and went for Panaracer Fire XC Pros which are what was already on the bike. I did this because I have bad memories of buying different tyres right before holiday then realising that sellotaping bread to my rims would have been a better solution! I usually have no luck when choosing tyres so when I find a good one I tend to stick with it. Unfortunately these new Panaracers are not the red sidewall ones but I couldn't turn down the amazing deal that Merlin Cycles were doing.

The drivetrain were pretty knackered and jumpy so I bought a Shimano Deore HG-50 cassette and a KMC X9 chain which has solved the problem. I don't quite know why but I was sent a HG-61 cassette instead of the HG-50 that I ordered. I seem to get lucky often when I buy things online.

The Scott is now 90% perfect. My only problem with it is the back brake. It won't stop squealing! I've tried literally everything to get it working so any suggestions are welcome. By the way, it's a Shimano BR-M485.

Shiny New bits!

The Giant would have been fine to ride but I had a little spare change and well, my feet do slip off the pedals quite often in the wet so I treat myself to some nice new ones. They are by a brand called HT Components and are available from Ready to Ride Cycles for £38 just in case anyone wants a pair. They arrived in the post this morning and I rather eagerly fitted them then went for a little test ride. When coupled with my Shimano AM40 MTB shoes they grip like hell! Only problem is, when my feet eventually loose grip it's going to hurt. Luckily when the pins become lost under the flesh in my shins they can be easily replaced so that's good to know.

Thiiiiiinnn!!

Now that the bikes are clean and mechanically ready. I need to make sure I'll be riding them as fast as I can which is why I've bought these:

Hopefully these little sports drink tablets should keep me hydrated and able to tackle MT Snowdon and the endless surrounding trails.

That's it really. I shall report back in a few weeks concluding whether it was a great success or with me on the wrong side of a big mountain with several broken bones.

Shock Guard for the Reign

After reading up on people's problems with the giant reign, it became apparent that many people were having problems with the rear shock due to it being slightly exposed to any crud coming from the front wheel. After looking around I saw that some people had made their own shock guard and mounted it on the down tube. I decided to do the same.

I am quite skint at the moment because I am already saving to get the shock and rear hub serviced on the reign I decided to try and make this spending as little money as possible. Firstly I thought about the material I am going to need. I decided anodised aluminium was my best bet as it won't rust and has a protective finish. It will also weigh less than other materials. Ideally I would need a 200mm x 60mm x 1.5mm strip of aluminium but I found a website which offered free samples of 150mm x 10mm x 1.5mm anodised aluminium so I ordered this because I thought it would be worth a try if it's free!

The aluminium arrived a few days later. As I don't have the right tools, I split it into 150mm x 60mm and 150 x 40mm strips using a blunt craft knife to score the aluminium then folding it in a vice. Once I had the two pieces I tidied up the edges with some sandpaper and wire wool. I also rounded of the corners to prevent a nasty accident when I'm out riding (I have enough of those already). I then drilled some holes and bolted the two pieces together. After, I bent the aluminium in a vice to give me the desired angle to fit the shape of the frame. Once I was happy I bolted my creation to the down tube, and voila, a free piece of protection for your bike!

Total Cost £0.00

Rock jump near Red Hill

I found this little gem of a trail a little while ago. I was a little annoyed I hadn't spotted it sooner though because it runs right along side the main track down towards red hill and even crosses over it at one point. At the top of this little gem is a choice of paths, a steep and smooth hill or a rock drop-off.

I had seen this rock drop-off before but hadn't been able to do it on my hardtail. With my new bike I gave it a go. It was a bit overgrown but still great fun!

Mini Downhill Style!

I've been fed up and sat in the house over the weekend as the weather has been utter crap. It's been raining and storming all weekend which has prevented me from going mountain biking. On Monday night I set my alarm for half seven AM. I just thought, Sack it! I'm going to go out tomorrow whatever the weather!

I woke up tired, stumbled down stairs had my fruit and fibre, cup of coffee and a big glass of water. I then went back upstairs now feeling less tired, took a shower and got dressed into my mountain bike gear and finally sorted out my camelbak. I knew there would be a high chance of rain so I stuck my Irn Bru Jersey on and packed a coat for if the sky turned gnarly. I set off at about ten past nine. Quickly, I adopted a steady pace along the tarmac and fire roads. I reached Captain Cooks Monument at quarter to ten feeling pretty fresh still. I took a nice single track trail along towards a trail which I like to call 'The Rock' (See Below)

I rode this trail but didn't ride the rock itself because it was wet and I didn't want to wake up in A&E. As I got to the end of this trail I rode along a fire road style track to get the beginning of a new-found track which I wanted to try. I don't know what this track is called but I see it as a kind of mini downhill track. It's quite hidden and out of the way but it's a fun little track to ride. 

I had been there before today but not ridden any of the big jumps in the track due to me still being on my Scott Hardtail. I thought today would be a good day to come here with my new full suspension bike. The biggest jump in this trail is a big step down jump. It took me a few nervous run-ups until I finally did it. It was the landing which was putting me off. It was probably one of the steepest landings I've ever done. Unfortunately I was on my own so no-one was there to film the jump. Anyway here are some crappy phone pics:

The Step Down

Take off...

Big enough :)

Steep Landing

Weekend in the Lakes

Last weekend I was pleasantly surprised when a friend asked me if I wanted to go with him to the Lake District for a weekend of biking. I saw this as a great opportunity to train for MT Snowdon, The highest mountain in England and Wales, which I will be attempting to ride up and down on our family holiday to the Snowdonia National Park in August. On Friday afternoon we arrived at the campsite, it seems like a nice place. The site was located right next to Lake Ullswater which was nice. After unpacking and settling into the caravan for the weekend we went on a short ride around the campsite and surrounding area. It looked like a fantastic destination for some big mountain riding.

On Saturday morning we went to Whinlatter Forest Park to do some man-made trails. We did the North and South Loops which were interesting to say the least! I found both trails to be made from some very slippery slate rock which my tyres didn't seem to take a liking too. These conditions meant I was slipping around a hell of a lot. It's great fun when you can use it to get that perfect drift through a corner but I had trouble staying on the trail at other points. I think we rode both trails in a respectable time. Unfortunately after the ride I was in a fairly positive mindset and I was fooling around in the car park as you do, when I tried to ride up a pretty steep verge. I didn't carry enough speed and fell backward onto the gravel car park. Importantly there was no damage to the bike but I had taken some skin off just below the knee cap. This made me be unhappy and the damn thing wouldn't stop bleeding!

Later on after some lunch we went up to an old 'disused quarry' or so it said on the map. This was just above the camp site but was still a bit of a job to get to. The problem I was having was that the grassy tracks which you need to ride to get there really bog down and don't allow you to roll. This meant I was constantly worn out. When we got to the top we realized there was not much to do there apart from ride down a few sketchy lines through the rocks. We rode back down a farmer’s track which was rocky and you could really 'get loose'. We rode back to the site.

On Sunday we went on a medium length Loop up round some of the peaks which can be seen from the site. We took a bridle way all the way along the hills allowing us to appreciate some awesome scenery and ride some fast loose descents. This ride really finished me off for the weekend. We both rode back to the site on the roads and chilled out for the rest of the day. Later on after dinner we headed down to Lake Ullswater to chill out. We got a nice fire going by the side of the lake which was pretty relaxing. The great thing with where we made the fire was that when we needed to put it out we just practically kicked it into the lake :)

Monday had come so fast and it was time to leave. I don't think there could have been a better weekend to go away. From my parents’ recollection, the weather was terrible at home. "We had torrential rain, thunder, lightning, you name it" said my parents.

I really enjoyed being in the lakes. I feel the riding is great there. It just takes even more fitness for the big mountain style of riding because the place is so vast. You feel like you've only just scratched the surface of the trails which are there!

Carlton Bank

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.

New Bike - Giant Reign 3 2005

Obviously there is a massive debate over which is better, hardtail or full suspension? I prefer to think of them as different types of bikes for different purposes. After owning my Scott hardtail for three years I thought it was time to buy a full suspension bike and explore the differences in limitations and riding styles between these two different bikes. I decided I wanted something with a little more travel and a bit more removed from XC style riding because I thought what's the point in having two cross country bikes?

On Saturday I was casually looking through eBay at full suspension bikes as I had been doing so for the previous two weekends when I came across a Medium Giant Reign 3 from the good ol' year of 2005. After a look through the specification, images, seller rating and feedback, I decided this listing was legit and a fair price for me to pay for the bike. The bike's suspension travel, size and weight were exactly what I was looking for. Light enough to go uphill strong enough to go down them with great speed. This was an All Mountain bike!

After a bit of persuasion I managed to get my Dad to purchase the bike for the Buy It Now price. My Dad thought I should Make An Offer but I thought it would be to bigger deal to miss. Also I'm not tight like that. We arranged to pick up the next day. The bike was located around 70 miles from home and one of the roads we had to take was diverted. This made us late picking up the bike and I get the impression the seller wasn't best pleased but what can you do?

When we arrived I checked the bike over to make sure it was 'as described' which it was, cash changed hands, and then away I went with a nice new Giant Reign 3. I spent a good few hours cleaning it to perfection, moving the gear levers and brake levers so that they felt perfect for me, and drooling over the thing.

I took the bike out on the Red Hill route purely because it is a nice short local ride with some testing technical sections thrown in. When climbing the stepped path up towards the monument the bike performed brilliantly. I managed to climb a section in the wet on the Reign which I've never been able to do on my Scott. On the descents the bike seems to gobble up three or four foot drops without feeling a thing. The suspension is so smooth and supple I've never felt anything like it before. The bike amazed me. After going out on a longer 20ish mile route on Monday I realized that you do start to feel the excess weight of the bike as you start to pedal longer distances. I was really worn out by the end.

Anyway, here are some pics of it in its natural environment ;)

Spec:

Frame: Medium Giant Reign 3 2005 150mm Travel
Forks: Fox Vanilla 32R 140mm Medium Spring
Rear Shock: RockShox Ario RL High Volume
Bars: Easton EA30
Stem: Easton EA30
Headset: Cane Creek
Grips: Lizard Skin Peaty Lock-on
Bar Ends: Hope

Front Brake Lever assy: Hope Mono M4
Front Caliper: Hope Mono M4
Front disc: Hope Floating Black 203mm
Rear Brake Lever assy: Hope Mono M4
Rear Caliper: Hope Mono M4
Rear Disc: Hope Floating Black 203mm
Hoses: Hope Braided

Shifters: Shimano Deore 2 Way Release
Cables: Standard
Front Mech: Shimano SLX
Rear Mech: Shimano Deore LX Rapid Rise
Chain Device: N/A

Seat: Charge Spoon
Seat Post: Easton EA 50
Seat Post Clamp: Hope Q/R

Cranks: Shimano Deore Hollowtech II
Chainring(s): Shimano Deore
Chain: KMC X9
Cassette: Shimano HG61
Pedals: Wellgo
Bottom Bracket: Deore Hollowtech II

Rim: Alexrims DP20
Spokes: Black
Hub: Formula
Tube: Presta, unsure of brand
Tire: Michelin All Mountain 2.2
Dust Cap: KCNC Silver

Rim: Alexrims DP20
Spokes: Black
Hub: Formula
Tube: Presta, unsure of brand
Tire: Michelin All Mountain 2.2
Dust Cap: KCNC Silver

Extras: Custom Shock Guard

Weight: Light Enough 

Scariest Moment of My Life!

I was out yesterday night on a local route by Captain Cooks Monument. Everything was nice, bike was feeling good, trails were dry, had some good music in my ears! Me and a Friend were riding down a motocross track towards 'Red Hill', a large natural hill which has it's name for obvious reasons. We blasted down it at a fair speed with me in front. At the bottom we discussed various routes to take us down to the car park. I decided to take a route which I've not ridden in a while. It's a flowing piece of single track with lots of steep downs and a few climbs. My Friend decided to take the wider straight path to the bottom. I usually take this path but I'm a bit bored of it just because it is straight, rocky and a bit dull. I was on my way along the trail, there was quite a lot of debris on the trail due to strong winds the night before. I was enjoying dodging all of the fallen branches but then I had something a bit more angry to dodge....

As I got to an uphill section I started to slow down and get into a climbing pace when out of nowhere, an owl tried to take me out! It flew so close to my head that the feathers wiped across my face. For anyone who wants to know what type of owl it was, I don't know. I didn't think it was an appropriate time to stop and do and do a spot of birdwatching. I was out of their like a shot! I guess I must have entered it's territory. I heard somewhere that they can get very protective over their area but I've got to be honest, I wasn't thinking of that at the time. What made it worse was that you know owls can turn their head all the way round? When it flew past it was giving me an evil stare even though it was flying in the opposite direction. I don't think I'll ever see owls in the same light again. I don't think I'll ever ride that trail again either. I'm just glad it didn't hit me and knock me unconscious then get it's friends round and feast on my body. That would have been disappointing.

To summarize.....

Beware when riding your bike at night, you could get taken down by an owl.

Holiday!

Recently we've booked a family holiday to Wales. We'll be staying in the Snowdonia area which should be good for mountain biking. I've been wanting to do some big mountain adventure cycling for a while now and hopefully I should be able to in Wales. I've been doing a bit of research regarding Mt Snowdon and how accessible it is to mountain bikers. I'd love to be able to ride up and down it. We'll also be near the Coed Y Brenin trail center, so I'll have to check that out as well.

First of all though I'll have to sort my bike out. The fork is due a service, the hubs a feeling slightly stiff and the bottom bracket needs to be replaced some time in the near future. I can't wait for this holiday, I just hope that the weather will be good and my bike in good working order!

Here's a video of some of the riding up Mount Snowdonia and other parts of wales, enjoy!



Happy Trails!

You Like This - MTB Movie

Another one of my favourites. "You Like This" is a 27 minute video displaying some of canada's finest riding. Enjoy!

Race Face Re-opens it's doors!

The Canadian mountain bike component brand, Race Face ran into financial difficulties and said goodbye in March of this year but now their back! Chris Tutton, a previous employee who left in 2008 entered a "tightly contested bidding war" to regain control of the company. He is now managing director. I am hoping they will carry on revolutionizing the sport of mountain biking for many years to come. Good luck to them!

My Race Face Bar and Stem Combo feeling strong and looking good.

Follow Me - A Mountain Bike Film

I've recently been watching a variety of mountain bike movies in the hope that they will inspire me to ride faster and to give me more confidence on more gnarly trails. My personal favourite is "Follow Me" by Anthill Films. It follows some of the most amazing riders as they tour the globe ripping it up on some pretty spectacular trails. Please feel free to suggest some of your favourite mtb movies!
Here's the trailer for "Follow Me".


Follow Me - the Teaser from Anthill Films on Vimeo

Red Hill Route

Thought I'd share one of the trails which I ride. This trail is only five miles long but it contains some pretty sweet technical riding.  If your just getting into mountain biking this is probably one to avoid. The ride starts by the information centre in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire.

Firstly you follow the road all the way up to Gribbdale Gate which can be a lung-busting climb if your not used to this kind of riding. Next, you take the path up toward Captain Cooks Monument. This is now a wide style walkers path which is quite easy to ride.

As you get nearer to the top you will come across a rocky stepped path which is a very technical climb. It took me a while to master this and I still can't get up it in the wet but in the dry, with a soft rear tyre or rear suspension you've got a good chance at it. When you reach the Monument, most people stop and get a bite to eat if it's a good day but if you just want to attack the singletrack then you will take the descending path down and through the dry stone wall. After this you follow this track until you can swing a left down a technical piece of downhill style trail, this path is extremely steep with many steps and obstacles so be very careful.

You should turn left at the bottom and follow this path, go round the hairpin corner and blast down towards the forest area. Take a left which will shoot you down a short steep descent and onto a wide walkers path. Follow this until you get to a gate. Go through the gate and onto the motocross tracks. This part of the ride will be confusing because there are tons of different ways to get to the bottom. If you stick to the map you should be okay. You should come to an extremely steep descent which is a blast if you can pluck up the confidence to do it! This has been named 'Red Hill' by me and my friends and you will see why when you ride it. After this it's a straight descent down to a small graveled car park by a fishing lake. You should follow the map back onto the road and down to the finish point.

Rating: Moderate/ Difficult
Duration: 55 mins



View Red Hill Route.kmz in a larger map

My Bike - Scott Aspect 45

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd post a bit about the bike I ride. I have a Scott Aspect 45 from the good ol' year of 2008. When it was stock it had a Suntour fork and an Alivio eight speed drive train. The forks didn't last long. After a month or so of riding they had seized up. I took it back to the bike shop and explained what had happened. They were good guys and put a pair of the same on straight away! After another month of riding the same thing had happened so I took it back again and they fitted a pair of fairly basic Rockshox Dart 2's (This was my third fork in under a year!). I had never used Rockshox before but I was already feeling the benefits over those dreaded Suntour's. I must have run these forks for around a year but I was beginning to feel the limits of what they could take. In the end I payed a bit more and opted for a Rockshox Tora 318 Air which is lasting me ages! I've got to say, it can deal with most things I throw at it.

After the forks, I upgraded components as they wore out. the next things to be upgraded were wheels and drive train. I replaced the wheels with a pair of Shimano MT15 wheels which I also rate very highly, they have come out of true a few times but they offer a good compromise between weight and strength for the £89.99 I payed for them. The gearing is a mix of Shimano Deore, Deore XT and Sram PG950 and PC951 for the chain and cassette.

Overall I am now very happy with the bike and what it can handle. After experiencing how different the bike can feel with altered components I am a strong believer in customisation because it allows you to style it to your type of riding.

Anyway here's few pictures of what I've just been talking about.

Built up and ready to hit the trails ;)

On it's homemade work stand :)

One Sexy box of bike components! :D