Luca’s choice weekend

Got back to rampworx on Wednesday after my tumble a couple weeks ago, was with Sam Chris, Ant and Phil ... all better than me but that’s a good thing, it pushes me to do better. Even though I am twice the age of Chris n Ant so sometimes I don’t go full force like they do my body is a little more delicate than there’s ha. 

Headed straight to the 1/4 pipe that I crashed on, thought it best to get it out the way and make sure I could still 180. BRAKE ! 🙈 well it seemed it got to me I bottled it. Took a few runs but I got it again and had a good night, pretty chilled riding wise didn’t do anything special but was good to get back in the skatepark. 

Friday I got off work early so picked Luca up from school, recently I have realised that all though we always do cool stuff on our weekends together its always my choice. He normally is made up with what we do but I thought I would give him a weekend where he could choose. 

Luca’s choice weekend consisted of a chippy tea Friday ..... I like the start of this weekend already haha, and my diet has gone out the window this week. 

Next stop was playing mario kart on the switch and with that it was soon bed time.

Saturday it was raining and Luca said “can we go ice skating ?” Cool by me, I played ice hockey for a year when I was 17 and I still have my hockey skates, not skated much since that just a couple times with Luca. Quick stop to B&Q on route to grab some stuff for the camper van, we need to use it mid week at work so I’m going to make the bed and cabinet removable then onto the McDonald’s for lunch before we got to the skate rink. 

Ice skating was fun, I was rubbish for about 30 minutes then got back into it, Luca is the same, takes him about 30 minutes with a penguin 🐧 then he is off on his own. Seen a couple nice woman with there kids who may of been single ( I always do this, check out women who may be single when on days out with Luca) but as always I don’t even talk to them coz I’m far too shy and afraid I will make a fool of myself, i wish people had a sign to say please approach me I’m single and I like you 😆 

So good day today, spent 4 1/2 hrs at skating so I’m a bit tired and legs are aching and Luca’s choice of event tomorrow is go to Degla for a ride. 

Some of the lads are going to Greno tomorrow and Luca loves it there but he wants to do the black at Degla now I’ve told him I have de limited his ebike haha. If anyone has a Yamaha motor on there bike its pretty simple to do, take the magnet off the wheel and attach it to the back of the crank with cable ties, then switch the sensor from inside of chain stay arm to outside again with cable ties and it fools the motor into thinking its going slower.

Bags packed and hardtails ready (i may struggle to keep up with him without a motor ha) I will report back and finish this blog tomorrow night and let you know how we got on. 

Sat morning up early, tea and toast made we set off in the van for Llandegla. We forgot to do his school reading book last night so he is reading to me on the way. 

Set the bikes up and we were ready, partly way up through the first section of woods i realised I had left my bag in the van 🙈 back to the car park and Luca waitied on the pump track while I went to the van, gets to the van and realised Luca had the keys in his backpack 🙈🙈 back up to the pump track to get the keys and back down to the van again. Gets my bag then heads up to the pumptrack to get Luca, i was knackered by now and hadnt even set off ! wish i took my ebike and not the hardtail.

After all the messing about we thought it would be best to just head up the fire road to the top so off we went, soon as we got into the open the wind and rain was awfull. Weather report had gave 18-20 mph winds but it said it was a dry n cloudy day so I thought we would be ok. Typical Degla the weather does what it wants 🙈🙈🙈

Luca was even struggling on his ebike to pedal up and I got blown off sideways so we walked up, first section along the blue then red was windy but then as the red started to drop down it improved a little. Now last time we did the red on his ebike he had a otb off a Little Rock drop that could of been rolled, he wasn’t used to rocks and not being able to see past it to see how big the drop is. I did tell him he could roll it all but he hit the front brake and over he went. 

Not this time, there was me giving him advice as we went along to Luca replying “I know dad I can jump of a kerb you know” 😂 so the red was no issues this time and I thought he is ready for the black. When we say black anyone that’s been to Degla will know the black isn’t really a black but to Luca this was a good introduction, not sure I would take him down a black anywhere else yet. 

As we rested at the point where the black starts I heard a couple of roadies on mountain bikes ..... you know the type, all in Lycra chatting about how fast they got up the hill ! I was surprised they had stopped for a rest to be honest. Well I heard one mumble to his friend ‘ppfftt kids on ebikes now, how pathetic” I wasn’t 100% this was what he said so kept my mouth shut but I was fuming. They then set off just as we were getting ready to go, they were on full suspension short travel bikes and went off on the red, while Luca set off and headed straight into the black on his hardtail thats weighs a ton without hesitation. I felt a little smug at this point with a grin on my face and calling the Lycra boys Fanny’s we went down the black. 😁

Proper proud dad moment today, age 7 and did the whole black route except the b line. I think next time I will take my ebike and just sit in eco mode as when Luca hit boost on the climbs he left me for dead and was sat at the top chilling at every climb while I puffed n panted my way up grabbing my inhaler at the top every time (yes I’m not only type 1 diabetic I have asthma as well) 

Luca’s bike is a haibike sduro four, its a 24” wheel but has a 400w battery, most bikes come with a 500w and my focus jam2 comes with a 350w. I have no idea why a kids bikes needs a 400w battery as a full loop of degla with him using boost on the climbs he got back to the car park with 70% left, he could of done 3 laps ! I reckon I can get 2 laps out of my 350w battery in eco mode or maybe a full loop plus a blue loop in trail mode. 

Anyway, it was worth all that money for his ebike, he is a very lucky boy having a full sus / ebike and a jump bike plus the carerra crappy thing at his mums house 😆 but for a 7 year old that hates hills (just like his dad) this bike was a great buy. He wants to go back again in a couple weeks to do it again. 

Also when we went to fort William for the World Cup weekend this bike was great for him then, we must of rode over 35 miles that weekend and I don’t know many kids his age that would do that without crying or throwing there bike in a bush in a tantrum haha. A lot of money for a kids bike but to have him on big rides like that and to see this smile at the end of it all its well worth it, my little sidekick can enjoy the skatepark on his jump bike, short downhill runs on his Kona stinky and long rides at dads pace on his ebike. 

We have half term coming up and looks like we may get some dry weather soon, next on the adjenda is to give him what he has been asking for for the past 6 months ..... “dad, when are you going to take me to an uplift like Bike Park Wales” 

I really need to stop showing him YouTube videos 😩 or do I ? I love it really 😁 

Will half term be the time to take him for his first uplift ? Long journey for me to go down there (4 hr drive) and not get to ride my bike properly ..... I suppose we can stop to rest and while he sits off I can session some jumps on popty ping. We shall see.

Until the next adventure 👍 

Jan 20th - snow day

Me and Jimmy had arranged to get out on Sat this weekend but seeing the forecast of rain and sleet he cancelled Friday night and left it. I packed the van as seen there was snow but no rain in Llandegla, alarm set for 6:45am i was set to go.

Woke up and checked the weather app to see it had changed and there was more rain and sleet than snow, but i decided to go anyway. Stopped at Lymm services for breakfast and ditched Greg’s for a mcdonalds today, ive been really good counting my calories all this month and then found out 2 mc muffins was enough for breakfast and dinner. Oh well i was riding today its ok. 

On route into Wales i didnt see any snow, disappointed ! Pulled into he car park just after 9am and got changed, base layer top n pants, downhill pants, body armour, buff neckerchief, another top, fox coat, socks and waterproof socks plus knee pads and elbow pads.... i nearly put a full face on just to keep warm. Not your normal trail centre get up but i was warm and prepared. 

Off i set, it was damp and a slight drizzle / wet mist. As i left the woods i seen white. Yes there was snow on the hill and it started to fall from the sky as well. Bombing up the climb passing loads of people because i was on the ebike 😏 when clunk ! I turned around to see my crank and pedal on the floor 

😩. Problem was my multi tool was stopping me from getting a good angle and i got about 10% of a turn each time so it took a while to get back on, 10 yards on it was still loose. Back off the bike and tighten it up more, meanwhile all the people I smuggley overtook earlier were now passing me with a smug look. Prob thinking ha serves you right ebiker. A couple did ask was i ok and did i have tools. Fixed and seemed to stay tight so off i went to overtake them again haha. 

I was surprised by how much grip i had, i did do a couple wheel spins uphill but the bike was gripping well, guessing because the snow was fresh i was still finding grip on the hard surface underneath with no ice. It was time to have some fun in the snow. 

Back at the van i closed the door over and put my gas heater on while getting changed, my feet were freezing so i put my socks on the heater just for a few seconds. I turned around to find my socks on fire 🔥 oh man what an idiot, when it says “do not cover” then do not cover ! Off to the shop to buy a pair of socks to warm my feet up, it was pretty nice putting nice new socks on. Pork pie and a hot chololate to warm me up and it was time to head home. 

It seemed i timed the ride just right as they had to shut the car park due to the heavy snow fall now, i crawled down the road out in the van to be safe then when i hit the roads it wasnt long before the snow turned to sleet then back home it was rain. Just over an hour away and such radical change in conditions. Made up with my ride i got home for a hot bath before going to get Luca, we were taking my little sister out for a birthday meal tonight.

Popped into Chris’s and he sorted the hub in Luca’s rear wheel for me, love a good friend who’s good with bikes 👍 cheers dude. 

Weather is set to improve next week so there may be trip further afield going down, we shall see how work is and how the weather is. Is it too cold still to sleep in the van ? We shall see maybe ! 

2017 continued part 3

The day after the enduro (previous blog) i woke up after the rough night feeling pretty good, Sam txt me to see if i was still going to ride Revolution and i decided i would go along and just take it easy. I packed the van up left the campsite and headed off towards Revs to find a cafe for the lads to meet me at. This was my 2nd time at revs and all though i love the place, im shit at riding it. Especially the steep technical stuff, but even though i was pretty tired after the enduro i still gave it a shot. 

Bit of a long video but some funny moments and crashes.

Summer was going great and it was soon time for mine and Luca’s annual Cornwall trip (i was born and grew up in Cornwall so its somewhere we go often) I had just built up a jump bike for Luca so he had a bike he could ride on holidays and in the street at home without getting jumped for his bike. This was a good chance to get him more confident on a bike and we hit the track in Portreath for some dirt jumps. I was on my hardtail but found it a bit too big for this type of riding. This year i shall be taking my jump bike. 

Luca’s first air time 🙌

And a bit of paddle boarding at the beach. 

looking through videos of 2017 it seems this blog will be more videos and less chat, i am sure i will get much better at the blogging thing when i can write the adventures as they happen in 2018, its a little harder to remeber everything we did last year so these are more warm up blogs ready for the adventures this year.

Videos from the rest of 2017.

Me and Jimmy at Degla with the kids ...

Luca full run at Steel City (Grenoside woods) He wants to enter the race but cant until he is 10. 

And myself on a full run, I shall be putting my name in for a race ticket again. Maybe this year I will get in. 

Longboards at Southport 

Me and Sam at farmer Johns 

And as featured on GMBN’s dirt shed show this was Luca’s progression session.

Luca’s jump bike I made 

And some upgrades the to the Santa Cruz 

A new jump bike for me 😁

The jump bike is for winter, me Sam & Chris all got one and started to hit rampworx skatepark. Wow this is hard ! Nothing like mountain biking at all. Chris and Sam seem to get it quicker than me and I spent my first few sessions in the bowl trying to 180. 

Once I had this nailed I started having more fun at the skatepark, until I concentrated too much on how high my front wheel was getting and forgetting to do the 180 ! I hit the deck like a sack of spuds 😩 concrete hurts and using my enduro foam knee pads seemed like a good idea as they fitted under my jeans but not good when I hit the deck. Bruised and battered but no broken bones just my ego. 

And the new winter bike 

Winter night rides have never been so much fun ! Near where I live there are some local woods up at the beacon, I would normally head up to the point and back down in a little loop that would take just under a hour. Now I go up and over the beacon and down to the canal and back up through more woods before looping back home, still in the same hour. Its great, you just get to ride twice as far in the same time. 

I took it to Gisburn and Degla when I was on my own and got round both in 1hr, over 20k of trails in 1 hr, what a thrill this is. Hopefully this year I will get out on some longer rides in the lakes and peaks, rides my Diabetis would normally stop me from doing. I still use the Santa Cruz when with the lads and at bike parks but for pedaling up hills and long distance or just getting out for a quick blast after work this bike is amazing. 

Some clips from Degla at night on the focus ...

It was time for another lads weekend away, Windhill and Bike park wales was on the menu. Did not get any videos from Windhill but what a place, we didn’t have a lot of time here as we drove down and also had to drive to Wales to get to the B&B and a table booked for tea. But we will be back one day for a full day session. 

Bike Park Wales this time was prob one we would never forget, well at least our friend Baz. Very unfortunate off on a berm and must of landed awkwardly as this happened ......

Ouch ! That is Baz off the bike for the rest of the year 😞 

here is some clips from that weekend.... 

https://vimeo.com/234380621

And that pretty much brings us up to the end of the year, but the last day of the year is also my birthday and there was time for one more ride, this time a dad and lads ride around lady Channing’s. Great way to end the year for me with my little dude Luca riding and of course friends. 

and that is how we got to today ..... I really cant thank everyone enough for the memories 2017 gave me, with my friends and with my son Luca it truly was amazing. 

Here is to some great adventures in 2018 😊

2017 - part 2

The start of 2017 was amazing so far, i was loving the bike, loving the outdoors and feeling confident. So confident i entered an enduro race ! We shall get to that soon but for now summer is here, we are into the end of May which means my 3rd trip to fort bill was this weekend. This year no one else i knew was going, so this was the perfect time to see if Luca wanted to come. Of course he said yes, its another adventure with his dad. 

We had spent a couple weekends in the camper van and was looking forward to this trip, packing for camping when you have a 7 year old boy is pretty stressful, i must of re packed the van 3 times to make sure we had everything but as always im sure there would be something i would forget ! 

We were booked in at Ben Nevis camping site for the Fri to Sun but decided to set off on Thursday as Luca was off school on half term and i thought we could stop and sleep in Scotland somewhere maybe next to Loch Lomond to split the long journey up for Luca. 

Off we went and it wasnt long before he starting asking that question “are we there yet dad” 🙄 we were passing the Lake District ! 😆 IPad time for Luca while i set in for a long drive, it may be long but its such nice scenery and the weather was nice.

Not for long ! As we approached Lock Lomand the heavens opened and i decided stopping around here was not a good plan so we carried on all the way to Fort William. We went straight to the campsite and they kindly gave us a pitch we could spend Thursday night in before we went to our booked pitch on Friday. 

While i set up the camper and tent luca went exploring around the campsite on his bike, we took the ebike for him and my hardtail as the plan was to ride up to the Nevis Range so we didnt have to wait for the buses when leaving. Luca met a few kids and yes he got the classic, “thats cheating” well maybe so but luca is only 7 and has asthma and doesnt like peddaling any distances, he is very tall for 7 so many people think he is about 10 years old. Anyway he didnt care and knew it was the best bike for when we rode up to Nevis range and down into town. No way he would of done it on his Kona Stinky ! 

It was at this moment i realised i had forgot the charger for his ebike 🙈🙈🙈 Daddy is an idiot, “LUCAAAAAA ..... PUT IT IN ECO” 😂 turns out after riding round the campsite / riding down into Fort William town and along the front and back up to campsite / riding to the Nevis range and back 2 days in a row only used 80% of the battery, phew ! 

Luca was stunned by the mountains and the scenery and we went exploring, he was even more stunned the next day when he seen the course and we were going up the hill on the gondola, he didnt think it was safe. We walked the track while the riders did there qualifying runs. Being from Lancashire we know local lad Elliot Heap who was in juniors racing for Chain Reaction Pay Pal, i seen Elliot coming down on the pin ball section when i seen his wheel facing the wrong way and down he went. Unlucky Elliot next year pal ! (Since turns out Chain Reaction will not be racing Downhill in 2018 and concentrating on the Enduro after Sam Hill winning the series, i am confident Elliot will do brilliant in the Enduro in 2018) 

Here is our highlights from some go pro footage during the weekend.

What a race that was ! Rachel out with her shoulder after crashing in the woods section which was super boggy, Hannah taking the win and the men’s ... well. Greg Minnar, what can i say. I think you had to be there to feel the atmosphere as he crossed the line. It was magical. 

Luca got a bit fed up towards the end of the day on Sunday, long day for a 7 year old to be stood up all day but he loved it and cant wait to go back again this year. 

So we got home and i spent most of the week packing the camping stuff away after cleaning everything. But it was soon time to start thinking about the enduro i had entered. I hadn’t exactly trained for it and i am far from fit and healthy, i am overweight / type 1 diabetic and have asthma. Not really the best mix for a mountain biker but i try and plod on and just enjoy my riding .... well the downhills 😏 

I entered the welsh enduro series at Llandegla, obviously because i know it and thought would be good for my first race. I got myself a campsite so i could stay over and be there nice and early, all of a sudden the sign in que was out the door. There went my chance of getting out on the practice lap early so I could take my time and save some energy. I think i got out onto the trail about 10:30am, but i chose my race time so was leaving mid afternoon so knew i had time for dinner and a rest. 

I needed a few glucose tablets on the first lap to keep my sugar up, for those that don’t know what being type 1 diabetic means you basicly have to keep your sugar levels between 6-10. Anything over 15 for a period of time can make you ill and anything below 5 you can have a hypo. Which sometimes feels like the drunkest youve ever been ! Once i was very low and looking at kitchen cupboard because the lucozade was in there and i wanted to open the door but my brain could not send the signal to my arm i ended up collapsing. Luckily i was with Luca’s mum at this time and she got me the lucozade and i had to talk her out of calling the ambulance. If i dont get sugar or glucose when i am low i could then go into a coma which i may not wake from. And i have to inject myself with insulin before every meal, and before bed. 

This picture is 1 months of injections for a type 1 diabetic.

Yep thats a lot ! An enduro race was probably not a good idea but i really wanted to do one, even if it was just one to experience racing on a mountain bike.

So after snacks and glucose tablets on the practice run and finding out they didnt stick to the normal trails and created a steep downhill natural none trail that was a bit beyond my kind of riding i was back at the centre ready for lunch. I eat my pasta and had a little lie down in the van to stretch out, i then went for a walk round the car park and bumped into my friend Drew Alker who was having no issues at all and found it a bit of a walk in the park (he does do them every weekend and is only a teenager, i was 41) 30 min before my race start time, my sugars drop again. Bottle of lucozade and some snacks and chocolate i thought i should be good for round 2 now. I packed my pockets with more glucose tablets and some snacks and off i went. 

Nothing could prepare me for what went through my head as i passed the first timer marker and the little wristband on my wrist vibrated to say i was on a timed section. In my head coming up to this race i thought ok im type 1, unfit, not amazing on a bike so im just gonna have a blast and ride it like i normally do and just enjoy the day. NOPE ! As soon as that thing was vibrating i went hell for leather peddaling into the first section had to slam on the brakes skid round the bend out of shape and not much grace then pedal like hell again as i lost all my flow. When it buzzed on my arm it sent a little message to my brain saying F**KING GO GO GO YOU FAT USELESS BEEEEEP. 😂  

I get it, why they put themselves through hell every weekend, the adrenaline buzz is insane. Nothing like a good buzz on a good ride or great downhill section, its amplified by ten when you know your on the clock. I was hooked i was gonna go for it on every section.

Until i got to the end of section one, i would of normally cruised and rested my legs on a long section but didnt on this so by the time my wrist buzzed again to say this was the end of the timed section i was knackered. 2 min into peddaling to the next section my sugars crashed like the titanic, i was going down fast. Sat off at the side of the trail munching on oat bars and glucose tablets i started to feel slightly better after 5 minutes or so. I got up and walked up the hill to the next section while all the enduro monsters pedalled past me with smirk looks on there faces. 

Section 1 was a trail i knew, section 2 was the newly not built more carved out of the natural mud and roots steep section. There was a que by now to get onto the section and time was ticking down and i didnt have that much spare time in between sections to recover, my time came and off i went.... on the brakes this time not peddaling. I hated this section, i messed up all the steep switchbacks and was off the bike before the drop so had to walk a small section to get back on. Im pretty sure someone took a picture of me just to make me feel worse ! This was the longest section and yes i got took over, oh well i knew this section wouldn’t be my best lets just plod on, it went back onto a section of trail i knew so found my flow again for the 2nd half of it but my time would be awful due to the 1st sections 2 crashes. The end of section 2 was straight into one of the biggest climbs so i got off and walked, glad i did because yet again my sugars were low, i carried on walking while eating more glucose and snacks (i was started to run out now and gettting worried if i would make it back) 

Section 3 was B line, i liked this section and felt this would be my chance to make some time up as i knew i was pretty quick on it and it was all downhill, maybe just maybe i will not come last. That was the plan always all along, as long as i dont come last i will be happy. 

Section 4 was all the way back near the trail centre, now i knew i didnt have to do all the red and Julia’s trail i could go back on the blue and cut across the lake to the start of section 4. Again topping myself up with glucose i eat my last 2 tablets, this was it last section. Did pretty rubbish because there was an uphill and 2 flat sections to pedal on, but i pushed as hard as i could as i seen the last marker post up ahead and could smell the food from the cafe. 

I emerged through the tree’s back into the trail centre and there was Rachel, Drew’s mum. She asked “how was that” my reply ........ ‘I need cake” 😆 she told me to hand in my wrist band to get my print out. I seen my times and checked the screen ........ this was it, i was ready all ready starting at the bottom of the screen. But no what was this ? I wasnt last !!! 🙌🙌🙌 i was 3rd from last 😁 that will do me. Mission acomplished ! 44k of trails completed in 1 day, not bad for a type 1. 

I hit the cafe ordered a burger and chips and of course .... the much deserved cake ! I also had a lucozade as my sugar levels were still dropping but i thought this lot should sort me out now, and i had a bbq to have back at the campsite. 

Happy in my accomplishment i said bye to Drew and Rachel and thanked them for there advice of just go for it you will be fine 👍 and Drew did say i wouldnt come last 😏 

back at the campsite my sugar levels would not stay up regardless of what i drank or eat. I ended up staying up until 2am sipping lucozade as 9pm i threw up then again after every time i eat. Problem with vomitting is your emptying your stomach and therefore emptying my sugars so had to eat again, and again. I nearly called myself an ambulance but eventuly i leveled out and got some sleep.

I even went onto revolution bike park the next day and met some friends there for a days riding. 

So my first enduro / race experience nearly killed me, no seriously it could off ! I decided that it was a silly idea and prob not worth doing again. A few weeks later i bumped into a girl who also did the enduro and she said “you should do what i do, dont do the practice and just do the race run blind” 

Why did i not think of that 🤔 🙄 

I am going to leave this blog here, i know im still in the summer of 2017 but lots more to come yet and sorry if i have gone on a bit about being diabetic sometimes i feel like i need to explain myself. There are so many judgmental people, even in Mountain Biking and they dont know what the individuals story is. its so easy to say “why are you walking up the hill” when you are mr motivator all healthy and been doing it all your life. Some of us are new to this exercise lark and don’t have the athletic ability to climb the hill as quick as they do. I do tend to find i am quicker downhill than most of these judgmental types though haha and I have met some amazing people mountain biking it just annoys me the small percentage who judge without knowing the whole story. 

Again thanks for reading, i look forward to writing the end of 2017 and getting onto this years adventures soon. 

The best year of my life ! 2017

Well its a statement isn’t it ! Best year of my life. Not sure if i have put that because it is fresh in my mind or if it is truly the best year of my life. As i write this blog i guess we will find out. 

So far my mtb journey has had its up and downs, i can imagine most of us have very similar stories to tell. We all bear the scars and injuries this lifestyle brings for us, but we continue ! Some say we are crazy, but they just dont get it. The buzz, the aldraline rush what ever you want to call it, there is no better feeling than whizzing through the trees weeving in and out as your mind tries to keep up with all the information its taking in. For some its the thrill, some love the challenge, some just love being outdoors and for others its the balls in your mouth feeling when you take flight for even just a second or two. For me, i think its everything, i cant name one thing its the whole package. I am no hill climber i will give you that, the hill is just a thing to get up so we can come down. I dont care if we walk it, as long as we get to ride down it ! 

So as i think about 2017 and the adventures we got up to my mind has wondered and ive started to think why did i start a blog ? Well i guess its because i do get quite a bit of time alone, i live alone and i have my son Luca 2 days one week and 3 days the next week. I always get at least 4 days where i am alone, i run my own business so the day time is busy and if its a weekend day ive not got Luca i will be out on the bike with friends so i am far from lonely but the few evenings i am alone my mind does wonder a lot. I think thats a good thing, too many people these days label it with some form of new trend of mental issues. Its good to let the mind wonder, its what it does, your not any different to anyone else. Let it be free, be different, be you ! 

I thought why not put my thoughts along with my adventures in a blog, if no one reads it it wont matter its a good source of memories for myself and Luca. I shall be reading these when i am sat in a nursing home with nothing to do remembering the good times i had out on the bike and cursing myself for not looking after my bones and joints better haha. 

Here i go then, my rambles and memories of 2017, the best one yet ! Luca is defo my best friend, i dont know where my life would be if i had walked away from him when me and his mother split. This boy gives me reason and a purpose to do my best, mountain biking all started because i wanted to be healthier and fitter (im still working on this part) to enjoy life with my son. Its such a great thing to see Luca enjoying the outdoor life as well, too many children sit in front of tv’s, iPads and xboxes all day. When he does he is like a zombie, i get no response or sence from him so i do restrict his iPad / games time (unless its raining 😏) and if the weather is dry we will always be out doing something on our weekends. I bang on about this a lot but this little boy really brought me to life ! I am 41 this year and they say life’s begins at 40, well it really did for me. I just think we as men finally grow up around 40 so life gets better anyway haha. Well we grow up a little 😉

This was also the year i also spent far too much on bikes, i used to have a drug addiction when i was a dj and im really not sure which is more expensive 

🤔🤣 we shall get to that as i try to put this year into some sort of order i try to remember back to this time last year, Jan 2017. I remember i didnt ride much, i hate winter ! Getting out for a night ride takes so much more will power and energy, and then the washing of the bike and gear every ride. Thing is with winter is when i get home from work and put my tea on and sit down, my brain see’s it is dark outside and presumes its time to rest and get ready for bed. I stare out of the window nearly every night thinking I should go for a ride but rarely do. And weekend rides are the same, muddy slippy affairs with lots of washing to do when we get home. 

Few of the lads took a trip up to Cumbria to check out a new bike park, Gnar. 

Gnar was good, i love the idea of what he is creating. Proper 1 man in a shed in the woods builds a bike park, something i would love to do. Its a lot steeper than it looks and the push up is a killer but its great if love the more natural feel with the odd feature thrown in. We did visit again later on in the year hoping for dryer trails only to fond them worse, i think the more riders its had and the weather left it very muddy and slippy and we cut the ride short after a couple runs and headed off to Gisburn to play on the downhill tracks there. Will we go back to Gnar, yes i want to, but the trails need some maintenance. I need to go in the dry i would imagine its a whole different ball game then. 

Feb was the first trip to bike park wales with the lads and brings us to our next video ...

Great trip again, i love this place. 

Feb was also the month i took one of my work vans as my own van, i mean what kind of moutain biker can you be in a car. A van was the way to go ! And with that i had a plan, a LWB van as a camper van. Let the building commence ...... 

We had our camper, there was no stopping the adventures now, bunk beds for me and Luca. 

Next on the agenda was a mtb tattoo, i had an idea of what i wanted and took it to a local guy. He did a fantastic job of getting what i wanted. 

From this ... 

To this ... 

Do you recognize the guy on the bike 😏 nice shadow of myself on my leg. 

Oh yes i bought a downhill bike, Trek Session 88. Great bike but i preffered my Santa Cruz for bike park wales and really only rode the downhill bike at Stiniog and Revolution once so it was sold as wasting space and gathering dust. I guess my riding is not up to par enough for a downhill bike, these bikes need to be rode fast to get the full benifit. Fast is not something i am on a bike, come on i am 41 years old - type 1 diabetic and overweight due to never doing any type of exercising before i found mountain biking, cut me a break haha. 

But my riding in whole had improved, i was finding flow and speed at places i was comfy with .... que a ride back at the old stomping ground degla, and to test the new gimble i purchased for the go pro.

As you can hear i was having fun, degla was no longer a place where i held on with a death like grip, rigid body scared of what might happen, i was loose on the bike and enjoying it. Confidence was gaining and i started to feel worthy of the £5000 carbon Santa Cruz Nomad that was between my legs. 

Now with the camper ready but spring not quite here yet I thought it was best I tested out sleeping in it on my own before I subject Luca to my diy of insulating a van. A weekend back at Bike Park Wales and a trip to Forest of Dean was on the cards for me, little weekend away all on my own.

And bumped into Taylor Vernon at BPW, had to ask for a selfie.

Also tried a bit of rock climbing, I’m not very good at this neither haha. But hey this seems to be the year I am trying all sorts out. 

Luca’s 7th birthday was coming up in May so obviously my mind was on what bike to get him, now my mind thought if I got him a haibike hardfour 24” wheel he could do more than Degla blue with me and I can ride my hard tail around the trail centres at my pace as he has a battery. So I paid a deposit so it would be here in time for his birthday, and would you know a couple weeks later this gem pops up on facebook for sale for £500, bargain ! Went to see it and it was brand spanking new, looked like it had been around the park once and never used. So I had to get it. Now he will have 2 new bikes come his birthday so I let him have the kona stinky 24” and sold his hotrock 20”

Luca was now a proper mountain biker as well, age 6 with a stinky and soon was his 7th birthday and he would have 2 bikes !

Time for our first trip away in the camper just me and my boy, we headed off to the lakes.

Great trip away with Luca, he loved the lakes. Need to get back when its hot so we can jump in the lake. 

He was pretty good on his new size bike so a trip to Degla was needed to see how much better a full sus was on the blue for him.

So we are up to May, Luca’s 7th birthday and he got his ebike, back to Degla again ! This time the red, Luca age 7 rode the red trail ... and better than some of the men haha. 

And finally ...... we had some sunshine ☀️ spring was here the clocks changed and it was time for a new hobby, last year when we went to Cornwall Baz lent me his Santa Cruz pintail longboard as Luca was taking his longboard. So this year I got my own board and we spent Sunday nights skating around Southport pier.

Someone we knew Broke there shoulder in May on his bike and he had BPW tickets so me and Baz took a mid week trip. back to BPW again ... why the hell not.

I am going to finish this post here as there is so much more to come in 2017, fort bill / more rides / adventures and a very unfortunate event for a close friend. 

So far things are amazing, my riding has come on a lot, I am having fun and relaxing a bit more, Luca has his new bikes and he is loving getting out at the weekends with his dad and tells all his friends and his mum all about them. Its safe to say the mtb bug has took over my life, its become a way of life a lifestyle. I can finally go back to wearing clothes i feel comfy in, back to having my own identity instead of trying to think what others would like me to wear. Yes I am still single by the way but for the first time in my life I don’t care, I’m happy and happy with who I am. Life is great and its all down to the new mindset and new lifestyle that mountain biking has gave me. Ok not 100% mountain biking but it’s helped shaped who I am, helped me be positive and let me be the person I always knew I was. Rene G is back in a whole new form and I love it.  

 

No. 6 - 2016

2016 was full of adventure and great rides, my shoulder was better and i had got over the jump that wiped me out. Confidence is higher and life is good. But i didnt get out as much as i wanted over the winter. 

This year Luca turned 6 years old, our relationship was getting even better, some great little adventures and he really started to enjoy the outdoor life with me. 

We booked the wrong tree top course and at age 6 Luca did the high course, he is pretty tall for his age so he was just high enough to go on it. He soon realised the tricky bits he could just swing and use it like a zip wire open every section haha. 

Little surf dude 🤙🏻

Anyway back to bikes..... what did we get up to in 2016 ? Let me find some rides and see, its hard to remember when i didnt have any injuries to go by for memory haha.

Let’s jump on YouTube and see what rides there was, oh wait i remeber one for certain ! I remember because i got a 48hr facebook ban for posting this picture haha ........ sorry but its gotta be done ! Bit of an off at Stiniog resulting in some grazes.

Told you it wasnt nice haha sorry about that ! 

Here is the video ... 

As you can see at this stage i was not very confident in going fast down rocky sections, doesnt look much on camera but as you hear, this one hurt ! 

Here is the rest of the day ...

And later on this year we hit bike park wales, luckily we had some better weather for this one.

Round 2 BPW

Summer was here and it was time for my 2nd fort bill, last year was a wet affair in a 2 man tent with David so this year we took a 6 man tent, it was roasting ☀️☀️☀️ crazy hot weather all weekend and some great racing. And I had my bike with me ! The plan was to go riding on the Monday but David fell the day before and hurt his arm so it was up to me to fly the flag and ride the fort bill downhill track.

Monday morning we get back up to the Nevis range to see most of the World Cup packed away, I got my gondola ticket and went up for the red giant, red ? Was this right ? It was more like a black to me ! It was long hard and rocky, part way down I met a couple girls who asked if was on my own, i explained my friend was in the cafe as he couldn’t ride and I wanted to say I had done the World Cup track. They said you can ride with us if you want, i was made up ! I get to ride fort William with 2 hot girls in mountain bike clothes which we all know makes them 10 times hotter 😍 well unfortunately for me the ride lasted about 5 minutes before things got technical and they had me off ! 🙈 yes the girls were much better riders than me and they left me for dust never to be seen again. 

Back down at the bottom I went in the cafe while I waited for them to open the word cup track, the wait was over. This was it .... dum dum dum I was on my way back to the top to ride the World Cup track.

Now I say ride the World Cup track.... it wasn’t quite like a ride, more like a awkward dance with my bike down a hill 😆 I was going great until I hit pinball, I walked about 4 sections basically riding the flattish bit to the next drop / rock section. After that section and a few rests I was off again towards the woods, i was doing ok and on was to the hazard hoofer. I don’t think I was ever going to actually try and jump it but I didn’t get a chance because a misplaced front wheel in a hole put me over the bars just before the take off, I dusted myself off and got out off the bush to find my arms were torn to shreds. Mega road rash. 

I got to the motorway section and hit it ...... I took off in the air, it felt great. I was jumping the bumps at the World Cup track ........ then I landed on top of the table top and had to pedal to get to the end the jumps are that big 🤣 anyway I made it, the end was in sight. I got to the Scotland arch (which wasn’t there as they packed it away) and I stopped to see if my friend David was at the bottom with the go pro ready to film me coming into the finish line (which wasn’t there as they had packed it away) he was there, camera on I set off. Down that hill after the arch ..... dam,n this was steep ! And there’s logs near the bottom.... I was through I stayed on, David said I disappeared for about a minute (ok the finish was further than I thought) and then I came into site and di the 2 finish drops and pulled a big skid in the car park. I made it, i did the Fort William World Cup track. It felt great.

Sorry about the video I had to film it from my phone as lost the file and it was only on my facebook.

Our local track Bickertrax summer nights 

Revolution bike park 1st trip - This was an eye opener at how bad i was at technical rooty steep tracks. 

Found a nice bmx / pump track on one of our camping weekends

Luca on his qaud 

Cornwall holiday 

And finally an end of summer edit from one of my fave trails steel city at Grenoside Sheffield.

Im sorry this post was mainly videos from 2016 but I had a bit of mind block from this year, not because anything major happened to cause mind block i just think it was a good year and i was happy with life so didnt have any memories that caused me to remember certain things, only good memories and some good videos. I am a bit gutted my fort bill video from 2016 is only on my facebook and i am unable to save it for YouTube as the original file has been deleted, what a year that was, so hot and busy but a great event. 

I felt like my riding had improved a lot this year and I spent a silly amount of money on bike bits and gear, the bug was kicking in full force, i am struggling to remember anything from this year. Why cant i remember much ? We had plenty of adventures ... here’s some pictures from some of them while i think more.

Aha ! Here was a good trip i took in 2016, went to Cornwall by myself as well for a long weekend (i am Cornish by the way i just live up North) and went for a pedal around the north coastal path, defo one for the list again this year. 

One from a weekend camping near Dalby ... 

Pics from BPW trips

Letting Luca loose in a boat trip .... after he had a blue ice pop 😆

And some random rides photos ...

And what is this one ... i guess i did have an injury in 2016. Can’t even remember what happened on this one haha...

And i guess thats that, i am sorry I didn’t have much to say and this has ended more of a trip down memory lane for myself, but next we have 2017 which is fresh in my mind. We may need a few posts on 2017, camper van builds, new bikes, new hobbies, lots of good times and fun.

See you in 2017 ! Well the blog anyway 😏 

No. 5 2015 bike life started

I was still positive about getting back on my bike and spent my recovery time watching YouTube clips and reading bike articles, but the shoulder did not heal, it was out of place and would require surgery. There go’s my back on the bike for the summer plan ☹️ The bike was to go ! I sold the kona, the bike that gave me so much joy but also so much pain. But i was not giving up on mountain biking, my plan was to build a better bike while i recovered.

So it was lots of forest walks for me and Luca for a few months while i waited for an operation date, operation was in the summer and it gave me so much more movement back, i still cant to this day put my right arm above shoulder height but this was a massive improvment on the little movement i had. Surgery was fine and i was even back at work the same afternoon, the joys of being self employed ! Ha. Also a bonus being type 1 diabetic i was 1st in for surgery. I was using my right arm within a couple of days for daily tasks and after a couple of weeks i started on the bike build, i had bought a trek remedy and stripped her totally down and got her painted ready for a new build. This gave me some focus while i was recovering and it wasnt long before she was ready and i managed to get a few rides on her out the front down the street. 

This was the year me and Luca actually got our first holiday where daddy was not working down in Cornwall and we had great weather so spent most days on the beach, things were also going great with Luca. He was growing up so fast and becoming a proper little cheeky boy. It ment we got on much better as well, not as many tantrums and i would say it was this year that he started to become my best friend. i was really enjoying being a dad. 

Later in this year i started to get out on the bike again, the shoulder was aching a lot but the recovery was all about movement. When they say to keep it moving and do the exercises take it from me, do the exercises ! I wish i did them more often even as often as hourly as it all makes a big difference to your recovery. To this day i can not throw a ball over arm anymore, maybe if i did my exercises more often i would of got 90% back instead of the 80% I have to live with now. Anyway onto bikes ...... i was back ! Finding new trails, had new riding friends who went all these crazy places every Sunday, bike parks, natural rides, trail centres, a whole world of mountain biking was opening up to me again. 

But ..... i was not really happy with the bike, something didnt connect with me and i still had a few offs luckily not as big as my shoulder breaker and at the end of this year i would be the ripe ol age of 40. I couldnt afford a Porsche for a mid life crisis so i got this instead ....

Yes this was my mid life crisis, and many people i know thought i was crazy to be 40 and getting into this scene when it had caused                                  so much pain already. My thought was 40 was the absolulty correct time to start something new, after all im half way through my life why not start to enjoy it. 

I got this bike from one planet at Degla, where it all started for me and the closest trail centre to where we live. They were fantastic and the demo i rode just felt right, my friend David said to me “i have never seen you hit this trail so hard before, you must feel good on that bike” i loved it, it just felt right. And after a chat with the guy in the shop i got some brucy bonus upgrades for free. Boss Deville forks as they were on the demo bike and i loved them, sram guide brakes and they swapped the dropper to a reverb for me. 

This was the moment the obsession really started, i was truly a proper mountain biker now. Not purely because of the silly expensive carbon bike but the obbsession with the whole scene started for me. We started to watch the UCI downhill, i learned about the pro riders and about bike set ups and riding positions. My riding started to get better but i was still sacred of big jumps, rock gardens and steep technical stuff.  

1st trip to Fort Bill

It was time for my first trip to bike park wales !

What a place ! Mountain biking was well and truly imbedded in my soul, even if my riding looks poor ha. But i was learning, getting better, braver and maybe even on this new bike i would attempt to hit the dreaded shoulder jump again ?

Yes i did, i faced my fears and went to that local track with the big table top every week for a mid week night session. I hit the jump again and again and found some form, i must say fasting your fears and nailing this jump after the pain it put me through was one of the best feelings ever 🙌

And that is how you end a year that started shit but turned out to be great 👍