Morzine Day 4 - Part 1

Uphilla and Farqui decided to take the morning off - yesterday's experience in the storm was too much for them. Crew was limited to Willy, Les and Dozer with once again Dozer in charge of the map. Usual route down to Les Lindarets and then up to the top of Avoriaz - yes we found it finally. "OK we'll start with the blue or the green run off the top just to get ourselves warmed up" says Dozer - so what does he does he do but flies off the top of the red - despite the red sign and us shouting at him... hey ho, someone else will have to do the map reading tomorrow. Anyway we caught him up half way down "s**t this is a difficult blue" he says - now claiming he is colour blind...

Second time up and we go down the blue - much more suited to my style (and ability) and really good fun with nice berms and only the one table top to bottle out of (but see later...). So we decided to give that another go with Dozer placed strategically to take some cool shots of of the run down - see video attached. All went well until aforesaid table top, took it a bit quicker this time and found myself balancing on my front wheel down the far side before coming off....

At this stage things become a bit fuzzy with a bit of double vision and short term memory loss "where are we, have we been here before?" so sat down for a while remembering how many kids I have and what my wife's name is....

After that took it very slow down to the bottom (unfortunately without stopping to speak to Les's favourite English waitress at the lake) - back to the chalet for rest, neurofen, ice pack for big lump on thigh and then a sleep. I think the others (including Uphilla this time) went out in the afternoon whilst Farqui babysat and made sure I did not fall unconscious. See part two for the report of the real men who manage to say on two wheels...

Route/profile.

Pic's.

Posse: Dozer (Canyon), Les (Pitch), Willy (Cotic)
Weather: Perfect
Mechanicals: Only the one puncture today - Dozer, not much else apart from stiff front mech for Willy caused by dimwitted assembly
Injury's: Farqui suspected tendonitis is much better but thinks he may need another soak in the jacuzzi, Willy rather bruised upper thing needs a massage plus sore head.
Cock up of the day: Table top....

Morzine Day 3

Decided to go over to Switzerland agin today to Morgins via Chatel (France). So far Dozer has been in charge of the navigating - Day one planned to do the Passport du Soleil - got lost. Day two planned to go to Avoriaz (ended up in Champery - Avoriaz now renamed Avoidiaz) so we were all looking forward to the magical mystery tour that was to be day 3. In fact all went reasonably well for the first couple of hours, nice tracks beautiful weather as we made our way over to Chatel - but that is where things again started to go wrong. A track had been closed for forestry so the route into Chatel was a long hack on the road ending with a long drag of a climb. Still a nice gentle blue DH run awaited us in Chatel which actually started well until I punctured (3rd of the tour so far), then immediately Les did too, then Les again (he walked down after that). Still, great fun so we did it again and then started to make our way over to Morgins - big mistake - near vertical walk up and a buttock clenching descent with Les puncturing a further two times on the way down and incredibly Dozer puncturing whilst walking up - how the **** did he do that? Eventually made our way into Morgins on the road and Les punctured yet again as we got to the lift back towards home at around 3pm.

From Morzine Day 3

It then started raining, then hailing then lightening and thundering so much so that they shut the lift up and we had to get the Riders retreat guy (thanks Paul) to come and pick Les & me up so Les could cook dinner and then I could treck the 40km back again to pick up Dozer, Uphilla and Farqui in the car. We finally got back to the chalet at 8.15pm - has to be said morale was a bit low. Still with Les's curry to look forward to things are now a bit brighter. Will let you know how the curry is tomorrow - provided we are still alive :p

Route/Profile.

Pic's.

Posse: Dozer (Canyon), Farqui (5Spot), Les (Pitch), Uphilla (5Spot), Willy (Cotic)
Weather: absolutely fabulous sunny with little breeze and toasty warm followed by a bloody great storm at 3pm.
Mechanicals: More pinch punctures than has ever been recorded (one whilst walking uphill) Farqui's Pike still not well.
Injury's: Farqui suspected tendonitis (though we are doubtful that was caused by cycling), Uphilla inner thigh rub from pads (sceptical about that too). Willy - ant bites whilst fixing puncture.
Cock up of the day: Dozer for navigation and managing to delete all his photos - drunk again...

Morzine Day 2

Sunday, 28th June

From Morzine Day 2

Route/profile.

Pic's.

We ended up in Switzerland today - Champery and found a whole heap of much more flowing trails that were great fun. Oh and it's high over there :p

Offs:

• Uphilla stacked on the G5 but his armour saved him
  
• plenty of other minor stacks
  

Posse: Dozer (Canyon), Farqui (5Spot), Les (Pitch), Uphilla (5Spot), Willy (Cotic)
Weather: absolutely fabulous sunny with little breeze and toasty warm. x1 downpour mid afternoon
Mechanicals: Farqui's Pike decided to dump it's damping fluid (Floodgate cap gone and o-ring not sealing), Uphilla and Les replaced their brake pads. Willy and Les had a few pinch punctures.
Injury's: plenty more bruises

Ambergate Downhill 28 06 09

Gareth (friend from when I used to work for Nationwide) emailed me a few weeks ago asking if I wanted to ride ‘someplace’ on 28th and after a bit of searching about, and trying to locate somewhere that was under 2 hrs away and had an uplift service (this failed) we decided on ‘Shining Cliff Woods in Ambergate, near Derby. I’d been there a few times before and although the trek from the car park (read poorly surfaced lay by on a very steep hill) is about 500 MBUK miles from the trails, it’s worth it. The place is full of big boulders and roots and jumps and drops and berms and steepness.

The trails are ‘semi official’ and it seems that the riders have built up a good rapport with the locals and keep the trails to the bits you wouldn’t want to walk up anyway.

After a long ol’ slog on the M1 (speed limits enforced by average speed cameras, further enforced by a Mercedes having a blow out and bringing the north bound side to a standstill for about 15 minutes!) we arrived and set off down the newly smoothed out path and past all the derelict warehouses and factories. After several ups and downs we eventually reached the bottom of the main trails and set off up the track.

It was at this point that I was glad I hadn’t brought my body armour (although I usually wear it here due to the many pointy rocks!) and Gareth was regretting it big time. Although it was still a touch overcast from the morning’s fog, and the light was pretty poor in the woods, it was like a tropical garden in there. I could have showered in my sweat (probably).

Anyway, for a warm up we headed off down one of the swoopy, bermy and rooty tracks and ended up using about 10 different tracks on the way down as I entered corners with a little too much speed and ended up coming out of them on the wrong line, onto a different line. No matter though, they all end in the same place!

We slogged our way back up the hill for another run, choosing a rootier jumpy track that’s just flat out fast fun and after a few runs decided to head right to the top. Where it gets all rocky and steep! Some of the lines up the top are just insane. Steep corners on rocks, steep corners on rocks that have roots randomly growing inbetween them with trees as crash barriers… There are a few different options up here but I think my highlight is the trail that ends in this rock garden:


Before hand there are a whole bunch of rock gardens that you really have to commit to 100%. If you go in too slow you’ll stall and end up with a rock to the face… Pinning and just holding the front wheel straight and trusting your tyres and suspension to do the work was the way to do these.

After this we found a few more trails, with a sweet little drop onto a fireroad then off onto another trail with a steep bombhole and a rock garden that’s a good 2 or 3 feet of the ground… (???).

Our stomachs started complaining so we gave in and headed back to the car… only to get 75% of the way there for Gareth to realise he’d lost his goggles! Off he sprinted back up the hill only to return a few minutes later empty handed.

We fed and monster’d ourselves whilst Gareth reflected on the loss of his trusted goggles, “it gives me an excuse to buy some new ones”. Tsk tsk!

We figured we’d have a more thorough search after lunch just so we could feel happy we tried but this was fruitless so we carried on riding for another hour or so.

Utterly spent from sweating and pushing and sweating and pushing and swe.. yeah you get the idea, we took a final run down the fast jumpy track (although just in case we didn’t announce it was the last until we’d both safely made it to the bottom!) and blasted back down the fireroad to the car. Despite all the rock gardens with the tightly packed mech eating rocks, it was here that I got my only battle scar for the day… whilst flying down a particularly loose fireroad (back wheel getting a bit frisky) I heard some rock slam against the rim, taking a little groove out the side. Not bad, considering!

The day was topped off nicely by a pair of walkers approaching us and asking, “are these your goggles, by any chance?” Talk about timing and good fortune!

Overall the day was awesome, with some epically bumpy but fast and flowing trails. You also really get a feeling here that everyone (walkers and bikers alike) all get along.

Recently I’ve been feeling on a bit of a downer with DH, and begun to feel a bit despondent about it as I started to ride with less and less confidence. I started to feel utterly frustrated that I don’t even attempt stuff when riding DH whilst I don’t get this problem when riding my little XC hardtail. I even considered quitting and just sticking to ‘XC’ or whatever that thing is when you just get on your bike and go for a ride someplace that doesn’t require as much pushing as riding but today firmly put a stop to these thoughts. The Judge excelled, really eating everything I threw at it and for the first time since I’ve had it, it actually made sense. When riding the rock gardens and aiming for that pointy rock that will give a little kick to clear the next few rocks or holding it straight and true through the tech fests I was reminded of why I love DH so much. There’s still one jump there I wouldn’t try but next time…!

Posse: Dangerous Dave (Cannondale Judge DH), Gareth (Kona Coiler)
Weather: Foggy early on with the sun making an appearance later on. No breeze and toasty warm
Mechanicals: Warped disc caused irritating squeak on push ups but everything else stayed attached
Injury none!

Dangerous Dave is back, and now planning to ride every knarly DH track I can seeing as I'm not going to France this year!

Morzine Day1

Sunday, 28th June

From Morzine Day 1

The plan had been to miss the crowds and duck out of Morzine early (tick) and then head over Avoriaz/Chatel/Morgines/etc but as the route shows we ended up back at the start :rolleyes The descent was a mudfest of awkward slippery roots and was far from a gentle start to a weeks long riding.

We then headed over to Les Gets where we found the trails quieter, drier, more flowing and less rooty.

Offs:

• Uphilla stacked within the first few minutes, winded after landing on his chest
• within a couple of miles Farqui decided enough with all this brake-on malarky and promptly parted company with his rig - kneeing a divot with his armour :p
• plenty of other minor stacks
  

Route/profile.

Pic's.

Posse: Dozer (Canyon), Farqui (5Spot), Les (Pitch), Uphilla (5Spot), Willy (Cotic)
Weather: absolutely fabulous sunny with little breeze and toasty warm
Mechanicals: Willy suffered from severe chain-suck, Farqui's FD required a reset, Les broke a spoke
Injury's: plenty of bruises

The Gap (extended)

Yesterday Uphilla, DDave and I made good use of the excellent weather cranking ourselves silly riding The Gap in s.Wales (nr Brecon). The day started early for DDave and I who drove there/back in the same day, meaning a 4.45am start for yours truly :o but behind the curtains lay clear blue sunny skies which soon cleared my groggy bonce. Prop's to DDave who was 100% keen with a fettled rig and at 6am was keeping an eye out for his "taxi". Several doses of strong black coffee later we found ourselves parking in Talybont-on-Usk when Uphilla rpuled up (he's camping nearby at Hay-on-Wye for the week). Under a mild sunny sky it didn't take us long to jump aboard our steeds and head off into the wilderness...

Along a tree lined track, with gradually improving views of the Talybond Reservoir the Taff-Trail provides a steady gradient for around the first hour albeit riddled with small rocks to focus your attention. Admittedly they weren't too much hassle for Uphilla and I on our plush rigs but poor DDave was getting a right batterin' on his h/tail.

Anyhoo, the trail then soon changed from the wooded climb into open moorland ranging from often steep rocky double track to boggy bits as we continued the grind upward. You're then confronted with what initially appears to be an increasingly steep, old road but it transforms into a rocky step fest that requires a level of riding prowess (and fitness) that none of us posses. After a short hike-a-bike the trail levelled before gently descending into a hard worn 4x4 tracks that provided numerous line choices complete with the odd puddle and rocky section to plant smiles on our chops.

Ducking down into the woods the trail became very rocky with plenty of loose rocks that could be heard pinging from our down tubes, rims, spokes, shoes, etc, etc. The mossy wood lined track continued downward eventually turning to asphalt where we cranked our way around to the picturesque Pentwyn Reservoir. A short section of asphalt then brings you to the Taf Fechan river crossing which marks the start of the climb up to The Gap.

A steady road climb leads into a steady off road slog around those ever present rocks as you winch your way skyward alongside Tor Glas. Should you look up there are lovely views of the Neudadd Resv's not to mention the Graig's. Not long after leaving the road you get a sneak peak at the The Gap that gradually gets closer and closer the more feet you crank yourself ever upwards.

Whilst I sun'd myself in the lea of The Gap I saw that the peaks were mobbed with folk and as we hadn't seen many walkers coming up our side of the trail I feared our descent on the Brecon side would be full of walkers. Considering it's a Bank Holiday weekend I was very pleasantly surprised to find our descent was only dotted with the odd grumpy. I wonder if we'd missed the morning rush up and our lunchtime descent meant clear trails - a point to consider for next time.

After a rest (and moan from DDave) we saddle up and cranked into The Gap...

Having tried and failed last time this section previously I was 1k% focused on clearing the next few feet of trail that gently dips between rocky outcrops cut into the hillside. I'd forgotten about the nasty steps that keep appearing yet with loose boulders flying and my suspension working overtime I dived in. Whoomp, slip, drop, twang, eek, drop, phew, twang, eek, drop and plenty of pullin' and a pushin' on the tiller had me spring back into daylight and the awesome view to Brecon. My companions were a little more cautious (perhaps I yelped too loudly!) and after a sneaky peek they both slithered and slipped their way through.

The next 6 miles are ever downward, first on the rocky boulder strewn summit before hitting a twisty asphalt lane all the way down to the pub at Groesffordd for a well earned brew. After braking hard into the many asphalt turns I was just thinking how lucky we'd been not to meet an oncoming car when a jeep roar nto view. Thankfully our anchors slowed us enough to slither safely past although I think we each flat spotted a knobbly ;-)

Re-fueled after a long cold beer and a bowl of tasty soup we headed off into the unknown (non of us had done this northern loop) and these 3 off roaders weren't prepared for what lay ahead. Mile after mile of asphalt :-( We initially thought we'd be ridding off road atop an nearby ridge but the route had us push well beyond that and into a sweaty panting distance past Llangors. With ever steepening roads we gratefully hit dirt again at Cockit Hill, unfortunately the trail was so steep that it we knew it meant another hike-a-bike. Oh how this short steep climb teased us into at least 3 false summits before we all collapsed near the top in the sunshine. The views were worth the effort though, as the valley beneath us was awesome complete with Llangorse Lake and The Gap in the distance.

With just one more climb to go (grrr) we cranked our way along grassy moorland trying to match up the trails with our GPS. It meandered gently down with the odd fast section but the grass meant cranking was mandatory for our tired pins. Uphilla even got carried away and dived off down the wrong way but soon came back after realizing, by which time a whacked DDave had caught up.

A short while later the trail dived down over blind crests which'd be fun to ride again now we know there's nothing too sinister on the other side. A few 2ft drops would also be fun to loft next time :B The trail steepens into tight switchbacks down into Bwlch before hitting a monster long asphalt descent to Llansantffraed which had me cranking and the guys slip streaming - come on lads, there's no "i" in team :x

Back at Talybont-on-Usk DDave whimpered that he never been so glad to see a VW Golf (his ride home) :lol The village had picked up a few visitors since we left and after securing our rigs we nipped into the local for another well earned brewski.

With plenty of techie climbs and descents The Gap loop is challenging and satisfying but throw in the northern slog and you've bagged yourself an Epic Ride. The northern leg adds extra miles, lots of ascending but IMO not the smiles you'd hope for. However this monster loop did help justify the long journey there/back.

Thanks to Uphilla for arranging the ride and DDave for keeping me company for the 6hr journey. Oh and prop's to Volkswagen for 50mpg+ with the bikes on the back :p

Pic's

Tracklog

Posse: Farqui (5Spot), DDave (Solid h/tail), Uphilla (Ventana)
Mechanicals: None (amazing considering the abuse)
Weather: Absolutely fabulous darlings, barely a breath of wind and sunnier than I can remember in a long time

Ibstone

This morning a bunch of my knobbly chums and I met up a few miles south of Watlington in another area boasting many a red kite swirling overhead. R2 had pulled together quite a tasty route that enticed even clipperty-clopperty Robbery out of knobbled retirement :p

The weather forecast didn't look promising but after driving thru a few small showers, saddlin' up and cranking a few clicks the skys brightened and the layers were removed. Reviewing R2's route we knew that it wouldn't be long before we'd be panting up another ascent. But "what goes up, MUST come down" and the pantin' was soon replaced with "whoops" :)

The route consists mainly of bridleways but as is the norm around here they're often dug into the landscape and provide excellent banked turns to liven up the long fast descents. Thankfully the drizzle hadn't turned the chalky ground into a quagmire but I can image the route would be a serious grind in the wetter months.

The MG club followed us through the back lanes for most of the day which reminded us how far the old tin-tops have come along these days.

In preparation for our summer Alpine assault I decided to boot up with moosive 2.5" DH knobblies and give the new rubber a pukka test. They didn't seem to drag on a recent Woburn but my oh my was I getting fed up of constantly crankin' the blighters up 3k ft+. The trade off were completely solid DH run's were I could pick'n'choose my line with greater confidence. Mind you on the last flinty descent I had to temper my rapid descent as the sole of my feet were getting pounded with rocks kicked up by the front hoop ! Yes DHilla, I've finally been converted to Maxxis!

With all the Canyon rigs on this ride I kinda felt left out on my hefty Turner. I know that my German climbs a darn sight easier with skinny 2.2's. The last few climbs were long and the gully up the final haul caught out the few who still had the legs to winch their way up.

Thanks to R2 for organising another great ride on some tasty trails.

Pic's

Tracklog

Posse: Chaz (Nerve XC), Darren (Heckler), Dozer (Nerve ES), Farqui (5Spot), Rob (Flux), R2 (Nerve XC), Sicknote (Pitch), Uphilla (El Salty), Willy (Spesh h/tail)
Mechanicals: None - not even a flat tyre
Weather: Overcast clearing to sunny yet breezy

Penmachno

It's been roughly 3 years (to the day) since I first rode Penmachno on a set of Marin trail weakened pins. Although "rode" isn't accurate as I was completely shattered and don't remember much except the never ending pain. Both Uphilla and I were keen to revisit this trail, this time on fresh legs and also try a new loop donated by the trail pixies.

With busy weeks behind us and daylight savings kicking in we decided on a later than normal start and took a leisurely amble up the autobahn arriving at roughly 1pm, in glorious sunshine. Now don't get carried away, this is Wales and it's fickle weather also supplied a fairly brisk'n'chilly breeze that kept us from standing idly around. Although with knobblies promptly unloaded we didn't need any further encouragement to leap off up the fireroad...

My ride buddy has a fresher and more favourable recollection of this trail which helped spur on his wibbly wobby legs. After a couple of tentative opening sections (these trails ain't like those in the flat lands) we started to find our groove and start hammerin' along. The original trail follows the hillside in/out/up/down and is a relatively point'n'shoot afair with plenty of grip on hand 90% of the time. The other 10% was spent "catching" ourselves from near tumbles :p

The extended loop starts with a long fireroad descent (boo) but then show us some crackin' flowing singletrack that tempts you to lay off the stoppers and keep your speed up. Until it all gets too much and your forced to reign yourself in (a little) - beltin' stuff.

During my first visit I don't recall the wonderful almost panoramic vista of the Snowdon range, complete with snow capped peaks - awesome.

The new loop also has some of the longest board walk I've ever ridden. It's also got a fair number of turns that keep your focus at 110% Oh and a part fallen tree almost forces you to slow and duck underneath...tempting you to dab, but on we soldiered :-)

Shortly after the start I was grateful to find that the climbing eased off to a nice gradient with plenty of steady winches through rock gardens to keep you focused. The exposed, pedalie open section of the original is still there...along with the same 'orrid head wind :x

Unfortunately I missed my ride buddy take one of his now typical over-the-bars dive on a hidden dip that suddenly reared itself. Thankfully he came out unscathed.

Although the car park busier than we've ever seen it, we only saw two riders on the hillside so pretty much had the place to ourselves :thumbu

Worth the trip.

Tracklog

Posse: Farqui (5Spot), Uphilla (5Spot)
Mechanicals: None
Weather: Bright'n'sunny (no really!)

Formula Oro K18 FCS adjuster conversion

I recently upgraded a set of Formula Oro K18 brakes to K24 spec by adding the K24 master cylinder piston and FCS adjuster. The total cost of upgrade for front and rear is around £25.00. The addition of the FCS adjuster enables the front and rear brake lever travel to be adjusted in order to ensure even/balanced application of brake force front and rear.

Exploded parts diagram and spares listing at http://www.formula-brake.it/en/support/downloads/k18

It's a simple upgrade and here are some pictures to demonstrate the procedure. I hope its' of use to bloggers with K18's.........

Here are the spare parts kits purchased form http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/

The piston kit consists of a piston, seals, spring/plunger and seal grease. The FCS kit has the FCS adjuster, seal and C clip fastener.

The following picture shows how to access the master cylinder by removing the brake lever (note the small lever shaft retaining grub screw) which once removed then enables removal of the shaft and lever and provides access to the piston retention C clip. Once this is removed the whole piston assembly and FCS adjuster can be easily used to replace the original K18 piston assy.

I have already substituted the K24 spec piston and FCS adjuster in the picture shown.

Here is the re-assembled piston, C clip and retaining screw just before its assembly back into the master cylinder.

Finally, here is the master cylinder re-assembled and ready to use!

Chiltern Ride Invite

Ibstone - Chiltern Ride Invite...........

Ibstone is located between High Wycombe and Henley On Thames and is in close proximity to the nearby 'Ridgeway' village of Watlington. Watlington already has two blog posts. The first an MBR killer route, the second a fine route posted by Uphilla. It's a great area for riding and admiring stunning views, not to mention some decent MTB hills! The proposed route is just over 23 miles with 3100feet ascent. It should be a great ride to exercise the legs and lungs prior to summer or a trip to Morzine!

The proposed date for the ride is Saturday April 25th and you can see from the route map that the start point is in located close to the Pub at Ibstone Green. The time of ride is flexible as long as it allows for suitable refreshment in the pub ...post ride!

Let me know if you are interested.

Tracklog for route: http://knobblies.googlepages.com/R2_Ibstone2.trl

R2