Gossip In The Grain

It has been an age since an update. I have no excuses really, it's been pretty bleak here, but things are on the up. I won a regional, managed to make some B finals at the 1st 2 nationals, rode my bike an awful lot and Jacob back to training.

Since the last update, Jake has been pretty injured. He had a pretty serious off when he was on a Talent Team camp. On first impressions he seemed fine and we left him on the camp. It all went downhill when he came home and the results have been 3 weeks in plaster and continuing physio sessions. He's back on his bike but not firing on all cylinders. Won't be long before he's winning again.

This meant he missed the Derby national. I ended up going solo for the first time in years, well without the family. I missed them to be fair. As far as racing was concerned, my class was pretty stacked and we had to have quarters both days. I wasn't feeling the first straight which meant I was backing off before the gate dropped every time. Still managed to get to the semi's both days and ended up with some B final action.

Since the National, it's all been about the training for me and Jake and whoever wants to tag along. Hitting as many gate sessions and playing on track has been the key. With this in mind I have been following a training plan and watching what I've been eating. The result being that I have lost just under a stone in the last month and am still slogging on with it. It's gotta mean I'll be faster if I'm just as strong but lighter.

Last weekend was a rad one. Gates on Saturday (Preston) and Wrexham and Chester play tracks on Sunday. Sunday was a mixture of highs and lows though. I bumped into a neighbors car in the morning, smashing his rear light pretty bad. When I say pretty bad I mean £585 worth of bad. Looks like it's going to have to go through on the old insurance. Once we got to Wrexham, we got into the flow pretty much straight away. I had Peebs, Matty G and Adam G with me. About 20 mins in and Matty ditched it over the bars and looked like he had bust his collor bone. We hung on for a little while trying to get some riding in, but Matty was feeling the pain. As we set off to get him back to A&E, the rest of the road trip turned up (Dave Ives, Russ H, Josh H, OJ and Ben). Anyways, I got matty to A&E and called his folks. When they arrived I decided that i wanted to ride and headed over to Chester. Was hoping that the other crew were going to meet up with us, but it turned out that Ben had ditched it and broke his wrist. Not a great day to chalk down, but getting to ride Chester and watch Cal make it all look far to easy kinda sweetened the deal.I gotta say, Chester is pretty rad and I had more fun there than I do at Wrexham. There is nothing wrong with Wrexham, it just seemed that there was more stuff to suss out at Chester and a more race track feel.

Other good news is that work have allowed me to change onto night shift for the summer. To most of you that would seem a drag, but look at it this way. I get all of my weekends back. I get out of bed at about 2.30 everyday, ride my bike if I feel like it and then get into work. I think it's better than trying to ride after a 12hr shift and missing out on weekends.

Went to gates last night and was kinda gutted that it was raining, Preston start pad is not a place for me to practice on when its wet. Everytime I went to snap, I was wheel spinning like crazy. I decided to just let the gate drop and try and pull people back. Not bad training, just not ideal. Coppull tonight and I think I'm going to take part in racing if it's on. After all, 4 flat out laps in about 40mins sounds like good training to me.

So, while the mood is good and while I'm getting back to some BMX karma, I'll try and update a little more often. Just watch this positive space!!!!

Thousand Points of View

It's been grim at sutty towers since the last update. Hence the reason for no updates.

The reality of not being able to attend most of the summer races has finally settled on me and I've decided to hang up my racing shoes for the season. Yes the season hasn't even started, but I don't won't to do things half assed, so I'm going to chill. It's either on or off, I never enjoy the middle ground.

This means my blog will take a completely different view on things, no updates on training, should be more updates on playing more.

Still, in the last couple of weeks I've managed to ride, catch a gig and get some training in.

I managed to catch up with Gav and Emma last weekend and met Ruby Mae. The guys have done great, she's a bundle of joy for sure. Never thought I'd see Gav all doughy eyed, but I suppose having a daughter would change you. Here's a pic of Ruby giving the rock devil horns. Gav's training her early!

Jacob went on the Talent Team training camp last week. He seems to have had a good time, but had a crash at Leeds on Sunday. It was enough of a crash that he got carted off to casualty. But, when we arrived he seemed to be fine and we managed to get out of there pretty sharpish. He was fit enough to finish off the camp, so we left him and went home. I'd decided the day before I wasn't going to race the Leeds regional, was just soo tired after my 4 shifts on. So having to drive up there for no real reason kinda bugged me and Diane. Especially as the paramedics had cut his Troy Lee pants off him when he asked them not to. Grrrr.

I did manage to get out to Wrexham on Weds with Matty G and Andy. Andy wanted to give his new cruiser a run out. The track was mint, as it had just been resurfaced. There was a closed session on wghen we got there, but knowing Oggy, he let us on if we stayed out of the way. I even found out that Oggy reads the blog, he commentated that I had bad mouthed his design work at Bradford. I tried to tell hiom that it wasn't bad mouthing, just my opinion. After all, what do I know. Anyway, we had a killer couple of hours and I felt pretty good. was just good to brush the skills up. The lads seemed to enjoy it.

As for the gig me and the wife went to. Well it was excellent. The guy is called Ray Lamontagne, do a quick search. He does a lot of acoustic guitar moody music. Superb stuff. We were sat 4 rows back. It meant a lot to eventually see him perform, as the 1st time we had tickets, Diane ended up in hospital. It would have been our 1st wedding aniv and she was in hospital long enough that we had to cancel a trip to spain and miss the gig. So seeing him perform some of the songs relating to the previous tour was pretty moving stuff. Hairs on the back of my neck were going wild all the way through. The support act was even a class act.

Not mush else to report really, been building a few wheels up. Check out Adam G's new wheels. They are pretty pimp.Well I'm on my last shift. It looks like we are going to have to take Jake to casualty in the morning. His ankle seems to be getting worse. Fingers crossed all is well. Other than that nothing exciting will be happening, I'll try and get to the gym and ride my bike.

New Parents

Congratulations to Gav and Emma (Mr. Bikevideos).

Last night at 23.24 hrs Ruby Mae Foster entered the world. Weighing in at a healthy 7lb 12oz (thats the weight of an old S&M Next Gen Dirtbike).

Both Mum and baby are doing fine.

Nice one guys.

Are we there yet!!!

Yes yes, I promised more regular updates (too you few that read this drivel). I also promised I'd stay positive and only post things that didn't mean me moaning. Hence the lack of updates.

Though saying I have nothing positive to say is a bit of a fib. I'm looking back at the last 2 weeks, and too be fair, they haven't been to bad.

I've managed to get 2 weeks of solid training in. It's been easier that Jacob has had a plan to stick to as well. And am feeling pretty strong at the min, still going to lose a few pounds and hopefully be fit enough for full laps, but gating and stuff feels pretty good.

Last Monday I had an audition for Deal Or No Deal. You may all laugh, but Diane (she watches it a lot more than myself) wouldn't apply. I figured I had nothing too lose and filled out the online application before Christmas. It took me 2 days to sort it all out, they wanted to know all sorts. I basically sold them the fact that any cash injection would make Jacob's dream of being an athlete at the Olympics more of a reality. It did the trick and I had a telephone interview at the beginning of Jan. I passed that and was invited for an audition. The audition was in 2 parts.

Part 1 was a group session and then a 1 minute filmed interview. You could tell they were monitoring everyone in their groups (there was 88 people for the audition), and then we all got called for our 1 min camera action. It was pretty difficult trying to talk about yourself for a minute, but it seemed to fly by. Let's just say there was a lot of people there trying way to hard to be likeable, and there was a fair few odd-balls in attendance too.

We were then left for an hour and a half watching the episode where a woman won £250,000. I tried to relax and drink some coffee. And tried to talk to all the other nervous bods (I reckon they were still watching us). All of the DOND staff came back into the room and it fell silent instantly. The head girl had a written list in her hand. She asked for the people she called out to get their kit and make their way to the exit. I was the 5th name to be called. I honestly thought my day was over. As we made our way to the exit the security staff took us upstairs. Only 30 or so of us were taken upstairs. The head girl then arrived and made out like we had failed and promptly told we had made it through. The cheer was deafening!

Part 2 involved a 5 minute on camera interview. Now the nerves had really kicked in. I needn't of worried, this was more of an interview than having to talk unprompted. The pessimist in me says I won't have made the cut, so I'll have to wait and see. Fingers crossed. After all who wouldn't like to meet the legend that is Noel Edmonds.

I won't mention any names, but there was a certain elite rider that was at the audition as well. He was pretty shocked when I approached him. He then promptly told me that he hadn't told anybody that he was even there (hence me not mentioning his name). All I know is that it will be the only time that I will have moto'd him, he didn't make the cut.

Other than that last week was sprints and weights and then gates at Manchester on Thurs. All good quality sessions. I took my nephew to an old 80's track on Sat with Jacob and we got some laps in (He'd pulled his shoulder doing bunny-hops in the morning). I'm hoping to get my nephew at a race soon. He's pretty rad around the track.

Was a club race at Coppull on Sun. A pretty big turnout. We had 10 in cruisers. There seems to be a lot of new locals coming through now as well. It must be down to the new Go-Ride status. All good for the club. I'm hoping that the club sort the gate out though, it just wasn't at 90 degrees which meant it was tricky to balance on. On the racing side of things, I pulled the harder moto's and got a 1-1-4. I forgot to put my goggles on properly for the last moto. I did grab the win in the final, I felt pretty strong, so am hoping the work I'm putting in will pay off some more. Jacob got through to the payback final and pulled a 7th I think. Not too bad with a pulled shoulder.

Last night, we did some sprints in the snow. Me and Diane then chilled in front of the telly for a bit. She pulled out the calender and we looked at my working patterns for the summer regionals. Basically I'm screwed, I am only available for 1 round. I'm not a fan of the Brits anyway, but it's pretty depressing to think I'm going to miss all of the summers racing.

Yes it's a downer, but it just means I'm motivated to get back on the job hunt again. Big shout out to Rich as well, thanks for the character ref, lets hope it gets me on the telly. Other news for today though. Gav (Mr. Bikevids) and his missus (Emma) went into hospital so she could be induced, as of 21.00hrs tonight, still no baby. She's now nearly 12 days overdue. Come on guys!

Nights for the rest of the week so lonesome training and no family. I do love my job!!!!! NOT!

Time Heals

It's been a long time since I posted on here. The main reason being that I had nothing positive to say. And it appears that I use this blog as a bit of an outlet. My New Years resolution of not moaning was never going to happen anyhow.

Not a fat lot has happened since my last update. We had xmas and new year.

Xmas was great, we chilled pretty much. A quick visit to see my grand-dad in hosp and a family meal at Diane's folks. Quality time, that was shattered by being back in work on boxing day. Yeah, that's right, I'm still working the crappy 4 on 4 off (12hrs) shifts. I'll get more to that later.

New year's eve we drove down to south Wales. We missed the whole midnight thing but was pretty glad to be there in 1 piece after a foggy icy drive over. It was pretty cold the whole time we were there and I didn't bother doing any MTB this time. Me and Diane had a pretty big falling out due to my being an idiot, sadly I managed to make Diane's friends feel uncomfortable. Not a good start to the New Year and I'm shocked at how I behaved. Just hope they can all forgive me.So thats it really. I've tried to ride my bike whenever possible, but due to being at work and working daft hrs and patterns I have missed quite a bit of training. I was still waiting for a start date for my new job. 2 weeks ago my new boss called and told me I could start in 4 days, it was a non starter as I hadn't handed my notice in. Besides I hadn't been sent a contract, so had no idea on salary and stuff. Since then I've sat down and looked at the finances (I've just had a 3% rise in my current job). With the extra traveling expenses and a a wage drop, there is no chance of me being able to move for now. It's back to the drawing board. It's not that I hate my current job, it's just the shifts are making my life/mental/general well being a chore.

Reflecting on this has made me make some decisions. Working the patterns I have to work, I cannot commit to taking the racing seriously, I just can't get the time to attend races and practice sessions. Not without burning myself out in the process. I mean, I've had to use 12 days of my holiday allowance to be able to attend the national series this year. Obviously I will give 100% when at gate sessions, it's just I won't be able to do as many as I would like. This will also have a detrimental affect on Jacob getting out as well, so if anyone would like to offer a car space for him, let me know.

Saying all of the above, I did get to ride my bike twice this week. Manchester gates on Thurs. The track has been battered by the weather and the fact that HortiCON had built it (see Crewe). We need to get some work done their pretty quick. Had a good session though. And I rode today at Coppull. I felt pretty good on the gates side of things and was having a good time. I should have raced, but I told Diane not to register me before we left home, as I'm at work tonight (yes work again 6-6 nights). I got to watch all 4 of Jacob's laps though, I think the lack of bike time is taking it's toll on him too, he was flying, just a little rough around the edges. He still managed a 5th in payback (remember, he is still 13). Matty G won his 1st cruiser race today, and did it racing a cruiser for the 1st time. Good one fella.

Well, I'll post some more now that I actually am back working shifts and have nothing better to do when I'm here. And I'll promise not to moan too much, even I know i can't stick to that.

Go listen to Ida Maria, I know it's pretty mainstream. But hey, it gets the foot tapping.

Speakers Push the Air!

What a dull winter this is turning out to be.

I totally blew last week, what with plans of going to the gym and doing some solo sprint sessions. It was the dreaded night shift last week. I even booked Thurs night off with the intention of going to gates. The weather was pretty poor and I bottled it. I am more disappointed at myself than anything. But I will blame the recession and winter, everyone else is.

On Sat, it looked promising. Jacob had a Training session with Dylan Clayton and a load of youths from the North at Coppull. So, my plan was to drop him there and shoot over to Preston for a secret gate session and to blow the cobwebs off. As I turned up, the club had packed up and was leaving. They had a Christmas party. That was my plans blown to bits. Managed to hook up with Peebs and Louise and grab a coffee though. Jake's session had gone well by all accounts, just a pity his bike looked a right state. When tracks are frozen in the morning they are great, come the afternoon and they get real sloppy as they thaw out. Had plenty of time to watch and lube it when I got home though. It's a quality bike for sure (am pretty jealous).

Sunday was a Christmas club race at Coppull. I wanted to at least get some laps in. I was feeling like I hadn't rode in ages. Again as racing started, the track was mush. Just meant that it was riding pretty slow. I signed on as 17+ with the intention of chasing Jake and Cal S. They merged cruiser and 17+ due to numbers, this then gave us 2 gates. My moto's were stacked with Cal s and Nigel Smith. I managed a 2/2/2 though. I was feeling really rough before the 3rd moto, dizzy and really nauseous. I rode it anyway and was left dry heaving at the finish line. Diane rightly pointed out that I hadn't eaten since breakfast. I think I'm getting worse as time goes on. Come final and we had a good fast gate lined up, Jake, Cal, Twarn Nigel, Rory, Matty G and me (oops, can't remember the last one). I got an ok gate and stayed close on Jake's back wheel for a 3rd. I'm pretty happy with that, Jake's got a hell of a lot quicker and it was good to chase Cal (I say chase, but was nowhere near). If it had been payback, we'd have been sorted.

We hung around a bit at the end and Jake got some riding in with Paddy. It was a pretty chilled day. The trails are having a major overhaul at the min. I'll get a pic ASAP, it's looking impressive. I keep threatening to help and may shock the boys at some point.

This week has been a lot better though. We had our sprint session over at 3 sisters on Mon. It's turning into a bit of a club at the min. We had Me, Jake, Kyle Evans, CJ, Keavi, Shane, Jack and Tom out. A good solid session of uphill and downhill sprints. I just hope this pays off in the longrun. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it.

Last night I did some Plyo and chilled with Diane in front of the telly. We were both shattered and the prospect of sorting prezzies out is daunting us quite a bit. I need ideas for Diane, I've had most of my ideas snaffled by relatives, so if anyone has any tips on how to please the lady of my life without breaking the bank. I'm all ears.

I should have been hitting a sk8park tonight, but after working 12hrs, its a night in and a blog update. Gates tomorrow though. A solid session if it isn't raining.

On another note, why is there not any new ground breaking racing products for next year. Most race bike manufacturers are using this years design with new graphics. Surely the Olympics should have inspired them to develop new kit. Race kit for next year!! It's all about looking a mess with most labels. Whatever happend to clean factory looking kit? I suppose we have the new Tioga tyre to look forward to, if it ever reaches the UK. By the looks of things, it's gonna retail for 30 odd quid a wheel. That's most of us not buying then!

Go listen to a band called Pretty Girls Make Graves (espesh the album Good Health). Laters race fans.

Feeling the Age

I've been pretty slack on the update front. I've no excuses apart from the fact it's winter and IT should be the slack period. I'll keep on it a litle more, just so it isn't a mammoth update everytime.

Last time I updated I was planning on hitting Manc gates on the Thurs and get some training done. Well we did just that and managed to get some of the local kids involved. They even got together planning block moves on me. Was all good and my gates felt pretty sharp. Jacob's gearing was way to spinny, but he seemes to manage his bike ok. Time to throw a 43t on for him.
On the Fri and Sat, I got some wheel building finished off, I'd had them laced up for a while, just didn't have the motivation to tension them up. Just hope the peeps that got wheels were stoked with the colour schemes (white, red and white combo and candy blue spokes). Give us a shout if you want anything different from the norm.

On the Sat, we had an all nighter planned at Blackpool sk8park. Well a 9-12 session anyway. Carl had let a few good riders know it was on and the 1st hour felt like you were sat in the middle of the X-Games. There were a few of us considering binning it off early. I decided to ride with Jake and CJ for a bit and busted out the 20"(my very old Standard, see pic). I felt like a beginner at 1st, but soon got the flow and started sessioning the mini-ramp and other bits. I managed to talk CJ (9 years old) into jumping the mini spine and dropping in on the midi-ramp (a good 6ft+) and got Jake's disasters polished. The last hour was pretty hectic and we all rode our socks off.

On Sun morn, I realised that riding our socks off was not a good idea. It was race day at Manc and we all felt pretty dead-legged and the weather was freezing and wet. I did a good few gates to loosen up, but just couldn't get the leg speed out of the gate. I was pretty gutted really and won't be riding sk8parks before racing again. Jake won his 1st moto and then packed up, he was feeling pretty ill. Was good to see Jai out (Jake's TM), even though he didn't ride. I plodded on regardless and was getting holeshotted in every moto. I had a 2-1-1 and then got a 2nd in the final after leading til the last straight. Nice one Nige, your fitness showed in those conditions. Big shout to Rory for super quick gates and pimping me in turn 1 and to Kyle Evans, a couple more races and you'll be winning that payback class. Gotta give credit to Matty Glynn as well, he's pretty new to the BMX racing but took his 1st regional win, he's focused for nationals next year.It was good to get home to one of Diane's home-made currys and a warm shower after getting rained on all day.

When I woke on the Mon, my back was killing me. I felt it pull in the final and just put it down to being cold. I just hope its not going to be an old injury coming back to haunt me (it's probably riding the 20"). As it was, I decided to miss training for the week.

Last Fri, me and Diane headed into Wigan for some Xmas shopping. It was heaving! The shops were battered as well. All of the stock that was out looked like it had been kicked around before hanging up. We still managed a decent brekkie in Debenhams though. I got soo bored in H&M that I turned the hands opposite on the display dummy, Diane stopped me before I did the whole store! Wait a min, this wasn't last Fri, but the Fri before. Too big a break between updates. I can't even remember what happend last Fri!!

The weather on Sat put me right off going to gates in Manc. So, I decided to get the MTB out and go for a ride with Jake. While I had the bikes out, Adam Guest and Kyle Evans appeared with their MTB's. Quite a coincidence. I drove us all over the Frodhsam (for the North bods, its the big hill on the left when your going to the Vans shop at Cheshire Oaks), I hadn't ridden these trails for about 4 years. They were as tech as I rembembered them and I think the boys got into it. Very technical descents and tricky climbs all on singletrack. The fog was pretty severe adding extra difficulty (couldn't see 10ft in front of you at times). We called it quits at the right time as it was dark when we got back to the van. It felt good to be riding one of my old haunts again, I'll be back in no time.
On Sun, we grouped together again (Jake, Kyle and Adam) and headed over to Yeadon track in Leeds. It's had a complete makeover and is pretty decent. Nothing was massive, and it flowed pretty well. As we got there, the Goldcoast crew were just packing up to head over to bRADford. They'd been there a couple of hours and were pretty bored by the sound of it. We stuck around and sessioned for an hour and then headed over to bRADford to see what the fuss was about. It's a wicked tech track, yes some of the jumps are shaped all wrong and the pro-section is a waste of material (and don't get me started on the 2nd turn to non pro section straight). The rest of it is pretty good, technical and not easy. I had fun getting the 3rd staright dialled (dialled as in stiffback cruiser dialled)and watching Kyle taking dfferent lines was pretty rad. If he continues, he'll be one of our Olympic riders for sure, he's committed and is hungry for success. It turned into a mega session with 10 of us riding. Peebs, Lou, CJ, Shane, Keavi, Jack, Tom, Kyle, Adam and Jacob. Again, it's another place I can't wait to visit and get wired. The North is upping it's game.

I'm working nights this week, hence the late post. But, I'm going to hit the weights a little and get some solo sprints in. Def going to do gates at Manc. Gotta get ready for Doui, after last year, I'm going there better prepared. Watch this space! (I'll post pics tomorrow, as work are pretty tight on the internet front at the min!!)