You know when something is bugging you .............

Do you ever get that feeling??
Something's been bugging you but you don't quite know what it is.
Well.
Ever since the council put "that" fence around the Mardley bowl it has been a little challenge in my head to still ride all our favourite drops.
Why should we let them spoil our harmless fun?
We did go back and ride drops each end of the fence.
Then, looking back at my previous post about Mardley, I saw that I had written.
"Wobbly Knee is not doable. No run in."
THAT is what has been bugging me.
I have looked a couple of times and there was about half a bike length between the drop and the inside of the fence.
So.
This Sunday we took a nice little ride over that way.
Once at Mardley, Chris found a new drop-off.
It had a nice run-in and looked a good drop for us to do.
He managed to get it squirley as he landed on wet leaves.
That made us laugh.
No doubt, we'll be back there to all have a go.
Then off to Wobbly Knee.
I had a couple (3-4) of dummy runs and nearly manage to throw my bike off the edge but finally managed the tight turn and off the drop I went.
Following that we had Nicky, Chris and Gill going off it.
I was really pleased that we have now managed to do (almost) all the drops that were fenced off from us a few months ago.
Carnival 1 ... Council 0.
A special well done goes to Alex who rode the complete ride although she was very tired at the end.
It can only get easier my girl.
We had the usual slips and crashes during the ride from a few of the Carnival.
Mini took a heavy fall and moaned about his ankle, knee, hip, wrist and everything else.
...as you do..
James "Mickey" showed Mini how to do the front end crash properly.
Straight down like a sack of spuds and then leap back up with a grin on your face.
He he he.... A classic comedy dismount.
:O)
A good ride had by all.
DB

Rain rain rain rain ................

It's done nothing but rain over the last couple of weeks.
We still go out and ride in it but it does take the edge off the fun and games a bit.
Still....
I suppose you have to earn your good days eh?
And we do have good days.
It's just hard to remember them as you're plugging through foot deep mud and failing to get enough speed for that little jump that you'd been doing throughout the Summer.
So.............
We need a little reminder of what we were up to just a couple of weeks back.
Here's a short film clip to cheer you all up.

Happy days.
DB

Return of the Alex. The Carnival Strikes Back.

A long long time ago.....
In (Afan) a Universe far far away.......
The Dark side took from us one of our own....
She has been in the wilderness for many months....
But now she has been returned to the Carnival....

And what better place to be for that return than...............
CHICKSANDS.

An elete band of merry men (and women) went over to Chicksands to have a good old muck around.
We actually had two ex- invalids with us.
Alex, of course, who is coming back from major knee surgery and Mark who is coming back from a major error in judgement and a broken hand.
We took with us the (new) headcam and another video camera to capture the day.
I wasn't expecting much in the way of special footage there but how wrong can you be??
We managed to capture enough good video to put together another Chickie film.
Now.........
What can we call it?
I know..
Chicksands 3!
Gill managed to capture the biggest prang I've seen in a while.
A couple of chaps who followed me down the XC section just after the jump area.
With video still running..Gill captured the trailing guy coming in to land nose down......
Yoicks....... cabin doors to automatic!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_46xaiSRwI
He survived with a lot of gravel rash and broken Sunnies.
He was more concerned that the glasses were Oaklies and borrowed from his riding partner.
A great day had by all and a few new jumps and drops nailed.
DB

A newbie to riding..........

I think we take for granted the ease in which we jump on our bikes and go for a ride.
We've ridden for years.
Probably, (like me) you were riding bikes soon after learning to walk.
So....
It comes as a shock to us that some people have never ridden a bike.
How difficult can it be?
My sister-in-law, Lynne, was tempted out for a little ride with us this Tuesday evening.
She rode my little jump bike to start with because it is the smallest of all the bikes.
It has a saddle that cuts you in half but we didn't tell her that!! He he....
After a few wobbles she finally got into some cycling shorts (joke) (Sorry Lynne).
After a few wobbles she got pedaling and followed us off around the block.
As a newbie to riding, she had no idea of how to work the brakes or gears.
Gill talked her through changing gear but I think she should have concentrated on the brakes first.
First time she needed to slow down (a family of walkers coming the other way) she dragged both feet along the ground and kind of wobbled and wavered all over the place until she had stopped.
The family looked suitably (un) impressed.
Lynne survived the ride and said she had enjoyed it.
She's even planning to ride the unused bike she has sitting in the shed when she gets home.
Quite why she was limping as she left for home? I'm not sure I want to know.
:O)
Be glad that you don't have to give a thought to "how do I ride" as you leap onto the trusty bike and race off somewhere.
I've posted a picture or two to remind Lynne that she actually rode a bike and survived with only one bite in the back of the leg (from a rampant pedal) and a sore backside.
Well done.

And back to spinning.....

Alex came spinning with us this Monday for the first time in many months.
Plenty of resistance on the bike so that it wouldn't run away with her.
I think we all were all pretty nervous for her but she did the spinning and most of the floor exercises and lived to tell the tale.
That return to Chicksands is a little bit closer for her now.

Went over Mardley to look at the new fence...

And there it was in all it's glory.
Council must have spent a few bob there.
Why bother though? Who knows.
The bad news is that Wobbly Knee is not do'able.
No run in.
The good news is that the other slopes and drops are accessable.
They've left enough distance between the fence and the edge so we can just ride around the fence and down into the bowl.
Very thoughtful of them.
:O)

Wobbly Knee is no more...

As the Sol's were sailing the Solent, the Carnival ride went out as usual over Mardley way.
Sadly, the report back was that the council have fenced off all around the edge of the Mardley bowl.
That means that Wobbly Knee drop and all the other drops and slopes are no longer ridable.
A bit sad for those who hadn't got around to doing them yet.
I think it may be time to look harder in that area for new stunts to keep us scared.

The weekend is nearly upon us..

The weekend is nearly here again.
The Sol family are off playing Pirates on a boat this weekend.
The Carnival will be placed in the capable hands of James "Mickey" Michaels for the Sunday ride.
Please remember to rip the p**s out of him throughout the whole ride and generally heckle from the back.
Well........ It's only fair isn't it?
That's what you do to me.
:O)
Have a great ride.
See you all soon.
DB

The Carnival in Cannock.

The forcast for Sunday was for heavy thundery outbreaks so..........
To cheat the weather gods, I left off the mudguards and off we went to Cannock Chase to hook up with Eamonn and the boys.
True to form, we had a lovely dry day and even a bit of sunshine.
Cannock being Cannock, we found a few places where the going was a bit squidgy but mostly the going was good and firm.
Eamonn guided us through some nice singletrack and up some long gravely climbs.
It had to be done to find the next bit of downward trail eh?
The boys, James and Tom had a good ride again.
I think they have both grown a foot each since we last saw them.
It made it difficult for them to pedal with three feet!
Boom boom!
Gill took a good off on some slippy roots and had a roll around the floor.
Then young James put a foot down only it was the side where the hill sloped away.
He seemed proud of rolling 20ft down a hill without his bike.
Another great day at the Chase.
Food after was as good and cheap as ever.
Many thanks to Eamonn for the guiding.
We will be back.

Alex is pretty in pink.

This Saturday was a great day for us.
Alex got on her bike for the first time in 5 Months.
It was a nervous affair with all caution taken to not over extend (bend) her leg.
After 5 mins she was riding comfortably and enjoying the ride.
We rode around the block for about 15 mins.
It's going to be a long road but we will enjoy riding down it.

It'shh the Northhh Downnnss.

This Sunday The Carnival returned to the North Downs for some Surrey fun.
Suicide Dave kindly dragged himself out of the pub just in time to lead us.
Now I shouldn't laugh, because I have been there many times before myself, but................
Sui getting ready for the ride was a sight to behold.
Slurping on a bottle of orange juice (a magic potion to counter a dizzy head?).
"Oh. My front tyre needs pumping up"
Puts orange bottle on the path.
Bends over to pump tyre.
Orange bottle rolls away down the hill.
Camelbak bladder leaks water over Sui's head.
Oh well.
It can only get better.
(I hope)
:O)
Didn't stop the lad from riding like we know he can.
The ride was a great one as we suspected it would be.
Lots of hill climbs but always something to pay back the hard work at the end of them.
Sweet singletracks and fun bits to fall off on was the order of the day.
We got a tour of some of the play areas which looked a little scary for an old bloke like me but maybe next time we can pad up a bit and have more of a go of those.
Most of us took a few slide-offs and minor crashes but survived to ride another day.
Everyone rode well and came back with a smile on their faces.
The day was finished off nicely with a food stop at Peaslake.
Hmmmm...
Cheese straws.

We had 3 walkers with us (Alex, Abbie and Mark) who walked for 3 and a half hours.
(not counting the pub stop)
They were as worn out as us by the end of the afternoon.
Many thanks Sui for the guiding.
You did a great job.
Roll on next time.
Click on the righthand Fotopic clicky thing for all the pictures from the day.

One small step for Woman. One giant leap for Carnivalkind.

Good news of the week.
Alex went to physio on Monday and got put on an exercise bike.
She managed to turn the pedals all the way around.
That is the first time she's been able to do that in 4 long months.
Well done Alex.
Keep up the hard work and you'll soon be back riding just as shiv as the rest of us again.
:O)

Chicksands it was then.....

After our Chamonix week there were a lot of tired members of the Carnival who could not muster the energy to come ride on Sunday.
So....
A sunny Sunday at Chicksands seemed the best thing to do.
What a lovely day it turned out to be too.
Gill, James and myself rode a quick lap of the XC route while Abbie and Alex had a walk in the woods and looked for wildlife.
I was on the little jump bike so every climb threatened to pop me knees out. (excuses)
Both Gill and James rode the horrible steep climb at the start of the route with no problems.
Then off we went to the freeride area where Mark and Mini were waiting for us.
It was all very quiet in the morning so we took the opportunity to ride the 4 Cross course.
That was great.
All jumps were doubles or tripples, so that slowed us up a bit, but we still had grin factor 10 on each run.
There was a problem for Mark on one of our last runs.
Just as we went round the bottom section I caught sight of Mark landing a double and then coming directy at me balanced on the front wheel.
I thought at the time he was going to take me with as he flew through the air!
"Come on little fella......... can someone take a picture of Mark on my shoulder"
Gulp!
Lucky (for me) he landed just behind me.
Unlucky for him, he later found out he had broken a bone in his hand :O(
We then went on to the dual course and ripped (rolled) that up for half an hour.
Time then to move on to the jump area.
James got some great pictures of the action with his Okie Cokie 2000 whizzo camera.
(He can give you the correct description of it. All I know is that it's a good'n).
Mark was getting some nice big air.
That's the first time he's really joined us in the jumping.
He was looking good and in control (for once).
Gill too was looking good too and getting a lot of air beneath those wheels.
All too soon, 4 hours of fun had passed and it was time to retreat to the carpark and get some food eaten.
Thanks all for another great day out.
Thanks to James for being the photographer.

And so........back in the real world.

Here we are.
All back to work and slightly depressed after Cham.
What should we do to cheer ourselves up?
I know.
Go for a bike ride.
Weekday riding means we can't set out until 6-7 Oclock in the evening.
And now Summer has past us by it looks like this outside.













Hmmmm.......
Not quite a view of the alps is it?
Never mind.
As we ride we can plan our next adventure.
Suicide Dave has offered a guided tour around "Little Canada".
(Trails built in the North Down)

Haydn has pushed Mark forwards as a guide to a South Downs spectacular.
I think Gav may be down that way as well.

Eamonn (JA) is waiting for the Carnival to return to Cannock so he can ripp the p*** out of me.

Chicksands is sitting there waiting for the return of the Carnival Part 3.

So... Not all bad news then eh?
Let me see. Where shall we start.............Hmmmmmm......

Chamonix 2006

Hi all.
Well the Carnival made it safely home from this years Chamonix road trip.
A few cuts and bruises but that was to be expected.
The riding was of the most extreme we have done so far in our trips around the world (ish).
Our day two ride saw us taking one cable car to the top of a mountain and then a second to the peak of the Brevant.
From here you can really see the full extent of Chamonix Valley with Mt Blank towering in the background.
The first decent from the top was more hike-a-bike than swoopy.
After traversing for an hour to another peak we had lunch.
Then it was Scary down, down, down for the next 2 hours to the tune of howling disc brake rotors.
Wahoooooooo!
5 rides in 7 days was good for us.
The weather was very hot all week, which was good.
The week before had been very wet and they even had a bit of snow in town!
The wildlife in and around the mountains was varied.
We saw: Cows with bells.
Horses with bells.
Giant Crows.
Orange and Yellow Toadstools.
A big hovering bug type things which looked like a miniature Humming Birds.
Big Crickets.
A little bird with concussion.
A (f******) Eagle.
And Butt Cheeks.
But didn't see any Mountain Cats........... Meeow......"W......"
All in all a great week with a great bunch of mates.
Oh yes.....
We got driunk a lot too.
:O)

How good can a weekend be??

We had a great turnout for our trip to Cwmcarn on Sunday.
The weather was warm in the morning and HOT in the afternoon.
The trails were all bone dry and fast.
After a lap of the mountain in the morning we stopped for a bite to eat.
(It'd be rude not to)
The visitor centre is being rebuilt so I didn't expect much from the make-do hut that served the food.
The food was, suprisingly, very good.
And it was the first time I have eaten a full english breakfast out of a polystyrene box!
After that, it was time to take another shot at riding the mountain.
I the second ride was a bit quicker than the morning session.
Must have something to do with the fry-up I guess.
We rode to the top of the XC route and then took the fire road up to the very summit where the Downhill course starts.
It was the first time any of us have ridden this DH run so we wondered how we'd get on with it.
I can describe the run as Thrilling, Fantastic, Excellent, Technical, Jumpy and .. er....FUN!
It was the perfect way to end the day and get us into Chamonix frame of mind.
It was a near perfect day.
Thanks to all the Carnival.
Roll on Cham.

Time to get back into the groove.

This Sunday coming we are off to Cwmcarn to get the last few hilly miles into our legs before jetting off to Chamonix the following Saturday.
We will make a point of taking the cameras.
We have neglectet the photo shoots lately.
This time we'll have the stills camera, a video camera and a helmet cam.
We should be able to get a few images between us.
Cwmcarn 27th Aug at 10:00.
Be there or be elswhere.
DB

And an even HOTTER Sunday.

Phew!
Hottest day of the year so far on Sunday.
Temperatures reached 150 million degrees close to the sun.
32 degrees in Hertfordshire.
So what did we decide to do??
Yes. That's right.
We went mountain biking!
Well it was Gills birthday so It had to be done.
Heads were a bit fuzzy from the partying the night before but that didn't stop us arsing about as usual.
I took the first crash in Sherrards Wood.
Couldn't make my mind up whether to stay high or come off a tricky little technical bit.
So.........I came off the high! Oops...
Ouch.....
Nicky took the next crash.
Hidden stumps under high grass while tanking down a hill gave him the problem.
As he crashed he realised that there were a dozen big fat bloaters who would be bearing down on his poor little frail body.
So..... He rolled into some stingers to get out of the way! Oops.....
Ouch....
We had a few more comedy moments on the way home but all in all it turned out to be a very enjoyable ride.
And, a bonus.
Mickey forced us to have a beer and a sit in the pub garden at the end.
Nice one mate.
Happy Birthday Gill.

A hot weekend

Saturday saw us converge on Swinley Forest to "Go Ape"
What a lovely day it was too.
Very warm but nice beneath the tree cover.
Everyone enjoyed the swinging though the trees.
Sally and Barry have to be congratulated.
They are the least likely people to be found 50ft above the forest floor swinging around on a little piece of string and making Tarzan noises.
Rescue of the day came at the cargo net.
The experts had just stood down after Dorrie had conned them into thinking she needed assistance.
Then Sally saw what nice looking lads they were and called them into action.
Once she had their mobile numbers she was happy for the rest of the day.
We stayed on at the forest to have a picnic and to be spared the Fo*****l.
Once home and showered it was BBQ time at the Spinks with loads of booze and food.
Mmmm........

Happy birthday to:
Sarah and Gill.

The Cast is off..

It's time to rejoice.
Alex's leg is out of plaster.
It's been a long 7-8 weeks but she can finally get on that road to recovery.
Many thanks to all the well wishers and to all the people who have offered help and DVD's over the last couple of months.
Here is a picture of a very rare creatures leg.
All puny and hairy.
What can it be?

A practice road ride.

This Sunday we had a nice little ride to get into the groove ready for the London to Brighton.
We set off for an hour and a half road ride.
Road ride!?
Yep..
It was a lovely day for once so the ride to the transport cafe was ok if you like roads.
Actually it wasn't bad at all.
We kept to country lanes so were only threatened with "death by Ford Escort" a couple of times.
Lunch was great.
A healthy fry-up.
Hmmmm........
Most of us rode home off road which was more my cup of tea.
Shame that it had rained solid for about 5 years beforehand and that most of the trails were boggy swamps.
It made a three hour ride into a four hour ride.
(or was that me who slowed up things by having 2 punctures and a broken spoke?)
All was made better after the ride by a jolly good BBQ and plenty to drink.
Many thanks to Haydn for planning the route.
A nice touch was having the ride pass the same church twice to give us different views of it.
:O)
And a big thank you to Steve and Tracy for the BBQ afterwards.

Son of ladder.

A few weeks ago we were over Chicksands playing on all the stunts there.
Gill and Halford James both dropped off Son of Ladder for the first time.
This picture was grabbed from the video we were shooting.

Up-date on Wobbly Knee.

Just passing by Wobbly Knee on Sunday.
Took the opportunity to ride it a couple of times (as you do).
Eric has been gagging to do the drop so we waited as he sized it up a couple of times.
And a few more times.
He was making US nervous by stopping right on the lip of the drop!
Well he made it over in the end and seemed to enjoy it.
Cos he went back up for another go.
:O)
Well done Eric.

Wobbly Knee Drop.

John Stalker has asked for a picture of Wobbly Knee drop.
So here it is.
Slap bang in the middle of the Mardley Bowl.
It's a nice little step-down.
Thanks to James for the picture

May 7th Local riding.

This Sunday we had a local ride.
Left Alex at home (see below).
Plan was to have a little peep at a drop or two that we have been eyeing up for ages.
On arrival the daring Mr. Price was up for it so pads on and....
Off he went..
He made it look easy.
So. It would be rude not to follow him wouldn't it?
Off I went.
Yep. Easy.
Chris and I watched from the bottom of the drop as Nicky aproached the lip.
And off he went too...........(didn't see that one coming!)
That made us laugh.
Then Mark decided it had to be done.
Gill wasn't to be out done either.
We all felt happy with our work there.
A cirtain splinter group has been heard to say that drop is called Gay drop because it's so small.
So. Chris, Gill, Mark, Nicky.........."you gayers!"

It is called Wobbly Knee Drop really.
:O)
DB

Afan..it was a good weekend....it was a bad weekend.

Well.....
Where to start??
We went to Afan for a long weekend with all our riding buddies.
Staying at the lovely Gelli Farm we planned to ride every day and party every night.
We arived at the farm Friday morning.
Stashed all the luggage and went for a ride.
Great weather. Rather warm and dry.
Back in the evening the rest of the Carnival arived.
Saturday was just as nice.
Rode in the morning and again in the afternoon.
Terry did the traditional BBQ in the evening and we partied on down.
Unfortunately, Terry and son Mark were very ill in the night.
(finger points to Terry's cooking)
Just one of those things really because we were all eating the same food.
Sunday was a bit of a disaster.
I sat on my bike to set off on the next ride and the front hub fell apart.
As I was trying to sort out a wheel from the shop the call went out that Alex had fallen off her bike.
As it turned out after spending the day at A&E she had fractured a bone in her knee and done ligament damage.
We spent the last day at the farm sitting with her and her full leg cast watching DVD's.
We all had a great weekend as usual even if it was a little strange at times.
Next year we plan to go back to CYB and sampple the delights of the Dolgelli (SP) bunk house.

I got my wish!

I did say "I want my big bike back."
And back I got it.
And big it is.
Bloody big!
With Borrowed All Mountain SL forks bolted on.
These are set to 150mm so it looks like a Chopper bike and feels like a motorcycle scrambler.
Just sitting on it makes you want to do all those funny motor noises.
"Barrrrrrgghhhhh .. oooooommmmmm..pahhhhhg.."
(wild revving noise).
It's making me smile just thinking about riding it up a mountain.
Afan tomorrow.........for 4 days riding (and eating and drinking).
Wahooooooo...
See some of you there.
See you others whan we get back.
Have a good weekend.
DB

"Just another manic Sunday........."

Well Sunday came and I had no XC bike to ride.
Up in the attic I went....you never know what you can find up there eh?
Down-stairs I came with my little play bike.
14" frame, Magura hydraulic rim brakes that rub all the time and a seatpost just about long enough for a Dwarf with short legs.
That'll do nicely!
Did I meantion it rained?
I did kind of enjoy the ride.
11 of us turned out.
We did about 4 hours of XC riding.
The ups were painful.
The downs were good fun on the little bike.
The flat bits were ok ish.
I managed to clear the scary log that marks the start of the bridalway just after the woodyard.
Been looking at that one for a year or so.
It has nasty metal spikes sticking up that hold it in place.
They have kept me off of it until this week.
That is the good thing about riding little bike. It's always up to the job if there's a stunt to pull.
Nice to have Peter join us for a Sunday ride. I guess riding planks in the wet isn't the most enjoyable thing to do.
Did I meantion it was raining?
I DID enjoy the ride but felt exhausted and a bit ill in the evening.
I want my BIG bike back NOW!
Roll on Friday.
Afan for four days....
Weh hay..........
DB

Easter Carnival

We had a couple of great rides over Easter.
Friday we rode local and Showed the Lovely Ed our favourite play areas.
There was some good riding going on.
James (Mickey) cleaned the right left corner section on the Boardwalk.
He's gonna bragg about that for a while.
Most of the others (including me) didn't make it.
The ride was finished off with a pint of beer and some chips at the golf course.
And the sun shined. :O)
Sunday we went to Chicksands to get our fix of silly stuff.
The sun came out again.
Everyone seemed to be trying something new.
Hats off to James (Mickey) who risked life and limb on the North Shore at the top of the hill.
Well done to James (Halford) and Gill who overcame the scary monsters to do the Berm drop.
They then got all cocky and both dropped Son of Ladder straight after.
It was scary to be watching but they did it safely and with style.
I daren't think what is next!!!
Another great day out.

Local Sunday ride

It's the charm of mountain biking. Every ride you find new stuff to ride.
Even out on our local trails (which we know inside out) we find new fiddly bits to fall off.....of.
While we arsed about on Herts only switchback Mickey was discovering a new dropdown for us to play on.
We got stuck in straight away.
10 minutes later we had to drag the boys away from having "one last go".

We had quite a few crashes during the morning.
No lasting damage. Only bruised ego's.

The ride finished with us sessioning a section of three log piles.
The last of these had a difficult lefthand turn onto it which saw more that one comedy dismount.

It was hard work riding home against a blustery wind but we took home with us a few stories that can be exagerated for re-telling later.

As usual. More pictures on my Fotopic website. Just click from across there (points to the right).
It's what you right hand is for!

Listen to the band.

Last night we went to "Club 85" for some gigging sounds dudes.
On, for one night only, was the Carnival's own Nicky Price who is the front man of the band Overdose.
They took the place by storm.
Best band of the night by a long way.
Highlight of the set was a rocking version of their classic "My Dreams"
The crowd was jumping, the place was rocking and we were rolling.
We'd had a few beers!

OVERDOSE

"MY DREAMS"

A local ride for local people.

This Sunday we started out on a nice sunny local XC ride.
How nice is it to ride in the sunshine and not to be cluttered with loads of layers of clothing?
We managed to do a few stunts on the way over to Hertford.
Then it was time to introduce Dyson's Drop to the uninitiated.
This is a nasty little steep bumpy drop into a dog-leg right turn before continuing down to a chalky off camber finish.
If you miss the dog-leg you hit the tree that is placed there to "Rip yer spine out!".
Well the first-timers did the drop with ease.
Stevo did it in two bite sized chunks (but it still counts).
Nicky and Debbie rode it as if they had done it for years.
I was hoping for a bit more drama from them all because, a couple of years back, this drop was, for me, about as scary as it gets.
Well done Stevo, Nicky and Debbie.
Then we went off to Hartum for a couple of steep drops.
I hear one of the lads fell off there but didn't see any evidence of that.
I was too busy exploring the slope for new drops.
I found a couple but I'd have to Kill Yer if I told you about them.
On the way home we stopped and sessioned some off camber up-slopes with drops and trees to get over/around at the top if you survived the full out blast up the slope.
Comedy moments from both Eric and James (Halford) as they missed their lines completely and just hit an unsuspecting tree.
We were all relieved that no damage was done.......(to the tree).
Big up's to all who attempted them.
We finished off with some drops off the aerodrome concrete plinth.
Not so much a XC ride as an unplanned tour around all our favourite play and stunt areas.
Roll on next ride.
:O)

Suprise visit to Chicksands

Due to a severe weather warning Sunday morning we decided to change riding venues from the Peaks to Chicksands.
The place was deserted and so we took advantage of that to do as many stupid stunts as we could.
There were two stars of the day.
No.1 was Gill who rode more North Shore than ever before.
She cleared all but the final see-saw on the section on top of the hill.
She only missed that because she was so suprised to survive the final skinny section.



No. 2 Was Nicky who after several attempts cleaned that same section and then kept coming back for more.





He had earned his luck earlier on in the day.


Unlike me who rode the log like a seasoned pro every time.
Well........
Not every time.



Great fun had by all though.

At last. Some lovely Sunshine.

This Sunday we had a great local ride.
The sun came out and you could almost believe it was summer.
The morning ground frost gave us loads of grip and no mud.
It was all so nice we decided to take a camera with us.
We did loads of stunts to pretend we were back in Chamonix again.
A few drop-off's, rooty drop-ins and Hertfordshire's only switchback.
Later in the day the sun thawed the ground enough for us to start slipping and sliding all over the place.
Oh how we laughed.
Gill and I didn't want to come back home but after 5 hours I guess we had to.
We have to remember that some of the others have a life after MTBing!

Gill going off Letty Green platform.
We spent 10 mins here going off various parts of the platform.











Debbie crossing a stream in Wormley Woods.

Return to Cannock.

The Carnival returned to Cannock on Sunday.
Forecast was for a mild and Sunny day.
That ensured that we had -50 deg. and rain.














It wasn't really THAT bad.
We all had a great time playing in the midlands mud and met the two newest members of the Virtual Carnival.
Eamonn's two lads James and Tom.














He told me they have only been riding a short while but they both went like seasoned pro's.
There was a lot of good singletrack sections to get us all grinning.
Loads of slippery downhill to make us either laugh or fall off (or both).
And a few jumpy bits where some of us nearly left the ground.
Most of us were happy to take easy falls and slide along the ground.
Not Mr. Chicken!
He had to look for the nasiest place to crash.
Once he had perfected his style he took a run-up and showed us how to stack it BIG stylee.
Respect.














After that it was time for food.
We walked all our mud through a lovely clean visitor center and sat down to re-fuel.
Always looks good when the bikes are placed in a line.















Many thanks to Eamonn for the guiding.
Here's to next time.

More pictures are on Fotopic website.
Go to your right and click on ...er......Fotopic.
Cheers.

A Visit to Cwmcarn South Wales.

The Carnival Upped sticks and rolled into Cwmcarn on Sunday.
It was a great day out.
We met up with a couple of mates from Chamonix. Ed and Chris.
Ed has a brand new bike after breaking his last one at Chicksands.
A lovely Red Cotic Soul. Very nice.
Chris still has the same old Specialized in Stealth Black.
Lap one of Cwmcarn reminded us how much we love/hate the first section of technical climbing.
Casualties on the first lap were:
Debbie. Broken freewheel 5 minutes into the ride.
Terry. An off and a bit of a roll around the floor.
Cham Chris. Had a slide off into a bank in one of the wooded sections.
All great fun. No broken bones and everyone was smiling after the last downhill section onto the carpark.
We were all thinking we could have done that FASTER!
Lunch was a nice fry-up (it's gotta be done).
Then lap two.
More of the same fun and the sun came out. :O)
Casualties on the second lap were:
Mini Me. Cut his finger while demonstrating his trials skills. (he didn't need airlifting from the mountain)
Alex. A tricky root gap. She spun off and fell down the hill a bit.
I laughed at her.
Me. I did exactly the same trick and fell off trail side and rolled around a bit.
As we thought, we went faster on the downhill sections this time.
The last hoon down to the carpark saw the Carnival out of control.
Nicky managed to stack it half way down. He got dusted down by dad and was off again in seconds.
Top Day. Top Biking Buddies. Top That!
All pictures remained inside the camera because it gave up working. Doh!

Halford James Is not a Jey XC rider

Halford has objected to being portrayed as a Jey rider who can't ride technical stuff.
He has actually done some great stunts on his bike.
Here he is riding down a quarry in the North Downs.




Mind you.
He did have to clean the poo out of his shorts after.

January 2006 at Chicksands

We have had a bit of fun recently at Chicksands.
It was good to see Chris and Alex sail over the scary Log Drop.
Both Gill and Nicky dropped off the Rooty Drop for the first time.

Trick of the day must go to Mini who rode backwards up the rooty drop. I helped by pushing him.

More Carnival Members

We have loads of Carnival rider that can't make it out with us every week.
The usual excuse is either "the wife won't let me come out" or "can't be arsed".


This is John (Stalker) Moore.
He started using the first excuse but swiftly moved on to the second.