Progression of the Herts Carnival 2005-2008

London to Brighton 2009

2009-07-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Well we went and did it again this year.
London to Brighton..... 56 miles of gruelling non-stop road riding.
Ok. Ok. 18 miles riding and then a stop for a burger.
Here are the burger boys Stevo and Eric.

Another 18 miles and then stop for a cake.
Another 12 miles and then stop for an ice cream.
Then cruise down into Brighton and take the applause from the crowds of people at the finish.
Yes. We is athletes ya know.

A 6am start meant that we could get a move on and not get baulked by the majority of the other 27 thousand riders.
The weather held up nicely with no rain and fairly cool light winds.
All of the group rode up Ditchling Beacon without as much as a moan or groan.
The hard part of the climb was getting past the mass of walking "riders" as they spread out and staggered all over the road.
Third highest point in the South of England.

Once into Brighton we quickly got changed and straight down the pub for lunch and a few beers.

The sun came out and once fed and watered we were straight onto the beach for two hours of synchronised sleeping.
(the body count grew throughout the day)

Thanks for all sponsorship money so far.
Don't forget there is still time to give if you haven't already.
There is a donate box on the right hand side.
Don't be afraid to click on it.

Scotland at Easter.

2009-05-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

The Carnival made it's first trip up to Scotland this Easter.

We allowed a day to drive up there, 4 days of riding and a day to drive home again.

We were In the South West region.

The base was a lovely 20 berth log cab in on the shores of Loch Tey.

A beautiful and scenic area.

Riding en mass through 4 of the 7 Stanes areas was a great experience.

The weather was very kind to us with wall to wall sunshine (while it p****d down in the south of England)

Yes. We were blessed again.

The trails were quite technical and rocky but the climbing was not as severe as we were all expecting.

There were a few crashes in the rocky terrain.

I can take the credit for one of the biggest.

Ouch!!

I must say that 4 weeks later I am still limping after that one!

A brilliant time had by all and we are looking forwards to our next trip up to sunny Scotland.

Scorchio scorchio

2009-03-23T04:27:00.000-07:00

Another lovely day. 25 degrees in torre.

Guess what time it is.

2009-03-23T04:25:00.001-07:00

Yes. You guessed. Lunch!

A bit of sun bathing.

2009-03-22T07:00:00.001-07:00

Chilling on the beach with greenday on the phones and no one near us. 24 degrees and getting a tan.

Sunday breakfast

2009-03-22T03:33:00.001-07:00

Yes. It does look a bit like beer. .;o)

It's not just me.

2009-03-21T09:07:00.001-07:00

Keep the sunburn in the family.

Sun and gin

2009-03-21T09:05:00.001-07:00

I know it's not a good look but. . . . A scorched face enjoying a g&t is quite a good feeling.

Anyone for cricket?

2009-03-21T06:22:00.001-07:00

Found this mutant cricket having a hop around town. Hola cricket.

13:00 hrs local time.

2009-03-20T05:29:00.001-07:00

Oh what a hard life. A large beer and lunch by the sea. 20 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

7 am. Beer time.

2009-03-20T00:03:00.001-07:00

Cheers.

5 am. Holiday time!

2009-03-19T23:56:00.001-07:00

Time to get our lazy asses out of bed and head off to the airport.

A cheekie midweek Swinley Forest Ride.

2009-03-14T05:37:00.000-07:00

What to do.....
A lovely mild and sunny Thursday morning.
Gill and Chris not working.

Hmmmmmm..

(Shouts) .. "BIKE RIDE"

Haven't been to Swinley Forest for ages so off we go.
What a hoot.

We must have ridden every trail 3 times over.
(And not JUST because we were lost most of the time).
Loads of short sharp climbs to kill the legs.
Loads of tricky technical downs to make the adreneline flow that bit faster.

One little crash (Chris).
A few near crashes (Chris, Gill and Me).

Perfect riding weather conditions.
Mega fun had by all.
And to cap it off.......
Lunch from the back of the car.

Thanks Gill for the food and drink.
Thanks Chris for driving us.
Best bit of riding I've had in ages.
;O)

As Rod Stewart sang............

2009-02-08T06:32:00.001-08:00

The coldest winter in almost 14 years.

We have had snow all week in Hertfordshire.
The freezing conditions meant the snow was still there Sunday for us to play in.
Here we come.
Looking good.

Straight into deep and frozen snow.

All of a sudden it's not quite as easy as it seemed.

Still...
Being hardened bikers we all got going.
(and because the camera was out)

It was harder to walk than ride as Gill demonstrated by tripping head long into the snow face first.......Twice.

And off to the next frozen track.
Safer than the roads though.
Both Gill and Nicky slid off on the icy lanes.
Great fun had by all.

The Return of the Spinks.

2008-12-07T06:29:00.000-08:00

Well....

After his accident in Spain Eric has been in forced rest mode.

That is until last weekend.

We dragged him out in the cold and rain.

Unfortunately the rain meant I had to keep the camera at home so no pics.

This week the sun came out and so did the camera (still bloody cold though).

There were some beautiful views with the sun streaming through the trees.

...and us streaming through the trees.

...and us streaming through the streams.

...and....... Ok. Enough of that.

Here are some pictures.

Look at that sky.

Yayyy.

This Video is available in full DVD quality at all good Delbert shops.

2008-11-21T08:17:00.000-08:00

Starring The Herts Carnival.

See them make no attempt to ride on the first day.

(swimming pool was sooo much better)

See them arse around.

See them try and ride bikes.

See them crash.

See them cross-dressing......ehem...sad but true.

Today is the 150th Aniversary of the Gin and Tonic.

2008-11-05T11:05:00.001-08:00

First invented in India in 1858.

Tonic was the drink they used to combat malaria.

(Hence Indian Tonic Water)

The quinine in it made it taste bitter so.........

They had the bright idea of adding Gin to off-set that bitterness.

And bloody good job they made of it too.

I guess they were ..... Very very drunk at the time.

And home again.

2008-11-02T08:59:00.001-08:00

We are all cheesed off to be home.
Here are the pictures that are on Sierra Cycling's website.
http://www.sierracycling.com/imagegallery/2008-10-4/index.php
All that blue sky..................
Hmmmm...
Enjoy.

Injury of the week.

2008-10-31T08:33:00.001-07:00

Eric turned an ankle and is sat out the rest of the week. Great colour eh?

Poor old fella.

It turned out that he has ligament damage (and very black toes).

The good news was that it was near the end of the week.

The day after this accident 6 of us went out on the wettest, windy and coldest ride I have ever had in Spain.

Mini gave up after 10 mins.

The rest of us pushed on for another hour and a half before calling it a day and ending up in a bar.

Several brandy coffees warmed us up.

We stood there with gallons of water pouring from our clothes onto the bar floor.

He he he he..... Had to be done.

It absolutely pi***d down for the rest of the day.

We had to go and eat and drink for the remainder.

What a hard life.

Group picture.

2008-10-29T02:41:00.001-07:00

Time to pose after a big climb.

Just an excuse to put our lungs back into our chests.

This was our last ride before rest day.

Everyone was glad to get to this point and get a good 'ol dose of downhill.

I never booked rain!

2008-10-28T10:11:00.001-07:00

The tuesday ride started like this. But by the time we got to the mountains the sun came out. Yay.

The girls

2008-10-28T00:23:00.001-07:00

It's always good to see girls serious about their biking.

Look what we found.

2008-10-26T09:20:00.001-07:00

Would you believe it?

Up in the hills while riding along we came across this Casa.

We just had to get a picture of Mini-Me with it.

SMALL world eh?

(or a big world if you´re Mini)

The riding starts.

2008-10-26T09:18:00.001-07:00

Out on the trails at last.

A great day had by all.

We had a couple of crashes (Nicky and ..er.....Nicky).

No harm done though.

Ian and Johnny are the guides.

They seem good guys and happy to throw us down mountains.

It took a little while to get used to the hire bikes but after that it was business as usual.

We had a swim after the ride and then off to stuff our faces and have a beer or two.

...or three or four or five.

It´s a hard life.

Only us.

2008-10-25T12:44:00.001-07:00

Here we are saturday afternoon. We are meant to be setting up bikes but we won't leave the pool.

Early start.

2008-10-24T20:49:00.001-07:00

4 am and we start off with a beer and some food. Gotta be done.

SPAIN SPAIN SPAIN>>>>>>>>>

2008-10-24T09:20:00.001-07:00

We are now all finished with work and getting into the holiday mode.
Don't tell anyone but I've just poured a G&T.
The burning question is whether to get a few hours sleep before setting off to the airport.
We have to be off at 02:45hrs.
Hmmmm......
What would you do?

Norton Green Mini Ride.

2008-10-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

Another great day for a ride.
Weather was probably spot on for riding.
Bright and breezy. About 16deg and with the sun somewhere trying to break through.

A few visiting Carnival members joined the ride.
Christine and John turned out. That is the first time we have seen them for ages.
The big news is that they are to get married early next year,

Yayyyy... can I be a bridesmaid?

Mini's next door neighbour John joined in the fun.

Terry turned up with young Joe but minus Debbie.
She has damaged ribs after a crash on last weeks ride.
Get well soon Debs.

The ride was good and fast with a few downhill runs of loose boulders.
Only one crash.

Mini got himself stuck in a rut and off he came.

Young Joe did get it very sideways on one descent.
He hit a big rock and nearly laid it down in front of me.
Lucky for him he didn't go down.
I can only bunny hop about 2" off the ground so he'd be in trouble.

Later in the ride we bumped into Greenhouse Garry and Becky.
We seem to bump into Garry in the most obscure places.
This time he was behind a hedge in a field mending a puncture.
Last time it was at Chicksands.
The time before that in Afan.

Anyway...
A good time had by all.

Was great to see everyone laughing and joking.

It was our last ride before Spain so........
if your not in Spain with us....See you in a couple of weeks.

Ladies and Gentlmen.....The ABE Song.

2008-10-18T06:12:00.000-07:00

Yo yo yo yo yo....

Nickey and Mark entertain us in Afan.

The Sunday ride before Spain.

2008-10-18T01:57:00.000-07:00

This week we are going over to Mini-Me's for a pre-Spain ride over Stevenage.

Mini is going to put his slant on the Norton Green ride.

It's going to be fun and get the legs finely tuned for next week.

Here is Min.

An old Chicksands picture taken by Mickey "Monkey" Michaels.

HERE IT IS AT LAST.....CHAMONIX 06 THE MOVIE

2008-10-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

A once in a lifetime chance to view this classic video.

Enjoy.

It's been a while....as Staind said.

2008-09-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

Hello all.

We have been off line for a very long time but now we're BACK.

Time to get some pictures and stories about 2008 up and running....

What would you like to see?

We've been to Afan for a long weekend.

Log cabins and goats mostly.

A great weekend had by all.

I was in the support team because I had just had an op on my knee.

Loads of good riding and partying.

A birthday party and.....

A special ABE song.

In may we had snow....

And also went up to Cannock to ride with Eammon.

And that kinda brings us up to date......

Chris has deserted us for a couple of months in Australia

All the local trails are still holding up well.

Today's ride was dry and dusty.

James "Mickey" tells me that it was the last day of Summer so...

It would be rude not to finish the ride with a beer eh?

And so it goes.

See you on the trails next week.......and every week.

Happy New Year

2008-01-04T01:05:00.000-08:00

Happy new year to you all.
2007 was a funny old year.
Some were recovering from injury while others were getting injured.
We made it to Chamonix and to Sierra Nevada in Spain during the year but didn't manage the usual amount of road trips that we have come to enjoy.
We ended the year with a couple of nice rides over the Christmas period.
Our Boxing Day ride was always going to be a short Play session.

The thought of the Mulled Wine and Cake waiting at Chris's house made sure of that.
A slippy slidey ride around Sherrards Wood made us all puff like old fellas.
No surprise there then.
We stopped off to play on a couple of stunts.
Chris managed to damage his thumb while riding over Big Daddy.
Oops. We rushed to the crash site to get a better look and show how concerned we were.

Tom was seen flying over the bars while jumping in the doughnut.
I fell off a couple of times and then hit a tree while showing people how easy it was to ride down the side of some steps.
Only damage there was to my pride and the tree lights I had mounted to the handlebars.
A lovely morning it was too.
The sun streaming through the trees.
James manned the camera and looked all professional as he crouched down and tilted the camera this way and that.
He even let Gill take one picture with it.
She brought us back to the real world by shouting.....
"Which button do I press?".
Over to Chris's then for some Mulled wine and Cake.
Mmmmmmm...
Smashing. We finished the ride quite early so many thanks to Tina for getting out the shower to prepare the wine.
There will be pictures to post here soon.
(No. Not the shower ones)
(Note to self for 2008. Realise your opportunities and take them)
:o)
DB

Spain. Sierra Nevada 2007

2007-10-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

We're home from another international adventure.
Southern Spain.
Sierra Nevada.

We arrived on Saturday morning and had unpacked the bikes before you could say.....
....flipping heck it's bloody hot here.
Lunchtime we got straight out on the local trails.
Now...locally they have wicked thorn bushes.
We got back 3 hours later torn to shreds.

Weyy heyyy. Blood!
The evening was spent eating and drinking in town till we were full and pissed.

Sunday. First trip into the mountains. It was ok. I guess the guides have to find out what standard of riding a group are up to
seeing that we had 15-60 year olds, male and female.
The ride was a bit tame for us to be honest.
Oh. When I say tame.
Poor Terry still managed to get big air on one of the trails and break his collar bone.
Get well soon fella.
Evening we ate and drank big time.

Monday. Another trip out to sample the Spanish countryside.
We were made to work for the descents and big climbs in Spanish heat was a new experience for most of us.Phew.
I could see my weight dropping off as we were riding.
Thank goodness I put all back on in the evening!

Tuesday we were taken out to the mountains again.
We did a lot of climbing during the week. (Where's the fecking ski lifts?)
This time the riding was a lot more technical.
They gave us more techie stuff and got in return silly grins and
shouts of "more" and "bring it on".
Guy managed to eat dirt big time on one trail.
We dusted him down and stamped on his bike a bit to straighten it out.
On the final descent we arrived at a huge rutted drop with a very steep ending.
One guide confided in me that he didn't like it very much and would be pleased to give it a miss if we wanted.
He he he he.....
No way mate!
"We call it The Widow Maker" he says..........
In a cloud of dust...a 15 year old, 2 16 year old's, 2 women and most of the others were off down there.
Regrouping at the bottom it is my pleasure to tell the guides they have just renamed it "The Window Cleaner"
Many joke throughout the next few days about getting T shirts saying I've Done the Window Cleaner.
To celebrate we go out in the evening and eat and drink to excess.

Wednesday was the day off so we shopped before eating and drinking for the whole day.

Thursday was more riding in the mountains. Great views and brilliant trails.
Plenty of scary moments now (which is good).
Guess what we did in the evening?
Yep. Got it in one.

Friday's ride was probably the best day.
Loads of height gained by transit before climbing on the bikes and riding in an upwards direction for quite some time.

All worth it of course.
Lovely long descents and fantastic views of the area all the way down to the sea.
In the afternoon we rode a part of the area that has massive rocky boulders that you can ride across just like what you see on the telly.
After that ride we felt the need to celebrate.
So we went out and had a great meal followed by buckets of drink.

Saturday was our last day. Booooo!
I think we were meant to do a morning ride but it was obvious we are mental about our riding
so they took us out for a complete day ride before returning and packing the bikes in seconds flat.
Just enough time to get out and have a final meal before rushing back to get the airport transfer.
All in all a truly great week.
Loads of thanks to all the Sierra Cycles team.
Thanks to Alan who had no idea how many rooms any of his houses had.
Thanks Tom and Matt who couldn't work out why old people would want to risk life and limb but were still willing to point us to the nearest cliff edge.

BTW chaps..... Where's our T shirts?
Pictures are on the righthand clicky button for......er......Pictures.

We will be back.

Another Sunny ride

2007-10-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

The weekend weather was great for biking again wasn't it?
Took a ride over the opposite direction to my favourite trails just because this weather I can.
In the rubbish weather the going gets very muddy and spoils the fun.
We had a brief stop on top of a field which looked out over miles and miles of beautiful countryside.
Fantastic.
On the way home I took a detour and rode a very exciting and fast (and highly illegal) woodland trail.
Gill took the lead and boy did she go.
Made me laugh inside as we were thrashing around tight rooty corners and over small humps and shiv. I could only just keep up with her.
I don't usually play the hooligan on these trails but lately I have had to get my kicks where ever I can get them.
Gill was careering into tight turns and sliding through them drifting front and back wheels.
This is what our lovely Marins were built for.
Tight fast stuff that just needs to be blasted. How big were the smiles after that?
Didn't want to come home (again) so delayed the inevitable by stopping at our local fishing/sailing lake where we bought cuppas and cakes.
Then Gill and Alex took us down the road where they had discovered a rooty drop down from a high bank.
I couldn't scramble up the bank with my bike so stayed and acted as lookout so we/they didn't kill any pedestrians.
We had 15 mins of chaos there before turning for home.
Oh yes. Nearly forgot. Right near where we had started out from there is a BMX/skate park.
Yep. We just had to stop there for 5 mins and show the local kids that we (I can't) can teach them something.
To be honest, we only had one Carnival member who can ride a bike park properly.
I got him to go through his routine and sat there pretending we could all do the same if we fancied it.
Then home for a protein drink and then a fry-up.
I want more....I want more!!

It's Autumn but looks like Summer..

2007-09-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

Here we go.
Our first ride of Autumn.
What a great day it was too.
The sun shine ..er .. shon .. shined.
Early morning freshness soon turned into warm, bright conditions.
That saw the long sleeved layers come off and replaced with sexy little numbers.
The ladies followed suit moments later.
I love Summer (Autumn).
The trails were as dry and hard packed as a hard packed dry thing.
The surface was almost too hard (if there is such a thing as too hard).
The only moan was about the dust in your eyes if you were at the back of the train.
(Eric's glasses sitting on his kitchen table were, surprisingly, no use to him out on the trail)
There were no excuses to go anything other than flat out along our favourite tracks.
All flow and speed and warp factor 10.
Everyone seemed to have a huge grin on their face.
That could have been wind but I like to think it was because they were having a load of fun.
No one wanted to come home.
We added more bits to the ride but finally had to admit it….
…we were tired and needed that refuelling fry-up.
Boy. Could do that ride every day.
I love days like those don’t you?
Perfect trails.
Perfect weather.
Perfect flow.
Perfect riding buddies….
..well….as near perfect as they can be!
(breaks into song)
“Oh it’s such a Perfect day……..”
And to prove to us how lucky we were….
The very next day we woke up and there was 10ft of standing water on those same trails.
A typhoon warning and horizontal rain.
Hey. All be good by next Sunday.
Roll on.
:O)

Carnival time in Chamonix 2007

2007-09-04T04:53:00.000-07:00

We have just got back from our 2007 Chamonix trip.

Did you miss us?

What a great 4 days of riding.

As usual, the weather changed from rain to a heatwave as soon as the Carnival arrived.

Roasting hot for the whole 4 days. Lovely.

We had two Cham virgins with us.

Darren and Nicky.

Despite the riding there being of the most technical you can get, both Darren and Nicky rode like experienced pro's.

Well ridden to both of them.

Happy Jon is guiding for MBMB this season and laid on some new trails for us.

He knows what we like and the trails he had found for us didn't disappoint.

Soon we were dropping 1000's of meters down rocks, roots, berms and just about every other obstacle you can imagine.

That is what we went there for.

To practice all our varied techniques of descending.

Two wheeled, front wheel, back wheel only, no wheeled (on head).

So many techniques to use.

We had plenty of crashes, as is usual for us, but no serious injuries.

Just loads of rolling around in the rocks and off sides of mountains.

(Don't tell Nick's mum though. She thinks we were looking after him)

I took my injury with me to cut out the middle man so had to do extra training in between rides.

Lifting 1kg weights as often as possible seemed to do the trick and got me fully fit for Alpine riding.

See? Look at me go. Greased lightning or what?

Great fun had by all.

All in all.

A wonderful 4 days of riding.

Very tiring with everyone sporting a few new bumps and bruises but well worth the trip over.

On Sunday afternoon Phil sorted out a bridge jump for those who enjoy launching themselves off high structures and swinging by a tiny thread above a 50mtr drop into a rocky river.

Ooohhhh. My knee hurt on that day so, obviously, I couldn't join in the fun.

cluck...cluck...cluck...cluck. (what was that noise?)

There will be plenty of video of all the jumps, screams and laughter soon.

Pictures from the weekend are on my Fotopic website now.

Only been back a day and I miss Cham already.

Roll on next year.

I will be back there ASAP.

Yayyyy... It's the height of Summer.

2007-08-22T04:39:00.000-07:00

And P1ssing down with rain!!!!!!
We're knee deep in mud.

The dust on the trails is 6" below the water line.

Still.

There are the hardy few who still seem to think it's ok to go out in it and have fun.

The fools.

How can they say they enjoy this eh?
Because they did I suppose

I am only jealous because I am sidelined with a poorly knee.

I wanna go play in the mud!!!!!

London to Brighton Bike ride

2007-06-19T04:19:00.000-07:00

This Sunday The Carnival, The Datchworth Badminton Crew and assorted others from Space Labs took part in the British Heart Foundation London to Brighton Bike Ride.
We had to get up in the middle of the night to make it to Clapham for our 6 O'clock start.
That ended up as a 06:30 start because of trouble on the route.
This year we took our official cheerleaders with us on the riders coach.
Last year Dorrie, Sarah and Alex (in a full leg cast) never got to the finish line at all because of a dodgy coach driver and then lack of mobility once they had finally been dropped 2 miles up the coast in Hove.
This year Dorrie and Sarah got to see us finish.
And... A year on. Alex was able to do the ride with us. Yeyyyy... It is always fun to ride with hundreds of other cyclists.
The sights you see.
There were all sorts of bikes. Some that looked like they had just come out of the shed after being stored at the end of World War One.
Gears crunching, Moving parts squeaking. I guess oil was rationed in those bygone days.
And the riders. Well....
Some who thought they were elete road riders.
FFS. It was a charity ride not the Tour de France.
Risking life and limb to keep riding flat out on the wrong side of the road wasn't the most intelligent thing to be doing with oncoming vehicles intent on killing as many of us as possible.
Of course there were the opposite of the "elete".
What would you call them??
The ones who stopped before every hill and had a fag to calm their nerves before the walk up.
Our ride consisted of a nice steady run for about 20 miles and then a stop for a burger and a bit of a chat. Then riding for the next 20 miles before stopping for another burger and a large slice (think house brick) of cake.
On the second stop the organisers had layed out table and chairs for some of the more important riders of the day. It started to rain just before Ditchling Beacon but that didn't last more than a few minutes and then the sun came out proper just in time for the biggest climb of the day.
It had been warm until then but it was roasting as we made our way up the long climb.
You had to zig zag your way through the slow moving and walking throng. Once at the top we regrouped and told tall stories about how we had wheelied all the way up and how we never got out of the big ring. Then it was all downhill into Brighton.
What a great feeling to get to the finishing line with people cheering and the sun blazing away overhead.
Once we had calmed down and taken the "I've got a medal" pictures we went off to get changed. Now what? Ah yes. All down the pub for some lovely nosh and a couple of beers with our mates. With all the sunshine it would have been rude not to go to the beach.
The kids (Chris, Haydn, Tracy included) couldn't help themselves and had to get into the sea. I was happy just to lay back and think of England.....and get sun burnt face.
That seemed very amusing to my work colleagues on the Monday morning.
The coach ride home was long and uncomfortable.
Numb bums all around please.
Thanks to all who took part and made it a great day.
A special up to Steve who organised it for us.
Many thanks to those who sponsored a rider.
If you didn't. There's still time.
It is a good cause you know.

The Breakfast Run..

2007-05-22T00:15:00.000-07:00

This years London to Brighton training ride took place in wonderful sunshine.

Did we miss the wind and rain of last years??......

..er... no.

12 intrepid riders took part in this yearly event.

10 mountain bikes and only 2 road bikes this time.

They are learning slowly what "real" bikes are.

There was actually one real bike with us on Sunday.

Eric's lovely 1951 restored road bike.

We tried not to make too bigger fuss over it in case his head got big and he couldn't get his crash helmet on.

We took in 16 miles of warm and sunny country lanes on the way out to our breakfast stop.

It was just like an Enid Blighton book.

Five go riding in Surrey.

Except...there was 12 of us.

...and we weren't in Surrey..

The breakfast stop was a bit longer than normal.

There was a wait of 45 mins to get our food.

I had 2 cups of coffee while waiting and don't even drink coffee!!

I think they only had 3 plates so had to wait for people to finish before washing up and recycling the crockery.

It was worth waiting for though.

Hmmmm..... A number 6.

(drool)

The biggest fry-up in cafe history for a fiver.

On the return journey we split up into two groups.

The roadies did a road loop back home while the off-roaders zig zagged all over the county for the next 28 miles and 3 1/2 hours.

The trails were in very good condition considering that it had rained for several days before our ride.

Only a few mechanicals to report.

Two punctures and one broken chain.

To the rescue came both Steves producing rubber gloves from their bags.

What the hell they get up to on normal rides I wouldn't like to know.

Steve Elms also had a range of brass fittings in his saddlebag along with a large can of Brasso for those longer stops where you may need some extreme polishing to while away the time.

Everyone had a great day out and I bet will want to do it all over again soon.

Anyone seen my Baboon impression?

Many thanks to our leader for the day Haydn.

A sterling job done.

Many thanks also to Steve and Tracy for feeding us after the ride.

Those home made baked beans were just wonderful.

(parp!)

A Serious business this Mountain Bike Riding..

2007-05-14T01:11:00.000-07:00

We put a lot of effort into our riding.

Last week we were riding up the side of mountains in Wales.

But...

There is a small minority of Carnival riders who just aren't taking things serious enough.

While the majority were slogging it up the climbs there were a few who just had to get there first.

And once there....

Take the Mickey out the rest of us buy performing Circus tricks.

So.

To those involved I say...

Stop it!

It isn't clever or funny!

Well..

I guess it is really.

What skill we have in our Carnival group eh?

:O)

The May Welsh Weekend.

2007-05-08T01:53:00.000-07:00

Still buzzing after a brilliant long weekend in Wales.
The bunkhouse was sitting there just where we left it last time.

On Friday we went and found a new trail just outside Betw Y Coed. The Penmachno trail turned out to be a little gem.
Four of us rode there in the blazing sunshine.
It was a flowy mountain route with nice climbs that didn't take the mickey out of our legs.
The downs were not over technical but still made ya grin.
The final two descents were worth the entry fee in themselves.
And I guess it was probably the first time a Big Hit has been ridden up into those mountains.
Well done to Darren who didn't whinge once (well maybe the once) about all the climbing.
Friday night saw the arrival of the rest of the Carnival. The atmosphere was great with loads of booze, banter and bolx going on.

The kitchen, for the breakfast fry-up, was heaving but still under the control of the lovely ladies who gave their all in the name of sport.
Many thanks to them for all the food over the weekend.
Well done Debbie, Dorrie, Tina and Gill.

Saturday ride was at Coed Y Brennin.
All trails have new names but are still the ones we know and love.
The Dragon trail was the chosen one for Saturday.
It's the Karrimore with a small loop hacked off.
More sunshine and great trails to ride.
I felt spoiled.
Then I felt cramp!
Then I felt like I shouldn't have drunk so much red wine the night before.
..but hey. It's a dirty job but someone has to do it.
:O)
In the evening we partied again and help Chris celebrate his "special" birthday.
(cough)*"50"*(cough)

Sunday came....
Mmmmmm.... more fry-ups for breakfast.
Then off to Penmachno again to show the others what we had discovered on our first day.
It was still a warm day but it had been raining during the night.
That made some of the rocky descents interesting.
Chris had an off into some rocks but luckily had his head to stop him damaging too much of the rest of his body.
He is old now.
He got the Carnival "left arm gash". A very sought after Scar ya know.
On the final run down to the carpark we lost Young Mark over the edge of the trail.
ooohh dear I thought as I watch him disappear.
Lucky for him he ended up laying in some bushes.
Still smiling.
Kids!
Later on the same track Darren lost it and had a roll around in rocks.
He was a bit the worse for that but later in the evening was chasing young ladies around the house so wasn't as bad as he said he was.
Then we went home to eat and party again.
Turned out to be Haydn's birthday too so we had to make an extra special effort to drink more.

Monday there was a bit of drizzle going on.
I was fooked and had a sore arse from all the riding so elected to go walk abouts with the ladies and Darren.
We drove to Machynlleth to find the Clymax trail.
While the Carnival rode that trail we walked around the town (5 mins)
....had some lunch in a cafe (1 hour)
...had a look in a bike shop (10 mins)
...then....
Had a car party!
Weyyy Heyyy.....
We know how to live the Rock'n'Roll life style.
On the Carnival's return we found out that Mark (Matador) Sims had received his Carnival "left arm gash".
Welcome to the club Mark.

There were loads of pictures taken and video shot over the weekend.
I hope to get it all sorted out and edited (to make my riding look good) ASAP.
We laughed a whole load.
Drank a whole load.
Rode a whole load
...and had a whole load of fun
Many thanks to everyone who made it the greatest road trip yet.

Cannock Chase in the sunshine...

2007-04-16T00:59:00.000-07:00

This Sunday 10 Carnival riders joined Eamonn and his two boys Tom And James for a great blast around Cannock.
Weather was sunny and very warm.
Trails were as dry and dusty as I've ever seen there.
That made the going super fast and flowing.
Eamonn took us on a tour of some of his "special" areas.

All the tracks were riding fast and flowy with the odd surprise to keep us on our toes. One actually didn't keep me on my toes. It kept me on my backside.
There were a few stacks during the morning.
I saw Tracy sliding off on a loose off-camber corner.
Stevo fell in the woods on one of those tricky rooty corners and had a quick roll around in the dirt.
Both jumped up smiling.
I missed James and Eamonn coming off but heard about it later.
I lost it big time while thinking to myself how well I was riding (as you do).
Probably the largest stack I've had in a couple of years.
I has to happen every now and then eh?
Hung up a front wheel on a fast descent and off I went in amongst roots logs and something hard and pointy that hit me right on the right-hand side sitting down bone.
I did have a bit of bother sitting down in the saddle after that but there were no volunteers to inspect the damage so I just had to guess all was still intact down there. This was the outcome of the incident.
It wasn't easy riding side saddle for the last hour or so.
:O)
Moments to make you smile were plenty.
Seeing the whole group going off a random set of steps that were just sitting there in the middle of nowhere.
Surprise!
Made me laugh anyway..
I was having too much fun to take that many pictures.
I think Gill got some nice ones though.
We got some food at the visitor centre before finishing the ride on the famous "Follow the dog" trail.
I must say that Eamonn's trails in the morning were a lot more flowy that the man made stuff.

"Follow the dog" was a fun trail but a bit lumpy and bumpy with quite bad braking bumps. Redeeming features were the wooded wiggly bits and the boardwalk that was fun.
Back at the carpark we took the time to chill with a drink and a chat before coming away.
Many thanks again to Eamonn for the guiding.
Good to see everyone having a great day.
Roll on next time.
All the pictures are on Fotopic Website now.

On top of the world....

2007-04-07T02:03:00.000-07:00

Easter Friday at 05:00hrs we set off to Snowdonia to ride the highest ridable mountain in the UK.

It was more like a 3 hour hike-a-bike than 100% riding to get to the top but, once at the summit, it was worth the effort.

Standing on the 1,085mtr peak of Snowdon was something special.We had packed everything we may need for the ascent except SUNCREAM!!!

So, as we frazzled in the soaring temperature at the top of the world, we could be happy in the fact that we had all lugged extra layers and waterproofs with us for no reason!!

Oh well. That's global warming for ya.

The Rangers Trail descent down the other side of Snowdon was terrific fun.

All loose shale, slate slabs, steep stepped drops and all very technical and scary in places.

A shout-out to the two young lads here for some great riding.

Nicky and Stevo were riding stuff they haven't dreamed about before.

They were having to get on with it because the rest of us were concentrating on saving our own hides.

Well done as well to Alex.

She was riding stuff she hasn't been able to for nearly a year now.

Phew..

A lot of energy spent that day.

Thanks to all 7 of the Carnival who put a lot in and got a whole lot more out of the ride.

Well done to the support team (Dorrie and Sarah).

I think they walked up the mountain faster than we got up there.

Easter Sunday Was another sunny and warm day so we went for a bike ride.

as you do..

What a lovely day too.

The scenery over Wheathamstead way needed to be seen to be believed.

A nice day for the Carnival "Crocks" to stretch their legs.

Mickey.......pulled muscles doing the garden on the Friday.

Mark.......sprained ankle playing badminton the week before.

Halford......hurt ribs from last weekend's ride.

Mind you. Only one of them moaned constantly about the pain.

I think you can guess who that was.

Easter Monday was another glorious day.

So....

Yes. You guessed. We went for a bike ride.A local blast around some of our favourite trails.

We ended up at a country pub where the wives and kids joined us.What a nice end to a great weekend.

Beer and a meal in the sunshine with your mates.

Thanks all for a really good weekend.

:O)

There are more pictures on my Fotopic website.

I would go see 'em now before they find out I've gone well over the maximum storage allowance.

oops.... :O)

We visit Aston Hill....

2007-03-19T05:46:00.000-07:00

This Sunday we took the opportunity to visit Aston Hill.
We haven't been there for years so were interested in how things had changed.
They now have a 5 mile XC route, 4 downhill runs and a 4X track.
I must say that we discovered that the biggest change was in us rather than the area.
As we passed the bombhole area we remembered how this was a scary place years back.
We had major problems doing the few roll-in's back then.
Now. it just looked like a few silly dents in the ground.
Anyway..
We started our day with a ride around the XC route.

Aston Hill is just one big hill so..
When the route wasn't dropping down rooty, chalky singletrack it was going vertically back up the hill again.
Most of the ups were challenging.
Steep with roots. Steep with chalky surfaces. Steep with roots over chalky soil.
And steep.
The main decent of the XC route is a mini DH course in it's own right (the Red DH run).
Only 5 miles per lap??
Seemed to go on for a lot longer than that.
It was great fun and gave us the lung busting leg burning workout we don't get locally.
Then it was time to tackle a DH track proper.
We chose the The Ultimate Pursuits Downhill run because .. .. well. It would have been rude not to ride their most challenging trail eh?
This track had us all over the place.
Chalky switchbacks. (for chalk think ice!)
Large rutted rooty sections.
Drops and more roots to keep us on the edge for the whole decent. (think Chamonix)
We took quite a few crashes on the way down. None serious but enough to make us think carefully about if we should be doing this on our XC steeds.
Once at the bottom it all seemed worth it.
So. Lets go to the top and do it all again.
:O)
The weather was kind to us and, considering there was a snow warning, gave us a comfortable temperature to ride in with sunshine thrown in.
It was a good day out and is recommended for anyone who likes their singletrack testing and doesn't mind when things get on the scary side of technical.

First Welsh trip of the year...Cwmcarn.

2007-03-15T01:34:00.000-07:00

The weather looked promising so Gill, Alex and I loaded up the car and shot down to Cwmcarn for the day to sample those lovely Welsh mountains.
What a great day it turned out to be.
The carpark was quite full when we arrived but you just know you still won't see many people once on the trails.
The sunshine bursting over the mountain mid morning was a joy to behold.
On our first loop we were down to T shirts and little crop tops in no time.
I thought my crop top was quite attractive.
This was Alex's first Welsh trip for a long time so she was taking care on the down bits to start with.
She didn't take any prisoners on the ups though.
We were left wondering what she had eaten for breakfast as she zoomed up every climb.
The beginning and middle climbs at Cwmcarn must be among the most difficult sections we have come across.
So technical and steep at the same time.
Quite a challenge at the start of a ride.
We got the usual grin factor coming back around the mountain.
Dropping back to the carpark in a cloud of dust and sweat.
The new visitor center is just a bare metal frame at the moment so off we went to the porta-cabin to see what food they had.
Yep. You guessed it. A fry-up in a box.
:O)
So. It would be rude not to do a second lap after the fry-up wouldn't it?
Off we went for lap two.
The climbing is sometimes easier second time but it was still bloody hard work.
The warmth from the sun had really got hold of the day by now but there were still people starting off on the first climb in waterproof jackets.
We just knew we would be passing them later as they stop to take off those layers.
Near the first summit there is a new Freeride area with berms and wooden drops to play on.
After that comes the final downwards sections.
I forgot to tell the girls that we were going to go right to the top of the mountain and do the DH decent.
Straight down in one go!
Wahoooooo.........!
Alex was more than surprised.
I think she was a bit nervous about doing the DH but still rode it like a star.
At the bottom we were all grins and enthusing about how good and rad (scared) we had been on the way down.
Time then to load up the car again and head off home.
Late afternoon sun was still shining.
And Steak and chips for tea.
Perfect.

More pictures here.

So I learned from Eric's mistakes........er.....not!

2007-02-28T00:05:00.000-08:00

Here we go then.
Recently I have been showing how skilled some of the Carnival are on video.
I think it is my turn to demonstrate the skill it takes to become a Carnival Ringmaster.
Enjoy.
Clicky Delbert is an Idiot thingy.

In the old days........We were Kings.

2007-02-27T05:03:00.000-08:00

Not many people know this but....
In August 2003 The Carnival were at the forefront....the cutting edge....the big honcho's of Northshore building and riding in this country.
In the depths of a little wooded area in Broxbourne we honed our skills on wooden constructions.
One mans talent shone through as a top exponent of the art of skinny riding.
Ladies and gentlemen....
I give you......
Eric Spinks. (click)
I think we can all learn from his riding style.

(sings) I'm Swinley in the rain....just Swinley in the rain...

2007-02-26T01:12:00.000-08:00

What a glorious feeling...
I'm happy again...

Looking out the car window on Sunday morning at the floods and lakes that had taken over the countryside..
It made me think.."where is Noah then?"
The rain had stopped by the time we arived at Swinley Forest.
There were some very muddy bikers milling about though.
Erghh...
10 riders turned up for the Carnival.
We were pleased to find that the forest held up well, even with all the rain we must have had overnight.
Not having a local guide, we decided to wing it and, appart from one ride through gorse track hell, it seemed to go very well.
It was good to be back in the Berkshire loamy forest.
There was always a hidden trail to be discovered over the next hill.

Thanks to Stevo for being the Map carrier and all the others for peering over my shoulder and offering words of wisdom like............
"I remember being here before but don't know where we are."
and
"I think if you go up that steep hill over there there is a great bit of singletrack....I...er.. think!"
"Oh no. It must have been another hill I was thinking about!"
Joking aside. Many thanks to all for the help in keeping the ride going.
There were a few comedy moments to brighten the day.
The deep water filled hole at the end of the downhill run was a good place to get a few pictures.And then while messing about on some drops....
Mark "Matador" Sims demonstrating how NOT to be a catcher for Gill.
Here she comes...
Oh. She's coming off!
Mark! (he sweeps his hands away from the falling Gill with a dramatic twist if the body)
"Ole!"
Nice one mate.
The fry up in torrential rain was funny at the end.

More pictures here.

Thanks all for a good trip out.

Esher Shore

2007-02-23T05:54:00.000-08:00

This Wednesday the whole Sol family had a day off.
So..as you do...
We went riding.
For something a little different we decided to investigate Esher Shore.
I have seen it in the bike mags and it looked really exciting.
When we arived we had a walk around.
It was all crammed into a very small area.
The beginner sections looked a bit easy for us.
The medium sections on closer look were a bit scary for us so we looked at the beginner sections again.
Once on the bikes we soon found that there was a big challenge in the "easy" stuff.
We sessioned the "easy"???? sections for about an hour without completing any section in one go.
Not that easy then eh.
It was great fun to have the park to ourselves.
The sun was out and we were in shirt sleeves for most of the time.
Not a bad day for February.
We are going to do it again soon.
Pictures here.
http://derek-sol.fotopic.net/c1216207.html
I do have video of me crashing big time but I' sure you you wouldn't want that on public display!
:O)
Would you.....?

We fought the mud and the..mud won.

2007-02-20T01:55:00.000-08:00

A nice Sunday ride in the mud..
Hmmm...
Good for our skin at least!
We headed out Hertford way and soon found a few things to distract us from the mud-plugging.
The drop behind County Hall was done by everyone.

Yes. Even James made it look tame.

No idea why I'm trying to push him off.

The drop is aptly named.."Better Than Nothing"

A new jumpy bit of trail was found just above R1.

Now that is going to be fast and probably fatal for us in the Summer.
Nicky nearly managed to clip a tree as he came into land.

A bit to the left old son.

The weather stayed dry and mild for us which was nice.

A bit hard work in the mud but loads of fun.
A good mornings ride had by all.
All pictures here:
http://derek-sol.fotopic.net/c1213670.html

Chicksands and more old friends.........

2007-01-30T07:57:00.000-08:00

Skippy

This story is a bit late but we do have an excuse.
Over Christmas we met up with a couple of old friends for a Chicksands play.
Happy Jon came down from the Lake District for the Christmas period and did a few rides with us.
And.
Our good friend Skippy came over from Canada just to get in a seasonal ride with the Carnival
...and of course to visit his family and other friends.

Here's Skip and Jon posing.

We had a lovely day out but it was cut a bit short by Gill taking quite a big crash on her head.
It took a week to get shot of the poorly neck for her.
In the mean time our central heating went pop and we then lost the will to live for a while..
...as you do.
Before we knew it, Skippy had returned to Canada and we had missed the opportunity to get together for a chat and picture sharing over a beer or two.
So sorry about that.
Have to be next time Skip.
We will try and get over to see him I think.
He does live very near some of the best biking areas in the whole world after all.
Hmmmm...................
A Line..........................
(A Homer type drool)
Mind you. We do have a bump or two over here.

Many thanks to "Mickey" James for the pictures.

There is a Video of our day out available from Delbert.

(According to James it looks the same as any other Video shot there :O)

Chicksands and old friends...

2007-01-22T03:05:00.000-08:00

Got an email from Suicide Dave saying he'd be over Chicksands this Sunday so loaded up the car and took a drive over there to say hello.
What a glorious day it was too.
Not too cold and brilliant sunshine that sparkled through the trees.
Gill fancied a bit of a XC ride so I swapped the Big Hit with Alex's Cove and we went off for a 30min blast around the woods.
I did get a few funny looks from people wondering why an old bloke would buy a shocking pink bike.
I didn't bother trying to explain.
Once back we got on with the job of launching off of anything we could find and riding a few wooden constructions.
Chris and Nicky were on the money with the north shore riding.
Later, just before leaving, we went to dog s**t sand pit where Nicky was dropping off 4-5ft lips.
Well done Nick. And hard luck Chris for having to match his riding nowdays.
We were very pleased to see Alex getting some of her nerve back and riding sections of shore.
It's not easy after a serious injury.
Then she nicked the Big Hit and sailed down the 4x course faster than she's gone for a long time.
Good girl.
We didn't get back home till late afternoon.
All suitably knackered but happy.

We had a very Mardley Sunday.

2007-01-15T01:30:00.000-08:00

Sunday saw the sun come out for the first time in 16 years.
A lovely bright (and not too cold) day meant the headcam came out to play with us.
And, as soon as cameras and videos come out with us we go all silly and try stupid stunts.
Well. Be rude not to wouldn't it?
"Mickey" James took us to a secret fallen tree so that we could session it for a while.
Session in the Carnival's dictionary means .... "...to crash on and generally be stupid with"
Then over to Mardley where we found a tree to ride through. Or into really.
Once we had damaged enough fingers, by trapping them between the handlebars and the tree, we moved on.
This time at Mardley we were going to do all the drops that had been fenced off.
And we did.
Nickey showed us how to land on his head without getting too hurt.
"Halford" James showed us all how to bail on a drop without leaving your bike.
Usually we make sure a rider is ok BEFORE laughing at them.

This time.... Well... James just made it look so comical that we couldn't help have a titter.
:O)

Ride him cowboy!!

Luckily the video is on YouTube (clicky button on right) for you all to enjoy these crashes.
Good day out thanks.

First picture posted in 2007

2007-01-10T06:13:00.000-08:00

Sorry but it has to be me.

:O)

"Mickey" James has taken 3 sets of pictures over the Christmas holidays.

All very nice. There are some great shots of individual members of the Carnival.

Ask him and I'm sure he'll let you take a look.

Nice one James.

Happy New Year 2007

2007-01-08T06:01:00.000-08:00

Here we go again..
A new year. A blank canvas to paint on whatever we want during the next 12 months.
Gill is currently making a list of places to ride in the year ahead.
Alex is getting stronger on the bike again and is looking forwards to revisiting Afan to ride rather than sit in A&E for 4 hours.
I will be planning to learn all the trials skills that will make me a biking God.
(I plan to do this every year and fail to do anything about it)
(I've bought the bike, bought the protective gear and got all the videos)
(Just what excuse to make when I don't do it this year is beyond me)
Whatever you do this year..........Have a great one and stay safe.
DB

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

2006-12-11T01:27:00.000-08:00

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 ................

2006-11-29T01:23:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-14T05:19:00.000-08:00

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..........

2006-10-25T01:11:00.000-07:00

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.....

2006-10-17T03:37:00.000-07:00

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...

2006-10-13T01:27:00.000-07:00

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...

2006-10-10T01:24:00.000-07:00

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..

2006-10-06T00:33:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-10-02T03:02:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-10-02T01:28:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-09-25T00:44:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-09-20T00:50:00.000-07:00

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.....

2006-09-18T01:23:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-09-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-11T03:21:00.000-07:00

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??

2006-08-29T04:11:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-08-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-07-03T06:54:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-03T06:22:00.000-07:00

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..

2006-06-30T02:16:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-05-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-05-24T01:14:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-05-22T02:16:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-05-16T00:35:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-05-10T01:17:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-05-10T00:47:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-04-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

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........."

2006-04-24T02:52:00.000-07:00

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

2006-04-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

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

2006-04-05T03:40:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-03-31T00:36:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-03-27T04:17:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-13T05:22:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-03-06T03:25:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-02-20T00:50:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-02-07T01:28:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-25T05:27:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-20T00:45:00.001-08:00

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

2006-01-10T01:55:00.000-08:00

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.

News in from Chicksands.

2006-01-09T01:21:00.000-08:00

There have been health and safety issues with the Chicksands North Shore which has lead to some of the older structures being taken down or modified.
One of the casualties has been the much loved (feared) ladder drop.
Until this weekend, you had the opportunity to roll the drop.
Sadly, those who didn't get round to doing it don't get that chance any more.
The roll-down has gone for good.
It has been changed to a drop off of 5ft to 6ft mimimum.
The very last Carnival member to do the drop was also one of our youngest.
Nick Price.
Good work Nick.

The Virtual Carnival Members.

2006-01-05T05:25:00.000-08:00

Unknown to many. There are a few Virtual Carnival Members dotted around the countryside.
Some come out to play only when it gets dark.
Some stay in and pretend to ride.
And one decorates the kitchen every weekend.

Suicide Dave is known to most of us.
He's a good rider who has the misfortune to ride an Orange Cove G-Spot.
He means well though.
Based in Surrey.
He has guided us through the North Downs.
(Which is more than Chicken could do using GPS!)

Eamonn (JA) is a Cannock based rider who dresses in women's clothes and hangs around in bars.
We were unfortunate enough to have to follow him around Birmingham for a few hours in 2005.
Dresses like a woman, rides like a girl.
But is a very nice man.

Perky is from the South West of England.
She used to be a skilled technical rider in her youth but now wears a boiler suit and drives an 18 wheeler for the council.
When you phone her up she pretends to have a cold.
(and talks in a gruff deep voice)
But is a very nice girl.

Gavin comes from dannn safff and decorates.
He does list mountain biking as one of his other pastimes but can't get past his kitchen without feeling the need to rush down B&Q's and buy several units to referbish something that has only just been fitted.
And is also a very nice decorator.

This is Gav.

I think he has just finished in the kitchen for the day and has decided to go riding.

Here's Sui.

Why is he watching me eat?

I guess in the posh and snooty part of Surrey that he comes from they don't have propper fry-ups. He asked for Caviar at the cafe after the ride at Cannock.

2006-01-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

This is Eamonn (Ja). Member of the virtual carnival club.

Now. He may LOOK dodgy but that's only because he is.

2006-01-05T04:07:00.000-08:00

This is James (Uni). For a small fee he will teach you how to bunny hop. Then, when you're out of hospital, we'll teach you the right way.

2006-01-05T03:59:00.000-08:00

Guy (Mini Me) swerves to avoid a bloody rambler (Terry)