Farmer John’s DH course Race Weekend 2011

03/10/2011 13:21:00

10-11^th September

The time is 9:30am and I am already getting mine and Aaron’s bike out ready to put into the car and go to John’s DH course in Marple, near Manchester, for the race weekend, even though it does not start until 12pm and I live 20mins away!

We arrive at the destination by 11:25 and start to set up the tents. One for the bikes and one for ourselves too. We then got changed and had some fun. It cost only £30 for the weekend to take part and that included overnight camping. This is cheap, and if you just watch and not take part in the practice day or any races, then it was free to enter. On the Saturday there was the air bag jump session. This cost a mere £5 and the big air jump competition was great fun to watch.

Cosy bikes bedding down.

But it was mainly practice runs on the new DH race track for me. Running until 4:30pm, the course then closed ready to open up for the night race.

By 8:30pm it was starting to get dark and everyone started to prepare for a lot of fun night racing. My 1^st run at night was a bit strange at first, hence why I had one slip up on the berms and then a crash right near the finish line! I still managed a time of 38 seconds. Then came my second and final run...I had a foot off the peddle slip moment on the berms again, but this time only lost one, maybe two seconds which gave me a time of 34.336 seconds and fourth place, just missing out on the podium L. After the race was over there was a few parties and camp fires with people having a good laugh and no trouble from anyone.

Night Race- The Big Drop Off.

The next morning with slightly sore heads (don’t know how that happened) we got up to a clear sky and the sound of pigs- we didn’t notice we had pitched up next the pig pen with the excitement of getting there yesterday!

Post race rest time.

It was practice again until 12pm, then everybody started to make the long walk up the hill to the start line. Most people, like me, were just there to have fun and make new riding buddies, but with the odd one or two that were so serious they didn’t speak while waiting, they just stayed in the zone.

My first run was funny and exiting. As you fly past the crowd in mid-air, over hut jumps and off big drop-ins, then into nice tight twisty berms, through tree’s and over scary roots covered in mud. On this run I only had two little slips giving me 15^th place. However, my second run was a complete mess from the start. I hit a jump too fast and landed almost on the Northshore section with no time to turn, hitting the ground hard. But, with the adrenalin rushing through my body, I couldn’t feel anything, leaping back on and peddling frantically, until I realised in mid-air on the next jump that my bars were twisted! So, I thought oh well, and peddled harder, but upon reaching the woods section I bailed yet again at the forth to last corner, the one that had made a cropper of many riders in both races.

After the awards were given out, I had a nice cup of tea and then started to pack everything with Aaron, who also had an epic riding session on his runs too.

All in all it was one of the best weekends I’ve had riding my bike. I really can’t wait for the next race. Farmer John’s course can be ridden all year round and is open to the public 7 day’s a week, so you know where I’ll be practice riding! So until next time….Ride hard, ride true and if you don’t fall off at least once, you’re not riding hard enough!

Brian Monks

The Fawkes Official Limited Edition Mens and Womens Tees have arrived!

05/05/2011 17:02:44

Shop Mens | Shop Womens

Since these arrived, all eyes around the Fawkes building have been on these tees. The Management have all had their mits on them but I've managed to secure the rest under lock and key. It's a glass house I'm in though because I've half-inched one, too. The Official Fawkes Tee is a great fit and has a nice soft cotton feel. Great to whip on after a burn around your local stomping ground or trails. A real "stand out" colour in the pillarbox red and the screen-print will only get better the more it degrades after each wash.

And, before you say anything ... we know, we know. The picture for the womens tee isn't anywhere near as nice as the mens t-shirt. We are truly sorry but we haven't been able to get any of the women in the Fawkes Team to pose in the tee. We thought about getting Dave to wear it but we all agreed that it wouldn't make for a tempting offer.

Mountain Biking High Street North July 2010 – Lakeland Classic

04/08/2010 18:58:32

After ninety days of pouring rain, well it feels like that anyway… The sun could be seen glimmering through the clouds. A previous failed attempt at Highstreet meant this was an opportunity to “man up” and head into the High Fells for a serious day in the mountains, followed by a “spin” along the dreaded Ullswater East Shore.

The view from the climb (in the car this time) over Kirkstone pass is always impressive, as you realise your getting away from the hordes in Windermere and Ambleside.

The route kicks off from Hartsop before heading straight up via Hayeswater, to the top of High Street. This is a serious climb at the start turning into a thigh stretching push as you climb the final push onto the old roman road. Legs dully shattered, you traverse along the ridge enjoying incredible views over what  is somewhat vague terrain. Good weather is essential, SatNav strongly recommended.

Eventually the route drops down to the northern end of Ullswater, this is an outstanding descent, but a real nerve wrecker to ride fast. The terrain constantly changes from rocks, peaty drops and serious ruts. I’ve rarely ridden such a changeable trail, which required constant attention and serious commitment at times. Looking at any section in isolation you’d think it was easy, but stitch together drops into ruts, into rocks, into more ruts and you have the perfect recipe for a high speed over the bars ‘ejection’. Top fun.

Once you’ve reached the shore of Ullswater you head south, mainly following the bridleway which roughly follows the line of the shore. Take a breather, suck up the amazing views of Helvellyn, life’s about to get difficult.

The trail nips around the back of a hill, before you rejoin the shore at Martindale. There is a bridleway, which we refer to simply as the “East Shore of Ullswater”. This is one, if not the most technical trails in the Lake District. A mixture of rocks, evil roots and rocky steps laden with drop offs. It’s genuinely a trail were you know more about yourself at the end than the start. I survived on my beloved hardtail with two pinch flats, last time I rode it I left blood and skin on the trail, so I was pleased to ride all the technical obstacles (at least down hill) with the odd dab. I’ve heard rumours of trail gods cleaning the uphill sections as well, but this is well beyond my abilities.

“clicky clicky to ZOOM the images…”

Arriving back at Hartsop we’ve covered only 21 miles, but the pair of us are totally wrecked, both physically and mentally. This is what its all about!

Fawkes Ride - Walna Scar, 2010

23/04/2010 17:16:57

(Click the image to zoom in)

The ride uphill at the start of this ride was a thigh-burning, lung-busting exercise in (what can only be described as) self-harm. Just so there's no misunderstanding. It hurt. Quite a lot.

There's a common line on the signs around Llandegla that say's "Don't give in to peer pressure. Ride within your limits", or some such the likes but I'm not sure what it is about pedalling about with friends ... there is always the misguided desire to go at things that bit harder than you otherwise would. It's perverse and you know when you are doing it that you'll pay for it later.

I'll be honest, there were times when I asked myself what the hell I was doing.
Cometh the aged chestnut - "Let's ... stop ... and ... admire ... the ... view."

But the pay-off was fantastic. You don't sky-rocket down Walna Scar, you play a mind-game with yourself about how fast you think you could go and how many of your limbs you want to accompany you home in the boot of the car instead of being attached to your body.

I occasionally gambled with all appendages (and felt great about that) but more often than I wanted the brain kicked in and strongly requested that I behave like I was manufactured by Faberge.

It's tight, technical and, though not as pacey on the downhill as I would normally cry out for as a reward for not effin'-an'-jeffin' too much on the climbs, it was as much a mental work out as a physical one. Which I, surprising myself a bit, enjoyed very much indeed.

Highly recommended.

This is not necessarily the route we took (I was guided about by seasoned Scar-face's), but here's one you could try.

Loving up the luggage

16/03/2010 19:18:33

We’re luggage tarts, laptop bags, rucksacs, snowboard bags, bike bags. Luggage is everywhere, and good luggage makes life easier and keeps you looking cool. Our favourite brand at the moment is Ogio, making funky looking stuff for just about every occasion.

You can see our newsletter highlighting some sweet Ogio deals here or our newly launched Ogio section here. My personal favourite is  the hydration pack in Digi Camo – Space Invaders, bring it on!

Madison Catalogue – in MBUK March 2010

17/02/2010 18:24:57

There is a lovely Madison 2010 catalogue free with this month’s (March 10) MBUK. We stock a great range of these products, after some frantic late night ‘geeking’ from the code monkeys, means you can search for the Madison Quick Search codes throughout this catalogue using our standard search.

We’ve also selected what we think are the highlights from this catalogue based on what we are wearing and what’s getting good vibes in the press. You can check this out on our homepage.

Big Blue Book of Bike Repair – Volume 2 - James

02/12/2009 21:18:15

The Big Blue Book 2 is an awesome cycle repair and maintenance manual which covers nearly everything related to bike maintenance. Full of detailed pictures and step by step procedures this should be part of every cyclists toolkit.

Ideal gift for any cyclist as well. We’ll guarantee the book will come in handy even for experienced home mechanics. Combine with some nice Park Tools and your setup for some hardcore “spanner spinning” as its known in the trade.