Cycletherapy

2012-01-31T22:35:00.000Z

Ok, bit of a gap since the last post, but I lost one partly saved draft (oops) and what with Christmas, New Year, etc, etc. So, well into the New Year and still no real skiing on Cairngorm, huge difference to the last few years, where the snow has been deep and the skiing has been extraordinarily good. It's much colder now though (early Feb') and there is the faintest chance we might get some cold continental airflows coming over, so fingers crossed for all us frustrated skiers.
But, the lack of skiing has allowed me to do what all other cyclists do at this time of year - namely getting the base miles in. Jeez, I've not done base miles in years a) because I'd rather ski and b) because I find them sooo tedious! Don't get me wrong I was brought up on a diet of long cold wet winter rides with the likes of the Dundee Wheelers, Forfar CC and other associated hard road men. Saturdays were 2 - 3 hrs and Sundays were 5hrs plus, with 'centuries' a regular occurrence. The craik was sharp and cruel, with the old hands keeping us young'uns right and as the winter wore on and everyone got fitter the banter tailed off and the social atmosphere changed into the harder pace of the chain gang going 'through and off'.
But, up here in the frozen (snowless) north, what with my work patterns, fewer riders and busy family weekends, most of my rides are solo affairs at strange times of the day and the only companion is the iPod. Very occasionally I'll hook up with another off work dad and it's incredible how company can make the hours fly by and anyway the colder wetter and windier the rides the better it is for mental toughness!
I'm also really loving the mtb at the moment, concentrating on simply enjoying the local trails and trying to go faster on the downhill bits. I think the Tallboy is an awesome bike for our Highland trails, but I would really like to try and explore it's limits more with an 'uppy-downy' seat post and a set of stiffer bolt through forks to cut down on the front end flex of the five year old quick release Rebas. I think the bike is way more capable than my abilities.
I'd like to do a few races this year, but I'll probably only do ones that are quite close and don't require several hours driving, so I can't be too fussy, mtb would be nice, but road might have to figure as well.
Work has been a mixture of office based planning for a spring job and hands on trail maintenance down at Laggan Wolftrax - mostly tree clearing after the recent storms.
I need to put a wee bit of time into developing my photography skilz (see what I did there) but I did get a few hours with a talented young downhiller recently, which resulted in one or two ok pics, still lots to learn, but I thoroughly enjoyed working with this rider and he didn't mind my 'can you just do that again' requests!
Anyhoo, a 3 hour road ride planned tomorrow and if the battle of the weather fronts turns out for the best then the next blog might be full of skiing talk and how I'm just not getting out on my bike...

Snow stops work.

2011-12-08T10:56:00.001Z

Hi all,
Well a lot has happened since the last blog, so about time for an update. First up - cx racing. Well, after my rude intro into this most niche of bike sports at Plean, I decided to travel over to Ballater for the closest cx race to me this year. The course was right up my street, being very similar to tracks around Rothiemurchus, with nasty little rock problems, no mud and no run-ups!
I warmed up properly (turbo - how pro) and pushed up to near the front of the grid. So far, so good. The start was the usual vets madness, all elbows and expletives - and a nasty crash (he ended up in hospital with an ugly leg / chainring gash, but otherwise aok) knowing the score I went all out and settled into the first single track section in the top 10. So far, so good. The next few laps were fun! With proper racing, some tit for tat overtaking and me feeling as if I could actually race rather than just hanging in for the bell. But - here it comes, with 10 mins to go, I stomped down hard to overtake the racer who I'd been chasing for a couple of laps (think he was about seventh) and SNAP, bang went my chain. Oh how I swore. I was so grumpy all I did was walk back to the van (no spare bike) throw everything in, change and drive away - think I was even gone before my race finished.
On the positive side, I was enjoying myself and the form felt good. On the downside, it was probably the best course for me to get a good result on and as it turned out it was my last race of the season.
I kinda 'get' the whole cx thing now, but realistically with the driving involved I can't see me making ever completing an entire series. Next year I would ideally like to concentrate on the 3 Peaks cx race and if I can fit in some 'normal' cx races after that then that'd be a bonus (will need a new bike first though!)
So down to the nitty gritty.
Work has been ace, consultancy stuff out of the way and into a local mtb trail build that I really didn't think would happen, due to the presence of Red Squirrels! However, because of the little darlings breeding season, we couldn't start until late October. Luckily November was the mildest and driest on record and we cracked on with some long hours seeing us 90% done by last week.
Then it snowed.
Cue flashbacks of last winter (and the one before that) and diggers sitting under a blanket of snow for weeks on end and partly finished projects dragging on until the Spring....
But, as I type, a thaw has set in and if the forecasted rise in low level temperatures holds true for next week, we might just finish off the last few remaining features before Christmas. I certainly hope so, because I never seen so many kids waiting for a jump set to be ready - we regularly see upwards of two dozen kids just hanging about at the top of the partly completed start ramp, just gagging to get in about it!
On the fledgling photography sideline, all is going well, with a few more paid shoots being successfully completed in the last month and my new domain name, e-mail address and website all coming together slowly but surely.
Just need more time for everything....
Christmas next and maybe the start of the skiing season.

Cyclo cross virgin broken

2011-10-19T16:02:00.000+01:00

Right, first things first, work: the last few months big feasibility study done and the chainsaw lads move into Grantown woods tomorrow to clear the way for my next build - the new jumps and skills area; weather, it's turned much colder and there's snow on the hills (please stay there 'til the Grantown job is done) family; kids off and all hands to the pumps....
Now to the important stuff - cyclo-cross racing!
So I did my first race last weekend at Plean near Stirling, there was a huge turnout with around 270 riders turning up to do battle in the mud. Mud, now, when I used to mtb race I loved muddy courses and got some of my best results in foul conditions, so I foolishly thought I would be ok...
I was not ok, from the off I went full out to try and get up through the field, knowing we would all 'bottle neck' on the first stretch of muddy single track and basically that was me then 'on the rivet' 'til the bell. No chance to 'enjoy' it, no easing off, no flying past people on the tricky bits (turns out most of these riders can all handle mud perfectly well, thank you very much) and basically I just wanted it to end. In fact when I heard over the PA that there was 7 minutes and a lap remaining I almost felt like doing that 24 hour 'lurking' thing that people do to avoid going out for another lap!
My carefully practised dismounts and mounts went to ratsh*t, I over braked, over steered, crunched gear shifts and generally rode 'rigid' due to mental and physical exhaustion. Oh and my rear wheel jammed resulting in some off bike ranting and wheel kicking (old Middleburn ti skewers now retired from brutal cross use)
'Old' hands all said, you'll love it when it's over, bloody right I loved it being over, but not because of some post racing endorphin high or adrenaline buzz, no, just glad the suffering had stopped.
Then a long drive home in post race shock, no radio on, no iPod plugged in, just me thinking about what had happened.
Nineteenth! I've got podium placings at mtb races for nowhere near this level of pain!
Positives? I only started training 6 weeks ago, I didn't get injured and the bike was not expensively broken. Negatives, I'm not sure whether I want to do another!
But, I'll have to give it another go just to make sure...

Cyclo-cross Training.

2011-09-07T22:09:00.000+01:00

Cyclo-cross, probably the most painful thing you can do on a bike - IMHO as the young folk say. Solo 24hr mtb racers may have a valid reason to debate this, but for sheer leg and lung burning oxygen starved anerobic pain then I can't recommend cyclo-cross training heartily enough.
I did the 3 Peaks race last year and to train for that I did lots of good old honest hours in the saddle, lots of hill climbing - on and off the bike, and some roadie speed work, all kinda focused on what I had researched about the route. I raced, I achieved the time I wanted, and most importantly, I loved it, but unfortunately I can't do it this year, I will do it again, but this is just a bad year.
So me and cyclo-cross have some unfinished business. I haven't done a 'normal' cyclo-cross race yet. The races are all quite a long way from my home in the Highlands and I'm not that fit this year, but that's just an excuse, I need to do at least one proper race just to find out what it's all about - I've raced road and mtb so this aspect of my racing cv is an empty entry at the moment.
So a few weeks ago I started running again, a bit of distance, a bit of hill work and some speed drills, then a few jaunts out and about on the 'cross bike just to get used to it again. All good, even did some hard little hill intervals on the bike in a grassy field - not that easy to find in these parts! Again all ok. Hahahaha, how little did I know that THIS WAS JUST NOT HARD ENOUGH.
This week whilst working on Mull I hooked up with two local 'cross racers, Davie Graham and Steve Macinnes for their regular evening training sesh', "it's only 45 minutes" said Davie, grand I thought, be over in a jiffy and be a nice way to hook up with the locals.
Oh dearie me.
45 minutes.
Pain.
I have not been training at this intensity.
I was lapped.
I was in my own little pain filled world.
Stop.
"Aye, well, enjoy that ?" I couldn't answer because I couldn't breath very well. Although I did practically demonstrate how totally knackered I now was by wrecking Davies wheel when I took his bike for a wee test lap later...... sorry.
This was a big wake up call. Back home I've now found my own 4 minute circuit of pain, with the crucial steep nasty run-up hill, flat out pedally bit and hard seated climb, but more importantly I now know to what intensity I need to train at - 100% for 45 minutes.
45 minutes eh?
How hard can it be.

2011-09-01T23:03:00.000+01:00

Just a quick blog up date and test of bloggers new interface, which seems nicer to use and allows for more than one image per blog - which is handy.
I've been in Mull a lot recently looking at various ways a woodland trust can use it's newly acquired woods. Of course I want to build trails everywhere, but as a consultant I have to look at all the factors and make my suggestions accordingly. I think it's my honesty to tell it like it is, that keeps me in work.
Closer to home, there are some interesting developments, usual story though - mums the word until the client wants to go public.
I'm trying to get bike and run fit again; I made the hard decision to not go for the 3 Peaks cyclo-cross race this year, I knew quality cycling time would be hard to find, so rather than just turn up, I decided to miss it this year and hopefully get things sorted for another go next year. Problem is I really miss training for something, so rather stupidly I think I'll have a go at the Corryarrick. Well it is closer and my wife has kinda given me the green light to go for - it was your idea June.........
So, back on with the trainers and start giving the legs the bad news that they're going running again, sorry calves. So if I'm running again it seems a shame not to have a go at some of the Scottish cyclo-cross races - well the ones that are not too far off the end of the A9. To this end I've been running up hills and going out on the bike for short intense one hour sessions - great things 'cx' races, short and sweet so able to cram training into a short time slot - ideal for me.
But either I'm now carrying a few too many pounds or I was just plain stupid to use a carbon fibre saddle, but inevitably one running 'mount' too many ended in catastrophic material failure i.e. my saddle snapped, luckily no bits went anywhere near my bits, but made for a standing ride home. You'd think I'd know better.
Right oh, new blogger interface tested, I'm off to bed, more typing and running from the usual family Masson early start...

2011-08-27T22:08:00.002+01:00

What? My last blog was the end of May! Bloody hell, that's work, family and the school holidays for you...

Anyhoo, lots been happening, the usual on going feasibility type stuff, where I shouldn't really say anything, because that's the clients decision to talk about a potential trail - not mine. Designing stuff that might never end in an actual trail build can be hard, yes it pays the bills, but it isn't building trail and I miss that. However, there's always maintenance of Laggan's trails and with the dire weather conditions this summer that has meant a lot of digging drainage features, unblocking culverts, clearing windblown trees and all the other TLC a trail network needs to keep it safe and fun when it's getting a hard time from Mother Nature (and the summer hordes!) There is also another big build on the horizon, so I still need to keep the tools clean, sharp and oiled ready for more use before winter closes in again (I wonder what we'll get this year?)

So Cycletherapy soldiers on; surveying, designing, building, attending and chairing meetings, number crunching, two finger report typing and all the consultancy stuff that I keep getting hired for.

But, I feel another urge, that of photography. I have always taken photographs from the ancient days of film and the black arts for the dark room, to the amazement of the digital age and the instant hit of the LCD screen.

At the moment I class myself as an apprentice - not a first year 'get us a left handed broom would ya' but more of a 'go and hang a new door at number 53 and see how you get on' joinery analogy sort of a way. I love taking pictures and even better I love taking pictures of riders on trails - that's handy then...

There are numerous very experienced and most excellent professional bike photographers out there and to make it worse there are even some who are scottish, good riders, mates and very well connected with all those that really matter. However, I think there are enough outdoor sporty things going off in my area that need a photographer who can get himself safely right into the chosen arena and know enough of what is going on to capture the drama/feel/emotion/etc of the moment. Ok, I know everyone has a digital camera nowadays and the simple law of statistics means that some of those photos might be quite good, but if you have something that really must be captured then I guess you'd want someone who is 'professional' enough to get results no matter what. '

Professional - that's the important bit, there is no such thing as 'semi-professional' you either do it as a hobby or you do it for money - and if you do it for money you have got to get the job done to the satisfaction of the client.

Now, I 'm not there yet, I'd be nieive to think that so soon in a new venture I'd be getting hired regularly, but I have done a few 'paid for' shoots so I'm started down this road and so far I'm enjoying the journey.

And as for riding a bike - well obviously I still do that! It's the one constant in a life full of other 'stuff' nowadays.

2011-05-30T22:58:00.002+01:00

What's this two posts in a month! A good month for work, a bad month for being a cyclist. Two new consultancy jobs popped up out of nowhere - which was nice, but as usual can't talk about them at this stage (it's a planning thing) however the weather took a turn for the worse and it's been cold, wet and windy. Now, I know they say "there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing", but day after day of November style cold, northerly winds and rain bordering on sleet does start to wear thin.

I have been very lucky to keep up the practising of my fledgling photographic skills, managing to persuade some very talented local female riders - Jo Cardwell and Roberta Walker to 'model' for me (steady now - cycling pics only) and most recently Jules Fincham of Cycle Wild Scotland - a locally based mountain bike tutor. The first sesh' with the girls started well, but soon deteriorated as the rain moved in earlier than expected, causing misfires of my wireless flash kit, but still a good learning day. The shoot with Jules was blessed with sunshine and as we have some stunning trail right on our doorstep(s) it meant the whole day could be spent on the bikes, with no travelling required at all. Bonus.

June's just around the corner and pretty soon I'll need to make the decision whether to do some races this year - more precisely whether to 'man up' to the training required to do another 3 Three Peaks cyclo-cross race, which also means a new cx bike.....

2011-05-16T20:14:00.002+01:00

A lot has happened since last months blog; two trail builds finished - the Laggan 'Orange' re-build and the Alness Academy Skills Area. Laggan needed doing, it was an old original piece of trail built in the days of 'IMBA' old school standards, so it was ripped up, re-aligned, 'waterproofed' and re-surfaced. A good job, started in the snow showers and finished in weather that was too dry! Seriously, it was less then ideal to finish off a trail in bone dry weather (dry aggregate doesn't compact very well) and with the good weather as soon as the fences were down the Easter hordes were all over it, but apart from a little TLC with a rake and a roller it'll be ok.

Alness had been left unfinished when the winter snows kicked in back in late November so we were all very keen to get back in and finish off the job. Not a lot needed done just the final shaping of the jumps, but this is a critical stage and can't be done in the winter snow and frost, it needs careful hand working, raking, test jumping, 'tweaking' and then final compacting. Luckily the Spring run of good weather held and we rounded off a fantastic little project, in the sunshine, watching the local 'jump' crowd styling it up on their new jump line.

Thereafter it was straight into finishing off some fairly 'weighty' written reports and general consultancy 'stuff' with those that wear suits. So after all this I needed a break and something completely different, so after some quality family time, I set off to the Seb Rogers' photo course in the Quantocks.

I have always loved taking photos, but most of them are just snapshots of family life and the chance to spend three days riding and taking pictures of mountain bikers under the guidance of one of the best photographers in the business was something I had been looking forward to for some time.

And what a cracking course it was; the other students were all very capable photographers, good riders and great company, the riding was excellent (and this coming from someone who has the Cairngorms on his doorstep!) Seb was an excellent teacher and the accommodation (and cakes) was spot on for hungry mountain bikers.

Just one or two key pointers from Seb early on were worth the cost of the course alone for me. Panning technique, manual focussing, low shutter speeds and taking good pictures of a scene that have a bike in them rather than my approach of just a snapshot of a biker were all major lessons for me as was seeing the different ways other photographers 'see' a scene.

It also helps when you have at your disposal Mr 'pro pointy elbows' himself - Mike Davies who rode and re-rode sections of trail always with gusto and perfect facial expressions! 'Chapeau' as they say (in roadie circles)

My pictures definitely improved as the weekend progressed and at the end of it I came away with a few pics that I was generally quite pleased with.

All I need now is loads more practise on patient riders that can put up with being asked "could you do that just one more time"

It's springtime in Scotland in the rain again

2011-04-06T09:15:00.001+01:00

Well, winters over, time to start building trail, cue the rain.
We're in at Wolftrax (Laggan) re-jigging some old blue trail into an orange (orange? Dunno, it's an F.C. thing) basically a bit more jumpy and bermy. Personally, I prefer narrower, rockier, tight n twisty trail, but gotta keep the youth happy - and actually I quite like scaring myself silly testing the jumps.
Anyhoo, typing this from the comfort of the dumper, whilst the rain pours down and the digger driver 'roughs out' another jump and then it's rake, compact and test ride, modify, ride again, modify, ride again, change wet kit, repeat 'til happy!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Wolftrax

2011-03-18T11:31:00.003Z

The Scottish skiing at the mo' is superb! Much as I love biking in all its forms, when there's snow as good as this on the local hill, it's drop everything and get up there asap. "Back in the day" when we were all young, free and single - well some were young, some were free and some weren't single, there used to be a gathering of Telemarkers every Wednesday afternoon. All sorts of work excuses were used and even those already up the hill teaching used to finish "very promptly", throw off the tight and rigid Alpine kit and slip into something a little more comfortable!

I was one of those. I'd always free-heel toured and had a very "ropey" tele turn - thanks to the military's approach to descending off-piste mountains by using a series of traverses linked by crashes...

But, I had always envied the grace and style of the true telemark skiers, so I used to join in on the telemark Wednesdays and aided by some of the best telemarkers in the biz (Dave K, June, Greg, Mike, Nick, Dom) the great winter of 1999 - 2000 and a lot of spare time (it was the foot and mouth winter and the bike trade was very quiet) I slowly crashed my way to a rudimentary tele turn.

As the Wednesdays passed, and sometimes all the days in between, I kept at it, determined to master this trickiest of skiing styles, also I kinda fancied my personal coach and I had to get good enough just to be able to ski and tour with her! June had been tele-ing for years, skiing and teaching all over the world and had learnt on the old-school kit (leather boots and skinny skis) so she knew a thing or two and was patient enough to let me flail around behind her, throwing the odd wee gem of tele wisdom my way!

Eventually, through stubbornness and modern technology (plastic boots, carvy tele skis) I sort of got it together enough to completely ditch my Alpine kit (I'd never been that good an Alpine skier anyway) and really start to enjoy the off-piste powder - where the tele turn is the most fun (snowboarders may have an argument here)

So, fast forward to 2011, none of us are young, free and single anymore, but the snow is back to "back in the day levels" the sun is shining, there's a tele possé gathered on a Wednesday afternoon at the top of some gorgeous off-piste "pow", Junes shredding on teles again and at last I can keep up and enjoy bouncing through the fluffy stuff. See ya next Wednesday!

Oh and cheers Bob for taking the pics!

Staring at a screen

2011-03-04T12:21:00.001Z

Two things here; 1) a test of blogging from my iPhone and 2) this picture is what I spend a lot of time doing at the moment.
I don't know why, but at the moment work is lots of planning, designing, recommending, pricing and generally talking about trail builds. Fair-y-nuff, I enjoy acting as a "salesman" for manmade trail!
But, I'll need to push on and clear the "to-do" pile as it's back to building in a few weeks - just you watch, bet it blinking snows!
Test over.

Location:Craig Na Gower Ave,Aviemore,United Kingdom

Mud and Snow - must be a Scottish winter.

2011-02-28T17:20:00.002Z

Just when you thought it was safe to start surveying again - it goes and snows! This time last year there was no chance of any trail work, so I should be grateful I can at least see some mud. February's been ok workwise, with some really interesting clients, new areas and "challenging" sites. The van's been racking up the miles cruising up and down the A9 (our main link to the "world") and what with the short winter days, to get maximum time on site, starts have been very early. The flip side is that with darkness arriving at 4 - 4.30, even allowing for a 2 hour drive home, I'm usually back in time for the feeding time / bath time chaos that is life with our two young boys.

Actually, surveying / planning work is really good for our family life: as my wife and I share childcare and work time, if I do a couple of days surveying, I can spend the rest of my available working week writing up the various reports from the home office, which means I'm around for school runs, kid stuff and general house "husbandry".

Mixed up in all this work / family / winter mix are skiing and cycling; skiing if the snows good and it's not too busy, cycling all other times. I love skiing, actually telemarking to be precise, but after last years powder heaven that was the Cairngorms, this years snow has gone back to being just "ok" - which in the last several lean years would have been amazing, but now means if it's a sunny, still day in the valley, I'll go riding instead. But if it snows up on the hill, everything goes into meltdown in our household, as both my wife and I try to re-arrange "life" to be first up the hill to get fresh tracks, I don't know of any other sport that has a frenzy like this, maybe surfers hearing of big waves, I don't know, but skiers get it baaaad.

The 30in30 January thing was fun (?) but I have now settled down to two longer rides a week, with maybe a wee one hour mtb blast thrown in somewhere. Not a lot for all you winter big mile folks, but all that I can manage just now. Mind you that's much better than last year, when I didn't manage a ride - worth logging - 'til April!

Actually, I've been enjoying some dry (frozen) trail mtb'ing recently, and without sounding like some magazine review, I still reckon the 29er is the bike of choice for our rocky trails, I love the fact that my Tallboy with it's 100mm of travel can help me keep up with the youths on their 160mm "trail bikes" - when did a trail bike need 160mm of travel? Or maybe it's just they feel sorry for me and are feathering their brakes.

Til next month, happy riding.

The Strathpuffer

2011-01-17T21:16:00.004Z

The Strathpuffer 24 hour mountainbike race has gained a reputation as one of the hardest races on the calendar and every year hundreds of racers pilgrimage north to test themselves against some of the finest Highland singletrack just near the little village of Contin, north of Inverness. Me, well I've never done it, never even fancied it; winters are for skiing and doing other wintery outdoor pursuits as well as squeezing in some winter miles on the road bike in preparation for the more "normal" racing events in the summer.

However, I do know lots of locals that enter and therefore decided to nip up the road, catch up with a few folks, and try my hand at capturing some racing pictures.

The weather running up to the event had been a long hard "proper" spell of winter; deep snow, sub zero temperatures and eventually a thaw and hard freeze - perfect! These puffers are known for their love of severe conditions and a nice thick coating of ice would keep all the masochists happy, especially those that had invested in ice tyres.

The forecast was for rain all day, which wasn't that inspiring for pics, but I packed waterproofs, warm clothes, plastic bags for everything, sarnies, a flask and even an umbrella. I knew the area well from competing in past "normal" races but had also done a reccé the day before to figure out parking off site (I was going to leave shortly after nightfall). Camera wise, it was my DSLR - a D300, a Nikon 50mm prime, a Tokina 11-16 wideangle, a flash, plus stand, a tripod, plus loads of spare batteries and what I thought was loads of memory (more on that later). Now that's not a lot of kit, but loaded in with the other stuff for a long, cold, wet day made for a fairly hefty pack weight. Van packed I was off at 8 am and parked up by 9.

It was great to meet racers I hadn't seen for ages, but I didn't take enough "people getting ready shots", probably because I still feel a bit self conscious hefting a big DSLR to my eye, maybe a friendly wee point and shoot or a longer lens to not be in their faces would be better? Before long the race was on, but I was already legging it up the hill to get into position, I had about 4k to go, all uphill, in full waterproofs and carrying the big rucksack. I eventually arrived at a likely looking spot, steam pouring off me and nicely damp inside my Goretex (might have well just worn a poly bag for all the breathability I was experiencing!) I set up on a nice icy, snowy patch, just in time to miss the leaders coming through - doh! By this time it was tipping down, so it was poly bags for the flash and camera, and a jury rigged shelter (umbrella wedged in tree) for me. I caught some images, then stripped everything down and again legged it back down the hill, accompanied by "Sharki" a friendly mtb'er, who was "pit-bitching" for the "minxgirls" Rebecca and Jo.

Second site, picked because it was one of the few places where riders appeared to be going a wee bit faster and I might get a few more dynamic shots. Problem here was the camera wouldn't fire the flash (using Nikons CLS system) where I really wanted it, hmmm. So a quick rethink, re-position and try again. Some of the quicker guys (and girls) looked "dynamic" but most were erring on the side of caution and just easing themselves round my supposedly fast corner. But, I was having fun trying different camera settings, manual focussing, panning, some shots worked some didn't - I wish the ones that worked had co-insided with the racers going fast and wearing bright coloured clothing!

Still not happy with capturing the feel of the event, I packed up and wandered off down the hill, discussing all things mountainbiking with Sharki. In the drizzle and fast fading light I decided to set up near a rock I hoped would yield some nice action shots. Bloody flash wouldn't fire where I wanted it to, funny it had the day before on the reccé, probably because the now melted snow had been acting as a reflector, bum, rejig and try again. Next problem was on the reccé there had been no vehicles or people hanging around, but now it was a busy wee corner and I couldn't get the shots I wanted, jeezo the pro's make it look so easy. Eventually I got a camera/flash/rock/backdrop that was "ok" and managed to snap some people I knew! At last... As it was virtually dark I tried some night long exposure rear curtain remote flash shots (errr, saw it on youtube - seemed like a good thing to try) but blow me if I wasn't almost out of memory - 10gb, I thought that'd be tons! So only a few shots left to try and capture the "feel" of the night-time change over.

Anyway, I was out of time now, not nearly enough time to get all the shots I wanted, but I said I'd be home at 7, so a quick jog to the van and scoot off down the A9.

Eager to see the images I worked into the wee small hours importing and quickly sorting through the keepers, the maybe's and the "oh bugger that didn't work": 300 files, 60 odd ok, of which there's probably 5 or 6 I really like. Unfortunately I didn't get the shots I really wanted; the atmosphere, the grit and grime, the emotion, or any really dynamic action shots. Ok, so it was rainy, grey and yeuchy, but I need to take loads more photos, not worry too much about the technical aspect, rather just try and see things more like a photographer. But, poly bags rock.

Happy New Year

2011-01-06T21:48:00.004Z

So another year rolls around and like the last one it's snowy again. Work for a trail builder in these new "climate changed" winters is interesting! Basically it's chase around clients that had said "no rush - just when you can fit it in" and hope they're still interested. Luckily there are a few leads out there, and if the weather where they are just lets me in to survey the ground, then feasibilty studies can progress regardless of the Highlands snow cover.

I've said it before, but I'm a winter person, I like hard, snowy winters, preferably with a good dollop of snow on the mountains. Skiing, climbing, winter hill walking are all good things and someone who just relies on cycling for their everyday escape would be in trouble living up here. However.... I really enjoyed getting race fit last year, but I didn't start that until the skiing was out of my system i.e. mid March. So with the challenge of some "tweeters" I'm going to try and do 30 rides in 30 days, each ride must be at least 1 hour and with present weather conditions some of that's going to have to be done on the turbo (but not if I can help it)

After that, well it'd be rude not to carry on with training and if time allows enter a few more races this year. Being self employed and having a busy family life means races would need to be very carefully picked and ideally I'd rather not drive for 4 hours for a one and a half hour race (this doesn't apply to the 3 Peaks cyclo-cross race which I will hopefully do again) so I'll be looking at what's closer to home, whether its road or mtb.

Time to join a club, get a race license, and start highlighting the calendar.

2010-12-03T23:38:00.002Z

Well that'll be the winter started then. Last year we had a "big" winter, it started about Christmas, snowed massively and carried on like that until about March, great skiing, but very bad if you make your living building and even trying to survey mountain bike trails.

But hey, no need to worry, a winter like that won't happen again for years. Wrong. This picture was taken last Friday (26th November) and that may be the last day of construction work this year. Bad. The problem is I'm a keen skier, actually, when the powder is deep and untracked I could be called an addict. So on the one hand I stare out of the office window willing it to snow harder and on the other I'm slowly watching my livelihood disappear.

Even non machine based jobs are fast disappearing, it's hard to design and plan a trail when your clients land is under 80cm of snow - that's assuming you can actually get anywhere on out crippled road network - main roads ok-ish, backcountry B roads - nightmare.

4 wheel drive and snow tyres are great up to a point, but with the depth of snow now lying around pushing on to reach work sites is just a bit too silly.

Soooo, take care of office based projects that you were storing for the winter (?) shovel snow and look after the family, ski whenever possible and just go with the flow, after all, you can't argue with mother nature.

Is it done yet?

2010-11-20T09:19:00.002Z

Normally having riders hanging around or riding trail as it's being built is a right pain - Health & Safety matters and on brand new "delicate" surfacing i.e. too wet, too dry or recently thawed, it damages the trail, but on this project it's kinda fun.

This trail is for these guys, so whether they're on bmx's, jumpy hardtails, dh rigs or cross bikes (?) I like to listen to what they've got to say. It's nice to have riders, who you know are dying to get on the trail and ride it, politely hanging back, just waiting until you say ok to give it a go.

The tyre marks left overnight make for an interesting read next morning, no panic braking and tracks "right down the middle" show the designs working, sometimes it even highlights "cheat" lines that I hadn't seen, which means we can do something about it there and then - all good on trails that have to squeeze as much as possible out of a small area.

All in all a good week, the frosts have been mild (once the ground and materials freeze up you're buggered!) no major rain and in fact the biggest issue is the amount of leaves we have to keep clearing out of our way - this is the first time I've ever seen a leaf blower used on a trailbuild! Other projects are coming in, which being design and planning jobs, should allow for a nice little buffer of office time should the winter close down builds like last year. In fact the smart money would be to not plan for any winter builds. Skiing's already started on our local hill, but at this time of year I still prefer to use any "spare" time to grab some cycling miles, lord knows if we have a winter like last year we'll soon be forced onto the treaded "turbo".

2010-11-13T08:05:00.002Z

A cracking week work wise, good progress up in Alness, good news on the funding front for a local project and a couple of juicy leads to follow up, oh and a major feasibility report finally done (haven't typed so much in ages).

Hopefully now I can squeeze some riding in somewhere, the bikes always in the van, but even I sometimes can't find time in a busy day to ride and before you know it another week's gone by with no proper saddle time. I had hoped to race a cyclo-cross race this weekend, but no time to ride in the last week or so has severely dented my racing "edge", what with that and working in the evenings to catch up on report writing means I just didn't fancy a 5 hour round trip for a forty minute race. These bloody "Scottish" cross races are just all so far away - I might have to dip my toe in the race organising arena and get one sorted for up here. I think I'll just have to admit the season is over and get the mudguards fitted!

Winter has suddenly arrived anyway and much as I love all things bike I always will lust after a "big" winter, in my wildest dreams I couldn't imagine another winter as good as last year, but it's already snowy on Cairngorm, enough for skiing, enough for the old excitement to start bubbling up again, enough to start reading ski reviews and checking the winter kit is all ready. Well Sunday night, better load up the van for another week, turn this computer off and try to get to bed early - bypassing the XFactor / Strictly exclusion zone (front room)

Back to trail building

2010-11-06T13:59:00.002Z

Ok, I'll be the first to admit it, I've spent too long planning or directing (standing around) trail builds, but for the latest job I'm pitching in with the team to make sure we're all done before Christmas - and the possible return to an Arctic winter! So it's no surprise that proper grafting has come as something of a shock to my bike conditioned (skinny) body. I love this wee project; an interesting site, a feature packed design, jumps, rocks, North-Shore, a good client and above all a good team. I've missed real trail building; flagging, felling, digging, woodwork and using the machinery are all tasks that keep the "consultancy" part of my work grounded with what can actually be done on the ground. I'm mean it's all very designing a trail, but if you don't know how to actually build it then you'll never know what's really "do-able" - like when you ask a digger driver to build a rock staircase on a 45º slope in tight trees. Well done Chris! But, grafting, plus clocks going back has left me with no daylight, or more truthfully, energy for training - turbo? I don't think so! Hopefully, I'll get sorted to do some lunchtime rides with the local riders next week, but at the moment next weekends cyclo-cross race at Lochore Meadows looks like a trundle round in the middle of the pack sort of a race. Oh and I noticed the 'Puffer entries are on line now, still undecided about that race, but at least the Solo's now full - that's that decision made!

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2010-10-26T20:04:00.003+01:00

Ok, I've been a bit slack with blog updates - sorry. But what with work, school holidays, family holidays, being knackered at night.... etc, etc.

So, it's been a busy time, I don't know whether it's the website, or authorities just trying to get something done before all the money dries up - gulp, but there's quite a few jobs on the cards at the mo'.

Problem is I don't really want to go into them here, it's part of the process of the whole feasability, planning, funding, process and discussing a clients "possible" project on line is just not good.

But, most of the jobs are at the "figuring it all out" stage which is the trickiest bit for me, kinda like an artist or writer staring at a blank page! In my case I have to walk the area available for as many times as it takes to really get to know all it's nooks, crannies and hidden secrets, once I've done this I spend ages just trying to link the best bits together in the best way.

It's a hell of a responsibility really; I have to figure out what will work, how it would be built, costs, who's it for, will they like it, is it safe, will it be fun, is it sustainable....... There's lots of just sitting on top of hills thinking.

I'm lucky that simply by doing this for quite a few years now I know what does and doesn't work, but the early design stages are always the hardest, get the "flow" wrong and no matter how well it's built it'll never be any good. I think being older *cough* helps, I used to just think of the expert trail riders, but now I know what the family user needs (or more specifically the frustrated dad of the family user!)

Technology helps nowadays though, I'm more computer "savvy", my computer and software allow me to work faster and produce slicker reports, photos can be taken and easily imported, almost even whilst still on the hill, and the iphone (sorry, shameless plug, but it really has proved invaluable) allows me to record grid references, gradients, gps traces, take pictures all in one gadget - it really is amazing compared to having to carry a theodolite, measuring wheel, clinometer, gps, etc, etc. Ok, those gadgets have their place later on, but for the initial survey, light and fast is good!

So, work, interesting and enough on the horizon to feel "relaxed"

Bikewise, welllllllllll, a wee lay off after the 3 Peaks, family time, mainly bike free holiday and now itching to do something again. I would dearly love to do a "proper" cyclo-cross race, but most of them are in the central belt - 3 odd hours away and weekend family time is busy enough as it is. But I've picked one or two that are closer - 2 hours and hopefully I'll manage to get to them. Training wise, cyclo-cross should be ok as most races are only about an hour, so training time needs only be short'n'hard i.e. squeezed in anywhere.

But and it's only a but, there's a part of me thinking about the StrathPuffer, never fancied it before - not fit enough, but with a wee bit of form now, maybe I should give it a go? Problem is once there's snow on the ground my ski head goes on and spare time equals skiing!

Well, that's a bit of a catch up, nights closing in, lights now needed for evening runs and I'm just about to start a new trail build just in time for the wet yeuch that is November.....

The Big Post 3Peaks De-brief

2010-09-27T18:32:00.003+01:00

Ok, that was an education! The start, the steepness of those hills, the other competitors, the descents, the supporters, all these things made for a truly overwhelming experience.

In my past I've raced road and mtb to a reasonable standard and further back been a fairly quick long distance runner, but nothing really prepared me for my first encounter with the 3 Peaks.

I had read all the info including the various blogs on Dave Haygarths 3Peaks blogsite and had trained reasonably well, but even so my first encounter with Ingleborough was a shock; the way what seemed like half the field accelerated away from me on it's foot hills made me doubt if I'd even break into the top 100. The descent was fun though and I managed to make up a few places before we hit the road and here I luckily hooked in with a group of fairly like minded chaingang experienced roadie types - through and off - good lads. But whoah, no-one really warned me about the second hill; yes, Ingleborough this, Simons Fell that, but hang on a mo', steps, steps, steps, nooo that wasnae what I wanted! Jings, what a slog, really wasn't ready for that. And the descent, well, whilst I was showing off my mastery of riding the rock armoured path fast, I was aware of riders flying past to left and right on the grass! Buggers, local knowledge be damned. Back on the road and again caught up with a a few guys keen to work hard, so we quickly despatched the road section to Pen Y Ghent. This last climb was better, as I managed to ride a good long way up to the last steep snap, aided by the terrific crowds cheering on anyone who passed. Amazing. Luckily on this final descent I followed someone who seemed to know where they were going and had a really nice fast clean descent back to the road. The last road section was a sprint all the way, I had a wee bit left in me so pounded the 50x12 round, passing a couple (or three?) to cruise in to a 3.52

Happy, aye, but........ I finished too strong, the first climb really rocked me back and I think I was a wee bit cautious with my exertions after that, knowing that I hadn't really got the measure of the challenge ahead.

I'll be back, me and those hills have some unfinished business!

What's done is done

2010-09-27T18:25:00.003+01:00

Well that's the training done. Is it enough, no, is it as much as I could have done, yes.
The last hard week, pushed the "training envelope" out to eight and a half hours, not a lot to some people, but probably one hour too much in my family/work/life delicate balance.
I must admit to being selfish in the last week; I really wanted three hard sessions, 1 x 3hr, 2 x 2.5hr and a 30 min run and no-one was stopping me, cue a few tense "are you going out again" moments and my short temper with the young un's (so tired by the weekend). This added to my strict diet has made my wife wonder if it's all worth it. I mean it's not like I'm a contender or anything, it's just that this race has really got under my skin!
What will all this hard won training yield? I have no idea, as a first timer sub 4 hr would be nice, but unsupported means a Camelbak, and mechanicals will have to be fixed as no spare wheels or bike.
Actually the bike needs those Landcruisers fitted, otherwise it's all good to go, but it's bloody heavy - 22lbs on the local bike shops scales, jings, my full suss' 29er only weighs 2 odd pounds more!
So, just a few moderate sessions and some easy spins on the bike this week, "resting", dodging anyone that so much as sniffles near me, oh and no "comfort" eating either…… see you there.

Push push push

2010-09-10T20:01:00.001+01:00

Aye, everything got pushed this week; my body, my bike and my cross riding skills. With two hard training weeks left til the final "taper" week, I knew some pain had to be had. So; some hard hill running intervals, long cross rides on rocky mountain terrain, long slog hill intervals, short "sprinty" bike carrying sessions, roadie speed work and descending rocky tracks fast. Work, calorie counting and family eventually caught up with me, and after a sleepless midweek night due to a sick kid, Thursdays big hill sesh' of Bynack Mor, Cairngorm and the Burma road felt really, really hard, like shouting "F*CK OFF" into the headwind hard! Mr Haygarth, a seasoned 3Peaks'er reminded me not to train when you've not slept, advice that I normally give to others, but when caught in a tight schedule I just ignored my own common sense and trained on. Got away with it, just, by eating well that night (having pudding!) and bed by 9. Friday was just for fun, a blast round Laggan Wolftrax on the cx bike, cruising up the climbs and bombing down on the (ragged) edge of control, until the inevitable metallic clang of rim hitting rock and my first snakebite puncture in years and that's with the tyres pumped up to 70 odd psi. Landcruisers ordered and 100 psi will be going in them! But how I'd love to use tubs or tubeless. Weight bang on target, no illness and no injuries - apart from my bumpy collarbone which really doesn't like my toptube, toughen up or pipe lagging?

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Location:The Strath

And so the days tick down

2010-09-06T18:08:00.001+01:00

After a bike free weekend, albeit with a nice wee fell running session squeezed in, it had to be a hard one today. 34 miles, 4003' and 3 hrs later, job done.
A bike/carry up Bynack Mor, then the same up to Coire Cas on Cairngorm, a lap of Badaguish xc course then a bike/carry up the steep bit on Craigellachie, all mixed up with as fast as you can road bits in between.
Nicely knackered after that and struggled a bit with the rest of the day! But, no cramps or "must just lie down" feelings, so not too bad.
What's worrying me is I'm 4 miles and 1000' short of race distance. Must try harder. Times running out though!

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Location:Cairngorms

3 weeks to go and getting worried...

2010-09-02T21:18:00.003+01:00

MTB race on Sunday, laying slabs Monday, a couple of hours on easy tracks on the cross bike Tuesday, Wednesday rest, so today I felt like turning the screw and hitting the big hills. Our local pain venue is the climb up the Burma road, a bitch on mtb gears, so perfect for a cyclocross bike hurtfest. A ten minute warm up from the house to the foot of the climb, a wee stretch after the hillroad gate, gilet off, start the lap timer and up we go. Gotta simulate race pressure, so hit it hard, then try and settle down into a rhythm. It's a long slog, thirty odd minutes and the tracks pretty loose and rubbly, so can't even stand to ease the legs and back, just got to sit and grind, "spin", I wish. Up a few gears over the top, a wee out of the saddle effort, gilet on, no-handed - "Tour de France stylee", then straight down the other side, turn round and do it all again... Three weeks to go, no cake reward and thinking I should "beast it" for at least another 10 days.

2010-08-29T19:45:00.003+01:00

I'm a bike racer again. After several years off, I decided to dip my toe back into the frenzied waters of vets sxc mtb racing. The Laggan course is local and the course was going to be a harder, more natural one than previous years, which appealed to me, as manmade ones are just like work (!) I also fancied a change to my current 3Peaks cyclo-cross training of running up very steep hills carrying the bike!

However, the powers that be deemed the course too hard for xc and "pulled" the major downhill section, on the eve of the race. I'm obviously out of touch with the current xc scene as I thought riders in this day and age would be "rad" enough to cope. I mean aren't the youth coming through being reared on a diet of riser bars, fat tyres, discs and "hucking" sick (sic) lines? On a more serious note, the head commissar had worries about casevac - fair enough, but shouldn't there be guidelines about this for course setters? Anyhoo, Lindsay of Basecamp worked into the night re-jigging the alignment to tame things down, well done, Lindsay.

I could see my locals advantage slipping away! I was really nervous pre-race, being so long out of competition, knowing I don't get as many miles in as I used to and just all that pre-race "stuff" buzzing around my head. A good warm up settled me down and I tried to muscle forward in the line up. Bugger, the start was a shock to the system, everyone tore off, my heart rate max'd out and all I could think about was how the hell was I going to maintain this. Gulp. But. Once we all piled into the downhill the fun started, crashes left right and centre and from then on in I had no idea who I was racing or what place I was in!

Generally it settled down into slog up hill and then tear back down slipping and sliding past anyone in front. Luckily I heard the announcer mention I was in fourth and realised I could out descend the third placed man just up ahead, so I was able to finish with a wee "the race is on" buzz. Ace. Loved it a lot. Next please.

2010-08-06T12:52:00.002+01:00

Bugger. I've just been informed by the road race organiser that I can't race on a day licence, which I had been told would suffice. Bum. Now there's not time to get a licence, and have you seen the BCF website? flipping nightmare to find out just what you need, how is anyone meant to easily get into this sport. Anyway, buying a year membership then a licence on top of that just for one race - I don't think so. Ok, so as a an ex roadie I should have known better, but I just fancied a race having started to get some decent training in and as a wee tester on my way to the goal of the 3Peaks cyclo cross race. This race was local-ish (where I live sub 2 hrs is local!) and having checked with the race organiser I was assured that a day licence would be ok, but now it's not... Alternatives, none really, there is an SXC mtb race in Perth, but they cost waaaay too much to enter for the "pleasure" of getting changed at the side of the F.C. road, charging around some ad-hoc course for 1 hour 40 mins then driving home wet and muddy, no showers, not even a free cup of tea and a piece of cake. Would someone explain why mtb races are £30? So, come Sunday morning I'll just head out for a good long sesh' on the cx bike. Feel a bit silly I shaved my legs now!

2010-08-04T19:18:00.002+01:00

Well, the time has come to rid the legs of several years of growth; aye road racing is back in my life and say what you want, you do not turn up to the Scottish Vets Championships with hairy legs - the commissars would probably just send me home. I've never had a problem with the whole roadie leg shaving thing (apart from that wee bit behind the knee!), regardless of the whys and wherefores, it's just what you do. I even did it for mtb races, it's part of my pre-race ritual, hairless legs = race pain! Those mtb'ers that have a problem with it should study the history of road racing, they are the real hard men, not the trail centre weekend warriors wrapped up in body armour (?!) on their 6" travel earth movers. Anyhoo, I've squeezed in all the training I can, not enough to win, but hopefully enough to be in the fight and am now "tapering". As this is my first road race since marriage and kids I'm getting quite nervous, I know it's going to "really" hurt and I haven't felt that on a bike for years now.

2010-07-22T12:32:00.003+01:00

A blog a month, doesn't seem hard - does it? Well it is in my world! Last month I quoted that the trails are riding so fast that a change to "quicker" tyres was on the cards - hahaha, stop that foolishness. The Scottish summer is back to normal with day after day of rain, muddy(ish) trails and generally "dreich" and chilly weather. So what do I do, decide to enter the 3 Peaks cyclo-cross race, that's what. This race is the hardest cyclo-cross race in the world (allegedly) and is 38 miles long, of which just over half is off road, involves 5000' of climbing, 7 odd k's of carrying (eh!) and looks like a right good old pain-fest.

Now although I have been sneaking in a lot more roadie miles than the past few years and almost all of last year was dedicated to distance running (no time for decent bike rides) I have never ridden a cross bike off-road in anger. Yes, I've got a crosser, but it see's duty as a winter training bike, decked out in mudguards and roadie gears (53/39 - 12-23) so plainly I have some work to do here.....

First, sort out the bike; the headset, wheels, brakes, sitting and holding bits are ok, but the drivetrain needs serious thought. After a lot of research on Dave Haygarths excellent 3 Peaks blog site I figured some lower than normal cross gears are required, but how to achieve this - without the budget of Nick Craig's XX gruppo. Well, I thought I could bodge it with all the mtb cast offs in the garage, but trying to integrate old STI's and new mtb bits was never going to happen, so I gave in, researched new stuff and plumped for SRAM (would have liked Campag, but there you go)

Secondly, start getting more cross specific with the training and this for me means learning to "gracefully" dismount and mount (cue comedy crashes), run up hills carrying a bike and actually ride off-road with skinny tryes, canti's and drop-bars. Actually I am really enjoying the challenge of off-roading on a cross bike, makes jumping back on the mtb seem like wrapping yourself up in cotton wool.

Training with all the usual family and work pressures is never easy, but luckily all the endurance stuff is largely done and I can now concentrate on shorter, harder rides and runs.

I don't know why, but I really enjoy long hill intervals - weird?

As intermediate training goals, I've entered a roadie race (Scottish vets champs - oooh that'll be aggressive!) and an mtb race - the local sxc @ Laggan, all good stuff.

Works getting busier with the consultancy stuff tailing off into actual builds soon, so time management's going to get tricky, especially with us all needing a summer family holiday, hmmm, take bike.

So the pic of my old fell running shoes, they've been seeing action again and truth be told I still quite enjoy running in the hills (minus bike on shoulder!) the hamstrings don't, but they'll come round eventually.

2010-06-24T15:47:00.002+01:00

Jings, a month since my last post; kids, kitchens, work and riding make time disappear! Being a mountainbike trail designer isn't that eco friendly, I've been all over Scotland and Northern England racking up the miles in the van, seeing clients, reccé-ing sites and doing far more consultancy than building. To redress this I've been down at the local trail centre doing F.C. required inspections, raking, pruning and some minor hand repairs, plus some proper "trail fairy" work on my local favourites. The trails are riding beautifully at the moment, fast, grippy and flattering, so much so that I'm entertaining thoughts of taking off the big Panaracer 2.35 Rampages and putting on some fast summer treads (that'd be the kiss of death to the nice weather and I do love the confidence the big fat Rampages give me) hmmmmm, no rush.

I don't know how I've managed, but since the last post I've managed to clock up some almost respectable roadie mileages and am starting to feel stronger on both bikes. I loved the winter of skiing, but I'm a bike rider first and foremost and it's lovely to be back to some sort of decent riding fitness. Hammering along singletrack in the big ring - it's what makes me happiest, I'm even harbouring thoughts of dipping my toes back into the manic world of veterans xc racing, but only if I can keep up; those boys are old hands, fit as elites, shaven legs everywhere and not keen to yield the racing line! But the Tallboy deserves to be raced, it's really what it's for.

What's With This Weather!!!

2010-05-11T14:13:00.003+01:00

It's May and therefore the 2 pairs of shoes on the right should be getting used i.e. lightweight road and mtb carbon fibery things, instead the two pairs on the left are back in service i.e. the full on wintery, thermal, Goretexy things! It's hard finding the motivation for yet another wet and cold 3 hour road ride, but I do want to be race fit before the end of the season!

Work at the mo' is a mixture of trail surveys for up and coming projects interspersed with the inevitable hours on the computer typing up reports or trying to do costings for clients. Trail building is not all rakes, spades and diggers! Unfortunately. Well, maybe it's not a bad thing, because this weather is far too cold for enjoying groundworks!

The new website is up and running, I'm very pleased with it - cheers Stuart @ webhighland! It's already generated some interesting new leads, but I'll let you know about them if they ever come off - v' exciting stuff though......

2010-05-02T20:44:00.002+01:00

A great week; did some hand maintenance on Laggan Wolftrax trails, got two good long bike rides in - one road, one mtb, some office based pre-project stuff and a lovely visit to see how the Knoydart Trust trail is coming on.

On the down side, my bum is still a long way from being "at one" with my trusty old saddles - which were perfectly comfy before the winter, but 12 odd skiing weeks later are causing me untold grief. Flite saddles have been under me for 15 odd years now, so I doubt it's them, just my lack of saddle time - need to get some Assos MAL.... Oh and our carefully structured bedtime routine for our two young boys has slipped slightly, with the nice n easy "all quiet by 7.30" replaced by "aaaaaaaaagh" til nearly 9 some nights - bang goes evening rides! Interesting things afoot, I'll let you know if they come come to fruition.

2010-04-23T19:09:00.004+01:00

One week now with the Tallboy and I can report it's very good! Without rehashing all the usual 29er benefits, I can say that even ignoring the big wheel issue it's still very good! The frame is laterally very stiff and this combined with the short chainstays makes powering out of corners great fun. Suspension wise it's plush and active, which as someone who likes to sit and spin proves a real boon when climbing rooty rocky trails, it certainly feels like a very good 100mm. It is very nimble without being twitchy at speed; the front end can really be chucked into corners, it's just soooo much fun to really lean the bike in and let it carve round - it really is the best "carving" bike I've ever had (skiers will know what I mean!) So, it climbs technical terrain well, effortlessly covers rough ground and descends like a bigger trail bike and it's very light! It makes me want to ride more.

Winer Training, it's meant to be hard - right?

2010-04-21T21:26:00.004+01:00

Ooookaaay, so I've found a small training window in my busy day, its just above freezing, its blowing a hooly out of the north and I just know I've got to get the miles in - I mean you can't head into a summer without some real hard man winter epics, anyway the forecasts ok 'til later (more on that later)

Dressing for this is simple; put everything on! Bib knicks, thermal t shirt, arm warmers, bib tights, long wooly socks, mid layers, Roubaix top, gilet, winter gloves/boots, buff, helmet, then spare gloves and waterproof in back pocket along with the obligatory jelly babies and flapjack thingy.

Click in and spin off into a solid wall of ice cold headwind, on the flat I'm in 39x19, with only a 21 and 23 left for the lumpy bits ahead, hmmm. The next hour or so is hard work, but I'm on top of the gear and in no rush, mindful of "it's base miles, take it easy, it's base miles". Turn and the next leg is with the wind, which is good as there is a dirty big dark cloud chasing me, which before long catches up and celebrates by snowing on me. Final leg, nasty sidewind blowing me around, stinging snow on my right cheek, dayglo waterproof on - not only for warmth, but vis is poor now and I'm genuinely worried about being sideswiped by a lorry. Hill ahead, ignore the base miles mantra and dance up in the big ring, desperate to try and outrun what is now a blizzard (guess the forecast was a bit out then) Over the top, change up, sit down and....... crack, snap, wobble, WTF, everything's gone very wobbly - the seatpost bolt has snapped. Oh. Dear. Me. I'm still 10 miles from home. After realising it's not fixable with a multi tool, chain tool or spoke key, I have no option but to stay in the big ring and stay out of the saddle all the way. Ouch.

As I said, winter training (even if it supposed to be Spring) is meant to be hard - it's character building!

Spring is here; more work, more riding, new bikes.

2010-04-19T17:02:00.002+01:00

Well, its been a cracking wee run of weather, mainly dry and warm (!), in fact I was stripped down to just arm/knee warmers and lightweight gilet for riding - which is pretty good for me. Work has been mainly "hands-on" trail fairy type stuff; checking trails, clearing tree debris, cleaning out ditches and general trail TLC (I love working away from those noisy diggers sometimes). With this good weather I'm loath to spend time on project work in the office, but this years starting to look good work wise, with projects fairly close to home this year.

On the riding front, I'm trying to gain a "winter" base - in Spring! Legs feel good due to the number of skiing days this year, but the heart and lungs need a lot more work. I'd like to think I could get race fit for some events later in the season (like the cx season!) But to really kick off the riding year I've just built up a new bike, a Santa Cruz Tallboy, which is a 29er, a wheel size I've really taken to and at the time of writing this I've yet to have a proper ride on. So far though all I know is that it's light - 23lbs and feels very "sprinty", might even do a review type report on it when time allow.

Oh and these have now been used in 2010

2010-04-10T19:20:00.000+01:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Grampian Rd,Aviemore,United Kingdom

Change of Seasons

2010-04-10T19:16:00.000+01:00

Well, I think, at last, that winter has finally thrown in the towel after 3 months of ruling the roost. We had made a good start 2 weeks ago to the green climbing link at Laggan then it snowed again - ugh! Actually down at Laggan it wasn't too bad, but it did make bringing in materials a wee bit trickier and when it all thawed......... It was a good test of the drainage regime!
I'll be back on the spade and rake (and saw) after Easter to deliver some TLC to the trails down there after the first big test of the trails after the snow has melted - and to get them in tip top condition for their demo day in a couple of weeks.
On the home front it's been more skiing for me the missus and number one son and finally some road miles to try and convert my skiing legs into cycling legs! I feel a new bike coming on.......

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Grampian Rd,Aviemore,United Kingdom

2010-03-26T20:39:00.004Z

Well as the thaw continues another good week of work at Laggan Wolftrax. After a busy weekend of riders and lots of rain I was keen to quickly re-assess the trails as the previous week had been so dry and quiet, all generally ok, with the worst of the puddling and mud being on the climb to the black and the black itself. In fact the poor old black needed quite a bit of spade work to clear some v deep puddles and nasty muddy patches. No worries with this level of erosion, it's just added character! What I was worried about was how much "short-cutting" there was around the demanding rock problems - I mean, come on folks - ride it or walk, going around only drags more mud onto the proper trail and causes more erosion. After much rolling of rocks, dragging of trees and raking over rut lines, order was restored - bring on Easter..... it may well be that the FC eventually decide to "formalise" these "cheat" lines. Discuss! Back on the new green climb all goes well, well apart from the amount of trees I had to fell on my own - ouch! Generally I don't like to fell too many trees when building trails, but in this case they had never been thinned and there was no option but to fell a machine wide corridor, anyway it'll allow more native species to regenerate. (tree hugger bit over!) Off for Easter now, might even ride my bike!

2010-03-19T20:22:00.002Z

The thaw continues. At last the snow has gone from our local trails and I've been able to assess how our local trail centre - Laggan has fared. So the van was emptied of all the winter kit and loaded with chainsaws, handtools, bike, lots of warm kit, trainers (sometimes I run the trails!), various bike shoes, big work boots and loads of green flags for a new trail.

The bike came out first and it was great to blast round the deserted trails, they're riding really well, I suppose a 2 foot snow blanket over the last 3 months has kept them cosy and unused.

Then a slower more critical walk round with the tools, just checking on the drainage and dealing with any downed branches. The black needed some TLC, so two good hard days digging and moving rocks took care of that for the moment, but I'll need to head higher up next week to sort out some drainage issues near the top.

The new green climbing link has started, don't go getting all excited at that, it's only a link from the big motorway by the road to the wee wiggly green run home trail. But it's good to stick some flags in and work again with Duncan - the local (and one of the best) digger drivers.

Oh and there is the small matter of having to fell the trees for him, which after a winter of being a skibum is a rude wake up shock to my soft body! So a busy 5 days, much aching and blistering, bring on the weekend.....

2010-03-15T20:27:00.002Z

Ok then that's me back on line: the snow has started melting at most levels all over Scotland and much as I have "fully" enjoyed my skiing winter it's good to smell the earth and get back to digging.

Whilst we're a few weeks away from anything happening in my neck of the woods - Northern Scotland, Fife is well clear of the freeze and it was a pleasure to get down the A9 and catch up with the Lochore Meadows gang and boy they've been busy. Not only have they installed some very smart and professional looking signs, but the volunteer group have been tidying and sorting out access routes / hanging out areas.

The user group they've got running is keen and well supported, both by the cyclists, but also by the local community.

This is great to see and a surefire way of guaranteeing a trails success. As a trail designer this level of community support at an urban based, easily accessible facility is I think the way forward and great for the future of our sport.

2010-02-09T19:35:00.000Z

This is the Cycletherapy office and it looked like this for about 4 weeks! Needless to say this winter has severely limited the amount of trail building that can be done. Planning future projects can be still be done, but as for cutting trail - forget it. However, whilst the business hibernates through this snowiest of winters, I have grasped the opportunity of some spare time and spent more time with my family and skied more in the past 6 weeks than I have done in the past 6 years!

The old leg muscles are adapting to miles and miles of Telemark turns (think hundreds and hundreds of lunges at 20 odd miles an hour!) so hoping I won't be too slow when the biking kicks in again.

2009-12-18T13:16:00.000Z

Well, job done, on time and everyone happy. The final few days were slightly hampered by the rapid onset of winter, frost and snow, but the top dressing of dust just sneaked in before everything froze solid - which might be a good thing with the school hol's just round the corner. On that note, although finished trails do look very inviting, if it says stay off, then please do, it is for a very good reason - new trails, especially on poor wet ground, need time to dry out and settle.

It's been a great wee pre-Christmas project, good client, good contractor, good feedback and a great wee skills area utilising what wasn't the biggest or the most promising piece of ground. The record breaking amounts of rain during the build did make things "trickier", but all the measures put in to keep the build going will help better protect the trails for the future.

Right I'm off for a couple of weeks (or three - it's been a long time living away from home) of family time, eating, drinking and hopefully skiing.

2009-12-12T14:30:00.000Z

Week four done and great progress on all trails. Jumps all but finished, easy links and easy jump line all done and rock features finally completed. Still difficult build conditions, with frozen ground one day, then rain the next! However, the lads just got on with it and now the end is in sight, spirits are up. It's a shame all around the trail is a sea of mud, but it'll eventually re-gen and in the long run the drainage regime and access corridors will make for easier maintenance. Just the dusting off of the trails to do, so it's back to the most basic of "material delivery" - the wheel barrow and shovel. Oh, my aching back.....

2009-12-04T20:52:00.000Z

Week three in the bag and good progress in conditions ranging from cold and frosty, pretty, but difficult to rake surfacing in, to the usual heavy day-long rain, mud and water everywhere!

Big jump line coming on nicely with the whole team forcing on the pace, good crowd this lot.

They're also working Saturday to get the next section ready for shaping come Monday, not me though, back up the A9 for family time and hopefully some weekend skiing (cue the bad weather!)

The end is in sight.....

2009-11-28T20:33:00.000Z

Week two done and after the biblical rain of the past 6 days, we finally got out of the mud and started building trail! The rocky bits all went in nicely, both to keep the red route riders happy and to help solve drainage issues. The jump line also started coming together, after shipping in many hundred tons of bottoming simply to enable work to continue in the dire conditions - expensive, but better than cancelling the build 'til next summer (?) Always one to put a positive spin on things, I like to tell the squad that it's good to build trail in such awful conditions, simply to see the ground at it's worst, I don't think they see it that way.....

2009-11-24T20:31:00.000Z

Ok can we stop with the rain now? It's rained since last Thursday! I'm growing webs between my fingers everything has mud on it and the squad is getting that "thousand yard" stare. Stiff upper lip, cap in hand and can we have some more money....... Pic snapped with phone, cos there's no way I'm getting out the "proper" camera in this weather, it"s 10 am and the lights are already on, ugh.

Lochore Meadows First Week.

2009-11-22T06:48:00.000Z

Well week one in the bag on the Lochore Meadows project. We're building a skills and jumps area in a wee wood near the council run visitor centre. First weeks on any project, especially for a new client and using a new contractor are always busy periods for a trail designer, but all has been well. As usual there's been

quite a bit of hands on, whether it's dealing with the odd missed tree or demonstrating the level of attention to detail trail work requires, especially with raking the Type 1!
Unfortunately the weather has been flexing it's muscles with two days of torrential rain, but always keen to put a positive spin on things, I just see it as a good test of the drainage regime. Muddy though.

- From the 'phone.

Testing Testing 1 2 3

2009-11-21T22:51:00.000Z

Now a geek check from the godphone.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Testing testing 1 2 3

2009-11-21T22:44:00.000Z

Just warming up to this..... I will return.