bikes and things

A nice little clip of the pump track from Graham. Don’t remember the freewheels being that noisy but it’s all you can hear in the clip.

Looks easier than it is.

Back at the end of 2008 I made a list of some of the things I wanted to ride in 2009. One of which was to ride a pump track.

A pump track is kind of like a mini 4x track which returns on itself in a loop. The idea is to keep speed and avoid pedalling over the obstacles and to perfect your technique until the whole track is dialled. It also helps to stay off the brakes to keep the speed up.

David heading in to the berm.

Dom has been building a secret spot since he took some time off work. Fortunately there’s plenty of free dirt nearby and is only a short walk from his house. I fancied a bit of a break from study so headed down there yesterday with Matt and Graham.

First few goes were great fun but it takes a while to get in to it. The XC knobbly tyres I had on made hard work of it all but by the end of the day I was starting to get the hang of it.

Graham hanging out in the berm.

Of course this was the perfect opportunity to take some pictures! I ended up taking the full camera bag just to play around. I ended up needing the flash in the woods as there was just not enough light to illuminate their faces. I popped a single flash in to most of the pics and also used the umbrella to diffuse the light a bit.

Matt over the first roller and heading towards the double.

Matt popping out of the berm on to the rollers.

So after a long day of ‘pumping’ all that was left to do was repair the berms and rollers and then do an obligatory group shot!

Group shot from a tree.

The following morning things feel pretty sore. It’s amazing how much it works your upper body and also how much you have to pump with your legs. The mosquitos in the woods are evil too!

We’ll be back though. Full set of pictures here.

Day 144 of 365, originally uploaded by Andy*Matthews.

Not had much practice at taking riding shots recently but was reasonably pleased with this one from last weekend. Manual focus and exposure and trying to get back into panning. Vaughan obliged by riding it “just one more time”.

Sometimes I think my job is difficult.. Pleasing clients, contractors, planners, the boss and trying to study part time. 

This is something else though. Shooting an editorial of 48 or so pages in two weeks! Some great shots there. 

Seb Rogers: mountain bike photography: Shoot of the year.

As usual if you search for any shop, service or such like on locally Google you’re bound to find a link to someone moaning about it on the East Duwlich Forum. My views on some of the people who frequent that forum are probably best left off a public posting. The words racist and bigotry come to mind.

I noticed that there was a new bike shop near Goose Green in East Duwlich and used Google Street View to find the name then searched in Google. Lo and behold a posting from East Dulwich Forum complaining about them! The owner had responded on there also. So I called them up anyway and took the two wheels from the fixed down there to get them trued – they were way off after my trip over the car bonnet before Christmas. Great service and very friendly too from calling them up to picking them up a few days later (they open late on Weds).

If you need a bike repaired and are in East Duliwch then give them a shot. A great little bike shop – Balfes Bikes

View Larger Map

Frankenbike…, originally uploaded by Andy*Matthews.

Got the old fixed back from Rob the other day. Built it up in the kitchen last night. Needs a new front brake cable and the wheels truing but it’s almost good to go. One day soon it’ll get a re-spray at Argos Cycles in Bristol but it will do for getting around town on for now.

Hopefully be able to start riding it next week.

…in the daylight makes such a difference. So nice to have an hour or so of light after I get back.

Managed to get a bit of a ride in yesterday morning with Gary round the park. Only 40 miles in total but good to get out. Found it quite hard at times so need to get more than just the commute going if I’m going to have any chance of doing the Dunwich this year.

Went into town for a wander afterwards with Emma and saw Let the Right one in at the Haymarket. Was a bit worried that it was going to be hard work with it being subtitled. It’s so beautiful and incredibly shot. The whole film really impressed me. A great take on the whole vampire idea. Watch the trailer below and then go and see it!

Halfords benefits as cash-strapped commuters get on their bikes | Business | guardian.co.uk .

Cycling is on the up!

Halfords, which sold 1m bicycles in the 12 months to March for the second year in a row, reported “healthy” like-for-like sales growth from cycles today.

Domestic bliss, originally uploaded by cephal0pod.

This weekend we went camping in Wales. The family tent got an outing for a few nights. We arrived on Friday night after a long drive. It rained all the way and then suddenly stopped. A bit damp underfoot but we managed to get the tent up, a few beers down and some sleep in.

Next day up for a cracking breakfast and served on the largest piece of bread I have ever seen! Matt and Graham arrived after and we faffed for a whole before setting off for the W2 trail. It certainly felt epic and by the time we got back all of us were pretty worn out. That climb from the bottom of the Wall trail is a real killer! Some beers, some dinner, a sleep, a shower, some more dinner, mountainbike DVD’s in the cafe and lots more beer later it was time for bed.

Up the next day for more enormous breakfast then off to Brechfa. A slightly longer journey than planned but headed round the blue trai. A bit like a big BMX track really and a little too manicured for me but worth going back for the red I reckon.

It was pretty good staying on site for a change rather than going to a B+B nearby. That cafe rocks!