Monday Morning Debrief 73

by 1

So, how was your weekend then? Get out on a bike? We hope so – or that at the very least you got in the shed and fixed it, washed it or bought new bits for it.

wiltanmmdb
“Ahh, forgot about this” – so have we Wil, so have we…
Fresh Goods Friday 692 - The Farmer...
Latest Singletrack Videos
wil-mmdb2
Weird blue fog everywhere…

It’s been a busy weekend in the world of Singletrack. And we mean world – as we’ve got staff flinging themselves all over the planet…

Starting with Wil, who’s on holiday back home in Australia – it seems he’s forgotten what that yellow ball in the sky is for. And he was complaining about a kind of hot blue fog that seemed to be covering the grey of the sky. We’re hoping he doesn’t remember too much or he won’t be back…

wil-mmdb-3
At least we don’t have to deal with trail obstacles like this guy…

And the other end of the planet, Hannah’s been on a short trip to see what the fat biking is like in Finland, way up there on the Russian border. Riding local Finnish SUP bikes, Hannah has been working up an appetite and then eating all the fresh salmon and deer that’s been put in front of her. Typically, the skies have been grey (or would that be white?) with the sunshine only showing its face on the way back to the airport. Expect a more detailed story when she returns.

 

 

 

hannahmmdb2
Just park it where you like
hannah-mmdb
Secret sauna? Or another café?

Meanwhile Anthony has been taking in some of the glories of the Lakes, while also stopping to help out at a local trail dig. “I missed the start of James Vincent’s epic Lakes death-march so I went for a couple of solo laps of Whinlatter. Met a fair few folk on eBikes, none of whom said they were disappointing.

Then it was trail day at Stainburn on Sunday. The lads managed to get about 40 tonnes of stone shifted (that’s not an exaggeration – we put down loads of the stuff) which is going to become a new pump track at some point. Hopefully just in time for summer.”

antonymmdb
Whinlatter one-up
stainburn-mmdb
Stainburn stone shifting. Come on summer!

And as for Adele: “This weekend saw the arrival of my new Cotic Flare, built just for me by Cy and his team and then delivered all the way from Sheffield to the Surrey Hills. I got this lovely bike because I’m going to be a brand ambassador for Cotic this year. This role will mainly involve lots of bike riding and is nothing to do with handing out Ferro Rocher chocolates at parties.”

adele2mmdb
Ambassador, you are spoiling us with your matching jacket and Cotic frame.
adele-mmdb
You knows it!

Kat Crompton wins the ‘far reaching views’ award from everyone here. “I was hoping for sunshine and distant views. I didn’t quite get that as the 3 Peaks were covered in snow and cloud. I did still get lovely Yorkshire Dales views and a peaceful solo ride.”

kat-c-mmdb2
Now that is an expansive view
kat-c-mmdb
Gotta love some Belted Galloways, right? No? Just us? Come on, they’re cute!

Our North American Special Agent, Marc B got busy on the off-road Ritchey with its unconventional drop bar guise –  “Broke in the Ritchey P-29er as it was breaking me on a 60mi mixed-media loop: deserted Superbowl Sunday roads, singletrack along the Rio Grande and against the mountains, and urban arroyo trails. Everyone rode from their houses and, afterward, limped home alone. Used the whole of the 10-44t cassette and finally found a decent use for Stan’s Raven tires. Inspired by Chipps and Wil, I have been been sneaking furtive glances at the Shand paint color gallery.

marc-b-mmdb
It’s crazy looking, but it counts

And finally, and fortunately, we have Charlie the Bikemonger, who didn’t think to take any pictures on his nudist beach ventures…

“This weekend I worked, packed my bike for single speed Arizona, and went for my first ever off road ride on an e-bike along an empty nudist beach. The whole thing has left me unfulfilled, particularly the e-bike.”

So, there’s a pretty wide-ranging range of views and experiences from the team. What did you get up to?

Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 22 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

More posts from Chipps

Comments (1)

Leave Reply