Good morning team! Or should I say, good afternoon…
Yes, things are running a little slow today, as they have been on many recent Mondays. So you’ll have to excuse the tardiness of our usual Monday Morning Debrief broadcast. You see, this time of year is what we refer to as the ‘Singletrack Stupid-Busy Silly Season’. It’s the time of year where all the big riding events happen, and when many brands choose to have their big product launches. There’s been the Singletrack 7, the Fort William World Cup, the Glentress 7, the Tweedlove International, and the Mountain Of Mayhem. There’s probably 8 zillion others that I’ve forgotten too.
On top of that, Hannah raced her first enduro last weekend at the Julba Enduro in France, Mark was recently over in the States on a top-secret product mission, and I’ve been to a couple of product launches this month including the Rocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay launch, an Intense launch (hint: get your eyes on the website at 9am tomorrow morning…), and then last week, PressCamp in Utah.
It’s all been a bit of a whirlwind, but a darn fun one at that. And one that has another month or two left as we powerslide our way through the summer season. With that in mind, I’ve got an appropriate groove you guys to listen to today as part of the Monday Morning Debrief.
Alright party-people; you got that tune working its magic in your ears? Good stuff! Now lets get stuck into today’s Monday Morning Debrief!
No, this is not a photo of James riding a bike. It’s a photo of James being a dolphin. Or the ‘Love Dolphin’ as we’re referring to it. James being the world’s best Dad decided to get all dressed up with his little munchkins on the weekend for the annual Handmade Parade in Hebden Bridge. I think blue sparkle suits him eh?
Back to bikes. Or at least, a photo of a bike with a male model posing in front. Chipps snapped his mate Derek Zoolander after riding buff trails in the Forest of Dean for two friends’ 40th birthdays. Cheesy chips and beer FTW!
Our local tech-head and serial puncture-machine, David Hayward, donated one of his weekend days to perform some trail maintenance around Wycoller. With the help of Ranger Bill, David and the team got the shovels out to help repair some trails. Good on you Daveo!
Our local Northern fast-man, Jason Miles, destroyed the 60 mile course at the Yorkshire True Grit event on the weekend. After burying himself on a Santa Cruz Stigmata ‘cross bike, he was greeted by some rather tasty post-race hydration recovery drinks.
On the racing tip, Mr Ben Gerrish also strapped a race plate on over the weekend to take part in a 3.5-day enduro race in Slovenia. The Trans Julius event encompasses four different stages, with a mixture of uphill and downhill across some pretty impressive terrain. Ben managed to nab 2nd place at the event and got himself a sweet trophy and a huge novelty cheque – well done Ben!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVxf721jkDD/?taken-by=petescullion
Speaking of enduro racing, the hairy man behind the lens, Pete Scullion, racked up some hefty vertical at the Mavic Trans-Provence race in France last week. But despite all of the miles he rode during the event, Pete decided he needed a local fix after returning home, so he got the bike out and hit the Lake District for some similarly rocky death-tech riding. That man is an animal!
Speaking of animals, Tom Hill has been dialling it up to 11 with a huuuuuge trip to the Alps over the past four weeks. Tom helped out at the Mavic Trans-Provence as a sweep rider, meaning he got to ride the entire course behind all of the competitors. If you want to feel very jealous, then check out Tom’s visual diary via his Instagram account – it’ll have you reaching for your passport…
Back to the motherland, and back to the Lake District. James Vincent has been sending us through epic photos from some beautiful summer evening rides around his ‘hood in Cumbria. How nice is the #lightbro in this one??
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVxJmooDFxP/?taken-by=ridingbikesrocks
Further up the isle in Peebles, Tom Nash got a family ride in over the weekend, with his young fella snapping off this #certifiedbanger of Tom schralping some turns amongst the trees. I quite dig the motion blur in this one, so we might have to get Tom’s little shooter on the payroll!
Back down in Calderfornia, Antony & Barney have been getting their mid-week skive ride on, hitting the trails while they’re quiet. Here’s a lovely photo of Barney’s Backside, which we’re told is his best side.
We put the word out to our contributors to see what they all got up to over the weekend. Here’s the response from Katherine Crompton: “Nothing from the weekend but a ‘live’ pic from my now ride. Monday riding with Sarah Shaw.”
And she had the nerve to send us that on Monday morning while we’re all stuck in our slave-caves? Thanks a lot Katherine!
And you are correct in your assessment – there are no bikes in this photo. Here’s what Adele Mitchell had for us;
“My weekend … had to pull out of Passportes du Soleil due to family stuff, couldn’t get to the Swinley Forest women’s ride because of family stuff, and couldn’t get to the Leith Hill Mega either because of…family stuff. I did manage however to ride over to a local Juliana Bicycles demo where I refused a trial on the new Strega (Italian for witch – hold on to that snippet of info) on the grounds that last time I trialled an SC bike things turned out Very Expensive Indeed. Should have taken them up on the offer though, as heading home through the woods I encountered several groups of people who seemed to be living out some sort of Game of Thrones fantasy. ‘What are you doing?’ I asked (I doubt a nosey woman on a bicycle was in their script, but hey ho) ‘Hunting each other’ said a man in a cloak who is probably safely back in an accounts department in Slough by now. ‘Well in that case the others are over there,” I told him, pointing back down the trail. “Thanks!” he said, with the invincible air of a man about to vanquish the enemy with his army of two mates. “Just say a witch told you!”, I added before speeding off. Full suspension broomstick, that’s what I need.”
Love it Adele!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVufenDAadh/?taken-by=wilrides
After having spent three weeks off the bike thanks to a stupid shoulder dislocation, I headed over to Park City in Utah for the annual PressCamp event to see all the latest and greatest from a bunch of different exhibiting brands who turned up to show off their wares. In the middle of PressCamp, a bunch of used a free afternoon to ride the WOW trail from high up in Deer Valley, all the way down to Heber City where Eric Porter lives. The descent was all-time, and we finished it off with a BBQ at Porter’s place while Porter and his mates showed how high they could jump on his personal backyard dirt jumps and pump track. Living. The. Dream.
We hope you all enjoyed a weekend full of riding good times, but for us, it’s now time to fall asleep on our keyboards. Zzzzzz.
ST Out.
