Hannah Dobson - Red Bull Fox Hunt

Monday Debrief 101

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No, this isn’t a special post to teach you all about our Monday Debrief. Nor is it any kind of special hell or authoritarian torment from a famous novel. It’s just, the hundred and first Monday Debrief we’ve done. In the previous hundred weeks, not only has the debrief undergone a slow, inevitable shift from morning to afternoon, it’s also gathered a hundred weeks of reminders of the places we’ve ridden bikes – or not. Usually it’s Type 1 Fun, sometimes very much Type 2 Fun, and while life should never be lived through a lens (or an Instagram filter), it’s important to have some reminders of the things you’ve done, and inspiring to see what other people have been doing. So here are some more.

Hannah was at the Red Bull Foxhunt this weekend, and says: “It was very muddy. And I have many bruises. But I think I had fun”. Type 2 then. She neglected to mention that she seeded 27th, and in part that was because the 2018 Saracen Ariel she was riding had more mud clearance than other people’s bikes, so her wheels were still turning at points when others couldn’t!

Hannah Dobson - Red Bull Fox Hunt
This was one of the firmer areas where there was still visible grass. Ground conditions at the Foxhunt were suboptimal.
Hannah Dobson - Red Bull Fox Hunt
How many car journeys with a bike like this do you think justify one of those mobile pressure washers?

At the other end of the scale, Wil was testing the new Sonder Evol in beautiful sunshine back here in Calderdale:

“I spent Friday razzing about on the new Sonder Evol with Neil from Sonder Bikes, where we somehow managed to pick the second bluebird day in a row to shoot photos and test bikes at our local trail centre, Lee Quarry. We all know that it’s statistically impossible to have two sunny days in a row in Calderdale, so look out for the earth to open up to a firey pit of lava and the rise of the antichrist in the next few days.”

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Had a right old laugh razzing the new Evol from @sonderbikes this week! For those who care, there's a first ride report up on the Singletrack website yo. . . #certifiedbanger by @robbeddie, who was firing off all kinds of splendour on Friday while pedalling his e-bike with all his camera gear. What a bloke! . . #SingletrackMag #sonderbikes #sonderevol #enduroelbows

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“After a sedentary Saturday of cooking pancakes, watching movies and smashing a roast chicken dinner while the rain hammered outside, I decided to leave the warm embrace of indoors and venture outdoors on Sunday afternoon. I took a lazy ride out to Hebden Bridge for some market wanderings and to eat the world’s cheesiest toasted sandwich, where I learnt that there is actually such a thing as ‘too cheesy’ (I know, mind blown). To no surprise, my legs were feeling surprisingly fresh while pedalling a superlight Specialized Epic World Cup hardtail, so I took the long way back up and over Gaddings Dam and down Penny Steps.”

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Sometimes the shot s'works, other times it don't. . . #lightbro #cloudporn #specializedepic #specializedepicht #sworks #sworksepic

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Like Hannah, Rob Crayons was also racing, but on foot and with his sister, not to mention a few thousand other people too:

Rob Crayons - running
Well done both.

Chipps is currently on holiday in Belgium, where he was watching the Hotondcross in Ronse:

Chipps - Hotondcross, Ronde, Belgium
Is that Indiana Jones at the barriers?
Chipps - Hotondcross, Ronde, Belgium
Hotondcross. Hotondcross. MUST. RESIST. PUN.

I didn’t ride bikes, because in the past week I rapidly went from four working bikes to no working bikes, so spent this weekend fixing them instead of riding them (also still setting up wheels for the upcoming carbon wheels grouptest). Tally: 1 bust seatpost remote sternly addressed by a sharp intake of breath, 6 brakes bled, 9 wheels set up tubeless, 2 drivetrains indexed, 1 improvised drop constructed from a beer crate and a plank, (for) suspension settings redone and recorded for 4 forks and 2 shocks, 1 cockpit rebuilt, 1 Di2 drivetrain rewired complete with head tube battery holder hacked out of an old co2 capsule and a OneUp EDC top cap:

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Hacked Di2 battery holder out of an empty CO2 cartridge and a OneUp EDC top cap.

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(The co2 capsule threaded plug is from an EDC pump).

A couple of last things we found this weekend. This road gap calculator might be exactly the tool you need to feel confident about hitting them, but probably not – if you’re gawping at a speedo on your stem instead of the landing, you’re definitely doing it wrong. It says: “Note: Air resistance is not taken into account. Don’t kill yourself and stay safe!”. Thanks, calculator. Thalculator.

Finally, this from Jason Hudson is not a recommended helmet removal method:

(No video? Try this link).

ST out.

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David started mountain biking in the 90’s, by which he means “Ineptly jumping a Saracen Kili Racer off anything available in a nearby industrial estate”. After growing up and living in some extremely flat places, David moved to Yorkshire specifically for the mountain biking. This felt like a horrible mistake at first, because the hills are so steep, but you get used to them pretty quickly. Previously, David trifled with road and BMX, but mountain bikes always won. He’s most at peace battering down a rough trail, quietly fixing everything that does to a bike, or trying to figure out if that one click of compression damping has made things marginally better or worse. The inept jumping continues to this day.

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