Forum menu
Here's the changes made
There's a load of other info but that's the basics. It was interesting that the boy didn't like it balanced, he's not the first and a few high level riders amongst them. But when they tried it that was the lad didn't approve, so they went back to the previous setting from the run before.
I’m afraid the lad disagrees mate and I can’t argue as he’s night and day better than me. Why he loves them so much I don’t know.
an anecdote from my own experience, having two bikes, one with hope X2 on 180/160 rotors, the other with E4 on 200/200.
The X2s feel initially nicer. Better modulation and lever feel (the physical levers are the same). However, prolonged descneding, the E4s are far superior.
This is me at mid 80's kg, and being a bit of a mincer; so may be entirely different for a 50kg rider who doesnt brake much, especially on sub 2 minute southern tracks.
I hear you completely matey and if he starts questioning them then without doubt he'll get them swapped, Pearce this weekend will be longer and tougher, so may answer that by itself. But at the moment, he's very happy.
As you say, he's very light and he brakes surprisingly little at times lol. But that may all change on harder terrain
I try my best not to push or force him into changes/things and only really get involved when needed.
The boy got 9 practice runs in today and felt great by the end. Some of the gaps are quite big, they don't need to be gapped of course but it's faster.
Spent half an hour fitting a spare brake to random kids bike as he'd broken his, lucky we had spares. I then spent more time fixing and bleeding his other lol.
Couple of videos
Exciting! Just looking at the competitor list - he's racing against Oliver Pearce of Pearce Cycles.. gotta beat him!
Good luck to young James 😀
Spent half an hour fitting a spare brake to random kids bike as he’d broken his, lucky we had spares. I then spent more time fixing and bleeding his other lol.
Not sure I trust you with brakes Weeksy, when cleaning up the cube for sale I noticed the rear brake had a gear cable 🤫
Lol not sure I'm guilty mate, we only owned it 3 months.
These Codes I fitted to the blue one need new pads or a new rotor, they're not terribly good at the moment.
Exciting! Just looking at the competitor list
Don't look a bit older, Jordan the junior world champ is racing lol
26th/42 place on run1. Made a few mistakes so not ecstatic with it, but that's where we are
Let's see if he can improve on run2.
Race run 2 he took 2.5s off his time, but only picked up a couple of places.
I think he's a little disappointed in the result as the guy who finished 4th last weekend to his 3rd, actually finished top 5 again this weekend. So my lad has the pace in some ways, but clearly not in others. So we need some thinking on what, where and how.
Obviously being a longer course and more tech and rooty than last weekend with his recent broken arm won't help, but not by that much.
So we go race again next weekend after Friday at Rogate playing and we see what happens.
All in all, I thought it was a great weekend, he's slightly less convinced lol
He’s still coming back from injury so I wouldn’t worry too much - although obviously he’s a bit annoyed. Last week was a flow and roller trail which I get the impression is his happy place. Maybe the other lad is just better at tech and / or fitter with no injury so could go harder all the way down on the longer track.
So we need some thinking on what, where and how.
All as discussed before really. More riding at the sort of venues he’ll be racing at. Accept that you will be spending lots of days sitting at the bottom if these aren’t places you like. Stop racing at 417 as it could (as seen today) end up being a right mind ****
All as discussed before really. More riding at the sort of venues he’ll be racing at. Accept that you will be spending lots of days sitting at the bottom if these aren’t places you like
We are doing that yeah, like today, next weekend is Stile Cop and the weekend after is a non marked trail FoD.
The difficulty with things like Hopton is the availability of it. So we'll see what we can book/do next.
Part of the reason for the G180 for myself is to enable me to do places like Hopton. Sure the Trek can do it, but with me onboard I'll get more chances.
Coming into winter now means dates and places to race are less and less. The thing is, it's hard to replicate some of them. So FoD isn't like them, neither is BPW or Cwmcarn, so what to ride to try and help him, that's where it gets tough.
I know you guys say things like Risca, but Risca is nothing like say Hopton.
So it's all a little in the air. But at the end of the day, he's smiling so I'm happy.
The level at races though is insane, they're just so so good.
Btw, I'm not trying to make excuses for me it him, the guy gave him a beating, we accept that. As did quite a few others
The level at races though is insane, they’re just so so good.
You only need to watch some of the young riders at any decent uplift venue or out in the Alps in summer to realise that there are so many absolute pinners, and to do consistently well at racing you need to be able to hit gnarly tracks at warp speed.
The 17-18 class as you'd expect was won by Jordan Williams, but only by 5s. Which puts a little in perspective how fast some youngsters are.
It's fab to just stand and watch in honesty, seeing so many people sending gaps, getting faster, hitting drops, it's ace to watch.
No it doesn't fall on deaf ears. Tell you what, I won't bother writing again.
weeksy
Full Member
The 17-18 class as you’d expect was won by Jordan Williams, but only by 5s. Which puts a little in perspective how fast some youngsters are.
Now consider that he was probably cruising, certainly compared to any WC or Champs run
Unlucky to lil Weeksy, if he ain't happy with his results. From what I've seen, he's only just getting started out in these types of races?? can't expect to be winning* them already can he? it's all about the experience.
*yes, I know that's not the expectation!
No, he finished roughly where we expected to finish, but like all racers, he goes into a race with just a thought of "maybe if....."
He's now got over it now and is back to his happy self.
I think in honesty this is where the thread ends. Any thoughts either get taken incorrectly or are met with derision. So I'll walk away from this thread and we'll just do what we do.
Apologies to the people who enjoyed the thread but I'm done.
No need to apologise. Sounds like he's had a good weekend and enjoyed it. At the end of the day that's all that matters 👍
I’d love if this thread kept going - while I’ll happily park myself on the sofa in front of a WC DH, that is where my knowledge began and ended with DH.
So to see UK/grassroots downhilling through the eyes of the aspiring racer starting from the bottom/junior categories (or rather from his mechanic/manager/father) is interesting.
But there is a certain amount of interaction you are opening yourself up for when posting it on a popular biking forum thread. It might be hard to see from your perspective as the subject of the thread, but we don’t just disagree with you (sometimes) we disagree with each other too.
Just in the last two pages, there were about ten differing opinions on brakes for example.
On the Risca thing you could uplift there to get access to some of the steep off piste stuff on the DH bike. You just won’t make very uplift / have to be creative how you put the trails together.
Stuff like Conda is good practice as it has steep bits and loads of roots in places. Busy Lizzie less useful probably. Mayhem is blown out and steep / loose in places.
Wacko is fast with drops and braking bumps but no roots really.
Deaf and Dumb feels pretty tricky in places to me - Jonduro not so much.
Network R is a step up again but that’s too far round for the uplift I’d say - you’ll end up missing at least 2 and having a pedal round and back.
At FOD there is difficult stuff further away from the trail centre - although none of it is as sustained as South Wales as the hill is smaller. You could still session stuff for practice of rooty / steep / rocky sections though. Just quite a lot might be pushing up on a DH bike as you haven’t got the range or pedal platform to make it up.
I’d imagine Barry Sidings and Smilog have some very steep rooty / tech stuff - but not been to either of those yet.
It's worth adding that what you're doing posting so frequently, openly and frankly about y'alls journey is very brave.
I don't think there is anyone else on here doing similar, so props to you.
It's inevitable that some of the replies will feel a bit injurious. I don't think they're [mainly] intended like that, but it's natural that you would feel got at sometimes as you are posting about something so precious.
Try not to take it too ernst..
And keep posting
I understand, well I try and understand. Honestly I really do.
But what some of the posters forget is that I know my lad, how his mind works, how he ticks, what drives him and what doesn't.
The only people who get to see his reaction day to day on this is me.
A couple of mates are heading to Antur Stiniog in a few weeks and invited us, me and him watched 3-4 videos on it and thought "looks rubbish" and said no. Now we may well be wrong, but we're ok with that, it's what we both thought.
When things like Risca are mentioned, I could suggest to my lad we ride there and be met with "so it's steep up, then horrible descents", to which I'd struggle to argue. Now I can completely see why some may think that would help him, of course, but he's still a teenager and they're still tricky to get to do things. Even if he had a 3rd bike, I'm not sure I'd be persuading him.
But offer him a race there, or indeed anywhere and he'll jump at it. Straight in, no debate, yes.
Is that the best way to progress, maybe not. I'm not that daft that I can't see words written. But different people want and need different things. Sure I can guide him, mould him, but I can't drag him kicking and screaming. Kids have to want to do things, especially when it's dangerous too. If I push him when pushing isn't right, that'll be worse all round.
If the consequence of that is that at Pearce he gets 25th instead of 15th that an alternate reality him would get, then so be it. Because the bond we have from this stuff is more than just results, more than just numbers. I see so many kids his age who lock themselves in their rooms and play video games all day. Me and him are out playing.
Last night in the pub I went to the bar and the barmaid says "he's a wonderfully polite and attentive young man", we'd stood for 10 minutes earlier and chatted to her, the lad had been to the bar a few times for water and waited politely and obviously asked in the right way. This is what I'm building, not just a racing machine, but a human.
Sure I may be making a mediocre racer, but I'm exceptionally proud of the person.
(And the racer, he's a bloody joy to watch ride, but I'm very biased on that )
At Risca if you use the uplift it’s not steep up for him as it drops you right at the top. You can mix off piste with the DH track too - you can get in about 10 uplifts if you make each one.
The DH track would be up his street / it’s fast with some jumps and drops and berms etc. But a step up from 417 and it beats you up the faster you go I’d say. The off piste isn’t horrible - if it was I wouldn’t ride it. I’d think he’d love Wacko - and Conda / deaf and dumb really would give him something to think about and help with the trickier tracks.
A couple of mates are heading to Antur Stiniog in a few weeks and invited us, me and him watched 3-4 videos on it and thought “looks rubbish” and said no
I'd be interested in what makes you both think antur looks rubbish, genuinely interested....
My only advice would be to not watch a YouTube video before deciding to go to a new riding spot, they never do somewhere justice and trying something new is always worthwhile even if you end up deciding you wouldn't want to go back.
I hope you keep updating the thread, it's always an interesting read. There's never going to be a right answer for everything but as long as you're having fun and learning then it's all good.
Antur is alright- lots of stuff that’s fun but prob not that useful for your racing. But the lower black section in the trees is tricky - especially if wet - and there’s a massive drop feature near the bottom that I’ve only ever see one person send.
I think there are some bits at the top of the black that are good too.
But it’s a very long way for you to go for a day. Maybe as a long weekend with Revs or Dyfi on another day perhaps?
My only advice would be to not watch a YouTube video before deciding to go to a new riding spot, they never do somewhere justice and trying something new is always worthwhile even if you end up deciding you wouldn’t want to go back
Would very much agree with this. I reckon he’d have plenty of fun* on the harder Antur trails. Weather can also play an interesting factor there, very exposed
*as in, he’d be able to push himself
Antur.
Watching this and others..
straight > berm turn > straight > berm turn > pretend rocky bit > berm turn ... The reds and blues followed this format.
The Blacks we watched were the same but with a few more rocks thrown in... I and he couldn't see any appeal to it. Esepcially from a racing context as none of the tracks have anything in common with this type of riding at all.
SO it looks like this weekends race is this course. Ridge Run at Stile Cop. At first i thought that was just the name of the event, but it seems that's the actual trail. Looking at it, it's obviously closer to a blue than a black... with just a few tech jumps thrown in for good measure, so it'll be all about carrying speed.
We had planned on just going up for the Sunday... but may now go up on Sat too and get a few runs in to check it out etc... It's a bit of a drive for a double... so we may look into staying over.
If anyone fancies a few runs on it on Sat, you'd be more than welcome to come and join us.
The Blacks we watched were the same but with a few more rocks thrown in… I and he couldn’t see any appeal to it. Esepcially from a racing context as none of the tracks have anything in common with this type of riding at all.
SO it looks like this weekends race is this course. Ridge Run at Stile Cop. At first i thought that was just the name of the event, but it seems that’s the actual trail. Looking at it, it’s obviously closer to a blue
I’m confused
I’m confused
Well, it's completely different...
Stile Cop is a race day.. i can't change where that's hosted, whether the course is good or bad isn't down to us. Racing is a whole different thing to riding, it's a different vibe, psychology, event and of course trails.
Antur is a day out, so we have a choice whether we go there that week or somewhere else. We're already at Coaching with Katy Curd the day before the lads are off to Antur, so it's no biggy to not go.
Well, it’s completely different…
I think he meant that in one post you said that the trails at antur were nothing like the trails your boy races on, because they were straight, berm, straight berm, jump, berm , etc etc, and then in the very next post you posted a video of your next race venue which was straight,berm,straight,berm,jump, berm etc.
I suspect what gets some people backs up is that you dismiss some stuff out of hand as rubbish from watching a you tube video, when actually some variation in what you both ride would probably be a good thing. Not saying Antur is the be all and end all and its a right trek from your place, but to just dismiss it as "rubbish" is silly. Antur trails are about 5 times longer than stile cop and a lot more technical (on the blacks) and much steeper - I'd be very surprised if there wasntt some benefit to be had from riding there - along with many other places. Its fine to say its too far to travel, but to say its rubbish is, well, rubbish.
That video you posted of antur misses out all the really technical bits - eg it stops just before the really big drop, he goes round some of the more technical bits on the red etc etc
I have managed to fumble my way down Ridge Run on a hardtail so I think your lad will find it technically easy. Should think there will be lots of speed for these young guys on it!
I suspect what gets some people backs up is that you dismiss some stuff out of hand as rubbish from watching a you tube video, when actually some variation in what you both ride would probably be a good thing. Not saying Antur is the be all and end all and its a right trek from your place, but to just dismiss it as “rubbish” is silly. Antur trails are about 5 times longer than stile cop and a lot more technical (on the blacks) and much steeper – I’d be very surprised if there wasntt some benefit to be had from riding there – along with many other places
WEll without having been to them, it's hard to gauge it from anything other than watching videos. Some places look better/easier/harder in videos... but neither of us looked at it and liked it
Distance i don't mind, time out is OK too.. we've got allowance for that from MRs Weeksy.
Variation we do though, or we certainly try to. But of course there's limits, we're away 4 weekends on the trot at the moment and can't really add in 'more' as school and work gets in the way of that. We've tried to get to other places this year too, but of course there's time, life and family in there. Places like FoD, Rogate etc we can do in a morning start and get home before tea... The places that we've not tried are more 'adventures' and weekends away. But with racing, our weekends are often full anyhow.
"but use your weekends to go to different places instead" i hear you say... However, as i've said, the lad loves racing.. it's what he enjoys, so i'd be taking that away. MAy be the wrong plan as some are saying.. but it's our plan.
As i say though, the 'race' course isn't really significant in whether it's the same, different etc as anything else we can ride, there's only certain tracks and dates events are and it's quietening down as winter kicks in. So we do the races, get the experience of different races, different places and having fun... Then when winter comes in, we can try some 'other' stuff too.
The thing is though, it's still all about the fun, the laughs, but also it's a little bit about me. I'm putting in long days, nights, trips, time and money, for very little in the way of riding time. So sometimes i need a little bit for me too, this weekend for example if we end up at Rogate or at Stile Cop on Friday, i'll be taking my bike and riding, same as if we hit FoD or BPW, but some other places we may hit, are potentially out of my depth and i wouldn't get any riding then.
It's as always, slightly complicated.
I actually think you would like Antur - its decent, and a lot of fun. That video you linked didnt really do it justice.
I think the worst trail there is scrubadub, because its smooth, bmx style berm,table,berm etc. The blues are a bit flat and pedally -would be a bit of hard work on a downhill bike. But the other reds and blacks are pretty good, and deffo technical.
I actually think you would like Antur – its decent, and a lot of fun. That video you linked didnt really do it justice.
That's often the case yes.... Videos are notoriously bad at giving a good representation of things.
it’s still all about the fun,
Then I’d be looking at the venue/trails first, and if there was a race on second. I’d rather ride reds and blacks, than race a blue. Especially if I was looking to gain experience.
Videos are notoriously bad at giving a good representation of things.
I went up to ride the SDA course at Glencoe on the strength of a YouTube video about 10 years ago. Looked tough but doable. 😂
Didn’t even get close to riding all of it, never been more scared riding a bike and still broke a rib or two.
Then I’d be looking at the venue/trails first, and if there was a race on second. I’d rather ride reds and blacks, than race a blue. Especially if I was look to gain experience.
There's the rub... you're not him... or me... What ticks your boxes doesn't necessarily tick his.
Don't make the mistake here of thinking i make all these decisions. I give him the choices "do you want to do this race... " etc... He gets the options, from a day at BPW, to a day racing Southern Enduro, to a day racing a 417... Don't forget, he's a small boy... they get their kicks in different ways.
I could easily see the argument for someone saying "Ride Risca instead of racing 417"... but in a youngsters mindset, he's getting a chance of a decent finish, on a track he loves to ride... it's easy to see why he'd pick the racing.
Just for info, as of next year he won't race 417 again, which is a shame... The rules of the organisers is that if you race Nationals, you shouldn't race the 417 races, which is completely fair and whilst we'd possibly get away with it, we wouldn't do that, we'll pick something else instead.
WEll without having been to them, it’s hard to gauge it from anything other than watching videos.
It's pretty easy to gauge really.
As you've told us all multiple times he wants to ride BDS races.
Ask yourself if they have ever held a BDS race there'
If the answer is yes there's a pretty good guide for you.
To say Antur looks rubbish is laughable when you tell us you're going to Cannock.
It's like groundhog day on this tread.
Everytime someone gives you some good advice you have a flounce then return half an hour later.
Serious question here.
He seems to like jumping right?
He seems to like smooth flowy trails?
He doesn't seem to like big hills or rough steep trails?
Have you though about BMX racing instead?
Seems to tick all the right boxes.
He doesn’t seem to like big hills or rough steep trails?
NEver once has that been said... He seems to go less well on some stuff than he does relatively on fast flowy stuff. But to say he doesn't like it is completely wrong. He loves steep and rough tracks.
Rhyd-Y-Felin he thought was epic and had plenty of steep, so was Caersws. Berwyn had tonnes of tech in it along with the flow stuff. Ski-run V2 at FoD has steep sections and that's one of his favourite runs. So to say he doesn't like that type of trail is completely wrong.
I just noticed, for people who get accused of not trying new places, with the list above we've not exactly done badly this year 🙂
Have you though about BMX racing instead?
No
To say Antur looks rubbish is laughable when you tell us you’re going to Cannock.
Shall i repeat it... we're going to Cannock (Stile Cop) as that's where the race is... we've been there once before as it was 2 miles from where Mrs Weeksy was buying a car.
Everytime someone gives you some good advice you have a flounce then return half an hour later.
Sure.
my lad has the pace in some ways, but clearly not in others. So we need some thinking on what, where and how.
Followed by:
I’d rather ride reds and blacks, than race a blue. Especially if I was look to gain experience.
There’s the rub… you’re not him… or me… What ticks your boxes doesn’t necessarily tick his.
Can you not see why people feel like you're ignoring advice?
If his goal is KOM at 417 then that's fine, but if he has ambitions of racing anything beyond that then you need to start listening to the riders on here that have that experience.
so it’s steep up, then horrible descents”
Tell you what, I won’t bother writing again.
Your own words...