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24' pre season starts in full with Bucknell uplift day. Went pretty well apart from a great crash which was recorded by current world cup racer Luke Williamson, happily we know him and his dad as I used to ride Ducatis with the old man. So he sent us the clip.
We were also chatting with another WC racer who's on a Session like his and let's just say he's not exactly in love with it. Feels the front end is too tall even though he's slammed it as much as possible. Which I totally get as I'd feel the same having ridden it around a few fields and car parks, but my lad is happy with it.
2 weeks until race 1 of 24 and we're as ready as we can be. The pro5 rear is off for a service this week along with getting the Argotal and Kryptotal on the spare wheels so everything is completely swappable.
I do need to find some funds for a decent work stand but they're so damn expensive, however mine is 10+ years old and was a cheap rubbish one on its best day, now it's absolute garbage lol.
https://youtube.com/shorts/EGJLPgxUUWw?si=VcR3-9W11EUSFtds
Bit of a good/bad day today... The National DH race series open for entry today.. That's the good.
The bad is... We can't enter for another 2 weeks as it's early-entry for people with 150 points last season.
This is where it gets a little confusing. My lad has 154 points, however only 146 of those were logged due to an Admin error when we had a late entry to a race. Sadly this can't be re-added back onto the ranking points as they 'close' at a particular time. So we've got to sit and wait a couple of weeks until the first week of Feb.
Happily it's 99% certain they won't fill as not that many people have the required 150 points, in his class there were 40 ahead of him in the UK Rankings, so even if every one of those entered, it's still only 40 people in his class, so we're not massively worried but it's a little nervy i must admit.
We're still waiting for the Gravity series dates to be fully announced, these are usually 7-14 days before the National series at the same tracks. Obviously we'll only be entering the England/Wales ones, not the Scotland ones as we can't go there twice each time... That's just crazy talk. So we'll be entering Rheola and Rhyd-y-Felin as well as Antur Stiniog assuming they run at those places.
2024 is very much starting to take shape and looking just as bonkers as other years.
Was working out a few things today.... Jeepers. This is the 'start' of the plan
28/01 100% FoD
18/02 Stile Cop
25/02 100% FoD
7/04 Gravity Rheola
14/04 National DH Rheola
11/05 Pearce Rhyd-Y-Felin
25/05 National DH Fort William
22/06 National DH Antur Stiniog
06/07 Pearce Bringewood
21/07 National DH Rhyd-Y-Felin (National Champs)
04/08 National DH Glencoe
10/08-17/08 Morzine
18/08 Les Meniures French DH Cup
31/08 Pearce Bucknell
14/09 National DH Rhyd-Y-Felin
28/09 Pearce Hopton
there's likely to be 2-3 more Gravity DH races which are usually the weekend before a National on the same track as the National (usually a feature or two less to make it slightly more friendly in terms of massive features)
On top of that list there's other options like even this weekend down in Gawton in Tavistock (Devon/Cornwall border), but that's open to discussion currently.
The big one on the debate thing there really is whether we do the French race. It means an extra 3 days over there which is obviously a good thing. Practice seems quite short though with 1hr30 on Fri morning then a total of about 4 hours over the weekend plus a seeding (qualifying) run and a race run. But it has potential to be a cracking event in terms of track, location and fun...
We're doing the usual camping at places thing again this year to save on costs, but we are B&Bing it for Fort William as we're taking Mrs Weeksy too and she wants the creature comforts. Of course i'd LOVE them.... But got to be realistic with what's possible.
I don't see many weekends throughout the year we won't be out and about for at least 1 day though, often both of them with BPW, Dyfi, Antur, Barrys Sidings, Rogate, Windhill all playing their part. I'm thinking of focusing a bit on Rogate and Windhill for some of it rather than Dyfi, despite the terrain not being quite as gnarly, the distance and fuel plays a factor at times. There's new stuff we're finding up at FoD all the time where plenty of people go to practice and Tirpentwys isn't too far away. There's another couple at Merthyr and Risca that we need to research a little more.
The boys bike is currently off at Rotec Cycles getting the lowers serviced on his Boxxers (rebound adjuster is sticky) and a service/rebuild on the Hope Pro5. I could arguably do both myself, but sometimes with the stuff we have going on i have to send stuff out just to ensure it's done and done correctly and Stefan at Rotec is a top lad and always squeezes me in.
That list looks somewhat daunting when viewed on a page... Gulp.
It always looks daunting at the start of the season. It gets worse as they start competing further afield when flights and ferries need to be sorted and trying to find the best prices to keep the overall costs to a minimum.
Looks like your going to be busy but I'm sure he appreciates all the team Weeksy efforts
It always looks daunting at the start of the season. It gets worse as they start competing further afield
Whilst this is of course the 'dream' scenario, i don't see how it can be financially viable without external financial assistance from a team/sponsor. It's just not realistic at the moment for us to get out to Europe several times. We'd love to head out and do the Portuguese cup races early season, but the costs of travel etc just make things currently impossible.
As we know though, to really justify these sorts of decisions the boy needs to keep on improving and moving up the list in terms of finishing positions/results. He's getting better, faster, closer... but there's plenty of work to do.
Everything in terms of what we race, where, when is at times a bit of a compromise, in the ideal world we'd be moving to north Wales, hitting the stuff up there day after day with home schooling lol... But that's just not happening, not in any real world in which we live currently for sure.
Something keeps coming up on the motorbike forum that people really want to help out and i should setup a gofundme type page for him/racing. I think this would actually make a decent difference in terms of income/finance but i massively struggle with the concept of 'people' giving us money to persue a bit of racing. Getting assistance from a company/business seems acceptable, but from individuals seems somehow wrong to accept. But they do keep going on about it and at times it gets hard to resist.
I'm honestly really looking forward to this season and can't wait to get it underway fully on the 28th at FoD. It's only the first weekend out of course, but i'm full of excitement and optimism for the year.
The costs for any privateer are eye watering and not looking to getting any better in the short term. Even the top riders in the UK are struggling to find teams and sponsors for 2024. They are all fishing in the same pond and the ones who are managing to get some assistance are having to look outside the box.
What about Go funding for a couple of specific European races
What about Go funding for a couple of specific European races
At the moment it's the only thing that makes sense if that's how we/he wants to go. We've been weighing up the cost of just doing for example the IXS Races, we'd be looking ITRO £1000-1500 per weekend/race. That would be covering fuel/tunnel/food and i don't think would even give us an option in terms of anything other than sleeping in the van. (which we're more than OK with of course). It's certainly something we have to consider but where i struggle is that i'm asking real people to put their hands in their real pockets and give real money to him just to go play on bikes. Once upon a time when i was racing motorbikes i'd have had no shame in doing so, but as i've got older, it just somehow seems more of an 'ask' then i thought back 20 years ago. Back then i'd ask anyone and everyone to help out lol.
The French DH cup race we're considering certainly ticks the boxes in terms of 'events' that would be something massive for him both as a person and as a rider, so we're considering the options.
Looking outside the box is deffo something we'd like to consider, i'm very much aware of how few companies outside of the industry actually sponsor MTB teams.. It's slightly bizarre when you look at any forms of motorsport, CX racing, Road Racing etc, they're all packed with non-industry sponsors as well as of course, cycling related sponsors. But currently the MTB side of things hasn't really caught onto this.
He does get a LOT of help from various sponsors throught Katy and ourselves finding them but they're all MTB specific. (i don't want to throw myself open to the 'advertising' discussions with forum mods though, so i keep that discussion to a minimum on here)
Any local garages etc (where you got the Transit from e.g.) who might put £500-£1000 on the table for a sticker on the van to sponsor a race? Could prob get it in the local media and get a positive publicity for them as well.
Slightly different but I did the 4 Peaks Challenge a while back and was surprised at how willing some of these small local companies were to put their hand in their pockets. Its not coming from individuals then as well.
That's assuming you don't mind some sign writing on the van of course!
Any local garages etc (where you got the Transit from e.g.) who might put £500-£1000 on the table for a sticker on the van to sponsor a race? Could prob get it in the local media and get a positive publicity for them as well.
Slightly different but I did the 4 Peaks Challenge a while back and was surprised at how willing some of these small local companies were to put their hand in their pockets. Its not coming from individuals then as well.
That’s assuming you don’t mind some sign writing on the van of course!
I absolutely hear you Robbo yes. It's something we need to think about for sure. Back in the day there was a company called Arrow Self Drive in Reading who gave me one of their hire vans every weekend for racing motorbikes, which is essentially a similar thing.
As your post and Traceys implies, going forward we're going to have to start thinking 'outside the box' (yeah i hate that phrase too, but it seems appropriate)
Maybe a bit of blue sky thinking would help. Dont forget to flip the script! 😉
There's hopefully more to come on the above discussion later..
But for now, we're into just over a week until 2024 racing is a GO..
The Boxxers were stripped and serviced yesterday which now gives the right number of clicks on the rebound adjuster. It was only getting 6-7 maybe 8 clicks the other day, i guess due to grime
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53471492714_3f92a91d64_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53471492714_3f92a91d64_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2pt6nSb ]IMG-20240117-WA0001[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
The oil looking somewhat yukky.
The Pro5 rear was fully rebuilt with new bearings, pawls and springs, tension on spokes checked. The Bontrager rear has a Kryptotal in super sticky DH now to match the Pro5's, so if we swap wheels he's running the same rubber.
I just need to wait for some new tubeless tape to arrive today so i can do the Argotal on the Bontrager front wheel.
Off out for a bit of testing this afternoon after he finishes school and then off to FoD this weekend if the weather holds.
I've been chatting more than once with various people and it's come up on here and other places a few times about using some form of crowdfunding for the lads racing MTB stuff, people seem to have an afinity towards the boy which is brilliant and i sincerly hope this doesn't sour any of that for people. At the end of the day you can simply read this and click off, mutter a few choice words and move on if you don't approve or like it.
Now, i've been against this for the reasons mostly that i feel it's unfair to ask people for money. (although i'm fine asking companies for free stuff in terms of sponsorship). But the reality is, to do certain events this year, next year and the years after (hopefully) we wouldn't be able to manage without some form of 'alternative' funding. But there comes a time when you do have to ask, as i've said in another post, this racing lark is incredibly expensive and even sleeping in tents/vans and trying to do things on a semi-sensible budget the costs do stack up quickly and i'd estimate 2023 even removing bike purchase costs cost us ITRO £12,000-£15,000.
The 'funding' could be a monthly thing, a one-off thing, or a whenever people had spare cash for it type thing. This year the funding would go towwards racing in the French Cup race.
https://velo.ffc.fr/courses/coupe-de-france-vtt-skf-dhi-uci-classe-1-3/
Along with that, any extra would go toward a potential race in the IXS Series in Germany/Austria/Solvenia. The thoughts are that any/all would massively help him in terms of experience, racing, life and his profile as a racer. The IXS race hasn't been chosen yet due to planning of his GCSEs which are coming this year along with waiting for the final UK race entries to be confirmed before sorting an IXS
Unless the individual was a 'business' then apart from gratitude, the boy couldn't offer a lot in return for any funds given, he has an active social media and presence, but that would only be useful if he could return anything given by product placement and tagging etc.
we wouldn’t be able to manage without some form of ‘alternative’ funding... this racing lark is incredibly expensive
I pondered commenting the other day but decided to keep my nose out, but since the expense has been raised again, I'll throw my 2p in.
Racing three complete series, plus 100% and whatever else you do is a very very expensive way to approach it and I can't see why you'd want to try and cram in that much racing. If he does do that much racing, then it's a huge amount of time on the DH bike so you could cut back significantly on uplift days.
so if we swap wheels he’s running the same rubber
Stick whatever part worns you've got lying round on the spares, not new tyres just to make things match
The big one on the debate thing there really is whether we do the French race. It means an extra 3 days over there which is obviously a good thing.
Stupid question, but can't you just change your holiday a few days to accomodate? Personally I would sacrifice multiple UK races to do a French Cup (have been in Chatel when it's been there).
Racing three complete series, plus 100% and whatever else you do is a very very expensive way to approach it and I can’t see why you’d want to try and cram in that much racing. If he does do that much racing, then it’s a huge amount of time on the DH bike so you could cut back significantly on uplift days.
In truth man, i don't know what's the right or wrong answer. There's a slightly bigger picture which may or may not materialise in 2025 that means racing is pretty important to us. The uplift days are simply a consequence of chasing speed, he's not quick enough to chase the fastest at the moment, they uplift a LOT (more than we do) and everyone rides a LOT... so to get to their level (if he ever can that is) it needs a chunk of bike time. Racing in 3 series kind of blends into 1 almost. The Gravity races are the pre-race for the Nationals, the Nationals are obviously the important ones. The Pearce are a whole different entity to those, but just feels 'right' to race the Pearce. At the end of the day only time will tell us what's right and wrong here...I honestly don't have all/many of the answers, i'm just trying to get him 'there'.
There's another whole picture of where this is going longer term but that's for another day/discussion. There's quite a few longer terms plans not directly related to racing but related to all of this.
Stupid question, but can’t you just change your holiday a few days to accomodate? Personally I would sacrifice multiple UK races to do a French Cup (have been in Chatel when it’s been there).
That is to a great extent the plan yes, but it's still 4 days accomodation extra along with food/drink, race entries, insurance, licence stuff, fuel and an increase in tunnel costs, so even tagging this onto our family trip still comes with a fairly heft additional expense. If there were a decent camping option close-by we'd consider that, but we'll have a lot of stuff with us that'll make that somewhat tricky, along with the fact that the race doesn't have a 'pits' like UK races, you're basically in the side roads of the town, the approach road to the lift etc that's where you're based from, so can't really just throw the tents up at the side of the road, hence needing to book somewhere. Due to people having now put in some funding on the page, we're 100% in for the French Cup race and will be booking it as soon as it opens.
Also deliberated giving a view on this, rather than muttering a few choice words and moving on, and decided to give an opinion anyway.
I'm genuinely not sure how this is going to be received here. I feel you may have alienated some contributors to the thread who have tried to give advice that you have dismissed and they probably won't read this thread again. I've been following and dipping in and out and, and being brutally honest with you, this thread has sometimes felt like a bit of a humblebrag about how finances really aren't an issue for you. Buy a spare race bike, not a problem. World Cup mechanic setting up telemetry, sure. I'm definitely not buying a van this year, lol, just bought a van etc etc etc. To then cap it off with a gofund me page which appears to be nothing more than funding a jolly to France is, well......
You may well be able to offer finer details on why so very many events are being entered as Mark88 has alluded to but it just seems a scattergun approach when surely you just focus on the worthwhile, ranking events. Those local races don't really mean anything do they? Would time and money be better spent at Dyfi and Antur, getting some proper terrain under the tyres.
I wonder if you have a bit of FOMO around this? The IXS races weren't even on your horizon until you went to Dyfi and realised others were going. You have said yourself you don't know how you are going to "jump on that bandwagon". So is it needed for development, or just an experience, or just because you think you should be there because, well, others are?
As the parent of a 17yo lad who I ride with, the exploits you two get up to do make me a little jealous but it's simply not possible for me to make anything like the financial investment you do for James. You have pinned your colours to the mast about supporting him so massive credit to you for that.
There you go, my twopenneth worth.
As an aside, would it not be worth putting his results and placings on the funding page so that anyone landing there knows what he has achieved to date? A link to roots and rain isn't really helpful.
Can you add a stretch goal to buy the little fella his own ancient woodland?
I guess i ought to answer then of course.
The spare bike was in the earlier days when we felt it was beneficial to us in terms of mechanicals, they were both a chunk of change less than most peoples 1 bikes (and indeed our 1 bike). The current Trek was bought on 0% finance, the money from the sale of the GTs went back into the racing fund.
The purchase of the van wasn't for cash, that's a bank loan that's funded that. That's being paid for month in month out.
The races are all ranked races and all of some sort of priority. The reason this is potentially important is that next years Junior WCDH races are allocated in terms of 6 jerseys which go to no-pro-team riders, they get to race in a GBR jersey. At 2 points in the year you as a racer are allowed to apply for a jersey. These are allocated by a number of criteria but of course, points, finishing positions etc are without doubt massive in the allocation of these jerseys. (along with European Champs jerseys). Now i'm not sitting here saying he is or will be good enough to get one of these jerseys, but by hitting the point scoring races it has to give him/us the best possibility of making this happen. The 'dream' isn't necessarily to be a WCDH racer, but simply to have the opportunity to become one, be that at the last place of it and getting in by luck, i don't really know... or indeed care.
It's honestly IMO and the coaches needed for developement and skills... he's got the race mentality sorted and doesn't fall apart under pressure on race day, but the simple reality is, he needs to get better. Getting better comes with more riding, more racing, more, everything.
The IXS races have always been on the 'thoughts' list, but as time progresses so does the thoughts on what's the most beneficial as a racer to him. The thing with these sort of things is that you don't really know until you spend more time with different people and processing their thoughts and opinions. These are not only the parents thoughts but multiple riders who are current WCDH racers and by chatting with them, sometimes you have to take onboard their thoughts and opinions as they've been there, done this, read the book and got the jerseys. You have to be a little fluid in your approach to the racing/riding and let yourself be moulded by people who know stuff.
Those local races don’t really mean anything do they? Would time and money be better spent at Dyfi and Antur, getting some proper terrain under the tyres.
They don't and they do.. This is why we've spent more time at Dyfi, BPW and we've got multiple days at Dyfi and Antur and BPW coming soon. They don't because in simple terms they don't push the skillset fully compared to other place, yes i'll 100% agree there. However they do bring a level/sense of confidence from doing well, along from both race practice and flat-out riding context. They also of course bring points in the National Rankings. Again, is this right or wrong, i don't honestly know.
There's also the fact they're a LOT less money than a trip to Dyfi, like 50% or greater of the cost of a day to Dyfi, it's 1/3 of the distance driving, so a lot less in fuel, a lot less in time etc.. Right or wrong, they're 'easier' to do than heading to North Wales.
With regard to other 'funding' i don't mean to offend or imply we're living the life of Riley here and there's no sacrifices being made, that's completely wrong and there honestly is. Without going into details (unless really pressed) there's plenty of decisions that myself and Mrs Weeksy don't necessarily agree about...but are begrudgingly accepted as we both want to give the boy the best upbringing we can. Some of these we've implemented to increase what's viable in funds, some we've not as they're simply too big in terms of potential ideas/consequences and are a bit 'last restort'
I thought long and hard about the funding page and the potential lashback from it... i'm aware i've opened up a can of worms and will do my best to answer any questions as openly as possible.
"Due to people having now put in some funding on the page, we’re 100% in for the French Cup race and will be booking it as soon as it opens."
I'm confused. You set a target of £2,000 to make it happen. You have £409 in the pot of which you have put £209 in yourself so you have £200 of supporter contributions and that has made the difference between going or not? So you didn't really need a funding page after all to do the French race? If the funding page is just to top up the finances generally to support him, I think you need to be explicit about that, IMO.
The £209 wasn't me, honestly... i assume whoever put that in read something wrong and put weeksy in the wrong box or maybe that was their way of being anonymous.
The £409 will cover the French accomodation and fuel. It won't cover race entry, insurance, extra days of cost, train costs.. But yes £409 makes a difference that makes the French Cup race possible now. Partly because it's a lot less expensive as we're already in France. But as some people have helped, it'll be my aim to now make that happen, even if it means cutting back on other UK things to make sure the French DH race can happen.
To get to the IXS race (which the rest of the funding is designed for) that means an additional train (£450), an additional £300+ in fuel, accomodation/living costs (even if camping costs and eating cheaply) at say £300+. Even things like tyres, pads, disks etc all of which still stack up.
If the funding page is just to top up the finances generally to support him, I think you need to be explicit about that, IMO.
I don't honestly think i could've been more honest/detailed about how and where the money could/would be spent.
OK, I appreciate you sticking your neck out and responding.
Whether we agree on this, i think as i opened this part of the discussion i ought to reply.
Just a quick note re the JustGiving page - you don't mention James age. I think this could possibly help with people/companies seeing the potential for growth/development/investment.
Unfortunately I'm not in a financial position to contribute, but wish him all the best for 2024.
Just for clarity we raced at Menuires last time around on a tight budget. It cost 275€ for three nights in a 20m² brutalist studio flat overlooking the finish arena. I'm glad it didn't rain, because there wouldn't have been room to dry even a pair of socks in that place!
As you’ve put up the fundraising page I think it’s fair to contribute.
Isn’t your schedule too full? FoD/ Pearce etc seem like pointless distractions. He’s clearly a very good rider, capable at racing Nationals. Why not just concentrate on those? In the grand scheme of things they’re the races that actually matter.
Worrying about points/ WC jerseys etc is a bit pointless. If he’s racing at the level (at Nationals) it seems he’s capable of, then provided he does well enough then he’ll get a jersey.
Again, at the level he’s at and aspires to, BPW, FoD racing and training at Windhill etc just simply aren’t going to cut it. Dyfi is the closest thing England and Wales have to a genuine WC level training ground, both in difficulty and elevation. (I’m not the only one that thinks so BK interview on RC said as much).
(Short version). Quality not quantity. Ditch most of the racing that isn’t at a National level, and most of the riding and training that isn’t Dyfi/ Antur level.
I'm struggling to argue with a lot of that... but honestly Dyfi sucks the life out of you in terms of distance, cost, time. Sometimes yes it's viable, but it means a 4am start and getting home at 10pm. That's such a long long day both for him and for me. The only way to break that down is of course staying over, but with B&Bs etc coming in at £70+ it starts stacking up with £50 for Dyfi and £90 in fuel as well. We're trying to get there as much as possible this year honestly.. It'll make a bit more sense when we can get the weather warmer and throw ourselves in a lay-by for the night in the van on the Fri night and then get up Sat and go riding. But when it's sub zero or even 4-5deg whatever, it makes doing that bloody uncomfortable.
Racing at Fod doesn't honestly change the cost of the weekend that much as we're over there (or somewhere) anyway usually. He gets to ride and race with friends in there and Pearce too, which is really important as it can't all just be 100% without having the fun side of it too, it has to be fun or they stop loving it, whatever activity that is.
Glad you have got it up and rolling 🤞
As said above I would add his age to the page
As a parent when Abigale was competing my worries were burn out before the end of the season and injuries sustained in some of the regional events having a knock on effect to the events that matters. She lost a season due to broken leg.
Some crazy blue sky thinking.
Why don't you sell one of your bikes/ebikes?
All fair, and I certainly didn’t mean it as a dig!
Been following the thread since the beginning and that sort of schedule will burn you both out before too long.
Why don’t you sell one of your bikes/ebikes?
I don't own an Ebike.
The Liv is Mrs Weeksys, it's used not often i'll admit, but does give the option of going out.
The Orbea is a loaner from a mate, i've not paid for that (i will need to one day though but not for a few years)
The only other bikes I own are the Status which is my day to day bike and the Raleigh which cost £400 new and is on the turbo. The Privateer is a loan/sponsor bike which one day will go back.
You know what though, i don't or shouldn't need to give a full financial breakdown of my whole life on here... It's really not right. If someone doesn't want to put anything in that's cool, but i don't want to sit here and next time i go out riding and buy a beer at lunchtime have someone picking apart my decision of "couldn't you have bought 1/2 a pint or a tape water" heck that's not fair is it ? As i say, i've opened up and answered a lot of questions as honestly as i can and under the circumstances that's about as much as i'm going to go into otherwise we'll move into, "couldn't you sell your house and move to somewhere for 50% of the price"
Come on, lets be fair now... Donate or don't, it's up to the individual but i'm not having my life picked apart.
injuries sustained in some of the regional events having a knock on effect to the events that matters. She lost a season due to broken leg
That is of course a concern yes and from chatting to other parents is part of the reason they skip particular events. I guess we've been fortunate in that context that he's been fairly good in terms of injuries. But realistically if i don't take him racing, he'll still be in the woods playing and can still hit the deck (and as you may have seen on his last Pearce day, indeed he does hit the deck).
All fair, and I certainly didn’t mean it as a dig!
I didn't take it as one 🙂
Well now it really does appear I own an ebike of my own.
Why don’t you sell one of your bikes/ebikes?
I don’t own an Ebike.
Puzzledface.
You really are over thinking all this.
If the lads good enough he'll get the help he needs without any funding page.
I'm not sure that's true stu, being good enough or having enough potential is only a tiny part of becoming a top athlete. Luck, knowing the right people, right place at the right time, aptitude, social media fit, money, obsessive parents etc etc are all significant factors and even the exceptional get left behind.
Being good enough is the main part.
Without that first and foremost the rest is pointless.
If the being good enough bit is there the results will show at nationals and then the help will be there.
As someone that's ridden at European and World Champs in Moto Enduros I'm pretty aware of how sponsorship works.
Just to be clear to Weeksy.
I'm not saying anyone is crap here as I know you take that from anything I say to you.
Maybe stop trying to run before you can walk though...
Nah, being 'good enough' is just a starting point now, it's completely subjective when considering a developing teenage athlete.
The modern world has created so many lifestyle options that the 'good enough' part becomes almost anything you want it to mean.
He's already good enough to get funding from strangers
He's already good enough to be supported in his hobby
He's definitely good enough to make a career out of his hobby.
He's enjoying his life, which seems to be the weeksy clan main goal for now.
The old days are long gone stu, nobody's going to be doing what you did in 1978😁
I'm not that old you cheeky ****er.😜
My point still stands though.
We have the BASE kids round here and I don't see any of them with crowdfunding pages.
What I do see though is people that have gone on to race word cups and and do pretty well or earn a living from riding some other way.
To me they're letting their talent shine through/ finding their thing and not thinking two grand will will make them faster.
Well as some have seen this thread was closed for a week or two, this was at my request (thanks Mods) due to me feeling it'd got out of hand with personal information and other little things. I've now requested that it's re-opened and i'm not going to say it has to be all touchy-feely and lovey-dovey, but sometimes i get carried away with certain aspects and it really does affect me at times.
But i will from now on slightly separate some of the information/discussions i've entered into as some things on the internet ought to be private. I've not asked for any of the information to be edited/removed as i put it there in the first place, so there it stays. But the thread will still remain as a journey of the lad.
I've had a fair few messages on PM, Insta, Whatsapp to re-open it and i've asked... So here it is..
What a day.
The boy was looking smooth in practice and working on a few lines. We've now got a system I can't say I love in some ways where I go to the top with him for race runs, taking jacket, gand warmers, food, water etc. it means I don't get to see him come down which is a double edged sword in some ways.
I sent him off for race run 1 and went down the longer way. He'd only put it 2nd place out of 78. Awesome stuff. 1.3s off the leader who is a rider who races for Commencal. We were all really happy of course. Katy his coach chatted through a few words of wisdom and eventually we went up for run 2.
They seed you so he was 2nd last to set off.
At the bottom there's been a computer issue so his time showed 14hr 46 lol. After 45 mins I gave up waiting and went to the van, by the time I got back the final results were in. He'd taken 2.2s off and won the race
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53493942730_b056c2fbe9_h.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53493942730_b056c2fbe9_h.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2pv5rtq ]IMG-20240128-WA0002[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
I have no words honestly. None
https://www.rootsandrain.com/event12336/2024-jan-28-100-mini-dh-1-forest-of-dean/results/
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53494273535_b049767b93_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53494273535_b049767b93_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2pv78NX ]Screenshot_2024-01-28-20-52-30-110_com.android.chrome[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
The sacrifices are real at times. Was a 5am start today after an already long day practising yesterday and 400 miles over the weekend. There's a lot of standing round for all of us, him included but today was one of those days where it all makes sense. There was him and 5 riding mates at the top waiting together, all talking crap and taking the piss out of eachother, laughs and smiles, then the serious business of racing. Despite the fact he beat his mates they all seemed genuinely pleased for him, the camaraderie between them all is ace to see.
It makes me smile and think "yeah, we're in the right place"
Don't get me wrong here, this is the calm before the storm and in a few months he'll be back as the smaller fish in the bigger pond with the super fast lads. But we can only beat what's out there with us on a given day, and that's of course what he did.
https://youtube.com/shorts/DPzwKECUAZ4?si=F6_O_4hGd2T4GtUC
Thanks all. It's really appreciated.
As always, we're straight back into the thick of it, even needing a rest and a sleep, which i didn't really get last night i'll admit.
Forks were stripped out of the bike along with the shock. The fabulous TFTuned are looking after his bouncy bits this season so they're both in for a full strip and service. Should have them back in a few days. Along with that it needs a rear wheel bearing rebuild on the Bontrager, it's just got a tiny tiny bit of play in there.
The Hope, well that's a bit of an Enigma at the moment lol. 3-4 times out of 10 he rides it i get told, "making a funny noise", which i/we simply can't get to the bottom of. We think it's due to the cassette which is running 7 speed and a large spacer, but that's the same setup many people use on wheels/DH bikes... and indeed it's the same as on the Bontrager. But we can't silence the wheel.
It'll get a full frame/bearing check while it's up in the stand too, along with a new pair of headset bearings in there as the others (lower in particular) were a bit grubby. After that it'll get some new DMR Deathgrips on there and be golden for the next race.
Saturday brings a day at BPW with Katy for some more training/coaching.