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It's been a little quiet lately, but things have still been cracking on nicely. There's been a little pause in riding at times due to studying and mock A levels, but still getting as much in as we can realistically. They're now finished so we can get a bit more going again now. We're out this weekend with Reeksy from here as he's borrowing all our bikes for FoD lol.
The boy has a few plans and a new sponsor incoming which is ace, so that's pretty exciting.
The Session is going well and he's loving it lots, but we do need to put some work in on settings and wheel sizes etc before heading to Fort William in a few weeks for National Champs, but we've now got 2 27.5s and a 2 29 wheels for there, so plenty of options, with a bit of luck we may even bring 1-2 back in working order 😀
https://youtube.com/shorts/cTf4jb2GbP8?si=PpeV4kNPSrZahcWs
In an unrelated twist, today was the boys first time driving a car.... HIS car !!! We bought him a little 12 Fiesta last week and 5am today as he turned 17 today was his first lesson with me. (instructor lesson at 4.30 later)
He did well.. 🙂
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54610308799_f7882f70e9_4k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54610308799_f7882f70e9_4k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2rcJ7dg ]IMG_20250623_203633[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Happy birthday 🎂🥳🎉
Thought he might have got a car based van 🤣
Can't get insured on them. Nothing we've found currently is viable at this stage and we really really looked hard at the options.
Are you going to insure him on your van once he passes his test, he can do 50% of the driving!
Are you going to insure him on your van once he passes his test, he can do 50% of the driving!
Well we're going about it a slightly long-winded way. If you insure as a 'learner' it's for this car and him, £260. The second he passes his test at 17 it jumps to £2800 and 0 no claims to take forward.
So he waits until the day after his 18th birthday to take (and hopefully pass) his test. He then takes 1 years NCD and is also 18 years old and his insurance is then £1200 approx based upon comparethemeerkat using DOB 1 year in advance.
This does mean he has to have a full driver for the year with him, but it'll soon pass and it saves us a massive chunk of change. He doesn't NEED a car currently as anywhere he's going, i'm going too. When he starts work next June/July he'll be cycling distance from the work along with then being 18 so all good.
Assuming then it's viable to add him to mine, then yes.. But not long after that i'll likely give him my Transit anyway if we can get it insured for sensible money and i'll replace that with a Crafter. That's a bit pie-in-the-sky though until we see the viability of that plan.
Can you accrue ncd as a learner? I honestly have no idea.
After a bit of a break due to a gap in racing calendars for all the organisers, we're back at it this weekend. It wasn't our plan as we were hoping to head out with the coach but a bit of a crash has put her slightly out of action so unavailable to play.
So we've got the last FoD Thursday play-race along with Reeksy and his boy on Thurs, but then on Sat we're heading back to FoD for the MIJ race. It'll be made slightly more complex due to some work i've got to do on Sat, but we'll make it work and Sat is only practice. It won't be the biggest race ever but a chance to catch up with riding mates who we're spending half/most of the summer with this year, so will be good. I expect it'll be over the Elephant man side of the hill which isn't necessarily his favourite tracks, but it's a last chance for a race simulation before heading to Fort William the weekend after for National Champs.
The Session is going well after getting the larger frame, along with setup and work from TFTuned and RSR, so we're happy that we're good to go. We've not done the camping thing for a little while now so it'll be back to it as we're hitting FW on the Weds and there until the Sunday, so a good chance to get back to it.
This weekend is a little bit of MIJ racing at FoD. For no other reason than, why not?
Next weekend is National Champs at Fort William, so it's a day back between the tape and dialling in the bike and setup.
It's over on Enduro hill which is not exactly a DH track usually but it's sunny, warm and dry, so let's see what happens.
New set of Deathgrip2s installed for the weekend and bike was checked today after being thrashed last night 😁
MIJ this weekend and fun in the camping field, but to be fair, when it's 20 Deg overnight you don't actually mind being in a field. A kebab, pizza and a couple of beers and it's all good.
Practice went ok but the track is massively blown out due to hundreds of riders and no rain for months
He stuck in a good lap though and is 3s clear after run 1, so we'll see what run 2 brings for everyone. Got about an hour till next run.
Went slightly slower on run2 due to an issue on a blown out corner, but took the Win.
Excellent weekend had, i had to work on Sat which was probably a good thing as it not only got me a day off this week to go to Fort William, but it was also DAMN hot so good not to have to get too sweaty until later.
Beer had while setting up the gazebo
https://flic.kr/p/2rgtBcf
It was then straight into practice for the boy and his mate who we were looking after for the weekend as his parent couldn't make it. So i was spannering both bikes, but as they were both Sessions it was cool for me 🙂
Practice went mostly well, it was a completely new track and it got insanely blown out and dusty, so much that the boys had to give bigger gaps than they usually would otherwise they couldn't see. On one run the boy caught someone and stacked it into a tree through lack of vision, giving himself a dead leg in the process. But with a bit of a rest he was relatively OK.
We then headed out to Coleford for Pizza and kebab (way too much chili sauce !) and back for beers. It was a lovely evening so some bike chat and analysis of a mates golf swing was the order of the evening.
Sun brough practice which went pretty smoothly all round, our mate rarely hits a podium so was trying to pick up pace to get him to the pointy end.
They were chatting lots about line choices, what they were hopping/clearing.. He couldn't quite clear everything the boy was, but pretty much.
Run 1 saw them both come down happy enough, the boy was 2.98s clear at the front with a good run. Our mate came in P5 for run 1 and not exactly unhappy as his teammate was P3, but wanted better.
Lunch and banter with more mates who came to spectate and then back for run 2.
Our mate came down into P4 which was soooooo close.
The kid who was in P2 came down and was faster than his first run (he's a super fast BMXer) but didn't get past the boys time (just over 1s away) so by the time he crossed the line the boy was confirmed in P1 anyway. Sadly he didn't get quicker due to a corner he went high on the berm not having the same berm lol. But the targets for the day were 1. Race Win, then 2. Fastest time of the day.
He managed both goals and we're more than happy with that.
Today is stripping the bike down, cleaning, lubing and checking, sorting the TMD, checking headset, sorting chain and gearing. Getting a new rear 27.5 ordered as a spare and checking things like pads, rotors, clearances, pad rub etc.
After that it'll be cleaning the van, sorting all the kit in there, getting the 'catering' box all ready.
Weds we're off to Fort William for National Champs. The weather is looking somewhat dubious and 'Scottish' so we'll see how that goes 😀
It'll be a tough one of course compared to an MIJ, but we'll do our best to have a bike and a rider that does as well as humanly possible.
Long weekend for sure, we're not back to lunchtime on Monday.
Came up to Fort William yesterday via Liverpool.
Weirdly it was VERY light even at 10.30pm
This morning brought sunshine at the moment.
Currently WFH with the cafe wi-fi and enjoying a coffee and some power for the laptop 😀 Didn't bother bringing the generator as i knew i'd get power here. The fact they have things like the cafe, power and a shower block that's lovely, really makes this an epic place.
Sadly it's due to be wet tomorrow and with the fact i've got to work today means i didn't bring mine to ride, so a bit of a shame but not much i can do there.
Once this is charged i'll get the boy up, get him fed and sent out on the track, it doesn't open until 9.30 though so no major rush to get out.
usual fort William kind of day.
Nukeproof, dead, like pretty dead.
I spent an hour trying to buy a new rim locally but no good.
I fitted a spare which had a load of play in it at the hub. So checked and after some swearing and sweating I swapped the bearings and it's all good.
We had more luck than some, there's a few who've done 2 and one who did 3. So, not a disaster for us lol
We then headed out to buy food which we've had and now it's time for a beer.
How come with the numbers of wheels that Fort William seems to kill you're not running heavy duty inserts? I can sort of understand it for a death or glory race run were every advantage counts but does it make that much difference just in practice?
People kill equal amounts with or without them. I don't honestly think there's an answer either way in favour or against.
We don't run them due to his preference and advice from Conti
Seeding morning. It's not impossible that seeding run may be race result as the thunder and lightning is due.
Good luck to the boy! Looking forward to hearing how it all goes.
Racing on hold for an unknown time die to boardwalk collapsing. Just waiting like lemons currently
Did someone the weight of me decide to give it a try and collapsed the boardwalk?
Race runs moved 2 hours earlier due to weather coming in.
Had a bit of a traumatic evening with bikes, long story lol. I've for Monday on laptop. But all resolved and my mate doesn't have to kill me now.
P12 and an amazing performance from him.
Driving back now and just dead on my feet. 4 nights in the tiny tent lol. Epic.
Top work team weeksy!
Have a good journey back.
Great result. 👍👍👍
👌👍 Well done that man. Keep up the good work.
Well there's an epic almost over. We're in a £31 Travelodge tonight near Preston as it's a bit far to do in 1 hit.
I guess it's a bit of a write up time. The race weekend is a weird thing, on Thurs I was lying in the van snoozing after the drive up from Weds night, completely chilled and relaxed. Bike was sweet, I was content.
But by Friday things change a little as more people arrive and the laps grow in number, he did 13 over the Thurs and Fri and did his first rim of the weekend.
It was a Nukeproof Neutron and fairly old, so not a major shock but transpired to be a bit complex. He's running 27.5 on the back now and we only have 2, but still have 2 spare 29s of course.
The complexity came from the ERD, effective rim diameter, this is what dictates the spoke length and 554 is apparently not that common so non of the rims we could lay out hands on were correct. Usually one of the wheel guys has a spike cutter so could have made them, but he'd forgotten it. Long chats took place and a paddock mate arranged for 5 Reserve rims to come up at 7am on Sat morning. They were 556 ERD so compatible.
The rim was sorted while he was out practicing and trying to go fast on Sat morning, his times were decent he felt and the sunshine was helping us all.
Seeding, well that brought rain of course, after 2.5 days of dry practice, seeding was wet. But he stuck in P15 which then somehow changed to P13, weird, but brilliant.
When you think back to his National race and his P2, lots of the top runners were out at Loudenville so missing the British round, so at best we thought P15 realistically for the National Champs. A few of the big hitters had DNF so they'd be off first in Cat on Sunday.
Sat night was the usual banter and chat and talking rubbish with beers. I stuck a new gear cable in his as he was having issues. He'd also killed his 2nd wheel of the weekend so it was off to buy another Reserve rims and another Nukeproof went in the bin.
Sat night brought a lot of rain, with the morning rainy and storms predicted so they move practice 2 hours shorter and race runs accordingly. He was now running the Reserve on the back with a Kryptotal super soft. I'd been re tensioning the Nukeproof after every run with an average of 4-6 loose spikes showing 5 or less on the Park Tools tension gauge. But the Reserve was holding up ok thought practice. Instead of me chilling in the back of van or snoozing in the chair you're up and about all the time, walking to see the rider, the runs, checking he's ok and wheels are ok.
After run1 of practice he was complaining about the gears still, I noticed his mech was ridiculously stiff on the arm, so I whipped it off and threw on another, with a new inner, but it seems that one was removed previously as it was knackered so a 3rd mech came out and I got them sorted of acceptable. I'd checked the hanger with DAG and it was straight but the gears were still a bit crap. I need to find out why.
He went up in the rain, but he was dry as he'd had a shower and clean kit after the drenching of practice. fed and watered he was ready.
We have a bit of a thing before he heads off with a fast bump and "go fast" before every run, practice or races. Some weird reason I forgot and as I walked away, he goes "I don't know what to do" ..... "Go fast mate, go fast" it brought a little lump to my throat that sometimes he's still a small boy inside
Race runs are fraught with massive tension, especially the biggest race of the season, not that we expected the jersey or even top 10 (or 20 lol) but they're still tense, especially at Fort William. As the riders come down 1 by 1 Felix Griffiths was sitting in the hot seat. I see his rival George on the timing sheet as setting off, they're currently sitting in P1 and P2 in the overall British DH rankings, which is mostly because the fast lads are at WCs.
George popped in with a 5m 10 which was quicker than his seeding run by a fair bit, even in worse conditions.
I'm waiting for the boy and he pops into sight, I glance at the clock and he's looking ok. He drops in 4th at the time with a 4m 59, his target was a sub 5, so job done. He was happy as he's also beaten George, not only his rival but his mate. Our out mate Isaac was already down with a good time which ended up 25th.
Obviously after his seeding run there were still 12 more riders to come down so he's drop places of course from P4.
To put into context there were 9 current World Cup Juniors present this weekend.
As it all played out the boy ended P12 and we were thoroughly ecstatic with that, a damn good job
It cost me a small fortune this weekend with 3 broken rims, 1 crap mech and 4000 litres of diesel but it's all worth it lol. Every penny.
Well done James and Team Weeks 👍
It's time for a bit of fun for him...
https://www.mbuk.com/articles/nominate-your-mbuk-rider-of-the-year-2025
Nomination time for MBUK Newcomer of the Year has been requested by one of his sponsors, as well of course as submitting the boy for this.
I don't know if nominations from 'everyday Joe' counts for much, but it can't hurt 🙂
If you fancy nominating him based upon his exploits, well, crack on, we'd all appreciate it
Reserve have a decent warranty policy should you need it in the future: https://reservewheels.com/pages/rider-support
Reserve have a decent warranty policy should you need it in the future: https://reservewheels.com/pages/rider-support
Indeed mate, that's exactly why we bought these particular rims instead of a few other options. But thanks for the pointer anyway
Reserve have a decent warranty policy should you need it in the future: https://reservewheels.com/pages/rider-support
Indeed mate, that's exactly why we bought these particular rims instead of a few other options. But thanks for the pointer anyway
I did almost edit my response to say 'when' rather than 'should' 🤣
Fingers crossed the warranty is good, I have a set of Reserve Alu wheels and 3 sets of Fillmore valves. partially down to the warranty (Santa Cruz are usually pretty good). I did get a Roval (Specialized) rim replaced under their 2 year no quibble warranty last year after denting it landing on a root.
5 minutes lol
However that was seeding on Sat, it did whole of Sunday including race run looking exactly like that. It'll come off tomorrow but that's kinda good, kinda bad. Lol.
So we've now got 7 days until we have to leave for Spain. Honestly at the moment i'm pretty fried, mentally and physically. It all just takes it out of you. So we've canned any away-day riding this weekend and i'll just ride locally.
We've got a list of jobs as always but i'm sending the bike out to Rotec for them so i can just chill. There's nothing i can't do myself, but at the moment i'm just done 😀
Gearing issues, i don't know if it's outer or mech, but it's just not quite right in all gears. I went to fit a new outer yesterday but somehow i have brake outer, not gear outer. GRRRRRR. I think potentially i need a new spare mech to take with us to Spain as well.
Wheel/rim. That needs stripping and a new rim fitting. Not sure if we'll get the Reserve back from warranty in time so it'll get built with whatever Rotec has/orders for now. If the Reserve comes in time it'll go with us in a box just in case.
After that it's really just a check-over and strip/sort. Things are getting a bit bonkers (aren't they always).
So we drive to Spain next week, we've got 4 days in La Molina for the European Champs, then on the Monday it's driving straight to Pal Arinsal Andorra for the day on the WCDH track for him.
After that we drive to Morzine for 11 days. Then leaving on the Thurs and driving straight to Llangollen for the British National from the Friday onwards. Eventually we'll get back on the Sunday night and collapse.
I'm hoping Morzine is a bit more 'holiday' for me than some years, i don't think i'll be riding nearly as much as i may once have done, i'll be in the pool chilling and relaxing a bit i think.... but i'll get some riding in for sure as i've got mates out at the same time.
I did the MBUK thing & it froze when I submitted it.
Thanks for trying mate, appreciate it... It worked OK yesterday.