Well the boy is back off the bike for another few weeks yet, so thought i’d spend a bit of time and fit the forks ready for playing.

That doesn’t surprise me at all. I dont know if you misunderstood what the docs said about bone healing. It takes 2-3 weeks for a bone to start knitting back together and then 3-6 months to get to full strength (adults) so as a kid he may be quicker and able to get back on the bike quicker.

Injury shouldn’t be rushed.

That doesn’t surprise me at all. I dont know if you misunderstood what the docs said about bone healing. It takes 2-3 weeks for a bone to start knitting back together and then 3-6 months to get to full strength (adults) so as a kid he may be quicker and able to get back on the bike quicker.

Injury shouldn’t be rushed.

DON’t get me wrong here, he’s not in any pain etc, but we’re veering to caution rather than just going crazy.

He was out this weekend, but it was very much a one-off for now and he was taking it very gently.

If he had his way, he’d be racing this weekend.

Better a few weeks than a few months.

How’s it feel to be the voice of caution? 🙂

How’s it feel to be the voice of caution?

Bizarre…. truely bizarre.

I’m just doing as i’m told… me, i’d let him race. But arguably there’s nothing to be gained from a small irrelevant race. So we’ll wait it out and get a bit more recovered.

Today’s update is the biggest one we’ve had with regards to weeksy08 and his racing.

A month or so ago we got an email when chatting which was very much out of the blue.

Since then it’s been more and more mails, more discussions and more in the way of the plot thickening.

But the announcement today is that weeksy08 has signed to the newly created team of Katy Curd Coaching and the Privateer Young Guns.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2o24DJ7]073A7694[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Katy Curd Coaching. Katy has been waiting for years to be able to make this happen and I can’t put into words just how proud we are to be part of the squad. It’ll be a 3 rider team, he’ll competing in DH and Enduro in 2023. Katy is an absolutely infectious personality and her passion comes out in spades every time we speak.

Both ourselves and her have long term goals, aims and dreams and they’ve all magically aligned and this opportunity has come up for us to race for her. Part of this team brings masses of coaching, guiding, on-course, off-course, at various locations and even on-race tuition, coaching and assistance. This will push James higher and harder, along with personal training and physical development to get him to the next level. It’s going to be absolutely epic.

2023 we’ve got various targets, he will be DH racing in British National Downhill Series and Pearce DH events.Alongside that he will be racing in Southern Enduro series along with the Haibike Enduro series for 2023.

One of the other aims and goals is obviously Social Media content and progressing his development of all forms of media to enhance his personal profile. With this in mind, Instagram tagging, YouTube, Facebook etc will become an integral part of the future for the lad along with providing riding content on a regular basis. As you’ll be aware, he’s a very very stylish rider and jumper, so with a bit of time and effort he should be able to get some pretty impressive pics and videos.

https://www.youtube.com/@MrWeeksy59

https://www.rootsandrain.com/rider111960/james-weeks/results/

@weeksy08 on Instgram (please add the boy on Insta to increase his profile, he’ll be entertaining, I promise you that.)

https://www.instagram.com/weeksy08/

https://www.instagram.com/katycurdcoaching/

https://www.instagram.com/foxmikemtb/

https://www.instagram.com/privateerbikes/

Sunday brought the first meeting of the team, all getting their new kit and starting to find their friendships within the crew. This was really one of the easiest parts as Katy has chosen her riders really well. They’re all really nice kids, polite, attentive and you can see how they formed bonds quickly, playing off each others’ strengths.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2o1kkzC]2022-11-20_03-06-21[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2o1gwcR]2022-11-20_03-05-33[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2o21k9s]2022-11-24_10-42-30[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2o27AnH]2022-11-24_01-23-04[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

The boy is working hard on training, fitness and core while off the bike, taking various classes on conditioning and developing his strength. As soon as he’s back on the bike we’ve got days of uplift planned at all Pearce Racing event sites. Plus numerous coaching sessions with Katy and her team. We’re waiting for dates for 2023 to come out for both the National Downhill Series along with Pearce events. Southern Enduro events will be taken as ‘B’ events, not meaning they’re less important to his development but with the National and Pearce being the ‘A’ events, they will be giving different priorities in terms of booking.

We’ll be spending quite a few hours on the road next year I think, with events in Scotland and Wales being fairly high up in the calendar, but we’re very much looking forward to it.

Katy for anyone who doesn’t know runs and owns

https://www.katycurdcoaching.com/ She raced at World Cup level obtaining multiple podiums in DH along with a pile of British Championships. But for us, it’s her personality and coaching that meant within minutes of her offer, it was signed and sealed within the family and a response of “YES” was sent to her. The boy has been coached by her for a few years and we’ve tried other coaches, other courses but every time we’ve asked him “Let’s go to Katy” is always his answer. She sees something in him and he sees something in her that means they have a brilliant bond.

He will currently be racing DH on his GT Furys, both the newer 2019 bike as his primary machine, now kitted up with the Rockshox Boxxer forks and Hope Pro4 wheels. Alongside that will be the older 2018 GT Fury, ready to roll with a ‘muddy’ setup, but its main function will be a a race spare.
For the Enduro races he’ll be on a Privateer 141 very kindly supplied by Katy and Privateer bikes, he’s really looking forward to this and hopefully the differences in terrain, fitness, strength etc of racinf Enduro will obviously also help with the DH racing.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2o1D98w]2022-11-22_09-17-21[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Let’s see what 2023 brings !

That’s awesome! What an opportunity he’s got there! Well done Weeksy08 👏

That’s great news

Wow, fantastic. Sounds like next year is going to be a hell of an adventure. Good luck to him 🙂

Thanks guys… i’m not sure who’s more excited, him or me. LOL

I’m also slightly daunted about racing Southern Enduro along with whatever other Enduros we talk ourselves into. Hopefully the recent purchase of the Slayer now makes a little more sense to some people too. I am going to need a bit more at times next year i think.

The below pic made me laugh, this was photo day last weekend, just 3 weeks after doing his collar bone… “taking it easy” was the order of the day… I don’t think i lean like that when flat out

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2o2avVW]2022-11-24_07-35-19[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

That’s great news for your lad. I know how much you have supported him but not sure if this makes your life easier or harder 🤣

Awesome. That sounds like a setup that couldn’t be more perfect for him.

I was expecting something GT via your suspension guy.

Great news – I’m sure you’ll keep us updated 😉

@andy4d

I know how much you have supported him but not sure if this makes your life easier or harder

It’s a good question…. i guess it’s a bit of both for me. It’s more demanding on my time, but in a good way. We’ve got a couple of weeks of quiet time and then we’re straight into pre-season coaching, with sessions at Cwmcarn for him, Bringewood, Hopton and Bucknell… I’ve not booked all of them for myself, but i have booked Cwmcarn uplift along with Hopton. So it’s a win win for me really as i get to ride too. Sure on the coaching days i’ll mostly be riding solo as i won’t want to jump in with what they’re all doing… but i love bikes, love riding, so it’s all fun and games for me.

Obviously there’s going to be a lot of days away, a lot of nights in hotels, a lot of miles on the road… but as a parent, giving your kid an opportunity live a dream, well you can’t put a price on that… If within that, you get to do stuff you enjoy too, well it’s a win-win isn’t it 🙂

That’s brilliant 👍. Saw Katy’s announcement on instagram and was straight over here for the detail 😀

Great news for him

@tracey

Great news for him

Wouldn’t have happened without the help you gave us with the SWorks back in the day… Thank you once again.

No problems. It couldn’t have gone to a better home.

What a brilliant bit of reading. So glad I’ve been following this thread!
Might sign up to insta just to follow his stuff, but I’m sure you’ll keep us updated on here 😀

Great news. From our experiences the right coach can make a huge difference. My sons coach really wanted to challenge him from the start and whilst I was apprehensive she was quickly shown to be right. And whilst we’ve clashed a little in the past with differing opinions, nothing to do with her coaching, we’re happy to let her get on with it. All the best for next season.

sensational stuff!

Thats a real result and clearly Katy and her team thinks he can go places. Maybe see if they can get him a 161 for the less chunky DH races?!

Will hopefully bump into you at some of the Southern Enduro events (have you seen they have a West and East series of event now)

Thank you 🙂

Thats a real result and clearly Katy and her team thinks he can go places. Maybe see if they can get him a 161 for the less chunky DH races?!

Will hopefully bump into you at some of the Southern Enduro events (have you seen they have a West and East series of event now)

It’s not genetic that’s for sure. But she was telling us from the first coaching session she had with him, she’d earmarked this moment, which is a hell of a compliment for the lad. I like to and honestly do think that it’s as much about him as a person as his riding… He’s a lovely lad (as are Drew and Scarlett) and i think this has really helped open up this chance.

As for the bike, well we’re still waiting for 100% on what model, the assumption is as Katy and Paul have a 141, then the team will get 141s, but the boy would clearly prefer the 161 as he’s a boy. But if you see what Katy does on the 141, then it’s not open to debate how capable the thing is. The challenge will be getting the boy to understand and accept the bike in that context of course.

What he doesn’t quite grasp is that things can change and whilst he sees himself as a DHer, he could easily end up in Enduro longer term, it’s a bit more accessible and realistic too… but that’s all part of the game.
As was pointed out on here (and by Katy recently), all the DH racers in the off-season are playing on Enduro bikes and getting hardcore out there on them instead. Leaving the DH bike sitting there for winter to come back invigorated and ready for spring… He’s struggling to get that, so i’m hoping on their next coaching day in a couple of weeks the Privateers have been delivered and she wants them to ride those instead of the DH bikes. It’ll then kind of force him to ride it, get used to it and enjoy it.

It also makes a little more sense now why the Shockwiz was purchased last week 😀

We have the option of getting the Privateer set up by RSR Bikeworks, but it starts stacking up in terms of cost, getting the DH bike done for new forks, then the Enduro done both ends… etc etc.. So we’re hoping for now to get things working well enough with some feel and the Shockwiz.

We’ve seen the dates yeah but we’ve not booked anything yet (or even sure if we could yet) as we’re waiting for the DH dates to be up on British Cycling, along with the Pearce events…. Once they’re up, we’ll see where we are in terms of clashes and conflicts and see what can be booked.

The challenge will be getting the boy to understand and accept the bike in that context of course.

shouldn’t be that much of a challenge. “You like being on a team yeah? Then you ride the bike.” Sorted 😉

“You like being on a team yeah? Then you ride the bike.”

You’d be amazed how much we’ve used similar in the last 2 weeks
“Can i go out riding?” “Katy said no”
“can i race at Twisted Oaks ” “Katy said no….”
“Can i play Xbox….” you know the rest 😉

Congrats Weeksy Jnr, the big racing rumour  of the off season solved.

Excellent stuff…well done to the Young Man!

That’s properly awesome news, congrats to the lad!

Brilliant stuff for the lad!! Even better though…the lid almost goes with the team colours 😜 going to have change the DH bike though. Deffo a clash there 😉😉😉

Brilliant stuff for the lad!! Even better though…the lid almost goes with the team colours 😜 going to have change the DH bike though.

I’m sure there’ll be a new helmet or 2 incoming in the next few months… his one has had a bit of a life over the last 12-15 months. So yeah i can see a new one.. but whether it matches the kit or the bike, who knows yet 😀

Been following news of the privateer bikes as I think they look very good and are great value…from reviews I’ve read the 141 seems better reviewed/considered than the 161 so he may love it.

Well we were offered either bike, a 161 or a 141 but we decided after discussions with Katy to go 141, well, i say WE decided, i did 🙂 Sometimes the boy doesn’t know everything and he just sees numbers, 161, bigger is better… Not necessarily the case, especially for the stuff we’ve got planned with the Privateer which is for him, fairly simple terrain at say Southern Enduro, so a bit less burly, a bit lighter, bit poppier, he’ll be flying. Katy has shown in some of here clips/pics just how capable a bike a 141 actually is.. So he’s got one of those ordered up.

He’s now just waiting impatiently for permission to ride from Mrs Weeksy and the Sports physio type guy… he doesn’t have it this weekend though, so i’m flying solo.

Excellent news for mini_weeksy – that’s a huge step forward!

Congrats – you must be very proud

Chuffed for you both, great to see the perseverance and dedication is paying off.

Thanks lots guys. We’ve just been out for celebration pub lunch. The good thing in some ways is, this hasn’t been a chore to accomplish like other things, it’s just been fun and riding fast on trails, which is where we both have our happy place. So it’s mostly just me and the lad having fun
But obviously things change a little now with all this new role, a bit more responsiblity and whilst Katy may not have results and performance goals for next year, me and the lad do within ourselves. We’ve also got longer term goals and aims, but let’s face it, they may be more dreams than goals, so we don’t get hung up on them.

We have 2 rules in our chats
1. Have fun
2. Be the James

Which simply means, don’t change yourself for others, just go out, so your best and enjoy it. If he wants to whip a jump, whip it, if he wants to land in a front manual, land it. It’s got to be adventure and laughs, or we’re not playing.

It’ll be hard work, driving, nights away, hard courses and social media responsibilities, but hey, this is what we do.

Over lunch Mrs Weeksy was saying about his comeback ride and when it will be, but we differ so so much on the when and why, I’m more racer than parent, she’s the responsible adult. It’s a tricky little mix at times, but we muddle through it.

Some of the comments on here make it a lot easier though honestly, I feel a bit less alone and I know it should be a blog type thing, but this forum has been a place we all come and post our brain farts for many years, so I’m afraid, you get it. It’s my little random therapy session.

For a bike related update, I removed the Shockwiz from the Slayer and it’s now installed and configured on the Boxxers of the purple GT for when he’s allowed to play out again.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2o2ECk8]2022-11-27_04-33-14[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Just to add a little suspense…

Another big announcement due in the coming days… Just waiting on our illustrious leader to announce 😀

Tell us! I love this!

Ian

Tell us! I love this!

I’m not allowed 😀 😀 😀

It’s a funny situation in some ways as i was a pretty big part of this one happening. But despite the fact it’s my boy, it’s not my project this, so i have to wait for the boss to give the go ahead. I don’t begrudge that in any way of course, what Katy is doing for us (and the others) is nothing sort of amazing and we’re both/all exceptionally grateful.

She’s just booked another coaching day for the lad, so as well as Cwmcarn soon, she’s also coaching at a Pearce uplift day which will help him massively… We were going to book Dyfi for the day as it’s one of his team-mates birthdays and they’ve booked Dyfi. But a day with Katy getting coached/taught on a course he’ll be racing on is more important for him.

Still waiting to see if he gets sign off from the wife/trainer regarding the 11th at FoD for race… but i think he’ll get it.

oh god, he’s bought another van 😉

oh god, he’s bought another van

Oh i’ve been tempted… more than once. But i’m struggling with what a standard Vivaro/Trafic etc sized van gives us over a Kuga and rack. I think to really get value/use from a van it’d need to be Crafter/Movano type size so we could bed it out and kip in it at race weekends.