Weeksy08 the ongoing racing trials and tribulations of a crazy teen

We will do tomorrow, but don’t forget, this is about as innocent and simplistic a break as you’re going to find. So we’re not massively worried. Even just 3 days later he’s walking the 1km to school and back without too much issues, admittedly in a rather fetching footwear item 😀 😀

It certainly sounds a lot lot less of an injury than Abigales.

FWIW i’ve canned the BPW Enduro on the 23rd, that was a pedal up event to the top at least twice up, so a decent chunk of riding… That was deffo too much.

The DH racing is obviously a lot less.

It’s quite tough now picking and choosing events… I don’t want to throw the lad in too deep into Nationals as they’re a whole new level of crazy. But with other plans it’s getting complex, there’s a perfect one at Caersws which is where he’s raced before last year and loved it. Well, apart from the crash and the ambulance.. The downside is… it’s 3 days before we go to Morzine lol.cyce

We’ve not really jumped into the Pearce Cycles events yet either, which i think is where we’re going to have to pick an event or two due to dates, availablity etc. Bringewood seems a common one of their locations, so we may jump on one of those.

There will need to be some compromise and also commitment to a lot of travelling if that’s what he wants to do. A big wall planner helps. Blocking out when you cant race and which races clash with other events or other commitments. Get all the DH races in the UK on it and colour code for the different levels.

We found that up to 15 races in a season was doable but above that caused logistic problems.

Holidays were planned around events so that we could ride whilst she competed. At some point you will need to dip your toe into racing at the bigger events if that’s what he wants to do.

You cant plan for injuries as they will eventually happen. Abigale will need another operation this year but has been told she is OK to race but cant give her a date for it so planning is going to be a nightmare.

If he wants to race before Morzine then I would let him. You could see if there are any French events he could do whilst on holiday.

Fab post and very informative..

I guess to an extent i’m a little worried about sticking him in too deep in the big blue sea. The national at Llangollen for example

Has this…. which, i guess he could ride, well he’s got more chance than i have 😀 but i don’t want to completely freak him out with stuff, so trying to keep it sensible with what we do or don’t enter. It’s a fine line between enjoyment and complete mental breakdown i think.

I’m trying to also be a little bit patient and not book everything now now now… There’s a decent looking Cwmcarn in Sept and a couple of other later ones… but April and May are looking a little lean in events at the moment.

A race in France sounds like a cracking plan lol…

Forgot to add we also have a ring binder which is sectioned for each race with everything in it. Travel, accommodation, race info and anything else we may need. Its also in folders on Googlemail but some events have limited internet access if any.

Hi Weeksy – if you’re worried about that section being steep and tech (which it looks – imagine that in the wet 😳) maybe you need to go and do some off piste tech riding with him to get used to that sort of stuff – before you add in hundreds of people heckling as well for added pressure.

Quite a bit at Risca that’s not too hard to find that’s on its way towards that (not quite as steep / tight but getting there). I’ve not fully explored yet but been assured it gets really difficult / tight / steep if that’s what you’re looking for. Probably not bad for you to get to along the M4.

I 100% hear you Joe, but time makes that really hard at the moment.

We’re racing 3 out of the next 4 weekends (if allowed) and by the time he finishes school at 3:15 we don’t have time to drive 2 hours down the M4 before it’s already pretty much dark when we arrive.

So we’re kinda stuck in limbo in terms of what we can or cannot do currently. Of course this is only a short term thing until the sun stays up longer, but currently, well, i can’t really do much about it.

The discussion comes really with how we progress and continue, do we stay the smaller fish in the smaller pond for a while or do we become the plankton getting eaten by the whales in the nationals lol. We’re trying to keep it all about enjoyment and the 417 series and the MIJ series both give him competitive finish positions and certainly a lot of pleasure.. but obviously the time must come when we leave the swimming pool and jump into the lake. But i don’t want to kill off his enjoyment.
So i think predominantly we’ll be sticking with what we know and enjoy… for this year

You could drop some weekends for racing and make them practice?

There’s nothing at 417 that the new downhill bike will really be good down for example (unless they’ve built anything new and found a steep bit of hill). He’d be better racing there on the t130 probably.

That GT needs something fast / steep / rocky with as little pedalling as possible to shine.

There’s nothing at 417 that the new downhill bike will really be good down for example (unless they’ve built anything new and found a steep bit of hill). He’d be better racing there on the t130 probably.

Next race there is the 10th April. I’m racing on the Trek too.. In morning practice we’ll be putting Strava on him and he’ll be riding the Trek for a test … It’ll be interesting to see if he goes better.

Dropping weekends once book is harder than you’d think, cancellation policies etc.. Once we get into April, the weekends open up a little more and May is quite free. So practice will start being more of an option then.

Due to the wonky foot, he’s barely even sat on the T-130 yet to test it…

It’ll all work out in the end, he’ll get plenty of time on both bikes… just not quite yet 😀

i`m not sure ‘death woods’ at llangollen is taped into every race. especially as lots of riders went straight home after track walk when they first put it in haha.

Hee hee. I’m scared just in case. It looks pretty bonkers

Interesting discussions with my techy mechanic who’s got the bike and sorting the forks out for me.

It’s arguably something i could have done and will do next time, but i wanted his feedback on the bike and to give it a once over from the perspective of more knowledge than me, he’s a DH racer/rider and obviously spanners bikes all the time.

One thing he noticed was that the yokes were nearly 30mm higher in the forks than Rockshox recommend. They’re 2018 Boxxers and the RS docs show the standard height etc… So we’ve put them back down to the correct height which will of course drop the front by 30mm. I think that’ll now feel a little less alien to the lad.

We then moved onto the gearing… it’s currently running a 7speed DH setup. Now what i didn’t know until 5 minutes ago is that spacing and gearing ratios are different on DH bikes, so a 7sp DH cassette isn’t like a 7sp MTB cassette. I was planning on fitting an 11-32 for the lad instead of the 11-25 that’s currently on there…. But that seems to need more research i think as to compatibility and what can or cannot be done.

Other than that, the bike is sweet 🙂

Pearce events will be a step up from what you’re currently doing and are without doubt the best organised dh races in the uk. Courses can be ridden by all but plenty of great riders (Joe Smith, Matt Simmonds, Matt Walker etc) all started out at pearce races.
They generally run a race at each of the venues they use each year. All have a similar feel/style apart from Rhyd Y Felin (aka Bala, just down the lane from revs) which is a bigger hill and different track.
Uplift will be great, track fun and atmosphere is very friendly.

maybe you need to go and do some off piste tech riding with him to get used to that sort of stuff

Has been suggested multiple times by multiple people before. 😉
Please don’t try and get him to go from doing small races on tame terrain straight into a national DH.
It could well be a bit disheartening for him…

Has been suggested multiple times by multiple people before

Why can’t you just stay out of the thread ? Wouldn’t that be easier ? You’ve never met me or him, seen us ride, seen where we ride. If i came here and said “oh we’re going practicing here” you’d comment that i should be taking him racing as nothing beats race experience…. if i take him racing, you comment we should be going somewhere else.. Why can’t you just accept that it’s my life, my child and my fun, we do what we want and we enjoy ourselves.. Can’t that be enough ? We’ve spent plenty of time out practicing both on piste and off piste this winter… However, the majority of his current races booked are more on trailcenter type terrain than they are off-piste, so we’re training on the terrain we’ll race upon. Why we’d do anything other than that makes very little sense to me.
As for the ‘tame terrain’, lol, you race him down it and tell me how tame it is 😉 I’d pay good money to see your time versus the 13 year old tame terrain rider 🙂

Anyway, moving on. The forks are rebuilt and now sprung to his weight, they feel exceptionally plush and lovely… obviously undersprung for me, but that’s a good thing as i’m much heavier than the lad. Had a long interesting chat with the mechanic at Rotec Cycles and we spent 30 mins fiddling, adjusting and setting the suspension. He was telling me lots about the why and the how, regarding the difference between DH bikes setup and more generic bikes setup, was an interesting time spent and hopefully gives me some clues.

sadly/happily/sensibly it’s been decided that the boy isn’t racing this weekend… Whilst i mostly agree, i also think he’d be OK, but it’s the sensible thing to do as a parent 🙂 So he’s skipping this one and on full rest.

We’ll put the money into a Pearce race for him likely in May.

Pearce events will be a step up from what you’re currently doing and are without doubt the best organised dh races in the uk. Courses can be ridden by all but plenty of great riders (Joe Smith, Matt Simmonds, Matt Walker etc) all started out at pearce races.
They generally run a race at each of the venues they use each year. All have a similar feel/style apart from Rhyd Y Felin (aka Bala, just down the lane from revs) which is a bigger hill and different track.
Uplift will be great, track fun and atmosphere is very friendly.

Thanks for the info mate. We’ll get on the case over the weekend and book at least one, maybe more.

So now you’re annoyed with me because of other people’s suggestions.
You are a very strange man.

One comment in your post worries me a little. And I’m not accusing you of doing it, I’m warning you against it.

just accept that it’s my life, my child and my fun, we do what we want and we enjoy ourselves.

It’s not your life, your fun, it’s the boy’s. Great you enjoy it too, but that’s almost incidental.

Too many kids have had their enjoyment ruined by parents overpushing, or trying to live out their own failed sporting aspirations through their kids. It’s a really tricky one, because unless as a parent you commit to the cost and time to support him then he won’t be able to do it, but he has to enjoy what he’s doing. If that disappears then it’s worth naught. Just be careful that your obvious enthusiasm and commitment doesn’t become a burden for him, ‘I have to do this because Dad puts so much into it…..’

Like I say, not an accusation, more a warning. I’ve seen it, possibly even been that parent myself.

It’s not your life, your fun, it’s the boy’s. Great you enjoy it too, but that’s almost incidental.

Too many kids have had their enjoyment ruined by parents overpushing, or trying to live out their own failed sporting aspirations through their kids. It’s a really tricky one, because unless as a parent you commit to the cost and time to support him then he won’t be able to do it, but he has to enjoy what he’s doing. If that disappears then it’s worth naught. Just be careful that your obvious enthusiasm and commitment doesn’t become a burden for him, ‘I have to do this because Dad puts so much into it…..’

Like I say, not an accusation, more a warning. I’ve seen it, possibly even been that parent myself.

YOu couldn’t have interpreted that more wrong if you’d tried mate. I couldn’t be any further from that parent and often we discuss riding, racing, everything and he’s told in no uncertain terms that this is his choice and if he ever stops enjoying it to make it clear. Whilst i help with certain aspects of his decisions, like for example picking this particular DH bike, i made sure 20+ times that this was the choice he wanted, his decision and where he wants to play and ride. I made it completely clear that in some ways it can and likely will alientate some of his riding away from his riding mates as we’ll end up at different events… but i’m 100% happy that this is exactly where he wants to be in the world right now.

I’m very very lucky that my interest and his cross in harmony and he actually feels bad that i’m not racing this year despite buying a new race bike. So much so that he wanted to pull back into Enduro just so i could race…. but his heart is currently in DH.

You’d be surprised coming from your reffing/football perspective that DH and Enduro are 100% different in terms of parental support on the sidelines, instead of people being obnoxious and abusive they’re completely supportive on the sidelines, cheering, shouting and whooping all competitors and in the pits/car-park being supportive, giving eachother spanners, tools, parts and even bikes. There’s so much spirit and cameraderie it’s amazing.

OK, it’s free advice just to use if you want or not. As I tell my kids about any advice or feedback, the polite thing is to thank the person for it and then decide whether to use it, not to instantly throw it back.

It’s nothing to do with football and reffing. I’m not surprised at all, I raced when I was younger, and I’ve been around enough other sports. It isn’t only football’s problem, though, there are supportive parents and overpushy ones in all sports and pastimes.

I was that Dad too. Are you enjoying your basketball, are you sure you want to go, is this what you want, you would tell me if it isn’t, you’re so good the coach wants you to play up another level……. and always the answer was yes, yes, yes.

Right up until the day when we broke down in the car on the way to a game and it all came out, that the enjoyment had gone and we’d been too worried to say so.

Kids lie to us and they’re good at it. I’m just saying to be careful not to become that Dad.

As I tell my kids about any advice or feedback, the polite thing is to thank the person for it and then decide whether to use it, not to instantly throw it back.

That was neither my aim or intention

not to instantly throw it back.

Looks to me like he responded quite reasonably. Well, totally reasonably, to be fair.

probably then the challenge of the written vs the spoken word; “YOu couldn’t have interpreted that more wrong if you’d tried” reads (to me) as quite confrontational.

I know weeksy in passing, if he says that wasn’t the intention, it wasn’t the intention. End of.

My understanding with the SRAM 7 speed DH stuff was that it was built like their 11 speed stuff. You only get wide range MTB cassettes for 11 speed but I don’t know if a 11 speed road cassette would fit, however that would need an HG driver and I assume the bike is XD.

I.e. you probably can’t easily change the gearing beyond a different chainring size.

Why can’t you just accept that it’s my life, my child and my fun, we do what we want and we enjoy ourselves

You’re voicing your concerns in a public forum, then having a strop when people point out that you’ve ignored the advice received. Do what you want, you know your son but remember that lots of the people you’re talking to have raced these events and know what they’re talking about.

we did some stalking between races and out of the 7 who beat him, all of them were either 15/16.. So he’s the youngest at the pointy end.
Still got some work to do to be chasing the podium at this level

I remember reading the above at the time and thinking this is contrary to your “he’s just having fun” comments. Along with your bike fettling despite his wishes it certainly gives the impression you’re the one pushing this along. Don’t be surprised by people questioning this.

Out of interest, what advice am i ignoring ?
The ride more off piste ? Heck we’ve been doing that… lol. As well as riding on-piste and racing and indeed coaching, the coaching was both on and off-piste too.

pushing it along… is mostly the same as facilitating…. Depends on your interpretation really.

In my perception i’m trying to give him the best chance possible to do the best he can in something he’s seeming to enjoy. If he came in and said “i want to play rubgy” and i buy him boots, am i giving him the ability to play, or am i pushing him along ?

So he’s getting the best bike i think possible (within realistic budget), coaching, riding and racing..

He’s the one sitting there getting unhappy because he can’t race this weekend, he’s the one sitting there watching Youtubes of Berwyn so he can learn the course for the race the weekend after.

I honestly think i’m helping, rather than pushing. I may be wrong with that… but i don’t believe it’s the case.

Of course he wants to improve, he wants to make the podium, he’s got a race mentality, well, actually a competitive mentality, whether football, cycling, running or playing x-box, he’s got a desire to do his best and indeed win. I can’t change that… but he’s very level headed and completely aware that’s not necessarily going to happen just because he wants it.

Last weekend he finished just above mid-pack and had a cracking time, talking about it constantly both with me and his mates from then on… The sending me pictures and links of DH bikes until we bought one.

@dc1988

My understanding with the SRAM 7 speed DH stuff was that it was built like their 11 speed stuff. You only get wide range MTB cassettes for 11 speed but I don’t know if a 11 speed road cassette would fit, however that would need an HG driver and I assume the bike is XD.

I.e. you probably can’t easily change the gearing beyond a different chainring size.

Yeah we stuck a 34T front on it yesterday, down from a 36T. Should make it a bit easier for the race-starts as he’ll now be in gear 2-3 off the line, that’s about the same as his old gear5 which was apparently his starting gear.

The rest of the above you’re absolutely correct though yes.. it’s based upon their 11, but with a weird spacer at the back and obviously only 7 cogs… it’s all quite interesting to me and obviously a bit new as we’ve not jumped on this type of bike at all before.

You’re voicing your concerns in a public forum

I must admit, the temptation to not bother any more is getting greater by the day… you’d think that discussions about bikes, MTBing, trails, riding and kids would be far less contentious. Maybe the tension is my fault and i just need to walk away from this place.

You’re voicing your concerns in a public forum, then having a strop when people point out that you’ve ignored the advice received.

This is the thing I don’t get.
No point in getting annoyed because someone gives their opinion on a public forum.

Anyway, we’ve just entered Caersws for end of July as well as Bringewood with Pearce Cycles in April.

as well as Bringewood with Pearce Cycles in April.

There are loads of trails at Bringewood and they’re open all the time.
Maybe go ride there a few times before hand.
It was one of our go to places before we moved north the border.
There’s something for everyone there and it’s easy to find your way round all the trails.

My thought on attending higher level races is that although you might initially take a bit of a beating, you are in a better position to learn from better riders. It’s difficult to comprehend some professional level riding until you see it in person. Rather than seeing it as disheartening, your lad might see it as a learning experience. After all, he is at an age where he’s got a lot to learn and plenty of time to progress.

Maybe go ride there a few times before hand.

If time allows, but it may be tricky as he’s racing on the 20th, the 26th i’m riding in belgium while he’s getting coached by Katy, the 3rd may be free so could be possible, the 10th is racing at 417, we’re then at BPW, Afan, Cwmcarn for 3 days, then it’s the race 2 days later.
On the race weekend he’ll get the Sat all day of uplift practice to learn the track, so not completely blind… but granted the odds are other riders will know the course more than him.

My thought on attending higher level races is that although you might initially take a bit of a beating, you are in a better position to learn from better riders. It’s difficult to comprehend some professional level riding until you see it in person. Rather than seeing it as disheartening, your lad might see it as a learning experience. After all, he is at an age where he’s got a lot to learn and plenty of time to progress.

The only downside to this plan is the separation of riders at the gate, even in practice. They don’t like sending riders down together so you rarely get the chance to jump on a wheel of a faster rider for example. On the 2 dayers that’s slightly more possible, but certainly at the FoD events you rarely get allowed to follow. You can watch and pick up lines from the track-side, but i think riders really would benfit as you say from being able to see it close up.

Out of interest, what advice am i ignoring ?
The ride more off piste ? Heck we’ve been doing that

Plenty of people have advised your time would be better spent at Risca, Barry Sidings, Inners etc rather than racing all the time.
The impression I’ve got is you spend most weekends racing, and outside of that ride at FoD, BPW and 417. If that’s not the case, then I stand corrected.

I was talking more about general riding instead of the four bike parks you mention.
I know you can react badly to my posts but seriously if he wants to race at any kind of national swap riding trail centres for some natural stuff and stop worrying about his results at places like 417.

Edit beaten to it by Mark.

Well, the problem is that in some ways it’s a catch 22.

At the moment his races are at 417/Fod/Trailcenter

But longer term they’re likely to move to the more off piste/tech yes…

Currently though when we go places it’s also with mates, they (and we) don’t necessarily have the time, deisre, ability to go to Risca for example, it’s an extra distance, time and different type of riding. We don’t always want it to be about racing as it’s also got to be about the fun aspect of it too (even though i may not always portray that in my posts).

So a day at FoD blatting down GBU and being the only one who can clear the road gap out of his mates, that’s priceless… Not necessarily in terms of ‘becoming a better racer’ i accept, but in terms of riding with his mates, it’s golden. It also means that i get to ride with 1 or more of the other dads, whereas potentially at say Risca there’s less i’m capable of riding and it then changes the dynamics from him having fun with his mates to him ‘training’ instead.

I know some think that we’re all super serious and want to end up in EWS/WCDH, but that’s honestly not the case and it’s at least as much about enjoying things as it is the results/racing.

I don’t have all the answers though, i accept there’s people with more knowledge than me on what it takes for XYZ, but you don’t get to see the other side that i see, the family unit, the time together, the enjoyment of friends.. i have to factor these things in as well, hence for example the days at BPW/Afan leading up to the Pearce Bringewood day… I’m still trying to ensure he stays within his group of mates, within his riding group etc.

It’s a juggling act and i’ve never said i’m getting it all right… but hey, i’m trying.

Maybe just have a look at where the Risca,Tirpentwys,Staunton,Afan Masts and Barry sidings trails are in relation to your go to trail centres ?
You might find there’s no extra distance to get there. 😉

Hell give them a go. You might even enjoy them.

On the race weekend he’ll get the Sat all day of uplift practice to learn the track, so not completely blind… but granted the odds are other riders will know the course more than him.

I think we might’ve had this chat before, but just in case. . . Walk the track. Otherwise you’re spending half of practice getting to know it and potentially missing a load of lines as you’ve not looked at it. Either arrive on Friday or very early Saturday, but either way walk the track or it’s just throwing away a load of practice.

Also, I know you’ve had good experiences with fellow parents at races but be ready. There are plenty of bellend parents at DH races, I’m a particular fan of the ones that attempt to use their motor homes to annex half of the (often limited) parking then kick off if a marshal asks them to be considerate

Hey Weeksy
Just wanted to show some support for you, what you’re doing and what you’re writing.
We’re at completely opposite ends of the tinkering spectrum but I like reading about your exploits. The riding stuff I’m interested about and the tinkering stuff I’m intrigued that there are people with that level of interest. It amazes me.

One key thing that people getting on your case need to realise is that it’s actually quite hard writing forum posts about your kids. And it does expose you a lot.
I’ve posted a few pictures of my kids and bits and pieces, but nothing to the extent of what you are doing here.

I was lucky with that single WestHighland Way report post that it was generally well received. But it was quite short lived, and thus didn’t stay around long enough to attract much comment or controversy. Your thread is clearly going on much longer.

Can people please take a step back and ask how many other parents on the forum post with as much detail and enthusiasm as Weeksy…
Can we bear in mind that this is his nearest and dearest we are replying about and it is not surprising if occasionally he replies with something you think is pricklish.

All IMHO, of course 🙂