In the early 90’s people didn’t ride with clogs, they used these. Where did I put those spikes?

Brant was referring to the favoured footwear of myself and Guy Kesteven at NEMBA races in the early 90s. Somewhere there’s a picture of Guy towing me behind a tandem at Eston generating sparks.

Wish I hadn’t lost all my NEMBA results when I left the ex.

Anyway, Will Cogger…

Will Cogger by nick3216, on Flickr

BigJim

MBUK Bombhole poster
that was on my bedroom wall for years!

Wow, I was a posterboy! 😆

’94 was a disaster, NTi didn’t have a suitable MAG20 Steerer so I couldn’t race. 🙄

Henrik Djernis?

Paul Hinton floated through Madison recently…

Bumped into Tim’s wife (to be at the time – Jill?) in Vancouver while backpacking through there in 1996. She was getting her bike looked at in a shop on Roberts Street (I think) run by a Brit ex-pat. It was covered in lovely, shiny Hope kit; she was complaining about couriers racing her in town because she was club-kitted out. We had a brief chat about Tim racing at Mammoth that weekend; I wished him luck and bought a set of Judy XCs, which I promptly left on the Amtrak back down to Seattle.

Ah, happy days! 😀

Barrie and Sue Clarke (Thomas) live near Ulverston, and are both lovely people. Barrie is a sparky and did some work recently for my dad. I also own a pair of Hope lights that Barrie won as a prize at some event. He is plainly still keeping fit, as last year he did the Keswick to Barrow walk (42 miles) on the Saturday, followed by the Fred Whitton on the Sunday.

Caroline Alexander lives in Ulverston, in a nice house about 500m up the road from me, and is now a brunette. There’s a skip outside her house at the moment, and I was about to raid a discarded Ambrosio wheel bag from it the other night until I realised it was full of builders’ rubble.

I could reveal more mundane titbits of information about all of the above, but it might make me look a bit stalky.

When having a tidy out a few months back, I was surprised to find I have Tim Davies’s autograph. No recollection of where that came from, possibly a NEMBA race over Dalby way. Broxa, something like that?

I went to see a band called Hyperhead in Aberdeen many years ago (bear with me… there is bike content). The singer was Marymary from Gaye Bykers on Acid and on stage he had a cracking looking Ritchey. After the brilliant concert I asked him about the bike and he said it had belonged to Henrik Djernis.

I could reveal more mundane titbits of information about all of the above, but it might make me look a bit stalky.

too late…

Great find fasthaggis.

Bring back the days when races were nearly three hours long for the winners, with some monster climbs.

I love the width of the bars in that video…

bigjim – perhaps I should have said ‘more stalky’ 🙂

Chris Young from the same era is rather handy on a bike, too. I remember doing a race at Broughton in the early 90s; it was horrendous conditions and he absolutely schooled everyone else. Christ knows how many times he lapped me (to be fair, I’d have been about 14) but it was enough to make me climb off, on the verge of tears.

Tim Davies is a member of retrobike and brought his Alpinestars Ti-Mega to one of the rides. Think Caroline Alexander and a few of the other names mentioned have popped up on there from time to time.

One of the original Raleigh team bikes (think it was Nick Craig’s), Hemming’s Yo Eddy and Tim Goulds Roberts built Peugeot are now owned by members. A chap who built all Jason McRoy’s early bikes is also on the site.

Another member rode with the original Repakers and often posts up current pictures of the crew when they meet up for rides/beers.

Great Thread. A few people are loving the old GT’s and Zaskars, I have a 1996 GT Zaskar LE 18 inch,Judy SL’s and XTR etc. for sale, its mint. 😀

Did anyone else get their bikes stolen at the Strathpeffer Grundig race?

Overnight some stealthy thieves stole a load of bikes, those that were locked up, they stole parts from. Italspark had his whole front end stolen while he slept in his tent. I forgot to take a lock, but fortuitously stuck my Alves in the front of my pick up.

I remember around the same period, we had to have police protection at langborough on tees as competitors were having their bikes stolen from them WHILST COMPETING 😆

If memory serves me correctly that was team hot pies (pre team hot pies mind) first race.. Jez, Paul & Graham…. We challenged them to a game of darts Notts v Gordies and gave them a proper good thrashing, only for Jez to go outside and throw down a switzerland squeeker.. We had nothing in our armoury to challenge it 🙁

I remember the Langborough on Tees course, not only were bikes taken but they raided the campsite and took the whole tent with everything in it. Would be 1991?

CaptainFlashheart – Member
Shaun Palmer. Came in, won well, then disappeared went back to snowboarding, mainly.
FTFY.

Yeah, I just meant disappeared from mountain biking. Never took to him: rode in, won NORBA DOWNHILL(?) and then left making it all look too easy.

Somebody mentioned Susan Demattei. There was an awesome bodypaint advert of her for Diamond Back in MBA that the 18 year old in me remembers fondly…

Speaking of which, anybody remember the hidden code on the contents page of each months MBA? The mag went downhill when they dropped that (as stupid as it was)…

I remember the Langborough on Tees course, not only were bikes taken but they raided the campsite and took the whole tent with everything in it. Would be 1991?

late 80’s early 90’s yeah… I remember now, the police had to patrol the campsite whilst we slept 😕

Horrible place.

Somebody mentioned Susan Demattei. There was an awesome bodypaint advert of her for Diamond Back in MBA that the 18 year old in me remembers fondly…

now that rings a bell. I had a Missy Giove thang going on, and ‘that’ pic of Paolo Pezzo was a fave too.

Yeah, Matt Guy rode for Trek and came from Formby. Kind of got the impression that he trained so much as a junior he didn’t have much more to give as a senior.

I went to school, and twenty years later, I’m still good mates with Oli Beckingsale. Whilst we all know about his career, who remembers his brother Joe? Used to make races so much more interesting!

The Mountain Bike Club of Wales.

firsttothecafe – Member
Yeah, Matt Guy rode for Trek and came from Formby. Kind of got the impression that he trained so much as a junior he didn’t have much more to give as a senior.

I used to buy my kit and generally hang around Formby Cycle Sports many years ago. Saw Matt a few times as I think he worked in the shop on the odd day.

Does anyone ever remember Keeley Lockey? I think she might have raced for Saracen.

Susan Demattei…it was me.. oh I liked her 🙂

Did Keeley Lockey not do some tv thing or other?

Paola image –

– http://www.crank.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/paola2.jpg

Have a feeling Keeley Lockey rode for ridgeback but maybe saracen later on…may also just be plain wrong!

Edit:Actually I think it was Karrimor but also might have been both of the above as well.

I raced 91-93 in some I’d those races, my abiding memory is Caroline Alexander getting that bob haircut somewhere along the line. I was in lust. I followed her in a race once, she probably caught me or something 😆 but all I remember is blowing myself to bits to look at her ‘arris. As you do when you are a young hormonal teenager. I also remember having a massive off in that Strathpeffer race, which in hindsight would have been quicker without a bike. Halcyon days, I remember lusting over those Raleigh m-trax Ti frames.

My GT Zaskar from that time period:

Zaskar 1 by Mark and Kirsty Beaman, on Flickr

I too remember the Grundig in Plymouth in ’92 and watching John Tomac and co in action on the Pipeline. What a day out that was.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLJsKj3xJEk[/video]

Can’t believe there’s so many of us on here from”back in the day”. I feel quite privileged to have seen Tomac & co riding at Plymouth. The race in Teeside when the bikes where being stolen from under riders must of been 92 or later as I seem to remember that but didn’t start riding til then. I also remember Matt Guy being taken of this bike when a deer jumped in to him at Margam as well.

I too remember the Grundig in Plymouth in ’92 and watching John Tomac and co in action on the Pipeline. What a day out that was.

…and me! Awesome!

A bunch of us helped Schmoo organise the Swansea round of the MTB Tour of Britain. Rune Hoydahl seemed puzzled when we asked him if he wanted to join us for a curry that night.

It was a (pathetically poor) DH stage followed by a XC stage.

Strange weekend – I kept finding myself walking around with famous names of various descriptions, world champs, commentators, Commonwealth games track riders…..

And then the local scumbags stole a quad bike, despite a heavy police presence and helicopters everywhere.

I too remember the Grundig in Plymouth in ’92 and watching John Tomac and co in action on the Pipeline. What a day out that was.

Great day in the sun,and big crowds.

I pringled my front wheel on the pipeline that day :cry:.
Should have had the wheels checked on my new Kona Explosif 🙄

@ McMoonter

I always liked the format of those first Grundigs,where mere mortals could qualify to ride with the Pros on the Sunday.

Has anyone heard of a French rider called Pierre Benoit? I think he was French downhill champion really early on and came 3rd is one of the early versions of the world championships. Was sponsored by Scott.

His 8yr old son is the most amazing young rider I have ever seen.

Just been looking at some of my pics these are from bosley near macclesfield (sorry for the crap pics)

Nick Craig on a steel rigid stumpy

Tim Davis

Tim Gould

Bosley NEMBA was my 1st ever race, the year of the ‘mud slide’ I think ’91 or ’92. I got lapped by Rich Thackray and Paul Lazenby, It was only a 2 lap race!

90/91 i think i was pulled off my bike at bingley whilst ‘leading’ the fun race by a photographer.. his camera got wrapped around my onza bar ends.. finished 1st and won a black and white ‘etto’? helmet.

Totalshell think I was 5th in that race, was it the one where there was a single gateway 200 yards after the start that caused massive congestion as the youths and juniors were trying to get through as the fun pack arrived, there was a guy usually just in front of me always wore a Bradford city striped football top, jez avert was also in the race.

‘kin hell. The XC courses were a lot harder than I remember. 😆

I was looking at some results the other day and saw a Matt Farmer in the expert cat top 10, I wondered wether or not it was ‘the’ Matt Farmer from my Junior cat days?

Sam Humphreys – I think he is now a succesfull Duathlete

Does anybody remember the Boltby Bash a 2 day 3 stage race held in Boltby forest with the 50mph descent down Cracklow Slack?

Did it twice 91 & 92 great event

Still have the t shirt