I truly wonder if the E’s made as big a difference as we thought regarding the music..

I think so. I wouldn’t have become obsessed with amassing a huge collection of techno / electronica if it wasn’t for the impression it had on me after hearing it on MDMA.
It’s like comparing an old mono wind-up gramophone to fully immersive HD, 3D surround sound in full colour! It can transform a repetitive thump, thump, thump, into the most involving and important thing in your universe, spiritual even sometimes.

There’s an amazing video on Youtube from Atomic Jam at the Que Club in Brum back at the peak of the techno scene in 1996, with loads of people I remember. I’m in there at 11.40ish, complete with pony tail and manic chewing gum action! 😆
Still gives me goosebumps watching it.

TurnerGuy, the last bit of my post:

Once you’ve experienced dance music on E / MDMA, a whole new perspective opens up, that’s there forever.

kind of answers that.
I liked but didn’t really appreciate or understand techno until after dancing to it on E for the first time. After that, all became abundantly clear. Once you’ve experienced something quite profound – (also applies to LSD) you can’t unexperience it. Those new doorways are open for the rest of your life.

TurnerGuy wrote:

“The music was MADE for ecstasy”
no it wasn’t – find me a producer that says that…

anything sounds good if you are out of it enough – and all djs sound great as well.

Oh pleeeease! 🙄
No amount of E will make a crap DJ sound good!

A lot of electronic dance music is written solely for dancing to while on drugs and the sound tailored to the effects. (Techno – E, Psychedelic trance – LSD for example.) Not all producers would say this about their music, but I know a load who would!

I spent at least one weekend a month at techno (mainly) clubs on E, from about 95 to 2000 and had the best time of my life. I also met my wife at a club in this period and we’re still happy together and still have several friends from our “raving” days..
I stopped taking pills around 2000, 2001 as I was enjoying them less and less, but my love of the music hasn’t diminished. The opposite in fact!
I still love techno, psytrance and other forms of EDM with a passion today. Buy mountains of music and still go out to festivals and clubs now and then, but 99% of the time straight. Once you’ve experienced dance music on E / MDMA, a whole new perspective opens up, that’s there forever.

I love the Pearce XC trail.
Might be a bit dicey in places, given the rooty nature of some of the descents and all the recent rain, but yeah, why not! 🙂

I do. (Under my waterproofs!) It’s only 6 miles each way and I can’t be doing with getting totally changed twice a day for a 20 odd minute ride.
Spray of deoderant, clean T-shirt. Job’s a good ‘un.

My brother and I are riding.
I’m just hoping to complete the 60k. Have to see how I go, as it will be my first time riding rigid singlespeed at this kind of event.

My bro finished the Kielder 100 with no major issues the other weekend, so I don’t expect to see much of him once we cross the start line! 🙁

Yup.
Waterproofs proved not to be, though…

Every cloud, eh, Stoner? 😉

Very wet indeed. What a barrel of laughs this morning’s commute was.
Hmmm… waterproofs – my ar$e! 🙁

Never used Paypal to that extent.
I only ever use it for straightforward payment transactions, to save having to keep entering my details on loads of sites when buying stuff online with the card.
Had no issues doing that.

Yeah, Cadair’s great! I rode it back in the early ’90s on my old Cindercone, complete with AT4s and really poor cantilever brakes.
About time I had another go, I reckon! Only walked it since then.

Pants! Of course not! Lycra under baggies.

Seem to be in the minority, but I’ve got no intention of going tubeless any time soon.
Never seem to struggle for traction at the pressures I run in my tubes and almost never puncture off road.
My road commute is a different story though, glass and swarf all over the place… 🙁

That’s a fine collection, Stoner.
I love maps too. Never used a GPS. Spend far too long looking at screens as it is, without doing it on the bike as well.

Nice video! You could be forgiven for thinking it was filmed in the USA, not my local(ish) haunt.

Have you tried it rigid on more severe terrain? I’ve got a Fortitude SS and it’s amazing what you can ride on it with a bit of care. I wouldn’t have thought the strength of the forks would be much of a problem.

Great photos! 😀

OP isn’t actually getting into the TC vs PROW arguement. More the type of trail being built, to get numbers into the trail centre seems to be going in the berm/jump direction, over the tricky traversey direction of old.

That’s exactly my point. 🙂

Here’s the quote from the builder / designer in the mag that got me to post:

The market has started to all ask for the same things; pump tracks, jump parks, berms, skill areas, fall zones, massively overbuilt greens and blues for the family…

Those are all the things I have little interest in as a rider.

Not got many of me riding, as I tend to ride alone quite a bit.
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Excellent work! There’s nothing like the feeling of smug superiority when cleaning a climb that others can’t! 😈

Just for the sake of clarification:
I’m not interested in the natural vs trail centre argument here, I enjoy riding both.

I was just disgruntled to read that the type of trails built in the future will be more and more of the bike park style – this being the type I like least.

Rode the XC trail at Hopton yesterday.
Mightily impressed! 🙂

It’s all about variety.

And that’s what worried me in the magazine. In two places it was stated that everyone wanted bike park style features when a new build was destined to take place.
It probably wasn’t a good sign that Llandegla was featured. I’ve ridden there twice, I had a lot of fun, but I can’t see me being bothered to go back any time soon, it’s just too synthetic. It’s good that places exist like Llandegla, but I don’t want that to become the blueprint for all new builds.

Butcher wrote:

I haven’t read the article yet but this is something that I’ve been thinking about lately, and it appears that there is an evolutionary shift taking place. Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, I don’t know, but ‘XC’ might be a dated term for what many people experience as mountain biking.

I think that’s probably the crux of the matter. There is a new breed of casual / regular mountainbiker out there. However ‘XC’ is the bulk of riding done by my riding buddies and me, so there must be more of us out there!
I guess things are very different now, from what attracted me to MTBing in the late 80s! People new to the sport will have a perspective based on all the developments and specialisations that have appeared since the early days.
Perhaps I’m getting old. ( I am. 😉 )

Hang on.. when the old skool was the skool, there was no waymarking!

LOL! You know what I mean. Like the original CYB trails.

I rode Pearce Cycles red trail at Hopton yesterday. That’ s an example of how a good man-made xc route should be, imho. Not too much surfacing, jumps and berms used sensibly and making use of rocks and roots that were already there. Fast and techy descents, hard climbs – perfect! 😀

this move away from techy xc trails towards groomed stunt tracks is getting a bit much, imho

Why on earth would you say that?

People build something to allow them to do something. Doesn’t really affect you does it?

Well… it sounds from the article like it might. Any new developments appear to be going to be biased towards bike park style trails. So that would mean no new “old school” xc waymarked stuff.
Of course I’m not saying that trail centres shouldn’t have jumpy trails built (just because I don’t like them, I wouldn’t want to spoil other riders’ fun!) but lets not make that the only type of new trail to be built.

If you want natural features then natural trails are the answer to your problem, and there are lots of natural trails.

However, if people want table tops and berms then there are only built trails,

I see the sense in that, but as I said the waymarking was the important bit. I ride “natural” trails all the time anyway, just sometimes it’s nice to go to an area you’ve never visited before and have a spin without worrying about navigation and ground conditions.
I’m happy with trail features being included, but in keeping, rather than being obvious stand out features.

I guess for me, the draw of trail centres was more the waymarking than the fact that the trails were purpose built. A decent xc ride where you could belt round withoud having to stop to check directions.

Problem is that it’s that sort of stuff you don’t really get naturally, and it’s fun to ride.

That’s part of the issue as I see it. The fact that those features don’t occur naturally are why I don’t like them much in MTB trails.
I don’t mind the odd jump and berms done well, but they should be sympathetic to the surroundings not stand out like a sore thumb.
(The new bit on the MBR and the Minotaur trails at CYB being a classic example of eyesore trailbuilding.)

I rode the Quantocks for the first time this summer and must say I loved Smiths, Weacombe and Somerton / Hodders.
Can’t wait to go back and explore a bit more! 😀

Iron Maiden were the band that got me to seriously listen to music and opened up a whole load of new genres that I wouldn’t have listened to before, including punk, hardcore, folk, techno – anything that had some integrity, drive and energy.
I’ve grown out of metal these days, but I still rate Piece Of Mind, Powerslave and Somewhere In Time among the best albums of any genre ever. They had such a huge impact on me in my teens.

It’s been a real battle this year. Some great attacking riding.
The last climb yesterday was pure evil! I’ve never seen pro riders so low geared and going so slowly. An absolute killer!!! 😈

Had a very nice week, camped here:

http://www.caeducampsite.co.uk/

Hebden Bridge sure seems to attract the worst of the rain this year!

Cindercone 1990:
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Rascal a little later:
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You can get WI a bit cheaper if you shop around. 😉
They do feel much nicer and smoother running than Shimano (the pedals don’t turn when you wheel the bike forwards!) and have a very loud tick, which is nice. I’ve not had mine long enough to compare lifespans with Shimano, but I’ve done a few monsoonal rides already and initial signs are good.
I used to get about 9 months out of a DX before they started to slip.
Doubt I’ll buy anything other than WI from now on, especially now I’ve found a ratio I’m really happy with and shouldn’t be changing tooth size to suit terrain so much.

Do you still have to put insulation tape over the brand name on your shoes and turn your jersey inside out if it has a sponsers’ logo on it that you’re not entitled to wear? 😉

2:
Commuter.
Mtb.