Stumpy, I'm not Dave "Pizza Dave"Franciosy, he's just a good mate of mine that moved to Thetford.
If anyone likes their pics, get in touch with him via his race photos website

Afterall he did spend all night in the woods taking photos of you sweaty lot when he could have been down the pub!
The high resolution pics he sells are A1 and are a great bragging tool when folks spot them hanging on your wall.

Would it have been Woody Hole Ed?

1257 pics from the weekend here!!

dusk till dawn[/url]

Wow! You built a pump track on the moon!!
Where is that place? It looks to have a lot of potential!

Phantom of the opera-Iron Maiden (or the Daley Thompson Lucozade advert for us oldies)

Fuel- Metallica

I've had kangoos at work for the last 12 years and this year we switched to a Berlingo.
The kangoo was bigger than its previous models without adding any extra space.The cost was high for a basic spec too.We got a much higher spec Berlingo for the same money.
I love the new 1.6 HDI Berlingo.It's bigger than any Kangoo,much faster,(apparently it'll hit 110 going up M62 towards J24! :oops:) it has 2 1/2 seats in the front,lockable storage under middle seat which also folds into a table,slide out tray under drivers seat,fold flat passenger seat,storage pocket in rear door,power socket in back,rechargeable torch in back,free sat nav with hands free van phone,overhead shelf,leccy windows,heated electric mirrors,mp3 player,air con….and the best bit……a hook to hang your takeaway on!! 8)

I can get 5 bikes in without taking wheels off.I've slept in it on a camp bed.If I dont drive like Clarkson it'll do over 50mpg.It has loads of torque too, get it under 1000 revs and it starts to stall and then it pulls itself out and accelerates pretty rapidly!It's fairly quiet too.
It doesn't look like it once belonged to Postman Pat either.
I actually think it looks quite good,especially in the cab with it's chrome(silver?) gear knob.

Now the downside,
it doesn't brake as well as the Kangoos with a full load on.It's fine when lightly loaded though.
It doesn't handle as well as the Kangoo on twisty roads.
It's also not built(finished) to the same standard as the kangoo.The Kangoo always felt more solid, you can see the rough edges on the Berlingo.

The true test is this though,see how many berlingos on new plates you see compared to kangoos this year!The only new kangoo I've seen so far is the demonstrator from the dealership down the road.

The little dog Claire/Rich, I'm wondering…..is it cute or scarey? I can't make my mind up!

I've raced national points downhills and it still scares me just how fast some guys can descend on cross bikes! Carbon is a lot stronger than we give it credit for!

Personally I'd like to say thanks to whoever it was that stopped when I binned it coming off Ingleborough. Wasn't sure wether to quit or carry on but I limped round.
Stiff,bruised and grazed today, but it could have been much worse.

Michelin have never made a good mtb tyre.

cough, "Comp 16 and Comp 24" cough.

Love a sunday in hell, American flyers and breaking away are both in my dvd collection.
I love the shaun Palmer bit in chainsmoke!!Makes me want to ride fast.
Tread is a classic too!
"Trials is for geeks!Hipppity hoppity off the rocks,you know….whatever! Billy could never shred man!"
"Good food or healthy food?Goooood healthy food!"

My fave bit of a film has got to be Jason Mcroy on his spesh full bounce in Dirt.The bit where he's pedalling his nuts off next to the dry stone wall,that's why we all ride caught on camera!

Or……paint your self red/black (as preference dictates) fill your mouth with custard and go as a zit!

And those other old favourites……….

"Old flames can't hold a puffin to you"- Dolly Parton
"Puffin song"-Ugly kid joe
"Burn that Puffin"-Bill Haley

And simply…"Puffins"-Chris Rea.

I love mine! Been on six months and still fairly clean. I do always use clean white gloves to ride in though and very rarely venture out if it's wet.

I'm number 56 on the list!

Somebody pass the cheese to ourmaninthenorth!

Aaaanyhooooo……..
Pipe lagging is a must have in my opinion.especially for when you're running down with the bike shouldered.

I've got a pad on the seat tube/top tube junction, a small bit half way down the down tube for my kidney area and a bigger bent bit behind the head tube junctions where my right arm comes through.(this took a right battering last year and was badly bruised!)

All I've got to do this week is change my bars as my super cool extra wide 46cm Salsa bell lap drops are outlawed apparently!

The trail is what it is!
If it's not hard enough then you're not riding quick enough!
There are very few people that should find Gisburn too easy.
The faster you go the tighter the corners become,the quicker the climbs appear and the less time you have to recover on the downhills.
I find it pleasurable to ride round with my slower friends on my full suss.
It is a much tougher proposition when I try to belt round on the cross bike and it becomes a very different trail indeed!

Aye! Lets hope it stays fine and not windy.
I really don't want a wet and wild peaks…..ever!!

Who's going to win then? Or is this almost a forgone conclusion?

My ones to watch are…….(in no particular order)

Jebby (7 time winner)
Steve Bottomley (wily old campaigner)
Nick Craig (wily (not as old) campaigner)
Neal Crampton ( new kid on the block)
Chris Young ( flying at the moment)
Andy Peace ( peaks veteran)

I've snapped off the point of my philips screwdriver.It was the first time I'd used that bit too.
The chain tool seems okay as do the allen keys.

the cycle path next to the main Coniston- Ambleside road is good fun on a cross bike,from there you can turn upto Hodge close or go past yew tree tarn and turn right and climb off road and back to the top of Hawkshead hill and into grizedale.

I've also done the north face trail on mine,Skiddaw,the old man of Coniston via the coppermines and back to torver.

Well done to my CROSSTRAX team mate NEAL CRAMPTON for finishing first in this inaugral race!

The boys got a bright future in front of him for long distance races.
He was also fastest first time entrant in last years 3 peaks finishing in 9th place.

Might have to have a go at this myself next year as a 3 peaks warm up!

Mr Flash, what's going on with that saddle? Are you time trialling on that bike or what? or are you just lessening pressure on a LOT of tackle?! LOL

Just as an aside, apparently these are too wide for use on the three peaks( Salsa bell lap 46cm) if anyone was thinking of using them (as I was going to! :cry:)They may be 46 cm but the flare makes them wider than the allowed 50 cm. Which to the way I read the rules should only apply to straight bars anyway.

Mister T…..unless your team is Wheelbase or the all conquering Crosstrax, then I'm afraid you FAIL!!

Went up to Gisburn again on Saturday.It's highly entertaining and much faster on the cross bike! 8)I did get some funny looks though.
Only bits I didn't ride were the slab (Not because I wouldn't but I fear for the forks!) and the rock chute early on because there were folks walking up it.
I really do like the place, plus it's only 40 mins from home.

Do what I do with my OAKLEY ROKR's(Genuine) 8)

I either play my music from a 5gb sd card in my phone via bluetooth or use my ipod which I bought a bluetooth dongle stick for.

Music and phone through your sunglasses,how cool?
Mind you, I've had some weird looks whilst out on the road bike taking business calls!

I knew this would happen, GRRRR………………..
I AM wearing the seat belt on the road.It's just that when you're moving the van round the yard to move side doors etc to loading doors it beeeps and it's soooo annoying!
Putting it on, on the private road, takes longer than the journey but the beeping is sooooo shrilll it grates on my nerves.

All I ask is that someone tell me which wire to cut to stop it.
Come on this is Singletrackworld! Font of all knowledge. (I also forgot that it's home to a vast majority of pedants and superior beings!) 😈

Are Chevin getting any in to test ride Mat?

yes but then I have the seat belt behind me and it's a pain to get it to put it on for the road.
I was looking for a more permanent and less Heath Robinson solution.

Kinesis are good as are Ridley.
Froglegs or tektro cantis are fine for braking.
Konas are good, jake the snake ok but a bit weighty,major jake a step up and a better race machine.
Triple or compact should be ok for lakes.
Shimano gives a wider gear range over Campag and the levers work better should you want to fit mini v brakes as is the rage at the moment it appears.
Tyres for lake district?……..michelin jets pumped fairly hard or the damned heavy landcruisers.

NBT……were you parked next to me on Sunday at Gisburn?
White van, Spesh FSR, I was with my mate and his girlfriend ( who took your missus off for a pee! 8O)who were both on Lappierres.

I've had these gloves right from pre production models to todays issues.
They fall apart quicker than any other glove I've had.
The fingers are better on newer models than they were but the cuff comes away first usually and it leaves nothing for you to stitch it back to and try to repair it.

Having said that…..they are great gloves!
I use them for road mainly as I can't ride with mitts.Have also used them for cross racing.I suppose I've had more actual mileage out of them than my downhill gloves although "time on hands" may vary vastly!

That was the first thing that came to mind when I saw this thread Meikle Partans!
The term we use round our way for anything that’s a bit rubbish and not that great is “Lancastrian” 😈

eg,
“That paperclip bike is a bit Lancastrian!”
“Julian Clary is Lancastrian”

Exactly the same as using the gay term to mean rubbish…..only this way we offend more people. 😆

(TIC)

I have my name on my road bike, my cross bike and my down hill bike.
Those are the ones I race and the rest of the team have their names on their bikes too.
All my race shirts have my forum name on the back too.My forum name is also my nickname though.
It lets people know who’s just blown them into the weeds!!!!! 😆 8)

I have the gold chains on all my bikes(road, xc, and DH) except my cross bike (pretty pointless as it’s usually caked in cack).

I run the ten speed chain on my nine speed block on the road bike,it’s made for much sharper shifting with no ill effects.

They clean up pretty well too.I use those impregnated multi purpose wipe thingies.

Triple D motorsport[/url]Give these guys a bell.
Ask for wingnut!
They are thinking of importing them as they are the main KTM dealers for uk.
The more interest in them the more likely they are to get a few in.

And launching it.

Rolling the slab on Sunday.

I was up there on Sunday with Oggy and Rob Young. I was the guy in black with the red Haro.Don’t ever feel embarrassed by not being able to ride or jump anything.The only time you’ll get abuse is if you come over all “freeride god” and can’t back it up.Asking the fast guys what to do will sometimes show you things you never even thought of.
Telling them how they should be doing it though will only make you look like a pratt!
Little Rob showed me a new way down the rocks after Hovis corner that I never would have taken had he not ripped down it before me!
I used to hate Stainburn because I didn’t “get it”.But now I realise its purpose it’s great……so great I spent Saturday and Sunday there this weekend!

As someone said earlier it’s gotta be the one where they’re scoping out a line down a rooty drop. They discuss how it’s “nadgery” with nasty,nasty roots.Mint says “Doable” and Death puts his quill pen to his lips ready to write his name in his book!

We’ve referred to that cartoon on our rides more than any other.

I love the way folks are complaining that it’s not natural enough and in the same breath complaining that it’s eroding/wearing already!
Forgive me , but………isn’t that the trail becoming more “natural” or am I missing something?

I like natural,road,trail centres…whatever……..it’s just riding to me! 8)