New standards, everybody loves them, wait no the other one, nobody loves them. Pink bike keyboard warriors love them, nothing gets them going like a new axle width. What do I think, well, I don't care and neither should you. This little shed based rant/vlog I cover the ground I previously wrote about in this…Read more Standard Rant
XC
Why I Don’t Trust CO2
Co2 cartridges, small, light and fast. Its like they come from the future. But I'm increasingly not a fan. Here is why I don't trust Co2 carts as far as I can throw them, and I have a terrible throwing arm.
Moray Monster Trails
Nestled far enough of the normal drag Moray Monster trails doesn't get the rep it deserves. Outside Fochabers and set over two hills with a road running between them, the trails are a superb mix of flowing jump and berm filled blue, red and technical blacks. Whilst having a tight natural character, the loops themselves…Read more Moray Monster Trails
Pannanich DH
On a recent ride I went to find a local legendary trail called Heart Break Ridge. A long sinuous line flowing singletrack cutting over a open hillside along a wide ridge before dropping steeplly into the tree line for a rooty technical finale. Or so I was hoping for. Setting off up a burner of…Read more Pannanich DH
Fungle to Keen
One of the wonders of living in Scotland is the landscape in which we live. https://www.facebook.com/Stavaiging/videos/1284539545008855/ Sometimes, you need to step out and journey into those hills. Riding with a former student I taught, (Callum Grant) we took in a 45km route that sampled flowing natural singletrack, warp speed loose fire roads and…Read more Fungle to Keen
Nimbo Cumulos
Loamy moss and pine needles rooster tailing off your back wheel, endless grip and at the end of another great ride, a clean bike to go back into the shed. Then as the nights draw in and the lights come out, the trees shed their foliage and stop drawing water from the ground. The heavens…Read more Nimbo Cumulos
2016 – What a Year
2016, what a year, memorable, for all the wrong reasons, and some good ones too. A years worth of riding, starting with a frozen Aviemore and a flooded Aberdeenshire through to dust and sun (honest). It was a year of extremes and contrasts, political upheaval and tragic loss, but for all of it the riding…Read more 2016 – What a Year
Hardtails
Feedback, that sense of feeling the trail, the bike instantly responding to your every input. Every half turn of the cranks propelling you forwards, the tyres telling you what they find through your hands and feet. The wheels turn and the tyres buzz, the frames silence only broken by the occasional chink of chain on…Read more Hardtails
Train in Vain
Returning to work is not without some advantages, There is an excellent on campus gym for a start. Back to work with a bump, sort of. I work at a university so returning to work after my paternity leave during the summer break meant I had a gentle reintroduction to the workplace. With no classes or…Read more Train in Vain
Fungle Road Infection
A evenings ride towards the end of summer, some final days of late northern light to play in, but be sure to be home before the street lights are on. With the wee man settled and the chores done there was still enough light for a stolen hours or so of riding, yearning for some wilder…Read more Fungle Road Infection
