Live to ride another day ..........

Mountain biking is full of inherent dangers, that’s what makes the sport so exciting.

I hate to see people riding without helmets. It makes me feel physically sick.

The article below sums up my feelings on the subject in one sentence:

“If you have a helmet, wear it, and if you don’t, buy one.”

Click Here

Fit For a King

I rode the trails at Coed y Brenin yesterday for the first time. A lot has been written about this place already, the majority of it good, so it’s difficult to add something that hasn’t already been said.

I’ve been looking forward to riding these trails for some time now and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Translated from Welsh ‘Coed y Brenin’ means Kings Forest and the trails there are certainly fit for a king. In fact if I was king then that’s where I would ride. It really is that good. Miles and miles of technically demanding single-track coupled with superb facilities at the visitor centre all add up to a right ‘royal’ day out.

I started out riding the Tamwar trail. Designed as an introduction to what the rest of the trails have to offer its short (5 miles) but super technical and will have you desperate to get out and ride one of the longer trails.

Back at the car the sun was shining and all was good with the world. I decided to tackle the Dragons Back. The trail offers 25 miles of black graded single track, a couple of horrible climbs and some amazing views across the Snowdonia national park.

Three hours later, I trundled back into the car park. My legs ached, I couldn’t feel my forearms anymore and my hands felt as though they had been welded to my bars. The only thing I could think of was when I would be coming back. That’s how good it is. If you ride a mountain bike and haven’t been yet then go there. If you don’t own a mountain bike then buy one and then go and ride the trails at Coed y Brenin. I promise that you won’t regret it.

Good Points

All of it.

Bad Points

None of it.

Nothing better to do

Now I'm no fan of the police but this really makes them look like the idiots that I've always thought that they are:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/8138993.stm

With crime rates going through the roof and more convicted criminals out roaming the streets than ever before it's good to see that the good old boys in blue are putting their time to good use.

Idiots, all of them !

Lee Quarry Rocks (part II)

Some pics of the epic trails at Lee Quarry:

Lee Quarry Rocks

I know that it’s not in Wales, but I rode the black run at Lee Quarry on Sunday and couldn’t wait to blog about it!

I rode the red route there a couple of weeks ago and it was awesome. The black however is a whole different ball game! It’s short, super technical and an absolute blast!

As you can imagine there are rocks and lots of them - Really big, big, and pretty big ones. One of the downhill sections hugs the side of the open quarry wall while you pick your way down a series of steep scary looking rock slabs. If you’ve ever ridden the Gully Monster on the Moray Monster trail in Scotland then its similar, but a whole lot scarier!

Anyway, I didn’t clear it. I nearly went over the bars and ‘dabbed’ twice. I can’t wait to go back there and give it another go though.

There are also some great skills areas with obstacles ranging from do-able to just downright mental – skinnies, rocks (again), see-saws and jumps bigger then you could shake a Santa Cruz V10 at! In summary it’s short, sweet and although it’s at the more technical end of the trail grading spectrum there is something for everyone.

Good Points

It’s an hour away

Super technical black run.

Gnarly red route.

Brilliant skills area with lots of options.

Bad Points

There’s no real trail centre just a car park about a half mile from the quarry. There are loads of shops nearby though for ‘essentials’

There aren’t any more bad things ......

You couldn't make this shit up .....

Brilliant:

Spaced out

The Welsh Trail Center Table

As I'm going to be spending some time in the North West I've decided to spend the summer weekends riding the trail centers of North and South Wales.

I started last week at coed llandegla and I plan to ride Coed y Brenin next weekend.

As well as riding each trail center I'm going to blog with details of the ride - good points, bad points etc.

So here's the summary guide to coed llandegla:

Good Points
It's only an hour away.
Friendly, good mannered riding.
The black run is a blast.
Epic views.
The girls in the cafe are gorgeous, so are the bacon butties

Bad Points
Not the most natural of trails.
Bloody midgies
The red route aint worth the journey

Total points scored (out of 10) = 7

Baby P - This makes me sick

I find it almost impossible to believe that Baby P’s stepfather has appealed against his sentence!!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8102522.stm

Now Bri has already blogged on this and made his feelings well known. Most ‘normal’ people (including me) would agree with every word that he wrote. However this obviously doesn’t apply to the faceless bureaucrats running the British Judicial system.

I don’t want to rant on here; I think that the bastard should just be taken outside and stoned to death - not given the right to a f***g appeal. He foreclosed all his rights once the evil bastard started torturing an innocent three year old boy.

I’d be more than happy to throw the first stone.

What more could you ask for?

Well I have finally popped my 'Welsh Cherry' and ridden my first trail centre in Wales.

I managed to ride both the red and black trails Coed Y Llandegla on Sunday. The weather was bright and sunny, the trails where dry and the place was one of the friendliest that I've been to.

The real surprise of the day however was the number of fit girls around! Now you don't often see many members of the fairer sex out riding trails so when you do and they're fit it's always a real bonus.

The best site of the day was a rather attractive young lady nailing the black run on a fully rigid bike. Now that is something that I would pay to see again :)

Even the girls in the cafe where fit. Oh and the bacon butties are the best ever.

I think that I might go back .... soon ..........

At least 98 dead in Java air crash

I always thought that .NET was the better programming language.

Disgusting.........

I'm in shock after reading this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/8058533.stm

British Mountain Bike Series, Round 2, Dalby Forest

Some cool footage from the British MTB series at Dalby Forest.

http://www.xcenduro.co.uk/blog/blog.asp

A shining example of Japanese Innovation

An article in this week’s Sunday Times caught my eye…….

Those mad little Beckham lovers in Japan have come up with an interesting way of reducing the financial burden on the state caused by immigration.

Now the Japs are never backwards in coming forwards but what they’ve proposed is nothing short of genius!

The plan is to offer any immigrant, regardless of nationality £2000 to bugger off home! That’s it ! Brilliant!

Now if I was the home secretary, when I’d stopped fiddling my expenses for the month I’d get this law passed in the UK only with a twist ……..

What if we could offer £2000 for anyone to sod off – regardless of their residency status?

I’d be more than happy to cough-up for the following:

My boss.
Phil ‘Big Nosed’ Thompson. In fact all ex Liverpool players….
Kerry Katonia
Peter Andre
Tim Henman
Chris Tarrant
Gordon Ramsey

How many five year olds could you take in a fight ?

22

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Leeds Festival

Well the weather men reckon that we’re in for a long hot summer, so Adders and I are off to the Leeds festival on August bank holiday weekend.

Just in case the weathermen get it wrong we’ll be staying at the Leeds Hilton.

I’ve just been onto the festival site and had a glance at the line up and I’ve never heard of half the bands that are playing!

However judging by some of the bands names we should be in for a good weekend. Highlights include:

Leftover Crack
Funeral For A Friend
Snuff
Municipal Waste
Polar Bear Club
Rival Schools


And my favourite: Mad Caddies !!!

British Mountain Bike Race Series At Dalby Forest

Next weekend Dalby forest hosts the British Mountain Bike Race Series. A purpose built 4 mile route has been put together near the Dixons Hollow bike park.

While this is indeed very good news what is more important is that the event is a success as Dalby is in the running to hold the UCI XC Mountain Bike World next year. Hosting this would mean more development at the already excellent Dalby, which in turn will bring more people into the sport and keep things fresh for the more experienced riders.

I for one will be there on Saturday to show my support.

I hate coding ..........

If you haven't guessed already I hate writing code. In fact the only thing that I hate more is people who like writing code, or god forbid people who write code just for the fun of it!
With this in mind I've identified a number of statements that you'll never hear me use:

• Cool code.
• Fun code.
• Adventurers in coding.
• Happy coding.
• Beautiful code.