Strava Festive 500

Managed the 50% waypoint on the Strava Festive 500 challenge, but only just, 251km reached on the final day of the challenge. A killer 40 mile loop of the Gower, well it almost killed me, just edged me over the distance needed. I had my rear light, but not the front light. Cycling back on the road, in the dark, isn't full - and I would whole heartedly not recommend it. Lesson learnt.


A windswept Wormshead, Rhossili.

Considering a Polarising filter for your wide angle lens? - think twice.

I've had a Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens for a while now and use it quite a lot, for the type of photography I've been trying to do it's a great lens for getting close to the action. (be careful not to get to close!) And of course, if you want to get those big sky landscape shots on a cropped sensor body you need a lens like the 10-22.

For as long as I've had the lens I've considered getting a circular polariser for it, it has a 77mm filter size, and we all know those filters are expensive! But I saw a Hoya Pro filter on sale in Amazon, so took the plunge.

I'd researched different brands and suppliers, but I missed one important piece of information, a polariser fitted to wide angle lens can create some dark bands in the image. I only discovered this after I'd bought the filter and spent a gloriously sunny Autumn day photographing some castles.

As you can see from the shot below, there is a dark 'cone' in the sky at the top centre of the image. You can alter the effect on the image, based on your position, lens zoom and the rotation of the filter.

Brecon Beast 2013

This year I've decided to try and be a bit more proactive in trying to raise some money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. My idea had been to enter a 12 hour enduro MTB race, fortunately the Dusky Valleys 12hour Enduro is fairly local to me. The race started 8pm Saturday night through to 8am Sunday morning, a real challenge and the opportunity to my AyUp's and Hope lights to the test. Sadly the event was cancelled due to the low number of entries. This left me in the position of having sponsorship, but no event!

I needed a substitute event, step forward the Brecon Beast. I photographed last years 'Beast, but it was time to set aside the camera and roll out the Giant Trance. It's always a tough choice between photographing an event and attempting to ride in it! (Wentwood 50k is a case in point!)

I'd missed the cut off for online entries, so it was an early start Sunday to get up to Brecon and join on the day. There was a choice of two routes, the short 67KM route or the long route - a leg aching 97km. For some reason I went for the long route, but you had the choice to swap routes at the split point.

I was riding with some other members of the Mynydd Du MTB club, having a few familiar faces and a laugh waiting for the start helped settle the nerves. The start was just after nine, it was a tight squeeze exiting the sports field, but once out on the road the race spread out and set a good pace down the hill an through Brecon. At this point I feel I should thank the drivers in the area for their patience as several hundred cyclists blocked their way.

Once out of the town and into the narrow country lanes the ride closed back up, with little space you needed to be aware of who was around you to avoid a collision. This was the case for several km, until once again the ride started to spread out. There was alot of tarmac riding, split up by short section of XC, until the we all turned left off Heol Senni and over the mountain towards the feed station and then Sarn Helen and Ystradfelte. At this point the guys (and girl) from Mynydd Du were out of sight, I'd dropped back finding that maybe I'd pushed to hard early on to keep up with them on the Heol Senni climb. It was a tough climb, the start line banter seemed along way off, so focusing on a point just ahead of my front wheel I gritted my teeth and kept pedalling - I find this helps on a long, non-technical climb.

The feed station wasn't quite at the top, there was around another 10 minutes of climbing ahead. I took the opportunity to top up my Camelbak, stretch my back - which was quite painful (must remember to adjust saddle) and have a bite to eat. Apple Strudel Mule bars are Heaven sent! There are really nice! Whilst at the feed station I meet most of Mynydd Du, who were just setting off again - one was awol however! Finishing off the Mule bar, it was time for a scenic pee (maybe to much info!) but despite the weather closing in, there were still some amazing views. Getting ready to set off again I found the awol member of the club - who had bumped into his brother and a mate on the route - small world!

Thinking there would be safety in numbers I waited for them to fuel up and then tagged along with them. Their fitness showed and I was soon at the back of the group for remaining part of the climb. As the track levelled out and then started to drop, I could stand on the pedals and stretch my back and legs again - a welcome relief. The pace soon quicken and the Marshall promise of a good downhill was kept! Starting to pick up speed I was faced with a rider going in the wrong direction - there'd been a crash, heeding his warning I slowed and passed a rider supporting his injured arm. He had a couple of other riders with him, so I pressed on down the hill. Passing bottles and inner tubes shaken from peoples bikes and packs and even some other riders, the climb was worth while - it was fun! I was surprised by the number of people suffering from punctures - the bane of many a ride recently for me. I easily passed half a dozen people changing inner tubes.

Giant goes 650b

Giant have released details of their 650b (27.5 inch) wheel bikes, this is something I've been waiting to see more details about for sometime!

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/globalstartpage/giant-27-5/

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/talon.27.5.1.2014/14783/66102/

I've tried a few 29ers, and I didn't like them (certainly not an exhaustive test, just a few rides around when I was picking my new bike at the start of the year). I've felt that the 650b was something that would really suit me, but certainly there's been nothing available in my price range until now.

I can't justify buying another new full sus bike, though the Anthem and Trance are lovely looking bikes. But, and its a big but, I might be able to stretch to replacing my hardtail with a new 650b hardtail with the Cycle to work scheme. This does of course rely on them been under £1000, I'm hoping that Giant price the bikes for the UK with the scheme in mind. I've also seen a couple of Jamis 650b hardtails, the 2013 Nemesis is a good looking bike, but was sold out in my size. I'll be interested to see what 2014 brings from Jamis, unfortunately, I think that it's going be out of the £1000 C2W limit.

I took a couple of screen shots of the Giant Trance's to compare the geometry and crank heights (I keep hitting my pedals!) Overlaying them in Paintshop Pro (non scientific test) it appears that the crank height is actually lower on the 27.5 Trance. Only time (or more details from Giant) will tell!

I'd really like to give then new Anthem and Trance a try out an see how they ride, time to annoy my LBS again!

Rapha Rising: La Centième

I use Strava on most rides these days, it pandas to my 'inner geek', recording my routes and the distances, something which I used to do with a paper notebook and cycle computer in my younger days. It's also quite a good aid to training (not that I really do any proper training!), it gives me a bit more motivation to keep going when I'm feeling tired. Strava run challenges most months, I give some a go, with limited success.

This July they ran the Rapha Rising Challenge, basically the challenge to is cycle a total climbing distance of 7,235 meters in 8 days.

To celebrate the 100th edition of the Tour de France, and the mountains that have made it legendary, Rapha and Strava are proud to announce Rapha Rising: La Centième.
To quote Strava:-

"In the week which starts on Bastille Day (14th-21st July), Rapha is challenging participating riders to climb the combined height, from sea level, of the Peyresourde, Ventoux and Col de Sarenne, all of which feature in this year’s race. Just as the pros will have to scale Alpe d’Huez twice, Rapha is challenging riders to scale the Alpe once more, making a total climbing distance of 7,235m (23,737ft), the combined elevations of the Peyresourde, Ventoux, Sarenne and Alpe d’Huez from sea level to top."

I'm not particularly skillful or fit, but I am quite determined and (strangely) I do quite like forestry fireroad climbs. The challenge also had a set target - which I prefer to the open ended style of challenge (and you also get a woven badge - even more incentive!) So this seemed like a Challenge I could really give a go at completing. I'd be doing the rides on a full sus MTB, with all my routes been planned off road, I think my mates were pretty sceptical!

The Challenge started on the 14th July, and for a few weeks leading up to this I'd got a route planned out in my mind, roughly a 80km loop of the Margam and Afan forest fireroads, with some 9000 feet of climb. As the date approached, so the weather improved, to the point where it has been hotter here than it's been for over 8 years, not ideal of a chubby chap wanting to do a long XC ride!

The 14th was a boiling hot day, despite setting off early, it was far to warm for me. SWMBO was concerned for my health (aw bless), so I had to be back by 12 noon or face her wrath! At the half way point, I'd emptied the camelbak and a 750ml water bottle with an electrolyte drink in it. It was close to midday so called it quits and headed for home. With only been able to complete half the climb I'd hoped to have been able to do, I'd been left with a real up hill struggle (excuse the pun)

The hot weather continued all week, this left me with the choice of cycling in the heat of the early evening or waiting until later, when cooler but the midges were then out! I couldn't cycle any earlier as had to be in work for 8am. I chose the midges....


The nights had been difficult, the house to warm to sleep, most mornings I was awake in the early hours. So on the morning of the 20th, with some 45% left to do, I took advantage of been up at 5am and set off early. It was actually very pleasant at this time in the morning, and I made good progress, trying to pace myself, I certainly wasn't going to beat any speed records, but there was a long way to go! I needed to do the ride I'd planned for the previous Sunday.

Thankfully I managed to complete the ride, unfortunately, the battery on phone did not. It ran out some 6 miles before the end of the ride, this left me with a bigger ride on the 21st than had hoped. Thankfully the final Sunday of the challenge was a cooler day, but I still had to get out early to try and avoid the midday heat. I managed the to complete the challenge plus a little bit extra! I just waiting to hear from Strava about sending them my details for the woven roundel.

Thanks Strava and Rapha for a really tough challenge and for the roundel - which was extra incentive to keep going!

British Cross Country Series 2013, Round 4. Margam Park

For some of my pictures from the days racing at Margam Park as Round 4 of the BC National XC Series, please check my flickr site. I'll post more as I get time to sort through them (work & sunny weather allowing!). So please check back again in a few days.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14306776@N08/sets/72157634531071387/

Wiggle Dragon Ride 2013.

The Dragon Ride took place today, it was a last minute decision to go along with the camera. my leg was pretty sore after yesterdays crash on a ride in the Black Mountains, and I still hadn't downloaded the photo's from the memory card in the camera. But it was a lovely day and I had DIY to avoid!

I picked a spot near the top of Cimla hill, but my last minute decision to watch the ride meant that I left most of my camera kit at home. The bright sun meant lots of contrast, and with no flash to 'fill' the faces of the riders, the photo's lacked impact. I set off to find somewhere different, there were lots of, what appeared to be, minor incidents along the route, cuts and grazes etc.


I settled on a spot on a long climb near Glynneath, the sun was coming through the trees to give a dappled light, and where a tree had been felled, a spot bathed in sunlight. After a while here, I moved off again, this time to the top of the Bwlch descent, only having a few shots left on the memory card I tried (and failed!) to get some panning shots.
After watching the riders from the top of the hill for a while, I set off from home. Making my way carefully down the Bwlch (riders were over taking me!) I approached the cattle grid at the start of Abergwynfi, I could see that there was something wrong. Just past the cattle grid there was a group of people on the opposite side of the road, with maybe one or two cars backed up. I stopped the car and put on the hazard lights, I could then see that there was a rider laying on the road, having CPR. I asked a rider (who was signaling other riders to slow) if an ambulance had been called, he said yes and that there were some doctors with the rider. I tried to assist with signalling traffic to slow, shortly afterwards a steward on a motorbike arrived at the scene. I think it was one of the doctors (who were actually taking place in the ride), asked the steward if he had oxygen and that they needed the Air Ambulance. From what was said, it sounded pretty serious. I asked if my car was assisting or hindering with the traffic situation. He said that it was probably hindering at this point. Should I have stayed and taken some photo's of the Air Ambulance, maybe, maybe not. But without having actually seeing the incident, limited space to park and be out of the way of the emergency services, and without been able to help in anyway, I felt the best thing for me to do at this point was to leave and let the professionals deal with the situation. I was also genuinely concerned about he survival of the rider, and I wouldn't have felt comfortable photographing the scene should the worst have happened. I was relieved to see later that he was in hospital and was apparently OK. 

The photo's I did take of the Ride are in the process of been uploaded to my flickr site.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14306776@N08/sets/72157634052053395/

If you'd like to purchase any of my pictures please let me know (contact details are on the flickr site). It's not my usual charrity, but I'll be donating any money from the sale of the photo's of this years Ride to the Air Ambulance.

Strava Challenges - The May Massive.



I've tried a few Strava challenges in the past, I usually end up pretty near the end of the table. The same is more or less true this time round, but I did manage to reach my target of 250km and get a 'challenge badge'. With only a few days of the challenge left to run I still needed around another 60km, I'd done a 60km ride last month, so I thought I'd try for a 100km MTB ride. That would get me to my target distance of 250km and also it would be a distance I would never have imagined riding.

It was a mostly dry day, but the wind was awful, with some sections having a brutal head/cross wind, I never seemed to find a tailwind though! In Margam Park, I took a slight detour to my planned route to ride a section of the XC route from last weeks WMBS race. I continued along the track (rather than turning left), the track zigzagged through the clumps of trees on the hillside to a steep descent back down to the main track. I've watched several MTB races at Margam, many of them have used this descent, and I've seen a lot of people crash or decide to carry their bikes down it. I was worried about the descent, I didn't consider the trail through the trees, as it turned out the section through the trees was tight and rooty and I found it quite tricky. I had second thoughts about riding the descent when I was at the top looking down, but thought I'd give it a go. The surface was loose soil and rocks, I was braking to heavily and the wheels locked and slid on the surface, releasing the brakes the bike straightened up, but picked up speed quickly. I managed to find the right balance and then I was at the bottom and back on track.

At about half way, my route took me over some moorland towards Cymmer and then Blaengarw, it was at this point I realised that I wasn't going to get to the 100km. I reached the top of a small hill, with views down to Maesteg and over to the Afan trails (where I was heading). The soft-ground, cold headwind and spits of rain sapped my strength, I thought it would be better to finish than ride past the point of no return. This was one of the few places on the route where I would have used the same section of trail twice, I turned around and followed my tyre tracks back to the relative shelter of the forestry road.

Once out of the wind, I fuelled up and set off again. My route followed parts of the old (but hopefully soon to reopen Penhydd trail) and the start of Y Wall - Alpha, Elevator and the fireroad climb. Rather than turning left up to Rhiwgregan, I continued onto Glyncorrwg where I had a rest and a bite to eat. Then back down to do Y Wall - where I had a brief chat with a fellow group of riders, I got the impression the thought the climb from the visitors centre to Rhiwgregan had got me to my current b****y knackered condition!

76.5km, just under 7000ft of climbing and 7hours in the saddle, not exactly a blistering pace, maybe I'd have got further, quicker with the Kona Kula (but she's in need of TLC). But if anyone asks, "Can I use the Giant Trance for a long XC ride?", my answer would be Yes!

This challenge, it seems to me like most of the Strava challenges, is very much road bike biased, my MTB 250km target for the month, is ridden by some on a single ride. It would be nice if they would have some challenges which have a MTB bias - though I don't know how they'd achieve this.

Welsh Mountain Bike Series, Rd 4. Margam Park.

2013 Welsh MTB Series Rd 4. Margam., a set on Flickr.

Day 4 - Innerleithen.

Day 3 - Glentress.

Day 2 - Kirroughtree

Day two - The remainder of the group arrived during the course of Friday, so a full complement set off for our second destination - Kirroughtree. The weather was far better than yesterday, sunny spells and high cloud. After another good breakfast and some faffing (increased the pressure to my shocks and reduced the pressure in my tyres!) we set off. I didn't know where Kirroughtree was, but I expected it to be closer! Quite a long journey, but the beautiful countryside made it worth while. When we got to the car park, the pay and display machines weren't working, so we parked for free.
Fortunately the small bike shop on site was open, so the quicker amongst us at getting ready headed off there for a coffee and a bite to eat. The rest of us joined them once we were ready, I took the opportunity to get an inch removed from the seatpost.

Kirroughtree is a trail that a dropper seat post is made for! Short techy climb followed by short descent followed by techy climb..... with fresh legs, may not have needed quite so many seat adjustments. Strangely, we actually sessioned an uphill! a steep, rutted slab on a sharp left turn in the trail. I didn't make it to the top, but a couple of guys did, some making it look easy!


Screen shot of Strava Gradient map.

After the initial singletrack sections we dropped down onto some forestry road - black was up, red was down. I really was in two minds about attempting the black and McMoab - whatever the hell that was! The terrain up until now had been not to dissimilar to home, but as we climbed the fireroad, it began to look more like what I expected Scotland to be like, the hills had become rougher and heather covered with patches of snow remaining from the heavy falls earlier in the year.
The trail turned left, off the fireroad and onto rounded granite outcrops - this was going to be interesting!
There is a line marked on the rock with blue arrows, I tried to follow them, until my back wheel got pulled out of the dropouts, this almost sent me flying down the slope. I can't have tightened the QR enough, but word of warning, check your QR's before riding this section!
We weaved our way back and forth over the granite until one of the guys had what appeared to be a really innocuous fall off. He fell over to the left into a pool - a soft if cold landing. But he had done, was hit his head on a tree stump, this had broken his helmet in 3 places - without the lid, it would have been his head - yet another example of why you'd be foolish to ride a bike without one! A quick change of wet clothes and we continued along the granite. The scenery was dramatic - and the closing weather made it seem even more rugged and remote.

The final section of granite before McMoab.

After several zigzags on the granite we dropped onto a short loop of single track, this lead us around and back up onto McMoab! A 15 to 18 ft lump of granite, with a steep drop down onto the fireroad.

Over the top - McMoab.

I looped round to the bottom of McM' and watched the more adventurous of us ride the slab. I was getting quite chilled, so decided to ride up the track to have a look for some photo opportunities, but only a short way up the track I came to a tarmac road, the A712 - it was a bit of a surprise to find the road, as the area had felt so remote.

The trail crossed the road and headed up a steep climb, which seemed to go on forever! At the top we took a forced break for a puncture, whilst it was been repaired, the rest of us had a bite to eat and tried to shelter from the cold wind. Tyre repaired and we set off, a short section of fireroad and then back to the singletrack. The track twisted round some rough terrain of short climbs and descents, by now I was struggling, I didn't have much left in the legs and was beginning to worry. The amazing views from this section of the track did a little to raise the spirits. But the fact that we were only about 50% of the way round, meant there was still a lot of riding left to do. The singletrack eventually dropped back down onto the A712, which we had crossed earlier. The rest of the guys were here waiting for me - this was one of my concerns before deciding to go - I didn't want to be the guy holding everyone up. I used the rest of my energy drink up and had some more to eat, before setting off. Two of the guys had held back, whilst I fuelled up, they set off and I followed on what I hoped would be the long downhill back to the car. If I've not already mentioned undulating - then I will now, as that's certainly the best way to describe the final 'descent', for tired legs this wasn't good! It was difficult to get in a rhythm, and once again it was seatpost up, then seatpost down etc. I was glad to get back to the car park and sit down.

Today was our last day in the B&B, tomorrow we up camp and set off to the forest lodges in Glentress.

Day 1 - Dalbeattie.

A good nights sleep and a full English, Scottish breakfast, ample time spent faffing and we were all set to travel the short step down to the trail at Dalbeattie. Today was cold and wet, a harsh introduction to MTB'ing in Scotland. We spent a little time on the skills park adjacent to the car park and then headed off for the Hardrock Trail, a Red graded loop with some black (very black!) features.

I'm still getting used to the Trance and I didn't have the suspension setup correctly (this was only my 2nd proper ride on the bike!) It's quite a technical trail which I found tough going, the constant pedal strikes began to get on my nerves and some of the features were out of my league - Kudos to the other guys who rode them (maybe even enjoyed them!)


'The Slab' at Dalbeattie

After the Qualifier and the Slab, were the Twins, two slabs of granite with a short transition between them. The Twins were far less kind than the Slab, the granites legendary grip let two of the guys down with a bang. I was already in two minds, so after seeing better riders than me loosing out to the damp stone, I decided to take the 'chicken run' which looped round to the right.

By the time we'd got back to the carpark, the drizzle had stopped, it was now just pouring down! We were soaked, cold and some of us bruised. On the way back to the B&B we stopped into a small bike shop, a few minutes drive from the trail head. While some of the guys looked for a new Sram rear mech - (victim of the Twins) I took the opportunity to have a look at a new Kona Kula - I do still like Kona's.

Personally, I didnt enjoy Dalbeattie!

Some tweaks I need to get done on the bike -

the brake leavers need to have their reach wound back slightly.
More air in front forks
More air in read shock
Check the tyre pressures.
and find someone to shorten the seatpost.

Made it to Scotland

We're north of the border - weather not quite as nice as when we left home, but it's dry. Time to 'bag' the best rooms before the rest arrive. The other guys from Swansea set off earlier, so they've managed to fit in a ride at Ae. It's a bit late for us to go for a ride, but even if there was time, we're tired from the journey and pretty hungry. Time for some pub grub!

Brand new van!

The weather is cracking this morning, couldn't have asked for a better day, does seem a shame to spend such a lovely spring day in a van, but it should make the task of driving much more pleasant.

The hire company has given us a brand new Mercedes Sprinter van - there's only 4 miles on the clock! I do hope that they don't mind a little mud. On the plus side, there's plenty of room, all that "..shall I take it, shall I leave it.." wasn't necessary, can fit everything, including the kitchen sink in here! 2 Bikes and gear stowed, time to pick up the 3rd person and set off for the north.

Packing for Scotland



Heading off for 5 or maybe 5 1/2 days (depending on traffic) riding the 7 Stanes trails in the southwest of Scotland - not sure what to expect! There are several groups making their way up to the B&B near Dalbeattie, some from as far a field as Holland. I'm just hoping I can keep up with the pace set by the rest of the gang. The one thing I'm sure about, is that it's going to be a long drive in a hire van.

I hate packing....

Welsh Mountain Bike Series, Rd 3.

Computer problems!! Struggling to recover my photo's from the day. Please check again in a few days, I'd managed to post one onto my new facebook page before the computer gave up.

*Update. I've put a few more on flickr

The frameskin arrived today for my Giant Trance X2, I took a gamble and bought the 'skin' for the 2011 bike. My Trance is the 2013 model, but I've been told that the frame is basically the same. Only time will tell!
The film itself is Avery automotive film, checking their website for information shows that it's got a 7 year guarantee. So it should resist yellowing and cracking, which was a concern. There's also a video on the site with instructions on fitting the film. I'll post some photo's if the installation goes well.

Strava, MTB and a sunny day.

It was a lovely spring day today, the sort of day that makes you think that winter might actually be coming to an end (and it's been a very long winter, especially as we pretty much skipped summer last year and went straight from spring to autumn). I've been trying to get out on the bike a bit more of late, I need to build some fitness as I'll be heading off to Scotland in a few weeks. Six days of mountain biking, with a group of mates who can cycle me into the ground!

As an additional motivation to get out there on the bike (and put off the DIY, work etc) I'd joined the Strava Spring Classics Challenge, basically it's to ride the....

"cumulative distance of five of cycling’s most storied races that form the Spring Classics, adding up to a monumental total of 1,319 kilometers or 820 miles."
(For the full details, check out the challenge page in Strava.)

That's a lot of mileage to get through in April. I don't ride on road (where I can avoid it), so they'd be MTB miles.
I'd got a plan of cycling to several of the 'trail hubs' in the area, Margam Park, Afan Argoed, Glyncorrwg and Bryn Betws, the route was more or less planned in my mind and I'd set myself a rough target of 40 miles. It would be a lot of fireroad, but it's the sort of thing my Kona Kula takes in it's stride, despite it really showing it's age. I'm also waiting for my Frameskin tape to arrive to wrap my new Giant in a protective cover (yes I know it's a bike and it's going to get damaged, but...well, you know!)

I've been using the Strava app on my HTC to record my rides, despite fully charging the battery - to my great annoyance - the battery ran out before I'd finished the ride. My route was lost, I checked the phone for GPX files in the hope of finding my route, but nothing. I knew my start time, and the time I got home, plus, I'd ridden sections of the route a few times before so I was able to log the route with a GPX editor to get my distance. But my times were lost, there was no way to be accurate or fair in retrieving these, more frustrating was that I knew I set some fair times on a few segments. I incorrectly thought that Strava needed a 3G signal (in addition to the GPS signal) to work, after reading the battery tips section on Strava, I now know I was wrong! I just hope we get a summer this year so that I can do the route again. This time with 3G turned off and I won't use the camera on the phone, so hopefully it will make the distance.

I surprised myself to be honest, I completed the 38.6 mile ride! It took me 6 hours, a pace that certainly wasn't setting the world alight, but I did set some quite good times towards the start of the route. In my defence, there was over 5000ft of climbing in the route, and it was more about completing the distance than setting quick times.

My aim now is to repeat the route, but with a few additions to top the distance up to the 40+ mile mark, and to do it in a quicker time.

**As a thought, when I saw that the battery was running low, if I'd stopped recording the route, then straight away started a new recording, would the first recording have 'survived' the phone rebooting itself? - that way I'd have only lost the end portion of the ride, rather than all of it. Or maybe I should just get one of those battery booster gadgets you see now.

Wentwood 50K, Goshawk Challenge, 2013

The challenging Wentwood 50K Enduro took place today (10th March), it was the 3rd year that I've attended - with the camera - the bike staying tucked up at home! For a change, I actually got to the car park with 25 minutes to spare before the start. This gave me an opportunity to chat with a rider about his Canyon purchasing experience, and also to catch up with Robert Storey, the event organiser. A thank you must go out to Robert, for taking a few minutes to give me some guidance of where to head on the route.

The weather was worlds apart from last years event, 2012 was pretty warm for an early March day. 2013 was cold - a bitter wind certainly made sure you were wide awake. After a quick look round for any familiar faces, I headed for the start line - whilst there was still space between the riders to get there - the hedged lane soon fills up. I took some pictures of the riders on the line, but like a fool, I'd not noticed I'd knocked the focus switch on the lens to MF (manual). Not wanting to get in the way of the start, I headed about a 100ft down the lane to a gateway. From here I could get some shots of the riders streaming past from the mass start. After the last of the riders had gone past I headed for the main feed station, the speed of the front runners caught me out - they'd already gone through before I made it to the route. After the majority of the riders had passed, I headed back to the car and back down the road to a forestry commission site - unfortunately - against the flow of the race. A slow drive!

A short walk into the forest took me down to a steep(ish) hill, leading to a small stream. The hill caught quite a few out, ironically, tending to be those pushing down the hill. Some riders took it at pace and flew down the hill. I spent the rest of my time at the event here - I'd filled my memory cards - so I've got to invest in a larger capacity one.

I'll upload my pictures to my Flickr site over the coming days, as the event is for charity, I only upload low res shots, if you'd like a hi-res version, then please contact me and I'll email you a copy in return for a donation to my Tribute fund towards Motor Neurone Disease. (I'll send you a link to where you can donate. Your donations have raised £34 towards MND, It's not much - it's probably cost me more in petrol! but it all helps.

I'd appreciate any feedback on my pictures, good or bad, it's a way for me to improve - I'm thinking about setting up an online shop for other events, but I know what high quality images are been produced by other photographers.

Swansea City Victory Parade

It's not strictly on topic for my blog, I'm not that much of a football fan. But it was an opportunity to see something which hasn't happened for 100 years and to take a few pictures. Swansea City Football Club won the Capital One Cup on the weekend, their first major piece of silverware in the 100 year history of the club. There was an open top bus parade starting from the Dragon Hotel in the centre of Swansea and finishing at the Guild Hall. Considering the time of day (16:30 on a Tuesday) the crowds turned out in force to welcome the team and the trophy back to the city. With the global exposure that top flight football brings, lets hope that the club will do well in Europe in the coming year and also continue to do well in the Premier League, as it can only be good for the region and for Wales as a whole. For some more photographs of the parade, check out my flickr site.

Welsh Mountain Bike Series, Rd 1. Margam Park.

The historic Margam Park, in Neath Port Talbot, played host to the first round of the Welsh Mountain Bike Series today. Three weeks ago would have seen the course blanketed in a covering of clean white snow, unlike today, which saw the course swimming in a sea of mud! There's been no hiding the fact it's been wet here, very wet. To get some idea of where to watch the race, I watched the preview video of the route on the events website. Taking into account the weather I headed for the copse of trees - where Go Ape is located. Here the course wound it's way through the trees, so offered some shelter from the rain. The course was tough going, the ground was saturated, in fact it was literally a river of mud in places.

It was a constant battle to keep the camera dry and the lens clear of water, a battle which the rain was winning. I walked along side the track to where it emerged from the trees, here the track ran trough a quagmire which was criss-crossed with roots - a difficult combination. As well as watch the competitors ride, push, crawl, fly (I did say fly) and in one poor child's case, cry; I could see them climb to the lower ridge line at the top of the decent through the rhododendron.

Despite my constant struggle with the rain, the spot I chose turned to be quite a eventful one, the bog was a brutal wheel swallower, with over a dozen riders going over the handlebars, with various degrees of style! I wish I'd brought the strap for attaching my GoPro to a tree to catch some of the spills.

I've uploaded some (more to come) of my photo's from the event to my Flickr page, if you'd like to purchase a photograph, please drop me an email, with the photo number or comment below and I'll get back to you. I donate a percentage of any sales to the MND association.

As a side note, they say a bad workman blames his tools, but I'm constantly disappointed with the focusing on the 7D (especially when using the 24-70 lens).

Rallying a Bentley Continental GT, Top Gear Style.

After a longer than usual break from our screens, the new series of BBC's Top Gear started on Sunday evening. Personally, I've felt the show might be starting to loose it's 'edge', many of the segments have felt far to contrived, and the 2011/12 Indian Christmas special, was quite frankly awful.

The series seems to have got off to a hopeful start, the Hamster tested the new Pagani Huayra, which the Stig took around the Top Gear test track in record time. Clarkson tried to build a Peel P50 beating micro car (slightly annoying) and the segment I've been waiting for since the Wales Rally GB last autumn, James May taking the Bentley Continental GT Speed out for a spin on a WRC Rally stage.

I'd been to the Sweet Lamb stage of the Rally last year (2012), so had seen James May filming with the Bentley on the stage, for what I assumed would be a segment for Top Gear. I'd been looking forward to seeing the result of the days rallying! The runs took place in the gap between the two runnings of the special stage, there were some rumours in the crowd that James May was going to be filming. After a while, a silver Bentley slowly drove onto the left hand side of the stage, I'd never seen so many GoPro's! the car was covered in them. Kris Meeke drove slowly (ish) to the final hairpin of the decent into the Sweet Lamb 'bowl', there it turned and hurtled down the hill, over the cattle grid and through the first of Sweet Lamb's watersplashes.



Hitting the watersplash

The Bentley practically emptied the all water from the watersplash, it was like a tidal wave. From the watersplash, they hit a small jump and considering the weight of the car, got all four wheels off the ground! The car then went out of sight as it slid around the small complex at the centre of the Sweet Lamb complex, then through the second watersplash (river ford) and up the hill which exists the complex. There they stopped and after a short break, turned the car and drove back through for another run. They did several runs through of the stage, some with the GoPro's attached and a couple of runs without them. Each run through Kris seemed to push harder, on a couple of occasions coming close to pushing to hard, at one point damaging the bottom lip of the front bumper. This isn't to diminish his skill behind the wheel, considering he was running on road tyres!

 

 

To see some more photographs of the Bentley, plus photo's of the Rally as a whole have a look at my flickr site.

GoPro has come home.

I've received my GoPro back yesterday, after a quick test it appeared to be working, with playback appearing smooth and without any of the 'stuttering' previously exhibited. Even when I turned the Protune option on, there were no footage problems and the menus scrolled with crashing the camera. When connected to my computer I was prompted to upgrade the firmware - I chose to ignore this for now and contacted GoPro for advice as the firmware mentioned it fixed (amongst other things) freezing issues. TBH I'd have liked to have had some information from GoPro if they'd identified the problem.

Today, the camera froze again while navigating through the menu options. (argh). I decided to bite the bullet and apply the firmware, HD2.08.12.222.WIFI.R56.00. I installed the firmware to the camera, wifi bacpac and remote, so far the menu's and the video has worked correctly. Only time will tell if this has finally fixed the issue!