Race day - As regional rd3

Had a really good race day I missed out on the a final by one place but won the B final by most of the last straight so really happy as that is my best position so far but there were a few riders missing and a couple injured.

I gates really well and was always first or second into the first corner but the I seemed to go backwards after the first corner! So more practice needed. Also the track had dirt corners which were really slippy which didn't help but also highlighted that I need to work on my cornering really badly.

We have another race next weekend at Burnham and I want to go there this week to practice before the race as I have never been there before even though it is only an hour away.

I am going to take a rest day tomorrow ready to practice at Burnham on Tuesday night then Wednesday I am off so I want to go to Tiverton to practice there early as I have a basketball final on Wednesday night. I then plan to go to Burnham again Thursday night, rest Friday and then practice Saturday and race Sunday.

We then have a week off followed by the regional at Tiverton the weekend after.

I need to focus on full laps but not do too much so that I am too tired to race at the weekends.

Pictures have started coming in from the weekend. Here are the ones I have found so far:

Race practice done

Got to the Cornwall track by about 12 and did a good bit of practice ready for the race tomorrow. The track is nice except for the second jump on the first straight which is too throwy and steep to manual properly and too far for me to jump. The rest of the track is pretty good although it is raining tomorrow and it has dirt berms which will be fun!

I managed to get to a point where I could hit the second jump without breaking so I should have an advantage over some of the guys I saw who were breaking so that they could pump the jump. I basically hit it at full speed and jump manual and try and stay on. Not the prettiest bit the best I can do at the moment.

I am not sure if I will ride flats or clips tomorrow it depends what the track is like in the morning I guess.

My son did one lap got scared and is not racing tomorrow! I tried to get him to do a few more laps to get his confidence back up but the didn't want to so I let him go back to the car. I will try to get him to do a few laps in the morning to see if he will race but I don't want to push him to do something he doesn't want to as that is when you get hurt.

Rest Day 2

My second rest day hasn't been very restful really. I only slept for 5 hours and then had to get up to go to Crucial and pick up my Son's bike which they have built up for me this week ready to race this weekend. I then had to drive to my parents house and help them move some cupboards and cover a leaking roof before rushing back to pick up my son from school.

He loved the bike though so hopefully he will want to ride more. We will see.

Here is a picture of him on his first test ride outside the house.

He is really happy as he has always wanted a Yess bike which the new frame is. It seems to fit him pretty well so can't wait for him to test it out on the track tomorrow.

I think that we are going to stop off at Tiverton track on the way down to Truro tomorrow to get a few laps in on a track with no people on it before going to the Cornwall track which will be busier. I want Dylan to practice a bit on our own before we get to the busy track so that he can get comfortable with the new bike.

I don't think it will take too long for him to get used to the bike as it took me maybe 3 laps to feel really at home on my Yess bike.

Rest day

Had a rest day today so I went to Trowbridge and played basketball for an hour or so and then went to Curtis Bikes to talk to Gary about getting a custom built cruiser frame for next season.

Had a good chat with Gary and got my order in so now all I have to do is save the money for the frame and wait. I have gone for the polished frame with built in seat clamp and some custom touches as well to make the frame stiffer. Also gone for plain black stickers as they are more low key than the gold and black that the bikes normally have.

The frame is going to look something like this:

The registration for the Race on Sunday has closed. As it stands at the moment I have a good change of making the A final as there are 6 people I know that are faster than me and one of those is injured so if I ride to the best of my ability fingers crossed I can make my first regional A final. In my age group there are only 3 of us and one of the guys is in his first season so I should be able to finish ahead of him and the other guy pulled his hamstring last weekend so I may have a chance of taking first in my age group as well. To be honest even finishing 2nd will be the best result I have had in my age group.

I am not training again tomorrow as I have to go and pick up my Son's bike from Crucial. I have swapped out his frame for the Yess frame and haven't told him so it will be a surprise. I am going to keep his Haro frame for now to make sure he likes the Yess and if not I will sell the Yess frame again or build it up for me but I think it is a bit shirt for me but we will see.

I need to clean and polish both bikes ready to pack in the car as we will leave really early on Saturday morning so I want the car packed tomorrow afternoon ready to go.

I am thinking what to do with the S&M speedwagon. I think I may sell it as a complete bike and buy some wheels for me to use on the Yess for training to keep my current wheels good for racing. I have seen the StayStong wheels for £220 like the ones below, which means that I would have a big chunk of cash left over to go towards the Curtis frame.

Added to this I am going to take my Dialled Stay Strong to Crucial to get built up ready to sell as well to get some more cash to go towards the frame. I think that swapping out just the wheels makes more sense as I will really get used to the bike setup because at the moment both my bikes are really different sizes and geometry which makes it difficult to swap around. I definitely need some training wheels as I am casing a lot at the moment and my current wheels are really extensive and I don't want to mess them up too much.

As it is lighter at night now I want to start going to the track when I am working earlies as well so there will be no need to do sprints in the mornings as I can do them after work and ride my mountain bike to work which is sitting outside my house getting rusty at the moment.

Full Laps Bath

Did 5 full speed full laps at Bath as I was a bit short on time this morning as I had to post the Haro frame as it sold yesterday.

I am definitely getting fitter as I only got jelly legs on the last straight a couple of times. I don't think that I was pushing as hard as I could as I was in Jeans and a T-Shirt as I was on my way back from Crucial from dropping off a pair of forks to build up my son's Yess bike as the ones on his Haro were too short for the head tube on the Yess.

I think I will take tomorrow and Friday off ready for the race weekend as I am staying there Saturday night so will be able to make the practice session on the Saturday from 10 till 3 and then I am meeting up with some friends for some food once I have checked into the hotel and then racing all day Sunday before driving home on the Sunday night.

Should be a good weekend especially as I booked a different hotel which is in the centre of town so that I can have a few beers on the Saturday night as I do not need to drive anywhere.

At he moment there are only 3 cruiser riders registered but the cut off is tonight at midnight so I will check nearer the cutoff but this race is the furthest race for most people so a lot of riders don't make the journey as it is further than a lot of National races! I am hoping that this means I can get a few more points.

I tried out my new 100% helmet today as it arrived in the morning before I took the Haro frame to post. It fits really well and is really light and exceptionally well ventilated. My head felt cooler with the helmet on than without it. The field of vision is also much better than my old helmets.

Here are some photos of the new helmet:

Day off

Have to take the day off today as I have to pickup my wife and son from the airport in London at 3pm so I am running around tidying the house ready for them to get back.

It is probably a good thing that I rest today as I am pretty sore still from the weekend so I could do with a rest. I was planning to take Thursday and Friday off to rest up for the race weekend bit I think I will just have Friday off and get a bit more practice in.

I plan to go to Bristol tomorrow early and get some more full laps in and then Thursday I will just do some laps at Bath track which is shorter.

I have to have a look at my back wheel tonight to get it aligned correctly ready to train tomorrow morning. I want to just ride the race bike this week to make sure I am totally used to it by the weekend although it feels like I have been riding it forever already. I am loving riding it and wish I had bought it a year ago instead of getting all of the second hand frames that I bought that didn't fit me very well. In the long run it would have been cheaper too.

The eBay auction for my thrill frame runs out at the weekend. If it doesn't sell I think I will build it up as my practice/ ride to work bike and sell the S&M frame as the Thrill was a lot more beat up than it looked in the pictures so I over paid for it and will have a hard time selling it were as the S&M was a really good buy so I will not loose anything on it.

Also the Thrill is shorter than the S&M so it is almost the same size as the Yess. It is also really beaten up so it doesn't attract the attention that the S&M does do I can leave it outside of work and not worry about it being stolen where as I really worry about the S&M.

I also bought a new helmet as chain reaction had a sale on the 100% carbon/Kevlar helmets and I had a further 10% off through British cycling which made the helmet the same price as the money I got for dog sitting last weekend so I thought why not.

Here is a link to the site.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/100-aircraft-dh-helmet-biturbo-blue/rp-prod136562

I got next day delivery on the helmet so that I made sure it was here for the weekend.

Just sold my Haro frame on eBay so I can start building up my savings again. I have added my S&M bruiser bars on eBay as well to get rid of them too as they are too high for me.

Early morning laps

Got up at 5:30 this morning to go to Tiverton but my car felt a bit weird so I thought that I had better not risk it so went to Bristol instead.

As a warm-up I did a pump lap followed by a faster lap where I manualled everything that I can manual an I then practiced on the third straight focussing on getting my weight over the back wheel when pumping. I also practiced jumping the table top and the double into the corner to get extra speed. I did around 10 of theses and then went into full speed laps.
Tried out my timer but it kept slipping around on the bar. I was using strava as well so I am using strava again. I have just done 3 motos a semi and a final and have taken 4 seconds off of my pb so really chuffed. Need to get some velcro to hold the timer in place then I think it will be good.

I am really pleased with my times today on Stavanger, my fastest lap is down from 33 seconds to 29 seconds so I am 4 seconds faster than last month 😀!

I am taking this time with a pinch of salt as Stava is not the most accurate for measuring times but even so 4 seconds is a huge jump in times.

I then practised doing the 3rd Straight a bit more and jumping into the 3rd corner I videoed a few of the attempts. On the last attempt I cased the jump and moved the back wheel out of position so I decided to call it a day and go home which was a good call as it started raining as I was driving away from the track.

I have just been looking at the videos and I wasn't as close to clearing the jump as I thought so I haven't bothered uploading the video to youtube. I have watched the video a few times so I know where I am going wrong and it is that I am not dropping the front wheel on landing so I am casing the back wheel, I am also not crouching down before the jump which I will concentrate on next time I am at the track.

Weigh in

I did my weigh in this morning and I am down 0.01kgs to 100.15 kgs so still over 100kgs but moving in the right direction at least.

I was planning to go to the Tiverton track early this morning but I was really tired and my legs were aching so I decided to go to Bristol instead.

I really noticed a big difference in the new frame and also foot position. I was easily manualing everything and was jumping the second jump into the first corner.

After a while I decided to practice the third straight and jump the last jump into the last berm. I cleared it easily and couldn't believe the amount of speed it generated. I almost went over the back of the berm! I did this another 5 times and then called it a day and went to the Bath track for a bit.

Here is a quick visit from my training in Bath:

Gates

Had a really good gates session yesterday morning at Bath Track. Tested out the bike and the new cleat position and both were great I was manualing much better and able to jump the tabletop much better and the bike goes around berms like it is on rails!!!! So happy with it. The lower bars seem to make jumping easier too.

I could not believe how much better the new cleat position was. My it moved the weight off of the calves so that you uses your whole leg not just the calves. It also made a huge difference with leg fatigue.

Myself and a friend decided to race 3 motos, a semi and a final as I was saying that I needed to practice full laps. This was really good as we were dead after the second Moto and had to dig deep to get through all the races. I definitely felt the difference in the foot position and I didn't get as tired as normal. Also being able to jump the tabletop makes the second straight much faster than even peddle manualing as I did both and my friend told me that there was no way he could catch me when I jumped the tabletop so I am trying to jump it every time now.

In the afternoon I went to visit my parents and I went for a walk with my brother and nieces and their friends dog for about 5 miles which made a really good warm down.

Rest day

Decided to take a day off from going to the track tonight as I was aching from this morning's sprints. I did about a 100m downhill sprint followed by a flat 30m spirit followed by a downhill 50m sprint to finish.

Did the sprints at 6am on the way to work and by 9am my legs were really sore.

I also changed the cleat position on my sidi race shoes to be all the way to the back as they were all the way forwards which was causing all of my weight to be pushed onto my toes so my feet hurt a lot. I have left my Shimano training shoes in the forwards position for now as I will test the race shoes today and if I don't like it I will use the Shimano shoes instead.

More sprints done

Did 3 more sprints on the way to work this morning all around 30m the first one was downhill, the second one was on the flat and the third one was down hill again.

I am hoping to get to the track tonight to do some full laps and test out my new timer that arrived Tuesday.

Had a change of plans as my bike was ready to pickup so I went and got it from Crucial. I got a new frame (Yess pro XL Cruiser) S&M race bars and vans grips. I then went to Bristol track to test it out but there was a training session going on so I went back to Bath track after an hour or so in traffic.

I did a few first straights to get used to the new frame and I must say I really like it. The frame is really well balanced for manualing and turns really quickly. I am not sure about the grips I may change them for my old odi lockons as they feel really thick compared to the old ones.

Here is a photo of the new bike.

I am going to test out the bike tomorrow night probably going to Bristol after work to do some full laps to see how it goes.

I am going to wear full gear tomorrow so that I can really push it as I was in jeans and a hoody tonight so wasn't going flat out.

Sprints Done

Did my sprints on the way to work this morning. I did one downhill of around 30m and 2 more flat sprints of about the same distance. I am on the S&M as I left the Haro in Crucial yesterday do get some bits swapped out.

The S&M feels weird now as it has the S&M Bruiser bars which are higher and wider than the gusset bars on the Haro which I have been riding for the last week or so.

One of the things that I am getting changed out is the bars I am getting some S&M race bars which are 27" wide and 5" high which is pretty much the same as the gusset bars which I am going to swap out for the Bruiser bars when I pick them up and get the Bruiser bars up for sale on the internet.

This week I am also going to get the Dialled frame and bits on the internet too and I am going through my parts bin to clear out some of the things that I don't need anymore to get some cash coming in and also free up space in the shed to actually fit bikes in it.

Lazy start to the day.

Decided I was going to go back to sleep when my alarm went off this morning and decided to take the day off as my legs were really sore.

As it turns out I have to drop off a parcel to the parcel force depot today and the nearest depot to me is just around the corner of the Bristol track so I am going to go to the track tonight after dropping the parcel off and get some laps in. I am thinking that I will practice third and fourth straights today as I have spent a lot of time on the first and second straights. I may then do some full laps to finish off at the end.

Wasn't able to go to the track as I had to go to Crucial and pick up some parts on the other side of town from the track so I wasn't able to get back to the track as the traffic was really heavy so I went home.

Not a bad thing as I will get some more stuff on the internet to sell as I want to clear out some space in the shed. I also have some shelves to build to tidy up the cupboard under the stairs as it is a mess and full of BMX parts which I need to go through and sell as well.

Change of plans

I was on my way to Bristol Patchway when I decided to go to Tiverton track instead as the traffic was really light as it was 8 am on a bank holiday monday.

I had a really good morning and met some cool people and managed to get the first and second straights more or less sorted which is cool as there is a regional there on the 14th May so I defiantly needed the practice. I am going to go back probably at the weekend to work on the second half of the track as it is pretty technical.

I was planning to call into Bristol on the way home but the traffic on the M5 was diabolical so I got off the motorway and went cross country instead which meant no Bristol visit today. This was probably a good thing in hindsight as I am pretty tired now.

I am planning to get up early tomorrow morning and go to Bristol to get some full laps in.

Busy weekend

Had a great training session with Ryan stack yesterday and today I have done my first south regional and got my arse well and truly kicked by had fun doing it.

The gate is really bad today so bad in fact that that they have had to cancel the racing after 2 rounds of motos! The track is excellent although it is really long and has highlighted again that I need to work on my fitness a lot more and also get smoother and faster around the second half of the track.

This morning I did my weigh in and I am down to 100.2 kgs which is 0.5kgs down from last week so moving in the right direction.

Tomorrow is a bank holiday so I am going to go to Bristol and do some full laps.

Random Pictures

There have been a few great pictures of last weekends gates and racing so I though that I would put them on here as I have done absolutely no exercise today except walk to the supermarket and back and walk to the end of the street with the dog I am looking after this weekend.

The first on is proof that I holeshotted my second race pretty well it all went wrong at the end of the second straight and I ended up 4th but never mind. Baby steps.

The second one was the gate from the second race showing how I was quick out of the gate.

The last one was at gates in Bath when I had a go on my friends bike and he had a go on mine.

Lazy Day

Was really aching this morning but still went to the track and decided to train anyway.

I managed 10 x first straight, first bend and tabletops but then was really tired so I decided not to push it and rest.

I am going to rest tomorrow as I have gates and training tomorrow and Racing Sunday so I need the rest.

The bike is feeling really good and I am feeling much more comfortable on it after riding it every day this week.

Changed up training

I have been thinking a lot about my training and I don't think that I am ready physically to do full laps every day. I have decided to do full laps once a week for now and the rest of the week break down the track and build up to full laps.

I think the best thing to do is what I did today which was 10 x full speed first straights full speed berm and jump the table top on the second straight all flat out. I then rested 5 minutes and then did 10 x first and second straights and the second berm flat out. I was planning to do another 10 laps doing the first, second and third straights and the the third berm followed by another 10 full laps but my legs had gone by the last first and second straight. I will have to build up over the next month or so to doing the 40 reps.

Doing this also highlighted that I am crap at turning right as it took me 7 tried to make it around the berm without using the break. By the last lap I was much more comfortable but that may be as I was slower by them 😀.

I was told at the weekend to have my little fingers right on the edge of the grips so I tried this today and I can't believe what a difference it makes to manualing and jumping. I can't believe that it took me over a year to discover this little secret.

I was also trying to use the correct technique I'm the corners where you move the bike under you and your body stays more upright. This also made a difference and made me feel much more confident in the corners.

After this I went back to the carpark and did 10 x 12 peddle sprints to finish off.

Here is a video of some of my training today.

Bath full laps done

Had a bit of a mixed up day today. I only got 3 hours sleep as there were problems at work last night and once I was awake I couldnt sleep again. Then I got an emergeny call from my Dad and had to pop to my parents house this morning as my Dad had downloaded a virus on his computer. This meant that I had to train in the afternoon but I had go train about 40 minutes after eating lunch which is not ideal and I was a bit monged out from lack of sleep and digesting food. Also the weather got worse as the day went on with the wind picking up and getting quite gusty.

I managed to remember my new handlebar mount to test out and it worked quite well it did spin around the bars a little bit and I have to read the instructions properly to get the most out of it but it seems the best option that I have found so far. I am going to try putting a strip of rubber on the bar before connecting the stopwatch tomorrow to see if the slippage stops. I used my race bike today as I want to

My best laps today were my second and third laps where I did 35.66 secs and 35.60 secs respectively. My best time with Strava today was 34 seconds so you can see that it is not very accurate and I feel that the stopwatch on the handlebar will be better in the long run when I get used to using it. The only issue is that it is a lap timer so doesn't stop timing which is a bit of a pain as I am taking 5 minutes rest in between laps.

I was quite pleased today as my legs were feeling good and I only got leg and shoulder burn on the last lap. All the others I was able to power through the line easily.

My full lap times were as follows:

1: 36.02
2: 35:66
3: 35.6
4: 36.05
5: 36.62
6: 36.41

I am pretty pleased as they were all pretty consistant an now I need to keep going and try and get smoother and faster to get the time down as much as possible.

This week I am going to use exclusively the Haro to get used to the new bar height.

I am not sure if I am going to go to Bath or Bristol tomorrow but I am thinking that I will stay in bath as the track is quieter but I will see how I feel tomorrow.

I have just found out that there is a race on Sunday about an hour from here which I am debating going to as it is a longer track which would be good practice and it also has a really flat start hill which would be different as well. I need to decide by thursday night but I am liking the idea at the moment. It would also be good to try against South Cruiser Riders ready for the Brits.

Rest day

Woke up at 5:30 to go to Bristol track but I was really aching so I decided to have a rest day to recover from racing.

I have been thinking over my performance yesterday and I need to focus on pumping and manualing as much as possible to get faster around the rest of the track. I also need to learn to corner properly turning the bike not me leaning in order to corner faster. At the moment I am cornering like I did back in the day with my knee out and me leaning my weight outside the bike. The best technique to keep grip is to keep your weight over the bike and move the bike under you. I will start practicing this tomorrow along with full laps at Bath.

I am also thinking that I need to start riding pump tracks too as all the kids that ride pump tracks are fast and can manual and jump really smoothly. The pump tracks will have to wait a bit as it is half the term and they will be really busy. Pump tracks are good as they have a lot of jumps close together so you practice the skills more in a shorter amount of time than on the track.

Although yesterday's racing didn't go so well a positive other than my first straight was that my fitness has improved a lot since last season. The track yesterday was really long and I was tired when I finished but I didn't get jelly legs and arms like I used to which is a positive.

I think my main problem yesterday was that I have trained for the last three months to just focus on the first straights and then just cruise around the rest of the track which has meant that I only held my focus for the first straight which meant that I wasn't riding the rest of the track at full speed or concentrating on line or how to take each jump I was just bumbling about which caused me to get overtaken all the time.

For the next race we are going to stay down in Cornwall for the weekend so I can practice on the Saturday and Sunday so hopefully I will have time to learn the rest of the track. I also want to go down for a practice session to get used to the track before the race weekend. This time I will concentrate on the whole track not just getting quick on the first straight.

Weigh in

Weigh in is moving in the right direction I am almost under 100 kgs again at 100.1kg.

Not bad seeing I had McDonald's almost every day last week.

Next week I am working from home so I will be able to watch what I am eating so hopefully I will loose more weight this week.

I am getting ready to go to Paignton for my race I am just making porage and golden syrup to get me started properly.

The racing didn't go so well today I took 3rd, 4th and 5th in my motos, last in my semi final and 5th in the B final.

I'd get the holeshot in my first Moto against a couple of really good riders my gates were really good all day and I got to the first jump first every race but my manualing was terrible as was my cornering and pumping.

I need to focus on full laps more for the next couple of months to try and improve my overall performance as my first straights were really good today.

In hindsight I may have been better to leave the S&M bars on my Haro until after the race to give myself time to adjust to them but it is too late now.

Great gates today

Had really good gates session this morning. I have definitely got better. I was manual-ing really well at speed and I was also jumping the tabletop on the second straight better than I ever have.

I was up with some national riders today as well and they were not much faster than me which is really encouraging.

Had a go on a friend's pure cruiser today which is really nice and I have changed my bars for the gusset bars that were on my S&M as I was still finding the S&M Bruiser bars too high which was affecting my sprinting. I am taking the S&M bars with me just in case I don't get on with the Haro with the Gusset bars but I like them on the SpeedWagon so I can't see there being a problem.

I have washed the Haro ready to race tomorrow and put on my plates as well.

The car is all packed for tomorrow an I am just eating ready to take a shower and go to bed as I have to be up at 5:30am to leave by 6am. I am still not sure if I am going to race in trousers or shorts and pads.

I think shorts and pads but if I wear trousers I don't have to wear the pads. I will think it over and decide tomorrow morning although the pads are already in the car and I may take both and decide there.

Rest Day

Having a rest day today ready for a busy weekend of racing.

I drove to work this morning as I have to drop off my son's old bike at the bike shop to be fixed ready to give to the bmx club as a loaner bike. Also after work I have to go to Crucial BMX in Bristol to pickup my race bike ready to go to Torquay tomorrow morning for gates to get some practice in for the Regional on Sunday. It should be fun as there are a lot of riders registered to race so there will be no taking it easy if I want to do well.

I want to get to be early as I will have to be up at 5:30 Saturday and Sunday and I didn't get much sleep last night as I couldn't sleep until after midnight and I was up at 5:30.

The plan is to eat, make food for tomorrow and then get to sleep by 9 ish to recharge the batteries.

Morning sprints done

Did my sprints yesterday and this morning on my way to work. This morning I held the first downhill sprint as long as I could and managed probably 150m before I couldn't sprint any more. Not bad about 50m more than normal. The other 2 sprints were around 30-40m.

I was a little sore from basketball and really tired as I wasn't able to sleep last night until about midnight and was up at 5:30 this morning to get ready for work.

Not going to be able to train tonight as I have to take my wife and Son to the airport in London as they are off on holidays for the easter break.

I am not sure if I will train Friday or not as I have to go to Crucial after work to pick up my race bike as I have my first race of the season on Sunday. I have already misssed one race due to thee stomach bug I had so I need to do well to get some points back on the 2 people at the top of my age group as they finished first and second last time.

I am hoping that my training has paid off as I have never beaten either of them before so I will have to have really good races on Sunday to have a chance of beating them or I will have to go for 3rd place this year.

Looking at the people entered so far I have a chance of making the A final if I race as well as I can but not sure as I haven't raced anyone fast yet this year so it will be good to see how I am progressing.

Sprints done

Did a few sprints this morning on the way to work. I did one downhill of around 50m and 2 flat sprints of about the same distance I would have done another downhill sprint but I got a facefull of midges at the end of the 3rd sprint as it was too dark to see them still so I was throwing up and picking them out of my eyes all the way to work!

I am still feeling a bit sick even an hour after swallowing all the midges!!

I must say that I love the S&M for sprinting and also love the 38x16 gearing as well. I may well swap the 38 tooth onto my race bike and get a 39 tooth chain ring for the S&M. I will try the S&M out at the weekend at gates and see how it feels out of the gate to see if I will swap. I am not going to change the race bike until after the race on Sunday though.

I switched my mouse over to my left hand yesterday at work and my right wrist is much less painful today than it was yesterday so hopefully this will resolve the wrist issues that I have been having. I am going to wear a wrist guard when riding for the next few weeks until the pain goes totally but hopefully this will resolve the problem. I will find out tonight when I go to the track to do full laps.

After school we made it to the track and I am finally getting the first straight dialled. I manualed both jumps on all of my runs today at top speed and even got a couple of tap manuals as well. I managed to get my son to video a couple of runs on my phone as I forgot my camera for a change. The quality is really bad but you can see that I am improving a lot from the start of the year.

Rest day

Decided to have a rest day today apart from riding to an from work on my training cruiser. The 38x16 is perfect for riding to work and the seat post is the perfect length too.

I am going to do sprints tomorrow morning and also go to the track tomorrow night after work.

Weigh in

Did my weigh in this morning I am up a bit to 100.7 kgs.

This afternoon I took my son to a birthday party so I had 2.5 hours free so I went to the track and ran the S&M through its paces.

It is nice and I like the new wheels but the bike is still really hard to manual. Here is a picture of the bike at the track before I started.

I lost count of how many first straights I did during the session but I have the first jump dialled now even on the S&M which is a pig to manual. The second jump went really bad! I only managed to manual it once all day!!!

My wrist was hurting a lot while I was riding and even more now that I have stopped. I am going to take some ibuprofen to try and stop any swelling and lower the pain.

I liked the new 38x16 gearing although my legs are really sore now and it was a lot slower to get moving than the 37x16.

I have just put on the long seat post and seat ready to take the bike to work in the morning. Here is a picture.

I may have to cut down the seat post a bit as it feels a little long but I will know after I ride to work in the morning.

Busy Day

Had a busy BMX day today. Gates at Bath and then Gates in Bristol and then over to Crucial to pick up the finished Speedwagon and drop off the Haro off for a service before the regional next weekend.

My gates are getting really consistent and my first straights are getting better too. I didn't case a manual all morning in Bath and even manualled the second a couple of times. I did about 10 gates at Bristol and cleanly jumped the second double every time. So really happy.

The S&M is looking good I will take a couple of pictures tomorrow to put on here and also update the Bike check as well as it has new bits.

Not sure how much time I will have to ride tomorrow but after today it is probably a good idea to have a rest anyway ready to start sprints Monday morning on my way to work.

I have put a higher gearing than my race bike to add a bit more resistance to over train my legs to make peddling easier on my race bike in races.