Innerleithen Chair Lift Proposal

The Innerleithen chair lift proposal is still alive & kicking. Click on this link for the latest update. http://www.bikemagic.com/news/article/mps/uan/6020/v/1?source=weeklyemail&attr=editorial1
This is the best news for downhillers since the rear shocker was invented. At the moment there is an uplift service run by Ae Uplift which is a coach & trailer run on a twice monthly basis. Hats off to Tally who runs it for his fore thought of giving downhillers what they want & some would say need.
Unfortunately, there is a big 'but' with this service. The fact that you have to book & pay for it up front & usually quite early due to demand. As we all know the weather in Scotland is a bit difficult to forecast & it has been known to rain & snow on the odd occasion, so a chair lift that you could just turn up to & pay for either 1 lift or a full day is fantastic news. For those that are accustomed to getting chairlifts with bikes in tow are fully aware of how much more (downhill) riding you can get in. For those that have not enjoyed this luxury beware that there is no looking back after you have experienced it.
The alpine towns in Europe & over the pond have really benefitted financially from using the ski lifts in the summer for bikers, especially with the recent lack of snow in the past years. I know there have always been the hikers & paragliders etc. but these towns are now bustling with people almost like in the ski season. Hopefully, this can also happen to the Borders & maybe even lead the way to it being a common sight in other mountainous or hilly areas.
The government wants us all to be fit & healthy so why not invest in sport in a way that I would presume is relatively inexpensive in comparison & also gets people outdoors. Rather than spending millions on painting extra lines on some of our roads & calling them bike lanes which then end abruptly because theres no room, they should invest in something that people may want to use & enjoy. Making fitness fun in my opinion is the only way to keep peoples interest high after the usual New Year resolutions & Xmas binge guilt trips. This sort of scheme can only be good for encouraging kids to get into biking as they are also talking of building more trails & a bike park.
My other hope is that England will catch onto the idea that we need to move forward with sports that verge on the extreme side & get away from the where theres a blame theres a claim culture & lighten up to Downhill Mountain Biking, surely by putting up disclaimers (which I have rarely seen) they would be covering their arses to some degree.

Road Trips

Another click on thelink film. This time various riding spots in 2007.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBb_xDMLVeM

Wharncliffe/Grenoside 2007

Here's a vid of us in Wharncliffe & Grenoside in 2007. Just click on the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1YFHA06kww

Shock Shuttle Changes Spesh SX

I've just put the 'High' Shock Shuttle on my Specialized SX Trail to see what difference it made for just riding trails. I must admit I was surprised how changing the head angle by 1 degree, from 66.5 to 67.5 made it so much easier from a pedalling point of view but still leaving it free & easy on the drops & jumps side of things. For general riding I'll probably leave it like that & only change it when I know I will just be doing just gravity fuelled riding.

Chain Reaction make hay while the sun don't shine!

Not much to report I'm afraid. All this rain is not doing my biking quoter any good at all. Not that I'm a fair weather biker but too much mud is not good. So most of the riding is just getting out & about on hard tracks locally but thankfully jumps & drops can still be found with a bit of hunting around. Luckily Temple Newsam is close enough to ride to & those that have been there will know that it is all weather hard core so getting the wheels off the ground still keeps the springs bouncing & blood pumping. I don't think many people ride it regularly which is cool but it would be cooler to see a few more riders using it. The track is still in good condition, possibly due to the little use it gets. Credit has to be given to the MTB Leeds lads & all others that helped build it - a good job done. But be warned if you do ride here just keep an eye out for the chavs that every place like this seems to attract. Not so long ago one came at me with a stick but bottled it. I jumped off the bike & chased them but they soon dissapeared, but I have heard stories of young lads getting jumped & their bikes knicked. So just take a bit of care & maybe don't ride it alone (unless battering chavs floats your boat).

The main problem with this weather for me is that it doesn't do my wallet much good either with regular visits to the Chain Reaction & Wiggle websites buying stuff that probably isn't needed apart from the wet weather gear of course.

The pics are from Tempy quite a while ago. It was freezing cold & out doing a local route on my then Specialized Enduro. Hope you enjoy! I did!