been pretty flat out this week just on the road bike and down the gym, been pretty boring really. nothing much went down that really could interest many people apart from myself. started work on a new pump track at my house though the other day which should be pretty sick so cant wait to get that finished and up and going. also scouted out a few new spots to go and dig some massive jumps. trying to find some new stuff to ride around my area so i can film some more epic life changing footage with clay porter for his new film (3 minute gaps). found some sick stuff so your going to have to look out for it in the new film.

been riding my sx a lot for xc, dont find it to hard in the hill climbs and it makes the downhill sections way better. just stand up on the climbs is probably better training anyway.

shooting an MBUK article tomo at some jumps a friend of mine built, there all pretty big so should be a fun day out. think im going to use that sx again, seems to be the only bike i really ride at the minute apart from the road bike and the odd sprint on the langster!!

back in the shire. bit of a boring one this time, no traveling and not much going on really apart from we had drained the pump track and alot of road riding going on. I built a gym in my yard so iv got a nice dry place to get my head down now with out getting wet and cold.

OH yer tryed a massiv jump the other day that a friend of mine built. he is trying to train for slope style so he is a bit of a nutter and has some big jumps. anyway gave this jump a go pretty easy, quite big though, no stress really probabley about 30 foot +. well i say no stress untill i tryed to do a 360 over it. must of got a bit exited and thought i was travis pastrana for a few minutes, was so close to landing it but ended up getting high sised off my bike and in to a log on my head. my bike carried on down to hit me in the back of the head and the back of my kneck, a pedal in the head is not nice at all. anyway a day later im fine, bit lucky i guess.

thats about it, got a maxxis cup coming up so pretty exited about that, get some racing delt with will be fun.

had an amazing trip over here, but its now coming to an end. feel like iv been riding do much, ever day has been packed with stuff. shame i didnt get the chance to come up to morgan hill and ride with the Specialized boys but maybe next time. been hanging out in ventura alot with clay porter and down in laguna with the athertons.

looking forward to getting home now though, get a chance to really hit up the gym iv build at my house and get to ride in the mud at my new downhill track i built before christmas. also get a chance to hunt around the country for the 15 grands worth of motorcross bikes that got stolen out of my garage, so gutted. not sure what im going to do. feel like crying every time i think about it.

been riding alot of downhill out here, feels weird riding so much so soon in the season. never really done that before, normally pull it out a few weks before the frist race. feeling pretty good, just need to hit the road bikes now get my pedaling legs back.

might have accdiently end up in a college party in santa barbara the other night. annoying!!!!! was so wild, guess american chicks like english accents and charm!!!!!

ha seeya

just arrived in the usa. after traveling quite a lot, arriving here with some friends feels a bit like a holiday. we are planning on riding all day every day and so far so good. training here is so rad always perfect weather this time of the year so going out for sprints and training rides seems easy.

after my adventure in brazil im stoked to be here. heading down to see the anahiem 3 supercross tonight so pretty exited, got a few friends with me and its there first time in the states and first time to see a supercross so thats going to be sick for them. 

just over here for 2 weeks trying to get as much riding in a possible, heading down to san diego and up to santa cruz 

arrived in brazil for the street race on thursday morning to 40 degree heat and to add to that is was as humid as f@$k.

in friday we had track walk and a lunch at the top of the hill over looking Santos, was pretty nice but busy ad sweaty. think that night i must have drunk or eating something bad because i was up all night, to and from the rest room. felt so sick all night and got hardly any sleep. having to get up on saturday morning feeling like i did was not easy especially knowing iv got to hurtle down stairs at 40 mph. 

anyway got to the race and nearly passed out. got taken to the medical tent and sat on the bed, before i new it i had 5 nurses around me all speaking in wild languages at me. then the doc pulled out what looked like a knitting needle and skewed it in to my arm. i lay down and pumped full of stuff that was supposed to hydrate me. i was laid there for a about an hour before i was told i was free. felt a bit better, but had missed all my practice for the day and was was only able to take 2 practice runs. i later find out i have to be top ten to qualify for the next days race. lucky i managed to get 9th with 2 runs down the hill.

sunday arrived, and i woke up after another shi**y nights sleep. we had one practice in the morning and then the semi final. i was feeling less than ideal after two days of no food and lack of sleep. i felt like i really should put in my best after my trip been payed for and the big TV coverage. guess my best was not good enough this weekend!!! racing against crazy south american people has opened my eyes to how sketchy you can be and still manage full run down the hill 

coming over to california next week to come and train and play on some downhill bikes and dirt jumps. 

so hot here i cant even walk to out of my hotel with out breaking in to a violent sweet and feeling like im going to pass out, thought i was going to be ok after my south africa trip. well it appears not at all. think its because its so humid here.

track looks very wild, sections of steps in straight lines that im going to have to hit them about a million, then a few turns then the end. think its going to be hard to beat the local dudes who seem to have no fear of smashing in to railings and walls at high speeds. 

not feeling to great right now, was home for a day then i had to fly out there and was not expecting the extreme heat, not normally one to complain about the sun but it is so hot here its unreal, cant imagine riding in my full race kit im going to boil.

here till monday then flying home for a few hours then coming out to socal with a few friend to get some serious downhill runs in, oh yer and also go and watch the supercross.

In to my second week of my trip. Been flat out every day, been real good. I have been hitting the gym a bit through out my trip which is a different experience for me but i'm liking it. Good to see some progression.

Also been riding a lot of xc and road, so different from home. Hot and sunny opposed to snowy, cold and shItty. Had a few shIt crashes on my dirt jump bike and a stupid one on my xc bike. Think it might be because I have not been riding for so long and now trying to take off where I left, and its not quite working right now! ha. Small dusty pebbles are a bit different to ice and mud. Pretty sh!t I have aggravated an old injury in my wrist which sucks for downhill but is not too bad for xc and road so not all bad.

We have also made the time to climb table mountain yesterday which was an amazing experience, there are a few routes up so we chose the hardest and the one with the most fatalities. It was a lot harder than we all expected, full rock climbing skills where needed but was a wicked experience. Made it up in just under 2 hours to a cold beer and most spectacular of sunsets looking over Cape town.

Arrived in South Africa a few days ago to sun and 30 degrees heat, bit of a contrast to England right now.

Been out on the road bikes a few time along the coast, miles of smooth road with no cars. now i know why so many people come out here to train on road bikes.

Also visited Bobby's home town of Stellinbosch, now i also know why he lives there too! it was carnival week so the town was packed, mainly with 18 year of college girls, amazing.

Been riding some dirt jumps too out here, very very dry but seem to still hold up fairly well in the heat and sun. Main problem here is the wind, but just got to be picky when you ride.

Right then must shoot off got to hit the gym and then might pop for surf, we’ll try and surf anyway.

just signing in for 2010, thought i better before i have to remorgage my house, joke!!! my year started with a foot of snow and below freezing condisions. so it sucked. i was forced to ride my xc bike on the road as going through the woods was a no go and the road bike would not have coped on the road. still kind of fun though riding on the road with so much snow, felt almost like riding moto in the sand.

snow is not all bad though, managed 45mph on a sledge behind a van. that was mental, so fun for a bit then just what it to go away, and the mud to come back!

Im flying to south africa in a few days to go get my head down and get this training fully underway. so hard to get motivated and get in a good rythum in the uk when its this cold and sh!t.

ok, see you in south africa

had the best day today riding with thomas vanderham down in san diego. we rode a spot called pine valley. its like dirt jumps for downhill bikes was amazing.

just over here for 10 days trying to get out of the english winter, its so depressing right now in the uk, cold and raining the hole time. its hard to get the motivation back home right now to get out and ride you bike.

got some good road miles in though before i came over so keen to get home and test out my new gym and get amongst the training for 2010. just over here playing a bit, trying to win some money and get some quality riding in. 

got this whip contest in a few days so looking forward to that, then i think the plan is to hit woodward for a bit of skatepark action.

seeya

life at home right now is not so bad, catching up with lots of friends and riding loads of motorbikes its been amazing. 

yesterday got the chance to ride downhill with moto legend Josh Coppins and british lights champ Jake Nicholls. we were doing an article for a moto magazine called "dirt bike rider". its going to be a change over thing moto riders try dh and we try moto, think its going to be cool. we have only done the downhill side of things though so far. those boys were so cool and seemed super keen to ride downhill. they both rode real well and jumped every thing at the track, was rad to see. cant wait to go ride moto with them.

also been to the fome pit a few times, not really my thing but got a friend that is pretty keen so went along. landed on my head a few times and had bikes landing on me but had a pretty fun time, got a few more tricks in the bag so not all wasted. maybe il bring them out crakworx next 2010!!

been out on the stumpy loads too, ride a lot of xc at night which is pretty fun. got some sick lights from "exposure lights" so thanks to to them. had a few near misses with sticks in the eye, so might have to settle down a bit and look were im going a bit more.

just about to leave whistler after 4 days of filming on the hill. just had the best time filming with the anthill boys. pretty sure we got a lot of good stuff done. whistler is a completely different place in the off season its more like a ghost town, iv only ever been to whistler in the peak of the mountain bike season and it is packed full of people and fun. where as the off season have a bit of a different vibe. still had a lot of fun there though. having the hole hill to our selves was the best thing ever. the trails are all groomed with no braking bumps with perfect jumps and turns.

the weather was good for us i think we were lucky with that, had the feeling in the air that it could rain or even snow at any point. think im going to have to make the time too go back out in the snow and try my hand at some skiing again. 

just heading home to finish building my secret downhill track, hope it might be the secret to some success next year. never really ride dh at home so thinking of mixing things up and getting it done this winter.

practice went well having a lot of fun on the track. its rough and long but seems to be fun the hole way down from turn to turn. the new bikes look amazing too.

qualy went well just kept it smooth and came down in 3rd so pretty confident to bump up a few spots on sunday, but we will see. looking forward to it. 

seeya

 Arrived in canbera, to some pretty nice weather for winter time in Australia. It was sunny but cold. The wind on this track to the enemy though as there is a lot of pedalling along flat ground and a head wind would be bad news.

Passing the time in Canberra was hard to do but practice and resting takes up  lots  so not to bad.  Also we had the pump track world champs to attend to on Wednesday night, it was held in a back yard in a secret location in Canberra. The whole event was pretty well organized for a back yard bash and was on a fun track.  All was going well up until the final run. I qualified first which was cool so I was looking at a world champs title and 2500 buck prize to look forward to if I could keep my self together. I manage to do that, but the timing guy didn’t.  my run felt good and was pretty exited to see my time, but there was not time. I was devastated. Knowing my run was close to perfect and the fact I was looking at having to do it again tired and angry and pretty frustrating. We had video evidence of my first run time been a 40.80, half a second faster than sick micks but nothing I could do about it.   I had to give it another go, still tired from my first run I had no chance.  Robbed from the title and cash. Gutted. Oh well. Moving on not salty and bitter about that one very much….

Practice on the real worlds is going good feeling fast and pretty keen to lay a run down In the final on Sunday. My timed run was good felt smooth and got most of my lines together. Just need to find something for the last 600metre flat sprint at the end but im hoping that will come to me on the day. 

seeya

Just sitting in Bondi beach eating breakfast looking over the bay, not bad. Our flight got delayed to Canberra so decided to head in to Sydney for a look around.

Weather hear is clear but real cold, feels so weird been in Australia when its not baking hot.  Bit reluctant to get on my flight to Canberra now when I could just stay here and try my hand at a bit of surfing again. Oh well, there is a job to be done and im quite looking forward to seeing what changes they have made to the track. Don’t think there are going to be ably to make it in to a prober downhill track but at least they might have taken some of the minute straight pedal out of it and put in some fun jumps. We will see!

Also there is the pump track worlds going on in Canberra, which is going to be pretty cool I hope.  Definitely looking for the top spot in that then hopefully can take it over to the downhill and get up there with Samuel.

Seeya.

got to whistler, exited as usual but we had no no bikes which was not change as jacy takes a bit longer to drive over than we do on a plane! not to bad as i got to ride a few different specialized bikes which i would not normally get the chance to ride. i was real keen to get out there so i borrowed a specialized bighit 3 for the day. pretty funny because my first full suspension bike was a big hit back in the day with a 24 inch real wheel so i was keen to see how they had come along.

i was riding with some specialized free ride boys for the first time which was cool, got alot of respect for those dudes so it was cool to get to ride with them. started off on a jumpy track right from the top of the hill which was rad just doing whips and trying to do scrubs the hoe way down. pretty much ended the day with the same track just having to much fun jumping and loving the smoother track with no bumps. really impressed with the bighit 3 has come on a lot from the one i used to ride, would for sure have another ride on one again.

got slalom practice tonight which went well so looking forward to the race tomo.

cheers

Practice went real well, after walking the track I was real keen to get amongst practice. It looked rough and fast, its also not that long maybe under 3 minutes.

Sam was feeling a bit under the weather so I was on the hill on my own.  That was cool apart from no one to talk to on the lift!!

Had a few slow runs in the morning but soon started going fast and feeling good, had a few lines that I was working on over the day. By the end of practice I had done 7 runs and feeling pretty good and keen to get stuck in to  my qualy feel like Iv got some anger I need to release after msa and want to get closer to my number 5 number board at the end of the year. 

Arrived in Canada on Tuesday to rain and wind.  I new the track would hold up pretty well so was not to fazed by it.

Walked the track and was happy with the changes they had made, made it less pedaly and had more turns in it so I was stoked.

Started practice and kind of felt up to speed pretty quick. Felt good on my bike after a few weeks riding it in France, so was keen to get out there and back up to race speed.  Got though practice with no real crashes and was confident and felt ready for qualy.

Qualy went well up until the rocky wood were I went off track hit a few photographers did a 360 then tried getting back on it for the bottom half. Ended up in 8th with that crash so I was pretty pissed off but also gave me a bit of confidence coming in to the final knowing with no mistakes I could be top 3. I had the 2nd fastest split so that was also a big boost.

I was sat at the top doing my warm up but just felt like I was never warmed up and ready just felt a bit week. Really felt like I needed a slap in the face to get me angry and ready but it never came so I set off a bit week. My run felt like I was riding to the shops on a Sunday afternoon just could not get up to the speed I knew I could and had been going all weekend.  Got to the bottom not expecting a lot but managed to stay in 8th so kind of good for points but could not help feeling like I stuttered a bit in my run and should have been up there with sam on the podium. 

Had a good break from the world cup scene. Spent a bit of time at home and the rest in France on holiday with a few mates. We were staying in morzine, the riding is amazing and the night life is not to bad either for a small French town berried in the alps.

It was not all play though, I went and did the mega avalanche in alp de huez. This was the second time I have done it and it did not disappoint. I had a few problems with my van so I was a little late and missed all my practice and qualifying. I was put in the fourth row which was not to bad I new I could pull though from there and was looking at a top ten spot if all went well.

I pedalled out the gate on my new 2010 specialized enduro the overtaking started right away, as we hit the snow I was maybe top 60. I was pretty confident in the snow as I had ridden snow a few times before, but had heard stories about big icy patches and a big hole in the snow which had already clamed a few rides. That was a bit scary to be told just as I set off having never ridden the track before. The snow went well and at the end found my self in a top 10 or 15 spot, which I was happy with. After the snow there was a good rough bit that took us around the mountain and in to the town, it was single track so no overtaking but was still fun. After we went around the town there was a long 5km pedal traversing around to the steeped final part of the race. Unfortunately I had a small mechanical and could not go on but will be looking forward to next years race.

After getting back to morzine Clay Porter arrived from the states to do 4 days filming for his new film called “3 minute gap”. Went really well and think we have got some life changing footage so we will have to see how its all comes out early next year.

Msa world cup

Got back from France with a few days at home before the 6th world round in mt st Anne. Just spent the tree days I had at home on my dirt jump bike with friends was real chilled and cool, good to get ready for a long trip racing over seas for the next 2 months.

Also went on a ride around London just been a tourist and looking at all the sights and wild people which was amazing fun. Was aching the next day though, don’t think I realised how far I had actually ridden after a day of sight seeing.

We arrived in la Bresse after a days drive from Lyon. The town was small and not a lot seemed to be going on. The races all seem real desolate and abandoned before and after the races is weird to see.

Anyway me and Sam were dropped at the top on the track on Monday morning  with our xc bikes and we found our way down the side of the hill, the track was not marked out but the terrain and hill looked like it could produce a good looking track, and we were right.

The week went so slow up towards the race, we were just lounging around our condo not really getting lot done apart from looking forward to dinner and watching movies, lots of them.

Finally Thursday came around and we got to walk the taped out track. Me and Sam were both walking down with a big grin on out faces, finally a track with out a 10 minute pedal in it. It was steep and fast with drops and rough turn down the track, reminded me of an outdoor moto track, which made me exited.

Practice went well, I felt good on my bike and the bike felt real good too. We just played with the shock a bit and I felt ready for the race.

Qualifying was on the Saturday, its normally on the Sunday before the race but it’s a different rule that has come in this year.  I quite like it, it shows your speed early and you get time to work on it if your not up to race pace.

I qualified 6th, pretty solid only a few second off the win so I was happy with how it was going.

Race day, practice in the morning was good, dialed all my lines in and was feeling confident and ready.  We were warming up at the top and spots of rain were falling, think this might of scared a few people but I was still smiling , I had been using spikes all weekend and liked the wet conditions.  Turns out it didn’t really rain too much, not enough to really affect the track at all. Started off my run and felt good all the way down, with  a massive crowd cheering the whole way down the track its not easy to forget your in a world cup race run. Crossed the finish line to see Greg Minnaar getting up from out the hot seat which is always a good sign.  I sat down and waited for the other riders. Sam came down after qualifying in 4th and knocked me out by 1.8 seconds. I really didn’t care though, I was guaranteed 5th. I finally finished in 4th ahead of George Atherton so I was happy. The podium was real cool iv not been on there for a few year so it was good to get a taste of that again.

Back in Europe and landed in Lyon for a mega avalanche cup race we did before the big number two world cup, La Bresse.

The track in Lyon was really different it was not really a dh track moor a fire road though a town park. It was quite fun though with some jumps and some fun turns.  We rode our demo 8’s The track was not really suited to these bikes more a hard tail but we were just there for fun and to get some more time on our new bikes.

The big bikes were hard to pedal around on the top flat stuff but they went ok at the bottom where the track was a bit steeper. We raced and I got 7th which I was pretty happy with considering all the pedalling and the rest of the pack on hard tails.

My 7th got me though in the next round I guess which was a 4x race down the same track but with some slight alterations.  I was in the gate for my first round taking it all as a big of a laugh. I struggled out the gate straight in to 4th,  that was no good so I decided to push my way though and managed to get in to 2nd which boosted me though in the next round. I managed to keep doing this each round, finding my was past people in whatever way possible not always elegantly but I was past them and in to a good position. Before long I found my self in the 4x final lined up with 3 other 4x guys fighting for the win on my downhill bike.  Set off and as usual I was out the gate in 4th, I tried to push though but I would have to have been to brutal to push though so decided to settle with 4th. Funny weekend.

Now were in La Bresse and he track is looking f*&$king wicked cant wait for Friday to come around so we can ride the thing, about time the tracks stated getting better for us. Hope now all the sh$t ones are out the way.

Just thought id start off my second blog with my trip up to Scotland for the first British national.  I flew out of LA on Thursday afternoon and then arrived in London at 6 in the morning Friday to a beautiful English summers day. It was just a bit of a shame that I then had to drive 8 hours up to ae forest Scotland.

When we got there we walked the track and I was surprisingly  happy with how the track looked, it was dry and looked like it would be fun to ride.  I rode practice on Saturday and felt really good on my demo 8. The track was dry and  rolling well. I was running the new specialized butcher tyres and loving them, really happy with how they have turned out. It was just a bit of a shame that it started raining which ruined the track making it really boggy and slow. I was gutted.  Still, got my race run underway and all went well. Just going back to my best excuse, lack of power. I hit all my lines and felt good on my bike just felt like I was loosing time on all the boggy straights.

Ended up 4th In the end, not to bad as last year i got beaten by every man and his dog on this track, so I guess its all progression.  Just stoked got the 3 pedalling tracks out the way now looking to get my first world cup win and join Sam on the podium for the overall at the end of the year. 

Happy though, I know im riding well and happy with my bike and looking forward to the following world cups coming up.

I will start if off with my trip to specialized head office in Morgan Hill. We drove there on the Sunday night of sea otter and arrived in to a pretty trick hotel.

I was just stoked that we were out of sea otter that place and me do not get on too good. I have fun there but the downhill track is just so s@*$%y.  This year was better than previous years though because the weather was so good so it made my otter trip bearable along with the pump track that I spent most of my day on.

I was pretty blown away with the size of specialized the place is massive and so tidy and in order.  We started the day around a big boardroom table with some media training.  What was good for about 10 minutes and then I fell asleep so all good!!!! I did learn some good stuff though in the initials 10 minutes though and that was what the definition of FSR was so I guess that’s good.

Dinner that night was also interesting. We went to sushi with bobby and some other chicks he found from around the office.  One of them called Ashley, who decided to eat a hand full of wasabi for some money, which turned out to be one of the most amazing things I have ever seen go down a chicks throat. Fair play she took her money and appeared to be ok.

The following day we went for a photo shoot on some cool new bikes for catalogue stuff I think.  It was in santa cruz on some trailes iv never ridden before, I thought were really good.  Apart from the fact we had no water and the forest is riddled with poison oak it was a fun photo shoot. Got to hang out with Conrad as well for a bit which was cool seams like a real cool guy, also got to steal some training tips!!!!

Not much more to say for the first blog, don’t want to flood you with to many interesting facts and stories.