R O T H A R . C O M

Just spent some time tonight getting the rothar.com/racing pages sorted out. Tyrrell and I are going to try and maintain some sort of training blog for the event, which will hopefully be useful if I ever write an article off the back of it. Well it’ll help me remember how organised I have been about things (or not).

There are some bits for sale too – just remembered about having to buy a flight to the southern hemisphere:

Maverick SC32 Forks
235mm Steerer
Just serviced (not ridden since)
100mm travel conversion
Spare stanchion guards and QR retaining Clips
with
Maverick front hub
Recently serviced with new bearings
Laced with DT SS DB spokes
Mavic XC717 Disc
£225

Rear Disc Wheel
White Industries Mountain Hub
Laced with DT SS DB spokes
Mavic XC717 Disc
£150

SID Team Forks
80mm
Blackbox Remote Lockout
Used once since TFTuned Service
Stealthy black (destickered).
No scratches or dings
Never been used with discs
c. 245mm steerer (need to check)
Includes Spare crown steerer assembly (c.200mm) with slippery silver legs
£175

Back off to Wales this weekend I hope. Neil from Ride the Alps and Si Hoe from my Cham to Zermatt group are going to be out there so it’ll be a good chance to catch up and get some riding in.

I had this email through a little while back. Check it out:

As a member of both the active biking and the active blogging
community, I’m hoping that you will be interested in MyOutdoors.net.
I’m sure you’re familiar with Bikely, but I hope that you’ll take a
minute to check out our new site.  We just finished a complete
redesign and rewrite aimed at improving the user experience and we
believe that the site has much more to offer than other sites such as
Bikely or gmaps-pedometer.

The new redesign adds elevation profiles, both GPX import and export,
KML export for Google Earth, full text search, and a user interface
and design that integrate it all very seamlessly.  We hope that you
find it interesting and that you might be willing to write a review or
post of the site.  We really believe that the site has potential and
we’re hoping that you might be able to help us out.  And of course we
would do anything we can to return the favor, such as adding a link to
your blog from ours.  Just let us know if you mention the site.

Cheers,

Dale Beermann
http://www.myoutdoors.net

Photos of the Orange full susser are now on the dedicated page. I’ll probably add some better photos once sunshine returns to the local skies. There is some useful information for Patriot owners on the Orange Mountain Bikes website, including suspension setup and background information. There is also some good discussion about setting up the new Fox DHX air shock on the Dirt Rag Forum.

The period from the middle of August through to the middle of October isn’t really my favourite time of the year. There is just so much going on that riding just seems to be a distant thought. Well other than commuting that is.

It was great to learn that Chilly and family were planning to head up to Wales on a holiday and that there would be a chance to get in some riding. I think it was the sort of motivation that I was looking for. So with Paul staying near Nebo this week and I headed over to Betws-y-Coed to ride the Marin Trail with him on Thursday.
The torrential rain that had led us to cancel our plans to ride on Wednesday had subsided and although the trails were a lttle wet in places it was generally a great ride and I think Chilly enjoyed his first taste on man-made trails. It was a great opportunity for me to test out the new bike and faff with suspension settings and things.

I’ve decided that the chain is a bit long and the rear disc calliper needs shimming a bit, but other than that it is in good shape. The tyres are the biggest I’ve ever run. There is certainly a sense that once this thing gets rolling it is going to plough through anything. Going uphill on tarmac on big sticky tyres isn’t my idea of fun…

Ordered the day we came back from the Alps in August, the new bike is finally here… A brand new 2007 Orange Patriot. It’s destined to become the bike of choice for big rides and taking on some of the runs that the hardtails just don’t quite cut it on.

It’s built up with a mix of bits, some of which were from the old Enduro, others which were spec’d up for the new build. The Hope braided hoses were a much needed move as the hoses were looking fairly battered and the front hose was actually strapped and taped up after being kinked when running the SC32s in the Alps.

The Trans Alp this summer really was great. Here are a few photos from Jamie Carr at Ride the Alps. The bike that this trip inspired has also arrived. I’m picking it up this weekend. It’s a bit of a burly beast…

Can’t remember where this photo is…

On the Grand Raid CristAlp Route approaching the Basset de Lona

In the morning after a night up at the Cabine du Mont Fort