Going green at The Mafia

So, after hacking our way through the jungle that had set in on the top of the trails, there was only one thing to do: RIDE!
After sweeping all the trails they were rolling fast, with dry trails and just enough dirt in the corners to keep you on your toes.

Ewart on the Big Snake

Ewart sends Mother Bear

The big berm on the Main-line

Sam at the top of the Duel Track

Ewart and Sam on the Duel Track

Me at the top of the Duel track

Sam on the Main-line berm

Ewart fires up the see-saw

If you go down to the trails today.....

....Your in for a big surprise!

Mainly because you couldn't find the trails through the 8 foot high bracken, brambles and stinging nettles.
So Sam, Ewart and I set about clearing the trails. Here's a few before and after shots for you.

The view outside the barns, above the main roll in

and below after clearing

Ewart checks the view from Goldielocks

Looking down the lead in to goldielocks

and below after some gardening

And looking down the trails from the top of goldielocks

and below before we cleared

A quick Trip to Decoy

At work today we had to do a boat delivery to Decoy lake this evening. So Ewart and I thought we'd combine dropping off some boats with a quick spot of biking at Decoy Trails.
There are a few things worth checking out at Decoy, there is the Huge BMX track, there's the HUGE Dirt jumps, and tucked away there are some sneaky bandit run trails through the woods.

Ewart going for it on the bmx track

We started off looking for some of the hidden woodland trails. We found a few, they were all fairly short, but a good laugh with tight corners, slippery roots and poor visibility hacking through the deep under growth! But after a while the heat combined with the effort of pushing back up the hill took its toll, so we decided to check out the BMX track.

This berm was vast, and riding a high line was great fun!

The BMX track is stunning, having fairly recently been re-vamped and re-surfaced. Its a full on world class race track, with enormous berms, step-ups, step-downs, pump bumps and gaps. Even just trying to cruise round the whole track was tiring. Ewart challenged me to a race, but neither of us could make it past the half way mark!!! but we enjoyed sessioning some of the corners and pump bumps.

Ewart on a loose and slippery corner somewhere in the woods!

There is also an area of dirt jumps, the main line through the middle of the jumps is Vast. with lips that seemed to be at least 8 foot high and gaps the looked at least double that. However no one was riding them as they are prepping it for a jam in a couple of weeks, hopefully I'll be able to find the time to go along and watch.

New waterproof camera

Hi There 3Rider fans, sorry its been ages since I last posted anything, I have been up to loads, just not taking any pictures, so I haven't had anything worthy of posting!
Life has a few ups and downs, and as some of you might remember I was burgled a few months back. But it's had a bit of an up side (all be it a rather small up!) but the insurance finally paid out, and we now have a cool new Olympus waterproof camera. I've been itching to give it a proper testing, and I finally got the chance this weekend.
With fuel fairly hard to find we took the short trip down to Ansteys Cove in Torbay. The sea was calm, blue and inviting. So Louise and I suited up and took the plunge.

Louise takes the plunge

The Beach below Ansteys Cove is now a bit of a no go zone. Some landslips above the beach a few years ago meant the closure of the beach, and with the council un-able to find the money the shore it up they have now removed the walk way that used to lead down onto the beach. Its still possible to scramble onto the beach at low tide, but as the tide comes in it becomes very hard to get off the beach!
But none of that is a problem if your wearing 5mm of neoprene, boots, gloves, fins and goggles! Just jump in and swim round!

Just some of the seaweeds to be seen

The water was very clear for the British coast and there was lots to see. Amazing coloured seaweeds, plenty of fish from tiny see through shoals of fry to big Wrasse, and the occasional stone crab.

A stone crab, this one was too small to be worth eating!

The more time I spend swimming around off beaches and coves in the southwest the more I enjoy it. The water may not be that warm but the sights on offer soon stop you worrying about temperature.

Looking out along the cove, The Long Traverse climbs across the wall above the sea, to Sanctuary wall and LQP

It's hot out there

Whew, what a scorcher we had on Sunday. Tom KP, Phil KP, Ewart and I went for a mountain biking mission on what felt like the hottest day of the year!
We first headed off to Cann Woods on the out-skirts of Plymouth, somewhere we hadn't ridden in over a year. Unfortunately I had so much water in my back-pack that i couldn't fit the camera in, so no pictures. But I can tell you that the riding was great. Most of the trails seemed un-changed since our last visit, except that the jumps all seemed a bit bigger than before! In between melting in the extraordinary heat we had a great time riding some flowing trails, and an awesome off camber root fest!

Ewart on a gap jump over a stream on the cafe side at Haldon

Me on the same gap jump, before eating dirt!

Finally, after running out of water, we returned to the van for Ice-creams, loaded up and headed back to Haldon, outside Exeter. Rather than going to the 'regular' side of the hill at Haldon, we headed over to the 'below the radar' trails over on the cafe side of the hill. It was still too hot to ride hard, but we had fun riding some nice trails. I had two crashes, on the same gap jump, the first time was a laugh, but the second time left me limping and sore! After some good riding we finally called it a day and headed on home to try and re-hydrate ourselves!

Phil on a hip-jump lower down the hill at Haldon

Tom stylin' the same Hip

Cornish Waveski fun

I managed to get away for a few days over the bank holiday weekend, and I managed to find some nice, small, clean, fun surf. I then managed to rip it up on my Waveski, check it out!

One of the larger waves of the day,

Cranking into another nice little wave

Attempting some kind of floater, top turn, re-entry thing!

Another small, but perfectly formed sucky wall

Another floater type thing, still not sure I've quite got it right tho!

The Mafia wheels keep turning

Another night at the mafia trails, more racing the dual track, but generally a really laid back jam. People were hitting all the lines, some people going big on Daddy Bear, some of us hitting up Mummy Bear for the first time, others just rolling through the trails trying to get a feel for it all, and everyone enjoying more BBQ action! Spring has definitely sprung for us, roll on the summer and even lighter nights.

Sending Mummy bear for the first time is a great feeling

Whipping up daddy bear is where its at for others

Ewart, clean lines on Mummy bear

Adam, big lines on Daddy bear

Ollie, insane lines all over!

The Dual track berms were riding really well

Tom K on his super-light 'Mega Rig'

The bike shed lads were loving the dual course

Kicking up the dirt in the setting sun

Adam whipping the table

Mafia dual showdown

After raking out our little dual track, up at the Mafia trails, last week, it's been ridden in really well. So there was only one thing left; Time for a Dual Track Showdown!
So a whole bunch of riders rocked up on Thursday for some elbows out, no holds barred racing, oh and some obligatory BBQ action!
After stuffing our faces on Sausage sarnies, chicken, salad, chili sauce and more it was time for some action. A simple start 'ramp' was positioned and soon two riders were thundering down the course. For Ultimate carnage the dual track features two bottle necks, where both riders are forced through a gap between two trees, it means that riders can change lines at that point, but in a close race it leads to all sorts of problems!
Bikes were crashed, chains were snapped, spokes were popped, new lines were created and lots of fun was had.
Check it out........

The first corner created most of the action

The inside line seemed was faster but it was close

Hmmmmm.......BBQ

Rob H shows a clean pair of heels

Tom K squeezes into the lead

Adam schooled everyone with his DH skills

Mark H tried to create as many short cuts as possible

Is Ewart falling off, or taking the hole-shot?

The setting sun through the trails and trees

Ewart, practicing his manuals through the pump bumps

Ewart on the 'big berm' on the main line

Rob H fast and smooth, as usual!

Ian blasting the Berm

Tom K berming it up

Rob H hitting up Daddy bears gap in the dark!