Greetings

Had a fantastic ride on my upgraded track, found that listening to chilled music and warming up on really small stuff while trying to be as smooth as possible is a great way to get into the mood. Also experimented with some more-interesting-than-usual shots so there should be a video up tonight if all goes well.

Yeah, pallets are so boring and undemanding, I'm sick of them... Would love some spools, need to look around.

To be fair, I think the nature of Trials (the sport itself, not sub-divisions) requires you to have absolute control over your bike. You don't have absolute control if you cannot maintain the bike in a certain position required to perform a move/line/whatever. Although I'm constantly being proved wrong by Aener's vids, I still think riding with brakes gives you more possibilities. But at the end of the day, it's those who try something new or different that make trials interesting. And for that I enjoy watching people ride brakeless although I'd never try it myself because it's too difficult.

Riding in my garden is about to get a whole lot more interesting Already built one obstacle, still got 15 left. Need to find a good way of combining them with pallets else I can see my track being just as boring as it has been for the past 11 years.

It had an early 80's feel to it so I assume it's the original?

Carrie by Stephen King - last scene was the most scary thing I've seen in a movie and I enjoy a scary movie. I almost shat myself, the gf who began to panic and gripped my hand tight probably made things worse.

I'm already confused haha Too many numbers too: distance, type of corner and direction. Am I correct in thinking this number plate would be desirable in the UK? Then again, do nerds have cars and money to spend on plates?

Sounds like an interesting idea, will give it some thought thanks!

Is it just me or is TRA one of the few rides who actually "fly"? His moves are so massive that you can notice his air time if that makes sense.

The most scary part is the practice run where you're only allowed to go around 20mph. You get onto a risky section and think - ok, I'm safe now but in half an hour I'll be doing 110 here and I don't quite trust the choices I'm going to make. Once you're actually on the run, you don't think about what if's It's a shame that the only events which would give me a similar rush are hillclimb and proper rallies - both are way too expensive, the latter also being completely out of my league in terms of skill. I'll be doing an amateur rally in the Daihatsu soon, one where you need a co-driver because the special stages are too long to remember them. One of the more serious problems I'm faced with is rather ridiculous - I have a problem with directions (left/right). A solution was proposed whereby I stick a big LEFT sticker on the left of my screen and RIGHT on the right. Wonder if that could work, it would definitely look incredibly stupid on an on-board recording.

That was extremely entertaining.

It did, lots of cars with torn off wheels, plus my friend rolled his a few times. The wood/bunker section was full of tree stumps lurking in the grass. Got used to it I guess 1 run so your co-driver can make pace notes and that's it. If you don't have a co-driver then you're unlucky Still despite the danger, the most fun I've ever had in a car, especially after I knew that there was no chance for a podium finish. Less pressure, more time to enjoy yourself.

Driving nirvana from 00:20 - 1:50. Even had a slight crisis. As much as I like grippy tyres, I find it a lot more fun when there is little grip. This is on 255 section 595 RS-R's. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5qwq93Jx-U

Still find it strange. In every manual car I've driven that's not so underpowered it needs 3 gears to get to 60, 2nd gear goes up to 62-65 max. I think this is done so they can claim the best possible 0-60 time on the brochure?

Was it an important interview or just another job?

2nd gear goes up to 80mph? That's really odd gearing. Btw, your CEL is on

If you rode SL forks for 2 years (hard to believe ) then you could even stretch your budget and go for Karbons if you're looking for something stiffer and lighter? Mine have lasted 3 times longer than SL's so far, I've had them for 1,5 years. SL's gave up on me every 6 months, 4bolt version of course.

Progressing with my riding every time I go out. Hope I don't run out of steam!

Please continue making these vids. They're pretty much the only ones I watch nowadays. And it's so pleasant to watch a good rider when you've got good camera angles, high quality and a nice chilled edit.

No idea, a safe bet would be up to 6 months from now considering Echo have to design and manufacture the new cranks and your dealer has to get them in stock.

That's pretty much bang on. New batch is going to be redesigned, Echo are aware of the problem.

Did some outdoor bike assembling and wheel building yesterday, so much more pleasant than doing it indoors!

Why thank you! Just came back from a short ride, already seeing progress.

Nope, my friend pulled out and decided squash was more fun I'm in too bad shape to start again, we always practice in pairs and if you can't keep up with your partner, your wasting his time. I'd feel bad ruining someone's evening. The solution is to start over with someone who's equally unfit and already knows how to fight but such a person is difficult to find

Yeah but you're slightly unusual so that doesn't count Used to ride 18:18 and I'll admit that was too light. 18:17 isn't. Anyway, my goal is to repeat every move in this video by the 10th of June. It's been 5 years and I've been going backwards since. Would struggle with almost every single one now Need to get my motivation up badly or I can see myself quitting this sport for real. Vimeo Video -> Original Video