Props to the Big Dog.............

Massive thanks to my good pal, Alan Chambers for building my 650b wheels at short notice, knowing full well that im going to make him re-build 'em next week , and build Vikki's wheels, when i get some black AND silver spokes, and some new hope hubs , more on that later.....

i think it looks quite cool, a tad heavy than i thought at 20lbs, but it rides nice along the corridor at work................. will give it a proper shake down at enduro6 on sunday.

New Bike

Not mine though, My good friend Dan-o Hale of shifterbikes fame, and organiser of the 2003 SSWC , has got a new bike. built Ewen Gellie ( i used to race at the deluxe dirt crits in melbourne with ewen ) who builds the Cog frames for Damo, more monstercross than 'cross (like his previous pompino) i love it! awesome paint job, if he can be bothered to race it offroad, he will defo kick arse, the boy has skills...............and the bars! awesome, i NEED to find out about these, is it just me or do they look carbon..... and as per usual, the bike is packed! White Ind, Pauls, King, Thomson, etc, etc, even has the new Oz-riders grips that another of my aussie pals is doing, james maebus, i should be getting some of these soon!

Postal Service

Im having problems with the postal service, and for once its not royal mail, its USPS. what a shower of shit! Davis sent me some parcels including my frame, nicks frame, phil and vicki's rims and tires, and some other nice stuff, on the 26th of march, i paid express delivery (3-5 days) and surprise surprise, they left america on the 6th of may! so 12 days and its not even crossed the pond yet! this is the frustrating part of trying to run a business, i dont do this to make lots of money, i do it to get nice stuff for myself, and to introduce niche stuff to people, remember i was the first to bring 96ers into the UK and now 650b as well. i have a full time job alongside this venture, but some times i think its not worth it, i feel sorry for people who pay me their hard earned money, for their goods to take longer than they should because people cant do their job properly. Between davis boxing it up and sending it to me and me receiving it, it always seems to be one almighty cock up! it really is beginning to make me think why i bother...........

Bike gone, no more bikes she said...

Sold my Cross bike today, and the new owner is getting a bargain! Ruth says i need to cut down on the amount of bikes and bike parts i own , so i flogged it, and gonna build up a hack bike to commute using the bits i have lying around, so two birds , and all that....... i say hack, i dont really own "hack" stuff, as such, so using the Paul Milnes SL cross frame set my bro in-law gave me, a set of White Ind cranks in 170mm w/38t ring on it, some pauls neo-retro canti's, cane creek levers, and an old wheel set i have lying around until my ENO hub turns up, and i say old, hope ti hubs on touring rims.... , carbon bars and post, and surly cassette cog and surly spacer kit and tensioner, not what people would call a hack bike!

So the cellar is one down, but not for long! 'cos of the worlds being on, my interest in track has been re-kindled, so im now gonna build up a track bike, with the intention of racing the manchester track league on friday nights (until i get promoted to tuesdays...) so im now trawling ebay for shamals or atlanta rims, campy cranks, etc.......... gonna take my time though, bit by bit,wont be that noticable, and ill probably get away with it.........

Gears are gay, or maybe not.............

My pal Marko LaLonde , has just been signed to race for the same team as Number 1 US cyclo-cross racer Jonny Page, for the 2008/09 'cross season. Those who know marko ,will know that not only is he a really nice guy, he is VERY quick on a bike, no less, a bike with one gear........

The team will race ridley carbon cross bikes, and as they dont make SS models, they have forced him to ride with gears ( im sure thats not true but i like the idea...) im pretty sure he will tear it up over there, after all 19 more gears than he normally uses, surely he will be faster.......

Doing it justice

Gonna make sure it is RockStarRacing all this year instead of RockStarRacing twice a year...... for the last 2 years the only racing ive done are SSUK and SSWC 06/07. i intend to race as much as possible this year, NPS, SXC, Dragons, Midlands, Early Dawes and even some enduro's, MM, SITS, Enduro 6, and the brighton round of the G2 Revolver series, cant wait! and of course SSUK08 and, hopefully, fingers crossed, at SSWC08 in the good' ol US of A......

New Bike.

The new bike will, fingers crossed, be here for the midlands XC race at hanchurch that i intend to do on the 30th of this month, if not it will have to be done on the 96er. There are still a few little things that im thinking of changing on the build, deciding whether to fit the maverick SC32 that i got off nightfire last year, or run the fox f100 that i ordered? or use the avid juicy ultimates (they match the XO twisties really well!) or go for hope mini pro"s, all this will involve spending when i could just be happy with what i have...........( i think ruth would be happier if i was....)

turns out that vikki got her voodoo bokor in the end, for her 650b build. After asking my valued opinion (?) i advised her to go for the voodoo, and that Tim at everyones favourite shop, Sideways cycles , was doin one in her size for a steal.......... so she bought it, and ive ordered a set of the new stans 355 ZTR 650b rims for her and some pacenti neo-moto's, along with the planned purchase of some pace RC31's, this will be one cool bike........ as will mine hopefully!

on a plus note, my head has healed fine, my whiplash has lightened up, the beers went down really well at the weekend, back at work, gonna do another turbo sesh i think tomoz, while watching 24solo, and the Road to Athens, quality mtb race DVD's that defo gets me enthusiastic and inspired, makes me realise that the decision to give up smoking 289 days ago was a good one!