Pump track 18th November
The pump track has been looking a little neglected recently so me and Shane headed down on Tuesday afternoon and cleared the leafs of the track and sorted the drainage. But we also decided to give the jumps a make over. And have started to alter the jump line, the plan being to move the first take off a couple of feet further up the hill and generally make the whole set bigger and safer. We removed the old Bowling green roller from the first table and whole load of other rubbish (half a bed). We got the first take off rebuilt in the new position although it still needs a little bit of work to shape it just right. I will get some pictures soon. Hopefully we can organise some more digging down there, leave a comment if you can lend and hand with the aim being to re-dig the lot bigger and better than before as the ground is nice and soft at the moment (think of the positives).

Anyway back to the riding, after we had cleared the layer of leaves that was covering over half the pump track it improved things, even making it possible to put some of the more technical lines together into full laps.We only left about 40mins of light at the end of the day to do some riding and take pictures but i am pleased with the results. Shane brought his mini pump track bike down for its first test run see if you can spot it.

08′11′18 Pump Track JI+ST, 12 Pictures by James

Pump track 15th November

I hadn’t been riding with Jeff in quite some time so i suggested that we meet up one night at the pump track, having not been down there for quite some time it was interesting to say the least. Even trying to complete full laps was a difficult enough task, all good practice for the summer though. We did our normal mixture of riding and sitting on the bikes and talking.

But after a couple of failed laps the technique started to come back to us, even with the leaves and damp ground trying to do the best to stop it. The main problem was leaves sticking to the tyres and frames creating loads of rub. The bmx was suffering a lot with this so after i while i ditched the bmx and we took it in turns riding Jeff’s bike.

We got some good pictures of us riding the bank berms which was covered in a layer of leaves making for both interesting riding and pictures, i suppose those two are linked. Anyway get out and ride!

08′11′15 Pump Track JI+JK, 7 Pictures by Jeff

http://monkeyspoon.com/image-gallery/images-2008?album=3&gallery=83

After lunch at top of the woods on HopeX DH we did one continuous run down which we all enjoyed. We pushed up the other side complaining about the dangerous and boring new surface that has been put down on the section up to the Snake, as a result of work on the bridge.

Sessioning Hagg Tor was great fun, we did about 3 runs each of the top section and got some nice pics. A slightly new line has appeared on the second to last corner on the top section, cutting back left just after the corner gives a faster line and better angle onto the next corner with the dropping tree that covers the exit.

Next we headed onto Gores DH, where we all set off from the usual spot, Irwin leading, and me sneaking out in front of Matt. I was doing well, good speed, clearing a few short rock downslopes with a slight hop, slightly manualling the two stream before the forest. I then tried to pull up off the lip of a piece of wood buried in the track, I landed in a slight dip and was forced towards the front of the bike, off balance, going fast and expecting to go down I braked, which was possibly my downfall… literally. I went down to the left, landing on my side and sliding along the bank and track. A quick check, nothing broken, my arm and leg pads doing a good job, my initial injuries being grazing on my hip and elbow and my left lower leg muscle was stiff, I think it must have taken a hit while tensed. This made getting to the bottom of the track ‘interesting’. We called off going up Grindle Clough to Whinstone Lee Tor and just headed home, which was quite painful on the uphill sections. I was walking with a limp for a week and not fully recover for two weeks, still at least it wasn’t a long term injury.

08-09-16 HopeX+HaggTor+Gores JI+MA+JK, 12 Pictures by Jeff and Matt

The latest wallpaper, Irwin at the pump track from May of this year (this session), you can download it from the Wallpapers page.

The helmet camera is shane following Irwin, let us know what you think.
08-10-05 Chapel Gate HeadCam Mid

After a short while we were joined by Jonny who had ridden over on his brothers bike, as his orange was “dirty” from the coast to coast. After we all had a good giggle at Jonnys bike we did some more riding. Then Jack turned up and i have to admit at this point it did kinda turn into the Jack and Jonny show with both of them pulling various bank tricks.

So after a while we got a bit bored so we all headed over to Grindleford to ride Joe’s pump track. With all of us not having riding the now completed pump track it took us a while to even complete a lap. This wasn’t helped by a small amount of standing water but i quickly found a spade head and cleared the worst of it. Josh and Jack quickly found a strange gap jump with various attempts and some hard landing later they headed back to trying to complete laps of the pump track. Joes pump track is much more technical and tighter than Bamford so there were a couple of falls and bails from almost everyone. With Jack and Jonny, who was now back on the orange styling up the berm gap jump everyone was enjoying themselves i think the sun might have even come out at one point.

After being on the hartails or in my case the BMX me and Josh felt it was time we got the big bikes out. Josh had previous told me about a partially technical section he and Joe had ridden and i was keen to go try it out. So we headed over to the other side of Grindleford near the station to investigate and it was technical that was for sure. But after we had only done a couple of runs everyone was starting to feel a bit tired so we called it a day.

08-09-13 BamfordPT+JoesPT+Grindlefordi JI+JK+JW+JC+JR+MA 30 Pictures by Jeff & MattA.

Survey at: http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/index/looking-after/consultations/recreationsurvey.htm
(Note: You have to tick ‘no’ to options you don’t want, not just leave them.)
More Info at: http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/index/news/news-display-page.htm?id=17604

Last Saturday myself, Jeff and Matt spent a good couple of hours doing a combination of riding and digging and came up with the idea of racing with there being two set routes with each rider having to complete both. To make this possible we made some of the roller wider so you can now fit next to each other on the left-hand straight. I suppose you could call it pump track dual racing. Anyway maybe we could do some of this and have some sort of knock out competition.

This meet up is open to anyone who wants to come so just leave a comment if you need help with directions etc and we’ll email you.

Registration will take place at Hope Valley College where parking is available. Be sure to arrive in plenty of time to register and get to the start point 3 miles away in Shatton, the finish is at Hope Valley College (with hot soup ). The start time is intended to be 9.30am. Riders must be 17 years or older and must wear a helmet. The entry fee is £15.
The event is organised voluntarily by two local Hope Valley schools, HVC and Hathersage Primary School, with all proceeds going to improving facilities for the children. Advance registration is advisable – it will ensure your participation as well as assisting with organisation and catering. The first 50 entries will receive a free T-shirt.

The route involves the downhill section down Brough Lane (watch out for snake-bites), Jagger’s Clough and Hollins Cross to Castleton on the short route as well as the long descent towards Hayfield and Chaple Gate in the long route. It generally looks a good route with relatively gentle climbs and descents, with a few more extreme sections on the long route.

View the route map - PDF 2.2MB
OS Getamap of start point
An interesting account of the 2006 event

Email Julie Colley, julie@sladenlodge.co.uk, for an event entry form.

Back at the start of August James, Matt (Ashmore) and me (Jeff) went over to Edale with the intention of riding and filming Jacob’s Ladder. After an impressively (for us) continuous ride up there, from parking area at the bottom, we got to the Ladder where we discovered Irwin’s brakes weren’t doing much following his visit to Morzine. So with filming that track out the window we carried on to the top, putting the bags down on the flat middle section, we added to the length by going up the footpath on the right, giving us a 100m run in to the left hander into the initial gully. It was a good run with some water slashing in various places where it was following the track. I caught Matt up as he hadn’t been riding for a while and overtook him on the flat section. We picked up the bags and then did the section below the gate, it was tiring and my brake levers were too far out.

After that we headed back down to the car before going to the most excellent pub in Edale (possibly even the Valley), The Nag’s Head, and there was a comedy moment where I rode off ahead with Matt’s car keys in my pocket before realising and going back. We happened to bump into Shane and had a rather nice plate of chips and onion rings with a side dish of banter, followed by a generous amount of chocolate cake courtesy of Shane’s missus, cheers .

Following a lesson in trials riding from the ProMaster we drove up to Mam Tor, leaving Shane to his work. We rode down to Hollins Cross, with Irwin’s brakes improving somewhat we filmed on the bridleway that goes down to Greenlands, before a final sweaty push back up to the car. The weather was good and I got funny shaped sunburn where my arm pads weren’t covering.

08-08-01 Edale JI+JK+MA - Jeffs, 6 Pictures
08-08-01 Edale JI+JK+MA - Matts, 5 Pictures

On Friday Irwin and I rode the Pump Track in Bamford, it wasn’t too wet considering the weather of recent, an extra line has been added coming off the far berm and we did a bit maintenance on the far inner berm. We then had a competition that involved the middle line into the mini PT berm and then rolling as far up the bank as possible, I won, possibly due to a controversial wheelbase size advantage. Following that we took pictures on the mini PT berm.

08-08-22 Pump Track JI+JK, 5 Pictures

1. Lifts, i know this sounds like abit of a obvious one but not only does it mean that you dont have to push back up the mountain side. But it also means the tracks are so much longer with the average descent time being 8 mins plus if not significantly more in places. But not only this it also gives you the chance to cover/explorer much greater distances. For example the Mossettes lift takes you up to 2250m which is extremely high

2. Braun roof n slopestyle (best trick) We were luck enough to be able to go and watch Sam Pilgrim (GB) out trick the rest of the field. The contest took place over a short course (1 drop and two dirt jumps). It was practically impossible to take any decent pictures of the riding as the contest was at night and you couldn’t get close enough for a effective flash shot. There was a real atmosphere with people sitting up on the roofs of buildings, loud music thanks to the Red Bull DJ booth. With the Cheerleaders getting the crowd warmed up before the riders dropped in. Highlights from each of the three runs can be found on freecaster. By trick Run 3 the riders where really going for it. It was great to see people pulling such technical tricks as these up close, massive respect.

3. The Chatel bike park is home to loads of well built trails and has a small area at the bottom known as the “Drop Zone”. There is this Wall ride with a fun box on the other side. With a series of three variously sized drops/jumps aswell which kept us entertained for a number of hours.

4.XC Helmets and Crowbar goggles While we were eating our lunch mid way up the Chatel bike park we spotted these two guys modeling some truly horrific headgear. The combination of xc helmets with Oakley Crowbar googles i am sure you will agree looks rather daft. I managed to take a couple of pictures of these guys as i thought i might report them to the biking fashion police.

5.Braun roof n slopestyle (Main event) The main slopetyle event took place the following day after the best trick contest and had a much larger field with a step up in rider class. We were therefor very excited to see the likes of Cam McCaul, Darren Berrecloth, Cedric Gracie and Ben Boyko and not forgetting british hopeful Sam Pilgrim. The course was much longer and included a roof top section. I got a couple of pictures with my favorite being one of Cam McCaul doing a 360 bar spin. But i decided to use the picture of Sam Pilgrim not because it is a better picture but instead because again to our delight he won. Highlights of both runs can be seen on Freecaster, with Sams second run being partially impressive.

6.Table tops In Avoriaz there is a short 4x track, i call it four cross but you would struggle to get anymore than two riders side by side on most sections anyway. We stop briefly one day on it and took some pictures, the rest can be seen in the image gallery. The track itself isn’t partially technical or long. And the jumps are not that big (well apart from one) but the view makes it. With Alpine meadows and high mountain peaks.

7. Cows Again a strange, let me explain. I am guessing so that the farmers can keep track of the cows easily they all wear larger bells around their necks. The large group shown in the picture, i guess there must have been at least 50 were making an impressive amount of noise. Not only that but during one run down the Les Gets “Jump track” me and nicky almost hit one as it was stood right on the the track. It made for a comedy moment as we narrowly mist it!.

8. The view from the top of Mossettes lift, as i have already said this lift goes upto 2250m and takes you over the border into Switzerland. From here there are loads of different ways to head off, you have got the single track route, miles of epic alpine single track, puncture alley (a daft fireroad), the Swiss National downhill track (as seen in Kranked 6), or you can head down the ridge further into Switzerland. Anyway back to the view, From here you have a breath taking view over much of the Portes du Soleil region. The picture shows the Dents Blanches which are covered in snow all year and meet up with the flanks of Mount Blanc.

9. Morgins This is a small swiss town that we had heard lots of good things about so we decided that it would be worth the trip over. This involved heading off into the unknown and riding off the beaten track a little. But we ended up getting caught up in the middle of a mountain bike race (we even got filmed!) But we made it to Morgins and we were not disappointed this small town has three graded downhill tracks blue, red and a gnarly looking black run. But a mechanical problems with Nicky bike meant that we had to head off early before we got to ride them all, something for next time.

10. Chatel Town We had already been to Chatel bike park which is located a short distance from the town of Chatel and we had been told of some other tracks there so we got the free bus ride to check it out. You could take you bike on the bus which was great. With half the the bus being open so that there was somewhere to store bikes. Anyway once we got there our efforts were rewarded with two great tracks. The easier of the two was a combination of doubles and berms which was great fun.

And one last thing, i have got to say the 14km road downhill from Avoriaz back to Morzine was just quality especially when you get to overtake cars!
08-07-12 Morzine JI+NB+JW, 56 Pictures