Bude Beer, Billet Block, Bow Waves and Bastards

Made the trip to Hogtoberfest today, was really looking forward to the slalom racing.

It was sunny but cold when I left home, a few spots of rain just before the Dartford Tunnel but arrived at a very grey and overcast Redbridge Cycle Centre.

Queued up to pay to race only to find that in the time it took to queue it had started raining, it stopped a few times and the sun came out and the bitterly cold wind blew. Didn't dry the track out though.

Still I had a really good time meeting up with old friends.

The lovely thoughtful Jo bought me beer for my birthday...

Here's my new 2014 Aluminium riser...

Work in progress...

What it is replicating...

Fitted

Got my board out of my bag only to find it had been vandalised by my so called friends, off centre and crooked sticker...

Bought some 2nd hand Seismic Hotspots from Paul Price...

And some Lush Slide Gloves from Jo & Steve size S but fit like a glove...

The wet weather didn't deter some people...

Stickers Not Stucks

Spent yesterday evening sorting my sticker collection into alphabetical order into a new ring binder.

The hours just fly past here at Dunmulleting Towers...

I don't like like these dark evening much, perhaps I've got Seasonal Affective Disorder, possible as I've been described as sad recently...

Whoop, 500 blog posts...

Hogtoberfest is coming

Next weekend is Hogtoberfest at Hog Hill or to give it it's proper name Redbridge Cycle Centre.

I'm really looking forward to this, hoping to go along on the Saturday and do some slalom.

Last time I raced...

What was Sperry's carpark in Bracknell, houses in background are long gone and are now the Peel Centre shopping complex.

On A Cold & Frosty Morning

Went to Tilehurst agian this morning with Trev, Paul and Brian. No Gray, apparently he was chained up in a dungeon wearing a gimp mask or something like that anyway...

A cold start, had the scrape my windscreen as it was still -1°C and misty.

Trev had the 44" Sims Taperkick with him.

The last three shots I took using the 35-80mm zoom from the Pentax P30n that dad gave me yesterday on my Pentax K20D. All the rest were with the fisheye. I also took a few with the P30n with the fisheye, will be interesting to see how they come out.

P30n

Popped over to see my parents today, went out for a nice spot of lunch and then back to theirs.

Dad gave me this...

A Pentax P30n from circa 1988, he bought a job lot of cameras at a car boot sale that use to belong to a university and have had identifying marks burnt into them with soldering iron.

Not a bad little camera, 35-80mm f4 lens.

Looking forward to running a film through it and luckily being a Pentax I have a few other lenses to fit it including my fish eye hopefully.

In other news I weighed in at 204lbs (14 stone 8lbs)  today, I started at 223 lbs (15 stone 13lbs).

I bought some running gear to celebrate.

Nostalgic Inspiration

How's this for nostalgia?

Tony Alva and Henry Hester from the 1976 Carlsbad Hang Ten World Slalom Championships.







Nice helmet Tony, I had one like that...



Oh to be that thin again.

Good to see that Alva and Hester are still skating after all those years too.

Project Cone Killer- Update

Bolted the slalom board together today, there was a lot of swearing.

Firstly, griptape, now if I was a shop selling a deck and chucking in some free griptape I think I'd make sure it was wide enough to fit the deck I was selling.

Ended up doing the old 'racing stripe' trick of gripping one side, cutting off the excess and then gripping the other leaving a gap to stretch it out a bit.

Oh, I removed the top sticker which was at too jaunty an angle for my OCD, did it carefully whilst heating with a hairdryer. It now lives on the bottom of the deck.

Secondly bolt holes and wedged risers and truck baseplates, nothing seemed to line up, I ran a bit short of wedged risers and ended up running a drill bit through the baseplate holes to angle them slightly.

So...

Bennett 4.3 on the front, used an old Tracker wedged riser that I had converted into a pair of 'rail' type risers and increased the wedge on at some point. Holey Smoke bottom bushing (deck side) Khiro orange barrel on the top with a flat washer.

Tracker RT-S on the rear, two Surrey Skateboards clear wedges which gives it a bit of de-wedge as it's mounted under the tail of the deck, standard Tracker bushings.

Cult Gamma Ray wheels, 72mm 80a all round.

Took it out for a spin to check it out, I could have used yesterdays blog title really, placed board on ground, step on, take a push, pump, wheel bite, slam. Rough concrete road meets skin, cuts to both palms of hands, scrazed knee, glasses bounce on road. Pick myself up dust myself off checking week old jeans (phew, no hole in knee). Tighten front truck.


My slalom test track was a bit damp and a bit green but I risked it anyway, feels good but I didn't want to go too crazy, check the wheel tracks out.

They were from this first video...

I then moved down the slope to a drier bit of road, I'm pumping down and then up the hill in this one...

The Pleasure & The Pain

My trucks for the slalom board turned up today thanks to excellent service as always from Gavin at Surrey Skateboards.

I went for the standard beginners set up of a Bennett 4.3 in the front and a Tracker RT-S  106mm in the rear.

Oh yeah, look how they arrived inside the jiffy bag and what else I got...

Slalom Course On My Doorstep

Well I say course, it will be my training stretch of tarmac I think.

Maybe I should splash out on some cones though.

Anyway, it's a private road, locked gate at the access end and has a gentle gradient down to a small carpark for some houseboats moored on the river at the other end.

I've posted this before on here somewhere, here's me on my LDP set-up that I regrettably sold when I was out of work.



The camera angle makes it look flatter than it is but it slopes away from the camera so I am in fact pumping uphill towards the camera.

Nice smooth tarmac and a short walk through the woods from home.

Project Cone Killer

Well as I said, I've been bitten by the Slalom bug, I had so much fun on Sunday I decided to get one.
Ordered this on ebay on Tuesday night, arrived this morning.
Fantastic service from Ed at Skateboards Of Choice or Skateskunk as he is known on ebay.

Skaterbuilt ConeKiller Mafia, beautiful deck, sticker on top being at a 'jaunty angle' is making my ocd senses tingle slightly though...

Trucks on order, will be in the post tomorrow.

Let's Be Careful Out There...

Saw this advertised on eBay, glad the seller didn't watermark it ;-)

Which reminds me I need to chase up my engine man...

More Wiggling

Here's some photo's that Trev took of me over at Ash Ranges yesterday evening, I look like I almost know what I'm doing...

And here's a clip of Gray that I forgot to post last night...