Jack Of All Trades, Master Of None...

I'm confused, if there's one thing trials does to me above all else it makes my brain hurt. Since I started back riding again a few years ago I've constantly been changing bikes and trying to find the right one but failing miserably. I feel as if I get friendly with some riders and want to fit in so I buy the bike and ride the style that I think will get me accepted, then I'll start talking to some other riders and switch across to what they do and so on and so forth. I get an idea in my head of the bike I want then imagine what it'll be like when I finish it, the problem is when I do reality strikes and I realise my level of riding is nowhere near what I think it is though I guess this is partially why I'll go off on a tangent and move on to something else. I'm pretty sure that if I'd have concentrated more on being myself than trying to be part of the crowd my riding level would be pretty decent by now though as we all know hindsight is a wonderful thing.

What's brought this on you ask? Well GETceative is back for it's 2nd year and I'm absolutely stumped for ideas! I've watched back my entry from last year and it wasn't really creative at all, whilst it was probably the best edit I've put together in terms of production the riding was pretty boring and there was nothing to make it stand out from the competition like some of the other entries. Yet again I'll blame this on the lack of decent riding spots nearby and lack of riding time though to be honest it's all there I'm just making excuses! I'd like to think I have a creative mind, I'm always looking at possible lines though the problem is in my head I'm far more talented so when it comes to actually doing them I don't stand a chance or I don't have the balls to attempt them.

This all goes back to my original point of not getting a bike and sticking with it, once again I've come to the point where a frame is on offer but do I make the change again or do I stick with what I've got and try and build the talent my feeble mind seems to believe I have? I have a vague idea of a video for GETcreative but the problem is will it be creative enough for people to sit up and notice me, and will I have the patience and mind to reach that level I have imagined.


Dave Barratt - GETcreative from Dave Barratt on Vimeo.

Time For A Change

These last few months have been weird, I've not been able to ride so spent my time sorting out out my bikes. The weird bit is I've never been more excited about a bike build yet neither bike is new, just had a bit of a refresh!

Up first is my Fourplay, new paint and new rims accompanied by a set of (temporary) brakes till I'm confident with my ankle again.

My other bike is my Marino, had a few problems sorting this out which has taken a long time to get finished but here she is all sorted. Geometry is bang on the money what I asked for, 1065 wheelbase, +70 BB, 675 reach, 73° head angle though I've had to run the chainstays at 367 instead of the originally planned 357 due to the rotor catching the caliper. Still I'm more than happy with the finish and from the little mess about I've had it feels perfect!

Must say a big thanks to Adam and the guys at Tartybikes for helping me sort the rims out for my Inspired, Josh at JAF Bikes for getting the rotors on the Marino to me and Lucy at Indiprint for the excellent design and print job of the Marino graphics, cheers guys!

More pics of the Inspired can be found here and the Marino here.

Definitions...

Par·ou·si·a [puh-roo-zee-uh, -see-uh, pahr-oo-see-uh]
- noun

1. Second Coming

Injuries Suck!

It's been 80 days since The Incident, as it shall now be referred to as, and what have I learnt?

Well at the grand age of 30 you'd expect me to say I need to be more careful in future and start thinking about putting these dangerous activities behind me. In reality though I'm leaning more toward the idea of if there's not long left before I'm too old/tired/weak to ride trials the only thing to do is push myself whilst I still can!
There's still so much more I want to do, people I want to meet, places I want to ride and I know if I throw the towel in now I will only regret it down the line.
I've already made so many new friends riding trials and I'm looking forward to making more when I join the 24tour in August and beyond that. A rider released a video a while back that really hit home what trials means to me, he'd been through a tough time and it was people he'd met in the scene that pulled together to bring him back up. I hope one day I'm lucky enough to have friends that would do the same for me, see what you think.
Still livin' from Joel Bennett on Vimeo.

Injured...

Honestly, just when it was all coming together I manage to break my ankle gently rolling along a flat snow covered road. This was 3 weeks ago now and I'm well past boredom being in a cast!
I'm sick of the PS3, have no interest whatsoever in watching TV and with my replacement Marino frame en route all I want to do is ride now the weather has improved.

Cast is due off in 3 weeks and I can start walking on it gently after my x-ray next week (hopefully) so if anyone has any suggestions on what I can do to entertain myself or what will aid my recovery once the cast is off feel free to drop me a line, please!

The Second Coming

The comp has been and gone, needless to say I was a little rusty and very unfit but I had a fun day out.

It started looking bad as I was working nights the week leading to it so on the Saturday evening when it started snowing I was getting quite concerned. The following morning driving through Buxton and along the A515 it was looking doubtful as to whether or not the comp would still be on, there were quite a few snow drifts blown across the roads along with the odd van and car "parked" in the dry stone walls at the sides.

I finally arrived to find a lot of the riders had either not bothered to make the journey or got there and thought better of the weather and gone home early, I however was up for a challenge and wanted to get my new bike tested out in it's true home! Throughout the day the weather switched between light snow showers and strong winds and the quarry where the trial was held was very wet and muddy, with sections made up of steep bankings and slippery rocks I knew it was going to be hard going and with one section already called off as it was deemed too dangerous to ride I was feeling a little nervous.

The other casualty the trial suffered from the weather was a lack of observers but wanting to press on we worked a way around the usual plan of 2 laps of 8 sections by completing 4 sections twice and then having the observers swap across to the remaining 3 sections for us to complete twice. Despite all this though everyone that had stuck it out had a great day, overall I finished 5th which I was definitely pleased with. It had been 5 months since I'd been near rocks on a trials bike and having never ridden a 24" that wasn't a street bike I didn't know how I'd cope.

Now speaking of my new bike I've had word from Marino last night that he has started my new frame! I've made a few slight improvements to it such as a one piece seatstay for more tyre clearance and magura mounts in case either my disc brake dies or I simply want to go back to rim brakes. Anyway, he's sent me some work in progress shots and with any luck should be finishing it off today so hopefully I'll have it in the next couple of weeks when I can sort out a paintjob and graphics.

 

TGS Ain't My Bag Baby

New bike is fully built up for now, I'm pleased with how it looks and it's how I imagined it would be. First comp on it this weekend (March 10th) so it'll be interesting to see how I cope.

From riding street I'm struggling to transfer across to my new compy 24. I'm sure with a bit more practice I'll get back into it but for now I need to get back to the basics, also will help to tighten bolts up before I ride.