Friday 29 June 2007

Les Gets Baby!


Just about to leave for a week in Les Gets with Riders Retreat - First time out so can't wait... I'll try and find an internet cafe mid week and upload some pics!
Au revoir!

Wednesday 27 June 2007

Tees have landed...


The first batch of Wideopen tees arrived this morning... a full ad and details on how to get one from us will be in Issue 3.

In the meantime you can order them from the Fearingout shop.

Monday 25 June 2007

Pump Comp Winner Pics


Got a great email over the weekend from our Pump comp winner Matt... It's really good to hear back from readers, especially when they're stoked on the mag and the competitions. Matt won a Pump t-shirt and a few other goodies, including some of the first batch of Wideopen stickers. We'll let you know in issue 3 how to get hold of some!

"Hi Jamie, t-shirt arrived today, many thanks, its great!

Sticker's were most welcome also, infact i've been after something like this since respraying the bike! I was so excited I even took pics (lucky you, they're attached too!)

Cheers again, I'm more than happy to support the site/mag in any way I can!

Matt
"

Saturday 23 June 2007

Some bits and bobs from my inbox...

Just managed to grab 5 minutes to check my emails...Got quite a lot of Wideopen stuff which is always great. Here's a couple of little updates that might interest you all, i'll pop some more stuff up Monday:

From Caroline at TF Tuned Shox:

"Hi guys and dolls,
Just a quickie to let you know that RockShox, both parts and forks, are back in stock. Finally! We're busy today prepping the back-ordered forks, so if you've been waiting for a new toy, then this weekend you get to play in the rain. You lucky, lucky people.
Also, as most of you know by now, we no longer service Scott shocks. If you have a Genius in need of lovin', the nice people at Scott UK will be pleased to help - the number is +44 1670 712129. We will of course continue to honour our three-month warranty on TF-serviced Genius shocks - after all, a day without Genius is for Tim a day not lived to the full. No, really, honest!
He's soooooo sad to see them go. Ahem.
"

Also... Howies are having a summer sale. They've managed to completely outgrow the warehouse so have gotta shift some stuff before they can take any new deliveries. Click here for men's sale and here for ladies. Sounds like business is good in Cardigan Bay.

Friday 22 June 2007

Welsh Downhill Championships

Folks, it may well seem that the DH season is not long started, but time flies and Championships need winning. This weekend (23rd/24th June) sees the Welsh Downhill Championships at Rheola.

See www.dragondownhill.co.uk for details. You can even watch a preview of the course which will also be featured for the British Championships (route to be changed a bit though), on the Dragon website, check it out.

Should be a good course and a top weekend of riding, racing and spectating. So if you're too scared, injured, bored or fed up of boring weekends, get yourself along and cheer the racers down that hill. Rheola...where champions are made.

Point to note, direct quote from Dragondownhill, "Midges up at Rheola are quite bad so bring some insect repellant."

So, take a horn to drum up some atmosphere, shout random chants and rub that insect repellant on liberally :D

Thursday 21 June 2007

Mountain Sessions at The Factory Skatepark in Dundee

Just spotted this on the Descent-World forum...

The Factory Skate Park in Dundee are running MTB only sessions from July to August. If your up that way, go check it out. Support your local skatepark folks!

Sunday 17 June 2007

Dear industry...can we have more Freeride parks please...



Another early morning at home in Scotland and I rose excited like a child to get to Glentress FR park...the met office yet again pulled a blinder and claimed rain, but it never came, so GT FR park it was (was gonna hit Inners if it had rained!). The stinky was on form, and I reinstated big time!

Whips, hips, tweaks and ultimate development for me...one handers and then no handers. The top section was getting dialled all day, and I had a different trick on every table. One run had a one hander, a no hander, whip, hip and tweak all in one. Absolutley f@*#ing mint and development for moi :D

Good craic as usual with random park chat. Also met up with Robin again, he was throwing some nice one hander-no hander-then one hander landings, bar spins, opposite whips and all. His bike still sounds like it needs some TLC tho, clunkety, clunk...LOL!

Just a few pics, and tbh I could have taken these in my car boot anywhere, but trust me, I'm buzzing from the FR park as usual, build more in the UK plllllllllllllllllease! Nice shot of the wideopen sticker on my giro remedy, as above, lol...

Saturday 16 June 2007

Empire of dirt cancelled...

EVENT CANCELLED DUE TO SERIOUS DAMAGE TO COURSE BY HEAVY RAIN
LINK HERE

Newton Abbot, 15th June, 3pm - Kye Forte and organisers of Red Bull Empire of Dirt, are incredibly disappointed to announce that the event has had to completely cancelled for 2007.

Unusually heavy rain throughout Thursday night, and most of Friday, has damaged the course so extensively, that the hard working course crew will be unable to complete repairs in time.

Naturally, everyone involved, including Kye, Red Bull, the course shapers, event crew, and of course the world class riders, who have travelled from far and wide, are very disappointed. However, spirits are high, as planning for Red Bull Empire 2008 has already begun!

Milky will be heading down to the course in the next week to get some snaps for Wideopen. Check out Issue 3 out soon.

Thursday 14 June 2007

Final Pump Urban Wear comp winner!


Looks like the Pump Urban Wear comp is about to come to a close! We hooked up with PUW after issue 2 and we've given away a shirt every week for the last 3 weeks.... time to announce our 4th and final winner...

The weeks shirt will be winging its way over to yet another Bath local... Matt Miller. Well done mate, your shirt and some other goodies will be on the way asap!

MASSIVE shout out to Rick at Pump Urban Wear for being super bloody cool and sorting us out with lots of shirts to give away. He liked what he saw in Wideopen and took a chance in hooking up with us. It's much appreciated.

You can check out a feature on Pump in Wideopen issue3. If you like what you see, drop by their site and think about buying some of their threads.

Look out for another comp in Wideopen issue3 - out July.

Tuesday 12 June 2007

Whistler baby!

Just got this from my mate Trev. He's normally a spanner monkey from Coventry but has escaped the UK for a year with Ticket2ridebc in Whistler. With a bit of luck he might make these a regular thing...


"Finally got my self into gear and decided to write a bit of a weekly/bi weekly blog about the season in Whistler!!! So here goes part 1…

Been a very mixed few weeks in the Bikepark from the swamp we had on opening day to dry dusty 30 degrees of last weekend to the torrential rain floods of the past few days. The bone yard is coming along well with lots of lines, a funky curved wall ride on to the Giro box, and lots of smaller trail type jumps packed in.

Crankworx is set for the 21st to 29th July and is going to be the year of the hardtail (could this be Lance McDermott’s year??). It looks like theirs no big mountain lines except for the drop to step up from last year, which has grown! Expect some huge airs off that one...

The 4x track looks like it might be a bit of a let down. There’s some huge tables and a nice step down, but its got no flow. Lots of berms in strange places and 3 funky ones that send you up hill killing your speed for the jumps! We’ll see how it develops through the season though!



As for the rest of the trails it’s the same old runs. There’s a new bridge on "Schleyer" but we all jump over that anyway! The best thing the trail crew has done this year is resurface the landing from the GLC drops, which was holding up super well till the rain of the last few days and now it’s rutted up big time!! The only bad news really is the trashing of the start of "Lower Joyride", so "Crank It Up" can be linked to "Heart of Darkness"… but hey we are meant to be getting two new tracks over the summer.


Away from the Bikepark, the skate park is seeing lots of action from the bmx crew of Evolution. Bruno, Jared, Sam and me are all killing it in the snake run and wishing that Bruno's trails were not all the way down at function junction and currently flooded!

Away from bikes, I’ve been watching the Stanley Cup and learning all about the finer points of hockey. I still think its just men with sticks but the fights are good, and Ticket2ride head honcho Scott (panzi)Lanzi is currently rocking a Commencial Supreme DH, in long and slack mode, but he might be fettling that! Who let that boy have a bike he can change head angle, wheel base, and bb height?!

PS I’ve also seen the proto Rocky Mountain on the trails but can’t tell u much. I followed him down angry pirate, but couldn’t see much of the bike. Will get more pics soon!! Promise. I’ve also got lots of info on the new Collective video… but I might loose my job if I tell you!"

69 for prizes at the NPS Final


RHUK as official co-sponsors of the Chain Reaction Cycles NPS in 2007 are handing over an Astrix Union hardtail frame to 69th overall at the 2007 NPS Final @ Caersws!

Astrix's Union is at home on the 4X track or down the trails...or anything in between. Available in baby blue or baby blue it's certainly eyecatching.

The ride is like a big boys BMX, so easy to bust out manuals and precise through any turn.
Boasting 24" or 26" wheel, slidey vert dropouts, ISCG, custom tubeset... she won't let you down!
So get your game on...RHUK hopes this awesome prize will make you guys push harder for the rest of the Series!


Steve Parr says, "It's going to be like Christmas at the NPS Final on the Saturday night. We will be flowing a whole list of great prizes including this Astrix Union frame to a worthy rider who has competed hard and fast all year long".

For more information on the Chain Reaction Cycles NPS please checkout http://www.NPSDH.com

22nd July Rugog
12th Aug Moelfre
1st Sept Caersws (Saturday)

Monday 11 June 2007

Ride the World Champs track at Fort Bill

From Chris Roberts at NPS4X...

This weekend is the big tester event for the World Championships tracks both DH & 4X, this is your only chance to race on this brand new 4X track this weekend.

Saturday night is Super cross, timed seeding runs and straight knockout (world cup format racing)
Sunday is the FSO National 4X race - 4 moto format.

Entry for the race closes online on Tuesday at 11pm, we will take entries on the day for Saturday or Sunday but these may fill up fast.

Full details of these race are on
www.nps4x.com

We still have loads of goodies up for grabs, Marzocchi WC 4X Forks for one lucky category winner, FSO sunglasses & ODI grips for the winner of each category and the specially commissioned glass trophies.

Also with the fun of the SDA DH race taking place the atmosphere should be buzzing with excitement, with a few international 4x riders coming to race it going to be an action packed weekend of racing.

Race for free? - if you can supply a marshal for either day we will pay cash or give you a free entry.

Pearce Cycles Summer DH Series 2007 Rd2


Results are up for Bala on the Pearce site.
Sam Dale (Solid/Electric/Nike6.0) took the overall win, beating Hughsey(Syncros/Electric) by over 3 seconds! Top female was Sue Mahoney (Psyclewerx).
Check out ftmb.net for some pics and a repo. Round 3 will be 30th June/1st July at Bringewood - get on it!

Friday 8 June 2007

Comp Winner, Bristol Bike Fest & Pearce Rd2

Morning all - two quick bits of news for Friday morning...



First up, this weeks Pump Urban Wear competition winner is Dave Blake from Torquay... well done fella! T-shirt will be winging its way over in the next couple of days.... one more shirt to go now. Send us your details using the 'Contact' form on the right to enter.

Also, this weekend is packed with racing..... You've got Round2 of the Pearce Cycles Summer DH Series at Bala, North Wales. Amazing track and an amazing series. If your on the start list your gonna have a blast. Repo in issue#3 obviously....


For the XC crowd there's the Ritchey Bristol Bikefest at Ashton Court, Bristol. It's a three day XC event with a 12 hour enduro race on Saturday and a 6 hour on Sunday. There's also going to be live bands, boozing and partying from Friday till Sunday. I'll be on the case to do some heckling and getting a repo for issue#3. For more info visit http://www.bike-fest.com/bristol/

Wednesday 6 June 2007

The stickers have arrived...


Yeah they've arrived...
How do you get some? Details in Issue 3!!!

Tuesday 5 June 2007

Empire of Dirt


Yeah Wideopen contributor Jacob Gibbins (Milky) will be at the event for full coverage in Issue 3!

PRESS RELEASE:
15 & 16 June, 2007
Newton Abbot, Devon, UK

THE WORLD'S FIRST BMX DIRT SLOPESTYLE

FREE TICKETS SNAPPED UP!


Newton Abbot, Devon - With just two weeks to go, there are no more tickets available for Red Bull Empire of Dirt! All car tickets were snapped up within a week, when the applications opened on the MySpace profile on May 14th.

There is strictly no access to Red Bull Empire of Dirt without a ticket. But hope is not lost... Those who missed out on a ticket to see the event in person, can watch the Freesports on 4 program on Sunday 22nd July at 8.30am, on Channel 4, and again on Tuesday 24th July, late night (time TBC).

Empire of Dirt will also be broadcast on the Extreme sports channel.

Meanwhile, the world's first BMX dirt slopestyle course is looking awesome!


RedBull site
Myspace page
Progress photos and course photos

PUW Flow Comp Winner

Remember that Flow Drift frame Pump were giving away...?

Well they've announced a winner - check out their site
here to see if it was you...

More good news, there should be another comp running alongside the launch of their new site. Safe!


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xuberance Weekend

Also...Some disapointing news...The Xuberance weekend festival has been cancelled.

It was due for 9th/10th June in Llangollen, North Wales with Reel Big Fish, Pendulum, GLC and loads of bikes and boards going down all weekend.... sadly, it's no more.

The press release says:

"We are really sorry to announce the cancellation of Xuberance Weekend.

Due to unforeseen circumstances I am left with no option but to cancel the event in its entirety.

I offer my sincerest apologies for the short notice of this announcement and any inconvenience caused but please understand that this has been the hardest decision of my life and one I really didn’t want to have to make.

However the circumstances here are beyond my control, and have left me with no alternative but to cancel the event.

I have invested a vast amount of my time and money into this event over the last 14 months, but unfortunately I have been dealt a last-minute blow.

I fully intend to put on the event in the coming years and with this in mind I hope that you understand and consider supporting future events.

Thanks to everyone who has been involved & worked so hard providing time and expertise and also to those who have supported this event.

Anyone who has purchased a ticket will be contacted individually on Monday morning and will receive a full refund including all booking fees.

Please email any comments you may have to info@xuberanceweekend.co.uk

Kind regards

David Green
Event Director
Xuberance Weekend"