Mr Blings 18th December race

I was somehow yet another sunny race day at PORC. The track was a proper good one too, with some of the best sections PORC has to offur and all flat out too! I started off clipped in to see if I could handle it but when I tried flat pedals half way through practise, there was no way I was going back yet! I went out on a xc night ride with them on after with Noshy and I'm getting there slowly.

check these vids out of the day...

one of good mate Brad Sheehan on the top section... http://vimeo.com/33985333

one of me at the bottom section... http://vimeo.com/33985146

and because everyone likes a crash... http://vimeo.com/33985060

I had yet another fantastic day at Mr Blings race and I think I can say that for everyone else there too... what a good race to end the year on!

Here is the podium shot... http://vimeo.com/33986831

Harry

Extreme Medics Race - Aston Hill

It was not the usual Aston Hill race in store for us but fun all the same. Check out my go pro vid following Phil down. It was my 2nd practise run so I didn't have the lines but it just goes to show how much time they made!

http://vimeo.com/33495168

 This was only about a 1/3 of the way along the notorious root section. With rain on its way... this was a spot everyone was looking at.

 The first jump was in the first 5 seconds but it wasnt one to show off on, you had to get back on the floor to pedal like a nutter!

 Phil did really well winning youth again. He came about half a second behind me too!

 Berny took the top spot switching it around after first runs... winning by half a second. Podiums didn't happen but the podiums were anncounced.

My Madison/Saracen bike range 2011

These are my bikes that I am so lucky to have. I have had them for a season now so I thought I would do a write up on the bikes and with the Myst espesially, show you what the team differences are.

Ok so my Myst is my favourite obviously. In terms of off the market stuff I have the Funn seat post the Madison/ Saracen team edition. Everything else on the bike is available to the public. It is just the colour of the frame that differs from the stock frame and after 2011 it is a Junior World Cup and Champ proven frame! The Forks, shock and springs are all factory set up at Fox. We also run a Fox sticker over the holes in the brace of the fork as seen in the picture. This stops mud build up mainly and makes it easy to clean. I have a odd Titanium bolt here and there. I also run the DRC timer on my stem/bars. With a small green button to stop and start times for intervals and overall times it's a massive help for racing! I run a full Sainte set up and apart from some secret prototype testing through the year, that's about it really. It's an amazingly good bike with no hold back to anything be it frame design to it components!

My hardtail has a very similar build to my DH bike, very aggressive still but with lighter components like XT brakes, SLX hub, EX500 rims etc. I have the Madison/ Saracen team edition bars and seat post, and like the Myst, it’s just the colour that is different about the frame. This bike is probably the most ridden for me. It’s great for just about everything!

My Ariel 3 is a stock bike and is amazing to ride on my local xc routes. It came into its own on a welsh xc ride the other weekend though when it turned into a DH run to the bottom! It is a 140mm bike so is still very aggressive. It can handle the roughest xc yet when you're riding along a mud path, its as manoeuverable as my Zen xc bike.

My Zen 4 is about as aggressive as an XC hardtail can get. I run the team edition bars and seat post on this bike I ride this bike on XC when I need to put some power down. When riding with Josh Lowe, we usually ride both of our Zen 4's and things get a bit competitive so say the least.

All that is left to say is a huge thanks to Madison for hooking me up with them!