NPS4x 2011 Rd1: Leamington Spa

This weekend saw the opening round of the national 4x series at Leamington Spa. It was a hell of a start to the season, these people spreading the quite frankly ridiculous rumours that 4X is dead need to get to an event and check one of these events out, the atmosphere was buzzing. There were 40 riders signed up in Senior, 20 Elite riders on top of the Youth, Juvenile and fun categories making 170 riders in total. Even the women were really well represented and battling hard. This year the series is looking very pro. The trackside was lined with big team stands and there were loads of spectators giving the event a real motocross feel and great atmosphere. The quality of the organisation from Naked Racing is top notch and very slick. Out on the track the it is obvious how competitive the team competition is going to be this year. There are now a number of really big teams displaying some trick looking bikes and striking race kit. The big players for this season are going to be team 44Racing who have last years victory to defend but that wont be an easy task when up against the formidable looking team Identiti and team Nukeproof. It was also great to see a load of the dirtjump scene signed up and charging hard, Glen Coe was on the gates and Ross Tricker was back giving 4X another go in the Elites.




The track has just been rebuilt and so it was super fresh for this event. The track has a clear BMX influence with lots of steep close set jumps and rollers. First straight was awkward right off the gate, first pedal stroke put you into a small double that required good timing and control to pedal over then there are 3 doubles that split into a small roller/double and a do or die double into the inside of the first corner. This line couldnt be rolled, it was the faster but slightly more risky option. On the ouside there was a triple to double. Again very closely spaced so you had to be really on the ball or else it got really ragged. The first corner was long and loose and tarmac on the second half. This saw some big crashes as people struggled to hold the inside flatout. Out of this corner was a large camel hump table, most people were stepping on to the hump but a few were storming the corner and clearing the lot. This lead into an S-turn and a few more BMX style roller doubles. A right hander lead into the final straight where the track split to form the pro line on the left and a load of small tight rollers and doubles on the right. The proline isnt the biggest out there but the run in out of the corner is more or less uphill so you really have to be on the cranks to have the speed. Not everyone was into the BMX feel of the track but I think we need to have a range of tracks that make a dynamic and interesting race series and which can test the full range of riders skills. It was definitely challenging to ride but good fun, its a track that I would love to have on my doorstep as there is so much there to play with and learn from.

The sky was threatening to produce a big storm but we managed to dodge the worst of it and we had a mixture of sun and big heavy clouds with some wind to keep people on their toes down the first straight. The track did produce some good racing and really showed which riders were still asleep from the winter break. Most of the action happened on the first straight but there were plenty of moves being made lower down the track. The best racing of the day was coming from Nathon Parsons. It was his first race in Elite and he was pushing to the limit and not giving any of the more experienced Elite riders an easy time on the track. In one of the motos he came from 4th at the end of the first straight and chased down the riders in front making up two places by the finish. Nate made it to the A finals but got tangled with Oggy to take 4th overall. Not a bad first outing! In Senior Alistair Keen was the shocker of the day. He is a Leamington local and has clearly been getting the practice in as he was storming every moto and held it all the way to a 3rd place finish overall. The big crash prizes went to Ross Tricker who was gunning for the inside on the first corner but caught the other riders wheel and lost it at full pace shoulder barging the upslope of the next jump which marked the end of his racing for the day due to a suspected collar bone injury. Tom Knight had a good one coming off one of the doubles half way along the first straight getting thrown impressively over the bars with bike still attached. He got away with it and was back up and sprinting back down the track. Lee Ferry went down sending the camel top table in what looked like a really heavy crash but luckily he was back up and able to race.



I was happy with my day. It was literally my first day back on a mountain bike since the cast came off. The ankle was giving me some grief in practice so I took it easy and got it strapped up ready for races. My first two motos werent that great. I was too fresh on the track and a little hesitant which gave me two 3rd place finishes. the last two went a lot better and I was feeling my racing form coming back and feeling like I was riding far more respectably. Third moto was a 2nd place finish. The last moto I had a decent start but got chopped at the end of the first straight and didnt have the speed for the inside line. Coming from the back I managed to get back with the pack and finished the moto in 3rd. This wasnt enough to get through to the quarters but I am super happy to be back on the bike and its great to know that even after hanging up a few jumps the leg is in one piece and good to go. Bring on the next round!



Thanks to Chris Roberts and the team at Naked Racing for putting on another great event. It was brilliant to see so many riders out, the scene looks really vibrant at the moment, the atmosphere was awesome, I am looking forward to seeing how this 4X buzz develops throughout the season. If any of you DHers realise you are missing out and want to give 4X a stab then next round is at PORC on the May the 8th.


Heres a nice video from Duncan Philpott covering the event.

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Snow Lines

Stunning weather, snow, bikes what more can be said. We hit the hills and had loads of fun sliding around in the white stuff. Jonathon Lloyd was on the camera and did a great job of catching the action to compact flash. Lets hope theres more of this great winter weather to come.

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Surf/Bike Van Conversion

The plan for this summer was all based around travelling on the cheap out the back of the van. The first roadtrip of the summer however ended abruptly after the van had to be scrapped at the bottom of France as a result of it practically bursting into flames on the autoroute. I was left with a stripped bank account and no wheels. This project was born to get back on the road and on the cheap.


My choice of vans was severly limited by budget anything with a VW badge was well out of my league so the search was for an old Japanese van that from what I have heard are meant to last forever. The only issue was that none were popping up in the pages of autotrader. After a month of looking I got lucky and found one down the road off of Gumtree.com. The van was an electricans well used Mitsubishi L300 with a mere 180,000 miles on the clock. Worrying numbers, but it drived nicely and there was no major rust that needed sorting.

First job was to plyline and carpet the inside. This helps insulate the back which is a must for camping but also helps with deadening the noise and making it look considerably more tidy. The ply was cut to shape and screwed into the pillars using selftapping screws. Any big voids were filled with polystyrene ceiling roll I found in B&Q. Ply was also screwed to the ceiling creating an instant transformation, the inside of the van had almost lost the whole retired builders van look.

The layout was very difficult to work out. I wanted a sort of 'rock and roll' setup where a seat lifted up to form the bed. Putting any permanent structure in severly limits the useability of the back of the van. As there was not much room to play with it is crucial that bikes and surfboards could still fit in when wanted. As a result the bed had to be very high so that bike wheels could fit underneith and we are still able to load up several bikes. The seat is fully removable and lifts up to hang on metal supports I had made forming the bottom half of the bed. It is also possible to have one fully built bike standing inside the van with the bed up along with loads of room for storage underneith. The advantage with this setup is also that with the seat down muddy/wet gear can be stashed behind the seat in the rear section keeping it fully sepparate from the front living area.

The seat and rear shelf were made out of varnished MDF with a supporting structure made out of 2*2 beams again self-tapped and glued to the side of the van. Once the structure was in place I carpeted the inside. I managed to get the end of a roll of carpet for £10 which was enought to do all the areas in the back I wanted. The carpet had a rubber lining that had to be peeled off first and then it was cut and glued using spray glue to the sides. The edges of the carpet were tucked behind the ply panels giving a crisp pro finnish.

The outside of the van was looking really ropy I wanted to do a full respray. First any major dings were filled and sanded so that the pannels were all nice and flat. the next stage was the hardest part of the job in that all the exterior trim had to be removed or masked. This takes a lot longer than you might imagine!! The van was then fully cleaned using thinners to take off any dirt grease and residues. Followed by a light rub down to key the surface ready for the paint.

I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a spray room and guns to do the van in. The painting itself was quite a simple process. First a dust coat was added where a very thin speckling of paint is sprayed and let to tack off to give something for the first layer to stick to. Then spraying along the full length of the van at as constant a speed and distance as possible to give an even covering of paint. Getting the right ammount of paint applied on each coat is crucial. Too little and the droplets wont converge together leaving a textured finnish, too much and the paint will run. After 2 coats we had a couple of runs and so left it to set before giving the runs a careful rubdown. The final coat was then applied and left to set. We ended up only getting one small run on the whole van. the finnish of the paint has come out really well. Opening the tin of paint for the first time was a bit scary, the colour was brutally loud!! It has thankfully mellowed down now the paint has set!



With the paint done the trim was refitted and the inside given a good clean up. The van is more or less finnished for the meantime. Mechanically it seems to be running sound and has passed its MOT with no issues so fingers crossed this one will last a bit longer than the last!!

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