It is about time...

For those that don't know me, I like a drink, and as my summer has finally arrived - cheers. Here is to lots of blog updates, bikes, and many a video;

#waybackwednesday...

Circa 2007 the "Scottish Muckers" started to make a series of videos documenting the Scottish Trials Scene. I suppose this post is more for me as it brings back some awesome memories of rides / trips / years gone by. I am quite glad I can call this bunch of reprobates my friends.

The last episode of this series, to my knowledge, was made in around 2010. So, as today's #waybackwednesday (and excusing the SD quality (if you are going to go all retro, might as well do it right)), here are all 10 videos, and an interlude in chronological order;

Scottish Muckers 1

Scottish Muckers 2

Scottish Muckers 3

Scottish Muckers 4

Scottish Muckers 5

Scottish Muckers 6

Scottish Muckers 7

Scottish Muckers 8

Scottish Muckers Interlude

Scottish Muckers 9

Scottish Muckers 10

Old Haunts...

Stonehaven is a wee town just south of Aberdeen, home of the deep-fried mars bar (apparently), birthplace of Robert Thomson (inventor of the pneumatic tyre), and where I used to live. Sundays ride was a hangover cure, but I managed to get some clips filmed, and this is the outcome;

Alone and Raw...

Sun? In Aberdeen? It has certainly been a while, and until I realised a 4GB memory card wasn't sufficient for GoPro clips, I was out riding on my lonesome and trying to film my first real clips of the year. This is the outcome;

New Bike, New Video...

Ross McArthur recently received his custom designed frame, the Marino Archive and after a couple of weeks getting used to it, setting it to his very particular tastes, he has finally managed to get out and about to get used to the bike.

Obviously, the weather hasn't been the greatest for getting out riding of late, as you'll see in the previous blog post when we rode Glasgow a couple of weeks back, but it seems to be getting just that little bit nicer, and hopefully a sign of things to come for everyone.

Filmed and edited on a single ride on Easter Sunday, he managed to make use of the awesome riding available in Glasgow in a way that only he knows how. I mean lets be honest, why are you still reading this? As if the words I could type anyway can justify how well Ross is getting on with this bike, so you should probably stop reading this and get watching the video...

Now obviously, if you are still reading this, then you might like to see a little more about his frame, which you can now purchase (in a colour of your choice) as a standard option from http://www.marinobike.com, so here are a few shots of his frame, and also a little introduction blurb from the man himself.

"Marino has sorted me out with a frame and fork which ive named the Archive. Way back when, when Akrigg, Ashton, Hawzie and Edd T were filming for what is now known as Trial Noir, it was originally going to be named "Archive 1". Maybe Chris had in mind to make a series? Anyway since I based the the look of this frame around the Ashton Edd T frame, I thought I'd name it thus. Obviously ive improved the geo to suit my needs, shortened the back end, steepened the head angle bla bla. Ive also added a few nice touches like horizontal dropouts with tensioners a-la Echo and a disc mount a-la Skye

Geo is 980, 360, 74, 20 Fork is 410, 30"

Grin and Bear it...

Location: Glasgow

Time: March, 2013

Outcome: Sun, Rain, Cold, and Bikes

Poor Macaskill has been ill of late, but we managed to get him out on his bike, and while he fixed his puncture we made the most of trying to be him;

   

Ross, Dan, Duncs and I out on the bikes just after the SUN, yes sun, went down.

Two days later...Glasgow back to its rainy best;

Just why wouldn't you want to come and visit Scotland?

and the winner (eventually) is...

First off, I have to apologise for the delay in announcing this. I won't go into why, but various reasons have led to the delay, and I've finally got 30 mins to get this written up, I wasn't just keeping the frame and going silent, even as a grippy Yorkshire man I couldn't do that..

Secondly, just to re-iterate, the winner of the competition (read the previous post for details), will be sent the frame, cranks, bb, and chainring shown below and are free to do whatever they wish with the frame.

Finally, thanks to the judges, thanks to anyone who shared it on any social media site (or anywhere for that matter), and mostly thanks to those who entered! Hopefully is spawned some ideas for some, and might consider some people to be a little more inventive in future.

so to the result! Here is what the judges had to say (in no particular order);

Ross McArthur
Ive watched all the videos and I think that Aaron and Matts is the best. The idea of having one angle but zooming out on the second half of the video to create the illusion of a different angle was a great idea. I think working as a duo/team sets a great example to the younger members of the community. Their making of video also sets a great example to younger kids, moving on when asked and realising they had made a mistake by riding a memorial.

They made best use the spot and rode the whole area using traditional trials moves and also streety flowing lines. They have obviously put thought into finding a spot too. The camera quality was good and the song went well with the editing and riding.



Flipp
Ben Rowlands. Why? How could it not be? Best filmed, edited, music, vibe and riding (obviously all in my opinion, that is).


Jack Meek
After watching them all. It came down to Guillermo Marin. I find his stands out that bit more than the rest. The editing tricks in the vid at the beginning get matched with the amount of lines within the edit. I like the location as it is a obvious choice for the comp entry. un till you have watch the edit he does more lines than you could spot. This keeps you engaged through out the edit in my opinion. As well as liking bits and pieces from all the other entries, Guillermo has done a fantastic job.


Joe Maher
Ben rowlands vid tops it for me. Style, smooth, good camera positioning and Good edit. Cant really ask for much more.Nick Cooke, close 2nd, but to many manuals.


Carl Hopps
My vote is going to have to go to Ben Rowlands. I almost voted for G's as his edit was interesting and his riding was inventive but Ben's ridings come such a long way on that bike. Super tech with a catchy tune. One to watch again!

Ian Johnstone
I think my favorite is Guillermo Marin's Video because of the creativity & effort in both the riding & the edit. I think my first thoughts for favorite was Ben Rowlands to be honest but my unbiased opinion is Guillermo



So Mr Rowlands emerges victorious in the competition. I will get in touch with you regarding this Ben and your prize will be winging its way to you ASAP.

Thanks again to everyone for entering, Ben's winning entry can be seen below, and all the other entries can be seen here - Trials Forum Topic

One Shot, One Video, One Prize...(DEADLINE EXTENDED)

Recently, I believe that trials had lost its way a little. I personally spent alot of my internet browsing on thecomeup, watching a whole lot more bmx videos, and definitely a lot less trials videos. I just felt there was something lacking. 

Thankfully though, there are some folks out there who are trying to move trials forward that little bit. First there was the section 001 freestyle competition, held by Mr Westlake of www.cleanzine.co.uk (in Bristol) around a year or so ago (maybe longer)...

...and more recently an online video competition called GETCreative, the brainchild of Ben Rowlands ( I might have mentioned it a few times of late). 

Both competitions handed out lots of decent prizes, to some very good riders, and on the whole I would say they were both a major success. It sparked conversation, debates, and it was proven that our sport is diversifying to realms of which hasn't really been seen before. 

Although I didn't win anything myself (FIXXXX, I hear you say...;-)), I actually believe that the results were pretty accurate and the best guys won. Sean Watsons Video was simply one of the weirdest videos I have ever watched, but addictive and very creative. I have heard through the grapevine that Sean is hoping to give away his prize via a form of competition (keep an eye out on the Killroy Nation page for competition details).

This led me to think of how I could give back to the community a little more. I have had a few deals with certain sponsors over the years, and this helped me out with discounted parts etc. I felt that maybe I could give something back to help continue the work that Clean, GETCreative and Killroy Nation have / are going to be doing. 

I took the picture below when I was out riding on a Friday evening. I spent over an hour by myself, riding this one spot, trying new tricks, seeing what little bits / different tricks I could do. The fun I had put a massive smile on my face, and I just wished that I had filmed some of the stuff to watch back.

Back in the day, the trials-forum had a Kerb Video competition - and with its rather obvious title entrants were to produce a video using a kerb as the primary spot. No prizes were offered, pride was purely at stake. If I remember correctly, Nick Goddard produced one of the most memorable videos on his Planet X, I certainly would have voted for him as the competition winner anyway. I think there might be something in that idea to take into the current day. 

So here is my take on it;

THE COMPETITION STARTS HERE

Things You Will Need

• You
• Video Recording / Editing Ability
• Tripod
• A Single Riding Spot. YES. ONE SINGLE RIDING SPOT
• Imagination
• Some Spare time between now and 11.59:59 PM on 17th FEBRUARY 2013

Competition Requirements

• Produce a maximum 60 - 90 second video (NOTE: THIS IS THE MAXIMUM TIME)
• Upload it to VIMEO
• Send me a link to your video via the Personal Messenger on www.trials-forum.co.uk (Link to My Profile Here) - NO LATER than 11.59:59 PM on 17th FEBRUARY 2013.

Video Rules

• Video must be filmed at ONE LOCATION
• Video must be filmed from ONE SINGLE CAMERA ANGLE 
• Video must be submitted to my Personal Messenger on the forum no later  than 11.59:59 PM on 17th FEBRUARY 2013
• Please do NOT create a separate topic for your video

What I will do

• Please refrain from making a topic about each individual video. I will create a topic incorporating all the videos I receive links to  so that every body can watch and compare.

How will you be Judged

I will contact a number of judges aiming to get a panel of 5 people, who would fairly represent the eclectic mix of trials styles, across the board and ask them to judge the videos based on a simple score of 1 to 10. 

1 being a video they don't like, 10 being a video you liked so much that it made you wiggle with excitement. 

I am not going to set criteria, this will literally be a case of whether the judge in question appreciates your video or doesn't. Therefore will include your music, editing, style and ideas / lines all merged together and scored out of ten.

Scores will be collated, and the winner will be the video with the highest score...simple.

What is the Prize

The single winner, as voted for by the group of judges (TBC) will be sent my old Custom Marino Trials frame. 

The geometry of the frame is as per an Inspired Hex, with custom horizontal dropouts and a disc mount. Mounted to the frame are a set of ilegal BMX cranks and 23t sprocket to complete that wannabe bmx'er look. 

The frame will come complete with dents and scratches that a usual 2nd hand trials frame would come complete with. 

The winner is free to do what he / she wants with the frame. Should you wish to sell it on then that is cool with me. The hope is just to give something back and spur on some more creativity and imagination from the trials world.

Some pictures of the frame below (Lola isn't included in the prize);

Additional Notes

One Single Camera ANGLE - this does not mean you have to complete all your tricks in under 90 seconds for your video. I just mean that every trick you undertake must be filmed from the same camera shot. My hope is it might spur on people to think about the camera shots they are doing.

One Single LOCATION - I mentioned previously about the Kerb Competition. Please note that this is not a Kerb Video Competition. You are free to use whatever single spot you like, big or small, but remember that only a single camera angle is allowed so you'd probably be best choosing a spot that you can utilise to your advantage. 

Judges - Names will be confirmed. I hope to have around 5 judges, with varying styles. They will rate your video out of 10....

PLEASE NOTE: ALL TYPES OF RIDER, ALL AGES, ALL SEXES ARE ALLOWED TO ENTER THIS COMPETITION. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A DANNY MAC WANNABE, YOU JUST HAVE TO HAVE SOME IMAGINATION AND SOME SPARE TIME.

Time Passes Quickly

The 27th November 2012 is a special day; only 34 days until 2013,  exactly 28 days until Christmas day,  and in 24 days time an apparent global apocalypse. Obviously the most important fact about this day is that I turn 28. While I'd rather be out celebrating in style, I am stuck in work and I felt I'd just write up some of  my thoughts.

Earlier this year, I'd considered giving up my stunt bike, well certainly once the winter set in. Life was getting in the way of riding and I felt that it might be time to set it aside and concentrate on other also important things. Over the years I have seen many friends start up riding trials and also disappear very quickly, and while being a little cliché, cars / drink did seem to lure many of them off.

A certain GETCreative competition helped to reinvigorate my love of bikes and made me realise I'd have just been stupid to have given it up. Its offered me so much in my life. I have travelled to places I'd never have imagined, performed for crowds in so many random locations, and met alot of people along the way who will always be friends.

So, rather then waffle on too much, I went down memory lane and managed to find a few gems of photos that sum up why I won't be giving up my trials bike any time soon;

EDIT: I forgot to say thanks to all the people I have met along the way, who've made the time riding bikes even more enjoyable...

 

Some Group Shots