Recon Ride Test

Today was a wet old one and after a fruitless day trying to edit my new website I decided to head out behind the house to play in the forest on the Gas Gas 280. I have just made it road legal in France. In my backpack I put the Recon Instruments GPS and the guts from the Recon Ski Goggles I was given by my mate who works for them.
I did the same in Iceland ski touring and the GPS maps the route you have taken the speed and vertical gains etc... its pretty cool. Click on the link for a fly through of the route. Hit the speed button up to 32x otherwise you will be watching for 2 hrs

Recon Trials Ride Test

http://www.reconinstruments.com/

K60 Scout by Heidenau

I am busy preparing my BMW F800GS for a transalpine off-road and on-road adventure (details to follow later). However one of the questions that has perplexed me up until now has been tire choice. There are many blog threads, tweets and much other noise about which tire is the best off-road/on road mix. The majority of the information on the web is American where they tend to go for full knobblies, the bigger the better. However big Enduro bikes, also spend a deal of any trip loaded up with a lot of gear and travelling on tarmac, and most, if not all off-road tires don,t handle as well on the road, make a lot of noise and the riders feel a definite buzz through the handle bars. After much reading and searching I have opted to try the K60 Scout by the German brand Heidenau, they are a true 50/50 tire especially designed for big Enduro GS machines. They have just arrived today and they look great, deep tread but with enough rolling edge to suggest they with be cool on the road as well. Only time will tell and I am told I do need to run them in but these tires mark the first significant step towards preparing the bike for a high altitude late summer adventure.

Here is a short promo Video for http://www.andaluciantrailtours.com/ Trail World, run by Andy Secker. The Six Six One Helmet is mine. A very fun three days and I learnt a lot. 

When Push Comes to Shove. Part 1

_{When was the last time you did something that pushed you, I don’t mean being the out of breath, marathon running, mountain climbing, singing in public thing, or those that involve physically pushing for a few hours or so, nope, but a really big one; A difficult humbling, back too square terrifying one. Its not as though I do not occasionally scare the bejeebers out of myself, I rock climb, downhill mountain bike, snowboard in big mountains and whilst these things do pinch away at my ideas of self preservation and safety. But I know them, they are a familiar frisson, they have become part of my life and therefore are not unusual. I guess I have reached a level of comfort within the limits of these activities, they no longer require great mental effort. I have found myself am looking for the unusual, the edgy the unknown, something new.}

_{I am lucky enough to spend some time every year living in the lovely French mountain village of Samoens. Its all very twee and saucisson on the surface, but lurking in the forest only to appear when the tourists slob back to the cities, out they come, helmeted Trials Moto Riders. The valley has a long history with the two-stoke blue smoke thumping machines. They are occasionally heard on the forest tracks or glimpsed slowly descending the out of season mountain biking trails, the stink of motor oil and Pastis mixing with aromas of the forest and wild boar poo.}

_{For two seasons I have been one of this bunch, of bar owners, farmers and ski instructors who find fun in the forests and dusty trails. But I have a problem, I can only legally ride a 125cc bike and it labours under my 89kg bulk, I need to graduate to a 300cc thumper but have no motorcycle license.  Hence the story, but this two-wheeled graduation has been and continues to be, a real test.} 

When Push Comes to Shove. Part 1

_{When was the last time you did something that pushed you, I don’t mean being the out of breath, marathon running, mountain climbing, singing in public thing, or those that involve physically pushing for a few hours or so, nope, but a really big one; A difficult humbling, back too square terrifying one. Its not as though I do not occasionally scare the bejeebers out of myself, I rock climb, downhill mountain bike, snowboard in big mountains and whilst these things do pinch away at my ideas of self preservation and safety. But I know them, they are a familiar frisson, they have become part of my life and therefore are not unusual. I guess I have reached a level of comfort within the limits of these activities, they no longer require great mental effort. I have found myself am looking for the unusual, the edgy the unknown, something new.}

_{I am lucky enough to spend some time every year living in the lovely French mountain village of Samoens. Its all very twee and saucisson on the surface, but lurking in the forest only to appear when the tourists slob back to the cities, out they come, helmeted Trials Moto Riders. The valley has a long history with the two-stoke blue smoke thumping machines. They are occasionally heard on the forest tracks or glimpsed slowly descending the out of season mountain biking trails, the stink of motor oil and Pastis mixing with aromas of the forest and wild boar poo.}

_{For two seasons I have been one of this bunch, of bar owners, farmers and ski instructors who find fun in the forests and dusty trails. But I have a problem, I can only legally ride a 125cc bike and it labours under my 89kg bulk, I need to graduate to a 300cc thumper but have no motorcycle license.  Hence the story, but this two-wheeled graduation has been and continues to be, a real test.}