Bigfoot MBC

Hello and welcome to Bigfoot Mountain Bike Club!

admin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 03:03:32 +0000

Hello, we are The Bigfoot Mountain Bike Club and we like riding bikes! We want you to enjoy it too, no matter what level you ride at or what type of mountain biking you like….and even some road riding as well….but that is not our main bread and butter. Have a poke around and if you want to say ‘Hi’ then drop us a line from the contacts page (http://www.bigfootmbc.co.uk/contact/) and hope to see you out on the trail soon!

A bit more about us – our motto: just get out and ride! What we are – more Big Society than Nanny State

We are a group of like-minded people who enjoy riding mountain bikes and, increasingly, road bikes too
We welcome people with different interests, skill levels and ambitions – cross country, all mountain, jumps, drops, fast runs, downhilling, enduros, 12/24 hour team/individual events, sportives…
The club exists as a means for people to ride together and share trail knowledge
The more we ride, the more we improve in skills and confidence, and by riding with people who have more experience and skills, we improve still further

We ride various areas in Gloucestershire (Cranham, Standish, Selsley, Stinchcombe, North Nibley and the Forest of Dean) and further afield in the UK and beyond
We aim to provide knowledge and help on all aspects of biking be it the right bike, equipment setup, training or general good advice
A variety of weekly rides to suit all speeds, tastes and aspirations that run (nearly) 365 days a year, day or night

The only real thing we rigorously insist on is that every member of the club must have 3rd party cycle insurance courtesy of CTC, which you get when you join the Bigfoot team.

‘The club had over 100 members last year and is run by a small but beautifully formed committee to ensure everyone who wants to ride has that opportunity, so let me introduce the 2012 heads of state…..

Chairman – Jason Ayres – chairperson@bigfootmbc.co.uk

Vice – Chairman – Paul Wherton

Membership Secretary – Steve Rendell – membership@bigfootmbc.co.uk

Treasurer – Mike Purnell

Easy Rider Co-ordinator – Susanne Klein

Also we have our Webmaster, Andrew Maddison and CTC Insurance Co-ordinator, Janet Clarke helping behind the scenes as well.

JOGLE – John O’Groats to Lands End

Jason — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:58:28 +0000

Hi all,

Most of you are probably not aware of this but our Mike Joffe is current hurtling south as he is riding John O’Groats to Lands End. Ali (his wife) is keeping all updated via Facebook, so I only thought it would be good and proper to keep you all informed of his progress and to show your support…which i am sure he will really appreciate and need… so i have copied below the extracts from the Facebook update for you all….

Jason

Ali - 13th May

Delivered Mike to Bristol airport yesterday lunchtime complete with boxed up bike and the tiniest bike panier containing all he needs for the next 10 days of riding JOGLE (John O Groats to Laands End)!. Plane to inverness, 4 hour train further north then a taxi ride and he arrived at his accommodation around 10pm last night. Go Mike!

Ali – 16th May

A Mike JOGLE update….

Day 1 – North westerly gales and gusts as he road 90 miles or so south west (i.e into the wind all the way!) down the Scottish east coast from JoG to Dornoch. At one point he was riding through a beach sandstorm!

Day 2 – 85 miles from Dornoch, through inverness to Fort Augustus. dried off at lunchtime in front of a fire only to get a dowsing again in the afternoon. Didnt …manage to finish his horrible burger at lunchtime and had to resort to takeaway chips and scampi for dinner as everywhere was shut by the time he had reporte into his wife and gone out looking for food!.

Day 3 – despite the previous days lack of substance and a 30 second catch up due to lack of reception, Mike reported last night that the 85 miles from St Augustus to Crianlarich went relatively quickly through gorgeous scenery, blue skies, and snow at the side of the road. Go Mike!

Ali – 17th May

Mike JOGLE cont….

Day 5 – A big one for Mike today! At the time of writing he has done 80 miles on his 5th day, with 25 miles yet to go before he can finish for the day! The last update relayed it being wet, windy, cold, hard, busy roads, massive lorries, negotiating Carlisle and crossing the border into England! Go Mike!

Easy Riders: Stinchcombe, slightly on the bloody side

susanne — Sat, 12 May 2012 19:09:42 +0000

Absolutely beautiful weather today. The Easy Riders made the best of it. We gave ourselves 3 hours to do the Stinchcombe North Nibley loop and started with the golf course. Selsley is paying off. The single track around the edge of the golf course is not so scary any more and it was dry where the sun had a chance. The bits in the forest were muddy. There destiny had a first encounter with our group. Adam slipped and fell into the brush. From where I was it did not look too bad, but when he did not got up and Derek, who was straight behind him, shouted: ‘We need first aid, he’s done his face in.’ I knew it was worse than it looked. When I arrived at the scene blood was flowing freely. I got my kit out but Adam was adamant that he did not want anything sprayed on his face. I did not had have the full army field kit with me so I had to improvise, and I did. Adam showed that he was a true easy rider and continued the ride spooking quite a few walkers and other riders with his appearance later on. Heading towards the Dursley sculpture trail we found loads of tracks with little jumps in them. We could not resist and tried them out. The height we lost we had to regain on the road again. The forest was quite full of riders. Later we learned that an Evans Ride it event was taking place. Before we zoomed down the Steep Hill I asked for a vote whether we should do the GOAP or ascent to the Tyndale monument on the road. The vote was for the GOAP and it paid off. The tracks along the ridge are worth it. We had another little incidence which resulted in bloody elbows (what shall I say? body armour, body armour, body armour). The last challenge was the killer climb on the way back. Still, I cannot do it in one go, but I am getting there. Thanks to everyone for coming out for a bloody good ride.

Bigfoot April “Showers” Meeting Minutes

Jason — Tue, 08 May 2012 10:54:42 +0000

Members

We are now into the new club year and already we have 42 members signed up which is great for the start and there are still plenty of forms coming in. There is a free joining gift in you join before the end of April 2012…if you have not had yours please ask? We will try and dish them out around key riders so they can distribute as and when people ask.

Cash

£310 give or take a bit which is growing as we are in the new membership year.

Club kit

All in and should all be now distributed. Thanks to Matt for his hard work with Kalas and hopefully you all agree the new design by Sam has come out great.

Cranham Update

Cranham – all done. NE to produce signboards, waymarks and leaflets. First weekend seemed to go OK. Please be respectful to all other users in the woods and feedback any comments, good or bad, when out on rides

More ride leaders.

Thank you all who came forward to lead rides, it has certainly helped me personally and has given some diversity to the rides. If we can keep this going, even if it is just once ride a month, that really helps and also we will try to keep the MEDIUM group going as well. It’s just trying to fit it all in but hopefully most club members now feel there is a ride to suit most tastes and aspirations.

And what is all this road riding about eh?

Skillz Sessions ”SMILES NOT MILES”.

Now the clocks have changed, the days are getting longer and warmer and the conditions are becoming drier, we will look to put up some specific rides where riders are looking to hone their bike handling skills be it jumping, steeper runs, drops or generally improving their riding techniques …learning from the more experience riders….”SMILES NOT MILES”. We will look to have these sessions at Lecky, Standish, Stinchcombe, North Nibley, Leigh Woods, FOD and Redhill…all local with plenty of fun stuff to practice on repeatedly allowing riders to progressive their skills.

KEPT THIS ON FROM LAST MONTH AND WILL PLAN IN WHEN IT STOPS RAINING AND STARTS TO DRY UP.

Events

Full listings can be found at http://www.bigfootmbc.co.uk/events/

HONC – great turn out by the club again and thanks for Susanne for being scribe for the day coupled with some excellent pictures as well… http://www.bigfootmbc.co.uk/2012/04/honc-2012/. Well done to all who took part.

Other club events we need to get by-in for over the next few months is:

Bristol Bike Fest on the 9-10^th June. This should be our big push for club participation and teams, so read the notes on the web and get your names down if you are interested (any ability) so teams can be pulled together. Teams are already being formed Peter N has a quartet, so has Susanne and Mike and Ali are taking part as a pair.

Bontrager 24/12 Plymouth – teams required. One already with me, Mike B, Andy M, Dom and Mark S for the 24 hour event.

Newport Velodrome Track Sessions – Open to novices as well as the more experienced track riders. The rides are on the ride guide so if you are interested please get your name down. The dates I have booked are:
13^th May 12pm – 2pm – 2hours
17^th June 9am – 11am – 2 hours
7^th October 10am – 1pm – 3 hours
4^th November 9am – 12pm – 3 hours
25^th November 4pm – 6pm – 2 hours
16^th December 10am – 1pm – 3 hours
13^th January 2013 10am – 1pm – 3 hours

Bigfoot Summer Fun Day – looking at similar day (end of kids summer holidays) and back at the camp site again for this. Date TBC. Help organising and thoughts for events and things to do for all the family always appreciated?

Trips Away

Alps road 5 day event 28^th May – 6^th June – still spaces if you are a keen roadie and want to tackle some of the classic Tour De France climbs. More details and to register interest please see the following link http://www.bigfootmbc.co.uk/2011/10/alps-road-tour-2012-club-trip/ . Myself, Mark S, N and Peter N are currently going.

Alps off road week 8^th-15^th September – Ed and Mike P are going to Les Arcs to do a Trail Addiction backcountry week 8 to 15 September. If you are interested in going please see this link for more detail and to register your interest http://www.bigfootmbc.co.uk/forum/yeti-chat/bigfoot-holiday-abroad-2012-ideas/page-2/

Scotland 7 Stanes 26^th -31^st July provisional – register your interest http://www.bigfootmbc.co.uk/2012/01/events-away-trip-to-7-stanes-very-long-weekend-blue-red-black/

AOB

Some web site pages need a refresh. Will be completed when we have the new kit pictures.

Security (UPDATE)

Following on from last month’s minutes some further advice on security. Some of this may seem obvious, but sometimes is the obvious that people take for granted.

- Insurance
Many house hold polices, if you read the small print, do not cover bikes or if they do they are talking about “Halfords specials” not the ones we have. It is worth shopping about for the right policy, and it will cost! Marks and Spencer use to offer a great home policy as bikes were not required to be listed if less than £3 or 4K per bike, but it is not clear if they now offer this, but give them a call to find out. Zurich also offers a similar package so again worth having a chat with them. I am sure there are a few more, will append as I get more information from other club members. It is also worth looking at if you want “away from home” cover whilst your bikes are in transit to and from rides or events as this is also a source of theft.

** NEW ** AA seems to offer a very competitive price and great cover, Tim Knibbs to update all on his recent chat with them as this could be a good one for us bike owners.

- Do’s and don’ts for the web site
Avoid putting your full name and/or address on the web site, especially your address on any open areas like the Forum or ride guide.
GPS routes – These devices are becoming more popular and are great for helping explore areas without the need of a map, but remember if you set it to track from your home and then publish to a web site, you are basically saying to all, Hi here I am if you want to try. Maybe think of setting the GPS on and off 5 minutes from home so you do not give away where some prized possessions could be got at.

- Recommendations for home security including chains, locks, anchor, etc.
For security you should be looking at spending at least £130 per bike on security….that is a damn good chain that are £80 plus, high grade lock £30 as well as ground chain anchor £35 and garage defenders £60. This may seem a lot but spending £15 on a low grade chain is just not suitable, Kryptonite New York is pretty much the top notch. For more details select the specific links below.
Garage defenders : http://www.saundersonsecurity.co.uk/acatalog/Garage_Defender.html and http://www.elitesecuritysupplies.com/garage_door_security_devices_products.html
Bike Chains : http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/locks/product/review-kryptonite-new-york-fahgettaboudit-chain-16522
Bike and Chain Locks (gold standard) : Kryptonite New York is pretty much the top notch http://www.wiggle.co.uk/?s=Kryptonite. It’s not cheap but its tough.
Ground anchors : http://www.wiggle.co.uk/kryptonite-stronghold-surface-ground-anchor/

Remember sheds are not really the best place for storing bikes. And on the home security front don’t forget to keep your tools away from your locks ‘n’ chains if you can – otherwise it makes their job easier!

- Transportation to and from rides
Bike racks are great and convenient but they are the perfect beacon to the wrong folk. People are targeted leaving rides as those wrong folk are on the lookout for bikes on cars, so if you can maybe look to take the front wheel off, put the back seats down and put it in the boot. I appreciate it is not suitable for everyone, but if you can we would recommend it.

- Filling in forms at bike shops and events
Just be mindful when filling in forms on web sites or documents at events/bike shops that are NOT linked to specific organisation or shops…as there has been incidents where this information has been used by the wrong folk to target people’s homes. Be mindful who you give your details to…you wouldn’t give out your bank card and pin number to anyone would you, just because they asked you to fill out a form!

- Identification
** NEW ** Also take photos of you bikes and frame numbers. You can store those details on your mobile phones easily nowadays.
** NEW ** This is the link to the National Mobile Property Register http://www.immobilise.com/ that is used and searched by ALL police forces across the country. It’s COMPLETELY FREE to register any item of property with a serial number (bikes, phones, cameras etc) and you can add photos and details of identifying marks.

Thank You Bigfoot MBC!

Matt — Sun, 06 May 2012 16:51:48 +0000

'Thank you Bigfooters for my present'

Dear Bigfoot MBC,

Thank you all very much for my present. Here I am with it and I can’t wait until I’m old enough to use my cot, when I will ask mummy and daddy to hang the book in there for me to read.

It was very kind of you all, and I can’t wait to meet you (I think I shall be meeting some of you on May 19th when we all celebrate Janet & Ian’s wedding).

I’m really excited about getting my first bike, though I know that this is some way off yet!! I wonder how many of you will still be riding with the club when I’m old enough to join…

Lots of love, Alice xx

Dear all,

Thank you so much for the gift. Abi and I were really touched. Alice is an absolute delight (if a little vocal, and with a bottom aroma that would put Jason’s post-ride-protein gut to shame!!), and we look forward to introducing her to you all over the coming months.

All our love and best wishes

Matt & Abi

23rd JUNE ****Charity Bike Ride (Katies Off Road Blast) UPDATE

timk — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:24:45 +0000

Some of you may be aware that I was recently best man for my friend Ioans’ wedding in South Africa. His wife Katie has recently been diagnosed with cancer of the bowel and liver at the age of 29. This is obviously incredibly tragic, upsetting and rare.

Ioan and Katie are determind to battle this head on.

Please watch this link from bbc news to hear Katies’ story-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17851807

She also has a website-

helpforkatie.com

As you can see from the coverage they have gained, Ioan is working tirelessly to fight this. As one of Ioans best friends, I have been trying to raise funds to support Katies’ treatment and am hoping to arrange some form of sponsored bike ride.

I am hoping that people will sign up for; “Katies off road blast” event, which will basically involve people cycling a set loop, maybe starting from the Royal William or FOD or something.

I am not proposing a mammoth ride from country to continent, but perhaps a typical challenging 30/40/50k off road ride. My idea is that people seek sponsorship for the ride (with a sponsorship form that I will produce). No amount of donation is too small. Unlike many events or charity fund raising, this money will be going to a real person, that I know incredibly well. It will go directly to supporting Katies treatment!

I have not set a date yet (although it will be soon), as am just gauging interest first.

Please could you post here if you are keen to get involved…..

Wales (& FOD) weekend

mikep — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:24:30 +0000

Saturday we rode the Syfydrin trail at Nant Yr Arian near Aberystwyth. Plenty of deep bike-eating water filled ruts on the double track sections, for some strange reason Ian and I chose to ride through most of them, resulting in very cold wet toes, despite the Sealskinz. Windy and a couple of short cold showers, so a bit of a wilderness feel, albeit never that far from hot drinks back at the trail centre. Played tag with a few Land Rovers, saw plenty of Red Kites.

Saturday night to Aberystwyth for a large curry load, a few beers and tales of naked fist fights on French nudist beaches (details learned on Bigfoot tour, stay on tour…) and we finished the evening off playing pool, including an ‘edge of the seat’ match with a very drunk local resident who did magnificently (to not fall over). Either that or he was bracing himself against the walls in preparation for an earthquake.

Sunday Rhayader was rainy, and although there was the possibility of some gaps appearing in the clouds we figured it was going to be very wet underwheel, exposed and windy. So we headed to Cinderford to get ahead of the wet weather, for a good ride around some of the eastern parts of the FOD where we don’t often do club rides. 962m of up and a few sharp showers, but some rapid descents thrown in for good measure.

Thanks to Ian for leading and for everyone who helped with transport. Not quite as planned, but a good weekend anyway.

Membership Renewal – Due 31st March # Free Gift #

stephen — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:25:04 +0000

Just to remind all members that renewal will be due on the 31^st March.

As in previous years the club will be offering a free gift for all members who join/rejoin during April.

Free gift :-Thanks to Pete Newell we can now reveal the gift to be a Multi function brush, Ideal to keep your drivetrain clean and free of gunk!

Also please note All members must fill out the new membership form here To open a membership form in PDF format click here!. And post /hand to a ride leader or email mailto:membership@bigfootmbc.co.uk (please email for the address for postal )

It is a requirement that all members have either CTC or British Cycling equivalent memberships to cover third party insurance as a minimum. No ifs or buts. This will be arranged for you if you don’t already have it .

With an action packed year ahead Bigfootmbc membership is the best value/fun for money ever .

So don’t delay join today!

SAT, ROYAL WILLIAM XC RIDE.

paulw — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:50:26 +0000

What a morning for xc riding, the weather was fantastic with no clouds and warm and sunny with four bigfooters turning up to sample some of the Painswicks best singletrack ,three guys and one lass it was a nice number to keep it a good pace.
Some of the bridleways were a bit mucky to say the least but conditions were pretty good and it was a good fun ride for all with more steep downs than ups, also last years most improved rider of the year Pete chinked his armour trying to re model a tree following my line through a tree slalom but survived to tell the tale and to be honest i think we all bit dirt at some stage during the ride but all got up laughing and we all returned with big smiles, yet again a pleasure to lead such a nice bunch of folk on such a beautiful morning.

HONC 2012

susanne — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 20:02:00 +0000

What a turn out! 1300 riders were registered for the event and good proportion was Bigfoot. I cannot say we had a sea of orange at the start since the new club kit has arrived and the orange tops had to compete with the new Olympic ones. Neighbouring Sudley Castle is celebrating the 500th birthday of Kathrine Parr and so the race was started by Lady Ashcombe and the medals we got at the end are commemorating this quincentenary as well. The Bigfoot group was quite at the front when the signal was given and off we went through Winchcombe and the grounds of Sudley Castle. The sun was out and the trails mostly dry. The atmosphere was extremely friendly. The sign posting was discreet with the consequence that more than one Bigfooter had to retrace steps and find the right way again. Almost everyone I spoke to had done some extra loop somewhere during the event. At the 30km food stop we had a kind of relay situation. When one group of Bigfooters had finished stuffing their faces with cakes and bananas the next one arrived. Vicky and I had a really good ride. It felt so good to ask people to give way and let us pass and that was uphill. Even downhill hardly anyone overtook us. Not that I did see much of what was coming but I followed the advice to trust the bike and let it find the way. I have to say the HONC is scoring high on the fun scale and has already made it on the to do list for next year.