Monthly Archives: February 2017

Resident Evil

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Despite the dreadful ( dare I say Evil) forecast a good turnout including Dan , Eamon ,Pamela , Robbie ,Shane, Tim , Kenny , PS ,Mr Power, Herself and COC . The open mountain was not looking attractive so we headed to The long mile , dropping down on black to Ulster way and on to Leitrim Lodge , Castle bog and home by trails . The very slight precipitation kept even a semblance of ROSSI away.

Courtesy of Greenbikes Newry I was testing a demo Evil Following ,the “must have” steed of 2017. A full sus 29er that looks ready for some serious terrain. I felt I really should have had baggies and a goatee to be seen on it as I’m sure the folk at Evil Bikes would frown at the plethora of lycra on display today.

It is a beautiful looking Bike in Day glo orange full carbon.

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By Connors own admission the bike was not presented to show it in its best light . The “brakes” produced loads of noise but little stopping power , The forks were a tad sticky and the tyres had less grip than a road tyre . Despite this all who tried it were impressed , mainly with the rear suspension . It was very fast on trails and rolled over open mountain with ease. The cockpit was very short and I would have liked a longer stem ( I know thats sacrilege) .
I suspect that with a good build and some tweaking to the set up this bike would be a winner . We all felt that it did lean to the trails/going down side rather than climbing and I’m not sure I’d want to do a long race on it , having said that I did keep up with Kenny and Robbie on the Castle Bog Climb . Hoping to compare it to the Camber carbon 29 tomorrow…. should be interesting. Cormac’s Evil Wreckoning review to follow soon .

Verdict ..defintely in my final two bike choice..

Lewis in Mudguard Shocker

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It goes without saying that ROSSI were absent today owing to the small amount of precipitation and a little dampness underfoot.

John (SCO) and Paul(new) were similarly afflicted by hydrophobia.

Keeping up appearances were Kenny ( club comedian) , Cormac (Club Tech nerd) , Doc Lewis ( Club rare parts specialist) , Robbie ( rapidly becoming club crash test Dummy) , Herself ( Club Token Female) , COC ( Deluded Boss) .

Initial route was to be reverse bath but visibility was so poor at tunnel that a straightforward mast climb was thought prudent . It was spongy to say the least! . Mast to fern Gully and back up to mast again just cos we love climbing . Home by Glen and River walk.

An extraordinary meeting of the organising committee was held to discuss the appearance of a Black object on Tims bike . Investigations suggest this is most likely a mudguard . An order to seize his computer to see if it contains images of mudguards or evidence of web sites selling such objects was issued . Needless to say if proven , the repercussions could be severe.

Mud extraction from body crevasses continues at this time .

Frozen

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Massive turnout today even if short lived .

In Which :
Rowan was late again ( and went home early)
Paul Stewart did not go home early ( for a change)
COC , Herself and New Paul did go home early ( for a change)
Cormac announced that he has finally ordered new bike as the last bike he ordered has gone out of production ( penny farthing)
Kenny was surprisingly pleasant and uncomplaining ( for a change)
Rossi lived up to their name and as soon as it snowed they went home .

Sallys Yard , post , lost a few here as we went right to shoulder . Nearly frozen to death on descent of Knockshee . Eamon’s bike trampled by herd of surprisingly acrobatic sheep .Further dissent at the bottom as a breakaway group went home by road/ wall/burma.
Other hard men/woman went back up to Dan Whites . That route might follow later .

Might be next week before I thaw out .

Apologies for music

Couldn’t Cairn Less or… Anywhere but the Cairn

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Good showing today although a bit light on the fairer sex , where were they all?

Kenny ,Cormac,Tim , Seamus ( Robert has your gloves) . Robert , Paul (6.1)for a bit , Rowan for a bit , John ( NTSR) , John (Rossi) and  COC . Various Largys responsible for notable abscences.

In Which:Paul left Early , Rowan had trouble keeping up , John(Rossi) lost his phone , Rowan found it , Kenny took a wrong turn 😉 , Cormac fails to order new bike as chainstay 1.2 mm too short ,and finally Tim admits buying a plastic “Brook’s” saddle ….whatever next.

The route was literally anything but the dreaded Cairn . Although the route was based on The February Couldnt Cairn Less route we did make a couple of detours so dont use it for an expedition a pied. Pierces Castle was freezing but very beautiful and after a small detour caused by kenny we headed to the Boundary Stone heretoforth called the ROSSI stone .In case you didn’t know ROSSI stands for “Rain Or Snow Stay Indoors”

It was a mite wet and sticky to the sheep pen and apart from a dislocated hip pulling my leg out of a sheuck we  were unscathed . Home via a red bog loop pausing only to stare in wonder as we saw a woman walking her duck/goose, maybe we just had a communal hallucination.

 

I hope you all appreciate the classy backing track!