Well that was April. In terms of riding it was probably the best April I have ever had. Maybe April 2003 was better but probably not.

The only thing worse than riding on your own at the trails is riding with a load of chavs heckling you. That was Monday. Then after they left a couple of people came to the trails and watched and “took their hats off” to all the hard work we have done.

Yesterday I was in London with work and we went to The Comedy Store after. It was pretty funny. Then on the 22:30 train home I saw one of the people that took off their hats to me the day before at the trails, which was a coincidence.

The other night a strange thing happened. We were merrily digging away at the trails when two groups of people turned up at the same time. One pulled up in a truck with BMX’s in the back and proceeded to push their way through the fence. The others looked like pikeys and made me reach for my wallet. The latter group came up to me and started asking about the trails – did we have permission, how did we get it, etc etc. They weren’t pikeys and they were really freindly. They had made the effort of parking up the road, so as to not draw attention to the trails and they couldn’t believe we had dug it all by hand. (They rode motorcross and have been digging a track for that). This was a nice suprise.

While I was talking to these chaps, the BMXers started walking around the trails and having a look at stuff. They didn’t speak to me or even acknowledge my presence. Then they pushed back through the fence to get to their truck and started to take out their bikes. I was pretty suprised by their rudeness. Then, even more strangely, they all got in the truck and drove off. Strange days.

Call to stop children’s drinking.
I don’t really drink as I don’t particularly enjoy it, but I know a lot of people like to relax in the evening by consuming alcohol and I think this is a good thing to do if you enjoy it. I don’t understand what this charity (Alcohol Concern) is trying to achieve.

The charity would include meal times at home in the ban on giving alcohol to young people.

It seems like they are trying to give the message that alcohol is evil and no-one should touch it at all. This seems ridiculous. When I was younger my parents let me drink a bit of alcohol with a meal, so that I knew about it. If they hadn’t allowed me anywhere near the stuff I would probably have been a lot more interested in it and wanted to experiment with it a lot more. Parents should be encouraged to educate their children about alcohol and how to enjoy it without causing yourself harm, not prosecuted for allowing their children to have a sip of wine with their dinner.

The charity are also calling for “a crackdown on under-age alcohol sales”.

The charity are also calling for “a crackdown on under-age alcohol sales”.

Last week I went to buy some lager at Tescos, and they asked to see my ID. Fine. I showed them my driving license, no problem I thought. Then they asked to see my wife’s ID. Notice that it was me who was carring the lager, me who was paying for it. She didn’t have her purse with her, so they refused to sell me any alcohol. Simply becasue someone was standing near me. I wouldn’t be suprised if soon parent’s were not allowed to buy alcohol if their kids were with them at the checkout. I don’t think we need “a crackdown on under-age alcohol sales”.

My trails again tonight if anyone is interested…

My trails again tonight if anyone is interested…

Can you tell the difference between a sheep and a dog?

This picture is good.

The government is doing a consultation on the new climate change bill. You can tell them what you think (if you live in the UK) here.

I have been thinking about making a forum for all BMX sites to use. My idea was to have mini-forums within the forum and each one would be used as a guestbook for every site that wanted one. This would be good as people would have the same names across all the guestbooks, it would reduce spam and it would be quick to see what people were posting. It might just be a bit of a failure, like the mega book, but it would be better than the mega book because there would be a different section for every site – so it wouldn’t get too confusing. It would be better than bravenet too! What do you think?

I made a little page of bad photos.Have a look at Ascension BMX. Trails in Hertfordshire.Trailscene links page is slowly growing.

I transported 120 litres of water to the trails today. We get through about 50 litres a day. More at the weekends. Coincidently me and Tim built a jump in July 2003 which used 120 litres of water carried in watering cans and bottles from the river. Summer 2003 was one of the driest ever. You can dig in any weather.

Thanks to everyone who helped dig last night (Rob, Nigel, Pete, Greg and Mark). We got a lot of stuff done and both lines should be riding in a week or so.

I spoke to someone last night who has a “ramp” in their garden that they don’t want anymore. They said, rather than have a big bonfire, would I like the ramp. I think it must be a mini-ramp. It’s wooden and sounds pretty good. The problem is I have nowhere to put it. If anyone can find a place where we can put it up that would be amazing.

Also added a new feature to The BMX Family – you can now search only BMX sites.