a scruffy ruffian
There has been talk of another trip to London. There have been a few in the past:
Maybe there will be a 2005/6 trip but Playstation has been burnt. There are lots of other places we didn’t go, but if I get a day off it might be better spent digging, so someone else can organise it!
I don’t have Sky, so I rarely get a chance to watch the extreme sports channel, and when I do it’s usually got surfing on, which gets boring after 10 minutes. I know that sometimes it has the x games or other BMX competitions on it though, and there are people who think that these events are selling out BMX to TV to make big bucks. While this may be true, I think it’s important to recognise some of the advantages of having big competitions like this available to the masses.
Generally people are afraid of the unknown, especially old people. Since most of the landowners in this country are old, when they see a group of young people digging up their woods, they get scared becasue they don’t understand what is going on, and they bring in the bulldozers.
More recently, when people have noticed the trails, they have been much more aware of what they are. They say things like “I’ve see this before on the television”. Their attitude is much more positive becasue they undertstand what you are doing and why. They aren’t scared any more, but are encourging instead.
So there is someting good about TV coverage.
There is one guy who has stopped a few times at Hoggs Green. He’s about 30 and he is always on an old mountain bike with his dog, and he always says “ryan nyquist, he’s the best.”
Josh taught me a lot about trails – I have only recently realised how much. He was one of the first people I met that dug and rode trails and he taught me a lot through the things he said and what he did.
I remember one of the first discussions we had was about the difference between dirt jumps and trails. I didn’t even realise that there was a difference until I met Josh. He showed me his jumps and explained how important it was to build jumps well, so they don’t fall apart all the time. Bulky was a word he used a lot.
I learnt a lot of digging skills in the woods with Josh. He taught me the slap/slide method of hitting in, and how to get a strong back and steep sides on the jumps.
Josh also taught me a lot of things without even realising probably. He would go and dig in the rain. He actually enjoyed digging. These were new ideas to me, but I have since realised that he was right. Digging is a creative process which can be enjoyable and rewarding. He usually dug by himself as well, which deserves respect. Seeing this example made me realise the amount of work and the level of commitment that good trails need. He would go digging after work for an hour, or half an hour – until it was too dark to see anything. Every spare moment was spent digging. For Josh digging wasn’t something you did with your friends on a spare Saturday afternoon, it was something that you did whenever you could: something we could all learn a lesson from.
Josh also made me rethink the possibilities of trails. Pieces of land that before I would have thought completely out of the question he would see potential in, and some of these actually worked out well – despite the closeness to the road for example.
Josh loves trails. I hope I can pass on some of the enthusiasm and motivation that he gave me.
The book got deleted, but I managed to save all the old pictures.
I have done an update with old photos from the summer. I just wish these trails were still there.
Also there are some back issues of zine that you may have missed.
I spelt Myra Hindleys name wrong once and since then people have been coming here looking for information about her. Basically its spelt with a Y. Now go here if you like sick stuff (no Becky’s).
Something to pass the time at work.
On that subject have a look at Councillor Eileen Kinnear.
Hits to this site went to over 200 a day since Pretty Shady shut down. Here are some popular search phrases:
scruffian
nick drake
sharks eating humans
lemon shark
mako sharks
smallwheelsbigthrills
trampoline tricks
trampoline bike
mirah hindley
best dirt jumps
So the sharks are going down a treat, but we need more trampoline bikes and more pictures of jumps. People don’t take enough pictures of jumps. That is probably the main reason that I look at the internet – to see pictures of jumps.
Tim is selling his bike:
Frame : Federal Division Pro
Fork : Flybikes Pantera
Cranks: Profile Race
Chainring: Profile Imperial
Pedals: Wellgo Magnesium
Seat and Post: Macneil
Stem : Odyssey Elementary
Bars: SNAFU
Wheels: FRONT Primo Hub on Sun Rhino Lite rim 36h
REAR Odyssey Cassette hub on Odyssey Hazard lite rim 48h
Think that is everything, more pictures on www.scruffian.com/timsbike
Frame and the Cranks only about 2 months old, make an offer.
There is a website called money saving expert.com. It is one of my favorite sites. It gives you good free advice on how to save money, which is really useful.
One of the services that the site offers is a mailing list which keeps you informed of new offers, which might be only available for a limited amount of time. The guy that runs the site is called Martin and he seems like a genuinely nice person who is interested in helping people to save money. He is offering to donate 50p to the earthquake appeal for everyone who signs up to his mailing list. I am already on the list. Go here and sign up to the mailing list. You’ll donate money and save money at the same time.
Simon asked about swallows in the guestbook so I did some research. Their longer name is barn swallows and they like to live along side people – in houses, sheds, or barns.
Five interesting facts about barn swallows:
Until the late 19th century, swallows were thought to hibernate under water; now we know that British swallows spend the winter in South Africa.
The trip between the northern breeding areas and southern Africa usually takes a couple of months but one bird flew 12000 km from Johannesburg to Russia in just 34 days.
Swallows often nested in chimneys before the advent of central heating.
European female swallows incubate the eggs by themselves but in North America males and females share this task.
A brood of swallows will have eaten some 150000 insects by the time they fledge.
Simon also said something that was not true. In fact it is the swift (a bird similar to a swallow) that never lands on the ground and spends most of its life flying.
I have not been able to find out anything about them flying for 3 or 4 years, and I can’t see why they would since they only migrate for a season.
I think Swallows have got it about right. They are leaving about now, just as the UK gets cold and wet, and are going to Africa for the winter. They will be back again in the spring.
scruffian 