Matt Barlow - Mountain Bike Trials and Stunt Demonstration Rider

Axes and Crampons at the ready

2010-11-30T21:56:00.005Z

The winter climbing season has most definitely arrived to North Wales. I got out and played in the snow at the weekend, it was wonderful. No ice climbing for me yet but a great day none the less. That said first ascents have already been happening and the ice routes are forming... exciting times!

Not quite up to speed with your winter climbing skills? Want to learn more under the watchful eye of an expert? Then check out the 'Winter Skills' courses Snowdonia Mountaineering are running in North Wales this winter season.

Trials riding in the Kendal Mountain Festival

2010-11-30T21:03:00.009Z

Kendal Mountain Festival 2010 was once again superb. Even the horrendous weather that hit last years festival was replaced with sunshine this time around.

Vicki and I were up there representing the Bamboo Chicken team with our bike trials film Short Cut which was shown six times throughout the event. I introduced the film a couple of times and also after the screenings took questions which, as usual, mostly focused on how many bones I had broken whilst riding.

Once again every session of films and each lecture was crammed full of inspiration. I have so many new ideas and goals for next season just off the back of what I learned this weekend.

Amongst the highlights were 'Ueli Steck Swiss Machine', Leo Houlding climbing The Prophet, Tim Emmett on Muy Caliente and 'Send it Sistah'.

It's great to have trials represented at these events and an honour to be screened amongst such accomplished athletes. The icing on the cake was the fact that my trials riding images were used in both the programme and the posters that were up all around Kendal.

Sponsors of Kendal Mountain Festival

Danny MacAskill - Way Back Home

2010-11-16T10:47:00.004Z

'Way Back Home' is Danny Mac's BRAND NEW Red Bull video.
Over seven minutes of jaw-dropping goodness.

Go get a brew, sit down and prepare to be totally amazed.
Well done Danny a stunning achievement.

Click HERE to view it on the Red Bull website in high quality

Slate quarry adventure

2010-10-04T23:00:00.002+01:00

I'd read about a climbing adventure through the disused Dinorwic slate quarries following in the footsteps of the miners who used to work there - this weekend we attempted it.

Armed with what little info we had - written down on what then felt like a treasure map - Vicki, Jamie and I set off kitted out with a "we might need this" climbing rack.

The quarry is massive, the second largest slate quarry in the world, and all the various areas have all been named. We started out at 'Dali's Hole' and walked through a tunnel into the easy to reach 'California'.

From there things get really interesting. The next tunnel you need to go through is 20m above you linked by a huge rusted old chain. My treasure map said you climb this hand over hand batman style and protect yourself by clip big screwgates into the links. I started the climb up and quickly realised none of my screwgates were big enough.

Eventually, after Vicki and Jamie enjoyed a good laugh at my expense, I made it to the top and dropped them a rope down.

From the top of the chain you walk through the tunnel and abseil out of the other side, from a convenient tree, down to Dali's Wall area.

From there you find another tunnel which forks halfway along and we came out into 'Tasmania' then 'Australia'. A tricky and risky scramble up a various precarious slate scree brought us out to the 'Salt Pans' level and our first ladders. The quarry closed in 1969 some the condition of some of the ladders and metal work is suspect to say the least.

Transfering from one clanking rusty ladder to another hanging ladder was interesting but it brought us out onto the 'G'day' level. Each new level was really interesting and had its own series of ladders. The call would come "watch this rung it's lose" as the leader tried to put as little weight on the ladder as possible. Each ladder led to more interesting buildings, structures, abandoned equiptment and good views.

The three final ladders led to sheds where workman's clothes and boots still remained, ready for the next days hard, dangerous, graft.

Before continuing along the route we detoured to the top of the hill to the old cutting rooms complete with old machinery.

The final stretch involves a scramble down to the top of the 'Lost World'. Two abseils and three dodgy ladders later and we were finally in the bottom of the 'Lost World' - a truly surreal place.

A final tunnel leads you through into the depths of 'Mordor'. A series of ladders lead back out up to the 'Khyber Pass' one of which was in a particularly bad state; six rungs missing replaced with tatty rope that was now threadbear. We roped up again for that one.

The walk from the 'Khyber Pass' back to the main track is along the old railway. However it was made longer by the fact that the path had slid away in one section leaving the railway track suspended in space.

A brilliant adventure.

2000 mile climbing road trip

2010-09-30T20:16:00.003+01:00

After a days work Vicki and I drove through the night, sharing the driving and the snoozing time equally, to make the 4am ferry crossing to from Dover to Dunkerque. By lunch time we were sat in Fontainebleau forest, enjoying the sunshine, eating French bread and cheese followed by coffee and pain au chocolate. We bouldered first at Canche Aux Merciers followed by Roche Aux Sabots the following day before making the 7 hour drive to the Haute Alps. We arrived in Ailefroide in just enough time to set up base camp (the world’s largest tent loaned from our friend Emma - thanks!).

To ease ourselves in, and recover a bit, we opted to spend our first day experiencing via ferratta for the first time. We did a TD route at the Gorge De La Durance which was really excellent. I was very sceptical as to whether or not I would enjoy via ferrtta because I’d erroneously written it off as nothing more than ladder climbing. However, much to my surprise I really enjoyed it; gorgeous weather, a lovely setting, some quite steep ground and crossing from one side or the gorge to the other on four different bridges made for a great day out. That said, I couldn’t wait to get onto the ‘proper’ climbing the next day.

Over the next days we climbed routes on the Contreforts De La Draye, Face Sud De La Draye and Pounche Hermine. The Serfouette Epress route was amazing; varied and interesting climbing in a beautiful and exposed setting. We were both getting used to the style of climbing required and Vicki was climbing really well, especially considering these routes were four times as long as any she’d climbed in the past. Sometimes she’d climb the crux pitch of the day seemingly without noticing until it was over. A tricky descent from the top of Face Sud De La Draye meant we were back ‘home’ just before dark and wishing Flo Pizza was still open. After that the first rain of the trip actually came as a welcome respite for aching limbs.

I thought it’d be a great idea to spend our rest day eating – no surprise there – so we drove to Italy to first have coffee in a proper Italian bar and then an amazing pizza in a restaurant where the resident Saint Bernard took a liking to Vicki and a worrying interest in our meal.

Another day of rain (this time unwelcome) followed the next day by the classic Ecrins Total route on the Poire d’Ailefroide sector up the valley rounded off the week. Despite climbing all day and finishing the last abseil at 18:30, swayed by the weather forecast, we walked back down the valley, ate, packed up the monster tent and hit the road back to Fontainebleaa in order to make the most of our remaining time. By lunch time the next day we were bouldering at Buthiers and then on our final day at both Isatis and Cuvier before heading northward and homeward back to Wales.

Good times.

Welsh trials riding in Canada

2010-09-12T22:00:00.001+01:00

Our bike trials film 'Shortcut' continues to be screened around the globe. Next stop is Canada, for the 10th annual Bike Shorts Film Festival.

New Inspired Hex 26" bike

2010-09-06T11:22:00.006+01:00

At Euro Bike 2010 this week the new Inspired Hex 26" trials bike was unveiled.

It looks amazing.

Inspired Bicycles have seemingly hit the bullseye again!

I've been waiting for a frame with this geometry for years.

I've already pre-ordered mine with Tarty Bikes.

Over the last few years the 'development' of 26" trials bikes has been rapid; new materials and manufacturing methods have resulted in vastly improved strength-weight ratios. This has been coupled with increasingly extreme frame geometries which have helped push competition standards higher and higher.

What about the riders who are not interested in competition trials!?!

Of late, many in the UK trials scene have been looking for a company to step up and fill the void in the '26" street trials market'. A void that has been created by the majority of the main manufacturers shifting emphasis toward the 'competition trials' market.

A few have tried and not quite nailed it, until now!

This changes everything.

Just what the doctor ordered.

2010-09-01T15:45:00.003+01:00

Tandem bike ride, meal at Pete's Eats, 7 hour walk in the mountains, Pizza & Pint, Oli's leaving doo, House Church, Petanque (French Boules), The Lewis' hospitality, Gardening, Tinkering in my garage, Trials riding (first time since getting injured 85 days ago), BBQ in our back garden, Rachub Bakery cakes, Sitting round our garden fire staring at the stars = Brilliant Bank Holiday!

Pushing hard...

2010-08-27T12:18:00.004+01:00

I rode the Marin trail solo last night, it felt like a lovely summer evening and the sunset was beautiful. Two things suggest I must have been pushing fairly hard. Firstly, on the third time of asking I finally improved on my previous best lap-time and secondly, I was sick half way round.

Bridge swinging

2010-08-24T10:08:00.004+01:00

“How should we manage our emotions? Should we attend to them or disregard them? Esteem them or revile them? Encourage them or suppress them? Each culture answers these questions differently, but there is a common theme: we need to exert some measure of control over our emotions.”
Gross, J. (1998) The Emerging Field of Emotion Regulation: An Integrative Review, Review of General Psychology, 2 (3), 271-299 .

Bridge swinging; A form of agentic emotion regulation? Probably.
A fantastic night spent with friends? Definitely.
Cheers to Marv (Guinea Pig) & Dave (Birthday Boy) who rigged and jumped as well.

MBUK report on Tarty Days

2010-07-30T23:50:00.001+01:00

It's a huge honour to have MBUK, Britain's best selling bike magazine, report on the Tarty Days event I organised this summer. I'll get the article scanned and online on a rainy day soon, but for now you can click HERE for a poor alternative.

First ride back

2010-07-28T22:00:00.001+01:00

I rode my bike last night for the first time since my hand injury 50 days ago.

Yeah OK I had to ride the bouncy bouncy bike so that the suspension could absorb all the impacts, and yes I'm probably a bit slower downhill than before, and fine I admit that I had to grip the bars in a weird way so as to relieve the stress on my thumb, but all that is irrelevant when you consider this fact...

...I was back riding again.

Trials demo and coaching in Llandudno

2010-07-24T22:00:00.001+01:00

Communities First and Sustrans ran a Bike Day in Llandudno today involving bike trials demonstrations, competitions for young riders and skills coaching sessions.

Will Arnold, Tom Lancaster and Myself made up the team; thanks lads you were great. A special thank-you to Jamie Williams and Alex Williams who stepped in to ride at short notice when it became apparent my hand injury was still not fully healed.

The feedback we've had has been great and the local youngsters seemed to have a great time. We're looking forward to next year's event.

Race The Train

2010-07-21T22:00:00.002+01:00

I still can't ride so I took the opportunity to enter an event I've been meaning to try for a long time; Race the Train in Caernarfon. It's a 5k race whereby you run on a path that meanders only a few meters from the train which is carrying a bunch of noisy supporters cheering you on.

The runners and the train start at the same time however idea is that to give the runners any chance at all the train has to stop at a station at half way before carrying on to the finish. Although the train may initially pass you in the first half of the race, the fact that the train has to slow down to a stop and then pull away, slowly gathering momentum, means that if you come in at under 20 minutes you'll likely beat it (the finishing time of the train differs slightly each year).

I pushed really hard at the start to get away well and after 1km I was 8 seconds up on my 1km in 4 minutes target. The next two kilometres were slower as my frantic start caught up with me and I was down 6 seconds with 2km to go. I chilled during the 4th kilometre so as not to blow up which meant that the train pulled alongside me. The driver seemed to be goading me as the train would pull ahead a few meters, then drop back a few, only to pull ahead again. The supporters on the train were great and having recovered sufficiently I buried myself on the final kilometre to finish 22 seconds ahead of the train in a time of 19.47

Absolutely great fun and the evening ended with a pizza with good friends in Llanberis (I doubt the serious runners had the same post-race meal).

Note:

Let's put my effort into perspective. Fellow Bangor University student and general running legend, Rob Samuel, set a new course record of 14.09 meaning that in theory he could have cooled down, stretched, taken a shower, got changed and had a cup of tea before I came across the finish line! Amazing.

Pembrokeshire climbing trip

2010-07-19T22:00:00.002+01:00

Congratulations to my big Sis and Adam for getting married - woop woop! After the amazing wedding Vicki and I decided to travel home detouring via Pembrokeshire for a week of sea-cliff climbing.

My hand still isn't strong enough for the impacts of riding but it seems fine for climbing so the tandem bike was left at home.

Throughout the week a lot of tea and cake were consumed as yet again our trip was blighted by inclemental weather. We did however get some amazing climbing done in between the rain; A sunset route on Manzoku at Stenis Head, a couple of routes on The Butcher section and Front line section at St Govan's and then across to St David's for some slab climbing on Main Slab at Craig Caerfai.

MBUK plug Tarty Days

2010-06-18T11:10:00.003+01:00

Many thanks to Martyn Ashton for including a plug for Tarty Days, MTB trials festival, in this months MBUK magazine.
Want more MTB festival action? Check out Bike Radar Live and don't miss Martyn's brilliant promo video!

BBC Radio Wales recording

2010-06-17T16:26:00.003+01:00

This recording is from a chat with Roy Noble OBE live on BBC Radio Wales last month regarding the bike trials film 'Short Cut'.

Left click HERE to stream or right click to save

Tarty Days 2010

2010-06-14T15:27:00.004+01:00

Tarty Days 2010 was a massive success.

A huge thank you to everyone involved, especially Tarty Bikes, Inspired Bicycles and Woodfest Wales.

Over 100 riders travelled from all around the UK for the three days trials biking festival.

The atmosphere amongst the riders was fantastic, the sun shone and some great riding was done.

Images copyright TartyBikes

The highs and lows of trials riding

2010-06-09T15:09:00.005+01:00

The Woodfest demos were a huge success, the hard work paid off.

Tarty Days is approaching and everything is falling into place - the culmination of weeks of hard work.

However...

After three days of amazing trials riding I suffered an injury in my hand. I've burst a blood vessel in my thumb which could take weeks to heal fully. Despite two ultra sound scans it is still unclear the extent to which I may also have suffered ligament damage as well.

I was really excited about riding at Tarty Days.

Since that's not going to happen, I'm now really excited about what the next few 'bikeless' weeks may have in store.

Dream demos at Woodfest 2010

2010-06-07T13:04:00.009+01:00

Woodfest Wales 2010 was a roaring success and the MTB arena was especially well received.

My thanks go out to all the riders, course builders and event staff who helped across the three days. The delight from the crowd was most tangible each and every time a rider attempted, but failed, to cross the water balance beams.

Wayne Mahomet making his way up the rig

Me on the top tower - eye level of 17.5 foot.

Mike Singleton successfully crossing the water balance beam

Matt Everett being slightly less successful on this attempt and gave the crowd what they really wanted.

Tarty Days: Course building

2010-06-02T15:44:00.004+01:00

Ten days before the first ever Tarty Days bike trials festival and the course building is under way.

I'll put updates online as I have them over the next week.

To attend the event you must pre-register, if you still haven't done so then what are you waiting for... click HERE.

Inspired Bicycles support Tarty Days

2010-05-30T19:32:00.007+01:00

A massive THANK YOU to Inspired Bicycles who have come on board as sponsors for the 2010 Tarty Days festival.

As the event organiser this is great news and really shows Inspired's commitment to UK trials. With Inspired bicycles joining the festival title sponsors, Tarty Bikes, we are in a strong position to offer a very exciting three days of riding.

Inspired bicycles, founded by David Cleaver, are the genius behind the hugely successful 'Fourplay' frame. The brand new Inspired bicycles website says, "Named with reference to it's 24" wheels and playful character, the Fourplay frame has become the standard against which all other street frames are judged."

Danny MacAskill rides an Inspired Fourplay 24" in the YouTube video sensation 'April 2009' which rightly catapulted him into the world media spot light. If you haven't seen it yet (highly unlikely) it is an absolute MUST see; although maybe you should be sitting down.

You're sitting down? Good, then click HERE.

Live on BBC Radio Wales

2010-05-26T20:13:00.003+01:00

Next week I'll be appearing live on BBC Radio Wales to talk about mountain bike trials - great exposure for our sport - can't wait!

Award at Australian Board Shorts Festival

2010-05-24T16:24:00.000+01:00

The Bamboo Chicken film 'Short Cut', in which I feature as the rider, has taken the runner up prize at the Board Shorts, In The Bin Film Festival, in Australia! Woop woop!

Bangor University News Article

2010-05-22T18:25:00.000+01:00

Bangor University Sports Science department as a whole, and specifically three main individuals, have always been really supportive of my riding.

The fact that trials is a tiny niche sport compared to the likes of football, rugby and hockey has never affected their support and for that I'm really grateful.

On rainy days I was constantly getting into trouble with the security guards for riding trials under a covered area in town. When the Head of School in the Sports Science department heard about this he arranged for an indoor place for me to train.

When I felt like I had to turn down the offer of a PhD because it would adversely affect my riding too much they offered me an athlete scholarship with one day off a week to train.

I'll always be grateful for these things.

A couple of months ago when I asked to ride my trials bike around inside the listed building that is the sports science department the answer was always going to be a yes! The reason I needed to do that was to shoot the intro to the film 'Short Cut'. The success of the film therefore is in no small part thanks to the Bangor University Sports Science department - Thank you.

They wrote THIS article about Short Cut for their Student Life website

A good few years ago they also wrote THIS article.

The Burning Ginger Man Festival

2010-05-21T12:00:00.004+01:00

I rode a demo last weekend for my new cake sponsor, the Conwy Falls Cafe, at their inaugural 'Burning Ginger Man Festival'

Warming up

A three days music & arts festival in a gorgeous part of the world, right next to the Conwy Waterfalls.

Some fantastic musicians provided the entertainment and the food, as always, was amazing.

A big well done to Dave 'Skinny' Morris on riding his first ever trials demo.

New balance beam

On the second day of the festival I stopped off on my journey home and rode trials in Ogwen valley. The combination of having just sampled the delightful food and really blasting it to try and make the most of the last few minutes of daylight meant I quickly found myself slipping quietly into a coma like state of postprandial hypoglycemia.

Maybe having a cake sponsor isn't the best idea after all? Nah, who am I kidding - it's amazing!

Mastering the new pieces of kit

Cake Sponsor

2010-05-19T10:29:00.000+01:00

Is this possibly my best biking news ever??!?

I have a new sponsor for the 2010 season...

...a CAKE sponsor!!

Woohoo!!

This is not just any cake sponsor either, it is none other than Conwy Falls Cafe! Anyone who has ever tried the cakes there can attest to their brilliance (indeed I'm trying not to salivate as I type this).

Upon revealing the news to a friend she said, "Do they realise that you could single handedly put them out of business with the amount of cake you eat?"

It's going to be a good season.

Tarty Days update: Sports Massage Therapy

2010-05-18T18:48:00.002+01:00

Paul at Restore Sports Massage has confirmed he will attend Tarty Days as the on-site sports massage therapist.

Furthermore he has offered a one time only price on treatments - only £5 for 15 minutes!

Not content at slashing his prices drastically he is also offering half of his takings to charity.

Clearly this isn't going to be a money making venture for Paul, as a trials rider he is doing this to give something back to the sport. THANK YOU so much! Lets all support him during the event.

Trials features in two newspapers

2010-05-17T16:23:00.007+01:00

Picking up on the success of our film 'Short Cut' it was good to feature in a few column inches about trials in the local newspapers with a positive outlook on street riding.

It was the first time I've had an article in both the Daily Post and the Bangor Mail, however it's not the first time trials has featured in the Bangor mail. A couple of years back they ran with the headline, "Rogue mountain bikers terrorise Bangor locals"

Although the article, as it transpired, had nothing to do with mountain biking I did chuckle to myself as I pondered whether or not I've ever 'terrorised' someone on my bike - Bangor local or otherwise.

The journalist had got totally muddled up and had written a whole article about mountain bikers rubbing wax on various walls and pavements around the city. It takes a different kind of genius to blame mountain bikers for going round rubbing wax onto things!!

Heart FM radio appearance

2010-05-17T16:15:00.007+01:00

An interview I recorded last week with Heart FM has just been aired. It was about my recent biking exploits and plans for the rest of the season.

It was great to be able to publicly thank Tarty Bikes, Bangor University, Bamboo Chicken and my amazing wife for all their support.

The Bike Fest presents 'Tarty Days'

2010-05-12T14:28:00.003+01:00

For 2010 I am organising a trials biking festival in the beautiful vale of Clwyd, North Wales.

Three days of riding across the 11th - 13th of June.

The financial implications of the event meant that it was unfeasible until Tarty Bikes, the world's leading online trials bike shop, stepped in and offered their support to the festival.

Many thanks go out to them.

The event is a private event not a public event and is aimed at trials riders of all abilities to come along, ride, hang out, learn from each other and have a good time.

If successful we hope to make it a public event in future, it would be a great platform from which to showcase our sport.

All the details for the event can be found by visiting slowprogress.co.uk and clicking THE BIKE FEST.

To attend the event you MUST pre-register for £10 by clicking HERE.

Burning Ginger Man demo

2010-05-11T12:55:00.004+01:00

I've got a demo this weekend at the The 'Burning Ginger Man' festival.

It's certainly an interesting name for a festival but no doubt lost on anyone who doesn't know both the creator, Oli at Conwy Falls Cafe, and also the Navada desert based arts festival, The Burning Man.

I'm really looking forward to riding at this event, not least because Conwy Falls cafe have THE most AMAZING cake!! mmmmm

Exciting times for Welsh youth sport

2010-05-05T20:52:00.005+01:00

My latest demo was in front of a stadium of excited and passionate young sports men and women. School kids from across North Wales had gathered together to celebrate sport, gain inspiration and develop their talents.

Will Arnold, Chris Akabusi & Matt Barlow

After performing a trials demonstration at the opening ceremony of the Flintshire Festival of Youth Sport (& getting a photo with the legend that is Chris Akabusi) Will and I coached young mountain bikers on the fundamental techniques that form a solid foundation of any good MTB rider.

There is no shortage of young sporting talent in Wales and there was a lot of anticipatory chatter about 2012 - exciting times.

Short Cut gets another UK showing

2010-05-04T22:00:00.000+01:00

The trials biking film I made with the Bamboo Chicken team is being shown at lots of film & biking festivals throughout the world but it's equally great to have it shown to a UK audience.

I just learnt that MudStock had the film on repeat at it's event in April - THANKS guys.

Photo Shoot

2010-04-30T17:03:00.003+01:00

I've had a really enjoyable couple of days, spent with Mike Davis and Seb Rogers, riding on Snowdon and around Bethgelert.

The focus of both days was on capturing quality images for What MTB magazine and I knew when I signed up that I'd frequently hear the question, "Can you ride that one more time please?"

Whereas that might frustrate some people for me it was music to my ears! Normally when I find a great section I have to convince other people that it's a good idea for us to push back up the hill in order to ride it again, "Come on, lets try that again to find a better line or a smoother run". This time it was a requirement.

Finishing both days off with a meal in Pete's Eats in Llanberis - brilliant!

An example of Seb's work. Copyright Seb Rogers

What Mountain Bike Magazine Shoot

2010-04-26T16:58:00.003+01:00

For the next two days I'll be doing a magazine shoot for 'What Mountain Bike' for a feature on Snowdonia. Given it'll involve six hours in the saddle each day, up & down some serious mountains, I've had to promise I won't turn up on my trials bike!

The Australian Board Shorts Film Festival

2010-04-20T16:23:00.005+01:00

'In The Bin' Short Film Festival is Australia's largest touring cultural event. Their mixed sports film festival, entitled 'Board Shorts' is screening our biking film 'Short Cut' that Bamboo Chicken made and I rode in.

"Board Shorts has its major event on the Gold Coast in May 2010 with a collection of awesome sports films mixed with live music. The films then go on tour throughout Australia."

Flintshire Festival of Youth Sport 2010

2010-04-20T16:09:00.008+01:00

"Over the past three years this Award Winning Event has supported 2,735 young people who participated in the Festival event.
100% of Secondary schools are involved and 100% of the Special Schools are involved with 60% of Primary Schools involved entering one or more teams.
Well over 1000 quality coached hours have been delivered to young people and 220 people have received coaching qualifications."

Matt will be performing a mountain bike trials demonstration at the opening ceremony of the 2010 event which is held on the 29th of April. After the demo he'll spend the afternoon coaching youngsters, developing their core MTB skills.

Click HERE to visit a YouTube video of the 2009 event

Fontainebleau

2010-04-13T14:21:00.005+01:00

What a fantastic week was had by everyone who went on the Easter Font trip. At one point we numbered 24 people.
Gorgeous weather, amazing climbing, great company, a plethora of good foods and lots & lots of laughter!
I'm looking forward to our reunion weekend in the Peak District. Thank you everyone for such a special trip.

Matt riding and Sholto climbing (paulmartinphotography.com)

A handy time to recover

2010-04-02T08:54:00.004+01:00

This weekend Vicki, myself and 21 others go to Fontainebleau, in France, for a week of climbing & biking. Since picking up my hand injury I've managed ZERO trials rides and only ONE climb - not ideal preparation for the trip!

Feeling like my hand is almost recovered I went out last night on Moel Faban for my first trials ride in over a month.
(Not that I'm counting but 35 days to be precise).

It was a lovely evening and there was still some snow on the ground.
It felt great to be back on the trials bike despite flailing around on lines that normally I'd float over.

Moel Faban

I'm really excited that I can ride once again and super psyched to get back to my old level of riding so can push my limits to a new level.

Bring on Fontainebleau! I picture it as a week where I can ride loads and quickly improve my level. However in reality the local patisseries are already calling my name. Alongside daily Pain Au Chocolat I'll be eating so much French cheese on lovely fresh baguettes that I'll be lucky if I can ride at all.

Ooops spoke too soon!

2010-03-31T09:04:00.004+01:00

So the clocks went forward on Saturday,
The smell of spring was in the air.
My hand was recovering nicely,
I thought; biking and climbing here we come!!
Then this morning, this was upon us...

Maybe I put the axes and crampons away too early...?
Naah, surly not. Right? Maybe? Nah...?

Marin & Penmachno trails Gwydyr Forest

2010-03-30T22:00:00.000+01:00

I picked up a hand injury whilst rock climbing which has unfortunately forced me off the fully rigid trials bike for a while.
Rather than view that as a 100% negative though, it was a chance to break out the 'bouncy bouncy' bike again (Trek Remedy 9) and hit the trails.
Four visits to Gwydyr (or Gwydir if you're that way inclined) to ride the trails there and I'm absolutely loving flowing along the single track once again.
Spring time here we come...

Hory a Mesto - Slovakia

2010-03-16T20:40:00.000Z

International Festival of Mountain Films and Adventure in its 11th year.
40 films screened from all over the world.

I'm really psyched that our film 'Short Cut' has been selected to be shown.

I'm yet to receive an invite (and a VIP pass with free flight tickets!!) to go out there and introduce the film.... and I've been practicing hard at my Slovak!!

Dobrý deň, moje meno je Matt a to je naša kolo film nazvaný skratkou

ShAFF Screening

2010-03-15T08:19:00.004Z

"More adventure, less air miles." is the claim made by the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival (ShAFF).

ShAFF "will feature 44 action and adventure packed award-winning films featuring adventure sports and travel from around the globe."

Needless to say that when Short Cut, the biking film I made with Bamboo Chicken, was accepted and screened at ShAFF this last weekend I was really chuffed.

LLAMFF People's Choice Award

2010-03-08T16:00:00.000Z

Thank you to everyone who voted for our film at LLAMFF this weekend.

'Short Cut' took the prestigious 'People's Choice' award.

I'm still buzzing and also in an utter state of shock! It means a lot that people enjoyed our film enough to vote for it.

I need to go have a brew...

Skiiing 2010

2010-03-07T09:00:00.001Z

What a great week skiing in Austria. Great snow, fun, food, crashes, runs through the trees, natural half pipes and back in one piece! Woohoo!

- Photos to follow -

LLAMFF 2010 Trailer

2010-02-26T22:00:00.003Z

To be featured in the LLAMFF trialer alongside the likes of The Asgard project, Kranked, Bird Man of the Karakoram, Alone On The Wall and Welsh Connections is a huge honour and brings with it mixed emotions.
It obviously feels great on one hand and then on the other I just feel like an imposter in such a star studded company! Here it is, make you own mind up...

Film project update

2010-02-24T22:00:00.000Z

Well the riding is finished and the filming had officially come to an end. It's just left to the Bamboo Chicken team to work their magic in the editing suite now.

The project has been entitled 'Short Cut' and will get its first showing at the 2010 LLAMFF Mountain Film Festival

More filming

2010-02-23T22:00:00.000Z

A few more images taken whilst filming 'the project'. We should be finished in a few days time.
More details soon...

Even colder today and more snow on the hills

Llanberis high street

Joe Brown's climbing shop

Oxford

2010-02-22T22:00:00.000Z

Vicki and I were in Oxford this weekend for a Christian conference for churches from all over Europe. It was a great weekend with lots of challenging speakers. It was a wonderful time to hang out with friends and I even managed time for some street riding in Oxford too!

One of the speakers was the leader of the service that got so much attention from Chris Moyles on Radio 1 a few months ago.

Fear on the pier

2010-02-12T22:00:00.001Z

I'm glad today's antics went successfully and that now I'm home, warm and dry.

Whilst completing my MSc I lived in a house where the garden over looked Bangor pier and the Menai straights.
During a summer time BBQ, whilst enjoying the vista and the evening sun, someone asked the question about whether or not it'd be possible to ride a bike off the end of the pier.
It's a question that up until today I didn't know the answer to; turns out it is.

One thing I'd recommend for when you try it, is that you wait for a more suitable time of year. The snow in the photo below may have been drawn on in MS Paint but it was very real today I assure you.

Circled: My old house and the drop off point

There was good reason to do it at a silly time of year however; a project that will be revealed soon.

Many thanks go to Skinny Dave, Justine Curgenven and the Bamboo Chicken team of Dave, Lynwen & John

Run up

Where's my down jacket??

Ready for the plunge!

You can read Justine's account of the day HERE

Avatar

2010-02-09T22:00:00.000Z

Today I was emailed 'my Avatar', it's aparently what I'd look like if I were a Na'vi living on Pandora. I'm not happy that I make a better Na'vi female than male. Pah!

Slate filming

2010-02-07T22:00:00.001Z

I've been out today filming in the Dinorwic slate quarries with Paul Higginson and Skinny Dave.
There was a lovely covering of snow on the hills so the views alone made the trip worthwhile. We even captured a few lines on film that I was pleased with.

As per usual there was one line that I wanted that I didn't manage to ride clean in its entirety. After nearly pinning it on my first real attempt it then spat me off a few dozen times before I finally admitted defeat (for now)!

Every day is a school day

2010-01-09T22:00:00.001Z

I've been a student of the 'Welsh Winter' school for the last two weeks, culminating in three great routes in two days. Absolutely knackered now.
Lessons learned:
1. Ice climbing is great fun
2. Best shared with good friends
3. Always pack two lunches

The Dream (hah!) Team: Matt Barlow, Justin Lawley, Jamie Macdonald

Route 1: The Devil's Pasture, Idwal

Route 2: Central Route, Idwal

Route 3: The Curver, Foel Goch (No.7)

The Ramp & Y Garn

2010-01-04T22:00:00.000Z

Cwm Lloer, Broad Gully

2010-01-03T22:00:00.001Z

New Years Day

2010-01-01T23:00:00.000Z

Another great day playing in the snow was a great start to the New year.
(more pictures to follow)

Hmmm....

2010-01-01T22:00:00.000Z

New Years Eve

2009-12-31T18:00:00.004Z

I love this time of year, full of optimism for the upcoming year.

Bill Vaughan once said, 'An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.'

Paul, Claire, Vicki and I went out into the mountains to enjoy the last day of the decade. Snowballs, sledging, tumbling and laughter - brilliant!

I dug my first ever snow hole.

G. K. Chesterton's take on New Year went like this...
The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has never existed before, it is quite certain that he will never exist afterwards. Unless a man be born again, he shall by no means enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Birthday fun

2009-12-28T22:00:00.000Z

Thank you to everyone for the birthday well wishes and lovely presents.

Today was amazing.

I went out into the hills with my dear friend Rory, who runs Snowdonia Mountaineering, here's his account of the day:

"[Today] was one of those special days in the mountains. Snowdonia is well covered in snow and ice at the moment and with a good forecast I decided to head into the mountains. After a couple of days of thaw followed by a heavy frost I thought that the ice in Idwal might be in good nick. So we hiked up to the Devils Kitchen only to find that most of the lines were not complete, very wet and thin. Time for plan B - Cwm Cniefion, which is probably the most reliable spot for winter conditions. So we walked up over the top of Glyder Fawr on perfect hard snow and in bright sunshine. The views were just stunning.
We then climbed down into Cwm Cneifion and decided on Hidden Gully - a great little grade 2 with a couple of icy steps. It was in great condition and a real joy to climb. We finished the day off by descending the Gribin Ridge - a summer grade 1 scramble.

Snowdon from Glyder Fawr

North Wales Bike Trials Barn

2009-12-27T22:00:00.001Z

As the snow continues to blanket the mountains of North Wales a big THANK YOU must go to two local riders, Jamie and Alex, for sourcing a barn in which we can still ride despite the inclement weather.
Nice one lads!

New Toys

2009-12-26T22:00:00.001Z

Do you remember the excitement of Christmas day afternoon when you might get a chance to try out that new gift for the very first time?

I always enjoy seeing children wrapped up warm and testing out their brand new bikes, scooters or roller skates, sporting grins like Cheshire cats with parents in tow.

I still get that feeling.

Whether it is putting on that new pair of socks, starting my brussel sprout jigsaw (thanks Sue & Ray!) or digging into the box of chocolates it's great to use a gift for the first time with appreciation for the love of the giver.

DMM Fly Axe

This year my new toys were ice axes and crampons. So whilst most people settled down on Christmas day afternoon next to the fire and in front of the TV, I sported my Chesire cat grin and headed off into the mountains to try out my new toys.
Of course I made certain I was back in time for mince pies and brandy butter later.

Happy Christmas

2009-12-25T22:00:00.001Z

Happy Christmas everyone!

There's snow time for riding...

2009-12-20T22:00:00.003Z

As it is throughout most of the UK at present we are under a lovely blanket of snow.
Great fun!

Cross training

2009-12-05T16:48:00.008Z

An amazing night of rainy floodlit go karting yesterday filled with much laughter, banter and competitiveness.
Does this class as cross training?

I was pleased as punch with finishing 2nd in the 17 driver Grand Prix, especially given it was my first time on that track. However I was quickly brought down to earth as I climbed out of my go kart,
"You know what Matt? Second place is the first loser."
"Oh... thanks!"

Going underground

2009-12-03T18:04:00.007Z

As a species in general, around the time that Winter's grasp tightens on the UK, trials riders begin venturing underground. They go in search of any riding that can be found in relatively dry and warm surroundings.
Here we can see the lesser spotted Yorkshireman has opted to shun the option of hibernation, and briefly abandon the lure of the comfy sofa and tasty cakes, to ride at the 'Hive' in North Wales.

It might not be the sun kissed mountains of North Wales,
but at least it's riding and for that I'm grateful!

Some days...

2009-11-27T14:38:00.003Z

After teaching this morning on developing "unshakeable self belief" and being producers not simply products of our environment; this made me laugh, a lot!

Gale force inspiration

2009-11-22T22:00:00.004Z

The weather has been shocking recently. Rain & gale force winds seem par for the course. Whilst climbing last week (indoors obviously!) I was asked whether I had seen the floating caravan in the Llanberis Pass! Blown off its coupling, over a wall, across the grass and into the river - quite a fright I imagine for the people who were in it making a brew (they got out safely in the end).

Photo: Mark Reeves, Life in the Vertical

Riding plans were put on hold for another weekend when "severe weather warnings" were issued across the whole region. Subsequently we drove (somewhat foolishly some may say) North toward Cumbria and it's associated flooding and collapsing bridges.
The 2009 Kendal Mountain Festival was brilliant, providing a very healthy dose of inspiration.

Cromlech in the sun

2009-11-03T15:27:00.004Z

My good friend Paul (paulmartinphotogrpahy.com) has just shared some of his shots with me from his latest adventures in Scotland. He also shared some photos he captured the last time I rode with him. Since the rain is lashing down outside I thought I'd upload them, to remind me of autumnal sunshine.

The imposing Dinas Cromlech in the background

Gap to manual, Cromlech boulders

Night Riding

2009-10-23T11:24:00.003+01:00

A big thanks to Revolution Bikes for organising a MTB night ride last night.
Fifteen riders showed up too, amazing fun!

Swine Flu

2009-10-19T22:00:00.000+01:00

So I've been out of action for a while. I'd like to think I've had swine flu and beaten it but in reality it's probably a wee dose of the 'man flu' (read as: common cold).

Ever the optimist at my abilities to continue training I tried to push on through with a day of climbing, BMX and street trials with Marv last weekend. Unfortunately this only set me back further.

I'm definitely... *cough*... fit and... *sneeze*...healthy now though... *sniffle* ...honest.

Cheeky Young Blighter!

2009-09-28T14:39:00.004+01:00

Apparently I describe myself as a 'Street Bike Entertainer'

Dinorwic Slate Climbing

2009-09-24T22:00:00.001+01:00

The climber who claims the first ascent of a new route gets to give it a name. Tonight Jamie and I walked in to Never Never Land to climb at the 'Tombs Wall' area. We climbed 'Tomb Raider' and topped out to catch the last of an amazing sunset. However it was the name of the first route we climbed that will stick in my mind - '362' - the number of men who have died working in the Dinorwic Quarries.

Crackin' weekend

2009-09-21T18:22:00.002+01:00

Sport climbing (with Mac Man at Llandulas Cave) followed by arguably the best brownies in North Wales (shared with great friends) was a great way to start my Saturday.

Natural trials in the Ogwen with Will was a great way to finish it.

Llandulas Cave, Unknown Climber, UK climbing

Sunday brought more good weather so after church a bouldering trip was proposed to the RAC boulders. Yet again this involved good friends, good weather and good cake!
Driving back through the Ogwen valley, with my trials bike in the van, I couldn't help but stop at 'Treasure Island' to try some new lines. An evening at Sholto's farm with more good food and more good company was a brilliant end to a crackin' weekend.

Matt riding on 'Treasure Island', Ogwen, North Wales

Gogarth Adventure

2009-09-13T22:00:00.003+01:00

Inspired by the epic tails from 'the famous five' and their Gogarth adventure Marv, Choo and I followed suit today with a Gogarth Adventure of our own.
A sea-level traverse from South Stack to North Stack with a spot of cliff jumping thrown in for good measure.
Worryingly large inquisitive seals that swam only a few feet away made us swim at max speed from time to time.

The inspiring photos from the famous five

The last throes of summer?

2009-09-12T22:00:00.002+01:00

A lovely evening for a trials ride high up on Moel Faban with Marv and Vicki

Snowdonia Enduro Demo

2009-08-29T22:00:00.001+01:00

One hundred and four riders took part in the 2009 Snowdonia Enduro.

Total height climbed on the day: 416,938 feet! (This is the equivalent of going up Everest 14.4 times!)
Total distance ridden: 3168km (This is like riding from North Wales to Paris and back - twice!)

Well done to all the riders!

Whilst the Enduro riders were enjoying a well deserved post race rest and food from the BBQ Matt and his team performed a series of bike trials demonstrations.

Copyright Helen Macnibbler Photography

River Jumping

2009-08-26T22:00:00.001+01:00

Take a big ramp, a downhill run in, an old MTB and a FAST flowing North Walian river. Add a few mates plus a little peer pressure then sit back and enjoy the show.

Cemaes Bay Tandem Trip

2009-08-22T11:06:00.007+01:00

On Saturday morning Vicki and I loaded up the panniers of our trusty tandem ready for a weekend riding adventure. After much faffing we set off riding to Llanbedrgoch alongside Dave and Irena where we met up with Chris and Emma. From Llanbedrgoch we continued our gentle pace to Llyn Alaw, basking in the sunshine, chatting, smiling and having fun. We stopped at the lake for food, sunbathing and to rest tiring legs before finally sauntering on to Cemaes Bay.

The evening weather was so nice that it even prompted Helen and Smudge to drive out to join us at the campsite. Many thanks must go to Helen, who brought wonderful cakes to power appreciative hungry bikers! The evening weather was a mask for what was to follow. Overnight storms rolled in off the Irish Sea collapsing many tents on the campsite. By 10am the weather hadn't let up but rather looked set in for the day. There was no option but to ride home.

Gusting gale force winds make Tandem riding tricky.

Riding home was hard. There was little mid-ride conversation. There was lots of 'head down and battle' into driving rain and strong head winds.
There was certainly no sauntering.
The hot cups of tea and warm showers felt good that night.
Really good.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, "The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain." My guess is that this quote is probably part of a longer sentence:

"The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain whilst riding."

Lost in Gerlan!

2009-08-15T22:00:00.005+01:00

All I needed to do was fit some panniers to my bike, it'd take five minutes right? Probably, unless you needed to tap the frame first and then modify the panniers to accommodate disc brakes.

"I'll be right there."

It's fair to say that by the time I'd ridden to Gerlan, found a place to stash my bike in the woods, scrambled down to the river, crossed the river (with my panniers which were now full of BBQ food), and found the Caseg Boulder it was already getting a bit late.

The BBQ wasn't lit when I got there, but for whatever reason that didn't seem to concern anyone.

We climbed for a bit, lit the BBQ and watched the sun set. It was a wonderfully peaceful place.

We ate burgers and hot dogs whilst sat on the boulder in the middle of the river. It got dark, very dark.
It was after 11 when we finally prized over selves away from our tranquil dining area.
We had one torch between three, although torch is an exaggeration, we actually had a solitary Tesco £1 single LED light. Hmmm.

The walk back was eventful. Long, dark and eventful (and involved lots of nettles).

We chatted the whole back, using the proximity of each others voices as reassurance that we were still all together.

It was getting towards 1am when we reached Gerlan and I said my farewells to the boys. They went off in search of their car, taking the single LED with them.
I went the opposite direction, on my own, into the woods. The canopy was so thick that there wasn't even the light from the stars and moon to guide me.

I said a little prayer and hoped I could remember where I had stashed my bike!

Inclined for a ride...

2009-08-11T11:08:00.003+01:00

Sholto and I went out for a spin this evening around Moel Y Ci.

I'd never ridden the inclines in the Dinorwic slate quarries so that's exactly what we did.

Good fun, cheers mate!

Hope Church Camping Weekend

2009-08-08T11:08:00.003+01:00

Vicki & I along with Allen and Norah took the Church youth out into the Snowdonia mountains for the weekend. A fantastic time was had by all!

Spirit of Adventure

2009-08-01T11:10:00.003+01:00

My mum loves adventures.

When I was a child she used to actively seek out adventures for our family to partake in.

If I was ever reluctant to do something, my Mum would always ask me the question, "Where is your spirit of adventure?"

My Mum and Dad visited North Wales this weekend and Mum proved her spirit of adventure hasn't diminished.

A game of 'Spot my Mum'

My Dad, Vicki and I taking the more relaxing option

Carnedd Y Filiast

2009-07-25T11:06:00.004+01:00

UK Climbing: "Vast expanse of layered slab, giving rise to some exceptionally long, easy mountain routes; some giving over 1000ft of continuous climbing. Many routes have a serious feel due to the almost complete lack of protection and total isolation. A place for those seeking solitude or an escape from the bustle of more modern crags."

Where better to spend a sunny Saturday morning together?

During the walk in through huge ferns I played a game of "Where's Vicki?"

Topping out in the sun

Note: For all those doubters who say that it always rains in Wales; A dry and sunny Sunday followed which was the perfect excuse for a MTB ride with Mac Man round the Marin trial - whoop!

Bivi

2009-07-20T11:05:00.002+01:00

Return to simple

Penmachno trail riding

2009-07-17T22:00:00.000+01:00

I hadn't ridden Penmachno in a long time, too long given that it's fantastic and on my doorstep.

I've ridden it twice this week, I think it gets better each time.

Trail riding in the Competa Mountains, Spain.

Sunday 12th: Skinny Dave, Richie & Welsh Dave - Lung busting pace
Friday 17th: Dave, Sholto and co - A far more amenable pace

Bonnie Wee Scotland Trip

2009-07-14T10:30:00.007+01:00

This is what Hadrian's wall looks like, but don't let it fool you in the same way that it fooled Vicki and I. An hour later, and a sufficient distance from our van, the heavens opened.

It's proper rain in Scotland isn't it?
No messing around only the real stuff.

The Scots have proper rain, and they also have proper MTB trails.
Glentress on Saturday, Innerleithen on Sunday. Dale even managed to require hospital treatment following an attempt at an impressive drop on the final DH section of the Sunday.

Vicki and I hung out with "Dave Dude" and Lyndsey in Scotland and had a couple of days in the Lakes on the way home - the icing on the cake!

Up North

2009-06-28T22:00:00.010+01:00

Yesterday was the 'White Rose Challenge' sportive in North Yorkshire organised by my good friend Derek Boocock. Jamie Mac and I had offered to man a food station during the event so we used that as the perfect excuse for a boys weekend of biking and climbing in North Yorkshire.

[Dave Lloyd riding the White Rose Challenge Sportive]

A gorgeous 7.30am full English breakfast on Saturday set us up for the day and we headed to Ilkley to help prep the food wagons for the event. Unloading, stacking and re-packing enough water, energy gels, malt loaf, trackers, bananas and flap jack for over 1000 riders meant we certainly couldn't claim we were not fully warmed up! So off we headed to Stainburn forest to enjoy some 'proper Northern' riding!

Following the initial faff of finding the trail head we soon found ourselves whooping for joy and grinning from ear to ear as we twisted and turned our way around the red way marked sections of the forest. Powered by sausage rolls and brownies we next attempted the black runs. More shouts of pure joy followed as the trail flowed steeply down through the forest, through tricky rock gardens, down a steep rocky slab and spitting you out onto the fun 'North Shore' sections.

Hours passed like minutes as we just kept finding more and more quality riding. Even the uphill black sections were immensely enjoyable given the high technical difficulty.

Prising ourselves away from the trails we headed off to Rylstone to sample some sun kissed Yorkshire gritstone routes. Opting to cycle from the car park up to the crag we soon found ourselves dripping in sweat as we wrestled our bikes up the steep loose rocky incline to the ridge.

[Rylstone]

With the sun cream and sweat combination stinging my eyes I eventually made it to the base of our first route exhausted and ready to pass out. Jamie was already racked up, tied in and grinning. He set off climbing as I just lay there begging him to let me chill for a second. "No worries" he said, "I'll just solo it then" as he climbed higher. I scrabbled around to get my harness on and had him on belay just as he was reaching three quarter height.

The gritstone felt amazing. Jamie and I sat in the sun, eating more brownies, exchanging superlatives about the moves and the routes. A few more quality gritstone routes were enjoyed and as the light began to fade we headed for home. I'd managed to ride the black runs incident free all morning but still found the opportunity to face plant over the bars on the downhill back to the van!

We made it back to the B&B at 11:15pm; exhausted, sweaty, muddy, midge bitten, and happy. After a very quick shower we even found a friendly restaurateur who took pity on us and stayed open especially late so that we could eat, drink and be merry!

BBQ on the Beach

2009-06-22T12:50:00.003+01:00

Danny boy graced North Wales with his presence and prompted much revelry and adventure as only he can.
A wee cove near Trearddur Bay provided a lovely spot for a BBQ together as a group of ten. Dan even caught some fish with his spear gun that tasted amazing hot from the BBQ!

[Photo: Danny]

Penmaenmawr Trials

2009-06-20T12:49:00.008+01:00

A wee riding session with Will and Derek

Ogwen, 'Beris, Mynydd, Exhausted!

2009-06-20T12:49:00.006+01:00

Vicki decided upon a more abitious evening tandem ride; this time around the 'Mountain Circuit'. Through the Ogwen Valley, climbing up to the Snowdon Pen-y-Pass YH before weaving down the pass into Llanberis.
We didn't even stop at Pete's for a brew before climbing up to Mynydd Llandegai - what's happening to us!

[Pamela Jones Paintings]

Summer Sun

2009-06-11T22:00:00.005+01:00

Making the most of the good weather this evening, Vicki and I pedalled our tandem up the Nant Ffrancon valley.

Zipping back down through the slate quarries was very exciting - stopping distances are increased somewhat on Lightning Tarrintino (yup our tandem does have a name!)

[Photo: Derek Boocock, Distinct Images. M&V at the head on the Nant Ffrancon Valley, August '08]

Lion, Carreg Wastad, Llanberis

2009-06-09T22:00:00.002+01:00

I still haven't subjected my body to getting back on the bike since Wood Fest. So tonight instead I had a lovely evening of climbing with Ross, Lew & Tim.
Ross and I climbed 'Lion' which seemed relatively character building, on both pitch 1 (Ross) and pitch 2 (Matt), for a VS. Gorgeous weather, and a really satisfying route. The pints tasted good in the pub afterwards too.

Panoramic view from the base of Carreg Wastad (UK Climbing):

Wood Fest: Video 1

2009-06-09T12:27:00.001+01:00

Wood Fest: Submitted pictures

2009-06-08T14:26:00.006+01:00

Not too stiff this morning (surprisingly!), and very happy with the way the last three days have gone.

The organisers have told me that we totally surpassed their expectations. Furthermore, when we continued to perform in spite of the adverse weather conditions we apparently "saved the show". Glad to hear it.

I'm eagerly waiting for the official photos and videos from the professional photographer and videographer whom I organised to document our demo.

In the mean time here are some pictures shot from the crowd.

Wood Fest: A huge success

2009-06-07T20:30:00.007+01:00

I'm back from WoodFest '09... exhausted!!

It's been a huge success but I need to go to sleep. Photos, videos and event report to follow. For now, here's one picture to wet your appetite.

THANKS to everyone involved.

Night night

Zzzz

Wood Fest: Course practice

2009-06-04T13:04:00.007+01:00

Wood Fest '09 Course Practice from Matt Barlow on Vimeo.

Will Arnold and I rode the complete Wood Fest course for the first time last night.

It's crazy.

The course builders have shown incredible creativity and skill in putting it together.

I've organised 12 riders, from all over the UK, to attend and ride demos on the 5th - 7th June.

Come along - it's going to be amazing. Plus there is so much else going on as well over the three days. See the WOODFEST WEBSITE for full details.

Wood Fest: Course under construction

2009-06-02T15:04:00.003+01:00

Wood Fest '09 is this weekend; the 5th - 7th June.

Along with the directors of Wood Fest I am in charge of the MTB trials demonstrations.

The guys down at Wood Fest have really outdone themselves.
I challenged them to build a testing course but what they have come up with really is something to behold!

We are considering bringing in inflatable crash mats for under the 11 foot high balance bean - I kid you not!

These photos don't do the scale of the course justice but you can at least get an idea.

I'll look forward to seeing you at the festival.

Scottish Cup Final

2009-05-30T22:00:00.006+01:00

I just got back from the pre-match demo at the Scottish Cup Final. A full Hampden Park on an incredibly sunny cup final day was a fantastic spectacle. All fans were in a very buoyant mood because not only were they contesting for the cup but Rangers were celebrating winning the league and Falkirk were celebrating avoiding relegation.

The BBC website reported: "The weather is more Morocco than Mount Florida, with hardly a cloud in the sky above the national stadium on the south side of the city. The temperature pitch-side is an eye-watering 40 degrees!"

We only demoed for 10 minutes but at full-bore, flat-out, non-stop riding, 10 minutes was enough in that heat. The demo went really well (i.e. I didn't fall flat on my face). I'd decided that for my final tricks, with one minute remaining, I would take out my front wheel. After one minute of hopping round keeping the front end in the air my arms were getting really pumped so I looked over to the crew to get the nod that it was the end of our set. I was greeted with a big smile, a thumbs up, and a gesture indicating 1 more minute!

My left forearm became so pumped that I could hardly pull-on and release the rear brake which meant at any moment I was going to go flying over the handle bars with no front wheel! Seconds before complete muscular failure, and with my (previously loose fitting) VIP wrist band now digging into my pumped forearm, our set ended. Relief? Just a little.

Thank you Glasgow - V.I.P. treatment

2009-05-29T20:00:00.002+01:00

I've driven from Bangor North Wales to Glasgow Scotland with Wayne...

We've been to Hampden Park, the Scottish National Stadium, to check out where we will be riding tomorrow...

We've just checked into the hotel with our bikes and after chatting to the manager, who was a keen biker, we've been upgraded to the VIP treatment; Everything is on the house!! THANK YOU

Right, I'm heading to the restaurant... (free food and drink always taste better!)

Wayne outside Hampden Park:

The tunnel we'll be coming out of tomorrow: