Took the new singlespeed to the Leisure Lakes winter series XC races yesterday for an hour of fast, twisty, singletrack fun and pain. These races used to be hugely popular, but just 25 of us turned up yesterday. Three XC whippets**, and two of those in vets, three kids on jumpy bikes and full face lids, the rest middle-aged but not yet veteran IT managers on expensive full suspension trail bikes and piss-pot lids arguing the toss about – I kid you not – shock pressures and pro-pedal settings for what is possibly the flattest XC course outside of Belgium.

Laps short and sweet and tight twisty wooded singletrack with just a few short sections of doubletrack for passing.

Balls out for 7 laps – perfect distance to keep lungs and legs burning all the way, but without slowing down with fatigue by the end.

Bike was perfect. Subtle change in riding style with a more-forward weight shift going into tight corners means I don’t run wide coming out so could ride much of it brakeless and I managed a couple of laps fairly zoned out just properly flowing and carrying speed.

Remember the DCD? This beat me.

Only the rider let the bike down. I didn’t start as fast as the eventual winner and despite starting to catch him later in the race the distance was a couple of laps short to affect the result. So I was beaten by an old roadie on a ’92 KHS with era-matching kit. In his case retro wasn’t retro, it was just like a bloke who keeps an old Ford Sierra going because it works.

Best of all for this vain old-git though, as I came through the finish I heard the jumpy kids saying that mine was a nice bike.

Stick that in your 5″ travel pipe and smoke it.

Designed by Todd Ingermanson at Black Cat Bicycles
Fabricated by Super Rat Machine

Components and build by Sideways Cycles

Raw Metal by Rick
[image copyright and courtesy Rick Hunter]

To this…

Ghost Flames by Sampson
[image copyright and courtesy Rick Hunter]

Nice work by Sampson.

Southport Airshow is local to us and always a popular event. This year with the apperance of the Vulcan it was going to be even more popular than ever – typically gates increase by 20% when the cold-war bomber makes an appearance.

Knowing that the traffic would be bad there was no other alternative than the Langster to get there. Even by mid-afternoon when people were already too late to see early acts such as the Red Arrows, the queues were ten miles long*. Fortunately the dual carriageway has a cycle lane (note to the Council – it needs a good sweep), and I could ride past the fraught families. Motorcyclists had no such luck as bored drivers are too stupid/lazy to check their mirrors and leave room for filtering.

Once there I didn’t need to pay for or stress about parking either. Southport has a woeful lack of cycle parking, but I was able to clamber over the sea wall and lock it to the rainings by the flightline.

It was worth it though, as I was able to get right up to the flightline. All afternoon different aircraft would come in and start their display from the left hand of the beach.

Then at 4.20 pm the commentators announced the Vulcan was airborne and just 6 miles away, 2 minutes flying time. All eyes scanned the sky to the left.

The sneaky Vulcan pilot though flew round the back of Southport and came in fast and low over the pier to the right. No photograph can do justice to the sight of this amazing delta flying in that close. It still set off less car alarms than the Typhoon though.

Once the Vulcan had done it’s thing I leisurely packed up my camera, unlocked my bike and rode past the well-established queues along Marine Drive. I must have been back home before some folk even managed to get off the car park.

* Lancashire Constabulary have used, against my wishes, their inability to attend my RTA on 12th July due to the weight of Manchester-Blackpool charity cyclists in a report complaining to the organisers of the traffic problems caused by the do-gooding cyclists.

In the interests of even handedness I can no doubt rest assured that Lancashire Constabulary will be submitting a similar report to the organisers of Southport Airshow in respect to the traffic chaos they cause.

Can’t I?