Thursday 9 February 2012

VIDEO OF THE WEEK - AUTUMN / WINTER ROUND UP!

Heres my latest effort, Ive tried to include as many people as possible and as many places as possible. Enjoy!


This video is Video of the day on Westcoast Mountain Biking (10/02/12)

Check out the link below

www.westcoastmountainbiking.com

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Dept.26 Hoodies and T shirts

If you haven't picked up yours yet they can be found at Mike Millers workshop



Dept.26 bike shop guide





DEANO! - lives in Stratton and will fix your broken bits! - 07745676090

BUDE CYCLE CENTRE - Located near the rugby club right on the cycle path, Cafe and cycle hire in a brand new building. Phone - 01288 355994.

NORTH COAST CYCLES - 2 Summerleaze Avenue, Flexbury, Bude, Cornwall
EX23 8RL - Phone - 01288 352 974. If your lawn mowers broken you can also get it fixed here!

LAUNCESTON CYCLES - Southgate Street, Launceston, Cornwall. Phone - 01566 776102. Giant bikes stockist amongst others, lots of spares and accessories, clothing and repairs as well

THE BIKE SHED - Branches in Crediton (01363 774773), Exeter (01392 426191) and Barnstable (01271 328628) Stockists of lots of different bikes including Marin and Trek.

SIDWELL CYCLES - 140 - 141 Sidwell Street, Exeter. Phone - 01392 272929. Stockists of lots of bikes including Orange and Kona.

DARTMOOR CYCLES - Find this shop at Atlas House, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 9DP. Call on 01822 618178. They sell Orange, Kona, Norco, DMR etc. Also, you can buy day passes or year passes for riding at Gawton or Tavi woods in the shop.

CIRTINIS - Find them at 10 Kingsmill Road, Saltash, Cornwall, PL12 6LD, call them on 01752 849315. They sell Specialized bikes amongst others.

CYCLE LOGIC - 13 Meneage Road, Helston, Cornwall, TR13 8BQ. Call em on (01326) 561562 They sell Giant bikes amongst others and offer full repair services.

CLIVE MITCHELLS - located in Truro, call them on 01872 276930. They sell Felt and Specialized amongst others


Email Ben10 on benjaminjamesclarke@hotmail.com if you have more shops to include here.





Dept.26 South West ride guide


Welcome to the Dept.26 ride guide, If you want to add anything to this email Ben10 at benjaminjamesclarke@hotmail.com





Bude - Lots of good stuff around Bude, come for a ride with Dept.26 to find out whats here!

Bodmin Moor - Minions - Moorland ride near Liskeard, some big climbs but some great downs to make it worthwhile. Again, best go here with the club or you will probably get lost! Lots of other rides on the moor as well.

Dartmoor - Tons of routes over Dartmoor, too many to mention here. As a club though we do a nice little ride near Meldon.

Tavistock - Home to Gawton, Tavi woods and the dirt jumps in town. So, plenty to do around here! See the woodland riders site for details - www.woodlandriders.com

Wadebridge - Home to Hustyns and Grogely woods. Packed full of trails, pretty big places with lots to ride. In Wadebridge town centre follow brown signs to Hustyns then keep going for a few miles uphill, you can see the woods on your left, turn down a farm track and your there! For Grogely ride down the camel trail towards Bodmin for approx 3 miles, big Grogely sign on your right, head that way for great DH trails. If you want a particularly easy day there is the Camel Trail which you can get on in Wadebridge town.

Exeter - Home to Haldon forest. Theres a couple of graded trails around the forest, The blue route isn't very technical but is fun if ridden fast, the red ridge trail has some interesting sections but the final part of this route is a bit tame. There is an optional Black section half way along the red. Theres some jumps, skills area and a pump track. Forget all this though, theres so much amazing unofficial stuff in Haldon you will never find it all in a day! To get here head towards Exeter then turn off heading towards Plymouth following the signs for Exeter race course, turn right and head towards the forest! Also check out Woodbury Common around the Exmouth area.

Portreath - Home to 'The Track' You can find this place on the road between Redruth and Portreath, and trust me it definitely worth finding! National standard BMX course, beginners jumps, medium jumps and HUGE jumps! Foam pit, Pump track etc! Website is here - http://www.the-track.co.uk/

Poldice Valley - Old mining valley near Redruth, rammed with jumps and DH runs. Also check out the near by Unity woods. You can either cycle through here as part of the Mineral tramway cycle route starting in Devoran, Portreath or the nearest place to the valley is scorrior. You can also get into the valley off the road on the way to Carnon Downs dump. Look for the Cornwall Freeriders Facebook page for more info.

Tehidy woods - Near Camborne. Pretty big with lots of fun routes, nothing too amazing or technical but worth a look. Follow brown signs for Tehidy country park from the A30 around Camborne/Pool/Redruth area.

Idless woods - Near Truro. Head out of Truro on the road to Shortlanesend and turn right in the village towards the woods.

SouthWest Extreme - Find this place at the Big sheep site on the road between Bude and Bideford near Atlantic village. So much fun, Jumps, 4X track, drops etc. Phone ahead to check its open - 07790 344011

Abbeyford woods - A few miles out of Okehampton town centre, Pretty big woods with lots of fun routes all over the place. Drive through Oke town centre and turn off towards the ind.est, go over some mini roundabouts and head for the trees which you should be able to see (i think!)

Plymouth - Newnham Park is a very well known race venue on the outskirts of Plymouth. Its private though so you can only ride here as part of an organised event or you may be shot. Cann woods, also on the outskirts of Plym but its forestry so you can ride there whenever. Cant remember how to get here so look it up if your interested. If your into racing look at this site - http://shredmag.co.uk/www.shredevents.com/

Launceston - Ideal for the winter months is The Unit. Its in Pennygillam Industrial estate and is a really good little indoor skate park, Monday nights is bikes only I think. Heres the website - http://www.skatetheunit.com. Also, for those in the know theres a great free ride spot as well.














Tuesday 7 February 2012

Cardinham woods proposed trails


I think we should try and get as many Dept.26 club members as possible to go to one or all of these meetings, the Cardinham woods sounds like the most interesting - Ben10

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A further series of drop-in events are planned in February, where people are invited to come along and hear the latest about plans for adventurous off-road cycle trails at the Forestry Commission’s Cardinham Woods and the National Trust’s Lanhydrock estate.

Similar events were held in the summer of 2011, with many positive comments received from attendees and very useful feedback gained to benefit development of the plans. These events will offer a great opportunity for people to find out more and for project staff to get further feedback on the plans.

The arrangements for the drop-in sessions are as follows:


Lanhydrock – Thursday 2 February from 2pm-7pm in the restaurant.

Cardinham Woods – Sunday 12 February from 10am-4pm in Woods Cafe.

Bodmin – Monday 13 February from 2pm-8pm at Shire Hall.


The proposals are part of the wider 1 South West project, which is developing off-road cycling hubs across the region. The proposals include family friendly easy and moderate cycle trails and a new cafe and cycle hire centre on the Lanhydrock Estate. Moderate and difficult trails, suited to those seeking a longer ride or more of a challenge will be at Cardinham Woods.

The current timetable is for trail development at Cardinham Woods during spring and summer 2012. It is anticipated that planning application for the trails, cafe, cycle hire and car park alterations at Lanhydrock will be submitted in May 2012 and, if successful, work will begin here in the winter of 2012/13.
Hub Development Manager Angela Proctor said: "We hope to see lots of people at these drop-in sessions
– everyone is very welcome. It will be a great chance for people to find out more and give their thoughts on the latest proposals. More detailed information about the plans at Cardinham and Lanhydrock will be available on the 1 South West website from 2nd February – www.1sw.org.uk".
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This looks great! I can't wait to see if this happens, fingers crossed! Meeting at Cardinham next sunday morning, I should be going if anybody fancies coming? Click on the link below to see the trail map -

Cardinham woods proposed trails