The Cotic Soul Build and First Ride

A week ago the mountain bike build began. I had all the components and it was time to make a monster of a hard tail. 

The frame, Cotic's Soul, running a Fox 120 front fork. A Shimano XT groupset and Shimano XT disc breaks with ice tech discs. Stans ZTR crest wheels with Hope hubs and for tyres Schwalbe 'Nobby Nics' on the front and 'Rocket Rons' on the rear, tubeless.  All the components where from Hope, bottom bracket, headset, stem and seat post. On paper this should be a super light zippy hardtail. 

2 visits to Gideons house putting the bike together and with a bit of tweaking and making it our own, we had the bike built and ready to ride. 

Gideon and I stood back and admired the look of the bike. Compared it with his hartail. My bike felt light, looked fast standing still and it was ready. 

Few laps round the block and a few tweaks to the gears, breaks and fork and it was running beautifully. 

Me being me I was now eager to get out and see what the bike was made of. 

We planned a 12 o clock meet at the 'Look  Out' for a few hours ride snd bit of fun. Fun it was zipping down single track through the forest. I absolutely loved it and with practice and a bit of confidence in the bank I see future rides being awesome.

I took a few falls, didn't make a few hills due to technique but becoming one with the bike will take time. 

I stacked it at about 0.5mph!!! And it hurt!! Oh and disc brakes are awesome. I remember back in the day squeezing the living daylights out of the breaks to stop.... Disc breaks are 1 finger and be gentle!!! Otherwise you nearly end up over the handlebars!!! ; ). It was a close one. 

The bike was fast, twitchy, light and looked the nuts. I'm one happy boy. It also weighed in at 23.5lbs. That's light. 

Not only have I designed and built my own bike, I did it all with a great friend and future riding partner. Massive thanks to Gideon for all his advise help and direction and of course the build.  My first hard-tail built by us. How cool is that. 

Now it's time for fun and adventure on two wheels. 

Entering my 4th decade......

So with turning 30 it was only right to be spoilt by my wife. With the weather absolutely glorious no matter what we were doing, it was going to be amazing, all I hoped for was that it was outdoors.

I was told on saturday morning we were going camping in the New Forest, pack the tent, sleeping bags and bring the slackline and power kite....

All packed we headed to the New Forest and en route pulled over at a little pub, we sat in the garden and took advantage of the amazing weather. After lunch and a few local ciders we made our way to 'Roundhill' camp site.

Deep in the New Forest this camp site has wild horses just strolling around, cows grazing whereever they wish and with the sun blazing, it was just perfect for a weekend away.

We set up the tent, the slackline and chilled out for a few hours playing around and just enjoying each others company. It was nice just to get away with my wife, no plans and just chill out.

After a few hours we headed to the local shop, brought a BBQ, prawns, lamb, salad and a bottle of wine and headed back to the campsite for dinner. Cooking dinner, lying on a blanket and enjoying an amazing bottle of pinot noir, things could not get much better.

A casual get up and we headed into Brockenhurst for breakfast in a quant little tea room, then took a walk around the village. we headed back to the camp site for an hour or two then my main present was revealed. We were heading for dinner and a night stay at 'The Pig'. I have always wanted to visit this place.

We arrived and were greeted with Champagne in the court yard and then tucked into a pizza cooked in their wood oven; it was so good I had to have 2. After a few cocktails and an attempt to work my way through their cider list, we headed to our suite to get ready for dinner and catch the last 3 games of Murray and Djokovic.

Dinner in the conservatory in the most beautiful setting, I tucked into fresh prawns accompanied with a glass of Presseco, then for main, Steak with chips done to perfection, accompanied with an amazing glass of Melbec. I was loving being spoilt and loving my birthday weekend.

Monday we headed to Mudeford, chilled out on the beach for a few hours and then enjoyed muscles and chips and white bait, fresh fish by the sea.... it does not get much better.

We headed home and straight over to my parents for a BBQ, what a fantastic way to finish my birthday weekend, all in all I was spoilt rotten and did not stop eating or drinking....

The 3 Peaks challenge

The last 3 weeks have been spent climbing indoor at craggy island. Concentrating on my leading skills and conditioning on the wall. 

Things are going really well and have started to lead 6b routes, which I am really happy about. I'm moving better than ever and seem a lot more relaxed clipping and moving up the wall. 

Tomorrow I embark on a challenge I have always fancied. The 3 Peak. Ben Nevis, Scarfell Pike and Snowdon all in 24hrs. 

I take this challenge on with 5 executives from IBM. I hope they know what they are getting into. 

The weather has been fantastic of late and I hope it continues through this challenge. 

So flying to Glasgow later today for 24hrs of trekking the tallest peaks in the UK.  

Fantastic!! 

Cotic Soul, MTB build project

The frame, headset, handlebars, front fork, seat post, saddle, sest clamp, bottom bracket, peddles and a bit more.... 

The build is coming together, group set, breaks and wheels to purchase and we are in business.