Blog entries

Blog Update on Urban Bike Park Project - Help Spread the Word.

Daniel Mintz — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:27:39 +0100

This week I have created a deck spelling out the UK urban bike park vision whilst utilising Lordship Loop and The Trax as a case study.

This has been forwarded to our good friends in the LCC, Bike Club, Sustrans and Haringey council and of course the Friends of Lordship Rec to start helping to identify interested green spaces and councils.

I've also sent on to two specific locations i.e....

Calling London Mountain Bikers To Come Together- Introducing The Urban Dirt Network

Daniel Mintz — Sun, 13 May 2012 19:07:03 +0100

As a London based mountain biker I want to ride dirt and pump tracks on my way home and on the weekends when I only have maybe an hour or so free to ride. More I want everybody to have access to this sport I love so much. I don't think I'm alone. It's time for us mountain bikers of London to come together and get organised so we can.

Together we can deliver better opportunities and infrastructure to us urban dwellers with an insatiable itch to ride as well as open up new opportuniti...

Looking for new urban mountain bike project

Daniel Mintz — Fri, 11 May 2012 06:34:57 +0100

Folks I'm interested in finding a council and Friends group that would be interested in taking the Lordship Loop and Trax model to another part of London to create an outdoor park.

I have been evaluating an indoor centre but this I think is more achievable once we have a better economic climate and have built a more politically cohesive and stronger urban mtb community and are able to tap into philanthropist and corporate funding with a social conscience. The high cash fl...

How London could have an Indoor Mountain Bike and BMX park

Daniel Mintz — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 16:42:26 +0100

"Imagine a building in London the size of a B&Q converted into an indoor bike park for mountain bike and BMX riders. It would have a pump track, XC trail loop, dirt jumps, drop offs, rock gardens and a trials area for skills development. There would be a cafe, a chill out zone and a store for hiring or buying bikes and kit. It would be open all year ...

Riders Block

Daniel Mintz — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 12:26:23 +0100

I think of everything in life as "Know the goal and break it into small easy steps". Life is a staircase that gets us to our goals and you just move in small achievable steps to reach the top. This has done me well in my career and my biking.

I feel though for the last couple of years that step has turned into a platform or a balcony with comfy chairs and a BBQ. A sort of Riders Block like a writers block has surfaced and is stopping me from advancing to the next...

Surrey Hills Peaslake Mountain Bike Ride - Frozen and Ace

Daniel Mintz — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:29:10 +0100

Great ride this weekend with just Debs and I. She's a newbie and we have done a few trails together already (Epping, Forest of Dean, Queen Elizabeth Country Park and Swinley) and thought time to take her to Surrrey Hills and move the game forward with some more technical terrain.

It was super cold and the ground was frozen solid. We climbed up to the viewpoint at Holmbury Hill and then did Yoghurt Pots and the windy labyrinth like section afters. Then we headed down the runs to the vil...

The two types of mountain bikers

Daniel Mintz — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 17:36:31 +0100

There are two type of mountain bikers and no this is not some dish one type or another it is just an observation.

One type live local to a trail center or a forest / mountain etc. They session these trails every weekend and in the summer evenings. Often they will belong to a group or a club and they will get out the spade and with buddies learn to dig and hone their surro...

The London Bike Off

Daniel Mintz — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:19:23 +0100

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Ok I've had an idea for a project to unite the London off road BMX and MTB cycling community together and create a fun and health youth focused program of activities. It's called the London Bike Off

Already there are now a pre...

Lordship Loop Launch Speech Dec 3rd 2011

Daniel Mintz — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:56:24 +0100

Good morning Tottenham,

Good morning Friends of Lordship Loop.

I know like me you are all keen to ride the track for the first time. I will try not to keep you too long.

After I have said a few words we will launch the Loop with some guest professional riders to take the first...

Volunteering at The Trax

Daniel Mintz — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:08:21 +0100

Folks.. If you are interested in hands on volunteering with a fun London mountain bike and BMX community club then The Trax cycling club of the Lordship Loop MTB and BMX track has loads of volunteering opportunities.

Their volunteering has a project focus in the sense if for example a group of 5 people indicate they want to d...

My Quest for the Leadville Trail 100 Buckle

Steve abeyta — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 03:26:20 +0100

I have chronicled my preparation and participation in the Leadville 100 Trail mountain bike race. If interested, check it out at http://steveabeyta.com/

Randomly bumping into things one day at a time

Daniel Mintz — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:57:38 +0100

I can't remember when I was 6 or 7 what I thought of the world but I hear I used to look up alot into the sky and randomly bump into things.

When I was 10 I thought the world was full of surprises as well as just a little bit scary really.

In my teens I thought the world was wrong. It was wrong in a way though and it made me so angry it hurt (me and everyone around me, me thinks)

In my twenties I was inspired. I believed we could change the world, all ...

Bike building day. Or was it?

Tammy Sykes — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 22:50:08 +0100

Keven had been looking for a new bike for ages, until finally he saw a frame he liked and some forks; but couldn’t afford both. Knowing how impatient he is ( as I am the same ) I told him I would buy the forks for him and he could buy the frame. I know I’m ...

Dragged the folks to Scotland ;)

Tammy Sykes — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0100

25th September we packed up the car and headed north, we made really good time and stopped to refuel the car, so decided that we would refuel ourselves also and had a bite to eat and a drink before heading off again. We had agreed a time and place to meet my folks a few days before the holiday. We got to the meeting point 2 hours early, but as it turned out we didn’t have long to wait for my folks as they were a hour earlier than the original time we’d a...

The Trax Open House and Party in the Park Chair Statement Oct 2010

Daniel Mintz — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 22:23:01 +0100

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Firstly welcome and thank you all for coming. I want to start off by saying It has been an absolutely brilliant year. Summed up by great experiences and wonderful new friendships.

I'd like to take you on a bit of...

Weekend loving of mtb'ing

Tammy Sykes — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0100

08.10.10 - 10.10.10

I drove Keven to work this morning as I had booked a days annual leave. I got home and jumped in the shower, dried and dressed. Started packing up the things from the bedroom, as this is where most of the stuff was anyway. Got everything downstairs and cooked a couple of pies and vegetarian fillets, after giving the Hoover a run round downstairs I started packing up the car and hoping I hadn’t forgotten anything. The final thing to go in...

Coed Llandegla - Late August Break 2010

Tammy Sykes — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:02:51 +0100

We travelled north via Llandegla again this year; it was May last year that we were there and how much it has changed. We met up w...

Boris Bike Tracker

Shazima Tejani — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:54:06 +0100

If you want to use the TFL bike hire scheme, but want to ensure that the nearest docking station has a bike, and that there will be space at your target destination, there are a number of tracking apps available.
This is the nicest I've seen, since it's overlaid with a map, has a nice graphical interface and gives you a real-time update of the number of bikes at each docking station in a very clear and easy to interpret fashion.

http://www.oobrien.com/vis/bikes/

Much ado about nothing

Tammy Sykes — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:23:39 +0100

Haven’t blogged about anything in ages and yet I’ve, no we’ve been doing loads of mountain biking.

Keven found a group of like minded people online and got chatting, saw they arranged to meet up for a bike ride once a month at least. When we met up wit...