# Clayton Vale with kids on Fri 21st Feb... come and join us.



## I like Skol (19 Feb 2014)

Double post with the MTB section but here goes......

I'm listening to the rain batter on the roof as I type this and I'm desperate to get out on a bike. It's half-term hols and to be fair, so far it's been crap for my kids. All they have had is decorators, carpet fitters, aerial men, DIY, furniture deliveries and food shopping and it just isn't fair!
The weather looks ok for Friday and there's nothing left to do and no-one expected to turn up. To put it bluntly, we can have a day off! 
Here's the plan....
The weather forecast shows dry until well after lunchtime. We are going to try and get down to the Velodrome by 10am and get in a couple of laps of the Clayton Vale MTB trails before heading to the Velopark café for a bite to eat. If the weather is still ok we might do a bit more, or just practice at the pump track?
Who fancies joining us? It's for the kids so don't expect a balls-out thrash. Having said that, my youngest is nearly 8yrs old and will ride or roll anything the Vale has to offer, so don't expect to turn up with 4yr old little Johnny and push him around the course while we all wait (but you are more than welcome to do that and we will wave and cheer whenever we pass by).
IME, getting kids together in a group encourages them to do far more and try far harder than they ever do when on their own or with boring old Dad so roll up, roll up come along and have a bit of dirty fun with us.
[click image for vid clip ]


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## Cubist (19 Feb 2014)

How about next week as well. Our hols start on Monday......


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## 400bhp (20 Feb 2014)

Damn-would have really liked to bring my little un tomorrow but she isn't well :-(

You've just inspired me to take her there on a forthcoming weekend though.


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## Hacienda71 (20 Feb 2014)

I would but I think I have to be in the office till lunch and am in the process of sticking some rockshox and a disk brake on the boys bike at the moment. Next time though.


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## dan_bo (20 Feb 2014)

I wouldn't wanna get my arse kicked.


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## fossyant (20 Feb 2014)

My kids still in school - I'm off but going to a School show in the afternoon. In the morning I'll be at Polocini for breakfast !!


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## I like Skol (20 Feb 2014)

fossyant said:


> My kids still in school


Damn the Tameside alternative holidays!


dan_bo said:


> I wouldn't wanna get my arse kicked.


It's OK, we have promised to take it easy so that even @potsy could join us if he got a bike in time.


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## I like Skol (20 Feb 2014)

I keep watching Road Bike Party 2 and thinking 'I can do that!'

I will have a weigh up when I'm there tomorrow 
Having said that, just looking at the forecast and the weather window seems to be moving to Saturday so I might put the visit back a day yet


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## shouldbeinbed (20 Feb 2014)

Enjoy, I really need to get myself a cheap MTB.

I'll be cycling through on my way to work just before 10. If you spot someone dawdling along on a black Brompton giz a wave.


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## I like Skol (21 Feb 2014)

Well, we went for it and as it happens had a great time and just about got away with the weather, It poured down and hail stoned just a minute before we got back to the car at the end of the day 

We actually spent a lot longer than we intended to do and clocked up 14 miles which is a record for my visits to the Velodrome trails.

The recent high winds have wreaked havoc and there was lots of this





which spoiled the flow of the track in some places.





There were 2 poor tree surgeons wandering around with chain saws in a wheel barrow trying to sort out the mess but they had a mammoth task on their hands. I reckon before they started there must have been around 20-30 trees across the trails and they were probably just over halfway through.

At lunch time we adjourned to the Velodrome café for a light snack...





I think this might be the last time we go to Clayton Vale for a while, probably won't go back until the heat of summer has dried things out. The kids are a bit bored with it now and are hankering for a trip to somewhere like Llandegla (I showed them some YouTube vids which hasn't helped ).

I didn't get a chance to try out Martyn Ashton's hamster wheel




The car park was absolutely chocked full and I couldn't get a decent run up 

Here's a little vid clip


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## dan_bo (21 Feb 2014)

Right then sort out the next deggers visit. Going to gizburn sunday.......


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## Hacienda71 (21 Feb 2014)

I'm going to Llandegla on Sunday with a mate who has never mtb'd before. 30 mph winds and rain forecast. One day I will get to try it in the dry.


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## Colin B (21 Feb 2014)

Glad you had a good day wish my two girls would do this kinda thing but its just not for them I'm afraid so my ventures on the bike are solitary ones for the foreseeable


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## I like Skol (21 Feb 2014)

dan_bo said:


> Right then sort out the next deggers visit. Going to gizburn sunday.......


You kept that quiet you little tinker! The kids kept trying to make up race day chants for you while we were at The Vale. I think they were half expecting you to race past us at any moment..... "Dan Dan Superman, catch a race horse? Yes he can!" I think it needs a little more work yet 



Hacienda71 said:


> I'm going to Llandegla on Sunday with a mate who has never mtb'd before. 30 mph winds and rain forecast. One day I will get to try it in the dry.


I'm not sure it's the best place to introduce someone to mountain biking? As long as he doesn't scream like a girl and bottle it at the helter-skelter southshore bridge like someone else did 



Colin B said:


> Glad you had a good day wish my two girls would do this kinda thing but its just not for them I'm afraid so my ventures on the bike are solitary ones for the foreseeable


My mates daughter is 8 or 9 and she is mad keen and really good on the MTB stuff (she has a Ridgeback MX24 like my youngest) and she is far better than her 11/12yr old brother!


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## Hacienda71 (21 Feb 2014)

I like Skol said:


> You kept that quiet you little tinker! The kids kept trying to make up race day chants for you while we were at The Vale. I think they were half expecting you to race past us at any moment..... "Dan Dan Superman, catch a race horse? Yes he can!" I think it needs a little more work yet
> 
> 
> I'm not sure it's the best place to introduce someone to mountain biking? As long as he doesn't scream like a girl and bottle it at the helter-skelter southshore bridge like someone else did
> ...


He should be alright on the red, he rides off road motorbikes. I just need to educate him that an engine is just a weight that will hold you back.


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## potsy (21 Feb 2014)

I like Skol said:


> As long as he doesn't scream like a girl and bottle it at the helter-skelter southshore bridge like someone else did


Didn't know @400bhp had been there


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## I like Skol (21 Feb 2014)

potsy said:


> Didn't know @400bhp had been there


Oh no, Not him but somebody whose name begins with d!


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## Goldie (24 Mar 2014)

That video is great, I like skol... I had no idea there are MTB trails through Clayton Vale. I have been thinking about taking my eldest to the Velodrome for a while (she has just cracked riding without her stabilisers...) and it's good to know she can have a blast through the woods at the same time.


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## shouldbeinbed (25 Mar 2014)

Colin B said:


> Glad you had a good day wish my two girls would do this kinda thing but its just not for them I'm afraid so my ventures on the bike are solitary ones for the foreseeable


Don't give up, my daughter was adamantly anti bike until 13. She saw me riding with GMCC in the Manchester Day Parade last year & decided she was going to be in it next year. Took her a week on her bro's bike to get the basics before I shelled out for her own bike which is getting used nicely enough.


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