Daryl's Blog Dayyl
24th Sept
The last 2 weeks I’ve been pretty busy riding at Wisely King of Dirt and Wales road trip and the final round of the King of Dirt series. I have had some pretty good results in the King of Dirt series in the last comp I got 3rd, and in the final round I got 4th which meant I came 2nd in the whole 2009 series overall which I’m really pleased about. The competition was hard with people such as Sam Reynolds , Danny Pace, Blake Samson and many more . I have my new promo video coming out soon so I’ll get a link on the website soon.
10 - 12th July
On Friday the 10th of July I drove up to Shepton Mallet for NASS 09. The competition was on the Saturday and Sunday but all the riders went a day early to get some practice on the jumps. However the weather was so bad it was impossible to ride on the Friday and Saturday so everything got put over on to the Sunday.
The dirt jumps were so wet after all the rain we had we had to spend an hour maintaining them. Then we could all ride, the jumps were pretty big and we were riding so good. The competition format was an hour jam session and the best rider wins. After an hour all the riders had put on a great show and the crowd loved it. This was one of my runs: : super man on the first, tuck no hand on the second, 360 the race jump then tail whip the last. I was so pleased with my runs and ended up with the win which was great.
13th of June
Was the 2nd round of the King of Dirt series held at Red Hill Extreme, the weather was so good which really helped. There were about 15 riders in the Pro catergory and the competition looked hard as usual. All the riders had a hour warming up then there was the qualifying which only 5 went through to. In the final all the riders were throwing down with tough competition from Sam Reynolds and Danny Pace stepping it up. After so many serious tricks being thrown down including flip whips, front flips and 3 whips I ended up placing 3rd with some super mans no foot cans , tail whips and a few other tricks.
9th June
On the 19th of August I arrived at Bike Radar Live after the 3 hour drive. I got there a day early so I could get some practicing in, there were already loads of bike stands and lots going on!
After getting some food I made my way to the course. The jumps were pretty large, they started with a 30ft roll in which gave you perfect speed for a 20ft set up jump, then was a pretty large hip to the left, followed by two more jumps then finally a step jump at the end. Practice went really well and I got into the jumps, I was ready for qualifying on Saturday.
There were 25 riders qualifying on the Saturday and there were only 10 that would get through to the final on the Sunday. The competition was really hard with some of the best riders in the world, Jamie Goldman, Lance McDermott, Sam Pilgrim, Grant Fielder, and many more. There was an hour jam session then the judges, Chris Smith, Jim Davage and a few more would pick the best ten for the final. I rode really well and managed to qualify for the final on Sunday , here was one of my runs - 1 foot x up on the first ,tuck no hand on the second , no footed can can on the third, then a super man finished with a tailwhip on the last one. I was super stoked and couldn’t wait for the comp in the morning.
The comp stated at 1.00 and the crowd was already massive, they had been waiting from 12.30 for the action.
We all had 3 runs in the final and the best two counted. Everyone was throwing down with frontflips, backflip tailwhips, flip no hands , and much more. I did 3 consistent runs with tailwhips , 360’s, superman’s , and more. I ended finishing 6th which I was so happy with, special thx to 24seven for the great bike to ride and to, Ezo, Dirtyhabit clothing, Rockstar, Muc Off and Moredirt.co.uk. Photos courtesy of Mike Deere, check out his website at www.mikedeere.co.uk.
Sw |
 |
 |
1st June
Yo, after driving for 7 and a bit hours me and my mate George finally got to the Travel Lodge. After chilling for a couple of hours we headed down to Rampworx to check out the park, we said we weren’t gonna ride as we were so tired but we just couldn’t resist as the park was so good. After riding for a couple of hours boosting the two boxes and practising a few tricks up the step up we went to meet Jack and his mate to go to a pub for a few drinks and some food. We woke up about one the next day and headed down for another session before the jam, there were already loads of people there throwing down loads of tricks and I could tell that the all nighter later on was going be sick. Unfortunately George crashed and snapped his ankle whist throwing down practising for the comp. After the ambulance arrived and took George to the hospital we decided to call it a day too as we were getting tired. We went back to the Travel Lodge to get a few hours kip for the long night ahead.
We turned up at Rampworx at about 9 o’clock and it was absolutely rammed, there were over 100 people outside waiting to get in as the doors opened, whist me and Jack tried to get through Tom covered the door for us so we could get in.
After practicing for half an hour or so everyone came in and the night had started, there were over 250 people there and the atmosphere was sick. After fuelling up on some Rockstar energy drink we started off messing about on the step up doing some whips, flips and few other bits, then we went to the main section which included two massive boxes, two spines and a massive quarter. I was having fun boosting the quarter, getting pretty high and nearly hitting the roof which was pretty scary, then 360ing the first box to tuck no hander to no foot can the second box.
4th Mar
Yo, just got back from a long week at Corby with Jacko ,which was sick we had such a good laugh and got loads of tricks dialed over the week. Next week I am going snowboarding in France, which is going be sooo good. After that I am riding for a week to get some footage for my next video so look out for that. Also remember to get to Rampworx on Friday 17th of April there will be loads of good riders and a sick atmosphere, be there!!!
15th Dec
Now the winter has come in the weather has been so bad, trying to get a ride in is pretty hard.
I am still riding the dark angel prototype which is amazing one of the best frames I have ever ridden, light, strong and looks sweet, can’t wait for it to come out.
In 2009 I hope to carry on improving with all my tricks and style and hope to be at all major events in the UK and over seas such as the Quasqi Challenge and other dirt jump and slopestyle events. Hopefully after Christmas me and Jack are heading up to Corby for a week to get some serious riding in so will have some footage from there. We’ve also been filming lots of other footage from this summer and winter so you can see a sick new video soon.
I would also like to thank 24Seven for this last year Fraser, Tom and Tom have been super good with sorting all the new bikes and gear out and been very supportive, also Dan from Dirty Habit clothing and Kevin from Evolution Cycles.
20th Oct
This last 2 weeks I have been riding loads and loads, went to Wisely Jam to raise money for the insurance which was nuts. There were loads of people there and turned out to be a great end of year session. The day after that I headed up to Corby to ride the resi ramp to practice a few bits and ended up getting tail whips a lot better and nearly landed a couple of 360 whips which was rad. This week I also went to Robersbridge which has some sweet trails I wanted to try some tail whips over dirt so I softened the landing up a bit, and went for it, they worked out well I got them dialed and landed loads straight to pedals which was cool.
28th Aug
Last week was the King of Dirt at the track in Cornwall, in took us just over 6 hours to get there.On the Friday we all managed to get a ride in but the jumps were quite slow due to all the rain. Some of the riders decided to make a massive jump at the end of the trails which was around 30 ft, it was huge. Sam Ren was the first to hit it landing it fine, first time then Ray Samson hit it perfect as well, so I decided to hit it, I pedaled all the way from the top of the hill right to the take off, it was scary but I also landed fine. We sessioned it for a while doing some whips and style, then I stepped up to be the first to trick it, so I no handed it but because of the wind and the length of the jump it was hard to judge your speed I threw my hands off and the bike immediately went really nose high. I just got my grip on again before landing but jackknifed and smashed my face on the handlebars resulting in a chipped tooth and a bad headache.
The weather was rubbish on Saturday with loads of wind , it had been raining all night there .The event was meant to happen on the Saturday but the rain held it off with the promise of competing on Sunday but the wind was so bad all the riders decided not to ride . So Myself, Jack Gear and a few other people decided to ride the resi ramp and the foam pit which was out of the wind. Jack was trying a couple of 720s into the foam pit, I haven’t tried them before so I thought I’d give them a go. I tried a few first into the foam and was getting them pretty good so next I attempted the resi. I only got just over 360 because I didn’t commit, next try I pretty much got the hole 720 but just slid out, after a few more trys mangered to land one but very sketchy, so I was very pleased with that.
Sunday morning came with more wind and rain, we hung around watching the BMX racing hoping for a change in the weather but no such luck. The track in Portreath is pretty rad so it was a shame the comp didn’t run, disappointed late afternoon decided to make the long journey home.
This coming weekend I am heading off to Gloucestershire for a 24 Seven photo shoot, which will be good . You will see some cool pics soon!
25th Aug
Last week was the King of Dirt at the track in Cornwall, in took us just over 6 hours to get there.
On the Friday we all managed to get a ride in but the jumps were quite slow due to all the rain. Some of the riders decided to make a massive jump at the end of the trails which was around 30 ft, it was huge. Sam Ren was the first to hit it landing it fine, first time then Ray Samson hit it perfect as well, so I decided to hit it, I pedaled all the way from the top of the hill right to the take off, it was scary but I also landed fine. We sessioned it for a while doing some whips and style, then I stepped up to be the first to trick it, so I no handed it but because of the wind and the length of the jump it was hard to judge your speed I threw my hands off and the bike immediately went really nose high. I just got my grip on again before landing but jackknifed and smashed my face on the handlebars resulting in a chipped tooth and a bad headache.
The weather was rubbish on Saturday with loads of wind , it had been raining all night there .The event was meant to happen on the Saturday but the rain held it off with the promise of competing on Sunday but the wind was so bad all the riders decided not to ride . So Myself, Jack Gear and a few other people decided to ride the resi ramp and the foam pit which was out of the wind. Jack was trying a couple of 720s into the foam pit, I haven’t tried them before so I thought I’d give them a go. I tried a few first into the foam and was getting them pretty good so next I attempted the resi. I only got just over 360 because I didn’t commit, next try I pretty much got the hole 720 but just slid out, after a few more trys mangered to land one but very sketchy, so I was very pleased with that.
Sunday morning came with more wind and rain, we hung around watching the BMX racing hoping for a change in the weather but no such luck. The track in Portreath is pretty rad so it was a shame the comp didn’t run, disappointed late afternoon decided to make the long journey home.
This coming weekend I am heading off to Gloucestershire for a 24 Seven photo shoot, which will be good . You will see some cool pics soon!
29th July
Well when I was in Italy I broke my big toe and it has taken ages to heal so I haven’t been riding too much but the last week has been good since I drilled a hole in the nail to let the pressure out, so I decided to head up to a new spot in battle around a 20 minute drive from mine, They were sick!!! There are around 11 jumps all perfectly kept and super steep and flowy .
I ended up getting some sick lines down 360ing the second and third flipping the 4th then no foot can the 5th and tuck hand the 6th which was rad.
3rd July
This last few weeks have been mental as I have been riding the new 24 seven Dark Angel prototype which rocks, its fun to ride, totally chuckable and looks the nuts.
To add to that on Wednesday I got a phone call From Fraser (24 seven main man) asking me if I want to go to fly to Venice in Italy to ride the red bull bike night over the weekend of the 27/28th June, I had less than 24 hours notice! I wasn’t prepared and had plans to ride the filthy 48 jam at Chicksands that weekend, but all that didn’t matter I wanted to go and that was that. I got up at 5.30 am the following morning and drove to Gatwick, checked in with my Dark Angel fine then started the two hour plane journey to Venice. Collecting my new bike at the airport I headed to the exit to find a red bull representative waiting for me. As I left the airport the heat hit me, it was so hot almost 40 degrees, we got in the Nissan pathfinder and drove the two hours to Trieste where the event was held. Red bull had taken over the whole town square and were still building the track as we arrived, the carpenters were the same guys who built the Qashqai series courses they are excellent in what they do.
That night was the riders meeting to explain everything, like the course, and how it all worked, which was good as we were all a little confused as to what was happening. There were 24 riders in all both mtb and bmx, from Germany, Italy, Poland, Croatia and the USA. The Friday night was qualifying it started at 9.00 pm because the weather was so hot it was impossible to ride during the day. All the riders were stoked with the course and you could tell by the tricks that were being thrown. I ended qualifying 9th place which I was happy with. Perfecting my flips over the big spine and my 360’s. Afterwards we went out to the rider’s party and were treated like celebs which was crazy; there were so many people and the drinks so strong!