After i dropped the rest of the Team of at the airport so they could make their way to canada for the next 2 world cups, i was at a bit of a loose end. With my shoulder feeling alot lot better, and all the zings and tings making me smile, i decided it was time ot knuckle down and get back on it. Packing my tent and my cross country bike, equiped with all the new ‘atherton pro’ prototype stuff, i drove to france to meet some mates and get my ride on! The drive was long, and standing on the ferry all alone knowing that i was off to start riding again, after almost 6 months of no off roading, well it was all i could do not to start singing and dancing!
I got to the final destination and met said mates, whipped my seat belt off and bombed into the lake, woweeeEEEEE it was mega! The weather must have followed me from englandio and it stormed up a treat, i swam about in the water whilst it poured down and looked about at the mountains that held all these mega dh tracks, oh how i yearned to bring the old DH rig up and go as fast as possible down!
The next day was definitely a top 10 of my life, early rise, cooked eggs on the fire, a quick swim then off! With my xc bike i trucked on up to the top of the highest high i could find, with the help of a map, and when i got to the top, the view was insane! The rest of the ride was done with the biggest smile on my face ever, my shoulder brace was rather hot, and i was going rather slow, but it was an amazing feeling, hopping off little bumps and skidding around, i felt like a kid. It was very very nice being out there, alone, with my bike, discovering it again, and very very hard to control myself and ride carefully, not to crash or hurt my shoulder, but its worth it! I love it! Just getting on my xc bike makes me smile, i got a chairlift up one day and it was like a trigger, i got so excited and nearly actually wet myself!
The riding around here is really really great, and with a map there is no stopping you, just get the xc bike out, water and red bull and just go! Throwing my leg over my xc bike in the car park brings a smile out, learning to wheelie (dark secret that i cant!) and just messing about in the woods trials style, its what life is about right now, i try hard not to get so deep about all this stuff, but it really is amazing what fun you can have sweating away uphill then blasting back down!
Saying this today my legs were to tired to ride so into the canoe we went, then when we were sunbathing a dog tried to hump my friend as he lay on his back! very very funny! Im currently sat in a cafe waiting for the mt st anne freecaster to start, but i think i might not watch it as it is quite nerve racking!
So till soon….

I can’t believe that I still have not written a blog about this as it was the single most raddest thing that i’ve ever done!
We journeyed up to Glasgow to watch AC/DC. long standing heroes of ours, and we were not disappointed!
As Gee and I, our friend Samwise, Dan and his girlfriend Lesley walked into the hampden park stadium, i nearly wet myself with excitement! It was massive, as everyone was milling about, waiting for the greatest band to ever grace our earth, well, in my opinion!
Gee decided he wanted to buy an AC/DC t-shirt, and samwise wanted to wear it so we promptly tore up samwises tee shirt and wound strips around our heads to stop the sweat, and boy did we sweat!
When the rock and roll train video started to play, everyone went wild, then all of a sudden they were on stage and starting to play and i looked at Gee and we both couldn’t believe it, it was AMAZING! my heart was in my mouth my stomach was turning over, i was nervous! they sounded so unbelievable, full, haunting, bone shaking, and considering the age on them (think that they formed in 1973!) they were not a single bit worse for wear! Brian Johnson was insane, his voice was just perfect, and Angus was the best crowd pleaser I’ve ever seen. He was dressed in usual attire of school uniform, then about half way through he started to strip and everyone loved it, it was so funny watching him swing his shirt about his head then windmill us with his belt, then he wiggle his bum to us for a bit then dropped his trousers to show AC/DC boxers. Very nice!
Angus’s solos were incredible too, he just never stops, at one point when he dropped to the ground on his back, i was a bit worried but then he just carried on playing, spinning around with his legs, then he jumps up, slams his guitar up onto his head and keeps on palying, not a moments hesitation. Gee, Sam and I were going wild, dancing about and my voice hurt from singing, it was like the excitement was trying to burst from me and i just couldn’t stand still. But that’s the beauty of AC/DC, there was people going wild then all these old boys just stood tapping their toes, everyone rocks out differently. At the start of Hells Bells down came this massive bell and Brian ran down the length of the stage and launched onto the rope and swung on it for a bit, it was rad!! Gee told me to get on his shoulders and it was the best thing he has ever done for me, up there, in the cool air, above everyone, watching the whole band, so close, it was amazing and ill never forget it. When they bought Big Rosie out, holy smokes. It was nuts everyone loved it, she was so life like, she unfolded herself from inside the Runaway Train that was on stage and flopped her big chest out, then straddled the train the whole song, tapping her foot, it was unreal.
What amazes me about them apart from their age and how good they still are, is that this was at the near end of a long old tour for them, about 2-3 shows a week, and they gave it 100%. i honestly felt like they had never had more fun and they had never loved anything more than that night on stage, but i guess being in Glasgow they have soft spot for the place!
It was an amazing night, well worth the 9 hour round trip, well worth it. AC/DC, i won’t hear a word against them. you can’t beat them.

We went to the Goodwood festival of speed the other day, it was mega! Didn’t really know what to expect but cars and motorbikes, and we were pretty much on the money! We watched all the f1 drivers flat out up the ‘hill climb’, being only 1 bale of straw away from these machines is insane, they are so so loud, and seeing drivers such as Hamilton, Loeb and Glock was rad, especially as they were there to put on a good show instead of racing!
We lunched in the huge estate house, the balcony overlooking the main parade section of the track, the bikes and cars showing off, outdoing each other, donuts and all went down. Jenson Button drove a 1934 Mercedes-Benz W25, and Casey Stoner, amongst others showed us how to respect a race track. I had a little sit in Vettel’s f1 car, it was AMAZING! I said to the guy, ‘it’s not very comfy’ and he was like ‘ you aren’t at the bottom yet’ so i shuffled a bit and dropped to the bottom of the seat, holy smokes they are low down! It was madness, my legs were slid all the way down what felt like its throat, my feet perfectly resting on the pedals (Vettal is almost exactly the same height as me.) My body was held tight by the seat, then the harness, then the steering wheel, then head and shoulders bit they put on top of you. I felt invincible, like no harm could ever come of me. It was surprisingly roomy inside, the little wing mirrors gave you a clear view behind and the ground felt dangerously close to your bum! What followed was a full blown run down of everything inside, all the buttons on the steering wheel, from the drink button to the ‘fail’ button, it was cool as shiiiiite, i tried hard to remember everything but alas, it has gone. I could now however, break into an f1 car and hotwire it out of there! It was one of the coolest experiences i’ve ever had, there was a small map of a stage in spain somewhere down on the left and once i had climbed out i could clearly see the imprint of Vettals body which the seat is moulded round. One happy girl!
Gee was sick as a dog that day and had to stay at home which sucks because he loves f1 and all that shizzle, but next year we will hit it up, and perhaps even dream up something to do on the ‘hill climb’….so watch this space!