Setting up the new bike

Since I took ownership of my EXC, here's what I've changed to my liking:

• Set suspension sag
• Adjusted handlebar position
• Fitted Domino throttle grips
• Fitted RFX donuts
• Fitted Barkbusters VPS handguards
• Adjusted rear brake lever height
• Fitted a new fuel cap breather hose
• Fitted new Acerbis plastics kit
• Fitted a new front headlight shroud
• Fitted new radiator guards
• Full customised graphics from Fusion MX*
• Fitted a KTM bash plate
• Fitted a Pro Carbon exhaust guard

* All will be revealed soon...

No doubt there will be more fettling until I'm comfortable with it, but it's a good start. What I need now is time on the bike!

Winter fitness training

It's dark and cold after work at this time of year, so I have to force myself go and do some fitness training! Running is out of the question because it's just too high impact, so I'm out on the mountain bike a lot. During the week it's all road riding (albeit up the steepest hills I can find), but I managed 100 miles last week and I'm aiming to ride at least 50 miles a week until the Spring.

On the weekends when I can fit a decent ride in during the day, I ride about 20 miles and do as much of it off-road as possible.

There's no substitute for bike time, but getting out on the mountain bike is about as close as it gets.

I'll go and ride at some trail centres soon, as long as it's not icy...

New Io Racing logo!

Thank you very much Emlyn Whittick for designing the logo for me, it looks great and I can't wait to see it on the bike!

A new year and a new challenge in 2014

This year has gone well for me, up until the start of the year I'd only done a handful of events, with those being a mixture of local rallies and enduros.

So I wanted to jump in at the deep end and go for a full season of racing. It's been fantastic fun and I've improved a lot, but it's not great for the bank balance!

I rode a Gas Gas EC 200 in the enduros and a Yamaha WR 400 in the rallies and I rode 6 of each type of event this year.

I decided after the season finished that I needed to cut costs a little, so my solution is to go down to one bike which will let me ride both events. It's a bit of a compromise on both accounts, but the best bike for the job had to be a KTM EXC 300.

So that's what I'll be competing on next year!