The first weekend in February was marked by the fact that my brother Andrew (Supawal), got his new Specialized FSR. I collected it from the shop for him on Friday, and he was banging on my front door, having hot footed it from London, next morning at 8 o’clock.

Like a child with a new toy, he was very excited, and wanted to get on with setting it up straight away. Two hours later we set off on his ‘first ride’.

Saturday was a familiarisation ride. We visited Habberley Valley, for some singletrack shenanigans, before making our way to Kinver, via some tough climbs, and white knuckle descents. Supawal began a transformation as he became more at home on his new steed, trying new things that he would have never considered on his old hardtail bike.

Come Sunday, I decided it was time to turn up the wick, and rode out on my S-works race bike, this would give Supawal a run for his money. But no, the transformation continued, no longer could I keep up with him on the descents, he made it look so easy and casual as he dropped like a stone leaving me fighting rock’n’root all the way. Even on the flat, he was so smooth, his body language giving no indication of the terrain ahead. I, on the other hand, was hitting things left right and center, I found my self having to drop back.

By the end of the weekend the transformation was complete. Supawal is now a committed ‘full-suss’ rider with a penchant for riding more extreme trails than would be healthy for the average rider!

Some pictures from the weekend can be found here.