This week marks the end of the road for myself and my Giant Glory long-term bike. The nice men from Giant UK have been on and she is being recalled to base.

It’s been an eventful year aboard the Glory and it’s fair to say that it’s been a great long-term bike. After breaking my arm first riding the thing for issue 246 things got off to a less than brilliant start. That said though, I knew I liked it – if I’m honest, more than I had expected to.

The stand-out moment of the year for the Glory though was definitely our trip to Malaga. Pete Drew from Silverfish and myself headed out there to sample the delights of the new Rocky Mountain Slayer, slow-cooked ribs and the joys of drinking beers and generally being loutish in a communal swimming pool. The Glory came with though for two days worth of feature shooting (see issue 258) which really cemented our relationship.

I guess it sort of jades your view a bit when you get to ride some of your years best tracks/trails aboard a certain bike but even after destroying a chainring, my ribs and a finger – the Glory was amazing in Malaga.

The tracks were long, brutal and both technical yet flat-out in equal measures. I’d just had the bike back from Mojo who had shortened the rear shock by 5mm which had slackened the head-angle out nicely and the 2011 Fox 40′s up front were an education in plushness.

Other mods which made the Giant a pleasure to own were the bombproof Hope Pro 2 wheelset,Renthal Fatbars and the Continental Der Baron tyres.

The wheels were one of the first products to get tested and as soon as they were on the Glory that was it – a years worth of riding and abuse later and they’re still just as smooth and straight as ever. The bars were a classic case of  ‘yep, they’re for me’ – it’s all personal preference of course but the Fatbars just feel ‘right’ to me. Finally, I’ve only been running the Continental’s for a month but already I’m in love with them. They just hold on like nothing else I’ve ridden, watch out for a full review soon once they’ve done the office rounds.

All in then, the Glory has been a superb long-term bike. A stable test-bench and consistent performer it rarely let me down and was always up for ‘just one more run’.

Well done Giant Glory – you did both of us proud.

No-one likes getting out of bed at 6am on a Sunday. It doesn’t feel right – all your body wants to do is stay under the duvet and shut back down again knowing that a day of lounging, Sky TV and the Sunday papers await it on wakening.

Not for Jamer, Weavs and myself though. No, this Sunday was all about the Mini-DH race at the Forest of Dean!

The early start didn’t hamper spirits too much and after a quick blast in the Vito Sport we were soon padding and layering up at the frosty FOD. Jamer was tackling his first race in Masters whilst Rob and I were alongside Jake in the small Pro-Am field.

Yeah, I know – I wasn’t mad for being in the fastest class of the day. There were nine riders including myslelf and I estimated all of them to be quicker than me! That said, I went into both my runs pretty relaxed knowing that the clock was my main rival on the day.

If you own a big bike you seriously need to get along to a Mini-DH race. The track was fun, well marshalled and the whole day ran really smoothly. Staying warm was a battle but the banter at the bottom kept us going and we all had an amazing time.

As predicted, I brought it home 9th in Pro-Am but took some pride in the fact that my second run was two seconds quicker than my first, it was TECHNICALLY a top ten finish and that I was the fastest Irishman there! Jamer came home in a highly respectable 42nd whilst Rob and Jake were 5th and 6th respectively in Pro-Am.

See how everyone else got on here, there’ll be more in the next MBUK 260 (on sale 12th Jan) too.

In the mean time, here are some pics of the world’s least professional race team in action courtesy of Jon Ashelford Photography.

Then mosey on down to your local newsagent and pick up the brand new issue of MBUK.

It’s packed with all the usual news, features and reviews goodness, but this time we’re bringing you even more!

Yep, every issue comes with an exclusive supplement featuring the Sexiest Bikes and Kit for 2011.

Lovingly compiled by our genius tech ed Weavs, we’ve got flippin gorgeous shots of the bikes of the year. We’re talking the Nuke Proof Scalp DH, Mondraker Factor RR, Cannondale Jekyll Ultimate, DMR Omen and every single bike that matters for 2011.

We’ve got all the juiciest kit, and a look back at the trends that have stuck over the years. And the ones that haven’t.

Not only that, we’ve gotten into a huddle with all the industry bods who matter to find out what’s coming over the next year.

And our own Wrecking Crew team give their predictions for what we’ll all be riding in 2011. And last, but not least, a pic of a very large tortoise.

Don’t miss it!

It gets pretty hot around about that time. In a desert.

Despite getting a bit scorched though we rode until dark and got some really nice sunset shots. After that it was home, wash and out for Mexican. Me and Weavs destroyed a plate of chimichangas each then hit the road.

We were on the road at 5am this morning, we rolled back into town just before ten and had a well-deserved breakfast. It was pretty cool knowing that we’d got so much stuff shot already and the riding was way more enjoyable as it was warm instead of thermonuclear!

Got to go now as we’re off into Vegas for the first time to pick up our press creds for the show, have a mooch around and try and tap up some more bikes for tomorrow.

Snapper Russ with a portrait of a long-lost relative.

All I do know is that I crawled out of bed at 03:55 GMT this morning and it’s now just gone 20:00 in our hotel/motel/Holiday Inn in Boulder City.

Our journey has been a lengthy one including the drive to Heathrow, a nine and a half hour flight to Houston followed by a three hour flight to Vegas and the thirty mile SUV jaunt to here.

The plane was ok actually – I busied myself with trying to watch the Bourne Trilogy back-to-back and woke up to find a Japanese dubbed version of The Man With The Golden Gun on so who knows…

The second flight was pretty cool as well as we got to fly over a forest fire on the edge of the Grand Canyon.

We’re off out now for a bit of scran then it’s up early doors for all-day riding/frying in the desert with Guy ‘I will destroy you’ Kesteven… Tune in tomorrow night for (hopefully) the full story and some nice pics.

Weaver - excited to be in an American car park or 'parking lot' as they like to say...

High altitude grub

A wet start to the day and a tyre change was in order straight away. I headed up for my first run and the track was fast and fun but it was clear things were going to be tight come race day.

By the time I hit hill for my third run I was keen to get the speed up. I hit the second step down into the berm and had a big over the bars. I knocked my head pretty hard which resulted in a nasty lump and completely wrote off a new Mavic Deemax Ultimate wheel.

All I can say is thank God for the Troy Lee D3 helmet and Leatt neck brace. Those things are life savers. With a headache, a very broken wheel and dented pride, I gave the racing a miss, which was gutting.

Remember kids… play safe, wear a helmet and don’t do nose dives!

Anyway, I’m back – as you’ve probably guessed. That was easily one of the best trips I’ve ever been on – no question.

We rode everything from SRAM’s test track to 15 minute long flat-out sand and rock terror tracks which spat us out onto full-speed road descents past ancient churches and right onto the beach!

The heat was head-bending though, 35 degrees plus most days. Shade was definitely a valuable comodity and come the middle of the day we had to retreat from the hillside to the relative cool of the communal pool.

The tracks are ultra-gnarly and require a lot of mental re-jigging. The loose, dusty surface doesn’t reward the British norm of ‘front brake on the way in’ braking and you just have to get used to the bike constantly flicking about – it’s tricky at first but really rewarding.

I also had two massive fails; the first was having a big old crash which left me with bruised ribs and a dislocated finger. The second was buying a six-pack of non-alcoholic beer.

It was hot. I didn’t speak the language and I was being rushed! Okay?! Anyway, Pete from Silverfish told me they were the best ones to get. He’d know.

Anyway, here are some ‘behind the scenes’ shots from the trip. You can read full details of our stay with Switchbacks DH in an issue coming your way very soon.

On Friday I had a day off booked and with the weather man predicting sun, sun, sun there was only one place I wanted to go – the Forest of Dean with FlyUp DH.

After the Clic24 enduro race the majority of riding I’d been doing had just been lazy BMX track sessions so I was long overdue a good thrash on the downhill bike.

I crawled out of bed, necked some coffee, stuck the Glory in our Mercedes Vito Sport and hit the M4. You know it’s going to be a good day when there are blokes actually removing 50mph average speed limit signs …

Despite missing the first run of the day and the one before lunch with a puncture I managed to get a shed load of runs in. The best thing about

FlyUp, though, is the variety of riding that you can tackle. There are seven easily accessible tracks straight from where you’re dropped and they all offer something a bit different.

The uplift itself only takes five minutes and thanks to all the tracks being fairly compact, you’re never waiting about too long. Si the boss is an absolute gent and keeps everything running smoothly and has some big plans for the future.

If you’re anywhere near Gloucestershire (or South Wales), ever, then book a day with FlyUp – you won’t regret it!