Surfcoast 3hr

Great little event was held yesterday down near Anglesea. The Surfcoast has been running for a couple of years and is a event I have now penciled into my plans for years to come. Fun flowing single track and a well thought out rider friendly course greets riders at this event.
Gav and I headed down for what was our 2nd year of riding the 3 hour event. Last year was a little nasty with some shocking heat and flies but yesterday was perfect weather and no flies. We were in the single speed division and thought we would have some competition but only spotted 2 other single speeds at the whole event. Bit of a shame as it is a single speed friendly course, and we had a blast riding it rigid (one fire road descent was a little unfriendly but we got thorough it... unlike some) and single. After the dust had settled a few laps into the race it was a brilliant ride. The dust was thick in places and a few corners were sandy just to test the handling skills. As it would happen we ran 1st and 2nd respectively.... good for us! Always nice to get some prizes.


Me sucking it up running 2nd in Single speed and 29th overall in the 3hr

There were some less than impressive bike handling skills demonstrated in the first lap that caught Gav and me out with some exits off the trail to miss people laid out on the ground. Not to mention the dude who forgot to duck...... hope you are okay but needing the meat wagon with flashing lights is not a great way to end the night.
Few tips should be handed out to those who wanted to criticise the single speed. The word is that if I am riding as fast as you or faster with out a fancy carbon dual suspension geared bike pull ya head in and be nice. Sure I might look like Rich Grant but I bite harder particularly if you want to make out that I am a fat bastard (you know who you are!) you got to expect some words. I loved the heckler from the sidelines in the Top Gear Cycles tent..... seems I never saw you out there.... shame! Why not give it a go, you might find you like it, and you will live the simple single life.


Gav on his way to winning the Single speed class and finishing in a respectable 15th overall in the 3hr

Anyway off to the Gravity 12hr next..... cant wait for the little side trips I have planned.... hope they come together.
Happy trails!

rockn

Car is packed, bike is dialed, pumped for a weekend of racing, chilling, and lots of fun.........

bustin it out

Been a couple of sweet days riding since the weather broke. I did manage one fun ride last week between the very average days of weather.
Sunday saw me take in the Urban Epic again and with a great turn out of 20 riders were were having a fun Sunday morning. Interrupted by only a hand full of walkers who felt they ruled the trails. Karma did show that you are repaid when being a c@#t, as one walker fell over after chastising us. The guy who decided to stray in front of me on a fire break near Johnson St bridge re thought his idea and realised I was not so small close up and got out the way! Brilliant day for hitting the trails as they were in reasonable condition and pretty dry. Shame I had to call it a day early and head to work.


Me pointing out and heckling Cam's little fanny bag!


As you can see...worth the heckle (images from Cam Wells)

Monday the trip home was a corker as I was smashing a large gear as I had the day before and with perfect blue windless skies I rode the network all the way home. I had psyched myself up to miss any snakes and flew into a corner only to see stripes on the ground.... lucky for me it was a blue tongue lizard and not a famed Yarra Tiger snake.
Yesterday saw Jase (post his R&R in tropical QLD) head down for the Dirt Crit. 30 mins of pain shelled out by Paul VDP, not every day do you get to race talent like this. He showed everyone the dust, Jase helped himself into the embrace of a tree. Me I smashed it until I got lapped (at 3 to go, happy with that) and then turned it off for the weekend.
Saturday ses Gav and me head on down to the Surfcoast Six hour and race the 3hr singlespeed solo category. Looking forward to a weekend away to kick up the feet and chill.
Until next time..... Happy trails

race across the sky

its on again - SSSS

Thats right people the urban epic (or as I call it the Single Speed Super Sunday) is happening again next Sunday. Usual starting point check the Flat Hill site for details!
Been a average week of riding, had a mechanical that ended my ride yesterday 20 mins in, the bb needs new bearings this week, so slightly frustrating week of training. The gym however continues to be enjoyable and I am averaging 3 trips a week.
With the first enduro race of spring for me in a few weeks it is time to step up the volume, so next week will be big, hope the rain holds off. After Tuesdays lashing of rain I have been on the interweb and pick myself up a rain jacket (never been one for a jacket) as I was so wet and cold both on Tuesday and on the Tee Pee Epix.
Not much else to report....
Happy trails

Good to see Ewen getting some publicity in the bike media!

FHDC round 2

Headed out with Jase for the pedal down to the Flathill race on Tuesday night. He was flying off, around and over everything. The word was that there was a call put out for some ring ins to keep him under control. They showed up and he showed them... the rear tyre.
Amazingly the weather held out and then the heavens opened for the trip home. Wet and cold was the call of the day and Jase was keen to ride trail on the way home as he is off to sunny QLD next week surfing. Me not so keen to run trails as I was freezing and aptly dont like riding in the dark that much. Still good fun as always with Jase keeping me entertained.
I woke yesterday rooted after the last 2 days of riding and gym work.... had the day off instead and did some bike maintence.


first lap..... Newly crowned Vic Marathon Champ on the front

The above photo is from Cam Wells all round nice bloke who is handy with the camera..... check his picasa site for more shots from his experienced hand!

quick week

The week has flown by. I am back at work after 2 months on the holiday tip. Good to see nothing changes and the place is still standing.
I have converted the 29er to rigid (thats right people, the 29er viagra has been given to stiffen things up!) with a fork built by Ewen and it has opened the eyes a little. The eyes are open cause you have to pick the line and concentrate a little more, there have been a few little incidents getting use to riding it. I am loving it and finding that it is not as bad as I thought it might be. The key is finding the right psi for the tyres. I was going to replace the bars with carbon but I have a fear of carbon and personally feel that it is over used in the bike world.... sure it has its place but not on my steel 29er.
Climbing is a dream with rigid forks and I seem to be only improving in that department off road at the moment. I have cleared a couple of local hills that have me jumping for joy (the lungs not so much).
The week has led me to get out with Jase and Gav on various rides around the local trails. Jase and I hit the Mullum trails and rode some a sweet peice of trail that the trail fairies have been putting together (we dont know who you are but are big fans of your work!) and highly rate.
Gav and I hit the Warrandyte trails yesterday after work and rode a tidy loop including Tee Pee which I was keen to show him cause he missed it last week. Great hit out of 2 plus hours. Gav is back on the bike riding some serious kms this week, including 2 nights of Tour de Burbs. He rode over to my place and would have ended up with a 5hr ride yesterday.
Had a few trips to the gym this week and I am really enjoying the gym work. Will have to mix it up a little in the coming weeks but have found it has helped with the riding. I have also entered the realm of using some more of the Ascend products. After a few conversations with Jase I have decided to give it a try.
I have bought the muscle starter pack and so far it seems to be all good. Easy to get down apart from the capsules which are a bit horse like. It does seem to aid in recovery, but could this be a placebo effect I dont know?
On the beer front I am tipping White Rabbit from Healesville. Fantastic dark ale that I have gulped down this week both at home and at Innocent Bystander on Wednesday for lunch with a spicy pork pizza. If this is the first beer cant wait for more styles out of the brewery!
Get on down this Tuesday for the Dirt Crit and support local racing - these guys put it on for your enjoyment so make the mot of it I say. More the better.
Happy trails!