Heading North...

OK, bikes are packed, batteries charged and plenty of wet weather gear ready at hand.

I'll be picking Alex Kiendl up this afternoon as we head to the airport for our fun in the sun, no sorry make that mud at the Ay Up Dust To Dawn at Karalbyn Resort. Race start is 7 o'clock Saturday night finishing 7 Sunday morning. I am really looking forward to this event and will try to keep you up to date as the weekend progresses.

More bikes than you can poke a stick at...

Randall visited last night, and look what he had in his truck for me. A Kona Unit 29er.

I have been waiting for the right time to replace my Karate monkey I sold to Rhino a few years ago. I always regretted selling it, 29ers seem to suit me and I figured there would never be a perfect time so here it is. Might have to sell Robyn’s bikes to make room.

Otway Odyssey

I’m sure a lot of you have already heard how tough this race was. Well let me add my bit. After last years event, we all knew about the hills in the area and when you start at the beach and finish in the hinterlands there is no avoiding riding a lot of up hill. I’m sure race organizers received a lot of feedback from last year stating how hard the hill were etc, but rather than taking the easy road and making the event a little easier, they made a tactical decision to make the course harder and the rain added fuel to this fire.

My race was going well, riding with the leading bunch feeling comfortable until about the 25-30min mark when I started to find the relentless climbing too much for my legs. I started suffering cramps from the 2 hour mark onwards, this made me made the decision to cruse the fire road climbs and have fun in the single track, hoping this would not smash my legs too much as I need them for the Dusk to Dawn 12 hour in Queensland next weekend. The riding in this area is extraordinary. I was having a ball throwing the bike around on the soggy trails. Lucky for me I ditched the fast racing tyres for some mud one an hour before the race started.

By the time I had reach the oval for the first time at the 65km mark I was pretty shagged but still having fun in the condition well suited to a true mountain biker. With the help of a couple of Rohin Adams buddies (thanks heaps Jo and Andréa), I was refueled and heading back out for some more fun. By the final 13km stage I stopped trying to chase anyone and was happy to hold my position, however I did catch up to Tinker on the last slop fest of climb, he had suffered a slashed tyre and looked as though the race had taken it out of him. All in all I was happy with my finishing place of 26th and with a bit of luck will have the soreness out of my legs by the Dusk to Dawn this Saturday night.

This is a bad pic of the start, the riders took about 5minutes to pass this point only 500m from the start line.

Worthy of a mention is Adrian Jacksons 5th place and Rohin Adams (pictured) 11th place.

To much spare time...

In the time I have been a courier on the streets of Melbourne I have seen many crazes come and go. By far the biggest is the fixie epidemic. Although it isn't my cup of tea, I do applaud the riding abilities that have grow with the fixie scene. The guy pictured here, Dimos, only started riding fixed wheel about two years ago and since then has spent a year in the office dispatching and numerous days working on his motorbike to support his wife and young boy. Yesterday he showed me some of his new tricks, the first is a manual with a front wheel grab and spin.



This one is a no handed manual with a bar spin and a pose. I think he need to move to courier company with more work, he obviously spends too much time playing about in the forecourt ant 447 Collins.

Out of the blue...

Last nights Fatties ride was one of the best, there was only a small bunch of eight or so, which ment less waiting etc. I was feeling great. Mainly due to the fact I didn't commute even though I still worked an eight hour shift on the bike. Although I was very inconsistent to say the least.

The big news of the night was Randall letting the cat out of the bag. Looks like his resent form is no accident. He has been spending more time in the saddle than I thought possible. And it looks like he will be contesting the Australian 24 hour Championships at Easter.

Good luck Ben, hope it goes well for you.

Classic..

I came across this classic piece of work today. If only we could all look that good in lycra.

Biker Fox Movie Trailer Bicycle Race

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Ready..set..GO...

The last two Saturday mornings have been spent doing the Hell Ride, from Blackrock to Mt Eliz and back at a blistering pace. Last week was great, spending much time working turns with about ten of the stronger riders in the 100+ bunch. But yesterday was terrible. Could only guess on the number of riders (200ish), and with this came a lot more speed. I found it difficult to work turns because of the speeds we were riding, sitting in the bunch had the heart rate high enough for a good hit out. My biggest problem with this group was the constant pushing for position and therefore there were many riders way out of their depth making it very dangerous.

So, that’s about it for race prep rides and the next two weeks will be the test to see if I have done enough riding to race at a competitive level. I can't wait.

Rare Opportunity...

Today I had the rare opportunity to jump on the bike whilst Jay was at school and Olivia at her 3hour kinder session. Decided to leave the Delica at Kinder in Forrest Hill and hit the Mullin Mullin trails, trying to link them with the end of Westerfolds Park before storming towards home on the roads to grab Jay at 3:30.

The trails were great, even with the East Link messing about in the area. Credit to the resident dog walkers for their efforts in keeping single track in the area. The major change is a huge new walking track making the area accessible for everyone. Not so good for us but hey there is still parkland and we can still get in there and find/make our own trail network. I managed to link the Mullin Mullin with Weterfolds, on trails I haven’t ridden in many years. It was a great loop because it is close to home, there are plenty of good trails and there is the potential for more.

I was having so much fun I was almost lat to Jayden’s school to pick him up, I didn’t have time to grab the Delica, just threw Jay on the handlebars and off we went to Kinder.

First ride on the new forks. I will review after more riding, but initial thoughts, bloody brilliant.

Going Cheap..

I have finally built a bike to sell of for the sponsors. I though I would firstly offer it to my readers before I put it on ebay. This one is a 20" Kona Leroi (same as my 2007 Hei Hei frame only with carbon stays). It is 99% brand new comprising of new parts off my 2008 race bikes, Shimano XT, Hayes Stroker Carbon brakes, FSA wheels and Race Face cranks, bars and stem (oversized).

I race 22" frames, so this one will suit someone tallish, but not as tall as me (6'4"). I also have a King Kikapu in a 19" frame in the shed to build up to similar spec to this one, but will be a bit cheaper because it isn't a Scandium frame. Asking $2250 for the Leroi (about half of retail). Leave a comment with you contact details if interested, I will post more details on the bikes in my Garage.

Bling, Bling, Bling....

Got a get of 2008 Marzocchi Corsa WC yesterday, these things are about as bling as forks can be. There is a new price structure for 2008 Marzocchi so now the are about $5oo cheaper than last year. I don't think you need any other reason to ride them but here is one, the come with a 3 year warranty. Great product, with fantastic support. I like it.

The Flying Carrot....

Early this morning I went out to the Blackburn velodrome to have my first ride in a carrot. It was very interesting. These things are extremely twitch and difficult to balance which sent me sliding down the track a few times loosing some skin in the mean time. Once you get up to speed they do become a bit more stable but I found myself consistently adjusting the bike with by butt checks to keep it on the red line.

 

The Carrot is owned and build by Tim who works for Kona and this morning was it's first ride. The lid didn't allow me to turn the pedals because of a clearance issue but once this is resolved Tim thinks sitting on 50km/h for sustained periods is achievable.

 

 

Not this weekend Bloke...

In the back of my mind I had a feeling that the Dusk to Dawn will get rained out and it did. Bit of a bummer but it has been postponed until the first weekend in March. Robyn will be little bit fatter and who knows, I might even be a little bit fitter. Have to wait and see. At least now I will be freash for the Otway Odyssey.

By the way. Blogger is falling apart, can't spellcheck or add images. Boo.

Epix # 2 - The Ada Tree

Friday night I pack bike, bags and kids in the Delica and headed off to the folks place in East Warburton in readiness for todays EPIX adventure to the Ada Tree. An 8:30 meet at the bakery saw we riding down the driveway at 8. Greeted by a largeish group of erge riders with no idea on how there day was going to unfold. An email from Ash earlier in the week stated the ride would be a gentle four hour spin glimbing a measly 1200m. Oops.

We were on our bikes leaving Big Pats Picnic area by 9 and didn't return until after 3:30. It was funny to hear mobiles ringing as soon as we got back into range, " were are you, you should have been home hours ago". Lucky for me my parents are use to me dissiparing without a trace and not returning till we after the time I said I would.



There was a fair bit of this happening. Lots on overgrown trails and slippy logs etc to contend with. At one stage we couldn't even find the trail, but turning back was not an option. We pushed on and found the single track we were looking for.


Lunch break at the Ada Tree. Good time to remove the 10 or so leaches from our socks. I have never seen so many of the blood sucks attact like this, it was trully amazing.

Once back at the car it was time for me to leave the group and ride the 30mins back to pick up the kids. This area is fantastic to visit, so much to offer. A bit more trail mantainance to reduce the lashings we got from furns etc would make this ride exteamly pleasant.

Side note; The Four Supreme got need grips for this ride, now it's green with gold grips....Nice.

If you want to read more about the ride visit the EPIX or Grovers blogs.