Test rides available...

I managed to drag my tired body out for a spin at Lysterfield today. Tired because yesterday it got punished with the hell ride followed by the Dandenongs. Nasty.

Most people who ride Lysterfield would no doupt know about Trailmix (a bike shop come coffee shop come bike hire shop). It is a great place to kick back roadie style mid ride and have a brew. You could also get some repairs done whilst you wait. One of the best things about this place is you can test ride some of the latest and coolest bikes available. Kona will have a decent size fleet waiting for you to ride.

The manager, Rob, is full of knowledge of bikes, bike set up and trail section. So next time you are cruising the extensive trails of Lysterfield, drop in and say G'day.

The shoe is out of the box...

Mavic are making shoes (also a full cycle clothing range later in the year). These are the Zxellium and first thoughts are comfy and light, very light. They are considerably lighter the the Adidas Adistar Pro shoes (the red ones) I have been wearing. I also have a pair of the Chasm MTB shoes (sorry, only in boring black). These are also very light and have a super soft leather upper. Should be a real treat to wear.

I plan on writing a full review in few weeks when I have got some k's up in them both. They will be in stores shortly, so keep an eye out.

Mental note, don't ever wear black socks with yellow shoes again, it looks gay.

Weight weenie...

Last night whilst riding Hans's loop (if you have never done it, ask around, find it and ride it. It's good) I lightened my XTR front mech. It shifts ok up but woefully down. Might need to kick the chain back on the large ring occasionally, but other than that, all good. I don't think this one will make it to the production line. It"s finally time to strip the Hei Hei down and give it a full rebuild before I race it

Family fun...

Melbourne is having the worst riding weather ever So instead of riding tonight the family went bowling. This pick shows Olivia's style, she won game number two. How embarrassing!

Box of bling...

Unusual size box for mavic you might say! Well they have spread their wings and i'm excited. I will unveil them soon.

Everything is for sale...

Not much to add on the riding front. I ended up getting a bit sick (only a little cold) after last weeks efforts. Trying to lay low 'till it passes. Too many races coming up to risk it hanging around. I have begun the transformation of Pop's wooden wheels and am hoping to have something worth showing you in the next few days. It is ending up being a long drawn out project, but I think it deserves it.

I have added some more stuff to my Garage. So if you are after some cheap high end MTB stuff, have a look over here.

Heating up....

I have been try to get a ride in on Tuesdays lately. It usually means get out and back home by 8am. But today Robyn needed me home in the morning so she could prepare for a meeting. This meant I was heading out in the heat of the day. So hills it was again. nothing too long, I had a massage last night so I just wanted to turn the legs over.

Flying the FTF jersey "pro style" on the climbs.

Mr Suunto tells me it got mighty hot in Melbourne today. Nasty. At least I got to test the eyes out in dry heat. My contacts used to dry out and become very annoying on days like these.

Back it up baby...

Today I managed to roll out of the door again. I decided I would just turn the legs over nice and easily after yesterday. I usually don't (read- can't) back up hard rides, but today I felt great. I was 15 minutes down the road and I was wishing I had prepared food etc to get me to Mt Donna Buang and back, but I hadn't so I settled for another session in the Nongs. I only did a couple of hours but found myself on the top peak (Mt Dandenong Sky High). The legs wanted to keep climbing, I have to be happy with that because this was the first week for me to bring hills into the training program.

The view from the top wasn't too good today, so here's a pic of the restaurant/viewing platform.

The Four Fathers....

I thought it was about time I updated this Blog. I have had a little time off but my training is now rolling along nicely. We spent Christmas down on the west coast. I got a few rides in, but our holiday was cut short when Jackson got the Chicken Pox. Bummer. It would still be nice to have a little more time do a few extra k's, but all things considered I am very happy with my pre-race form at the moment. My first race for the year will be the Dusk till Dawn in Queensland, where I am looking forward to the new venue.


Today I headed out nice and early (take a close look at the Ringwood clock tower below) with Clackers, Jason Jackson and Jeff Williams. The hills were calling and I think we punished ourselves nicely. I am really liking riding the new Look 555. It is probably the most enjoyable road bike I hav riden. Look really have their development down pat, even at the entry level to their range.

As always the Dandenong ranges had plenty of stunning senery to keep the eyes entertained whilst the body is being punished.

I have decided it is harder on the body to HAMMER down the hills, than tempo up them. No time for recovery rolling, JAse was in fine form chasing down as many car/trucks as he could find heading the same direction. Fun fun fun..

Once all the boys had heading home, I kept the wheels rolling for a little longer. I managed to make it to Abbortsford, where I meet up with the group I usually do the Hell Ride with as they headed back east. It made for a long ride. Just what the body needed to remind it what it's all about.