Jay Woo

Two to go

2010-04-07T11:24:00.003+10:00

For the handful of people out there that read this blog and I haven't had a chance to chat with recently, I've got two more races to go. Yep two more, then I'm hanging up the racing ego and getting fat, slow and hairy. It’s time to go back to being a recreational rider again.
It’s been a great time racing over the last 4 odd years and if anyone had of said to me I’d accomplish all this, I’d have said they were bonkers.

See you out there on the trails,

Jay

Victorian 2009/10 State XC Series - Round 4

2010-03-23T07:23:00.003+11:00

This one was down at Forrest. There's a lot of hype about the trails down this way, personally, I don't get it. Though it does mean less people on the trails I love:) I do a recon lap and I'm not disappointed - It's underwhelming in its technicality with stuff-all altitude gain. Maybe I should have been a little more positive about the course as things just didn't flow today. Are you still reading or is it too negative for you already? :)

1st lap is a 'super lap', it's got extended fire road to sort out the field before we hit the single track. I'm struggling already as we rise then swing right and finally into the single track. I'm about 6th wheel. I can see the front of the race as we are all tightly bunched so I'm not too worried and the pace seems to have been wound down a notch. We stay like this for a while until we get to the undulating section which starts me thinking I need to get past the guy in front as I can see he is now showing signs of dropping the wheel in front of him. But there's no real opportunity presenting itself to me and a gap slowly starts opening. The guy in front of me starts to dig a little deeper and as he does, his bike handling skills start to wane. In fact, if you were to graph the two, they would be directionally proportional. How do I know this? He keeps fighting harder and as he does he's all over the shop. I have to back off and give myself some room because he's like a bomb about to go off. Finally he does go off. The trail sweeps left and for some reason he keeps going straight and he's into the scrub like an F1 car into the kitty litter. Finally I bridge then we get the added bonus of the other categories reversing into us. It's a mess the 1st lap.

Lap two and we are now on the 1st section of single track that we missed due to the super lap. It's lined with balga grass trees and it feels like you are riding through an automated car wash! The single track opens up a bit on a flat section and I decide to go on the attack in search for Matt Molan who went on the attack earlier during the second half of lap one. No one comes with me so it's head down bum up in search of Matt. The second half of the course has some fast rutted sections and it's on one of these that my chain leaves the big chain ring for a rendezvous with my crank arm. The ruts and speed I'm carrying doesn't feel safe to go one handed and nurse the chain back on. By the time the chain is back on, the chasing bunch is back with me.

I recoup and go again, this time Tom comes with me. Again on the second half of the course I go to slam back a gel but in ends up going down my wind pipe. I think I've now got a good idea of what full blown Emphysema could feel like as I try and exhale with minimal effect. Tom's gone so I'm now third with a lap to go.

The fourth lap is far more enjoyable than the last three combined and I'm hooking into the sweeping turns through the trees. Senior Woo has made the long trip to man the bottles in the feed zone again and there were some sleek changes today. He's still in the feed zone as I approach for the finish line so out comes my hand, bottle-less, and we 'high-five' as I pass him heading for the finish line.

Victorian 2009/10 State XC Series - Round 3

2010-02-10T19:43:00.007+11:00

Round 3 was back in Bendigo, though on different soil to the last round here. The course was in an area that was used for part of the National Marathon Championships, so I had some idea on what we were in for. I got a practice lap in and ended up having an off and egging my shin with my pedal. Not the best start to the day but it was soon forgotten as we all lined up in one long line in a large paddock ready for a drag race up a incline then round a sweeping right and down into freshly cut single track. Before any of the categories started there was a fitting minutes silence to remember Black Saturday.

The Elite field are 1st then us, Expert, and I'm fighting to stay with the young legs as we crest. Surprisingly I'm fourth wheel and have a good view of the front runners as we weave along a dried up creek bed. Next comes some climbing and I sense 3rd wheel is about to pop from 2nd, so I jump past then bridge. Tom Grant, who is in 1st, is drawing away but at this stage I'm happy to stick with Matt Molan who I came 2nd to last time we were racing in Bendigo. A little over half way on the 1st lap and Tom is back with us. It's on a rise and I punch past the both of them. Back around to the start\finish\feed zone and Matt is marking me from 2nd wheel. As we enter the feed area I notice Sean is just in front and is about to take my bottle but it's quickly transferred to me and there's no loss in time just a change in front man back to Matt. At this point it feels like it's down to just the two of us. We verbally reacquaint ourselves with each other and keep the pace on to keep our lead. Towards the end of lap 2, I decide to kick again to see if I can shake Matt.
This continues and I feel like I break him on lap 3 though it hasn't come without its price combined with the heat.
Lap 4 is spent conserving my lead and keeping it smooth while also keeping something in the tank to combat any late surges. There's no surges and I keep my lead and cross the line 1st!

What, another trip to Bogong?

2010-02-04T20:02:00.003+11:00

Go to the Flickr set here for a bit more of the story.

2010 Australian National MTB Championships

2010-01-20T13:29:00.005+11:00

I loved racing Nationals last year for the first time, so it wasn't hard deciding to do it again this year.
Like most people, I had a few weeks off work over the Festive Season and spent the time up at Mount Beauty, like a lot of mountain bikers seem to do, for my final preparation. This break ended with an adventure to the top of Mount Bogong.

With the race on the Friday, I flew into Adelaide on the Wednesday morning and was picked up by my soigneur, Woo Senior, a quick stop into the accommodation to check in and pick my steed up (thanks a bucket to D.C who did the drive over with all the teams bikes) then out to the course to bang out some laps. The course terrain reminded me of Mt. Stromlo, dusty/sandy with a general smattering of imbedded rocks. Technically I found the course no dramas. After my laps the only concerns I had was if I'd remember when I needed to slow down for sharp corners in the fast sections.

Thursday was one more lap to consolidate my memory then rest up for race day.

The access and parking isn't the best but thankfully Friday morning isn't too busy out at the course and I'm twiddling my thumbs getting nervous in the Fitzroy Revolution marquee. Finally it's time to kit up and get the legs slowly into the groove on a good steady fire road that runs through the guts of the course. I notice Rob Eva out there too with a few other riders: "did he have a plate zip tied on?" Is the after thought. We pass each other again: "YEP! ... Wow, I get to race the living legend of Australian mountain biking! Wonder how fit he is? Guess I'm about to find out".

Finally the time to head back to the start/finish area comes and we are called up to the start line. It's seeded, so being the defending Champion, I'm called up 1st. Next is Evan James. With his local knowledge he's definitely one to watch, then a few more guys and Rob Eva, the dark horse, also makes it to the front of the grid. We're in the starter's hands and get the 15 second call. The gun can go off anytime now... We are away and I get away clean, though the gear feels a bit light on so I'm changing up a few.

Rob is about a half bike length ahead as we round the 1st sweeping left. I'm on his right and watch as he chops Evan. It's quickly into the 1st of the single track and I'm happy at 3rd wheel. There's a short open section with a solid short and sharp pinch. 2nd wheel has gone out too hard and blows backwards, so it's Rob leading me into the major climb that's your classic single track switch backed climb, my fave! By the top we've got a gap on 3rd, Evan James.

Next is some downward pointing flowing single track and Rob shows his bike skills as he looks real smooth and fast. There's more climbing though they are tiered and not that long. I usually go into a race without a plan and just go with the flow and wait for intuition to kick in. It kicks in, and I smash it past Rob on a small rise. I don't let up on any of the climbs which make up the first half of the course. The last climb gets dubbed 'The Roubaix climb' as it's a minefield of half imbedded rocks and to get through it you have to monster over it in a low gear. You then pop out to the feedzone that marks the slow fast and flowing downward trip back to the finish. This is the part of the course where you need to keep off the brakes but remember the odd spot to jump on them so you don't end up over cooking the corners. There's one section that is a false flat and I make sure my legs are hurting at the end of it.

Arguably the most technical section is next, a snaking steepish section of rutted out burms with a myriad of options to cut straight through them over rock drop offs. At the bottom of this Rob is back on my wheel. We stay like this down a switch back descent before a small but usable climb up to the start/finish. Use it I do and smash it out of the saddle with no response from Rob. A clean bidon exchange with Woo Senior, and flat out back around the the climb out of the village area to head up it as hard as I can for a second time. I've got to use the first half of the course to my advantage and climb as fast as I can to negate Rob's descending prowess. Anxiety creeps in and this lap isn't the cleanest. I settle into the last half, where it counts, and it starts flowing a lot better.

Another perfectly clean bidon from Woo Senior and encouragement from D.C in the tech zone. It's around for the last time with the mantra "are you REALLY hurting?" going over and over in my head. I have the odd check behind and I can't see Rob though this doesn't stop the pressure. If anything it encourages me to push harder to make sure he can't see me. I'm on the back half of the course now and still keeping the pressure on. I come up on the last section of flat fire road and slam it into the big ring... The chain is now off the big ring and resting on my crank arm! I reach down and nurse it back onto the big ring like I'm disarming a bomb. Defused, I'm back up to speed within 5 seconds. I reach the descending burms and I feel like I can start to back off, relax and make sure I stick it. Through the switch back descent and I'm cruising it. Back to the bottom of the last small climb and I stand and squeeze as much out of my legs as I can then top out with the line in view! "Fuck-it, this time I'm doing a Euro line cross" and it's both hands off the bars with fists in the air as I go under the blow up finish line.

The full set of photos from the weekend including both the Elite races can be found here.

2010-01-17T13:54:00.001+11:00

There's a blow by blow description of this days adventure with every picture. Just go to the Flickr set here.

Victorian 2009/10 State XC Series - Round 2

2010-01-06T17:16:00.008+11:00

The team at Dirt Riders MTB club have put together what feels like will be an enjoyable circuit to race on after an easy bang around the course. The starting line is really close to the first section of single track, so getting as close to the front before it is a high priority. To keep the legs ticking over before the start I go over the first section to the single track a few times to get my line dialed in. The next thing to get right is my position on the start line. I'm just going to have to be a pushy bastard to make sure this happens so I lurk as close as I can to the start line then rush it as the marshals call us up after they have let the elite men's field off.
I get a good enough start and end up 4th wheel going into the single track. 3rd wheel would have been better but it's not long before I'm around him and the three of us are pulling away. Matt Grary is leading Matthew Molan then myself. Their pace is high enough and I'm happy to follow at this stage. Towards the end of the 1st lap Duncan Murray comes past the lot of us on a flyer. The other two don't\can't respond so on the next climbing section I pass the two Matt's and bridge up to Duncan. For the next lap and a half I'm just hanging in there on Duncan's wheel. He has some awesome single track mojo and I struggle to hold it but make it up on the climbs. Duncan comes unstuck on the entry into one of the rock gardens and I pass him. Once he's caught up, I complement him on his single track mojo. Strangely though, he seems to have lost it as I'm slowly pulling away on sections that on past laps I was struggling to hold his wheel, he was now falling behind. I take this opportunity to concentrate and slowly further the gap over the latter half of the 3rd lap and the last lap. Towards the end of the last lap there's a handful of times when I'm held up by slower traffic and this starts to chew into my lead. At the base of the climb up to the finish line there's more traffic and Duncan is now on my wheel again. We both pass and I pin it up the winding single track trying to shake Duncan but he's sticking. As the climb eases off and the trail opens up the line is about 50 metres away now and Duncan kicks and come around. I've got nothing in the legs to respond and he beats me to the line. I roll up to Duncan and thank him for an awesome scrap on wheels.

Victorian 2009/10 State XC Series - Round 1

2009-11-25T22:02:00.004+11:00

Some thirty odd centimeters of rain over night was recorded at Director Sportif's house in Woodend the morning of the race. With that much rain, I was curious to see just how wet the course was so a lap of it was in order. Glad I did! While we are waiting for the start we get a bucket load more of rain just for good measure.

I'm happy with my start around the start/finish paddock and I'm 3rd wheel into the 1st of the single track. Out of this section it's through a temporary creek that has formed and onto a short gradual climb up to the next section of single track. This is a nice twisting section that slowly meanders up to the longest climb of the course. This is where I make my move for 2nd and we are gradually pulling away from 3rd. After the climb there's a long section of descending fire road and the guy in 1st, Matthew Molan, really guns it and gets a gap. Through the rest of the course I try to reel him in but there's a 15 second gap between us. I concentrate next lap to try and regain the 15 seconds but this time it's around 21 seconds. My third lap isn't a good one with a combination of the track being really cut up now and myself making a handful of mistakes that chew away at a consistent Matthew.

By the 5th lap the track has dried enough to feel confident to let it run faster but it's not enough to catch Mathew and I'm home for an enjoyable 2nd place.

Full results from all categories here.
A Flickr set of photos here.

2009 Yowie

2009-10-05T12:00:00.005+11:00

Kim and myself got there with plenty of time to get our shit together for the annual GMBC MTB marathon, The Yowie. Race brief was late, long and subsequently chewed into the 5mins between it and the start time. By the end of race brief I had 60 seconds to remove my leg warmers and jacket then find somewhere to stash them. I was now at the back of the field. A long section of dirt road that gradually climbed up to the Stock Yards end of the course saw me leap frogging from bunch to bunch in TT mode burning lots of matches. Towards the top three of us had come together. We exchanged names and proceeded to trade turns in a bid to bridge to the lead group for the 1st of 3 laps.

Lap two, and the three of us are back at the top of the long drag up to Stock Yards again and we get a time check from a marshal. It's 30 secs. This lifts us. Not far into the conglomerate of trails linked together to make up the Stock Yards section of the course, we pass Russell Collette on the side of the single track. He's going at his Yeti ASR's mast with an Alan key. Some time passes and he's back with us going full steam. I'm leading the group of three at the time and try to hold his wheel up 'Stockyards loop' to the start of the descent of 'Boulder track' but I can't and he slowly pulls away. He's still in sight along link track. Then along the top section of 'Stockyards loop' he looks to be slowing. Before passing and hitting the fast flowing single track down to the plantation area I ask to see if he's interested in working to see if we can bridge. He's not, even though there's still a shy less than half the race to go. The three of us press on without him. This second time through the plantation area was the highlight for me. Its flattish trails are fast and flowing. Perfect for blasting railed turns with the odd front or rear wheel slide as you milk each corner for all it's worth.

It's back to the start\finish for the second time, though this time there's two of us. We work turns up to the Stock Yards for the last time and I'm starting to feel the pinch of the last two laps. On the last section of climbing before heading down into the Stock Yards I lose contact and it's good bye to my friend. I find the Stock Yards section a real fight with my fatiguing legs and squirt all but one remaining gel down the hatch to see if I can get my legs going. Through the plantation section of the course it's like a ghost town. There's no one to be seen ahead or behind. I settle in and concentrate on keeping fast and efficient. With 10kms to go it becomes progressively difficult to get comfortable on the bike as legs, shoulders and arms are fatigued.

Finally I'm over the line after an enjoyable day of MTBing.

2009 Australian MTB National Marathon Championships

2009-09-23T21:08:00.006+10:00

Annoyingly the report I spent half a day writing has been lost in the computer ether and I can't be arsed writing it again, so you will just have to look at the top ten and make up your own story.

Now, back to my holiday :)

2009-08-17T18:19:00.003+10:00

2009-08-11T16:20:00.002+10:00

2009-08-11T16:17:00.003+10:00

2008\09 National Cross Country Series - Round 5

2009-03-11T22:58:00.010+11:00

Friday, and the alarm goes off at fucking 03:30. Some faffing at home then into the car airport long term parking bound. I've got a 7am flight outa Melbourne to Hobart. I'm supposed to be at the airport 2hrs before my flight because I'm carrying my bike. I'm at the long term parking around 4am. I looked on the web last night to see what the go is with the bus from the parking to the terminal. Every 20mins it says but there's no absolute times, which is why I'm early, to be on the safe side. As I roll up to the bus stop, so does the bus. This is running too smooth.
I'm ticketed up and the Stumpy is now in the hands of the baggage handlers and it's now time to try and get a power nap in for the remaining 2hrs. It just doesn't happen. Those terminal chairs are made so you can't sleep in them. So are airplane chairs for that matter.
The flight's on time and my baggage is safe. I'm in a cab and stop via the centre of Hobart for some food for the day and breakie on race day, then off to the Motel in Berriedale. I chose this location so that I could easily ride to the course. It takes around 30mins to get to the course and I bang out 2 practice laps. I'm liking it. It should suit me. Back to the Motel for food and relaxing, then into Hobart on the bus late afternoon for some chain lube and food. There's also some socks purchased too for the hell of it. An early night as it's already been a long day.
I check out at 8 and leave my bike bag in storage. It's a cool 13 degrees so there's knee & arm warmers on for the easy ride to the course. I meet up with Dave & Emma and Emma is kindly feeding both Dave and myself for the 1st feed before her race. There will be a mystery feeder on the last lap that Emma will organise so she can prep for her race straight after ours.
We are gridded up on the start line that points up from the get go. The gun goes and I'm wary not to push too hard and pop before the climb is over. I'm racing 'data commando' too, which means I have forgotten to pack my Polar watch. One guy seems to do just this and by the time the climb's over there's three of us tightly packed descending single track. I'm third wheel. It's Brian John and Evan James in front and they are going at it hammer and tong. Their pace is high enough for me so I wait to see how they go on the large climb in the middle of the lap. It's mostly side track and Brian is ever so slowly edging away from Evan and I feel like I can give it more stick. Towards the top there is a small section of double single track and I'm gunning it to get past Evan and do. With all this climbing comes a mighty down section back to the start\finish and I've gathered Brian up on it. A perfect bottle change with Emma and I decide to give it full stick on the climb. I pass Brian who's downing a gel and push as hard as I can to the top. I can hear my gasps for air reverberate around the bush as I time my lactate pop with perfection as the course starts its downward weave through the trees. I keep whipping my own ass back around to the start of the major climb and my legs whinge as they often do when I hit a climb already in the red. I settle in as best I can and just keep as much pressure on as I can to the top. There's a section of switch backs half way up and I spot Evan below. This gives me a reason to keep the pressure on. I top out and then get a rest on the super down section. Such a fun down! The down is over after a succession of burms and it points upwards again and I get the bell for the final lap.Mystery feeder is on the mark and I thank them as we exchange. Before I disappear into the pine trees towards the top of the start\finish climb I take a look behind but can't see Evan or Brian. There's not many times on this course that you get to see what's happening behind but there is one just before the major climb starts while you cross a dirt road in an open field. No sign of anyone so it's head down and hurt on to the top for the last time I keep reminding myself. The descent is trouble free again and I'm enjoying it. Through the burms and around the bottom corner I can now see the blow up arch that is the finish and I'm under it 1st! Dave Ollie is the 1st to congratulate me as he's still loitering at the start\finish after his race, which he also had a win in. Evan, then Brian come across the line and it's hand shaking all round. Not only for this race but for the whole National Series.
There's talk amongst us to see who can get leave passes to ride up trails to the top of Mt. Wellington. I have to pass as my time is short due to my flight back to Melbourne later in the arvo. Shame, sounds like it would have been a ripper of an adventure.
I'd stashed my backpack in Dave & Emma's car, so it was now time to retrieve it, capture the Elite races with my camera and flash, before heading back to the hotel and bagging up the Stumpy, then bumming a lift to the airport with Dave and Emma. I spot Lachlan Norris at the baggage claim at the Melbourne end. Geez, and he raced the Elite race and made this flight!

The pictures I took over the weekend can be found in this Flickr set.

Sadly, this was the last of the Australian National Mountain Bike Series races. Like last year, when I followed the Victorian State Series and it came to an end, it was a bit of a downer due the maximum fun that I'd got from racing XC. Though I think my body and mind needs a bit of a refresh after all that I've put into it.

I'd like to send a big thanks to all the people that have helped me out during the races and sent me their support pre and post races. It's helped a huge amount!

And especially D.C at Fitzroy Revolution for his awesome support (just a 'small' example here) to this old bugger.

2008\09 National Cross Country Series - Round 4

2009-02-05T19:04:00.004+11:00

More hot weather. Thankfully I was getting a lift up to Mt. Buller in Director Sportif's car that's equipped with air-con that works. I've also scored well on the accommodation side of things with D.C organizing a ski lodge for a whole bunch of us!

Our race starts at 9:30am and my Polar mounted on my handle bar says it 30°C already at 9:00am. I found it difficult to get a good warm up as the roads around the ski village are either pointing up or down.

We are gridded up and I was carrying #602 giving me front row again. The count down starts and I focus on the upward pointing sealed road that then turns left 50 metres ahead. We are off and I'm around the corner 1st as the sealed road flattens, another left descending into a right hand hairpin then rises. As I smash it up the rise two others are smashing it harder. Down, then up again before a steep descent on the last of the sealed road. It's hard on the brakes as it dog legs into the first of the single track and I'm 4th wheel now. Not where I was hoping to be. As we snake our way down the black dusty burmed single track a gap starts to form between 2nd and 3rd wheel. There's only three riders ahead and the dust is pretty bad and I can feel my eyes started to water up in an unconscious effort to clear them. We come up on a large cloud of dust and it's one of the riders that was ahead. He's become a victim on the black, loose, tire thick dust. The descent slowly turns into an ascent and just before it pops out onto the 1st section of fire road there is a succession of tight difficult switch backs. I end up stopping through two of them but by the fire road I'm back in contact. Along the undulating fire road we are all together as we start to come up on the tail of the under 15's race. It's got me buggered why they don't send them off after us. The fire road is running out and there is two under 15's between me and the next section of single track. I pin it, and make it to the single track before them with room to spare unaware if any of the three other Masters riders had also made it. This next section of single track climbs and as it climbs there are more switch backs. These switch backs are like Nun's nasties. Really tight, dry and dusty. As this section climbs they get closer together and steeper. I think I succumbed to two of them. It climaxes with an ascending rock garden that you have to grind through to keep traction before finally coming out onto fire road but it keeps climbing. There is a reward at the top, a manned neutral water section. It's welcome relief as I grab a half filled plastic cup, take a sip before dumping the rest over my head then slam dunk the cup into the bin a few metres up the track. There's no sign of anyone behind then it's into the next section of single track. More descending burmed, rocky, black dusty single track that will let your front wheel go without warning. I find this section hard going even though it's a descent due to rocks. A small section of fire road, a small section of single track then onto the fire road climb back to the Ski village. James is dispensing the fresh bottles today, and I get one and head out for lap 2.

On this lap I work the ascensions for all I'm worth though the two switch back sections of single track are scrappy and I'm swearing with frustration towards the end of the second section. I'm still not seeing 2nd place though there isn't many sections that you get to see a lot so I just keep hammering away.

Another clean bottle change with James and I get the Bell. D.C is there and I confirm with him that I just heard the bell so I don't have a brain fade like I did in the Nationals. The course is taking its toll now and I'm finding it hard to keep the pace on. The switch backs are cleaner this time though I still don't ride them all clean. The ascending rock garden hurts a lot this time too, thankfully it's the last time. Still no sign of anyone from behind and as I come out of the last of the single track Director Sportif is at the side line giving me encouragement. "What's he doing there, he's supposed to be racing!?" Is the thought. I find out later that he had an 'off' which wrecked his bike and elbow. One last time up the steep section to the Village then it flattens out a bit before turning right into the section that is the feed zone. Then the finish line looms and this time I know it's time to stop once I pass it. My name and 1st place come over the P.A as I wind down after crossing the line. I'm greeted by Rosemary with a large bottle of cold water and it doesn't last long and catch up with Director Sportif to get the details of his 'off'.

Thanks to Rosemary for the use of her pics. The full Flickr set is here.

Some pics again of the Elite races are here.

2009 Australian National MTB Championships

2009-01-27T22:11:00.010+11:00

Wednesday; I start the haul to Canberra. It was a hot and boring drive up with all four windows of the car down for most of the journey. I finally get there early evening, unpack then head off to the Airport to pickup Dave who is flying in from Adelaide.

Thursday; Dave and myself had a respectable rise then out to Mt. Stromlo to ride the course. My impressions were that the course was technically soft. I'd been here a few months back to ride the Scott 24hr Enduro and there wasn't a part of this XC course that was harder than the Enduro course. Our course was also not the ones the Elites would ride. They had a true XC course. This wasn't going to be to my advantage was the thought. At least I was familiar with most of it.

Friday; Out on course again then back to put the legs up and rest for the remainder of the day. My dad had made the trip to Canberra too. He was going to feed me, so we spent some time going over what he needed to do in the afternoon.

Saturday - Race Day

It was finally here. Something both myself and Dave had been training up for. It was time to see if it would pay off.

After getting my transponder attached by the officials to my bike it was off around the road crit circuit to get my legs primed. It was windy and getting hotter by the minute. Mt.Stromlo is a barren place.

With 15mins till race time, I head over to get marshaled into our seeded position on the start line. I was carrying #603 and was on the front of the grid for the 1st time due to my placings in the last two National rounds. One minute is called before race start. 30 seconds... 15 seconds and the gun could go off at any second after that... It goes off and we are down the straight then funneled quickly into a tunnel and straight into single track. I'm third wheel and happy to watch from here. Out of the 1st of the single track and onto a short flat section of fire road. I pass Graeme Allbon and slot into 2nd wheel behind Brian John before the next section of single track. This section is a twisting power climb and Brian is riding it smoothly. As we climb and turn back on ourselves I get to see the field getting strung out. We pop out onto the next section of fire road. It's a short punchy up then a fast sweeping downward right hander that runs you into the major climb of the circuit which is disappointingly fire road all the way to the top. I push it hard being careful not to pop before the top. A short down before onto the single track to the bottom. Brian leads us into this and I'm second wheel. It has lots of burms, a few table tops then a small rock garden before out into an open field that is the feed zone. They have set it up so you can feed twice in a lap. My strategy is to feed the second time through so it's straight past the tents for me this time.

A small section of fire road before the next single track and a single speeder sprints for it 1st. I notice his move and I'm second wheel again. He's a local and has this false flat section wired and we pull away from the rest of them. Unfortunately we come up on some of the under 15's race traffic and it's not long before our gap is nullified from not being able to pass. More fire road then it's a section of single track that flows with speed while gently descending. Graeme is back on the front for this section and is really flying. That's the last we see of the single speeder. Back to the feed zone now and I get the chance to spot dad in the large crowd before sweeping around and collecting a fresh bottle. Now it's fast flowing open single track back to the start\finish line with the order of Graeme, myself and Brian.

The order stays this way through to the twisty power climb and to the base of the major climb. Again we all hit it hard to see if anyone will break. The top is close and I'm real careful to make sure I pop going over not before. There's a surge from Graeme and I match it and I'm into the single track descent 1st. It's time to test the waters as I bomb it and a gap starts to form. I notice D.C on the side of the trail two thirds of the way down as he gives me encouragement from his bike. Feed zone again and I get a glimpse of my slender lead. Back into the single speeder single track and I'm on the gas. D.C is there again at the end of it egging me on before I'm back into the fast flowing section. Graeme was fast in this section so I milk it for all it's worth looking back when I can but I'm not seeing him. A small up hill section of fire road before into single track back to the feed zone for a freshie from dad, then bombing it back to the start\finish. That lap felt perfect and I'm ready to try and replicate it for the last as I get the bell.

I'm on the twisty power climb and start to think "what if Graeme is negative splitting this last lap?!" so I start punching it out of the switch backs to maintain maximum speed up the climb. I'm onto the major climb, it switches back and I get a glimpse of Graeme starting the climb. Time to hurt and leave a lot on the climb. There's a guy sitting on the side of the hill and he gives me encouragement. It's time to try and lengthen the gap so I bomb the descent as fast as I dare to. It's head down through the feed zone and into the next section of single track. D.C is at the end of the section again keeping me going flat out at it. Next is the fast flowing gentle down. I'm hooking into the corners then out of one my rear tire gets air, skips out, lands and thankfully bites into the trail without allowing me to be thrown from my bike. Thank-you-tire. It's the last of the small sections of upward fire road and I can see D.C at the top. This is the last section where you can really smash yourself so I do before heading into the single track with floppy blood drained arms. Through the feed zone and no need for a bottle but dad is there anyway with the dregs of my others if I need it. I'm on the fast flowing descent heading toward the finish. I ease off this time to limit something going wrong and nothing does and I find myself on the start\finish straight with just fresh air between me and the inflatable finish arch. It's quiet, dead quiet and I start doubting that it's the last lap. I'm over the line still with doubt and disbelief that I've finished 1st. Then I remember hearing the bell lap and I relax and roll to the side where D.C and Dave are there to congratulate me.

Graeme Allbon comes in and we shake, then Brian John. D.C hands me his phone and it's Director Sportif so I give him the good news!

I stick around for the Elite Women & Mens race and get a bunch of pictures of Australias finest MTBers thrashing it out for the big one.

Pictures from the weekend can be found in this Flickr set.

2008\09 National Cross Country Series - Round 3

2008-12-15T19:53:00.010+11:00

This round was a lot closer to home so the week prior Director Sportif and I headed out to recon the course. Geelong MTB Club, whose home turf it is, had made a new section for the event. Two rock gardens were the main features and they were sweet-as! After a couple of goes riding and walking through these sections I had about a 70% success rate so it would be a 'suck it and see' come race day as to whether I attempt to ride or portagé (using the word 'portagé' I think makes the act of laming out a rock garden seem that more acceptable ;-P) through them.

Race day and it's wet, real wet. I wade through the sludge that will be the start\finish line to collect my race plate and go warm up out on the sealed road.

The start grid is seeded with a formula that perplexes me. Coming second in the last round I thought would have counted for something. Maybe it did, that's why I'm called to the line on the back of the grid which is three deep. Thirty seconds is called and I press the big red button on my paused heart rate monitor, it doesn't start. I keep pressing but nothing happens. It's already clogged with grit. No data will be collected today then! 15 seconds is called and the whistle blows not long after. Across the cyclocross start\finish line section and everyone is through safely. Safely is one thing but this is my worst placing wise in any XC race. Director Sportif counted 16 riders before I came past him in the feed zone, one hundred metres or so past the start. 'Shit! Lots of work to do' is the thought but I quickly calm into a sustainable max effort and start picking off riders when I can. Into the 1st solid climb and I can now see the head of the race as it winds its way up the lightly vegetated steep face. There's a large steep granite slab pinch half way up and there are riders sprawled all over it as it's too wet to ride up today. My turn, I dismount and sprint up it and pick off some more riders. A bit more climbing and another rock garden then it finally levels out and the single track winds along to the 1st descent. This is a badly eroded descent with a large rut snaking through its length from top to bottom. It's deep and if you lose a front wheel into it, it's hard to recover. This happens to the rider in front of me but I've got a buffer to avoid riding into them and adjust my line. Through the rutted section and the single track is flowing down back towards where it gets close to the start\finish line. I'm now getting glimpses of the tightly packed 1st and 2nd placed riders. I don't get too carried away and just keep a sustainable amount of pressure on myself. By the time I reach the major climb in the course I'm with them. About half way up I do a slow motion pass of Tim McColl though a gap had developed between us and 1st. I top out and the gap between 1st and me is painfully slowly closing down though I'm still not in contact. I bide my time and relax into the technical descent that I've done plenty of times before and feel like I've got it dialed. Maybe too relaxed as I make a recoverable mistake through one of the rock gardens with the back wheel getting lots of air time while the front drops off two tiers of rock and temporarily widening my eyes. More descending and I'm now about to enter the new section. With the way things are, still not in contact with 1st, I attempt and successfully ride the 1st rock garden. The second one approaches and passes without unclipping. This gives me a psychological lift. Onto the perfectly built burm section and then the sogginess sets in as the Start\Finish area looms. Approaching the feed zone I'm feeling really apprehensive about taking a hand off the bars to dump and then receive a full bottle because it feels like I'm riding through wet sponge cake mix. I manage to dump but fumble the fresh bottle! I put it out of my mind and just keep hunting for the rider up the trail.

Not long after the feed zone I make contact with the guy in 1st, Brian John. I'd heard people talk of him and seen his name before mine in the last two Otway Odyssey MTB Marathons but this was the 1st time I'd been this close to his wheel in a race. The pace feels like I can go faster but it's deceptive when you are following someone and you are close to your limit. So I watch, wait and rest up while trying to figure out the best place to attempt an attack.

There's a power climb through a boggy road section and I give it a nudge here but Brian also ups the effort. Just before the major climb there is a section of trail that is marked with bunting that's flapping about in the gusty wind making it an impossible squeeze. As Brian rides through the wind flaps the bunting to the ground and he rides over it. I pass through and it's up and caught in my bars. I keep riding hoping it will break easily, which it doesn't and I'm slowing as it's stretching. Finally I win and the bunting breaks. I get a souvenir for my efforts, some red\white bunting still attached to my bike. Finally some clear easy track and I clear the bunting from my bike before it makes its way into my drive chain and I'm into the major climb again. Not long into the climb with Brian a few bike lengths ahead, he gets a rear chain suck and is off as I pass trying to free it. Slowly he regains my rear wheel. There's a rock garden half way up and I end up dabbing through it and Brian gains the lead again through my error. We top out and just before the single track starts again for the descent, Brian takes a drink, goes to put his bottle back and tries to break before a hard right. He ends up missing the turn and I'm in front again going into the descent. Like before I just relax without mistakes this time and about half way down I'm not catching glimpses of Brian as the single track turns back on its self. Into the tricky rock garden section and I make the 1st but dab a few metres into the second. I'm able to get going again to ride up the rock slab at the end of it. Through the now moved feed zone to drier ground and a successful bottle change. I cross the dam wall and from this vantage point, spot Brian heading across the Start\Finish area. "Shit, that's got to be at least a minute gap! Right, just controlled riding here Justin" is the thought. Everything is clean and I'm back to the major climb again. I put all I can into it without blowing before the top. No problems on the descent and I'm back to the rock gardens. This time I decide to dismount before entering them and portagé through them just to be sure I'm through safely, then it's onto the soggy\boggy start\finish for the last time!

I roll past and hear my name and the words 1st place in the same sentence over the P.A and I'm smiling large!

Director Sportif and D.C are there to share the win then Brian comes in and we shake and both agree it heaps of fun racing each other. We find out that Brian had an off on the 2nd lap coming down the main descent, which is how the gap formed going into the last lap.

Now it's back to the car to scrape the mud off the sections of bare skin. The full length zipper on my jersey keeps getting jammed with grit as I try to take it off. Toasty in my clothes it was then off around the course to watch the Elite Women and Men race, which despite the rain and wind was hugely enjoyable.

A bunch of soggy pics I took after our race here.

Some not so soggy pics of the Elite's on Cyclingnews here.

2008\09 National Cross Country Series - Round 2

2008-12-02T09:19:00.026+11:00

To make the 1,800km trip to Illinbah in Queensland myself and a good friend of mine, Rosemary, turned the week leading up to the race into a road trip holiday.
We left on the Monday and had accommodation booked from the Wednesday till race day on the edge of Tamborine National Park. There'd been lots of rain in the area over the weeks prior and more right up to the Thursday. Surprisingly the course wasn't a washout during Friday's practice but there was still parts of the course that were very wet and muddy, mostly in the technical sections making things very interesting.
I really enjoyed the course and by the third lap I felt comfortable on it. The one hassle being a freshly cut switched back climb section of single track that had one corner that I found difficult to ride due to it being soggy and my rear wheel was losing traction through it.
Thankfully come race day, the forecast thunderstorms didn't happen overnight, so I stuck with the same tyres used during practice. The course was probably slightly less soggy than the day before.

The marshalling area and start line was great as I got to chat to a few of the locals with one of them asking me out on a Sunday ride on some of the local trails, which unfortunately I couldn't take him up on due to us starting the drive back to Melbourne straight after the race. With one minute called the chat stopped as we all got ready for the charge along the grassy flat Start\Finish that then rose and turned right past the feed zone before heading into the first of the single track. By this point I was fourth wheel and as the single track kept climbing I came to realise that third wheel would have been better as a gap started to form between second and third. I noticed the guy in front's rear tyre and thought it was under done for the first of the soggy technical drops we were about to enter so I backed off to give myself some room. We were both through it without incident and onto the 1st flat passable section. The guy in front was now closing the gap so I just sat in for the tow. Into another climbing section that was in an open field. The track was freshly cut too so this is where I was able to pick two of the guys in front off. The guy in first was motoring and had a huge gap. So large was his gap that I thought he wasn't able to sustain it for the race. Through one of the soggy sections then a rocky water crossing before into the longest climb of the course. This had the tricky soggy switch backs and I end up dabbing through the apex but I don't lose too much momentum. More climbing and towards the top we go under a bridge for the Down Hill course. It's soggy here and I pick a bad line and end up spinning the back and have to run through the bridge till it's dry enough to mount again. A guy passes me. The single track turns and kicks up into a pinch before the top and into the next and most technical down section. I don't want to be behind this guy going into the technical down so I concentrate and pass him on the pinch. Into the down and I'm enjoying it even though it seems wetter than yesterday. Into a steep single rut section that's got run off trickling down it and I'm off! The front wheel let go. I'm up and going before I know it and there's no sense of the guy I'd passed at the top. A section of undulating single track now to calm the mind and get back into the swing of things. An open pastural section with no sight of first place or third before heading back into more excellent thick scrub single track. Another water crossing, a bit of a climb then into a flowing switch back burmed descending that is a delight to carve. This feeds you into an awesome A/B rock garden descent before popping out of the scrub into pastural land back to the start\finish. No sign of first place but I can keep a watchful eye on third as I head up the rise for the first feed and words of encouragement from Rosemary. Towards the end of the second lap just before the burmed descent, the chain sucks in between the cassette and the wheel. Last time I had one of these while out riding I timed myself and it took two minutes to free the bloody thing! Thankfully this time I'm back on in no more than 30 seconds. As I descend through the burms I check for Mr third and can't see him through the thick scrub. Another flawless feed from Rosemary and it's pretty much the same as the last one with the other riders. I'd remembered speaking to Clint (Mr third) at the start\finish before we got underway. He was into the enduro stuff so he'd have long legs. I was feeling the pinch coming into the third lap. If I could keep it clean and hold him over the major climb, I'd be in for a show with second place. Onto the major climb and Clint is closing as I'm on the lower slope through the soggy switch backs. I listen to my body and make sure I don't over cook as you need some in reserve to punch over the top through the pinch. I'm over and still in second. I descend with more brake this time to make sure I'm through to the bottom without incident. Last time through the undulating single track isn't pretty but I'm through to the burms cleanly. Again I'm through the last of the technical sections with a bit more brake just to make sure then onto the last of the flat pastural land cursing but keeping a watchful eye for Clint. I make the 180 degree turn into the Start\Finish straight and Clint isn't far behind as he's gassing for the finish. I'm over the line ahead of him and take Second! We catch up after the race and thank each other for a fun piece of racing then it's off to the Coomera river to wash the bike before packing it away into the car and heading back to Melbourne.

2008 Scott 24hr

2008-10-13T16:27:00.008+11:00

I’m back at work after my first 24hr MTB race up in Canberra over the weekend and I’m just a tad foggy in mind and body!

I took the Friday off so I could hitch a ride with D.C and have plenty of time to settle in before the Saturday noon start.

I was in a Mens Pair Team with Ash who’d done his fair share of 24hr racing so I was in good company to race with.

The course had two separate laps that had to be completed in succession for the 24 hours. Ash was starting us off on the red lap with the plan to start off doing double laps to get a feel for the whole course and rough times to complete them for transitioning. With Ash in for his two laps it was my turn to taste the course. The red lap starts with some easy flat flowing single track before some great climbing up Mt. Stromlo primarily on single track. It then traverses Mt. Stromlo before a long descent back to the transition area. It’s on this that my fun is interrupted with a rear puncture that won’t seal so it’s out with a tube. Then about 100m further along the rear flats AGAIN. This time I’ve got no tube to get me going so it's riding when the trailing isn’t too rough to wreck my rim and walking\running when it is. I head back to base to get it sorted by D.C then out again on the blue loop. This loop doesn’t excite me much and as the 24hrs pass, I name it the ‘Paris Roubaix Loop’ due to its fair share of flat rock garden sections that require you to grind over them like a Flandrien.

We keep trading double laps and on my next outing while riding through one for the rock gardens on the descent of Mt. Stromlo, my front wheel lets go from under me on a dust covered rock sending me head first into a ditch. I also cork my quad on a rock giving me 'rock rash' too.

After a shower\food and a lay down in my tent before my first night laps, my leg is feeling really stiff but thankfully not too stiff when pedalling. Game on!

Out on course the Mt Stromlo descent is carnage. Three times I’m waved to slow down by race organisers tending to people lying on the deck. Thankfully this outing was incident free for me. Ash then is out to do the grave yard shift while I shower again and tuck up in my tent for some sleep before taking over for the morning shift. I’m up at 5am, eat a bucket then wait for Ash to come in from his crazy assed marathon effort. Waiting at the transition area I’m feeling cold and stiff even with my trackie dacks and down jacket on hoping like hell that my legs will work and that I can backup Ash’s monster effort. I ease into it along the flat section then wind it up as I start climbing Mt. Stromlo with positive signs from my legs. My first Sunday blue lap is marred with more punctures. This time it’s a front and back at the same time. I’m too far from transition to walk\run\ride back on a flat so I bot a 2^nd tube from a fellow racer. I stop into base to tube up and grab some food before heading out for more. I’m into transition around 11:30am and I’ve got time to get one more red lap in. I get a mobile water bottle exchange by D.C aboard his bike while on the way out. I’m back in and spent with that feeling in your legs that makes you reluctant to get off just in case they fail from underneath you.

Race Site here for more detail on the event.

http://www.scott24hr.com.au/

My pictures from the weekend here.

All things new

2008-10-08T16:30:00.005+11:00

Wow, a long time between blogs. Things got all pair shaped on the work front and I found it impossible to keep up any riding route for a good three months. I was basically living off commutes to and from work and a sanity saver ride most Sundays. I'm happy now that over the past two weeks things are getting back to normal and I've had some great weekends riding both days again.
While riding road I've been aboard this bang up beauty of a Lynskey R320 that D.C graciously handed over to me to ride! It's the first time for me aboard a Ti bike with the last two being CF's. The ride is firmer than CF I reckon, which isn't a hassle for me as I love to feel the ride when on any bike. I love feedback from a bike and this gives it to you. The frame feel is quite different too. I noticed a loose feeling in the front compared to the Tarmac when just cruising along seated and on the hoods. This was a bit concerning to tell you the true as I thought it was going to feel like a sponge descending! The phenomenal thing about this bike is that it tightens up when you want it to and relaxes when you do. Stomping up hills was the first test and yep, it feels like all my effort is hitting the tarmac and not getting washed away through the frame. Now that I'd gain some altitude, time to point it down hill and into some corners hoping like hell it didn't corner like a sponge. Again the frame came to attention at speed and feels like a precision arrow that goes around corners upon your command. 'Arrrh relief' at first then exhilaration. I rode the Tour de Burbs for the 1st time in ages a few weeks back and was happy that I could still hang on. On the descent of Foote St I managed to find a pot hole and the rear immediately flatted with the front going down like the titanic as I tried to keep the bike under control and come to a stop. The tube I had went in the back and I repaired the front with a patch. After inspecting the situation closer the day after, the back rim was trashed with a nice flat spot. Thankfully D.C had a sweet pair of King hubs laced in to some DT RR1.1 doubles till the Bontrager's are repaired.
There's been a fare bit of excitement on the S-Works Stumpy too. I tried out some Geax Mezcal 1.9 TNTs over the weekend up at Mt. Macedon... Fast! This will come in handy as I head to Canberra for the Scott 24hr to race as a pair with Ash Hayat. He asked me a week ago after a Sunday ride around Westerfolds. It should slap some base back into my legs! This will be my first 24hr race so I'm just shitting myself a teeny bit with the lack of training in the legs. I've done two Melb 12hrs in a pair and they both hurt with appropriate training. Spose I can always retire to the tent and let Ash finish since he suggested doing it in the first place! :P
Ooo, and we have new shop kits too to complete the transformation from the old name to the new Fitzroy Revolution!

Post Op - A Pictorial thus far

2008-05-01T18:33:00.008+10:00

Round 5 Victorian State XC Series - Beaconsfield Upper

2008-04-27T18:09:00.009+10:00

It was the last of the Summer XC series today with a forecast that wasn’t too summery. Thankfully the hail didn’t come and there was no rain at all just a moist track. I’d ridden the course last Sunday on the way back from the Festival of Mt. Doom and on my warm up noticed a few minor tweaks.
It was an uphill start on some fire road then straight into a single track descent through a pine tree section. The pine needles had made this section slippery last Sunday but we where all through without dramas and I felt happy with my start and place in the string of riders.
Down and over a creek crossing and up into a short sharp section with two rutted out switch backs. I’d swapped out my back wheel for a Maxxis Medusa shod one for extra grip in this section and it did the trick.
More single track and I could sense that the guy behind had dropped off and the guy in front was a touch slower. “Early days” I thought and no real passing opportunities for a while so I just sat in.
Another short sharp climbing section and the guy in front has his elastic broken. There’s a short fire road section coming up so I take him there.
There’s a power climb towards the end of the 1st loop of three that make up a lap and I see some guys ahead I’m smashing it along nicely as I look down and see I’m well into the red then towards the false flatting top 'BOOOM' I feel like a dragster halfway down the quarter mile that’s burst into flames. Not long after the guy behind is now in front as I try to recover.
2nd lap and on the 2nd short sharp climb I get some major chain suck and I’m side lined trying to get it out. Not long after the head of the Expert race, James Walker, comes past. Not long after this Tim McColl comes past in pursuit.
I’m really struggling on what feels like 3 out of a potential 6 cylinders but keep plugging away.
I come in for my 5th bottle and some lady is standing between me and my table. I hold up my bottle and move my head repeatedly to the side to signal she needs to move as I head straight for her. He jaw drops and she’s out the way just in the nick of time. It’s time to kick back and enjoy the laps as the lights are well and truly out.
Coming in for the last lap I had a hard time convincing the legs to go around one more time. I’m not into DNF’ing and I wasn’t going to now even if I was flogging a dead horse. The crop is out for most of the last lap and if I was aboard a horse I’d have been reported to the RSPCA. Luckily I’m not and no animals were hurt during the making of this tale. Looks like I’ve had one too many races.
On the drive back to Melb it’s a stop off at the Black Kettle in Sassafas for some pancakes and coffee.
I'm off work to enjoy one more ride tomorrow before I go under the knife Tuesday to see if I can get my manky finger fixed up. Doc’s saying 6 weeks for the scaring to heal, so I get to rest up good and proper after a stupidly fun filled Summer of riding and racing bikes!

Full results here.
Bucket-o-pix here.
State Series results here.

2008 Baw Baw Classic - Masters 1/2/3

2008-04-23T00:47:00.008+10:00

Thankfully I gave myself plenty of time for the drive to Warragul because the South Eastern Fwy came to a stand still near Stud rd on the trip out. I spotted the Lovelock crew in the same predicament and Jono thought it was appropriate to give me the finger. No respect these youngin's!
I rego’ed up then rollered my legs to get them ready. I got to have a chat to James Broadway, Kim, Shane Miller and Von all in the space of 5mins. Von was driving up to the finish so into their car was a bag of my clothes for the waiting up top. She was also going to feed me if I needed it at Noojee. Thanks Von!
I got to the line a touch later than I was planning but was able to scoot up the right side of the bunch 2nd wheel behind J.B. Heh, then I remembered this is a road race, not a XC race and being up the front isn’t as important. Still, I'm more relaxed being there.
The sprint comes early in the Baw Baw Classic and with about 1km to go, I notice Tom Crebbin losing ballast down his left leg. It must help because he takes out the sprint.
The small road that takes us to Jindivick is a pleasure to ride and with a few hills along it, gives me the change to check out the names I hadn’t seen in any race start list before. One guy stands out, he’s a sinuous sparrow aboard some full carbon bling thing that I can’t even tell what brand it is. “It looks like HEEE’s out to party”.
Somewhere around one of the ‘Nerrims’ we come up on a sloth C Grade and we eventually pass. Like last year, there is a dig on the rise topping out at Nerrim Junction, though this time it’s the head of the race not the chase. S.M & T.C are in it. I wait for the down then jump on and enjoy the super fast descent (top speed; 90km\h) into Noojee where it’s all back together. Us Masters enjoy a good casual feed whereas C Grade woof theirs down and pass us before Vespers Hill. This is starting to annoy me and even more annoying is two Masters riders sucking C grade Wheel up Vespers. They are noted by the peloton and kept in check. C Grade start to go on the nod again as their feast at the feed kicks in and they are in need of a nap. We pick our way up Vespers and finally get the chance for some good clean road to dig into. Ciaran Jones applies the pressure about mid climb and gets a gap. I’m heading up at a heavy enough pace on the wheel of J.B and happy to watch from here. C.J tops out with the K.O.M with J.B and I joining him through the cars down the other side. There is eventually four of us with some C Grade riders along for the ride. We ignore them and the four of us work the front.
S.M had done a good share of the pull earlier in the race and he’d worked his way back up to us at this point. Upon his arrival he announces he’s happy to burn his matches on the descents to help us stay away. It’s through the awesome forest on that magic small road to Tanjil Bren and the descent leaves C Grade grabbing for their brakes as we let fly. On the rise to the Toll Gate C Grade are back and sitting in again.
Past the Toll Gate I’m aware of two other riders, J.B and C.J. C.J leads but his speed is slower than my legs need to be turning so I find myself out in front. I quickly settle into a groove and I’m in my own world as I listen to my body. Before the new road section I take a peak behind, J.B and C.J are close by. There are a few pinches here and I start to feel my legs. Next is the straight section up to the two super steep corners and the three of us are riding close at similar tempos. I ease off before each super steep corner then take a run up at them to save the legs from grinding away.
C.J throws in a few attacks and I cover them. Not sure if that’s all he has or backs off sensing me on his wheel. There’s a small truce on the false flat. I feel like I’m starting to feel the climb in my legs and have to concentrate hard. Just before we reach the 2km to go mark, J.B bangs out an all mighty attack. I scrabble for his wheel but it’s short lived as his kitchen is WAY too hot. I retreat back to my own Bain Marie just in time before I over cook. Now it’s time to just manage the max effort without over cooking and see what happens. I’m going faster if I’m seated but can’t sustain it and rest while standing on the pedals. It feels like I’m getting a gap on C.J but can’t make any ground on J.B. A stitch kicks in… “What stitch?!” I keep alternating, milking as much as I can out of my legs. Finally the gradient eases and I drive for the line. I try and spot C.J a few times but can’t and keep the gas on till I’m through the stone walls that mark the finish this year… FUCK YEAH, I’m 2nd!
I roll all the way to the end of the road and see C.J on the return and stop, shake his hand and thank him for a fuck of a great race. We roll back to the stone wall and do the same with J.B.
Warm clothes, coffee and then the presentations. The guy drops the Masters Perpetual Trophy and now the rider on top is headless and the front wheel is taco’ed! I get a lift back to Warragul to my car with S.M and Von is their swanky new Subi, grab some celebratory Stella’s for the drive and head back up Baw Baw to join in the “Festival of Mt. Doom” with J.B, Kim, Steve\Pete and Cristine.

Full results here.

Round 4 Victorian State XC Series - Woodend

2008-04-14T09:22:00.007+10:00

I nearly didn’t make this race due to a flat battery in the car but RACV came and went within 20mins of calling them. There was nothing wrong with the battery just the car’s owner who’d left the power amp on the day before. I’d been out to Wombat Thursday morning for a dawn ride before work. What a magic way to start the day. We rode the course then some of the gold single track that was going to be used for the BMC 100, so I had a good idea on what the course was going to be like.

There were a few tweaks come Sunday but nothing too drastic. There was still a big lashing of single track through the Pines. I line up again in the Elite field for maximum hurt, which is smaller than I’d thought it was going to be due to the proximity to Melbourne but it’s still looking like a fast group. We start a few minutes early because the starting Marshall is cold and it’s down a small section of fire road, a sweeping fast off camber right and into the Pines for the first section of single track. Finally I’m happy with my start as I slot in behind local rider Paul McEntree. With his local knowledge he’ll have the lines down pat is the thinking. It’s all together through this 1st section then a fire road crossing and more single track. Towards the end of this section there's a pyramid of three small logs. Nothing that should faze an Elite rider but something happens and the train comes to a screaming halt. My reflexes send me right off the trail to avoid the riders. This doesn’t work out and I’m brought to a halt with my front wheel in a pot hole. I get going again and it’s just like the last race from here, on the rivet and trying to find the next rider but it never happens. Lap 3 is the traffic lap and it seems harder than usual getting around the riders. There’s a really nice flowing section of single track about mid lap. It’s fast flowing in the thick of the Pines with a sweet 'S' section that’s got a snowboarding feel to it, NICE! I do a bottle change with Director Sportif every lap even if I don't really need a refill to get the practice in. The feed zone is fast so I take the bottles close to my chest to help make them stick.There’s a fire road climb about three quarters into the lap and I think I can see Troy Bailey's red and white BMC jersey which has me really digging but I don’t catch him and finish 2nd last.

One more round to go in two week's time. I’m REALLY enjoying it and I’m already feeling like I’m going to miss it! Dirtriders are putting on a XC Series over winter to help soothe the itch.

Full results here.

Bucket-o-pics here.

Arrrhh, more XC racing

2008-04-10T14:01:00.003+10:00

Website here.

Ooooo velegood!

2008-03-18T21:43:00.001+11:00

Crusty Crumpet

2008-03-07T13:22:00.005+11:00

Over the past couple of weeks I've rediscovered the humble crumpet. I love getting them nice and dripping with honey... What's with the shit packaging though?!
It's been like this for as long as I can remember too. It seems the package world has forgotten all about the humble crumpet. It deserves more I reckon. How the hell am I supposed to reseal this to keep them nice and fresh for at least 2 or 3 days?

How about all the different ways Milk is now packaged... Why hasn't the crumpet got this much attention? Come on, it's time to step it up to the same way bread is packaged at least.

Round 4 Victorian State XC Series - Castlemaine

2008-03-02T19:10:00.014+11:00

Up to my sister’s place in Woodend Saturday night, this makes for a shorter drive in the morning to Castlemaine. It’s going to be a warm one but I’ve got the heater on as I leave Woodend at 7am.
I rego up, then out for 2 warm up\recon laps. 1st impressions; Solid, jagged rocks, awesome natural elements. These blow my mind as I’m impressed with the trail builders’ ability to utilise what looks like heaps of naturally occurring features of the landscape.
I line up in the Elite race for the 1st time. It’s time to up the hurtagé and it certainly doesn’t disappoint. Actually it’s probably just plain hurtage because there is no sophistication to it at all with the jackhammer effect of the course and the pure speed of the Elite field. There’s not a huge amount that goes on through the race as I hang on for the 6 laps and finish last.
Lap one the field is tightly together as we get to the A-B line rock garden. Everyone’s down the A line cleanly and I think I was last in the line. This element has the effect of stringing out the field nicely and 2 packs form, ‘the Über fast’ and ‘the fast’. The elastic breaks on the guy in front and I go around and then put myself on the rivet in search of the next racer. I never see the next racer. It’s just me and the usual passing of some of the other classes. I think it’s lap 3 when I get the pointy end of the Expert field come up from behind. It’s Tim McColl and James Walker. I give them space to pass, try to hold them but I’m not able to.
Laps 4 & 5 really hurt good and it feels like my glutes are about to go splang from my hip bone! I come in for the last feed and fumble the bottle. ‘Heh, no matter’ and I keep it on. After the A-B rock garden I notice a person through the trees standing there. It’s the guy feeding me with a bottle! Ha! “LEGEND! Thanks heaps!” I get around and finally over the line for the 6 laps.
I get off my bike near my feeder & James W. Steve O’Brien is there too and offers to take my bike but I’m using it to keep me upright! Thanks for the offer :)
It’s a slow pack up as I’m finding it hard to do just about anything. Into Castlemaine for Coffee and food. More coffee at Woodend is needed too!

Results from the round are here.

Bucket-o-pics here.

Lowan Otway Odyssey Mountain Bike Marathon - 23.02.2008

2008-02-26T20:16:00.008+11:00

I took the Friday off so I could get down to Apollo Bay without being in a rush. I stopped into the Caravan Park in Skenes Creek, pitched my tent, sorted out my feed bag and headed into Apollo Bay to meet up with Loren & Eyvette at the Race Brief. Loren works at Fitzroy Cycles and was going to do the race on a rigid Single Speed! Eyvette is Loren's wife and was going to feed us both at Forrest. It had been raining off and on down this way since Wednesday and reminded us all at the Race Brief with more of the wet stuff coming from the sky. I remember at one point during the night when I got up for a leak, that the sky was clear and thinking, 'Sweet!’ It must have been short lived because when the alarm went off, it was raining. Breaky, then I threw the wet tent into the back of the car and down to where Wild Dog rd meets the Great Ocean road. Here I kitted up and rode into Apollo Bay for the start.
I'm a little late to the start line due to stage fright at the loo and thankfully Emma & Dave make room for me right up close to the front. I'm just behind the top twenty Elites and it's impressing the hell out of me being this close to such fast fucking bike riders!
We get the count down and we are off... Kinda. I have a shit start trying to clip in and Dave rightfully lets me know as the big gap in front of me fills. Thankfully the start is more subdued this year for some reason and I pick my way closer to the front by the time we get to the turn off for Wild Dog rd. The closer we get to the turn off for Busty rd the more nervous the Peloton feels and rightfully so, it's a sold pinch (3.4km @ 8.2%). Now the real race flag goes down as the big guns put their collective feet to the floor and I'm red lining it in no time trying to hold these freaks. It isn’t going to happen as I watch them ride away.
It's over the top and down into the private land section. This is where it gets messy, real messy. The 4wd track is that sodden that the soil is no longer that, but sticky greasy 'stuff'. So when the 4wd track turns upwards, and it does a lot between here and joining back onto Wild Dog rd, you’re off the bike trying to literally push shit up hill, steep hill. This would have to be the most frustrating part of the race for me, all that pushing shit up hill. "Did the pointy end of the race have to P.S.U.H too?" I remember thinking.
Finally the nightmare is over and not long after there are two of us working turns up Wild Dog rd and onto Mt Sabine. Then comes the 'rutted out with huge pots holes thrown in for good measure' descent and the guy I'd be trading turns with is down this like it's a bike path! FUCK THAT! We are still on 'sticky greasy stuff' and I want to get to the finish line. Around every corner I'm waiting to see this guy 'off' in a major way. But I don't. Instead I see another guy walking and carrying his bike that is now in two parts. This descent is punctuated with a wall of 'sticky greasy stuff' and I see 'turns trader' near the bottom. I summon forth ‘Olde Granny’ and end up riding just below him before I loose grip.
At some stage before the Red Carpet descent, I'm joined by Tim McColl & Andrew Bell. A.B leads me then T.McC into the start of the single track that is The Red Carpet. I give myself enough distance from A.B to feel comfortable and I'm feeling like the pace is fine.
Over the dam wall and up to 'trails 4, 5, 6' T.McC and myself loose A.B. From memory, I lead most of this with T.McC on my tail. By the time this is over I'm starting to feel a little spent and hope it's a passing phase that will go away after the 1st feed.
1st feed is replacing the small camelbak (used for trails 4, 5, 6) with a large camelbak to use in the Yaugher loop. I'd used two large water bottles for the climb up to the Red Carpet. These are empty and get dumped too. For some reason I think it's a good idea to dismount at this feed and nearly topple over like a newb Triathlete transitioning from the bike to the run! I pick T.McC up again as we head out to the Yaugher loop. The legs aren't feeling good at all and T.McC rides away. I try to feed on solids and find it hard as it's single track already. I keep trying to feed to see if it will lift me but making sure I don't do too many GU's, I don't want to start feeling sick too. I'm solo, my mind starts to feel the pinch and my legs heavy. Occasionally I catch a glimpse of a rider through the trees not knowing if they are in front or behind or if my mind is playing tricks. Towards the end I start to see A.B coming up from behind me, "shit, I'm losing another place...". He sits on my ass for a while then asks me how I'm feeling, "Shit" is my response, so he asks to pass and I let him. I concentrate REAL hard and manage to hold his wheel. Out on some fire road we are joined by another rider, 'CBD' (Paul Randell). A.B & CBD start chatting while I just keep it simple and hang on. CBD asks my name and how I'm feeling. "Justin... REALLY Shit". CBD: "Well, you seem to be hanging in there". Me: "Yeah I'm like an old dog". CBD: "Ha! They're the worst kinda racers!" CBD leads the single track into the 'Black Boys tight descent' and both A.B and I can't hold him. Mid 'Black Boys' A.B collects a pedal and is thrown over the bars. I ask how I can help, "Get my bike off me... ARRR, I'm cramping! Can you push my feet towards my shins!?.... Arhhh" I lead us into the 2nd feed. I ditch the Camelbak and take a large bottle for the last 15km.
A short section of single track and then onto steady fire road climb. A.B hadn’t stopped so I have a carrot for the climb. The legs seem to be responding, I find a rhythm and pass A.B… “Was that a Camelbak or a monkey I had through the Yaugher loop?” Is the thought as my legs keep giving. Near the top I come up on T.McC and punch it over. Now the climb starts to ‘stair case’ so I try to keep momentum on the small downs and punch through the climbs. Finally I’m through punching and so are my legs as I reach more single track. I’m sure this is really nice single track but I can't see it through the mud on my glasses. Thankfully there’s no moments and I’m spat out near ‘The Sledge Hammer’. As I start to ride it my lower right hamstring feels like it could cramp. I get off before it grabs a hold and walk it. This helps to stretch it too. I see blue sky through the tall trees as I look for the top.
More fire road then some single track and back onto the last of the fire road. It’s just head down and bum up to the oval and over the line.
I’m walking around in a daze not knowing what to do next. I see Shelly & T.McC and shake his hand. Shelly has the remains of the choc coated coffee beans she took from me at the start line. Yeah! Java!
I head back to the feed zone to see Eyvette and Loren leaving after his 1st feed. I eat fruit cake, clean my drive chain and put my technical shell on to keep warm. Loren’s still going to be a while so I decide to ride back to my car. It takes me an hour to poodle the 20km with 500m of climbing before I’m topping out and on the descent of Wild Dog road. It rains and I’m happy I’ve got my kick ass shell on.
Back at the car it’s a dip in Skenes Creek to wash off all the mud then into town to start eating my way back to Melbourne.

Overall race results here.

My race stats here.

Round 3 Victorian State XC Series - You Yangs

2008-02-11T16:19:00.001+11:00

Saturday night was spent over at Director Sportif’s house watching Simoni and the rest of the 2003 Giro’s main contenders take on the Zoncolan over Pizza. He lives a lot closer to the You Yangs than me, so it meant a not so stupid early alarm Sunday morning.
A warm up lap with the Director to tweak my tyre pressures and a few tips on the course. He’s ridden the You Yangs for a long time and could easily get around on a pitch black night without a lighting system.
I get myself on the front of the start line and we’re off! I’m somewhere around 6th wheel as we hit the single track of trail 2. Not ideal as I’m sensing the two guys in front are about to have their elastic break. It’s that youthful snap out of the start that I don’t have is the problem. Something to work on. I don’t panic as I watch the gap get bigger leading into the pinch on trail 4. I pick my way past without incident and proceed to chip away at getting to the head of the race. I arrive somewhere on the road of trail 1 as it climbs to the highest point on course. There are two riders, Tim & Jimmy with Tim on the front. I sit 3rd wheel to recover. We stay like this, Tim, Jimmy, myself to the end of trail 14. On the road I’m ready to roll turns but Jimmy doesn’t come through. Do you roll turns in a XC race? The race is young and I’m all for the three of us staying away for the day so I come to the front to do a turn. The order changes by the time we get to the fast technical down of trail 13. I’m happy to follow at the start but as the descent goes on I find it distracting following wheels closely and decide to give myself a good bike length or two as a buffer.
Lap 2 is a blur and ends with me touching dirt on the sandy corner just before the start\finish. I watch Jimmy from the dirt and I’m snapped back into the race by the memory of watching Emma C touch dirt on a wet Forrest Saturday. She was like a Ninja that’d had way too much RedBull as she sprang back onto her bike. I wasn’t so sprightly but it’s the quickest I’ve ever recovered from an off. I’m back up to speed, get fed by the Director, and methodically start clawing my way back up to Jimmy. I reach him on the road up to trail 13 and let him lead it. Coming up to the 1st rock garden I back off to give myself room and on the exit Jimmy crosses the bars and into the dirt. “FARK, ARE YOU OK!” As I fight to pull up and not into him in the middle of the trail. He’s grabbing his calf. “I’m OK, I’ve cramped, keep going”… So I do and try not the think about what has just happened and get my mind back on riding.
Through the Feed Zone again and out for lap 4. This is the ‘Traffic lap’ with other classes out on course. I get most of the traffic around trail 4 & 6, a little more on 14. By the time I get to 13, it’s thankfully clear.
Last lap now and I still can’t see any 3x numbered riders with the odd look I take behind. It’s nerve racking as I juggle riding safely but still trying to preserve my lead. The last time down 13 is really nerve racking and felt really slow but I get down without incident and I finally start to relax as I see Director at the right hander into trail 2 after the dam crossing. I’m through the sandpit of a last corner and across the line 1st!
I catch up with Steve O (racing Masters for the 1st time and coming in 2nd!), Tim & Jimmy for the post race stories, then it’s some food and a chat with Dave O, Mark B & Johnny B while we wait for the presentations. An impromptu party cranks up at the start\finish with free Claret for all the Bar Flies!

Course map here.
Course profile here.

Round 2 Victorian State XC Series

2008-01-15T11:15:00.000+11:00

I drove up on the Saturday so I could take a couple of laps around the course to get a feel for it. I'd describe it as being pinchy, tight, rocky and short. One of my sisters live in Woodend, so it was back to hers for the night with 'Director Sportif' picking me up on his way through Sunday morning.
We got there with plenty of time to get sorted and warm up. Race Start was late and 'different' to what everyone had told me was going to happen. Instead of each class getting a small gap between starts, they decided to group them. So 1st to go was Elite & Expert (my class) Men. My start wasn't as good as I'd hoped and by the time we got around the start loop to the single track, it felt like I was too far back. "Not to worry, 1st XC race, just stay upright and start picking them off" Not too long after the 1st ST section was open paddock, so I open the gas and take a few spots back. I'm well into max HR by now and I go into auto pilot so it all starts to become a bit of a blur from here on. Now we're racing! I get through the 1st lap and I realise I haven't had a drop of fluid, oops! I won't need a new bottle this time around then. Lap 2 I juggle putting the hammer down in the open sections and drinking while smashing the pinches and trying to stay smooth on the twisty tight stuff. At this point I'm glad I got a few laps in yesterday as I seem to be remembering most of the course.
I think it was lap 3 when traffic starts coming into play. Post race hindsight leads me to think that it's Elites dropping off the pointy end as passing isn't as easy as it gets later on. I think it's this lap that I have 'a moment' when I have a front wheel washout in a sandy fast sweeping right hander. Thankfully I save it from being an 'off'.
Lap 4 really fucking hurts and I start to have a duel with what I thought was an Expert rider due to his number. There's parts of the Single Track that he gets a gap on me and others where I'm on his ass. He senses this and asks if I want to come around and I try to explain under the stress that I don't think I'm going any faster overall. Again I neglect drinking and eating as much as I should so I use the open start\finish area to try and play catch up. DS had setup a small card table for us to put our bottles on in the feed zone. As you ride past, slow a touch, pluck a bottle of the table and keep going, works a treat!
'Dueller' had put the hammer down in the feed zone and was ahead quite a bit heading up the drag to the 2nd ST section. I don't chase, just keep the foot down and not long into the solid ST I'm back onto his tail. This lap we are seeing more of the other classes coming backwards but the passing is easier as they are more willing to let us through. 'Dueller' calls 'Track' and I call '2 coming through'. I spot Tim McColl in the 2nd half of the lap, note his geographical position and start a 'one cat-and-dog, two cat-and-dog' count going. I'm 30secs down on Tim. "How many other X-Spurts between me and him? Arh, just keep smashing it" Feed Zone for the last time and I still have half a bottle on board so I'm not going to need another. Then as I round the corner I see D.S standing at the card table ready to hand me a bottle! "What's he doing there?!" I notice he has one that is full of electrolyte ready to pass up, I yell "CLEAR-BOTTLE-WATER" and he makes a lightening quick change and I'm magnificently presented with a bottle of water! I dump most of it over my head and discard the rest. It's time to bury one's self. More slow moving easy passing traffic and I'm still behind 'Dueller', faster in some sections, slower in others. I see Tim again at the same point, at the same time. More cat & dogging, out to 40secs now.
I get to the crumbling burms section and D.S is there and gives me a time check; "45secs, just keep it clean!". There's a fast straight down up a small pinch over a rock step and into some trees. I'm on Duellers' ass heading up the pinch, then I'm distracted... During the week 'The Pope' was calling in quite a lot to be 'polished'. I decided to keep the mojo in so I was race ready. I was also adding to a scientific experiment that Atomic K was conducting. He's also experimented, but had gone the other way. Up until now I'd say my experiment was working well. I had fire, I had stamina, I was charged... But on the side of the track some guy had deployed dirty race tactics and planted his HOT girlfriend. I got 'slightly distracted'. Over the pinch and heading into the trees I line up the rock step... "Holy SHIT MORE delightfully looking females! What the HELL IS GOING ON?!" and that's it, I'm distracted enough to hit the 1st corner in the trees too fast and come to a stop. Then the guy (Elite) behind me bumps into me. "SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!!! OK, chill... just ride". Now there's an Elite guy between me and Dueller. 2 more fast burms in the open paddock, through a gate and I hammer it around the Elite guy and past Dueller, who seems to have no fight(!?). It turns out he has an Expert number but is racing in Elite!? Over the line and still not 100% sure if I've done the 5 laps, so I sorta keep it going while I look around trying to find some indication. Tim sees me and yells out, so I stop near the card table. D.S appears and reckons I could be 2nd. WTF?!
We pack up and there's a delay in the results as the Organisers sort out a 'computer problem'. It gets sorted and I get 2nd! Holy fuck! Does that mean I'm off my MTB P Plates?

Results here.
My Polar data here & here.
Pictures from the day here.

Roadies are weak and pathetic!

2008-01-09T14:15:00.000+11:00

I should know I’m one… I came to this enlightenment after stepping onto my Tanita BC533 last night for the 1st time since the end of November last year. I’d gained 3kg! Now you’d jump to the conclusion that it was just excess Christmas cheer that I was carrying. So I went through the various screens that you are given;
Body Fat %, no change… Body Water %, normal… Hell, even my Bone Mass was the same as back in November Hmmm, what does Muscle Mass read? Aa-ha! There you are 3kg! I’ve gained 3kgs of rippling Arnie Action with the increase of MTB’ing I’ve been doing!
So I’ve concluded that Roadies are weak & Pathetic and MTBer’s are REAL men. I reckon I’ll consolidate this after getting smashed by the Expert field this weekend racing Round 2 of the Vic State XC Series up in Bendigo. My 1st XC race! Can't wait!

I can Bake!

2008-01-03T17:06:00.000+11:00

For a pictorial of this extravaganza, go here.

Summer Holidays

2008-01-02T17:49:00.000+11:00

Summer is definitely here, which means turn up the MTB rides! I got to spend a few days down at Johanna with Darren D and his family. Day one was a nice little ride on the MTB around a small loop that Darren had put together in the area. This had great sea views as we descended along a ridge towards Johanna beach.
The next day we headed for the Forrest trails and bumped into Emma C, Dave O at the carpark. They had already been out and had stopped by to get more food and water before heading out again. We took in 2 laps with them of the smash fest up of ‘Barlidjaru’ and the fun down of the ‘Red Carpet’. I had a few scary moments as I tried to hold their wheels on the down.
The following day was a road ride that would take me through Apollo Bay, up to Forrest via the Skenes Creek climb, onto Colac along the flats then back to Johanna via Gillebrand up to Lavers Hill. This loop would be even better if started from Forrest I reckon. Stack up all the climbing towards the end for maximum hurt!
New Years Eve was forecasted as a hottie, so a good opportunity to get in an early morning roll to Ferguson and back, then a dip in the ocean before it got way too hot to do anything.
New Years day on the way back to Melbourne I stopped in at Forrest again to bang out some more MTB’ing.

Metro Track Champs - Masters 1-3, 2007

2007-12-17T14:15:00.000+11:00

I got to the track at 8am, and setup to do an easy hour on the rollers to get my breakfast settled in. I was going to do this out on the road but I though this was a better option to make sure I got a good spot in the inner. Headphones on, ticking the legs over, I watched the place fill and come alive.
Trying to figure out when my qualifying ride would be was the biggest stress at this point. I wanted to follow the V-Train’s (Stuart Vaugan) sage advice about getting the legs primed for the Pursuit and timing was import. I also had my friend Rosewal coming along to help me out at the side line with my Schedule during the ride(s) and wanted her there in time too. I watched the Program and the qualifying rounds run while intermittently ticking the legs over with my road bike on the rollers. Everything fell into place timing wise with the warm up and the plan was to try a 3:50 schedule up to lap 4, then apply the thumb screws over the remaining 8 laps.
Down at the 1st bend roll around area most of the other Masters 1/2/3 riders were there waiting to be called up. Justin Graham is there and we have a bit of a chat. Even though it’s the qualifying round, there are still two riders on the track at the same time to get through the all the age groups. I’m part of the last pair to go and start from the front straight. I’ve got V-Train on the other side of the track. The bike’s clamped in, then I’m clipped in and the 20sec countdown starts and I’m feeling more relaxed than I thought I would. I think it’s because I know when that clock gets to 0, it’s time to go, no if’s but’s or maybes, just GO. My start feels good out of the gate, though the front wheel lifts a few times before the bend as I try to put the hammer down. I settle into the aero position towards the end of the back straight where Rosewal is to give me signals on my spit times. 1 down and I’m on the back straight and I’m already 3secs up… “Shite, too hard, surprise surprise”. I settle into what I think feels comfortable. 2 down, 5secs up?! “Fuck I love the feeling of ‘race day legs’… BACK IT OFF!” This goes on for a few more laps and I think I finally rain it in by lap 4? It all becomes a blur buy this point and to throw another thing into the mix I’ve got V-train on my shoulder passing by what looks to be effortlessly… The 1st thing that pops into my head is “DON’T SLIP STREAM! YOU’LL GET DISQUALIFIED” So I move up the track to the red line, keep my pace and wait for him to pull away. It takes longer than I was expecting or am I chasing? I start gaining and move higher as I think I might be going to pass, “Nope, just back it off and then take up the pace again”. Things get back into a rhythm and the pain kicks in for the last half of the race. Where am I? What lap is it? Where am I on my Schedule? It’s time to just dig and see how deep I can go. I bang out a 3:44 something. That’s faster than I was expecting. “Fuck I love race day legs!” Then they fill and when I go to get off it’s hard to stand. My throat is feeling tender too. I find out that my time gets me into the Bronze ride off?! That wasn’t in the plan. Maybe I try and ride to schedule this time!
My throat is starting to feel really shite and I can’t stop coughing. It feels like I’ve been breathing in razor blades. There’s lots of time to kill before the Finals so I head out side and up the road to get Fisherman’s Friends to sooth it.
It’s time to try and figure out how the hell I’m going to tackle the Final. Up until now it just been a time trial really. Now the Pursuit part comes into play. Rosewal and myself try and figure out a way to signal my schedule & if I’m up or down on Graeme. I spend time on the rollers to keep the blood going through the legs, trying to freshen them up for another effort. I give them a burst to warn them of the pending hell, though not as long as my one before the qualifier.
Out of the blocks feels good again and no wheelies this time. I want to stick to the schedule I was supposed to ride in the qualifier and not even worry about my opponent till lap 4, then assess it from there. Lap 4 comes and I up (2secs from memory) and feeling OK so I wind up the wick. Next time round I try and spot Graeme… Can’t see him. “OK just wind it up and burry yourself” The legs start to complain and I tell them the shut the fuck up and just try and manage the effort to the end. Not sure how much I lost by.
I find Graeme to shake his hand and thank him for the race.
It’s a quick pack up, home, and out on the street fixie for Burgers & Beers at the Standard Hotel. Rosewal and I do a good job at drinking our way around the world with the help of the imported beers list. We throw in a couple of locals for good measure too.

A HUGE thanks to the V-Train for all of his awesome advise on getting this Muppet up to speed :)

Metro Track Champs for Muppets

2007-12-09T16:54:00.000+11:00

A fleeting visit to DISC for me on Sunday to cram study for the Metro Track Champs on the 15-16th Dec. I’ve got myself down for the 3000m Pursuit. You can get quite techie with this event so I’ve found out over the past couple of weeks. Today was a quick and nasty session to try and figure out;

Standing start half lap times.
Rolling lap times.
What gear to ride.

Once you have these you pump them into a Pursuit calculator (XLS spreadsheet) and Bob’s your Uncle you have a ‘schedule’ to ride to.
There was fuck all people there and I was able to drag out the gas starting block and give it a go too. To finish up the 3hr session I rode a dress rehearsal 3000m minus the starting gate and was happy with a time of 3:56. Race day could slash maybe another 5-10secs? We will see next Sunday.

Tour of Bright - 2007 - Masters 1-3

2007-12-04T18:26:00.000+11:00

Stage 1
As the Peloton rolls out of Bright I keep close to the front of the huge field to try and stay out of trouble. After the 1st sprint a few riders dribble off the front and are forming a break. This starts to send alarm bells as I remember back to an earlier race in the year where this happened and the group was big enough for it to stay away for the remainder of the race. I dig and get across with the 10 or so riders. They are not organised and we a not long after pulled back in.
As we roll into Ovens there is a rider down in a big way from one of the Grades ahead of us. At the turn off two (?) riders use the slowing of the Peloton to break away. No one seems interested in working turns to pull them back. Closer to Rosewhite Gap, the 1st climb (Cat 2) of the day, I try to ‘encourage’ the Peloton to work turns unsuccessfully. They are so disinterested that I find myself drift off the front even though I’m only doing 35km\h. Shortly I’m joined by Stuart Payne and we work steady turns till the Peloton wakes up and gathers us up just before the 1st climb.
At some point on the climb there is the sound of a crash behind. Not sure who or how many were affected. With two already up the road, there was only one more spot for KOM points. I have a half assed attempt, not wanting to burn any matches in the process, and nothing comes of it.
Along the Kiewa Valley Hwy the two riders are finally gathered up, then there’s the Tawonga Sprint and not long after David Evans is off the front and getting a gap. Through others trying to join him and the Peloton not having a bar of it, D.E is back with the Peloton before the Tawonga Gap climb starts.
From the base the pace set by Stuart Morgan feels hot and by the half way mark I let it go wanting to save some matches. I find myself working with Stuart Payne again and we work the top half with another rider. I’m descending quicker that S.P, but we are back together with a handful of others and we work turns to the line. We’re over the line around 2 mins down.

Stage 2
After some wading in the pool where we are staying, it time to try and wake the legs up for the Time Trial. I’m off at 17:10:30. I decide to drive down and warm up on the rollers. I get that psyched before leaving that I leave behind my bag with shoes, helmet and other every important items… Whoops! I don’t realise until I go to setup on the rollers. I ring base camp and Von is there out the front for the ‘splash and dash’ pickup. I get back and still have enough time to get a warm up in on the rollers.
I’m using a Skater\BMX style helmet to try and get every cost effective aero advantage that I can. I need it! So the officials at the start house want to check it for the Australian Standards Sticker, which it has.
I’ve been reading a bit about track pursuit lately and there is a lot of talk about ‘pacing’ and ‘floating’ the 2nd lap then ramping your effort up. So I use the slight down at the start of the course to get the bike up to speed, ‘float’ for the remaining 50 metres or so over the bridge then ramp it up over the false flat till I top out over the 1st hill nicely in my HR red zone and keep it there for most of the 23mins & 40secs it takes me to get back to the line.
Then it back to the pool for more ‘arhhhhh’.

Stage 3
Thankfully enough riders are up the road to take the intermediate sprints on the way to the base of the climb. And more thanks to Team 6am-ers who towed the Peloton to the base of the climb making it a swift, easy warm up.
I was interested in seeing who had what left after day one so by the road block gate just out of Harrietville I was on the front setting my version of a hard tempo that I knew I could sustain from training rides I’d done prior to the race. A couple of k’s in I take the foot off and D.E comes through from 2nd wheel. He drops the pace slightly and after a while I come around from 2nd wheel and bring the pace back up to where I had it before. Then another rider comes past and wants to do the same pace out front so I hold 2nd wheel and it stays like this till The Meg. No attacks on The Meg, just the same sold pace with the order of riders swapping around a bit with the big hitters keen to be closer to the front. Shortly after J.B throws in a few attacks. A rider close to me asks out aloud “what the fuck was that for?!” I decide to reply with “Just a bit of leg softening”. At this point the group is small enough and moving fast enough for me to sit back a couple of wheels from the front and wait at see. The 1st false flat comes up and a few surges happen but are all covered. J.B gets sneaky and tries to slip away with passing traffic. He’s reeled back in.
We are getting close the Buckland’s Gap, where the Toll Gate is in winter. A sparrow-esk rider sets flight from the group. “humm!? I ain’t seen this guy all day, could be trying to set flight?” So I drift to the front and up the pace waiting to see just how hard he digs up the steep. He digs and this sets off the GC frenzy. Sparrow man looks like he’s be swiped by a cat as he fades a lot sooner than I’d expected as the GC frenzy gathers a fierce pace… well for me it was. It’s sink or swim time as I try to stay in contact. The attacking surges come one after another all the way up this 1st rise. Fucked if I can stay in contact, it’s another gear that I just haven’t got. I take myself over into boiling point and cook the engine and limp over onto the false flat. Then it’s down into the chain bay before CRB Hill. I can see the group amongst B grade riders and the distance looks do-able. Half way up CRB I over cook again. Into the mist and along the Blowhard section I’m joined by S.P again and we work this section together. Somewhere around here I here Shane M yell “WORNES!!... If I beat you up Hotham you are walking home!” My lights are out now and he passes me. S.P and I work Diamantina spur together and top out. It’s only fitting that we cross the line together and we do, even though it didn’t show that way in the official results!?
I search out the big hitters and thank them for an awesome race, coz fuck it was! Then it down to Harrietville for Coffee, food and tales from the Peloton.

Race results can be found here;
http://www.tourofbright.com.au/results.htm

Spin it up old boy

2007-11-29T09:50:00.000+11:00

Mount William Road Classic - 2007

2007-11-12T15:26:00.000+11:00

At registration we are told that the last silly steep bit, wasn't going to be in the race now, so I scrunch up 'Plan A' and head out for a warm up before the start. For about the 1st 30kms there was a heap of shadow boxing. I'm wanting to have a crack at the KOM, so I'm keen to keep it either all together or get away with whoever's trying to. We get to the 1st climb and it's all together. I stay close to the front and keep an eye ahead to see if I can spot the top as I've never been on the climb before. The bunch is tightly packed and feels like a crit in slow motion. The guy in front of me touches wheels and panics but stays upright. 'OK... Move away from him slowly' is the thought. GPLama is nearby and points out a gap on the inside and I slot in. I look up and through the trees I think I can see the saddle where I reckon the road will summit. I creep closer to the front, then go when I feel it's time to and go over 1st! We are down into the flat between climb one and two and still all together. With no sprint point in the race, the Peloton has no real purpose to ride and slows right up. With the 2nd climb getting closer, the Peloton wakes up and there is the odd attack before the climb starts. There's a small climb then down into a left turn then straight into the 2nd climb and the attacks start from the get go. By the top there's a sizable group, but from what I heard after the race, there was a bit of a culling of the Peloton. The down is straight and fast. After the race I heard that Stuart Morgan's chain came clean off on this descent and he lived (no off either) to tell the story! He'd made the trip all the way from Canberra too. I can't even remember when, but Reece Stephens gets away and crafts himself a sizable gap. For a handful of riders, this becomes a concern but the rest of the Peloton are suffering from sun stroke and play the old game of 'chase down anyone that wants to get away but buggered if we are going to work to bring back the escapee' routine. With 6km to go before Mt. William I test my theory and while on the front I stop pedalling and watch the speed drop to 19km\h before someone slowly rolls past me. Yep, heat stroke. At the turn off it’s time to see what’s up the road and I cane myself like a rental car. At some point I sense someone on my wheel and turn to see James Broadway. I keep hacking away. James slowly comes up along side, then in front and I'm focused on his cassette as he turns it over. Then my elastic gets a little tension on it and I get out of the saddle and kick it up a cog. This doesn't help relieve the tension so I try a different combination but it doesn't ease. My brain feels like Captain Kirk on the intercom to Scotty my legs, calling for more power but Scotty can't give anymore and the elastic breaks. I'm now cutting my own air. My focus is now on James' number on his back. It's perfect for blocking out the pain though it seems pain is not the problem, it’s the work that needs to be done and my legs can't do it. More time passes and the gap slowly gets bigger. I'm now getting the odd glimpse of James on some of the corners. The false flat comes and I ease off just enough to give myself the smallest of rests before I try and bury myself even more for the last section. I make some ground on James but it's not enough and I cross the line 3rd. Sweet! I'm still WAY-STOKED with that! I roll around the car park for a bit while I come back to reality. I find the others near the finish line and firstly congratulate Reece on his monster break, then James for the battle on the last climb. Others start to turn up and the stories flow. I ride back to Halls Gap with a few others and manage to just make the presentation for 3rd as I turn up at the footy ground with coffee and muffin ready to scoff!

Full results can be found here.

Moe it up Moey!

2007-11-02T15:25:00.000+11:00

It's not November but Movember!

I'm in on it with a Team here at work. I'm gettin' in on it coz it's to raise awareness for things that I've either been effected by directly or indirectly through people near and dear to me. Oh, and I hate shaving too:)

NO! I'm NOT 40 YET! CSV...

2007-10-29T14:37:00.000+11:00

*I'm now OFFICIALLY M-fucking-3! For fucks sake I'm NOT 40 till August 2008! Can't they just let me ignore the fact that I'm an EVEN older fart till then! This all came as a shock when I reg'ed for the Mt. William Road Classic and I turn up as a M3. Grrrrrr...

*The blog is not intended to offend the 40+ people out there. I'm just trying to come to terms with it. I know and have been at the mercy of quite a few 40+'s that can motor!

E X P O S E D !

2007-10-29T12:40:00.001+11:00

Some bastard's sprung me out secret training!

The Woo Cross Training

2007-10-29T12:31:00.001+11:00

TT’ing in the traffic

2007-10-08T19:10:00.000+10:00

As part of my Tour of Bright prep this year, I’ve slapped the TT bars onto my street fixie to give me some more flight time.

Casual Day

2007-09-21T12:00:00.001+10:00

Today is Casual Day at work. It's to raise money for some charity. I haven't worn a suit in my entire life... Until today:)
The email went out to staff on Wednesday so it was down to the Salvation Army (worth supporting I reckon) just a few blocks away. I scored this little number in a matter of minutes and $35 dollars later I was out the door with some fun. AND supporting another charity for the day. They'll find the clothes back in their bin and can make yet more money from them!

These Buttons Fucking ROCK :P

Arrhhh, I'm all warm & fuzzy :P

(Fuck this smells BIG on moth balls)

Scary commutin'

2007-09-21T08:38:00.000+10:00

Last night was a close one. I'm not into banging it out while commuting. It's just too dangerous I reckon. To keep myself in check I use my commuting k's as 'recovery k's'. I leave the smashing for the trainer, training rides & racing. This has kept my nose and body pretty clean for the last 10+ years. Last night a passenger in a traffic jammed car on Princess Bridge decided to get out and I'm pretty sure without checking as their door came within a poofteenth to collecting the right drop of my bar as I rode past them. You can NEVER be too careful out there.

2007’s Melbourne 12hr MTB Enduro

2007-09-18T14:46:00.000+10:00

Last year this was my 1st MTB race and I really enjoyed it. So when Darren asked if I was keen to do it again as a pair with him again, the thumbs pointed skyward.
I took the Friday off to give me time to get supplied up, out on course to claim a spot and ride a few laps with Darren.
There was a small change to the course in the 1st loop. Some new single track that slowly climbed finishing in a rocky section that I couldn’t ride through. There was a small change on the 2nd loop, but it didn’t really notably change it. There were still the two rock gardens that I had to walk last year. This year was no different. After giving them a crack on Friday, it was still going to be safer for me to walk them.

Race Day
This year Darren rode the opening lap. Last year it was me and I crashed twice just in the short mayhemic Prologue section. With my road rash still gooey & under 2nd skin, I didn’t want to risk any ‘offs’. Darren came through unscathed and it was now my turn for lap 1. This ended up been my fastest and it felt like it was as smooth as I was going to get it. A perfect was to start the day. This year Darren had teed up Graeme from VicMTB to mech for us. This was pure luxury! It made the rests between laps a heap more relaxed. Basically you just had to worry about fooding up while Graeme went over your bike asking if there was anything needing attention!
Lap 3 was a highlight lap. While in transition I noticed three 2xxx riders go through. I assumed they were ahead of us so the challenge was on seeing if I could catch them out on course. The 1st rider I came up on in the sandy single track and found a gap to get past before the 1st single track climb. The 2nd guy I got on some of the fire road before coming back into the start\finish area for the 1st time. OK, where’s the last one? I spot him along the flat before the last pinch. At the base I go for granny but the chain doesn’t drop and just gives me that dumb sound of chain rub. I try again, same thing but now I’m on the pinch and can’t faf anymore so I lock out the ass end of the bike and grind it up in middle. I manage to keep the bike going and go past him in the process! Woo Hoo, now we’re racing!
It’s short lived on the next lap (4) though. I notice guy #3 goes past again in transition but this time he’s FLYIN’ and I can’t catch him even though I’m diggin’ in as hard as I can. He musta been playing with me last lap:) This is the last lap that I will see my heart rate go into my max zone. Now it’s time to see just how far my base will take me. I just keep plugging away for the next few trying to keep it my lines clean and the effort solid. This is the time that you just gota keep smashing away even though your legs have had the edge taken off them.
Before heading out for lap 7 I mounted the light system. HID on the helmet with a 3w LED on the bars as backup. At the transition Darren tells me he’s cramping up and needs to take time out so I’m out for 2 and pace it accordingly.
I come in just after the 9pm mark and Darren asked if he ‘parks’ or comes in if there is time left. “FUCK YEAH! Bring it home if there’s time!”.
So it’s the waiting game at the transition in Darren’s Down jacket. The MC sees me and starts banging on about surely I don’t want to go out again? “FUCK YEAH!” is my delirious reply. There’re lots of motionless lights hiding in the trees forming the parking lot waiting for the 12hrs to expire now. One of the solo guys comes in with 10 or so minutes to go. He fills his bottle with flat Coke and takes a swill and he’s back out there. Then one of the BSC pairs comes in and they too are out for another. The MC gives the 1mintue to go call, still no Darren & no moving lights in the bushes.
Then I see a light approaching the creek crossing 50 metres from Transition! Holy fuck, it’s Darren! SWEEEET! He’s home with 20 seconds to spare. Off with the Down Jacket, on with the wrist band and I’m GORN!
Then I notice that there’s this motor bike following behind me. Must be sweeping the course. HA! I’ve just made his night a little longer :) But he soon gets on my nerves and starts to piss me off riding on my ass.
I get to the 1st climb on the 1st loop and pass Solo rider. Sweet! Now there’s no motorbike and I can enjoy the lap. I gather up 2 more riders and give them a bucket of encouragement.
I get back to transition and Darren is there and we start pissing ourselves laughing. He also thinks we may have jumped up a spot too, which doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of the race but it made the race all that more sweeter I reckon.

Full event results PDF here.

Back to “Old School”

2007-09-13T16:25:00.000+10:00

Midweek training saw a return to getting out in the hills for some 20min FTP style efforts. The other difference was the bike, MTB. I had a crazy late night at work Tuesday\Wednesday morning finishing up at 04:30. This got me the rest of Wednesday off. Outa bed at midday, worked through some ‘domestics’ then loaded the car up and headed to King Lake National park. Now purists’ of the MTB way of life would think that riding up & down a fire road is bloody boring and a waste of a trip, but hey it was my choice and that’s basically what I did. I'm just a roadie faffing around on a MTB. I’ve got the Kona 12hr coming up this weekend so it’s been ‘cram studying’ for most of my recovery rides this week on the MTB getting a feel of it again. Mostly out on the Yarra trails either before or after work. One thing I did noticed last night, that I haven’t on the Yarra Trails, is the way trail detail disappears due to parallax if you are running your up front lighting on your helmet. I think I still prefer it over handle bar mount. Old King Lake road turned out to be great. It took me around 21mins to climb from the Steels Creek rd turn off to the gate at the car park near Heidelberg\King Lake rd. The stats between these two points turned out to be 6.5km @ 4%. There's a gate at the 2km mark to get your dismount\mount action dialled in too. So it was two ascents at FTP type pace and the third with Amy Winehouse coming through the MP3 Player to keep the tempo a little more chilled.

Vic Masters 1, 2 Road Race – 09.09.2007

2007-09-09T20:01:00.000+10:00

I allowed myself 2 & ½ hrs to get there and used most of it due to my crap navigational skills & Shady Creek being well hidden away in the back blocks between Warragul & Moe.
A good ½ hr warm up on the rollers and I'm ready and raring!
There was quite a few willing to try and get away early on. I chased some down or followed others trying to stay close to the front. I was looking for a break today, just had to try and pick the right one. Knowing only one or two of the field I was going on legs and form on the bike and there seemed quite a few that looked the part as most of them had a dip at trying to create ‘The break’.
After a lap, I reckon ‘The Break’ was going to happen on the major hill of the loop. 1st time up Stefan Kirsch (Blackburn C.C) made it clear that he meant business and pushed hard stringing the Peloton out.
2nd time up was more just tempo and I felt like I had better positioning going into it and during the ascent.
3rd time up again I had good positioning ready for the next laps when I thought the break would go. Then with 50m to go, Peter Dennis (Hawthorn C.C) & Chris Eichler (Hamiton C.C) got a gap. I bridged. Hmmm, this could be too early. There’s only 37km gone out of 102km… Fuck-it, lets see how it feels. Little did I know I was now out riding with the two guys that came 1st & 2nd in yesterday’s ITT. A good thing or a bad thing? Probably better I didn’t know as I might have thought they wouldn’t last the distance after racing yesterday too.
We all settled into solid work with not much talk at all. We just got on with it and tried to keep the pace on. I had a scary moment towards the end of lap 3 (of 6) when the elastic broke on a flat section as Peter took to the front. He was defiantly looking the strongest. I managed to claw my way back and recovered.
Lap 5 ‘felt’ really good for me and it felt like the other 2, more Chris than Peter, were slowing. I really wanted us to stay away, so I gave all I could on my turns.
The final lap and we are coming to the hill for the last time (1.4km @ 4.4%). I notice I’ve still got one full bottle so I jettison it (I drove back to get it on the way home) before the start of the climb. The wind had picked up and this and last lap you could feel a head wind on the bottom half. Then it’s into the trees and out of the wind. It doesn’t help me though. A gap starts to form between my and the other two... SNAP! The elastic breaks… FUCK! DIG!!... The gap gets bigger… FUCKING DIG FOR FUCKS SAKE!!! The gap’s not getting smaller. Actually it getting bigger and they both look REALLY strong, STILL… OK, damage control time, find tempo them ramp it up… I try not to look ahead and just put as much as I can into every stroke. It doesn’t work and by the time I top out they are 50m up the road and flying. Where as I’m spent and need the down to try and recover. At the bottom I can see them up the road and gap is even bigger. And I start thinking that I’m not going to bridge. I try to file that thought under ‘negative’ and plough on. Gota hold the Peloton off, gota hold the Peloton off. km’s tick over in the void between the head of the race and the Peloton. The Peloton can now see me down the long straight Nilma\Shady Creek rd. Gota keep it going, fuck-it…
I round the last corner and I reckon they can now smell me. Then not long after I’m caught. A few guys give me words of encouragement as I’m moving rapidly to towards the back. A surge, as someone uses my catch as a launching pad. More elastic breaking. I keep on with the pace that I can and they sit up as the surge was neutraled. I end up rolling past them they are going that slow with their cat & mouse but I feel if I slow, my legs won’t go again. Another attack. I try to jump on, but can’t, my legs are dead meat.
Finally the line comes and I feel the full sinking force of coming (12th that felt like) last…
Then, I start to feel just how shagged I am, which puts a smile on my face. I seek out Peter & Chris to see who had won & it was Chris, which surprised me as I’d thought he seemed the weaker of the two. Maybe he was measuring himself a lot better.
I roll out the legs for a bit and start to feel really good as I go over what had just happened. Coming last has never felt this good!
I hand my numbers in and can’t go past the home made scones & slices on offer that are being sold in the old Shady Creek Hall.

Thanks to everyone that helped and supported me through the week after things got pare shaped last Sunday. It really helped today.

King Lake Casualty - the aftermath

2007-09-04T11:56:00.000+10:00

I haven't had road rash like this since my teens\early 20's back in my skateboarding days. Back then it was just try and let it dry out & scab.
I’ve got Duoderm on my forearm which is leaking plasma but it is manageable (thanks for the patches & info Dr R3). I tried Duoderm on my bum, but there was just too much plasma and it didn’t stay on. So it has been Melolin patches with Solosite gel to keep it moist (thanks for the tip Jono). I’m going to try and use a Duodrem patch again tonight as the Plasma seems to have eased off. The good Dr R3 has informed me that he's scored a HUGE sheet that should cover my derriere! Cheers Dr R3!
I've now got even more appreciation for the guys in the Pro Peleton. My road rash is pretty tame compared to theirs.
It ain't that sore really, just annoying with all this plasma oozing all the time. Though I'm starting to feel a little soreness setting in, so it might be a different tune tomorrow morning.
As to what happened; It's really hard to say as it all happened so quick. Every time I try and replay the event it's just the getting up I remember.
It could have been a combination of;
Speed, too fast.
The difference in wheelset\tyres to what I'd been training on over the last few months.
I can't remember doing it but I could of touched the brakes as I saw the car come from around the corner even though it was not causing me any issue. I know sometimes I get a small fright when descending and a car pops around a blind corner.
I remember noting on the ride that my brakes came on sooner with the Easton wheelset than with the Mavics.
Last night I remembered that I hadn't downloaded my Polar data and that it would have recorded the last know speed I was doing. It was 46.4km\h. 5 secs before that, 52.2km\h!

King Lake Casualty

2007-09-02T16:37:00.000+10:00

I had my 1st REAL ‘off’ today. Wow… Still don’t know how to take it. I’m feeling fine at the moment sitting here after getting home and cleaning myself up. Not really pissed with myself (it was my own fault). Not really worried about my banged up bike. I should feel really bloody lucky as I ended up on the wrong side of the road. This weekend marked the end of a five week block of hard interval based training for me. It has nailed me good and proper. So much that the last few weekend rides had started to become a struggle, which meant I wasn’t enjoying them as much. With the interval training finished, this weekend was going to be a bit more relaxed with the odd dig just to finish me off for a well earned taper week. The great weather & company helped as I’d felt like I’d had lots of cold, wet & solo weekend training rides.
Saturday was a ride with the TE bunch out to King Lake, then again Sunday. With the 1st ascent done the plan was to descend then back up for a second ascent. On the descent I’d managed to get a gap and was 1st on the road luckily for the rest of the Group. I had my Easton Orion II’s on which feel heaps faster and give the bike a much more responsive feel than my Mavic training shitters. This added to my joy on the descent and egged me to go even faster. I was cutting the odd corner that I had line of sight to make sure there were no cars. Oblivious to the fact that I hadn’t reached ‘that corner that strangles on its exit’ I kept the heat on enjoying the moment. Then it came. That corner. If there’s one corner on the King Lake descent that I’ve stuffed up the most, it’s this one and today the stuff up was big. My entry was just way too fast. And on this corner it’s a recipe for shit happening. Happened it did and real quick. So quick I couldn’t tell you what happened just that I was sliding on my left bum cheek & forearm onto the wrong side of the road. Not only was I sliding on my bum cheek on the wrong side of the road but a car had just past me as I’d entered the corner. Five seconds or so is all that separated me from finding out what a bug feels like when it splats onto the grill of a car. That’s scary. And something I should think about for a while I reckon.
The driver of the car must have seen\heard my ‘off’ and had kindly stopped to see if I was OK. Then the rest of the group came past. Some stopping to make sure I was OK. And I was, just sore and annoyed with myself for what I’d done.
Steve Knight lived up to his surname and stuck with me for the rest of the descent and on to Smiths Gully bakery. My day didn't stop there. On the way I flatted. Was some greater force trying to slow me down today? It was working.
After two rounds of coffee & muffin it was back to Melbourne. Dr Rudy kindly offered me some first aid supplies and tips on dealing with road rash and then it was home to the shower and scrubbing.

This Interval training is killing me!

2007-08-23T18:47:00.000+10:00

More intervals tonight. I'm following a program from one of roadbikerider.com's eBooks HIT (High Intensity Training) and it's doing nothing but killing me! Real world climb times are below par, which has been the way I've been tracking my cycling fitness for a few years now. I'm going to see it out till the Vic Masters Road Champs then it back to some good old fashion Old School training. It's been a interesting experiment. My ticker is certainly able to rev faster now but it's not really translating into anything out on the road.

Melbourne to Ballarat Classic - DNF-age

2007-07-26T12:34:00.000+10:00

This race was a disaster on the outside (DNF) but after seeing my Polar stats I was stoked.
I got lost after getting dropped by limit by taking the wrong turn off and having to find my way to the finish. Ended up coming across the line the wrong way! All my own fault as I didn't read the race route in the Program. I didn't even bother picking up a Program. I'm shit with directions anyway and wouldn't have remembered them after being on the rivet for 2+ hrs. One thing that pisses me off about CSV is the lack of race details on the site. There's great sites out there (bikely is one) that lets you draw on maps, save them and hell, you can even link to them!
Another thing that 'may' have been better done was topping up my fuel. I had one Gel while out on the road. I was that much under the pump that I could only manage to get one Gel down. I say 'may' because when I blew out the back of the 5min then Limit bunches I didn't feel like I had bonked. I just couldn't hold the pace anymore. And 'Pace' it was! Well for me anyway. After downloading my Polar data, it turned out being the most intense HR race I've done. So for that reason I can say I was stoked with my effort as it was pretty bloody hard.
I got dropped by the bunch I started with (5 mins) at the 63km mark. I'd been holding with them pretty well until then. I remember it was my turn to roll off the back to come forward and a gap had formed between me and the guy in front. It took me till hitting the front to make up the gap so by the time I was cutting the air up front and had the next guy roll over the front, I'd had the stuffing taken outa my legs. Then when it was my my turn again I hadn't recovered and blew off the back.
13mins with 10kms covered later, limit came past and basically went. Some guy in the middle of the bunch gave me a helping push to try and get me up to speed, but it didn't help I was gooorrrrrnn!

After this I needed to forget the bike & life in general for the rest of the weekend as things had got pretty pear shaped over the last month or two. One thing that soothes my soul is heading out into the snow for some solo backcountry snowboarding. And the best place to do this is up Mt Hotham way.
So early Sunday morning it was in the car and off up the Hume. I was parked at Diamantina Hut by 10am and dropping into Baldly Hollow for the 1st run within the hour. This was the 1st time I'd snowboarded in 2 years and I surprisingly still had it. The snow was deep, fun deep. Until it was time to walk out. This took an hour and felt like one step forward two back in the thick fluffy snow. After sweating it out making the 1st steps I decided that I was just going to stick to the same area and keep using the same steps. The subsequent ascents took 25mins now that the steps were established. Six drops in all and 900 metres for vertical gained by walking back up for the day. Now I was shagged. Back to the car by 4pm and back to Melbourne without Coffee or RedBull!?

A rest week this week with a fun night at DISC tonight. Then it's back into the training next week.

Northern Combine - Carlsruhe Weighbridge 23-06-07

2007-06-25T12:56:00.000+10:00

I was shitting myself at the start. 1st A Grade race, and the guys are young and very fit looking. It's a slow start, with nothing really happening for at least 15-20mins. Then the breaks started coming. I just kept near the front and go with some, worked to get some back or just sit in as other work to bring them back. I manage to get into the one that sticks. The break was made on the 2nd time around up the main rise on the course at around the 50km mark. There was four of us, with two BikeNow riders, one being Jono Lovelock. I worked when I could but did miss some turns making sure that BikeNow did the majority due to their advantage.
The main rise comes for a third time and the elastic breaks for me. I bust my nut trying to get back on on the down, but they too were doing the same speed as I did time checks. I kept at it but the time checks showed I was not gaining. I wasn't loosing time either. This kept me at it. 20kms of this and I'm blown and they disappear into the sunset. Now I want to protect my 4th as I really want it and have worked shit loads up to this point. So I keep riding as hard as I can. I start worrying about the exit point on the loop as I've never raced the course. If I miss it, I'm around again like a mouse on a mouse wheel of pain. Thankfully it's marshalled well and I feel the relief knowing it will all be over soon. No Peloton in sight behind. They've probably taken the foot off, but I'm not taking the chance. I want 4th! And I get it!

Race Course

Pastoria Loop From Carlsruhe

http://www.bikely.com/

Cool Running

2007-06-15T09:32:00.000+10:00

Early shift this week means 05:30 rollout for my morning commute. Yep, it’s been cold. 5 Degs C this morn. Similar yesterday. Thankfully dry.
The training has ramped up nicely this week. LT Trainer session Wednesday night, DISC again last night. The legs felt heavy last night, but surprised me when I called on them. Nothing special in the grand scheme of things, but I had fun and was happy with how I went.
I’m really looking forward to a good, hard, long ride this week end and this JonoL concocted route should do the trick.

Jono's Ning Nang Nongs Buster

http://www.bikely.com/

I just got to make a choice for Saturday. Nothing too big, gota save something for Sunday. Could be some more LT on the trainer. Sounds boring, but I’ve got a Kinetic Rock & Roll with a Power Computer to keep me entertained.

Getting back up to speed

2007-06-07T23:44:00.000+10:00

This week I got the go ahead from my Physio to start ramping up the training load over the next two weeks. So, 1st real trainer session Wednesday night, followed up with a short & sharp race night at DISC.
I decided for maximum benefit, I'd race A Grade for the 1st time. I ended up scoring a 3rd place in the Points Race! Bloody stoked. I was helped by a World Champ though. Crazy, a guy with rainbow bans on his jersey in the same race. The 1st Sprint saw the big motor of Jobie Dajka kick in. I'm lucky to be on his wheel as he winds it up and I hang on for a few moments. He pulls away, but I've had enough of a tow to take 2nd. Then I take a 3rd in one of the other intermediate sprints. Such a great night!

These 4 images care of Carl @ ABOC. Top right image care of GPLama

Preston Mountain Classic - 2007

2007-06-03T15:51:00.000+10:00

This was the 1st race for me since the Baw Baw Classic and it was great to get out there racing again.
On the drive out, it was wet and cold but by the time we rolled out at 10:00, it wasn’t too bad. Just the wet roads to be mindful of.
The pace felt high as we tried to catch the three minute bunch up the road. I was really straining for the first third of the race but ended up finding my legs in the second third. Or did the pace just drop slightly to a more manageable level? :-P
Apart from James, the rest of scratch I’d never seen before and was impressed with their huge pistons that powered us along the flats. I remember at one point following Justin Davis and feeling sorry for his poor drive chain as he shifted it to a higher gear and an all mighty ‘KUNN’ came from his bike. I’ve only ever really heard that sound with sprinters going up the rise at Kew Crits. Justin seemed to make the noise with most gear shifts!
By the 66km mark we’d only past a handful of riders. This also marked the climb of the day. Everyone went out hard. Or was I just slow? Maybe the latter as I was last over, even though I was still red lining my HR.
Over the top, I then TT’ed my way up to a waiting James Broadway and two others. It was then a tired working group to Broadford.

Polar Race stats.

Preston Mountain Classic - Masters Course

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

1st signs of Winter

2007-05-30T09:05:00.000+10:00

Jeez, a bit has happened since last post, N.Z Holiday and Tendonitis of the left knee. This last one has got me in a ‘go-slow’ mode on the bike at the moment, but it’s at the final 5% that takes the most time to heal I reckon.

Got a ride up to Kinglake for the 1st time in yonks with GPLama. VERY WINDY! There was a two day bike race going through, so we went up for a look. We both are out with injury, so 'spectate' we did.

James Broadway leading the bunch over the climb up to Kinglake

1st real cold (8degsC) commute this morn in wet shoes from yesterday. I think I’ve really got my ‘long commute’ dialled in now. It’s a flat easy hour on the bike to keep the legs turning over and flush out all the junk that's generated either over the weekend or my Wednesday night hard session. Not that there's been much of either lately! Soon, soon.

Baw Baw Classic 2007

2007-04-23T07:26:00.000+10:00

Lead up
The Baw Baw Classic was the race that grabbed my attention and got me thinking about racing bikes.
I hadn’t even heard about it until two years ago when I read Les’ race report on it and it just amazed me that people where riding, let alone racing up this Mount. Then a year ago, again, Les’ report, other accounts and pictures got me thinking ‘I gota do that event’. Then about six months ago ‘do’ started turning into ‘Fuck I’d love to win that race’. So this race has pretty much consumed me for the past six months.

Before the Easter long weekend, I was feeling like I was under prepared even though I’d ridden it a few times with Shane Miller. Good Friday’s P.B (33.02) ride up Baw Baw with James Broadway started making me feel a little better. I’d also given Vesper a good nudge too on the way out. TE’s Sat KL pilgrim was next, with a below expected time up and a not so strong feeling day all up. Another trip out to Noojee solo nudging Vesper & Baw Baw with both a minute down on Fridays times had me feeling better. Then KL Monday with the BSC\Scott Team saw me P.B KL?!

Race day
I warmed up my week long nerve racking tapered legs on the rollers, then made my way to the start line with plenty of time to spare. I lined up at the front and calmed the nerves by chatting to James Broadway & Stuart Morgan.
The 1st 3kms would be under control as we made our way out of Warragul. Good thing I’m not a Sprinter as I didn’t read the race guide handed out at rego stating that the Sprint was now in Rokeby instead of Noojee as stated on all other Websites. This saw an early break of Tom Crebin & another rider dangle off the front to at least Jindivick with Tom winning the Sprint.
With the new extra part of the course (awesome roads too) done, Neerim Sth marked a few more breaks with finally two(?) getting away. At this point it felt like the Peleton went to sleep with my thoughts being backed up by the Commissaire, through his bull horn, stating that Masters 4+ were up our asses (not his words). I don’t think anyone wanted to work into the slight head wind, though I’ve got to say I remember seeing Wayne Chester (Warragul CC) doing a good chunk of work up front for the 1st half of the race. Not long after, Tom C does a sweep of the Peleton to see who’s willing to speed things up. The wick gets wound up with turns being done up the rise to the Neerim Nth turn off. I bomb the descent to the Yarra Junction turn off and wait till the front of the Peloton\splinter catches on and the pace is on till the disruption of the feed zone at Noojee. This is sort lived as Danny Kah takes to the front to lift the pace and turns are done to the base of Vesper’s. Still no sign of the break, the pace up Vesper’s starts to get wound up, then Danny Kah sinks the boot in and really drives. I jump on with Stuart Morgan behind thinking ‘this is too early, just sit (though it still felt like I was burning matches) and cover the move and see what happens’. With no help from me or Stuart, Danny gathers up two from the break with the KOM looming. I’m not going to challenge him for the line thinking that he will deservedly get the KOM, but there is still one rider ahead and I’m annoyed his work is not rewarded.
Again I bomb Vesper’s with Stuart & Danny not too far behind. We form a quick alliance and work honest turns to keep our lead. I can’t remember where or when but we collect a Footscray rider too who likes to sit in missing plenty of turns. As we make our way to Tanjil Bren I try to size up the other three riders. Danny tops the list; he’s small and looks strong when out front. He has my mind picturing a flashing neon sign floating above him with the words ‘DANGER STRONG CLIMBER’ for sure. Stuart’s next with his high cadence, known track record in the Tour of Bright, Summer Crits and the Masters National Road Race, is looking strong too. Footscray rider is the dark horse; is he missing turns to rest up big or is he just hanging on?
Tanjil Bren arrives and I ask a spectator to bin an unopened can of Red Bull I’m carrying as I toss it to him. I don’t feel like I need it and it’s time to purge unwanted weight. Thankfully we pass a group of riders before the right hand hairpin just out of Tanjil Bren as some of them take it too hot and as I hear screeching tyres from behind, I turn to see some heading into the bushes!
I love the next descent and the Commissaire’s car can’t drive fast enough to let me run it at the pace I want to on some of the twisting turnsJ Again I wait for the three riders to catch up at the bottom.
The turns keep rolling and somewhere along the way Danny announces “and then there were three” as Footscray rider pops. Just before the Toll Gate I purge any remaining fluid. It’s useless now as I’ve never be able to drink on this beast of a climb.
Bang, we are on the climb and I’m in my 27t riding my own tempo. It feels like we are all testing our legs to see how they will react. After a km or so I’m sensing Stuart but not Danny. I don’t dare to look around as I’m just concentrating on what my body is doing to measure the effort. I feel like I can hurt some more, so I do and start to get a gap on Stuart. I reckon the corner before Winch is steeper so I make sure I save some for it and Winch Corner, then apply more hurt to myself to stretch the gap to the false flat.
“Right, now there is only 3km to go” I tell myself and let it ALL out. I check on some of the corners but can’t spot the white Specialized helmet of Stuart amongst the riders behind from other grades. Finally ‘that rock’ that marks the easing of the gradient approaches and passes and I slightly ease off on the pedal to do up my jersey. I hear the guy hanging out of the Commissaire’s car yell ‘come on, your nearly there’ and pick the tempo up through the Village. I round the last right hander, check behind and drive for the line filled with emotion. Over the line I keep rolling down to the very end of the road in shock and keep the bike rolling back to the line. I can’t speak as I spot Ali and head toward her. People are talking to me but not much is sinking in. Ali hands me a Lucozade. Not long after Stuart turns up we shake hands and try to convey what had just happened. Then James, with more hand shaking and trading experiences.
I get changed and then it’s off to Kelly’s Café to wolf down some of those pancakes and Coffee before the Presentations. James & Kim had the same idea, so we joined them and talked about the race some more. I got one of their caps to wear on the Podium to show my appreciation for all the good food and times I’ve had there after rides up this great stretch of road.

Polar Stats

Australian 'Old Fuckers' National Road Race

2007-04-01T17:33:00.000+10:00

I felt like I turned myself inside out, but others were stronger.
I was down for the Crit, but I had to be at work changing over a computer system. So just the RR it was.
I got out there in good time & warmed up on the rollers for a change. This felt heaps better than rolling around streets.
Within the 1st 15mins a break of what looked like 6-8 had gone up the rd. I found myself working with about 8-10 riders in a really disorganised roll up the front trying to bring them back, but it did happen. 1st of the pinches and I’m trying to keep up the front. A down hill some flattish rollers then we come to the 1st of the U-turns. This is where it turned pear shaped for me. After the U-turn the field gets strung out and I find myself out the back. I catch a bucket of riders as the rd turns up, but by the time I top out the front of the race is too far gone. I dig in on the down, then along the flat I find I have company from behind. Cool! We can work and get back on. But the group of 8 has only about 4 willing to dig and it gets really unorganised & the frustration sets in. “Come on, are we racing of what here?!” I yell at one point. Not much of a response. We go around a corner and one of the guys jump and thankfully I see it coming and grab his wheel. He’s in the TT posi so I think “Great! Someone wants back in like me” We roll and drive hard and get a gap on the free loaders. After a few K’s we find that the free loaders have removed their fingers and catch back on. OK, great, they are now wanting back in… No! they stop working again?! THIS IS NOT THE FRONT OF THE RACE! FFS! The 4 that are willing to work do and we eventually loose the free loaders one by one. Around the U-turn again and the Peloton is not that far up the rd. More digging, but it ain’t going as fast as I’d like it. One of the guys sums it up to me as he comes past for his turn. “Feel like you’ve caught the wrong train to day?”
I don’t understand it. These guys look as, if not fitter than me. They would have put as much time into training as me. Even there bikes are Uber Bling! But they don’t seem to want to hurt like I do to try and get back in the race with 50kms to go?! With 10kms to go we start gathering up others causing more confusing to the rolling turns as they try to latch on. I’m finding myself out the front more and more. _ucked if I’m going to drag these slackers to the line. I think they sit up but I keep on driving on the rivot & finish solo a blubbering 'also ran' mess.At least it was a good hit out!

Another Night in the Nongs

2007-03-30T00:22:00.000+10:00

Yep, got out there again tonight. Mixed it up this time. Through Upper Ferntree Gully, then onto Belgrave instead of up Devils Elbow. Terrys Av - Ferncreek rd, then down and up Devils. Returned down 1/20 and back via Doncaster rd. A bit wet and a head wind on the return made for a good night of putting 'money into the bank'.

Work is....

2007-03-29T16:21:00.000+10:00

Getting in the way too much at the moment. My training is not what I want it to be. Though I was creative the other night. I cracked out the 10w Halogen and headed to the hills. Wow, was it fun. I didn't get home till 11:30pm, but hey, sometimes you just got to do it.

I'm also going to miss the Aust Nat Masters Crit at the very lest. There is a slim chance I will make the road race, but I'm sure it will be on minimal sleep. Here's hoping I get to ride it. I just want to soak up the atmosphere.