Bike Swap meet.

Collingwood. 14th June 2009.

This was first go as a seller in a 2ndhand market. After the Epic build, there was left a large assortment of bike bits from my various forays over the years. It was time to offer it up to someone out there who could use it all. I basically got all my bike parts I didn’t need which weren’t seriously worn, so this left out any old group-sets I had - chains, chainwheels & cassettes which had seen a fruitful life on any one of my rigs. Although I did have 2x chainwheels with very little kms – the 34t off the Wilier & the 33t off the Jamis, both replaced pretty much first up before I did any kms on them.

The Bike Swap happens about 2-3 times a year, I think organized by someone involved with Fiximatosis, but I’m not entirely sure. I thought that being bike related, it might get a lot of the kinda people I am targeting with my stuff & would be a successful morning.

The deal was, as a seller, to rock up before 10am, pay $5, set up your stuff in your area –I used a picnic blanket, & off you go. It seemed pretty casual. Some things I did which many other guys didn’t was mark a price on each item & I brought all my spare change, just in case I got lots of big notes in sales. This bike swap seemed to be mostly roadies & the fixie brigade , so my mostly MTB related horde was not a major player. In the I end I sold 1x Selle Italia saddle (offthe Wilier roadie) & a pair of used SPD pedals. $50 total.

I might still rock up next time, although I now do have another place to check out if ever I do a s/s ‘roadie’ commuter build.

Good experience overall, might rock up to the next one.

In other news, I have the Anthem1 up for sale. I’ve got a few interested, one looks definite, but I’ll chalk it up when there’s an empty space in the shed & cash in my hand.

Chase the Sun #2. 5 hour MTB XC.

Last moment entry in Solo. Loading up the car on the morning of the event it was if I was just setting out on a casual ride, the difference being the stocked esky, running a seat bag with tube/levers/multi-tool mounting a small pump to the frame. I was bringing the hydration pack, but really felt that biddons would be the better alternative, so I brought both.
It was a clear, but cool morning, heaps of fog on the drive up. The start/finish was up at Trailmix next to the lake. The ‘pit area’ for solo was actually along the course at the top of the carpark near the park’s entry point.
The 9:30-ish start was, as what I seem to find, a disorganized FGP affair. Sure the start/prologue may only be a small part of the event, but as it’s the ‘off’, all the riders are anxious & would really like to make the best of the start. We all gather behind the dam wall, then off we went, back to wards the carpark area & then back around behind the dam wall into the course proper.
The course was pretty straight forward & a joy for first timers & many in the solo. The climbs were all do-able & there was a lot of pretty fast & smooth singletrack to blow out any tiredness a rider may be feeling after a few hours of slog.
But the first lap was pretty much a conga-line for me as I rolled out in the back half, hoping not to blow myself out tying for a blistering first lap. 13kms, it felt flowy for me & I was happy to hold back on the climbs & awkward stuff because I could make time on the singletrack & some techy stuff.
I ticked off 3x laps & rolled in for a 20minute banana just after 12pm. Funny thing was when I roll off again for me on my fourth lap I start to cramp up on just about every climb. Sure I change my cadence, I try spinning & then grinding & nothing really works. It was getting worse & I stop to walk a climb on at the last 3rd of the course & I cramp up even worse. By the time I’m approaching the solo pit area I’m all down about it & pull in & go home.
Alot of this sort of thing going on lately, but hey: There is fun & then there is success. Sometimes they're mutially exclusive.

BMC100 2009

DNF @ the 54km mark. (Entered 100kms)
Stomach arched up, which has never happened before, nausea, stabbing pains. Stop out on course for a nature break (hoping it’ll cure things), felt dizzy & kinda stumbled about abit (???).
At the 32km water/rest stop I wolfed down some watermelon & a ‘nana, took a few minutes out. Rolling off I was back to 100%, but that only lasted until the pines section @ 40kms. So when the singletrack near Wombat dam turned left onto the gravel road, I turned right & headed back to the Start/Finish where I spent a good half hour of portaloo time.

Cool, drizzly start. It was actually delayed 30mins – to 7:30am for the 100kms Elites – because of the log jam of cars still trying to get in/park, they should sort that out for next year – alternate entrance for cars into the car park maybe.
The start was: first Elites @ 7:30am, then Age categories for those riding for a podium, then Age categories for those who finish mid field & then everyone else ‘out for a ride’. I actually got caught up chatting with a few riders & ended up starting in this last group for the 100kms.
It was still drizzling as we rolled off down the gravel road east towards the Wombat dam area. There was a fair amount of open gravel road to spread the field, but getting into the first bit of long tight singletrack – the Pines at Wombat dam, it was a congo line as far as I could see. This pine section was damp from the drizzle & I found the exposed roots at right angles really slippery & I just found myself just riding out of the saddle & letting the bike do its own thing under me. With the traffic it was difficult to ride through/over the bumps/roots as I had to trail the brake so I would not connect with the rider ahead.
There were some open gravel road climbs that actually got me into the granny in this section too.
Out of the pines & into regular bush, this is when I started feeling – not the best. But there were some good singletrack sections here & we were all bopping having a good ole time.
The first rest/water stop @ about the 32kms I hung about to pull myself together, while I was there I ran into J9 & Tim MTB (from BV forum) as well as a few blokes I know from the Westgate dirt crits.
Off again with more of the same, a fast decent followed by some climbing, repeat. Short gravel road sections between singletrack. I could feel that my kms where numbered as my nausea wasn’t being offset by my motivation, which was waning, to keep going. I started to look for reasons to stop, on 2x occasions stopping to lend assistance with tools etc to riders attempting repairs.
I rolled through the Wombat dam singletack & then hit the gravel road back.

Sitting here now I’m regretting it all, pulling out like that. Piking. Choking. Going soft. I could have just stopped for a bit & probably gone good & had a great afternoon.
But it just means that I’ll be hungry to get out there ASAP & get one down to put this one behind me.

Points of interest:
Seemed like a big turn out.
Car parking problem needs solving.
I like the ‘timing chip’ set-up that each rider has with them.
Thought I saw a camera & flash set up out on the early Pines section singletrack that was automatically taking photos of riders as they go by.
I think there were lots of singletrack for the kind of event it was.

Something old, something new….

Splashed out on a new frame – Specialized Epic Marathon. The idea is firstly to bring the bike count down by building up this bike from the Specialized Stumpjumper hardtail & the Anthem, then sell off whatever is left over leaving me with my choice set up. In truth it was only the Shimano XT Deore wheels set, the Shimano XT SPD pedals & seat that the Anthem gave up, the rest came off the Hardtail.
I needed to buy a new front derailleur – Shimano XT Deore - to clear the Epics rear suspension links.

First roll out was out to Yarra Flats, it’s so cool that I have this sort of singletrack only 20mins ride out – just enough to warm the legs before the elbows come out.
The rear derailleur felt like it wanted some tuning, but I found that after about 30mins riding the rear mech just settled down & worked well without any adjustment, sometimes you just have to let new stuff bed in I suppose. Although I was concerned that on the Epic, the rear gear cable runs the full length in an outer, & at the end the 180degree bend (into the rear mech) is tight.
Seeing as the Epic still feels new to me I’ll be riding it throughout the week commuting & maybe dirt crits on Thursday night. I figured by the BMC100 next Sunday I should have it locked down.

MAD ride. MTB 65kms, non-competitive. 5th April.

61kms, 3hours 28mins, averaged 17.30kms/hr.
Signed up on this one to get some kms in & around the Wombat state forest where the BMC100 will be staged in a few weeks & sus out what shape I was in for it. I knew the course wasn’t too technical & it’s profile – [available from their site: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/MAD-Ride-MTB-route ] didn’t seem too much of one thing or another. No real heartbreaking climbs or large chunks of descending.
It was just lil ole me on this one, so being a non-competitive event I casually rolled out of the Riddles Creek start about 20mins after the official start time of 8am & settled down to a nice pace for myself.
Riding the Giant Anthem, the rear suspension set on Pro-Pedal, I ran the Specialized Fast Trak LK tyres, running pressures Fr40psi Rr45psi. With so much open gravel road said to make up the course & not a lot of rain over the last week I figured the smoother dry terrain, fast rolling tyres was the ticket. I carried 1 liter of straight water in my (Fluid) hydration pack & an electrolyte mix in my bidden. Had a saddle bag with 2x tubes, multitool & tyre levers & in the hydration pack also carried a wind-vest, lollies & Gu’s.
Even though it was a cool start I didn’t wear my wind-vest or arm-warmers because I knew it’ll heat up come the first bit of singletrack or climb. It was 11degrees at start time. I wore my full fingered gloves & jersey, with bib-knicks & a ‘lite’ thermal top underneath.
The MTB route began with a few kms of bitumen to take out of town, then turned onto gravel roads into the Wombat state forest, with the first bit of singletrack at the 6km mark. This didn’t last long & back onto gravel roads. Most of the riding was either gravel roads or offroad two-track. Biggest obstacles ended up being choosing a good line through muddy and water filled 4wd furrows at the bottom of gullies etc.
The rest stops were catered well & saved me digging into my reserves of lollies & gels with the fruit & drinks on offer. First main stop being at 25kms in at Firth Park & then another later on at about 40km mark.
Somewhere in the tracks there was a Pajero beached at a 45degree angle on some water filled 4wd ruts, with a wait ahead of him for help the old fella was just sitting in his fold out camping chair watching the bikes go by.
Even though they don’t seem to show up on the ride profile, there were 2x climbs that got me working, the first was on a open gravel road at about 30kms in, & then another real mean offroad two-track track which got me off & walking up when I failed on the granny at one stage. This track had debris & small rock ledges which really destroyed well earned momentum climbing up it.
I rode with the distance displayed on my bike comp so I could get a feel of where I was at. Doing a MTB event for the first time it can real easy to cash in too early and not have something left in the tank.
Even so rolling back into Riddles Creek just before lunch I was feeling pretty fresh. Grabbed a sang, debriefed with some random stranger, had a drink, loaded up the Astra & headed home.

Australia day weekend – Tour Downunder Adelaide.

Friday after work, me BC & Paulie drove across arriving in Adelaide town sometime around 2-ish in the morning. Crashed at Paulie olds.
Saturday we caught the penultimate round of the Tour Downunder @ Walunga & then the last round at the 5km circuit in Adelaide.
Top stuff, Satuday night hit the Rundle street party-beer scene & woke up not recalling much.
Next time the bikes are coming too (roadies) & we’ll be padding it out a few extra days to roll around the hills & happens of that city of churches.

2009 off with a “Boof”.

Dodgey start to 2009 for racing: first time back after the new year @ Westgate Dirt Crits I ploughed through a dusty corner on the first lap, graze my right elbow & spend the rest of the race rolling about in the midst the valiant C graders (I started out in the B grade field). Even though I did get almost a whole lap down before my off ,it wasn’t a stella pace & my remount followed a comprehensive roll in the dust after a good sweat (29degree evening) so I was a sight to behold.
Rode the Anthem. Looking at going from the 2x MTBs to just one , a dually. Getting a nice new frame & putting all my good bits on that & selling the Anthem with whatever is left over.
Seemed like a big turnout, but the results showed a lot of DNFs. Mine came from the decision to call it after only 3 laps (not 4).
Big events coming up for me are the Otway Challenge 29th March http://www.supersprint.com.au/events/great-ocean--otway-classic-ride.aspx & the BMC100 19th April http://www.maxadventure.com.au/bmcclassic/ . With Chase the Sun starting up on the 26th April at Lysterfield with an 8 hour http://www.fullgaspromotions.com.au/new/cts.html .

Kona 24hour @ Forrest.

The 24hour was a good one for us, we had 4x entries, 2 teams in mens fours, a men’s threes team & a solo. Came out with a 3rd in the fours & threes which is tip top.

Apart from Marriners Run Sunday day loop I think the trails were run in reverse direction from last year, I hated that first climb outa transition – I think I made it once without bailing – and the tail end of the night lap with the road section, sitting out in the big chainwheel really brought home the chill in the night air.
A high was, as with many others – Marriners run. Mostly because it was a blast to carry so much speed through stuff without having to crank it out too much on tired legs.
Alex’s nudie lap & Rhys’s Lap kitted in full leathers & fighter pilot helmet was a gas.
I think we all had a ball… some others had two though….

Gravity 12hour.

Magnificent event. Friday rain made for an almost perfect course come race day Saturday. Entered in Mens threes team, 18th I think. Only off was my first lap, just after the bolt across the open field, the first bit of climbing singletrack I connected with the rear wheel of the rider in front while in the granny & came down real awkward like. Was used as a foot hold for riders clambering up behind me, lost a million places, but it was a good lap in the end.
Paulie & Phil in our team were punching out real consistent lap times, we managed 6 laps each by the end of the day.
End of the day, a few beers by the bon fire & A great sleep in Sunday morning with a lazy drive home.

Best event so far in my books, would recommend to anyone.
http://www.gravity12hour.com/

(Pic of me in action: ID: JUPE7046 on http://www.ontrackimages.com.au/MTB/galleries/08Grav12_300/index.htm )

Growing young legs

Always loved grinding the big gear out of the saddle, grunting away at a slow cadence. But my legs aren’t as young as they used to be, so in an attempt to rein back some sort of bankable form out on the various MTB event courses I’ve succumbed to the spin. For the spin is the only real way I can get back the sort of reliable wattage I need from my body to fill the gap where a deft hand in the tech sections is not enough to bring in the sort of result I can be happy with.
The ‘Bay ride last week I used the Spin in the climbs & to bridge gaps & it worked well. Finishing the 217kms kms fresh enough for just a light meal & a spot of gardening in the evening.

North East training - road.

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

This weekend I thought it best to turn my back on the Beach rd lemming express & head north into the hills. I rode a north/east route a year ago to Warrandyte & back, which I remember had a good mix of climbs, with the tail end of the ride full of descents & tapered rolls to home. I rode out on my own pretty late – 10am – and encountered a lot of traffic, on roads like Doncster Rd & Diamond Creek Rd which I really didn’t enjoy very much at all, the low-light of the trip. It was along way across town to go for me, & probably not the best route for any Western suburban riders, but it’s what I knew & figured I’ll put this one down today & try something else next opportunity. 80-odd kms. Felt pretty tired with the amount of climbing & descending. Oh yes, I did the spinning thing – stayed in the low gears on the climbs, seated & spun. Worked well, kept the cadence over 90 as much as I could. Almost got the knack of it.

Westgate dirt crits 23rd October was a hoot, dry, kinda hot & a big turn out. Log-jam early on the first lap, but I was able to make passes throughout the laps. Even though I’m still last third of the B grade field, I looked back on it as a good effort & worth the roll out there after work.

Big MTB events coming up, the Gravity 12hour 8th -9th November & the 24hour @ Forest on the weekend of the 29th-30th November. The Anthem is prepped with a fresh groupset – cogs/chain/cables. I’m feeling good too, so it should pan out well.

One in the cast of thousands.

19Th October 2007
Another ‘Bay ride down. http://www.bv.com.au/great-rides/20005/
Well, not exactly. Myself along with 2 other mates met up at Kerford Rd & rode out to Portsea @ back – 216kms. We didn’t actually enter the ‘Bay ride as such, we just joined along with the masses & rode together in the spirit of camaraderie that all cyclists share. The 5:30am roll out of Kerford rd anticlockwise down to Sorrento was pretty much when the bulk of the field had set off from the official start @ Alexandra gardens in the city, so we had no end of peletons & groups to latch onto for the tow down the coast. Funny thing was the way it turned out we found ourselves leading a few groups for a majority of the way down.
A warm morning soon changed to a cool southerly with a few drizzling periods as we hit Sorrento for out U-turn back. The cooler southern really didn’t start up until late morning which coincided perfectly for our return run, the wind at our backs.
With so many riders out it was kind of a blessing in disguise. Sure there were some questionable maneuvers which meant riding in groups was a pretty stressful situation, but the volume of riders did allow us to hop from one group to another without spending too much time out on our own.
A stop @ Maccas at Mornington on the return & later a coffee stop At Portabellas @ Kerford rd, I don’t really thing I had the opportunity to shed much weight, blowing at least $50 on food along the way. Still, it’s the way to do it though.
We stopped heaps & didn’t really go-the-rivet on any one stage, so we finished up pretty fresh, probably the freshest I’ve ever felt after 210-odd kms. This with no real training looks like it wasn’t my training regime I had a problem with, but my approach to the ride. The riding time overall (less the periods we stopped) was almost the same as all my other ‘balls to the wall’ efforts in the past. You see, I leant something today, so it wasn’t a complete waste of a day.

Some big races coming up, it’s that time of year for them: The Gravity 12hour & the 24hr @ Forrest. Time to get serious with the time on the bike & watch those chocolate biscuits.

Groovin’ along.

27th Sept 2008.
Hawthorn just won the grand final. I’m not a fan, but I think it’s a good thing for football. When you see the under-dog do good, it gives blokes like me encouragement to front up to MTB event after event completely out of my depth but still prepared to have a go. Blokes like me make the fast riders look good, their success comes from passing & beating blokes like me. Because of that I think I’ve had a hand in a lot of victories.

The ‘Bay ride is coming up, so I rolled out to Frankston & back (100kms) to revisit that “sore arse & numb fingers” feeling I get skirting the pond. As I couldn’t scare up any other takers I broke out before 6am to make it there/back before 9:30am. Lot of bikes out, although with my early start I spent the trip down pretty much on my own, but that was fine by me, a relatively warm still clear day dawned - the hotair balloons drifted overhead - a sure sign of a good start to the day for riding. Hooked a U-turn at the top of Olivers Hill & rode home.

The ride back I came across heaps of groups, some were scooting along over 45kms/hr – I averaged 34kms/hr on my own – but others kind of almost matched my average & it was hard not to sit in them & bum a tow home. Prob is with hooking up with the odd group you get along Beach Rd is that a lot of them have a creative interpretation of peleton etiquette & it takes a few kms to gel with the groove. After Mordialoc I came across a bunch of ‘seniors’ (being 40yrs old means that I now regard anyone else slightly older than me as a senior) sitting on my pace who were dragging along quite a few opportunists. I filter up to the front of the group to find a few on them loved to frequently call out stuff, like “car back” & “bike”, & other things I thought was coming across almost as being quite theatrical. I didn’t join in fun, & tried to ride out the front. But, as with all these sorts of things all I seem to do was drag everyone else along for the ride, not much fun pounding away in the ‘drops’ only to hear riders just behind you freewheeling. We motored past other groups sitting at lower speeds so the motivation to hang with my new bros held out until the group dissipated after passing through St Kilda. Ride home from there was a nice little pootle & left me feeling pretty fresh for the rest of the morning.

I’ve been ticking off the weekly dirt crits at Westgate over the last couple of months. Never really developing beyond the tail end of B grade, but it’s all good fun. It’s slowing getting warmer & brighter later into the evening, so the end of racing by lights will be over for another year sooner than later. Just been riding the Stumpjumper as the Anthem is still in dire need of fresh chain/cogs. Should sort that out before the Gravity 12hour in early November. The 24hour @ Forest is up in December too, so no time to lose.

The commuter – my Jamis MTB signle speed – is set for a change. I’m replacing the rear disk brake wheel with a coaster brake hub, just for laughs. The coaster hub is cheap as, but building a wheel is the stinger. will photo & report when sorted.

My much ignored Honda Hornet has had a few outings of late. Even though I have already replaced the stock handlebars with lower Renthal ‘low rise’ ‘bars, I’m wanting something more. Thoughts of the Aces handlebars or ‘clubman’ ‘bars I had on the Kawasaki zephyr are coming to me. Prob is they’re kinda hard to locate nowadays. I suppose if people want to go ‘sports’ with flatbar road bikes, they trade to a sportsbike with clip-ons. But not me, longterm musings on my Hornet are ‘clubman’ ‘bars & maybe some low slung exhausts with slash-cut silencers. Hmm…..

Being slow

Arh, sometimes I wonder why I’m out there, getting dirty, tired & in everyone else’s way. Dirt crits last night wasn’t the moment in history I was hoping. Cold with a few muddy puddles & a pretty small field I hung on the coat-tails for the first lap around to spend the rest of the 4 lap, 3km course riding around on my lonesome like some rambler. I could see the lights of C grade behind me early on, as they start 20 secs after B grade, but I was never really set apon by them so I should take something from that. Legs were real tired, no power, no spirit - seems like one half of me wanted to be somewhere else. Must admit I kinda liked the course, muddy in places but a lot of corners offered grip & was nice to rail around the singletrack there. Riding the Anthem’s dual suspension does make it easy work compared to the hardtail though, even with the Anthem set on Pro-pedal out back.
Result: Last in a field of 10-ish in B grade.
My changing opinion of Cadel’s result at this years Tour: After watching the Individual time trial again (recorded it) it was clear that he wasn’t in the best shape. Also, the fact hat he finished 2nd last year automatically made him the marked man throughout the event which showed on him, how the other teams/riders rode in relation to him & how the media responded to him. It was almost like there was the expectation that Cadel would dominate as Lance did in previous years. I think the Tour has been, in recent years, an event decided in the mountains. The kind of time a rider on top of their form can gain in the Alps and the Pyrenees can make it a decider. Cadels fall earlier in the event left him nursing his position when he could otherwise be looking at attack opportunities. Still, there’s always next year, and the year after that.
So yeah, I was rash, they were rash & I think we all should take a good hard look at ourselves & what our expectations are of others who get out there & have a go in the brutal arena that is the Tour.



New addition to the family – Jamis Exile –single speed MTB. Bought 2nd hand & looking at using it for the commute. Originally came with a 33/16 ratio for offroad, I upped it to 42/16 & pumped up the Hutchinson Piranas to their max (approx 70psi). I'm still considering running some semi-slicks I have from my old Apollo MTB commuting days (Specialized Hiemsphere 2.0), but I'll try out the Piranas this weekend on the pavement for the hell of it. The Jamis came with Manitou Axel Air forks which, on arrival home & after a short ride about, developed a lot of oil loss through the forks seals. So, for the interm I’ll raid the Stumpjumper’s Rock Shox SIDs for a spell.

Chase the Sun #3, 7hour MTB XC.

(Photo: Steven Rowe. http://mtb-images.ser.id.au/ )
It's rare for me to dread the sound of rain during the night as I slept, but not last night though. There was enough fear-n-loathing to share come Sunday morning as it dawned to a thick pall of rain over everything.
To be honest, if I was doing solo & not part of a team I would have just rolled back over & slept right through this morning. But, alas my team mate Paulie was due soon so it was time to fall outa bed, hang my head in the shower & throw lots of bike related stuff into the back of the Astra. When he rocked up he wasn’t to motivated either as he stood in the alleyway transferring his bike stuff into my car as he winced under the light rain shower in the cold dark morning.
We both blamed it all on Cadel Evans for his pitiful individual time trial effort overnight that we both stayed up to see him lose, & reflected on how many lost opportunities were squandered in the preceding stages only to save his best to what he was supposed to be good at. In the end I suppose the best person did win the TDF 2008, but it seemed like all the time & effort Cadel put into this year’s event actually in the end, was just banking on that one day – the final time trial – to give him the victory. It was too fine a margin to call, & we all drank in the hype. Lets hope we all learn from this.
Anyway, we have our own mountains to climb, & ours were located to the north east of Melbourne in the bushland around Lake Lysterfield. It drizzled & rained on the drive up & there was mud everywhere when we got there. ‘Goombah Village’ was set up at the tail end of the solo area just before the course ducked back into the bush. We did our transistion there. The Goombahs were represented with 3x solo entries, & 2x pairs entries. Dave & Stu punched out massive laps in solo, Bonar returning to form got 3 laps down, & the pairs teams of Amy/Melanie & myself/Paulie returned some healthy circumnavigations.
With my first lap out took me into familiar trails of Lysterfield, some part were actually pretty grippy & I was really able to rail the corners. But then the mud was a factor in certain stretches. This was good though, as I haven’t really been a very confident mud rider & this was my chance to face my brown slimy demon out there. Out on my 2nd lap, just after another rain, the mud got real slick & my bike developed a mind of it’s own, I just had to spin those pedals to keep everything motoring along. My cassette & front derailuer clogged badly halfway through this lap giving my no end of chain skipping, missed shifts & ghost shifting. Squirting the total contents on my biddon’s Gatorade onto the rear mech gave me about a 1/3 of a laps grace before it played up again.
After my transition I went to town hosing water on the drivesystem to wash the mud out in an attempt to stop this schizophrenic shifting. It worked , kinda.
My last lap out, the organizers changed the course to avoid the worst of the muddy sections, but introduced part of the Comms Games course & filled the bits in between with open gravel road & two-track.
In the end I called it quits after this 3rd lap. Being moody as a menstrual dairy cow of late, I have developed a short discomfort threshold for MTBing & have used the excuse of “I’m not enjoying myself” as solid defense for the defenseless withdrawal from the activities.
The drive home was accompanied with more rain & I have now definitely used my quotient of City West’s water residental allocation, bringing flood & Lysterfield mud to my backyard.
Till next time, but….

The One to rule them all.

With the demise of the Langster to the lust for cash, I threw on the Specialized Hemisphere 2.0 tyres on the Stumpjumper hardtail to fill the gap for the commute. Fitted the handlebar mounted Pop-lock fork lock-out on it as well, but I’ve found that as I’m running the Rock Shox SID Team forks pretty firm for my weight, the bob when grinding outa the saddle isn’t that much of a problem. In fact running the forks locked out on the tarmac almost feels too firm & my palms develop a dull ache through the ride by the end. Funny.
The shop continues: There is a 2nd hand Jamis Exile 26”wheels, OK condition, but not sure about the Manitou Axel Platinum forks. Thing I have to bear in mind is that as I’m looking at this Single Speed I want to buy as a commuter, I have to factor in cost for a ratio change & other stuff, even if I buy new. Sure there are flat ‘bar roadies about, but I wanna hang with a MTB layout & easy option for offroad S/Sing by lifting tyres (etc) off the Anthem & Stumpjumper.
New bikes I’m looking at include the Avanti KISS (26er), which runs an acentric Bottom Bracket & regular vertical drop outs & brake tabs, so it should make changing tyres/tubes/flats easier. But I’ve heard that these acentric B/Bs can squeak & sometimes slip a little. Test rode one & found it a lardy barge. Felt heavy overall. Not sure if changes like rigid forks & lighter seat would make a big enough difference. And I am comparing all these to my old Apollo Everest from 1989 which was a great s/s MTB commuter, apart from those times it tried to kill me whenever the chain got thrown, so did I – dodgy backyard s/s convert.
There is another option – buy a ‘good’ s/s specific frame & thieve parts off the Stumpjumper, leaving the Anthem for all the offroad multi-speed work. Hmm…. Just what I need, another option.

The Dark side.

July. This is that time of year when I spend most of my time riding in darkness. The morning commute begins before the dawn & the return is in amongst the headlights & street lights of inner city Melbourne. Always dark and always cold, I layered up, still sweat underneath, but I never feel my fingers or toes until the end of my hot showers. My gear spends more time in front of the heater than I do - drying.

The cool autumn days lead into that constant cold & wet dampness of July & August that really ages a MTB. Brake pads wear & groupsets are reduced to lifetimes measured in days. At Thursday night dirt crits the numbers drop & coming in last still means finishing in the top ten.

There’s been a new section of singletrack opened up on the course, but I’m not a big fan. Mostly because it was cut by just placing some arrows through long grass & assorted debris, then letting the run of MTB tyres wear a groove into the under growth. It’s been 3 weeks now since this new bit was opened up & I’m still getting lost it in all when I don’t have a wheel to follow – and this on a 3kms course! Jumping on the ‘bus’ (after dirt crits, a grouppetto of MTBs usually heads to the city down Lorimar St Pt Melb), you can see grass in just about everyone’s cassette & derailers, even the s/s don’t miss out on taking something home.

I don’t want to go on about my form of late, as there doesn’t seem to be much to speak of , but I have been able to manage an over-the-‘bars effort 2 out of the 3 races out there. I’m blaming this on the odd set up on my Stumpjumper, where the Rock Shox SID team forks I recently bought for it seem to ride quite low (unable to change the ride height). This steepens my geometry & it kinda feels like it wants to tuck in on corners & fastish going. Standing out of the saddle & powering places me way over the front of the front axel. Fox RLC 100 forks on the Anthem seem to ride much higher & actually the ride on that bike comes across as much nicer. I’ll scout out 2nd hand forks & see if I can buy/sell 2nd hand & manage a change over for less than $100 to reduce that nervous feeling the front end has on that Stumpjumper.

Old man back.

Must be that age. That milestone. When bouncing back from a hit doesn’t have that spring it once had. 2 months now I’ve been dealing with a sore back, mostly early morning, mostly happens when I’m laying down. Funny thing is as soon as I get some movement into it, the better it gets.
Sticking to a regime of floor exercises & free weights first up in the mornings & just before I hit the sack goes a long way nowadays, but it’s still there, in the background, just when I need that extra 10% on a climb or snapping out of the saddle for that lunge. It’s getting the point where some riding isn’t as fun as it once was.
I got a few bikes & this problem is at it’s worst on my roadie-commuter. Loaded with over 5kgs of work wear & necessities, stuck with the one ratio while running my drop ‘bars pretty low on the steerer all comes together at the end of the commute with the old man back. I’ve tried running the ‘bars higher, dropping the seat, offloading the backpack, but it doesn’t seem to make a big a dent into the problem as I have been hoping.
There is something else.
Getting the Langster as a commuter was more me ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ of the latest craze – Single-speed &/or fixed geared bikes than anything else. It was fun, the one ratio isn’t the handicap you would think it is & it’s so metro-cool bike-chic, just one step away from a track bike. But fixed was one step too far. So there I was, last week standing in the garage looking at my bikes, thinking about my back & the Langster, & all the other bikes. Maybe I just had the wrong kind of single-speed.
Before the Langster I was commuting on my old slick-shod ’89 Apollo Everest MTB, converted to 48/18 with a chain tensioner. It worked, but only just. Each time the chain got thrown – so did I. So banished to the back on my parents garage it was. But maybe the new breed of production single-speed-frame specific MTBs is what I need? Most aren’t that expencive, & I’ve never ultimately lost money on commuters, because – hey, at least it’s not going to petrol or train tickets. So I tested the waters & posted the Langy for sale on some on-line forumsat a cost similar to how it entered my life. And Lo, it was snapped up in a few days.
Looks like it’s time to go shopping…..

Chase the Sun enduro, round 2. 1st June.

Oops , missed reporting on this one.
Cold foggy start. 6 hours this time. Great grippy track, different 14.5km course to last time. No stacks or mechanicals, but the usual fitness issues from zero training outside of ‘getting to work on time’ .
We (Paulie & I ) finished 24th out of a lot more in ‘Just Good Friends’ in the male pairs category.

Picture courtesy of David Bailey photography.
http://www.dcb-photo.com/MTB%20sample%20page.htm

Over and over.

Dirt crits is never boring. Rock up each week, do the same laps but roll home with something different each time. This week the highlight was my graceful over the ‘bars effort halfway through the first lap in B grade.
Had a good start, mid pack & filed into the singletrack heading west alongside the Westgate Bridge, wheel on wheel amongst the other B graders. I was sitting in a taller gear than usual at this pace & was grinding out of the saddle just off the wheel in front of me. We roll into a little decent where the track weaves between some pallets, then off a little timber ramp up to switchback between some trees.
Been through here a million times without a thought in the world, but tonight in a little brain fade moment I rolled just to the right off the little timber ramp & my front wheel finds a hole & something solid to stop up against. Being out of the saddle at this point, leaning way forward ready for the little climb just after the ramp, the sudden stop was a big surprise. In one graceful, almost poetic arc pivoting on the front axle I continued with my bike as it pitched forward, still clipped in, still with both hands on the ‘bars, I pass that point where you might’ve had that chance to fight the forces of nature & instinct with the attempt to right things, I tuck my head in as I roll right over on my back. Coming to a rest pointing back towards the oncoming riders.
I had rolled to one side of the track so most of the B graders behind me were filing through by the time I jumped immediately to my feet. No damage, the Specialized Stumpjumper was still OK ,but being so early in the race the whole field had to pass before I could continue. I actually spent a bit of extra time checking myself out before remounting because I didn’t want to discover any nasties after the adrenalin passed.
Paulie was actually right on my wheel at the time so I really screwed up his place, having to stop & ask if I was OK as the field went through.
I rolled off way after the last rider’s lights disappeared into the trees.
The rest of my race was a solo affair, but I kinda felt good to put in some time doing this MTB caper on my own, being able to rail the corners & pick some tasty lines. I caught & passed some riders but it was hard to tell if they were B graders or one of the other grades. I passed Paulie later on that first lap with a broken chain – sucks.
All in all it was a OK sorta evening out MTBing. There’s always next week…

http://www.fullgaspromotions.com.au/new/dirtcrits.html

Chase the Sun enduro series, Round 1. 11th May 2008

Lysterfield turned on a great day & fabulous track, no dust & no mud, the 10kms course took in some singletrack through the bushland there as well as sections of the Comm Games track. There was a fair amount of open two-track & gravel road used to join the various singletrack. There was a good turn out & what seemed to be a fair amount of new guys to MTB racing.
For this enduro series Paul & I signed up in Men pairs, in the ‘just good friends’ category. It was a 5hour event & the plan was to get in 10 laps. Paul rode out from the gun & we alternated every lap. It was a pretty uneventful race for the both of us, we punched out our laps in the general casual intensity they we bring to these events, but in the end only brought home 9 laps, I just got 4 in which I was real dark on. But I knew that zero preparation & no training (I shouldn’t regard commuting as training) is what affected my result from what I wanted to achieve & what I actually achieved. Sure this can lead to all sort of soul searching &personal reflection, but it’s usually best to let things settle before making any radical plans for change.
The next one is in 3 weeks – June 1st – so I have this window to make a concerted effort & try to make some valuable improvement.