iRide Bikes

Geelong MTB Gazebo Series Rnd 2

2012-02-09T15:42:00.001+11:00

Round 2 of the GMBC 3 Gazebo series was a 3 hour twilight race from 7pm to 10pm, meaning lights would be required for the last hour. Having just seen Kanye West during the week both Ross and Will turned up pumped and with their swagger on 11.

Both Ross and Will are normally alseep on the couch with a cup of tea by 8:30pm on a Friday night so just finishing the race could have been a challenge for the two, Will fell alseep on drive down and both rolled up to the start line with minutes to spare looking half awake. As akways Aleisha was organized and ready to go before Ross and Will had arrived.

As always GMBC are well organized with the race starting bang on at 7pm despite the fact 150 riders had rolled up and registered in just an hour or so. The start was furious with riders bustling for position in the early stages of the race.

For the first hour Will was sitting with the top 8 and at times was working together with others on the fireroad sections. Will's plan was to ride his own race at a pace he could sustain for 3 hours. At the halfway mark he found himself sitting in 5th and working with the winner of round 1 Tim Corbett. As night fell he realized he hadn't charged his light properly and as a result he had to stay behind Tim in the single track and could only lead on the fireroad. An agreement was made that if they came to the line together Will would let Tim have the win due to having to suck as wheel for the last hour. As it would happen Will and Tim rode a final hour of the race catching the leaders then putting a few minutes into them. Will showed that he has a heart and isn't just an attractive man with a 40" python and stuck to his word and was happy with 2nd place.

Good friend of iRide Bikes Cam Day has written the below reports on how thier races went.

Ross

Race 2 of the Gazebo series kicked off with a twilight/night race at the You Yangs.

My Friday nights usually consist of a table at one of the fine establishments in King Street, followed by several hours of Formula 1 on the PS3, so the chance to race under lights was a welcome change.

I took a chance and got my beautiful girl CFS to come along for her first ever MTB race which she was very hesitant at first, but when I said that Cam Day was racing, I couldn’t stop her from talking about this race, and how she was confident of beating the shit out of him both on and off the track.

We rolled in, got our gear together and we were ready to race. After a quick kiss to wish CFS all the best, we were off.

Tonight I was on board my new Rocky Mountain Vertex 990 RSL. I had ridden this puppy previously but not under race conditions. I knew with a pretty tough field, it would be a bit like a blind man at an orgy, I would have to feel my way through.

3 hours later and 80kms down, I felt like the Energizer Bunny thanks to the awesome ride of the 990, I could have kept going and going and going.

Cam

With race 2 of the Gazebo series now upon us, I chauffeured the Bike Buller poster boy down to the You Yangs while he signed trail maps to hand out at the iRide Bikes tent for all the fans.

In the lead up to the race, I became the target of repeated threats and abuse from none other than CFS, and so ‘The Showdown’ was announced. The winner would have to drink a box of UDL cans and then complete an obstacle course which consisted of parked cars, chairs and trees over a 1km course. I thought about ‘tanking’ this race, as I would be happy to see CFS complete this challenge again after her exploits at Mt Beauty a few years back, but decided on a fair race.

After Will had given out all his Bike Buller trail maps and signed a few young ladies chests, we were off and racing. The next 3 hours is still a bit of a blur, very fast track and pretty dusty but got 6 laps in and felt good aboard the Rocky Mountain 50MSL.

The trip home, I had to comfort Will after he had some issues with his lights which forced him to follow the winner into the finish line, but still a great effort jagging 2^nd. I remember him saying that he did his best work with the lights out, sad to say it didn’t eventuate this time. I was a little worried in the car, as he had the Dawson's Creek theme tune on repeat for an hour, but I’m sure he will tough it out and be back bigger and stronger for the last race of the series.

Gravity 2012

2012-02-05T15:33:00.007+11:00

The move of the Gravity 12hr from it's original location of Rosewhite to the new venue of the caravan park centrally located in Bright was a smart move by the organisers, Finish Line Events. It worked so well that many wondered why someone hadn't done this earlier.

This change of venue, comfortable weather (some thought it was a bit hot) and a really excellent track made for a great race and despite the pain and suffering I went through f0r 12hrs as an under-trained, over-rested solo rider, I'll be back next year for sure!

My recent work commitments have made training difficult and a 12hr solo race is not the type of race to compete in at the drop of a hat but I've never had the opportunity to defend a 'crown' so I couldn't pass up racing in this popular event that I won back in late 2010. At about 7hrs into the race, I was wishing I had passed-up on this opportunity.

Gravity 2012 attracted a pretty impressive line up in all categories this year from the high paced male and mixed pairs tearing up the course to the male and female solo riders who battle it out all day. I had my time at the pointy end of the solo field sitting in 4th for a few laps and even felt pretty good out there but I couldn't keep up the pace and was soon back in 5th. Never really threatened was Andy Hall who took out the solo male on 16 laps, one up on an insane single speed effort by Ed McDonald. Impressive.

My laps times were slowly and reasonably stretching out until my lap times started including pit-stops that went for much longer than the desired less-than-a-minute..

Then came my horror lap.

Picture your worst day on a bike. You've bonked, you know you've got a long time to go, you're talking yourself down, you've got chafe on both thighs, your ass hurts, molten-salt sweat stings your eyes like capsicum spray, all your mates are passing you while you're stopped on the track.

I had this for 15kms. And then I knew I'd have to deal with it for another lap.

I'd made the decision to complete this lap and stop there.

Which brings me back to the very well designed track. The last 2-3kms was flat, fast and fun singletrack along a river in the shade so even though you'd been hurting for the last 12km by the time you're back in pits you actually feel ok and have forgotten the pain of the pinchers and kilometres of brutally hot, exposed fire road.

I kept getting back to my pit crew (who were AWESOME!) wondering how I could have felt so bad only a few k's ago. My decision to stop was reversed by some proper food (pasta, a welcome change from smashing gels and energy drink all afternoon), great support from my parents and mechanic, Dean Barter and a desire to Just Bloody Finish.

So one more lap and believe it or not I enjoyed it and was glad to finish on a high.

12hrs is a long time to ride a bike essentially non-stop. On average would you say most MTB training/social rides are 1-2hrs? And in those rides I'd say it's likely that you'd have some sort of mechanical 'event', not necessarily anything major, maybe even just a dropped chain. Which makes it remarkable, I think, that I can ride for so long and have absolutely NOTHING go wrong with my bike. Having Ross check it over in the work stand at iRide was part of it and my new wheels (Easton EA90XC) which are light, strong and dependable is another while finally having my mate Dean there to check that all was lubed and ready to roll capped it off. Thanks to my wrench Deano, bike shop owner extraordinaire Ross and Simon from Adventure Brands for the Rocky Mountain Vertex.

Righto, I have to get some well earned rest before another 9 day camping stint starting tomorrow. No photos up that I can find yet so here's one my Dad took of me quite clearly having a rough day. Ride hard y'all!

Zigga

All Mountain Cup Round 2

2012-01-22T17:59:00.008+11:00

Mt.Buller hosted Round 2 of the 'new for 2012' National Series All Mountain Cup from Friday 20/1 to Sunday 22/1.

Ahh, those races where it all just comes together...can someone let me know what they're like? I haven't had one for a while and this weekend was unfortunately no different!

I entered this series on a whim and full of enthusiasm. I'd just spent 9 days and 8 nights camping in the alpine region near Mt.Hotham without touching a bike so I was itching to not just ride but RACE BABY YEAH!!! The day before I left for the race I spent some quality time on the iTunes store spending up on some pump-up/feel-good tunes (such as THIS one) for the 3.5hr drive to Buller and that's pretty much where my organisation and preparation for this race started and finished!

Everyone has been raving about the trails at Mt.Buller recently so this race was a perfect opportunity for me to race on them and see for myself. The format of the All Mountain Cup is a 3 day stage race with a Super D, an XCO and finishing with a Point to Point. I was super keen for the Super D. A 12km fireroad descent with negligible climbing, massive water bars/ruts, mud, creek crossings and loose toaster sized rocks? Yep, I'll be in that thankyou very much!

Unfortunately and despite a really good practice run, I punctured near the top of the course. Intent on not letting this ruin my run I virtually started changing the tube before I'd come to a complete stop. Back on the bike and back past those that had passed me while I was stationary only to find I'd bent a link in a hurried chain adjustment which eventuated in the back plate of my derailleur getting carved off and leaving my chain dangling. It was pushing and scooting to the line for me. I was not the lone sufferer of bike carnage today. This essentially meant my racing was over as I couldn't afford a new rear mech but after a couple of pleading phone calls Ross had organised Shannon at All Terrain Cycles to sort me out with a complimentary replacement XT mech. A couple of bloody legends! And a reminder of one of the reasons why I enjoy riding on the iRide team so much.

The XCO on Saturday was a much more straight forward affair for me which means no mechanicals or flats! Once again, not quite pinning the technical sections as well as I perhaps could have but that does tend to happen when I'm trying to keep up with Olympians! A better day today!

But just as things were getting better they got worse. Just 15 minutes into the final stage of the All Mountain Cup, the 22km Point to Point, and I flatted on the rear tyre once again. Learn to ride rocks!! This is where it gets embarrassing: I can't remove my tyre without tyre levers. However, no one I know can get my tyres off (or on!) without levers which makes me feel a little better. Hence I always carry levers but today they'd found their way out of my pocket and onto the track anywhere in the last 15mins. It was the straw and this camels back was broken. Without outside assistance I wasn't going anywhere despite having TWO spare tubes on me. Race abandoned. No one likes a DNF next to their name. It won't happen again!

Time to clear the head with another 9 days of track work before 12hrs of power at the Bright Gravity 12hr!

A knackered rear mech

A knackered XCO racer

(photo by Russel Baker)

Ride Week in Mt.Beauty

2011-12-29T07:40:00.004+11:00

Ride Week (that 'week' between Christmas and NYE) in Mt.Beauty is about as official as an unofficial event can get. After all it is organised through Facebook which is surely the yardstick by which the seriousness of events are measured without requiring a black tie.

There is some organisation of the mixed MTB/Road riding week but really it just happens. Meeting times for the next ride are decided at the cafe while refuelling after the last ride. Routes are often decided in advance but even these are flexible and often include shorter options for those less masochistically inclined.

Those who take part come from all around: Sydney, Melbourne, as far as Brisbane and of course a large contingent of locals.

Fortunately the heat that Victoria is now suffering through and the Bay Critters are sweating through came just late enough that we could get our big rides done without expiring from heat exhaustion.

This is what Ride Week 2011 looked like for me based in Mt.Beauty:

26/12 am - 1hr of singletrack madness, pushing myself to my limits (and beyond) with a couple of the van der Ploeg boys. 12km & 370m vert

26/12 pm - 2.5hrs on the roady up to Falls Creek return with some extra climbing. 65km & 1530m vert

27/12 - 2.5hrs, another Falls Creek ascent return. 58km & 1300m vert. The main group summited Mt.Buffalo today but I missed this ride as I was picking up my Ride Week house guest, Jodie Willet, from the airport and we just squeezed in a quick ride in the afternoon.

28/12 am - 1.75hrs of more MTB singletrack action. 21km & 750m vert. We had some great MTB park action with one of the largest groups I've ridden with on a mountain bike outside of a race!

28/12 pm - 1.75hrs of climbing on the MTB again. Not content with one ride a day, Jodie and myself summited Big Hill with another 25km & 1000m vert. A pretty hot, long climb which was worth it for the hectic descent through super sketchy rock gardens and ultra-high speed fire road. Max speed of 62.4km/h on the MTB, not so bad.

29/12 - While the bulk of the Ride Week crew smashed themselves on a 150km round trip to Yakandandah I gave myself a far lower volume day of another 1hr of mountain biking. Not so great for the numbers today, just another 12km & 410m vert.

30/12 - MORE MTB action today. Another summit of Big Hill but this time at gentleman's pace. Throw in some park action before and after and you've got 3.5hrs ride time with 46km & 1640m vert.

31/12 - The Queen stage of Ride Week. The New Years Eve ride has also been dubbed Gerry's Hell Ride (some of them have been truly Hell-ish) in the past and can be either road or MTB. This year it was a Mt.Hotham ascent. Nothing crazy but when my masochistic house guest mentioned her desire to be 'bleeding from the eyeballs' I knew we'd be doing the extra k's to Dinner Plain and not taking it too easily either. 6.5hrs, 170km and 3180m vert. A solid day.

Fortunately, as it was NYE, I felt less guilty about making the mix of cider, beer and red wine my recovery drinks of choice throughout the rest of the day/evening. Perhaps any advantageous adaptation may have been hindered by the evenings festivities but it was worth it! Saw the year out with a great party for Dan VDP at the Farm with many like minded boozy athletes, loads of laughs and a generally bloody great time.

In total - 20hrs, 410kms and over 10,000m vert. One of my bigger weeks lately but probably pretty standard for some!

Look forward to more mates and good times at Ride Week next year, get on it!

Got Mud? A report on my second solo 24hr MTB race.

2011-11-29T21:50:00.008+11:00

Friday 16:00hrs - Day before the race, Quiggs and I do a 58min practice lap on a dry, dusty, freshly cut course. I feel ok, not great, not terrible. Enthusiasm builds and I'm focused on having fun to get me through the next 24 hours.

Saturday 09:00hrs - My supremo support team of Jane and Mark Zagorski and I arrive and set up what will be HQ for the next day.

10:00hrs - Social chit chat is had. My spare bike, a Rocky Mountain Altitude 70 is prepped for racing. Lollies are gorged upon.

11:30hrs - A race briefing is mostly missed. I presume it's pretty much the same as always. I'm right. 11:48hrs - I brave the busy, wobbly, un-level, semi-trailer toilets for a final nervous bodily evacuation.

12:00hrs - Someone fast and presumably riding in a team gets the holeshot at the start and claims the prologue clams. 100 of them.

12:30hrs - Half way around my first lap and I'm almost already as muddy as it's possible to get on a bike. Enthusiasm is high. I'm sure I've settled into 'round-about 5th in Solo.

It's raining.

13:00hrs - I fear I'm burning through the new brake pads I installed at the start of the race. It's raining.

14:00hrs - Two laps in and I'm transitioning well. Ash Hayat and I are duelling for what I'm sure is 5th and 6th. I sneak a glimpse over the handlebars at my front brake callipers. A build-up of fine, silver dust confirms I've used up my brake pads...and some of their backing.

It's raining.

15:00hrs - Bike swap. Me to Dad "That bike needs new pads front and rear". Dad to me "You're sitting comfortably in 2nd." Wow. Bottle. Gel. Banana sanga smashed. I melt into the 5inches of travel of the Altitude and am overjoyed at working brakes.

It's raining. The sun is not out.

18:00hrs - It's raining. The mud is crazy. I'm not so much steering as sliding from one bend/corner to the next. It's actually pretty good fun, I'm riding it well and I've made a gap on Ash. I think on one lap I even rode the whole track without having to hike-a-bike. Sitting in 2nd has motivated me somewhat.

20:00hrs - Laps have pretty quickly ceased to be fun and are plain hard work. Slow, even cadence doesn't work in the mud. Staying off the brakes doesn't work in the mud. My front derailleur doesn't work in the mud. I walk some of the climbs.

It's raining.

21:00hrs - I stop mid lap. I walk at least 3 or 4 sections that I just cannot muster the energy and skills to ride. I stop a couple more times.

It's raining.

22:30hrs- My transition lasts too long. 1 minute. Then 2. Then 5. Then Quiggs comes through transition. He does a full kit change and encourages me to do the same but I tell him I'm done and stand there in awe of this tough endurance machine. I'm angry, jealous, depressed, sore and tired. But shit I'm glad I've decided not to do another lap in this crap.

It's still raining.

Sunday 08:00hrs - The sun has come out. It's a different day and we could be on another continent such is the contrast in weather from a few hours ago. Due to reports of the track now being 'dry and superfast', 'tacky' and, unbelievably 'fun' again I'm encouraged to do another lap.

09:15hrs - I can confirm the track is dry, superfast and would be fun but my legs, bum and most other parts are sore and I still don't want to do another lap. That's it for my Garmin 24 2011.

It's not raining.

____________________________________________________________

Even to make it just 10.5hrs into a 24 I needed a lot of help and owe many thanks.

First to my folks for being such great supporters. Together we're getting this whole deal down to a fine art. Dad is more experienced at replacing brake pads than I am and Mum's washed my bike more times than me too.

Dad couldn't have replaced any brake pads if they hadn't have first been supplied by Ross from iRide. Having shop support that I can confidently call on is invaluable. Next time I'm doing a team lap with you guys. That looked like too much fun!

Some people race solo with just one bike but I wouldn't want to, and the spare bike supplied by Simon Ross from Adventure Brands/Rocky Mountain was oodles of fun. Thanks! Everyone should test ride a Rocky Mountain Altitude. Yes, especially you Llew.

Cheers,

Zigga

Garmin 24 Preview

2011-11-24T23:44:00.000+11:00

The Garmin 24 or one of its many previous name holds a special place in the race calendar for many Victorians due to its history as well as been the only 24 we have down here. This year promises to be good as ever with it being round 3 of the Ross Wilkinson vs Ben Vlass showdown as well as a move back to Reidsdale and hopefully away from bad weather.

IRide is fielding a 6 person mixed team so we thought would we provide a preview/form guide.

Ross Wilkinson

Experience plays a big part in these events and the big dog is an experienced 24 hour campaigner. Knowing what gear and food to pack will pay dividends during the 24 hours. With Ross having started packing the van a week out from the event he looks set to not leave a thing at home. Ross is even going as far as to bring a female companion to take care of rub downs, cooking, cleaning and generally keeping the well oiled athlete running.

Fitness wise Ross is coming in under a cloud of suspension, Legs may be the one thing he does leave at home. Having pulled the pin at the Mt Major enduro early and a few flat tyres in race’s since then combined with a lot of solo rides meant he hasn’t shown his cards to anyone. This looks to be all part of his plan to keep things on the low down from Ben Vlass but he isn’t the only person Ross is out to lap quicker than.

Luke Garside

Being fresh back from a 6 month high altitude training camp in Canada where they have relaxed views regarding performance enhancing drugs we can only expect Luke to be in tip top form. Combine that with an intimate knowledge of the track having spent the last month and a half building it and you’ve got yourself a bit of a weapon. If its slippery out there expect Luke to be sliding around the course taking any man, woman or child with him.

Luke biggest issue for the weekend will be avoiding getting distracted by the many ladies spectating at the event. The last thing we want is Luke to miss his start time because he is practicing the fine art of seduction. A word of warning ladies the last woman who looked deep into Luke’s eye got instantly pregnant

Lew Thomas

It has been the case for most of the season that most bike time Lew has had between races is when he is rebuilding his hub the morning of the race. Despite his approach of spitting in the face of 50 plus years of exercise physiology Lew has had a very solid season.

Recently Lew has taken time away from his main passion of video games amd is getting out on the bike quite a bit; mid week crits, and big weekends on the mountain and road bike. Such a drastic change could be disastrous , chances are Lew is going to turn with a body this is bordering on chronic fatigue and only put himself in a deeper hole over the weekend.

Simon Ross

Simon is the dark horse of the team. No one is quite sure what to expect. After handing a few team members their ass on a plater during a road ride in the Dandenongs he has been in hiding.

Details are a little sketchy but the rumour is that he has spent the last 6 weeks having a few of Luke’s special milkshakes and destroying climbs in the big ring. Keep an eye out for a bloke on a rocky mountain pushing a huge gear with ease.

Aleisha Bald

Being the only female member on an otherwise all male team is no easy task, which is why we have someone who brings their A game. As shocking as Will found it Aleisha is not there to cook and clean but to lay down fast laps. Having completed more races then the average male racers this season and found her way onto a few podiums Aleisha is looking good to lay down some fast laps the whole 24 hours.

Aleisha is a school teacher so no doubt she will be used to the immature humour and will be able to keep Will in line.

Will Geor

As always with Will his biggest issue will be organization or lack of it. No doubt he will be the last team member to arrive having bought a shitload of gear and food yet somehow forgot to bring essential items. Attempts have been made by Ross to have Will’s Mum attend all races with him to make sure he is organized and looked after but at 24 she feel’s it time he learnt to do a few things for himself.

Will is also not the most outdoorsy person so spending a weekend camping may cause serious issues for a guy who cant understand how anyone can get a good nights sleep while camping without drinking till they pass out. He is also sharing a tent with Lew after he was advised he couldn’t put a mattress in the pack of his Ute, park it trackside and sleep there.

Will would ideally like to only have to race the last hour of the race where he can lay down every but of power onto the track. As there is no chance of that happening Will is going to have to be very careful not to fall into old habits of blowing himself up at the beginning of the event.

Due to Will ever patchy form we were not sure whether he will be on or off this weekend. Having just won D grade in the Ballarat’s weekly road criterium should see will come in mentally strong. One thing we can expect is him to sit around eating most of the weekend and talking a lot of shit.

Big Pimpin' Mondays - Cyclocross

2011-10-31T21:54:00.000+11:00

Cross season is over in Aus now but here's some sweet pics to keep the cross fire burning in our hearts until next winter.

Big Pimpin' Monday - Jan Ullrich

2011-10-24T20:40:00.000+11:00

As much as I wanted to dedicate today to the All Blacks today after fulfilling their destiny last night I knew I had to keep it cycling related.

So ive gone with someone who like All Black teams of the past may have been the best rider at the time but for various reasons failed to reach ultimate glory.

Jan "The Kaiser" Ullrich spent his youth attending an East German Sports School no doubt crushing the hopes and dreams of East Germnays young cyclists. When he was 19 he won the world amateur cycling champs. He was also rad enough at age 17 to get 5th at the cyclo-cross world champs.

In 1996 on debut at the Tour de France the Kaiser got 2nd whilst riding in support for his team leader Bjarne Riss, many commented that the Kaiser. The Kaiser won the Tour in 1998 and the future looked great for the young German unfortunately he would never wear the yellow in to Paris again due to an Italian coke head and brash Texan who along with his team took juicing to a while new level.

Without going into to much detail, The kaiser would go on to finish the Tour 2nd 5 times as well as get a third and a 4th. During this time he was also Olympic road race champion and world time trial champion. The kaiser was always so close yet to far, he was the man Lance turned up to beat and the only won ever able to challenge him for a long time.

In our eye's though the Kaiser is the man for many reasons, the guy was a cold and calculated soul destroying machine. Yes he served a doping suspension but it was for Ecstasy, the Kaiser liked the disco techs in the off season. Sure you can say that he was involved in a doping scandal at the end of his career but in that period of cycling everyone was on the juice, event the team car drivers were on the juice.

He also had a cool earring and used to push a big gear up climbs like a steam train of destruction carrying a load of hurt to deliver to the peleton.

The Kaiser also loved to eat, he was known for turning up to big races a little overweight but fuck, he's the Kaiser he can do what he wants. Once when questioned about he he replied "I have seen many lean riders in the peloton, but very few Tour winners".

Off season training

This is also the Kaisers sex face.

Making Alpe D'huez his bitch.


Big Pimpin'


Came across this one whislt looked for pics. it isnt the Kaiser but a woman who has gone for the Jan Ullrich look

The Kaiser was about to flip Lance the bird after winning the stage but Lance grabbed the Kaiser hand early thinking it was a gesture from the Kaiser.

LIMBC Stage 5 - XCC - It's A Wrap!

2011-10-22T20:04:00.005+11:00

What a great way to finish the week!

I'm so glad I had a successful day to end on a high note after a week of ups and downs.

My support crew of my Dad, Mark and my Sister, Laura have been just tremendous and I'm so thankful that they've come here for me this week. Dad hasn't been feeling well for the last day and a half so for him to bear the 40deg heat to watch me race today was beyond the call of duty I think.

With about 8hrs all up of riding over 5 varying stages through all weather and all trail conditions to not have one mechanical is almost a miracle...but it's not. It's because I have a great bike, built up exceptionally welland with the proper set-up and for that near miracle I have to thank Ross from iRide and Simon from Adventure Brands for supplying my Vertex 70 RSL.

So Stage 5: A 2km short course cross country criterium. Now I'm glad I did those CX races! It also took me back to Westgate Dirt Crits in Melbourne, something I miss very much about the big smoke!

Of course it was ON from the gun and all I saw from the leaders was the slight puff of dust left from their smoking fast rear wheels. After a surprisingly calm first lap (I was convinced there would be a crash with a couple of tight, skinny corners on the course) the pace was held high. I'd drift from the back of one pack to the front of another, get a spurt of energy, sprint in front of the gap I'd just fallen off but struggled to get any useful work done for anything more than a lap with any one group. A bit of an energy wasting style but from reports that's how it played out for a lot of us. Finally Andrew Mock caught me and we did some work together (him more than I initially!) and once we caught fellows and the pressure came off us a little, the pace dropped slightly and I could pull my weight with some turns on the front to get us around the last three laps of the crit without being caught (by anyone but the race leaders who had already lapped us once!).

Just before the finish on the last lap the leaders came around to lap us twice. I looked back and recognising our race was over if they lapped us again before the finish, tried to outsprint them to the line..hahahha..what was I thinking! They passed me like I was standing still and I was giving it my absolute all! Seriously fast!

Slight downer about today is that Dan McConnel and Paul VDP weren't allowed to race due to issues with them missing the first stage with food poisoning. I would have paid money to watch Paul tear up that course today!

Thanks for everyone for reading these posts thus far! Sometimes it's been a chore to write them but I always enjoy it once I've finished and hope you've had some entertainment from them.

We have the 'Jamboree Ride' tomorrow which is a social/casual loop around the island similar to the first day that I think I'll do for some extra k's so I might do a nice wrap up sometime after that and before I head home on the 26th.

Till then, more HR data from the last stage HERE and see/speak to you all soon!

Zigga

Game face: ON

The freight train of pain!

Stage 4 Garmin Data

2011-10-22T19:36:00.002+11:00

I finally got my Edge 500 to talk to my computer so I could download and look at my HR data from the King of The Hill stage yesterday. It's a pretty cool looking elevation profile and it's very obvious where I settled into my nice threshold rhythm. Then you can also easily see when I got my flat and got a bit messed up. Also, a max speed of 73km/h on a MTB! Did I mention it was a fast start?!

Check it out HERE.

Had a good day today on the fast XCC stage 5. Report coming soon!

LIMBC Stages 3 + 4

2011-10-21T19:25:00.008+11:00

I'm feeling a bit flat right now and even super syrupy Malaysian Red Bull doesn't seem to be kicking it..

It's because I've just had a couple of short, disappointing stages in the last two days.

First off was the second XCO, yesterday. This race was supposed to be a 7hr enduro which they reduced to 6hrs (fine) then to a short cross country race (not fine!). The UCI track inspector was not sufficiently satisfied that the course was safe to ride multiple times as it would have meant riding through suspect water courses and bogs so they had no choice but to cut this section of track out. Which meant the track was now 4km long instead of 7km, a bit short for a 6hr enduro.

Anyway, it's all good XCO training I guess!

My start was average despite having a much better grid position due to a decent effort in the first XCO. My mind was telling my legs to sprint and my legs were chillin' out at the beach... However, they did eventually fire up, enough even to put in a couple of sprints when I needed to. Then after a few laps I looked back and saw the race leader, Lachy Norris hot on my tail. As we were near the finish I gave it all I had and made sure to stay in front of him so I wouldn't get lapped until after the finish line so I could complete another lap before being pulled. The *expletive* commisaires thought differently and soon after passing the finish line I was pulled. I didn't agree, caused a fuss and stated my case strongly and probably loudly and won myself a reprieve, I could do one more lap. However once I'd almost finished that lap, they once again tried to pull me off the track before the finish line (I know it all sounds confusing, I was pretty confused by this stage) and this time I wasn't getting a second shot...

Anyway, I finished 34th and was also a bit disappointed with my lack of technical skill on some of the slippery, rooty, muddy climbs. Not a great day at the office.

Then came today's stage. The King of The Hilll. An all-tarmac, 26km point-to-point to the top of the largest hill on the island, Gunung Raya at 900m ASL.

The mass start (all categories?!?) was fast and furious. Fortunately I managed to stay with the lead bunch and for the first 13km we cruised to the bottom of the climb. Once the incline started I was totally prepared to find a happy zone at threshold and climb like I've done a hundred times before. And that's exactly what happened. And I was faster and stronger than a lot of people, even a few riders questionably pushing the 'no slicks' rule. This was until my front tyre started leaking. My Furious Freds were letting me down. A slow leaking front tyre isn't a huge hindrance on a climb but I certainly noticed my efficiency dropping and on the one or two short descents on the way up I had to descend with stifling caution. I topped her up twice with a C02 cylinder but that meant stopping, undoing valves, redoing valves and losing my valuable rhythm. I lost a bunch of places that I just couldn't make up and came in 50th. A really disappointing result today. I KNOW I could have done a lot better.

The kick in the nuts? Once at the top I topped the front tyre up again and it held all it's air on the commute back to base. WTF!?!

Photo's can't illustrate the frustration and disappointment I'm feeling right now so here's some gratuitous travel pics and some slightly related riding pics!

Myself, Andrew Mock and Paul VDP not looking as wary as we should have been before today's mountain climb stage. Mocky went onto have a good day (finally!) as did Paul considering all his domestique work of late!

Not sure why I'm smiling here.. the top of Gunung Raya, I feel like I have to conquer it again now!

This guy deserves to smile, Dan McConnell takes victory in King of The Hill stage. He and Paul VDP broke away early and Dan held onto the lead to win by 30secs!

We went swimming in this waterfall after stage 3 and it pissed down rain. The waterfall went from a tame trickle to this gargantuan, heaving cascade in minutes. And there were chicks in bikinis everywhere. The only good part of today.

Just a shot of the awesome tropicalness of Langkawi from the Westin Resort balcony.

Once again, Garmin data HERE of stage 3 (note, the last lap I did is not shown because I'd already stopped it timing and forgot to start it again) for those interested and none yet for the mountain stage, my Edge is playing up...grrr, another source of frustration (not to mention this fucking useless hotel internet!).

LIMBC Stage 2 - 4.7km/lap XCO

2011-10-20T09:37:00.007+11:00

After my recce ride earlier in the week of this XCO course I knew today was going to be tough.

The 4.7km course which Elite Men had to ride 6 times was actually similar in some ways to riding at Mount Beauty in that it was a long climb followed by a long techy descent then repeat. In most other ways it couldn't have been more different.

The 160 or so blokes in the Elite Men category (notice how I didn't actually call us Elite Men!) started on a tarmac descent down which we hurtled at 45km/h only to get straight on the anchors and get our shifter fingers busy for a slimy, muddy, steep, rooty and rocky climb. I reckon this was walked by all but probably the first 10 riders to hit it. It was a shambolic mountain biker stampede. At one point I actually did lose my footing and go ass over!

Once we got a chance to get back on our bikes the climb had backed off from what felt like 45% to a more sedate 25% (possibly exaggerating) and I could keep some traction. We kept climbing for another couple of k's or so with one or two short descents for some minor relief. Once summited we dropped into the terraced rubber plantation downhill. More greasy terrain with a thick rubber tree canopy and sneaky slippery roots to catch you the second you dropped your guard.

If you made it down this descent alive you got shot onto a high pace fire road descent which, if you were brave enough, was a brakes-off roller coaster of speed. Then through a little more undulating rubber plantation and back onto the tarmac for the rise to the finish line to start all over again.

All in all, great fun. I loved the technical nature of the course and it certainly sorted some riders out. I was really disappointed with myself for not being able to ride the climb, I walked part of it every time. I could have easily made a couple of minutes by riding instead of walking here.

And those couple of minutes might have been all I needed to avoid being pulled on my last lap. I even pleaded with the UCI comissaire to let me go out for my last but of course he was having none of it. I really wanted to get all 6 laps in. Sure, I can say that the field was excellent and the course tough but the fact of the matter is that I just wasn't good enough.

The next stage which was originally a 6hr Enduro has been dramatically changed to another XCO which means I either have a chance at retribution.

Wish me luck.

Once again, Garmin data HERE

Results for yesterday are HERE

No GC results yet.

In our start pens, me and another Rocky Mountain rider (nice Vertex 90!)

The business end of the field on the start line. You'll notice Paul VDP and Lachy N up there.

Sweaty much? Mixed emotions immediately after being pulled from the race.

LIMBC Stage 1 - 62km XCM

2011-10-18T18:40:00.005+11:00

I finished the 62km marathon stage a few hours ago and now I'm writing this from my blissfully air conditioned hotel room and still have mixed feelings about my result.

I came 29th today.

It's not a particularly low number but the field was large and pretty bloody strong. I think I should describe my performance today with another placing.

I was the 5th male elite Aussie today.

That's not so bad!

It wasn't the longest of marathons and over the 62km only had 900m of climbing but I still found it as tough as any that I've done. I think it was the heat and the humidity that made it so tough. An average temp. of 30deg is not cool.

I actually had a really good race. Mine certainly started better than the blokes that KO'd themselves (or possibly worse!) by running into a terribly placed steel road barrier no more than 3km from the start. I think it will be a very short tour for them. These guys were probably 30 wheels back from me and the thud of body on steel and scraping of pedals on tarmac certainly turned my stomach.

We rode through jungle complete with monitor lizzards, monkeys and water buffalo. Through rubber plantations careful to avoid hitting the small black pots nailed to the trees full of the sticky white sap of the rubber plant. And through villages, back yards, weirs, creeks and extremely suspect quagmires...

My infallible support crew scootered to all three feed zones which was a lifesaver as some people missed out on even a bottle of water at some feed zones. My sister said she felt sick for the unfortunate people who had no one helping them (for the record, my Sis and Dad were also helping a couple of other riders too).

I'll spare you a blow-by-blow of the race if you're interested in the finer details you can check out my Garmin heart rate and GPS data here.

Not a single mechanical or crash which makes me love my Vertex even more (probably should go and show it some of this said love) and I'm sooooo glad I had this bike to bring over. A hardtail was DEFINITELY the right choice of bike and am, as always, very thankful of the iRide/Rocky Mountain guys.

I'll post a link to the results as soon as they're online.

Link to my Garmin data HERE.

And some pics from today:

Dad, 50% of the best support team at the race

My Sis, the other 50% of the best support team at the race

Contemplation on the start line with Morgan Pilley (already drenched with sweat)

My Rig ready to roll in the bike basement

The Bike Basement - someone could do seriously well to roll this joint!

Big Pimpin' Monday - Greg Lemond

2011-10-17T21:45:00.000+11:00

So we may have missed a few weeks and its pretty late on a Monday but Big Pimpin Monday is so awesome that it is not bound by such constraints as time plus we've also been busy as Lew Thomas at a Star Trek convention.

This week it's all about Greg Lemond. Long before that other American, Greg Lemond was blazing a trail through Europe leaving a bunch of pissed of Euro's in his wake all whilst looking cool.

Greg was the first Non-European to win the Tour De France, being a professional in Europe from a non European country was hard enough in 1986, to win the Tour in simple amazing. Greg was also a contender for the 1985 tour but was dedicated to helping the leader of his team Benard Hinault at the time. Who a year later in 1986 would show classic French sportsmanship by agreeing to ride as a support team-mate for Greg due to his work in 1985 then attacking him on every stage.

In 1987 in a hunting accident Greg was hit with 40 pellet from a shotgun at close range, 37 of which are still in his body. These days we hear alot of rappers getting shoot but those nancy boys all seem to die, Greg came back 2 years later to win to more Tours. To make the dude even cooler he has spent the last few years harassing Lance Armstrong about doping and pushing for cleaner cycling.

Livin' Large in Langkawi

2011-10-13T12:34:00.007+11:00

I like Langkawi.

I like it when my flights are all on time.

I like it when the in-flight movies are good.

I like it when there's a race official greeting me at arrivals.

I like complimentary airport-hotel transfers.

I like it when the race organisers call me at my hotel room to make sure everything went well.

I really like it when my bike arrives in one piece.

Fortunately all this happened for me! The Vertex is built up and went for it's first very brief spin around the area this morning but I want to change the tyres so avoid wearing out my 'race' tyres early, they've already got some serious signs of wear from the Beaconsfield 6hr whose rocks tore them up a bit. I've identified a nice little bike shop which has a compressor if I need one to seat the spare tyres I have.

There is advertising everywhere about the race and lots of people in town know about it. It's certainly all over the hotel we're staying at. They know how to make the racers feel important!

Yesterday I familiarised myself with Kuah, the town where the hotel is in and stocked up on water and chocolate and not much else! I did smash heaps of local food, some of it totally unrecognisable and almost all of t delicious. No upset stomach. Yet. And I may have given into the temptation of a 60cent imported Stella...or two..hey, it was cheaper then Carlton Draught here! (they had CD and Coopers Pale Ale!).

Today I will change my tyres and go for a decent ride and also hire a scooter to check out the further reaches of the island.

Some pics below:

My airport transfer. Ooh la la!

The Rocky Mountain made it! Now to build her up in the bike storage area.

The official race hotel, Bayview Hotel Langkawi

Had a yummy chicken and rice dish here...then went around the back where they did the dishes....

It's Business Time! Langkawi here I come!

2011-10-05T13:32:00.005+11:00

Like my Kiwi comedic-musical mates say, it’s business time everybody!

Ok, so they’re not my mates and I’m talking a different type of business but the fact remains that I have one week until I fly out to Langkawi, Malaysia to race in the Langkawi International Mountainbike Challenge and I have to start getting my shit together!

This will be my inaugural overseas race and I reckon I’ve picked a corker! I, undoubtedly like many others, was initially attracted to this race because of the game-changing prize purse of US$130,000! However as the entry list grew with riders of door-blowing awesomeness I took relief in the knowledge that they still pay to 15th place.

Why this and not Tour de Timor? Well, had I been thriftier over the last few months I may have indulged in both but this 5-day stage race includes a real variety of disciplines from XCO to a 7hr Enduro and a couple of half-marathon point-to-points, hopefully with much of it on singletrack. This interested me more than what I’d heard about Timor. I’m hoping that if I’ve got a chance to have a crack at any point during this race it will be in the 7hr (competitors reading this, please disregard last sentence). The 7hr Enduro being of a time, distance and format I’m certainly familiar with, hopefully more so than most. Only time will tell how it all pans out, the level of competition is high and there are a lot of unknowns, it’s a recipe for an exciting few days.
I’m certainly not doing this alone. I have to be one of the most fortunate racers around to have both my Sister and Father coming as my support crew. Both have supported me in races before and this will be a true test for all of us. I’m just so grateful of their interest in what I do, confidence in me and willingness to help.

I’m taking my Rocky Mountain Vertex 70 RSL which has lately proven to be an extremely capable machine by putting up with 6hrs of the infamously rough and tough tracks of Upper Beaconsfield to get me to 2nd place in the last round of the Vic Enduro Series. I wouldn’t have this bike if it weren’t for a similar confidence and generosity of both Ross Wilkinson from iRide and Simon Ross from Rocky Mountain/Adventure brands.

There are 4 important factors in this race I can control, me, my support crew (x2) and my bike. These all make me happy. There will be innumerable factors in this race I have zero control over. These make me anxious, nervous but also excited and pumped!
I hope you’ll check back here occasionally before the 17th of October and regularly for daily race updates thereafter, I look forward to sharing this race with y’all!

Zigga

Race information and live results from the 17/10 HERE

Follow my race updates on Twitter

Follow @matthewzag

2011-09-29T17:50:00.000+10:00

Check out this rad little helmet cam vid filmed by Mik of Ross and Will. Keep an eye out for Ross's Jittery Joes Kit.

Big Pimpin' Monday - Cold war track sprinters.

2011-09-26T22:58:00.002+10:00

Weve decided to do something a little different for this edition of Big Pimpin' Monday. Some of you may have expected us to go with Cav seen he won the world champs last week, Lew has been pestering us to do an edition on the Kardashians. Today were going with an era as opposed to a person.

Along with the ongoing space race and the arms race during the Cold War, sports competitions were important to the international reputation for members of the Eastern Block. Winning gold at world championships and the Olympics created a perception of the success of one way of life versus another and was just as important as the various other races the USA and USSR were running.

It was a time when men where men and some women were pretty close to being men too. Track cycling, especially the sprint events were big business during the cold war. Huge gains were made in the field of sports sciences in regards to the training of sprint athletes.

It's well documented that the Eastern Bloc countries may have been also experimenting with some cutting edge supplements at the time but hey the racing was fast and action was intense. Sure some woman ended up with moustache's and there were a few retired athletes with anger issues but it seems like a price well worth paying.

Just fucking look at the guy.

If the Eastern Bloc counties werent so poor this Mofo would have been wearing a gold chain around his neck, thats how big Pimpin' he is.

You can bet these two went through handlebars about as quick as they went through the women.

Big Pimpin' Monday - Mario Cipollini

2011-09-19T15:10:00.010+10:00

When it comes to big pimps, they don't come bigger than Mario Cipollini.

At the peak of his career, Cipollini's speed was unrivaled, and he is credited with being the first rider with a sprint train. The red jerseys of his Saeco/Cannondale team were commonly seen at the front of the peloton toward the end of the flat Grand Tour stages in the late 1990s. The train kept the pace high in the closing kilometers, to dissuade opposing riders from attacking and to ensure that in the final 200–300 meters, Cipollini was the only cyclist able to maintain the speed.

Cipollini made no secret that he did not like climbing stages, and while he completed all stages of the Giro on many occasions, he infuriated purists by not attempting mountain stages at the Tour or Vuelta. While this is a common practice with sprinters without points jersey aspirations so as to save themselves for the rest of the season, Cipollini's practice of releasing photos of himself lounging at the beach while the others struggled in the mountains earned him more than his fair share of attention in this regard.

Cipollini, despite being married through much of his career, was regarded as a sex symbol and rumored to be a womaniser. He did little to dispel these notions with comments such as, "If I weren't a professional cyclist, I'd be a porn star".

Super Mario, we dip our big ass, fuzzy pimp hat to you sir!

Big Pimpin Mondays

2011-09-11T22:07:00.001+10:00

We're starting a new tradition today, Big Pimpin' Mondays.

Essentially we're going to be posting rad pics of riders that we think fall into the category of Big Pimpin'. Big Pimpin' ain't easy and it don't come cheap so these are going to be some special pics. Much to Will's disappointment, its not going to be pics of him every Monday.

For the inaugural Big Pimpin' Monday, we have gone with John Tomac. Tomac is probably the greatest all round cyclist of all time. While he was winning World Cup Cross Country and Downhill races he was also racing top level road events like Paris-Roubaix for the 7-11 Team. Cop that Cadel.

Rad Haircut, Killer Glasses, Drop Bars and a Yeti. Bangin!

Race plate trimming 101 Kids

If that wasn't enough to have you moist, his son Eli is being touted as the next best thing in Motocross and John has been coaching a certain rider by the name of Aaron Gwin who won a shit ton on World Cup Downhill races this year - Bike James must be cutting himself!

John Tomac - Big Pimpin'

Cross Melburrrrrrrrrrrrrrn!

2011-09-07T15:55:00.010+10:00

The Cross Melburn series is being held at Lysterfield park which is traditionally a mountain bike venue but those who tore themselves away from their latte’s, deeply intellectual conversations and left the confines of the inner city were rewarded with a sweet course, cracking weather, good coffee and good people.

The day started early and once again Ben Vlass proved that when it comes to erecting a tent/marquee he is your man. Once setup many coffees were downed while a lot of shit was talked which is the iRide way.

Will and Llew were looking pretty relaxed knowing that Ontario’s under 12 cyclocross champion Ken Moore wasn’t going to be there to cause them any trouble. Will also seemed fresh as having spent the previous day being shown the basics of bike mechanics by Ross he wasn’t able to head out on an easy road ride only to come home 3 hours later fucked because he is always trying to prove he is a heavy hitter.

Ben Vlass was racing in the Open class on his mountain bike this time so he was the first to race, he would have the full “support” of the team from the sideline. Vlass looked good at the start but seemed to lose himself in the middle of the race unlike Andrew Threlfall who was charging through the field once warmed up. 3 quarters into the race Vlass rolled through the starting area looking a little too casual. This prompted Will to throw his almost empty coffee cup at Vlass and make the threat that if he didn’t pick things up next time he rolled through it was going to be a chair coming his way. Wasting a good coffee like that hurt Will but he knew that he needed to be a hero at that moment and take one for the team in order to motivate Vlass. Suffice to say Vlass put in for the rest of the race for a solid finish.

Just as the open class finished Phil Wood and Double Trouble in the form of Simon and David Ross rolled up, so more coffees were downed, more shit was talked and even a few practice laps were done.... well maybe 1 practice lap.

With A grade CX class due to the start soon the boy started warming up Will, Llew and ring in Dan all started rolling around while Ross was warming his voice up for the vocal torture he was about to dish out. Dan got off to his usual flying start while Llew, followed by Will were slightly impeded by a rider who made up for his lack of fitness with an ability to block riders like no other. As soon as the track opened up Will was able to lay down some power. Llew tried to follow Will as he laid down the ponies up the climb on the course but then realized Will was probably going to do his traditional party trick of going out hard to early then blowing up so he let him go. About 3 laps in, Rapha Condor rider Casey Munro and Giant rider Lewis Rattray were going hard at trying to tear each other’s legs off. Lewis made a charge but Casey came back for more. Then in an unfortunate twist of fate, whilst doing 40km/h down a gravel road, Lewis gestured to one of his support crew, hit a bump in the road and went down like Divine Brown on Hugh Grant – it wasn’t pretty. Lewis’ arm was gouged to the bone and full of stones. Needless to say he required surgery that night, and if you're reading this Lewy, heal up tiger!

By the halfway point the race seemed to have sorted itself out into a nice order. Will was showing a pain face like no other whilst running about 6th. Dan was holding strong in second and Llew was running about 8th.Not long after this, Will seemed to be running out of power and slowing down a bit. 7th place was getting closer and closer to him and worst of all he could see the large gap he had on Llew was getting slightly smaller each lap. Will feared he may have gone too hard too soon. After all this is cross, not love making.

At this point is it worth bring up the small steep loose pinch climb on the course. Everyone had to walk up it except Llew who was using a combination of skill and power to ride up it. Fast forward to 3 quarters into the race and Will has 7th place right on his wheel. The crew consisting of Ross, Vlass, half of double trouble and other spectators (mainly ladies who couldn’t resist Will’s musk) were all at the pinch climb. After receiving some vocal “support” from the crew, Will came in and powered his way up the pinch climb using less skill then Llew instead favouring horsepower. In the process of doing it Will got his second wind and rode 7th place off his wheel and was chasing down 6th.

Llew was suffering from the burden of having been the only rider to do the pinch climb every lap and had dropped back to 9th. Dan was still holding strong in 2nd, proving that 2 weeks ago at Dirty Deeds round 3 was a mishap from a guy who generally kicks ass. On the 2nd last lap Will caught 5th place then made sure he put a whole lot of sweet daylight between them. The other boy’s positions stayed the same so in the end Dan got 2nd, Will got 5th and Llew got 9th. A pretty solid outing.

Needless to say, the Jamis Nova's are still running brilliantly and the SRAM running gear matches perfectly. Some may have noticed that the team are now rocking the new Garneau X-Lite helmets. At 190 grams, matched with a skinsuit, it is the closet thing to riding naked without getting your 40" python caught in the chain.

Victorian Enduro Series Round 7 - Castlemaine

2011-08-31T22:09:00.002+10:00

Round 7 of the Victorian Enduro Series was set to be cracker. Held at Jubberland, a private track just outside Castlemaine, it seemed to pull a big crowd judging by how many people turned up Sunday morning.

A crisp bright morning bode well for the upcoming six hours plus in the saddle. As ever, Castlemaine Rocky Riders were great event hosts. The Castlemaine terrain is synonymous with rocks; loose ones, sharp ones and big ones, and always presents as a challenge of not only endurance, but technical ability to ride in its entirety.

With a packed racing calendar, injuries and honeymoons it was only going to be Jason Quigley, Will Geor and Llew Thomas contesting this round. Llew took what some may call the soft option and chose to race pairs with Russell Collet. Will made it pretty clear that he felt Llew was racing pairs because he was afraid to go head to head with Will after the previous weeks cyclocross race.

Will kept his usual smack talk to a bare minimum, after the last 2 rounds being disastrous for him even he knew it was best to keep a low profile in the lead up. Jason looked to be moving a little slowly at setup before the race, possibly due suffering a meat hangover after eating his own body weight in BBQ’d animals the day before. Good friend of iRide Bikes and all round good guy Ben Vlass was racing solo today and continues to impress all with his elite tent pitching abilities. He’s also pretty handy erecting a marquee. Life’s always a party when Vlass is around so the day was looking good. With a broken collarbone, Ross had to be content with downing coffees, being pit boss and breaking hearts all over the course helping young maidens with mechanicals. Ross’s injury also gave Vlass a chance to race a 6 hour without the pressure of going head to head with Ross. Vlass’ therapist just pre-payed his 2^nd child’s Xavier College tuition fees off the back of Vlass’ meltdown at Dirty deeds CX round 2.

The race was going to be a le-mans start for something different, this wasn’t met with everyone’s approval. Will who is rubbish at any sport besides cycling seemed the most upset about having to run, he would later be seen reliving his under 13’s rugby days sprinting from the start line and proceeding to push anyone who got near him outta his way. All the guys got off to a good start, Will thought his start was particularly good until he was informed on the 3^rd lap that everyone who he thought was behind him was actually in front of him.

The rocky and technical course would prove demanding on not only the legs but basically the whole body. Llew and Rusty were smashing out the laps, Llew having a little lay done in one of the easier corners on the course, just to prove he is indeed human. Meanwhile Will and Jason were both laying down solid laps in the solo category. After 4 laps Vlass would have to pull out due a faulty bottom bracket (not purchased from iRide).

At the halfway mark Jason was sitting about 6^th but was starting to pay for his high pace earlier on in the race. Will was about 10 minutes behind in around 11^th but was pacing himself hoping to come home strong. Llew and Russell were still smashing the laps out. By this point Vlass had cleaned up gotten changed and was last seen chatting to the ladies.

In the 2^nd half of the race Jason had a few problems with cramps and was losing time, more than likely due to ‘Meatorama 2011’, the day before and a high pace early in the race. The course had many short sharp climbs that suited Will perfectly; the one man wolf pack was looking strong and storming home. Will’s plan of slowing things down in the first few hours was paying dividends that an accountant like him would get moist over. Llew and Russell were still smashing the laps out, all the way to 6^th in Male pairs.

Will rolled through transition at the 5 hour 55 minutes, smashed a coke, said a few choice words and went out for what would be a painful last lap, made even more painful by having smashed the previous lap out in order to get back in time to do a 6^th lap. Meatorama finally got the better of Jason when he rolled into transition at the 5 hour 53 minutes mark and had to pull the pin. Despite this Jason still managed an awesome 9^th place. If he can keep away from the BBQ’s look for Jason to do big things come 24 hour race season. Will rolled through at the 6 hour 37 minutes mark having done 10 laps to finish 7^th, stoked to get a good result on the board after the last 2 enduro races.

Big thanks to the organizer and volunteers for what was a great race. Shout out to Ross as well for the support and cheering over the day.

See here for full results

http://rockyriders.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Castlemaine6hrFinal.pdf

A Sunday in Hell.

2011-08-23T21:37:00.001+10:00

Round 3 of the Dirty Deeds CX series was back to its homeland of the Brunswick Velodrome. Much like the previous round Llew Thomas continued to shock everyone by arriving on time and Will Geor arriving late but this time admitting that it was entirely his fault.

Team member Ken Moore was out for this race due to getting married back in his homeland of Canada. As is the tradition in Canada a grizzly bear was the minister for the ceremony. Friend of iRide Matthew Zagorski was bought in to replace Ken for round 3. Zigga has spent the last 10 months living in the mountains on his special high altitude training program so many were interested to see what he would bring. See the below video for an example of Zigga’s Training program.

Team leader Ross Wilkinson was out of action this round due to a broken collarbone. The collarbone may have been a blessing in disguise for Ross as he was tired from having spent the previous day signing autographs with Will at Ausbike. It also gave him a chance to indulge his passion of heckling. Many a rider has suffered under the sharp tongue of Ross Wilkinson and today would be no different.

The usual smack talk with going around before the race, Llew seemed to be feeling confident after narrowly beating Will last round and had the smack talk to go with it. Monza’s own Dan Moore was also a last minute recruit to the team for the race, providing Ross with another person to bear the brunt of his sharp tongue.

By the time A grade was lining the up for the start the track was a mess with some long stretches of deep mud which would later reduce grown men to tears. Things were looking pretty serious in the starting line for the team except for Mikkeli who is always smiling. Zigga was looking to bring the noise whilst Will hadn’t said much all day and was focused on handing Llew his ass on a mother fucking plater. There is a little bit of a back story here but a week early at a State round of the Victorian Mountain bike series at Castlemaine Will was leading the race only to flat then have Llew go on to take the win while Will was left questioning his inept mechanical skills. To say that Will meticulously checked his bike over before today’s race would be an understatement.

This round start would prove more difficult than previous rounds with the start being just before a very long stretch of deep mud. Mikkeli as usual got a fast start but it was Dan who was causing jaws to drop by taking the hole shot then getting a decent gap on the field on the 1^st lap. Llew and Will both got caught in the mess that the pack trying to get through the first mud section. Zigga was somewhere between Mikkeli and Llew and so far finding CX to be very satisfying.

Dan and Mik getting a considerable gap on the field during the first lap.

By the 2^nd lap Dan realized that his legs possibly weren’t in the same condition as they were during his pro roadie days and started to drop positions like dollar bills at a strip club. Will and Llew were both working hard to make up for their poor start. Will was working so hard in fact that instead of slowing down to dismount he decided that simply jumping of his bike at full speed onto concrete and sliding on his feet was a better idea.

Not long after this Zigga hit a wall from which there was no coming back from. This was a rare sign of weakness from Zigga and details are sketchy as to the causes but some say he did look a little distracted during the race. Could it have been the 4 hour drive in the morning from Mt Beauty? Could it be the thought of driving 4 hours back to Mt Beauty? Or was it just the thought of getting knee’s deep in clunge before the 4 hour drive home that had Zigga off his game? We will never know. Will was the first to pass Zigga and couldn’t believe his eyes. When Llew got onto Zigga’s wheel he knew that he was getting a gift from the gods and must give it his all to capitalise the momentous opportunity. So much so that he got a little eager and almost took them both out on a corner.

Lew and Zigga bangin bars mid corner.

The Hell Krew were out in force per usual with most riders coping ass slaps and being sprayed with beer as they went past. Will who suffers from the crippling disease that is celiac’s (wheat intolerance) made sure he was hauling ass through this section, not wanting to cop any beer and be left looking for a toilet after the race while vomiting. Another possible reason he was moving so quick through this section is that he is a massive homophobe and didn’t want to be a part of anything that involved a man touching another man. For whatever reason he was looking strong mid way through the race and was putting time into Llew.

Will trying to get through the Hell Krew's gauntlet unscathed.

With the race having settled, positions stayed much the same for the remainder. Results aren’t out yet but results look better for the boys then previous rounds. Mikkeli lead the boy’s home with Will not too far behind then Llew, Dan and Zigga.

As always the Jamis Nova’s equipped with SRAM rode great. Whilst today was sunny the ground was very soft and muddy providing a course that was testing on equipment. The bikes were able to handle it no problem and after a clean are running sweet and ready to go again.

Big thanks must go out to Miss iRide Catherine who looked after the boys and provided plenty of cheering and support during the race.

Thanks must also go to Dirty Deeds who organized a great series that has proved to be a hit. There is a lot of people are already looking forward to the 2012 series. A big thanks must go out to all the photographers who were out on course, you guys don’t get thanked enough but speaking from experience there is nothing better than finding a rad photo of yourself after a race and putting it on the back of your toilet door, cheers guys!

Specialized Cyclocross Melburn - Round One

2011-08-03T21:07:00.000+10:00

A great Vid filmed by our own Mikkeli Godfree at Specialized Cyclocross Melburn - Round One

I feel the need for deeds, Dirty Deeds!!

2011-07-23T12:05:00.004+10:00

Round 2 of the Dirty Deeds cyclocross series started off pretty normal for Team iRide, Will Geor showed up once the tent was setup and as always it wasn’t his fault he was late. The big shock of the day was Llew Thomas not only showing up before the race started, but he was one of the first of the team to arrive.

New edition to the team Catherine Fraser-Smith was first to go in the open category. Catherine proved the old saying of spin to win is always true, spinning her way to second place in open female with a smile the whole time and somehow staying remarkably clean. Questions would be raised later that night in the Wilkinson/Fraser-Smith household as to who was the more elite athlete.

With all of the Team iRide cyclocross riders in A grade we got to watch the B grade race. After seeing the fast start that B grade got off too it was being mooted by more than one time rider that maybe getting a kebab and going home was a better option.

While most other riders were warming up, Ken Moore went searching for some of the many people who had video camera in the hope of doing a rider interview, but sadly no one seemed too interested in getting an insight into the 4^th placed B grade rider from round 1.

Lining up on the start line it became clear just how big A grade was with over 50 riders, Mikkeli lined up in his preferred front row position with the rest of the team trying to hide in rows two through to four. In the lead up to the action most team members were trying to play it down and put pressure on the others. Ken Moore was spouting his usual line of “I'm just here to have fun” while Will kept going on about how he had a road race the previous day. As soon as the starter yelled go it was on and any notion of taking it easy was out the backdoor along with a few riders who were struggling from the get go.

Mikkeli used his fast start to once again be one of the first riders into the corner only to be held up at the first barrier when Michael Crosbie plowed into the first barrier, giving the rest of the field a 'hello boys' stance on all fours. Needless to say, it would have proven quite valuable for Crosbie to learn how to get off a bike at speed before declaring world domination in the world of CX. Shortly after this Will became the team rider leading the charge sitting in about 20^th position. Will had Llew and Ken nipping at his heels. The race started to spread out over the next 20 minutes and by this point most team riders were in a world of pain that only someone who has raced cyclocross could understand. Head Honcho Ross Wilkinson was using his diesel engine to slowly but surely work his way through the field. One spectator was overhead saying how Ross reminded of him a rugged Jan Ullrich.

10 minutes later Llew bridged the gap to Will, who more than likely would be regretting not exaggerating how hard the road race was he day before in order to provide some excuses. Ken was a little further back after deciding that laying down in a couple of corner would be a nice break.

Whilst this was going on the real battle was between Ross and Ben Vlass who were turning themselves inside out in order to beat the other. Vlass beat Ross in round one which would explain why Ross turned up for round two not saying too much and being all about the business. Ross, covered in 5 laps worth of beer thanks to the boys in the Hell Krew, passed Vlass with a few laps to go with a big turn of speed. Details are sketchy but it appears the mental anguish of being passed caused Vlass too blow harder then a cheap hooker resulting him pulling out with 1 lap to go. DNF remorse will haunt Ben for the next 12 months as he is unable to make Round 3 at Brunswick velodrome.

With one lap to go Will could see he was catching back up to Llew, he was also very fearful that Ken may come outta no where and roll him on the line, pure dirty Canadian style. A painful last lap made sure Ken didn’t make any special appearances and got him onto Llew’s wheel with half a lap to go. Disaster/miracle whichever way you look at it struck when a lapped racer who Llew and Will were passing crashed in a corner allowing Llew to get a gap on Will going into the final quarter of the track. Will chased hard to catch Llew at the start of the finishing straight but a fast finishing Llew held off Will for team glory.

Llew ended up in 24^th place, Will in 25^th, Ken cruised home a little bit later for 26^th. Mikkeli and Ross held their own with 33^rd and 36^th respectively and Vlass stilled managed 43^rd even after having to pull out early.

A massive thanks goes out to Jamis Bicycles and SRAM for supplying some amazing bikes that performed flawlessly in some extremely muddy conditions. Cyclocross is hard work, but this winning combination sure made our day much easier! Look forward to seeing you all at round 3 in August!