Geelong MTB Gazebo Series Rnd 2

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.