Stumped

Well a new year is upon us once again, and it's shaping up to be a good one. New bike, New Zealand.... the Stumpy is amazing, I've been having too much fun to actually tell all 4 of you readers about it. It's surprisingly light, pedals as well as the Epic, and soaks up the rough stuff like a sponge soaks up something. I was gonna say cat piss, but I didn't think that was appropriate. Anyway, it's good. Dare I say it.... the perfect bike? There, said it.



So it's off to NZ again in January, this time for God-knows-how-long. The K-man is flying the mission in the Starship Laser this time, and there's a little posse of Newcastle lads heading over, by coincidence, in Feb. Freemo, Quaino, Bistro and Bower-o will be hitting the North Island, so we plan to be in the South at that time, by coincidence.



Well Happy New Year to all 4 of you, cue tumbleweed and wind....

Stalled...

Yep, the ol' blog ain't what she used to be. A combination of too much work, too little riding, and not much else happening led to a downturn in production of, well, 100%. But things are picking up, so here's a bit of a rundown of minor events past, present, and Monday.

New bikes, new bikes everywhere!


Tis the season to be buying cool shit! Col picked up a new Epic Carbon frameset and immediately set about to Colinize it by adorning it with pre-dirtened (I think I just made up a word...) parts. But in an incident that shocked the veterans cycling fraternity and heartened the mechanics at work, Col's beloved and mystery-shrouded piece of string was somehow misplaced in the excitement of the union of frame and filth.

Not to be outdone, Christian popped for a new road bike, and has a new mounno on the way. His roady, an Opera, came in a frame size which was a touch too big, and looked like a kid's bike with the seat pole slammed down (apparently, this is what he said...unfortunately I didn't get to laugh at it or him). But now he's got the right size, so opportunity missed.



What happened to my Epic? It's all in bits! There's bits of bikes everywhere at the moment, on the garage floor, in boxes, and on eBay. Why? Coz it's out with the old girl, and in with.....



The New!! Yesiree, that's mah noo girl. Perfect NZ bike. Did someone say NZ? Another tilt coming up soon, a bit longer hopefully, but I might have a new little word-related venture in the pipeline. And that's all I know.... news when it comes to hand...my hand.



You want a spoon with that? Never a contender for beer of the week, this one. Steve brews a pretty good 'homie' usually, but this wasn't one of them. It tasted like it looks...fizzy. And that's what you get for helping a mate out woith a singlespeed conversion!

Ok, that's it for now, I'll add some links and stuff when I get some time, which could be this weekend with it pissing down and no bike!

Watch this space......

Flung

I hate computers. I'd written up a bit of a blurb about the Fling, but then my computer decided that it was hungry. So briefly, a good weekend away, the race was the most painful I've ever done, Deano kicked ass again, Col loaded up and did the same to me and Scotty, Andrea pit-bitched to her usual high level and I've just stopped aching now.

Col finds a spot on his bike that is not covered in dirt, tape, string or zip ties. Or he's stashing some of his 'special tablets' for later in the race.

Deano wonders if he takes another crap in his knicks, will anyone notice?, while me and Col attempt to qualify for the 2007 World Stare-Out Championships.

In a bizarre coincidence, our numbers were exactly the same as our ages in dog years.

There's those wankers again! (Was what I heard someone else say.) The guy in yellow is checking out Deano's arse... worth a look too.

Scotty hits the front at 10 metres, before fading to 237th after the first km. The guy in yellow tries to keep sight of deano's arse. He didn't. Worth a try though.

He may be a sick, twisted human, but Deano can ride a bike fast for a long time. And he has some weird mates.

Scotty realises 100m from the finish that he could've saved an hour or two if he rode with his hands on the bars.

Next year's poster boy? Maybe for this.

580 dog years + 110 kms x 3 = 0.

Port-folio

Lollapalooza it ain't. A small turnout added to the laid back feel of the race and the weekend. And if there's only ten riders in your grade, you're top-tennin' that shit.



It doesn't go as fast as I thought it would. 110? My car can do that.



This guy gave us bogus directions to the race then kept following me around saying he wanted to be in the blog. Not happening. And stop calling me.



Freemo ran one SPD and one flat to aid cornering on the predominantly right hand turn oriented track. It was working until it stopped working, costing him the race, and any semblance of credibility he may have been clinging to.



There were some wankers there who thought they were a team of some sort, but only one of them could ride. The other one finished ahead of me too. I can't ride.



There they are, told ya! *Guess which one can ride. **Now look at the other one. I can't ride.


*Did you guess which one can ride? Yes, it's the guy taking a crap in his knicks!
**I think the other one might be a woman.

Dirty Weekend

Ok, so I haven't had much to talk about of late, yeah there's been a few beers under the belt, a few early morning Saturday rides before work, and a lot less training than is really satisfactory. So with only two weeks to go until the Highland Fling, some drastic measures must be taken to put some sting in the legs and air in the lungs. This is just what the doctor ordered. A road trip. Bikes, beer, beats, more bikes. We are loadin' up K-Man's WRX and pointing it in the general direction of Port Macquarie, where the festivities include a Saturday arvo social ride, a night race, and a 4 hour enduro on Sunday. I'm definately up for the 4 hour, nice and slow and hopefully the form will magically appear. There's a solid crew of Newy lads heading up, including "I don't hop anymore but I can clean up B Grade club XC" Tomkinson, Quaino, Freemo, some other guys whose names end in 'O' and Scotty and Dean(o). I've missed the road trips this year, so a couple in the space of a few weeks should sate me until next season.

Humans?

Why do people do this to themselves? Because they can? I'm still amazed at the efforts of these two guys, and also a little inspired... so much so that I challenged Col to do the Working Week Series 8 hours next year as Solos...I'm sure sense will prevail soon.

near-death experience


Chris Eatough (right) sits in the first aid tent after the 24 Hour Solo World Championship, with an I.V. in his arm, while medics treat Australia's Craig Gordon for severe dehydration following Gordon's win in the epic battle.

Golden Gordon

In only his second ever 24 hour solo race, Aussie Craig Gordon has taken out the 2006 World Championship in the US. No mean feat, as he had to contend with 'Mr. 24' Chris Eatough, who was gunning for his seventh straight title. Apparently Gordo was punching out super fast laps early on, and kept it up all throught the night, eventualy lapping Eatough and taking the win. The guy's an animal. I remember at the Mont 24hour last year, I was on my third lap at about midnight, when I was passed up a hill by Gordo, who was on probably his 12th lap or more. That was his first solo 24, which of course he won. And now this. Well done, Gordo!

The numbers never lie...

Went out for a little road ride with Col before work this morning, and felt pretty good. When I checked my computer, I realised I don't need to train anymore... I'm on FIRE!


2 hours on the bike... Yeah, seems about right.



101 kmh top speed! Geez, I know I was hookin', but...



Did I really only average 59 kmh? Hmmmm....



Yeah, I suppose it's about 122 km to Swansea..... and back.

Maybe something's up with my computer?

I want that one... or that one, or....

Got the Jones for a new mounno lately. I was thinking more travel, maybe 5 inches, but lately 4 inches has re-emerged as the most appropriate to my needs. Here are the contenders so far.


Titus Moto Lite AL. This was at the top of the list a few weeks ago...5 inches, fairly light and proven design. Great reviews, and the suspension system I prefer.


Titus' 4 inch rocket, the Racer X. Lighter again, wins lots of 'best bike' awards in U.S. Firming in the stakes because of Horst Link design.



Santa Cruz Superlight. Klink's choice. Simple, sexy, single pivot. That's the only thing I don't like much, the lack of a Horst Link. But it looks hot, and is once again a proven design.



Stumpy... Oh yeah... carbon goodness, light, not quite 5", but F@#K Me! $3300 for a frame? And that's my cost price!


Ah, I know how this bike performs... awesome! But this baby is carbon fibre, so mucho expensive. (Actually not much more than the previous frames, just over 2 grand). I'd only buy this though........



Frame only... black. Cool. New Specialized shock. Mmmmm....


But I'll probably just stay with this, it's a great bike, it works, and I probably shouldn't spend money I don't really have!

Consistency... it's not just for custard

It's hard to get good fitness, but damn easy to lose it. An old wive's tale? No. My 'training' (read: riding) for next month's Highland Fling has been going ok, but I just can't seem to get the C Word right just yet. One week I'll get in a good dose of road k's, then the next I'll struggle to squeeze in an hour on the MTB. Just when I start to show signs of my form, something gets in the way... last weekend it was Phillipa and Steve's annual table tennis tournament, coupled with a BBQ and the NRL Grand Final. A top day was had by all, but the next day was written off due to sleep and alcohol-induced aches and pains. So now it's back to the drawing board again tomorrow, getting spanked up hills by Col before work. Then I'm gonna try this consistency thing for the next 4 weeks, and hopefully have a good race to make up for my disappointing DirtWorks 100. Bring it on.

Cricket season

When I woke up this morning to check on the results frome the mens road race at the Worlds in Salzburg, I made a mental list of who I thought might have taken the rainbow stripes. Boonen, McEwen, Valverde, Vino and 'an outsider' were running through my head.





When the page finally loaded, it was no surprise to see the name Bettini. How could I forget 'Il Grillo' (the cricket')? What a rider! The guy is 5'2" of pure power. Whether it's a bunch gallop, small breakaway or soloing in, the little Italian can do it all, with panache (or sometimes not, just ask Baden Cooke!).

Anyone with gold shoes, helmet and bar tape is alright with me.


Valverde showed he is a class act with 3rd, and my god what a legend in 2nd, the Big EZ! How good would it have been to see him take the win. He's certainly found some life in those old legs lately... now, if only I knew his secret....

A nice little Monday ride.....

After a weekend of no riding due to hot weather and laziness, today I needed to get out on the bike. Too windy for an enjoyable road ride, so it was a quick text to Freemo for a Glenrock MTB mission. His reply sat well with my designs on the ride, "Raced yesterday, need an easy one. Real easy." Now as Freemo is a 7 foot tall A grader (he won the HMBA A Grade Club Chamionship yesterday, well done), his easy is usually my fairly hard. So I thought 'real easy' would be good for me.
Freemo takes a short cut through the scrub trying to catch up to 'the old guy'


Waiting at the Burwood Rd carpark, another rider pulled up and asked if I had a shock pump, which of course I didn't. I mean who carries a fuckin shock pump? This guy looked kinda pretty serious, kitted out in full Australian National Team gear, nice bike and shaved legs. We got chatting and introductions were made. "Brett". "Shaun". "Shaun? Last name?" "Lewis".... "Ahh huh!, thought so" Former National Junior and Under 23 XC champion. 2nd in National XC Champs as a first year senior. World Cup experience.
Lewis at the Worlds 05, training for his Glenrock encounter with 'the old guy'...


Turns out he was here on a short holiday from Adelaide. Suddenly the ride wasn't looking so 'easy'. Freemo turned up and of course the guys knew each other, and off we went to meet up with Crewsy as well (after Freemo had driven my car back to his place to get a pump). The rest of the ride was spent hanging off the back, riding my own pace rather than try to keep up with those lads. They were probably taking it easy by their standards! Shaun's fork stayed inflated for about a km but having about 1 inch of travel didn't seem to affect him too much. If I was 20 years younger, fit and talented, I reckon I would've stomped those guys....

Bar-gain hunting

Working in a bike shop has it's benefits, namely cheap parts. But sometimes you've gotta look outside the square. If I didn't get such good staff discounts, Ebay would be my source for cheap bits. I picked up a brand new set of Ritchey Lo Rizer carbon bars last night for 90 bucks! They retail over $250, and I couldn't get em that cheap through work (I'll still get a new stem from there though). No wonder consumers love Ebay, and bike shops are suffering.

Vino vexes Valverde - views Vuelta victory

What a legend is Vino. After missing the Tour because of his team being involved in the doping scandal (he wasn't), the Kazahk powerhouse vindicated his Tour favourtism by taking outLa Vuelta. Like the Giro, the Vuelta features some crazy hard mountains, with super steep gradients and finishes on what look like moonscapes, rather than the resorts the Tour uses. Good to see Zabel take another stage too, the old stager is back. Now it's on to the Worlds, where the two V's will no doubt be in the thick of it again. Gotta love bike racing, drugs or no drugs.

Beers of the last few weeks

No, I'm really not a pisshead! These beers have been consumed over the last three weeks or so, and yeah, I've been a little slack. So here are the latest tipples on special at the local (coz I love a good beer, when it's cheap[er])...


First up we have supposedly "Japan's Finest Beer", Asahi. Now, call me tight if you will, but I baulk a little at paying $70 for a slab of anything, but this was reduced to 60, so I gave it a go. I still felt cheated. Not an offensive brew by any means, but just no get up and go. The bottle is an interesting read though, explaining the brewing process and telling us how good it is supposed to taste. Maybe if they spent more time on actually working on the taste instead of explaining it, it might be worthwhile forking out ridiculous amounts of cash for. 6/10.


Next up we have a local beer for local people. Even though this is Byron Bay Premium Ale, it's largely brewed here in the Hunter by the Blue Tongue brewery. And it's quite a bit better than their own brews. Even though it says ale on the label, it looks and tastes like a lager. Has something that the Japs could use, i.e. flavour! Shared a 6 pack with a lovely lady (lovely because she supplied it!) and it went well with the Thai fare we were devouring. Packs a bit of a kick too. 7.5/10


The TV ads for this beer are better than the beer itself. Not to say that it's bad, just that I enjoy seeing sexy women holding beer bottles in suggestive ways. A nice, crisp, but not very exciting beer, but at forty bucks a slab, why would you bother with lesser beers? 7/10

*These 'reviews' are the opinion of the author, oh right that's me, and don't reflect the views of, oh wait, yes they do...oh I don't know, I'm very, very drunk.