Tarp Surfing

Here's what happens when you combine some bored American surfers with some large tarpaulins, skateboards and an empty parking lot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6-vb20srZI&feature=related

High Country Cycle Challenge, Year 5

The 5th annual High Country Cycle Challenge has just been and gone. This one had a new format that I believe set a new direction and standard for the event - better rides, easier logistics and better entertainment on the Saturday night.

For those that know nothing about the event, it is run by a company called Bike Events (www.bikevents.com.au). It is on in March and is based around Mansfield and Mt Buller in Victoria's north east. It's a participation ride rather than a race, although they do give out prizes for the King and Queen of the Mountain - i.e. the man and woman that complete the 16km climb from Mirimbah to Mt Buller village in the shortest time.

Good friends of mine run the event, so I've been involved with every one. I volunteered the first two years and I've ridden for the past three (my wife Erin on the other hand has volunteered at all five I think).

As mentioned, they changed the format this year so that all rides started and finished in Mansfield. This meant that most people could stay Friday and Saturday night in the same location in Mansfield, and make the most of the pubs and restaurants in town.

There were many different ride options available. I chose to ride Option B on Saturday, approximately 90km from Mansfield to Mt Buller and back again. Weather was perfect as we rolled out at 9am and it stayed that way all weekend - cool crisp mornings and mid twenties maximums later.

My friend Craig and I rode with the front group as far as Merrijig, where the road enters the foothills and starts to climb. Between Merrijig and Mirimbah there are a series of rolling hills that usually throw the bunch into disarray, stringing riders out as the group surges up each rise. Craig and I backed off the tempo and road our own pace through to Mirmibah where the Buller climb starts in earnest.

I'm no stranger to this climb, having worked at Buller for many, many years (over seven winters and nearly six summers at last count). My fastest time is 55 minutes. Simon Gerrans has ridden it in 38 minutes. On the weekend, the King and Queen did it in 43 and 48 minutes respectively.

Its actually a great climb. It climbs about 1000m over the 16km distance and is generally not too steep, maybe 5-10% at a guess. The last kilometre up to the village is the hardest.

I started out going pretty easy. I was determined not to blow myself up like previous years, so I kept one eye on the heart rate monitor, with the aim of keeping the heart rate around 160bpm and definitely under 170bpm. By about the halfway point I was actually feeling pretty good so started to up the tempo slightly and began to pull back a few other riders that had passed me earlier. I crossed the finish line at the top in 1:03 - not my best time, but not a bad time considering I'd already been on the bike for an hour.

The ride back to Mansfield is pretty easy and I think Craig and I covered it in just over an hour.

Saturday afternoon was the Aviva Investors Tour de Flavour Criterium in the main street of Mansfield. I raced C grade and had an interesting race. I knew going into the race that my preparation hadn't been ideal - I'm not that fit that I can ride 100km including a significant mountain and be back in top form four hours later - but I was keen to have a go anyway.

The race started fast and I soon found myself struggling to hold position mid pack. After every turn the leaders would stand up and sprint, spreading the bunch out further and further. The tight course made passing tricky but I slowly clawed my way towards the front and stayed near the front for the next ten minutes or so. Every so often a small break would go off the front or a gap would open in the field, and I seemed to find myself continually cycling defensively to get back to the front or close a gap. About two thirds of the way through the race, my friend Bruce (one of the two Bike Events Directors) had a crash right in front of me. With only some minor grazes he took the allowed one lap out and then rejoined the group. Not long after he rejoined the bunch, a group of four, including Bruce, got free off the front and opened up a gap. Knowing that the race would be decided in that group, I decided to try to get across the gap. I launched myself into the chase, sprinting along the straights and cornering as fast as I dared. After three agonising laps at 110% I bridged the gap, but I'd given too much. I was only able to hold them for one lap before my legs completely gave in on me, and I started to go backwards and was soon caught and passed by the rest of the bunch. The commissaires rang the bell indicating three laps to go, by which stage I had dropped completely off the back of the main bunch, where I stayed for the last three lonely laps.

Still, it wasn't all bad. Yes, I came last, but I know that if I'd been fresh that I could have been competitive. I reckon I worked as hard as anyone in the bunch and I know I was a key rider in closing some gaps and chasing down breaks. I don't have a great short sprint, but over thirty minutes of hard fast riding, I figure that at times I rode as fast as anyone in that group.

The vibe on the course was amazing. The support from all my friends in the crowd was incredible, especially when I was stuck in no man's land trying to chase down that lead group. Even the commentator got behind me, although I think was struggling to pronounce my name.

On Saturday night we watched Mark Seymour play live at the pub. I was pleasantly surprised. I think I'd underestimated him, but he's an awesome performer who has written some of Australia's most enduring songs.

The ride planned for Sunday was a 120km, out-and-back ride to Whitfield in the King Valley. This is an awesome road - quiet, scenic, hilly and twisty. Everything you could ask for in a road ride. The highest point of the ride is located exactly halfway between Mansfield and Whitfield, meaning that the ride is basically 30km up, then 30km down, in both directions.

Craig and I rode together again, and were joined by a few others, including a Mansfield local, Tim. We reached Whitfield in about 2 hours and 10 minutes, with only one or two others arriving before us (of those that started at the official time of 9am anyway). We scoffed down some excellent wood-fired pizza made by the local primary school (this is the King Valley after all) and then started back. As we began the steep climb back up I realised how good I was feeling and decided to increase the tempo. I soon pulled away from Craig and Tim and before too long I couldn't even see them behind me on the road anymore. I was on a mission. Every five minutes or so I'd stand up and blast away on the pedals, surging forward up the hill, stroke by stroke. I think that is one of the best climbs I've ever done. I reached the high point of the ride in about an hour and then settled in for the fast ride back to Mansfield, pushing hard to beat a return time of two hours. I didn't quite make it though. I rode into Mansfield exactly 2 hours and 10 minutes after leaving Whitfield and was the first rider to make it back. All in all, a fantastic weekend of riding. I'd recommend the event to anyone.

Excuse my absence of late...

Yes, I am a terrible blogger. No, let me rephrase that. I am rather a good blogger who is somewhat sporadic at posting. If anyone has actually been checking my blog, they would realise that I have pretty much been AWOL (if you don't know, AWOL stands for Away With Out Leave. It is a military term which has been co-opted into popular culture to basically mean away with no explanation) since September 2009.

So what have I been so busy with that I has caused me to so neglect this labour of love I call 'Needle in the Hay'? Well, lots of stuff really.

Firstly, I got married. Here's a pic to prove it. It was a pretty goddamn awesome day too, I might add. Weather was perfect. Venue was perfect. My bride was jaw-droppingly beautiful. The party was pumping with plenty of booze, food and some bangin tunes from a great DJ. Everything went smooth as can be (barring some dancefloor controversy which I won't go into here). It was literally the funnest day of my adult life. I hope everyone gets to experience that once in their life.

Then came the honeymoon. We went to Tasmania. Took the car. Took the bikes. Took the kitchen sink too it seemed. Of course, I didn't actually use the kitchen sink. Hardly used the bikes either. Spent more time packing and unpacking them than actually riding them. I refrained from packing the surfboard, wisely, it seems, as we hardly went near a surf beach.

We had a great trip. Tassie truly is magnificent. I could live there. Launceston and Hobart are both pretty great towns with lots to offer. We did lots of eating out and drinking of wine. We made sure to tell our hosts at each accommodation venue that we were on our honeymoon. It usually scored us a free bottle of bubbly. Here's a photo of us at Cradle Mountain, doing the walk around Dove Lake (which is surely one of the most beautiful short walks on the planet).

Then it was back to work to pay off the wedding and honeymoon. December and January were flat out. Both World Trail Directors went on leave over that time, so I was holding the fort - managing our project at Mt Buller, paying wages, processing bills, invoices etc, responding to tenders, client inquiries and managing staff. Suffice to say, it was a very busy two months.

Luckily, being at Buller a lot over those two months I did find time for plenty of riding. My fitness after the wedding was pretty low, so I was desperate to start rebuilding my base. Rode the hill a few times and got out on the XC trails pretty regularly too.

Did a few handicapped road races with the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club (my former club). I love racing up there - the races are fun and always well patronised. The courses are a bit flat for my liking though.

I've also started racing road criteriums down here in Geelong with my new club, Geelong Cycling Club. I've had three races in C grade, placing 4th, 4th and 2nd. After the 2nd place they have decided to bump me up to B grade. My first B grade race is tomorrow. Here's a pic of me at the last crit where I came second (the guy in white at third wheel was the eventual winner):

I've also been trying to get my stamps for the 7 Peaks Challenge (www.alpineascentchallenge.com.au). So far I have Mt Buller, Lake Mountain and Mt Baw Baw.

I did Mt Baw Baw yesterday. I was accompanied by my mate Mark 'Huddo' Hudson. We rode from Noojee, 98km return, taking about 5.5 hours. The hard part is the last 6km up to the village. The gradient averages 13% over this 6km stretch, with the maximum gradient being 21%. It is a 'Hors Category' climb in the Tour de France lingo - the hardest category of all - and it is certainly the toughest climb I have ever done. It is an absolute ball buster. Even with a the mountain cluster on, I was in my lowest gear for the whole 6km, and was only just managing to keep the pedals turning. It took me 56 minutes to ride that 6km. The quick guys do it in about 35 minutes. Huddo cramped after the first two km, but still managed to ride the whole way.

That just leaves 4 peaks to go: Mt Hotham, Falls Creek, Mt Buffalo and Omeo/Dinner Plain. March is gonna be busy!

Performance

Here's a bloke with way too much time on his hands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn29DvMITu4

I can't work out the origin of this clip - the dude is wearing an Aussie jersey, but all other clues point to North America.

Enjoy.

2009 Mountain Bike World Championships at SFP

So, the big event has been and gone, and as the dust settles and the forgotten strands of bunting flap forlornly in the cold September wind, I figured I'd recap on the racing and offer my perspective as one who had a fair bit to do with the construction of the trails that were being raced upon.

In late August 09 the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships rolled into Canberra town. You could say that preparations had been underway for about three years, as it was about that long ago when the ACT government came to Jacobs and asked if it was possible to build a trail network that would be capable of one day hosting the World Champs. Absolutely, positively came the answer, and so it came to be, this weekend just past.

Was it good? Hell yeah, and damn anyone who says otherwise. The 4X on Friday night rocked under full moon, clear skies and heaving, excited and somewhat intoxicated crowd. The track was bloody amazing and from what I heard on the night and since, everyone seemed to think so too. The XC on Saturday was equally great...truly. Being an old XC hack, I may seem biased, but anyone that bothered to walk up to Hammerhead to watch the carnage or anyone that saw the winning move from Switzerland's Schurter in the final lap will agree it was an awesome and captivating race to watch.

Eventual winner of the Men's XC,

Nino Schurter

Best placed Aussie, Chris Jongewaard

The DH was a sight to behold, and the deafening sound of 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi'*, air horns and cow bells could be heard in Gundagai. Best places to watch the DH included the perennial crowd favorite Triple Treat, G20 and the rock gardens up top. So good, however, was the TV coverage, that it was hard to leave the big screen set up at the bottom of the hill. They had every inch of the hill covered with cameras, meaning you could watch virtually the entire run from top to bottom. The close proximity of the beer tent added to the allure of this location too.

So the winners were:

• 4X - Jared Graves and Caroline Buchanan. Both Aussies. Both deserving and humble champions.
• XC - Irina Kalentieva and Nino Schurter. One Russian, one Swiss. Also equally deserving, but not Australian, so not as exciting.
• DH - Emmeline Ragot and Steve Peat. France and Britain. Mick Hannah, the best of our bunch, took bronze. Even though we didn't win, I don't think many people were upset to see Peaty standing on top of the podium. He's been riding a long time, and come second now about four times in World Championships, so he pretty well deserved it.

Glen was busy commentating and just generally being a very important person, so I didn't see much of him over the weekend. I was hanging with the people. In fact, I even paid for my own ticket. Glen gave Peaty a $1 coin before his race, saying that, with the Queen's head on one side and skippy on the other, it would bring him good luck. Click here to see an interview about said coin.

I took my bike and did a bit of pedalling myself while there. It really is a pretty damn cool cycling city, Canberra. No matter what else it lacks, it doesn't lack places to ride bikes. I went with a keen crew of riders (Deano, Bretto, Shan, Brucey, Craigley, Nicko, Tommy, Dan and Laurie) and some time on the trails was a big priority. We rode at Stromlo twice and Sparrow Hill once, and we all had a very fine time. Stromlo is rocky and relatively technical, but has some great sections of flow and the granitic sand offers oodles of grip, and once we got away from the event area, the trails were empty. Sparrow is pine plantation and the emphasis is clearly on flow, rather than technicality, but is a great place to ride. Wish I took some pictures, but I was too busy riding.

Inspired by the men's XC, Bretto and I even went and busted out a lap of the course straight after it finished. It's weird being out there after such a huge event. Where only an hour earlier the track was thronged with fans and spectators, when we rode through it was strangely quiet and lonely, with only the sound of the plastic bunting flapping and crows picking foraging amongst the rubbish for food. The course was great. I'd ridden it before of course, and yes, I am biased. Most of the course is not that technically difficult, but the main climb (Cardiac Climb) and the following 200-300m is very technically difficult. Big rocky step-ups and rock garden climbs pepper the climb, meaning that you need to hold some energy in reserve to punch through these sections. I'm yet to clear it without a dab (i.e. putting a foot down). I've cleared every section in isolation, but stringing it all together is another story.

* Call me un-Australian, but I'm really sick of the Aussie chant. Can we come up with something else?

Stromlo Four Cross Track

Here's a sneak peek of some of the changes World Trail is putting in to the 4X track at Stromlo Forest Park for the World Champs coming up soon. 

These moguls should make for some very interesting racing come September...

SBS Has Sold Out

What is going on with SBS? Cricket? Cricket! What the...?

SBS has always been the antithesis of cricket and football. It has always stood firmly on the side of the downtrodden and unpopular. It always held aloft a torch for foreign sports, films, detective shows starring shaggy German Shepherds and hot Eurasian news readers combining a fierce intellect with stunning good looks. Most importantly, for years it has always been the only station that gave a shit about cycling - road, mountain, you name it.

Every July SBS becomes the most important station on my television. I tune in every morning around 7am, every evening at 6pm and often for 2-4 hours late at night. You see, the greatest annual sporting event of the world is on in July...the Tour de France. SBS coverage of the event is normally awesome. Normally I say, because this year they have decided to bump it off and put on the bloody test(e) cricket instead.

I don't know what else to say. I'm astounded. SBS is not a cricket station. It is absurd. It is an outrage. What are they thinking?

And yes, apparently it is on SBS Two (the digital channel) but that is not the point. Who (other than a handful of early adopter technophile geeks) has digital television? And besides which, its the principal of the thing. They have swapped le Tour for cricket. Damn them I say. I really wanted to watch that mountain stage tonight.