Terra here we come!
Should be able to keep an eye on how it's going down daily,
Read on,
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Australis live. Updates including live results, photos and video will be
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the conclusion of each stage.
So there you have it,
Been a very hectic week at work to say the least,
Very much looking forward to a week in the Mountains riding my bike!
Be sure to check back for my take on the event, early the following week right here.
Live to ride, ride to live,
Troy
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Round 2 Vic. Enduro Series, Mt Beauty, report
YOU CAN'T WIN THEM ALL
Round 2, with the stage set in Mt Beauty, or so I was lead to believe, as it feels like I went 2 rounds with Mike Tyson, you can only imagine how that would turn out.
The first "2 - 2.5hrs"of racing, was awesome, I was sitting well in 3rd place with the legs feeling great & the course as good as it gets with a bit of rain to settle the dust, thunder & lightning to add a bit of excitement,
Evan Franskie(Team other bike brand) grabbed the early lead & Adam Gibson(Team other bike shop) in 2nd, I was happy with that as they are both known climbers & Mt Beauty is certainly a pretty hilly one, so I didn't want to go into the red to stay with them,
To my surprise I was holding an even time gap on Adam & had put a decent gap into Paul Randell(Team other bike & shop), with the course drying it was nice & tacky, I was having a ball,
Then Mike Tyson jumped out of the bush & went whack!
Well not exactly, I actually hooked into a fast yet tight bermed corner, that you enter blind & hit a log square on that was laying in the middle of the corner, sending me over the bars landing square on my head, ending up some 15ft down the track,
The log was actually used to build the berm, someone obviously dislodged it a short time earlier,
As it definitely was not there the lap before.
That's racing, after a few minutes of rolling around on the ground, I realised nothing was broken, so continued on taking it real easy waiting to see double or start throwing up, didn't happen so kept creeping around holding 5th place, with about a 5minute gap on 6th.
10minute before 6hrs was up i stopped at the timing tent to wait for Dan(6th) to have a gentleman's agreement not to continue as I couldn't see the point, he didn't stopped & buzzed on by, so i was forced to do another to get my 5th place back, for the points in the series.
I pulled him back, then i flatted, picking up a thorn in the front tire, right next to the tread & the side wall, so I had to stop to let the Stans do it's job, In the mean time Tim Ferris rolled passed putting me back to 7th.
Oh well, In a nut shell, wasn't my day & you can't win them all.
On a positive note I did have 3 or 4 very enjoyable laps of Mt Beauty at it's best & Jac certainly had a good one, picking up 1st place in the womens solo,
well done Jac.
Live to ride, Ride to Live,
Troy
Round 2, with the stage set in Mt Beauty, or so I was lead to believe, as it feels like I went 2 rounds with Mike Tyson, you can only imagine how that would turn out.
The first "2 - 2.5hrs"of racing, was awesome, I was sitting well in 3rd place with the legs feeling great & the course as good as it gets with a bit of rain to settle the dust, thunder & lightning to add a bit of excitement,
Evan Franskie(Team other bike brand) grabbed the early lead & Adam Gibson(Team other bike shop) in 2nd, I was happy with that as they are both known climbers & Mt Beauty is certainly a pretty hilly one, so I didn't want to go into the red to stay with them,
To my surprise I was holding an even time gap on Adam & had put a decent gap into Paul Randell(Team other bike & shop), with the course drying it was nice & tacky, I was having a ball,
Then Mike Tyson jumped out of the bush & went whack!
Well not exactly, I actually hooked into a fast yet tight bermed corner, that you enter blind & hit a log square on that was laying in the middle of the corner, sending me over the bars landing square on my head, ending up some 15ft down the track,
The log was actually used to build the berm, someone obviously dislodged it a short time earlier,
As it definitely was not there the lap before.
That's racing, after a few minutes of rolling around on the ground, I realised nothing was broken, so continued on taking it real easy waiting to see double or start throwing up, didn't happen so kept creeping around holding 5th place, with about a 5minute gap on 6th.
10minute before 6hrs was up i stopped at the timing tent to wait for Dan(6th) to have a gentleman's agreement not to continue as I couldn't see the point, he didn't stopped & buzzed on by, so i was forced to do another to get my 5th place back, for the points in the series.
I pulled him back, then i flatted, picking up a thorn in the front tire, right next to the tread & the side wall, so I had to stop to let the Stans do it's job, In the mean time Tim Ferris rolled passed putting me back to 7th.
Oh well, In a nut shell, wasn't my day & you can't win them all.
On a positive note I did have 3 or 4 very enjoyable laps of Mt Beauty at it's best & Jac certainly had a good one, picking up 1st place in the womens solo,
well done Jac.
Live to ride, Ride to Live,
Troy
Friday, March 20, 2009
Round 2 Vic. Enduro Series, Mt Beauty
Sunday, March 15, 2009
ENDURO SEASON
Well the Enduro season is about to kick into full swing,
With a good start to the season, just to recap,
2 wins from 2 starts, taking out the 1st Round of the State Enduro series fire relief 6hr Solo & the week before last winning the BMC Mts to Beaches stage race with fellow BMC rider Joel Donney.
Coming Up!
22nd Mar - Mt Beauty 6hr State Round 2
29th Mar - 4th Apr - Terra Australis Vic Highlands stage race.
11th - 12th Apr - Australian 24hr Solo Nationals (Might race 6x6 ???) Canberra.
19th Apr - BMC 100km Marathon, Woodend.
26th Apr - 1st Round Chase the Sun Enduro Series, Lysterfield.
3rd May - Dirtworks 100km Marathon, St Aubans NSW.
17th May - Rockhop 6hr Beaconsfield Upper, State Round 3
24th May - Bendigo 6hr, State Round 4
31st May - 2nd Round Chase the Sun.
7th June - You Yangs 6hr, State Round 5
26th July - 3rd Round Chase the Sun.
16th Aug - 4th Round Chase the Sun.
23rd Aug - Castlemaine 6hr, State Round 6
15th Nov - Officer 6hr, State Round 7
My plan is to do all the State Rounds Solo with hope of taking out the series & Joel will be joining me for the Chase the Sun series in the Pro pairs category which will no doubt be hotly contested.
At this stage going to Canada to defend my world title is not on the agenda, (Unless there is a sponsor out there with a spare 10k kicking about that needs a tax write off) The main aim is to enjoy the racing locally,
As you can see there is plenty of it & some really great trails to boot, so if your up for a spot of Endurance Mtb racing, see you on the start line.
Be sure to keep an eye on how the season unfolds.
Live to ride, ride to live.
Troy
With a good start to the season, just to recap,
2 wins from 2 starts, taking out the 1st Round of the State Enduro series fire relief 6hr Solo & the week before last winning the BMC Mts to Beaches stage race with fellow BMC rider Joel Donney.
Coming Up!
22nd Mar - Mt Beauty 6hr State Round 2
29th Mar - 4th Apr - Terra Australis Vic Highlands stage race.
11th - 12th Apr - Australian 24hr Solo Nationals (Might race 6x6 ???) Canberra.
19th Apr - BMC 100km Marathon, Woodend.
26th Apr - 1st Round Chase the Sun Enduro Series, Lysterfield.
3rd May - Dirtworks 100km Marathon, St Aubans NSW.
17th May - Rockhop 6hr Beaconsfield Upper, State Round 3
24th May - Bendigo 6hr, State Round 4
31st May - 2nd Round Chase the Sun.
7th June - You Yangs 6hr, State Round 5
26th July - 3rd Round Chase the Sun.
16th Aug - 4th Round Chase the Sun.
23rd Aug - Castlemaine 6hr, State Round 6
15th Nov - Officer 6hr, State Round 7
My plan is to do all the State Rounds Solo with hope of taking out the series & Joel will be joining me for the Chase the Sun series in the Pro pairs category which will no doubt be hotly contested.
At this stage going to Canada to defend my world title is not on the agenda, (Unless there is a sponsor out there with a spare 10k kicking about that needs a tax write off) The main aim is to enjoy the racing locally,
As you can see there is plenty of it & some really great trails to boot, so if your up for a spot of Endurance Mtb racing, see you on the start line.
Be sure to keep an eye on how the season unfolds.
Live to ride, ride to live.
Troy
Monday, March 9, 2009
BMC Mts to Beaches Clean sweep
Just as the title reads, Team BMC Wins the Overall & Open Pairs @ the Inaugral BMC Mts to Beaches stage race from Thredbo to Narooma.
With Jason going right down to the wire to snatch line honours from Andy Blair for the overall win,
to see how the battle went down have a read at, www.jasonenglish.bigblog.com.au.
As for Joel & Myself we managed to take the pairs out by a convincing margin of almost 2 hours.
Whilst the pairs was not a hotly contested category this year, I'm sure it wont stay that way in years to come, as we along with most other teams found it a very enjoyable way to do a stage race such as this.
How it went down,
Day 1
2 race stages,
1st stage basically consisted of a time trial Bombing a slightly tamed version of the down hill course at Thredbo with a couple of punchy pinch climbs thrown in for good measure, fun times, I picked up 4th overall with Joel about 20 seconds behind.
2nd stage was a mass start cross country race on the single track around lake crackenback.
With our times combined we were already 55 mins up.
Day 2
68km race stage,
Starting at Perisher with some classic monster alpine climbs through Blue cow & out the back of Guthega through some real man from snowy river country, with no pressure on us, we road tempo all day & ended putting another 25 mins into our nearest competitor, the race was followed by a 20km cruise stage down to Buckenderra resort, during which we saw a pack of 5 real life Brumbys on the fly.
Day 3
26km sprint race,
4.45 am riders briefing for a 5.15 am start, with the aim being a sunrise finish, with Gu being the order of the day for breakfast, I had a great start with my Night lightning I blast providing oodles of light, holding about 5th overall for the first half a lap of a 2 lap race on some pretty rough a ready 4x4 track, when I picked up a thorn or such like, enough to pierce the sidewall of my rear tire,
Whilst the Stans did eventually seal the hole, the bunch was well & truly gone along with my gas cartridges, therefore only getting approx 20-25 psi in, on the very next descent whilst overtaking the masses I hit an unexpected rock pinch flatting the tire.
Forcing me to throw a tube in & in the process dropping around 12 mins from both incidents.
Followed by a great spread put on by the local country folk for breakfast it was leisurely 41km cruise stage down to Cooma.
Day 4
86km Race stage
Starting with a lap of the local horse race track with a sprint across line picking up fellow BMC rider Andrew Lumley a set of A-UP lights, I may have given him a bit of a help with a handy lead out.
Then i proceeded to drive the bunch helping Jas & Brett shell all butt Andy Blair in Chase of Dennis who was dangling a few hundred metres up the road on his own, on board his 29er.
With a couple of very descent climbs & some undulating windy sections which Joel went to the front to help me recover from my earlier efforts.
We managed another stage win & another 40km cruise stage down to Burmagui on the beautiful south coast of NSW.
Day 5
45km Race stage
With the start prologue across a grassy cow paddock before entering the Bermagui Mtb park with some great fast flowing single track, then headed north along some of the most picturesque coastline you'll find anywhere, even having to run across some soft sand on a few beaches along the way, which my calves still remind me of.
Following my double flat the day before yesterday, I had to make 4 mins on the guy ahead to get back into the top 10 overall gc & knowing it was the final day I gave it everything with Joel hanging on for dear life,
Mission accomplished, ending up 7 mins ahead of him in the end, therefore all 5 BMC riders ended up in the top 10 overall gc.
So a good time was had by all.
Thanks to the Dirtworks crew of Rick, Pat & Milly for supporting us all the way, along with keeping the bikes spick & span with the best cleaning products money can buy (MUC OFF) Mark for taking care of the tucker, BMC for a bike that was faltless all week, Ritchey tires & components, Hayes brakes, Manitou forks, Stans no tubes, Crank bros, DT swiss, Night lightning Lights, Andy at Kaos for superbly race prepping the bike, Joel for riding well all week & Jac for dropping me to the airport & picking me up from Narooma.
Live to ride, Ride to live,
Troy
With Jason going right down to the wire to snatch line honours from Andy Blair for the overall win,
to see how the battle went down have a read at, www.jasonenglish.bigblog.com.au.
As for Joel & Myself we managed to take the pairs out by a convincing margin of almost 2 hours.
Whilst the pairs was not a hotly contested category this year, I'm sure it wont stay that way in years to come, as we along with most other teams found it a very enjoyable way to do a stage race such as this.
How it went down,
Day 1
2 race stages,
1st stage basically consisted of a time trial Bombing a slightly tamed version of the down hill course at Thredbo with a couple of punchy pinch climbs thrown in for good measure, fun times, I picked up 4th overall with Joel about 20 seconds behind.
2nd stage was a mass start cross country race on the single track around lake crackenback.
With our times combined we were already 55 mins up.
Day 2
68km race stage,
Starting at Perisher with some classic monster alpine climbs through Blue cow & out the back of Guthega through some real man from snowy river country, with no pressure on us, we road tempo all day & ended putting another 25 mins into our nearest competitor, the race was followed by a 20km cruise stage down to Buckenderra resort, during which we saw a pack of 5 real life Brumbys on the fly.
Day 3
26km sprint race,
4.45 am riders briefing for a 5.15 am start, with the aim being a sunrise finish, with Gu being the order of the day for breakfast, I had a great start with my Night lightning I blast providing oodles of light, holding about 5th overall for the first half a lap of a 2 lap race on some pretty rough a ready 4x4 track, when I picked up a thorn or such like, enough to pierce the sidewall of my rear tire,
Whilst the Stans did eventually seal the hole, the bunch was well & truly gone along with my gas cartridges, therefore only getting approx 20-25 psi in, on the very next descent whilst overtaking the masses I hit an unexpected rock pinch flatting the tire.
Forcing me to throw a tube in & in the process dropping around 12 mins from both incidents.
Followed by a great spread put on by the local country folk for breakfast it was leisurely 41km cruise stage down to Cooma.
Day 4
86km Race stage
Starting with a lap of the local horse race track with a sprint across line picking up fellow BMC rider Andrew Lumley a set of A-UP lights, I may have given him a bit of a help with a handy lead out.
Then i proceeded to drive the bunch helping Jas & Brett shell all butt Andy Blair in Chase of Dennis who was dangling a few hundred metres up the road on his own, on board his 29er.
With a couple of very descent climbs & some undulating windy sections which Joel went to the front to help me recover from my earlier efforts.
We managed another stage win & another 40km cruise stage down to Burmagui on the beautiful south coast of NSW.
Day 5
45km Race stage
With the start prologue across a grassy cow paddock before entering the Bermagui Mtb park with some great fast flowing single track, then headed north along some of the most picturesque coastline you'll find anywhere, even having to run across some soft sand on a few beaches along the way, which my calves still remind me of.
Following my double flat the day before yesterday, I had to make 4 mins on the guy ahead to get back into the top 10 overall gc & knowing it was the final day I gave it everything with Joel hanging on for dear life,
Mission accomplished, ending up 7 mins ahead of him in the end, therefore all 5 BMC riders ended up in the top 10 overall gc.
So a good time was had by all.
Thanks to the Dirtworks crew of Rick, Pat & Milly for supporting us all the way, along with keeping the bikes spick & span with the best cleaning products money can buy (MUC OFF) Mark for taking care of the tucker, BMC for a bike that was faltless all week, Ritchey tires & components, Hayes brakes, Manitou forks, Stans no tubes, Crank bros, DT swiss, Night lightning Lights, Andy at Kaos for superbly race prepping the bike, Joel for riding well all week & Jac for dropping me to the airport & picking me up from Narooma.
Live to ride, Ride to live,
Troy
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