Vic Enduro Rnd 6 Castlemaine

Rocky riders Mtb club congratulations for putting on another festival style event at the Infamous Jubber Land, which I'm lead to believe the biggest yet, with some 350 riders, DJ's, bbq, beer on tap, real coffee & lets not forget one of the best trails getting around providing plenty of smiles.


The crowd forming in anticipation.

From the gun I felt great with all the preparations during the week to man & machine seeming to come together, after the first lap i came in second solo behind Willo & about a minute up on Phil & Jarrod,

Just the way i like it, I felt I had not used too much up to put the gap in & Willo was not a threat as he had informed me he would pull the pin at about 4hrs, So was feeling great, then Boom the front tire Blew clean off the rim,

Soon it became apparent the one thing I had forgotten to pack was Lady luck! As the next couple of laps nothing seemed to go right, with one poor lady falling right in front of me, Kamikaze Style, leaving me no where to go, after rendering assistance, putting me further back in the traffic of a predominantly single track course,

Causing more frustration & more importantly big chunks of time & enjoyment due to not be able to get the course to flow.



All Smiles on lap 1.

Eventually I managed to get some clear track & find my groove pulling back some positions & starting to think maybe all was not lost then PSSS goes the front tire again,

Managed to get the STANS to seal & nursed it back for the second wheel swap of the day, whilst in the pits I was informed I was still only 5 minutes down on a podium finish, with 40 minutes to go, so it was time to put the angry pants on, pulling back 2 minutes on the last lap, not quite enough.

Oh well all things considered got to be happy with 4Th place which should give me enough points to take out the Series.

Not bad for an old bloke.

Thanks again to MTB IMAGES & ANDY from KAOS for prepping the machine.

Live to ride, ride to live.

Troy

Chase the Sun Rnd 4

What a day "Hui"(mother nature) had install for us, with 100+km winds delaying the start by an hour, with the echo of chain saws across the park, whilst the full gas crew frantically went to work to clear the felled trees & debris from the course,

We were all wishing we had our surf boards as there were descent 1 footers in the lake to be had,

With the Gale forced winds subsiding a little, it was time to shift the focus from surfing & a parma at the pub & put the game face on.

Going for the whole shot in the cattle grid mass start.


Tucking into the lead bunch to avoid getting blown off the damn wall in the prologue

As you can see no shortage of talent, with our XC Olympian D'mac just a couple of wheels up & Murrey Spinks is certainly no slouch with at least a couple of Vic.Elite XC titles to his name & Scotty L Felt Racing.

Hold that wheel.......Chew that stem......Gggrrr


Showing a clean pair of heals

Pardon the pun as they didn't stay that way for long,

It was time for Hui's next instalment to well & truly releive himself with bucketing rain, turning the trails to a similar consistency of him eating far too many prunes.

Joel putting in the yards in the worst of it,

Whilst the guns on paper fell by the way side, one by one, leaving the BMC boys to bring home the bacon.

Happy after my last lap to be informed we had won!!!!


Thank you linesmen, thank you ball boys,

The win creating another surprise at presentation with the announcement of us finishing 2nd overall for the series, Behind the Felt racing team & sneaking ahead on points of the Giant boys of Murrey Spink & James Williamson.

Thanks must go out to Joel for making the trip down from Canberra for the series, the win was especially pleasing for Joel, making the regular trips south that little bit more worth while.

A huge thanks again to MTB IMAGES for braving the condition to produce these great pics, to Andy, Captain KAOS for keeping my bikes going in these muddy winter months, to BMC/DIRTWORKS for their ongoing support & to DEFEET apparel for keeping the body at an optimum temperature during & between laps.


Hats off to this man

Kaos Dave still smiling despite the adverse conditions on his way to finishing his debut Solo 6hr, Picking up 3rd in the over 50's at just 58 years young, well done mate.

More racing news coming soon.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Surviving Winter

DEFEET technical active apparel, keeping you toastie!


A great range of super comfy & very Stylish socks & gloves, varying lengths, designs & materials catering for all conditions, my faves at the moment would have to be the high cut woollies, toastie & very breathable as the day warms up yet still nice & thin so no shoe adjustments needed.



Technical first layers, perfect for keeping your core temperature just right,
Seamless Arm & leg warmers, very comfortable, keeps the wind out & breathable when you start to heat up, great blend of materials.



Over shoe sock, for those cool winter mornings for keeping the toes toasty & as the day warms up they are breathable, so no sweaty boots, bonus! Very Bling, available in a range of colours as well as black if blings not your thing.
Shell still necessary if raining.


PLANET BIKE lights for staying alive.


Super Styley, Light & Bright & super quick mounting, great if your running out the door to meet a bunch.



Light & Bright with adjustable mounting angles & super quick as above.



Super Bright, the brightest around without hooking up the Rechargables,
great for those late night training rides, available in 1/2 & 1 Watt with amazing magnification making them seem as bright as 10 watts from a distance.


In other news I've come across some new products that really seem to be the goods,

PORTLAND Designworks


Great range of very cool & very different grips & chucks for your CO2 with a valve that actually works & has held air for 9 weeks since the seal was broken, Impressive! Keep your eye on this company, It's quality & I have a feeling there range will continue to grow!
I'll be sure to let you know how the grips feel & if the chucks all it's cracked up to be.

In racing news, plenty coming up so stay tuned.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

FTF winter series XC Chum Creek

Thanks to MTB IMAGES I'm going to let the pictures do the talking.



Launching pad to start the lap,
Note: the regeneration in the trees, Great to see.



Burnt silhouettes,



Tech section #1


#2


#3


#4

The Course:
Based on private property, this race was the only chance to cut a lap on this prestigious loop, A lot of work has been done to clear this course in readiness for this race because of the recent fires that devastated the area, So a big thankyou to the Amos family & Joel from FTF for making it happen.

A challenging yet traditional XC course of around 6km long. There is plenty of ups, downs and off camber action, "Its one of the best XC courses around"!

Great Day, even the sun was present.....Too Good!

Live to ride, ride to live.

Troy