Troy's Racing

TIME FLIES

2011-10-24T07:06:00.004+11:00

How time does fly,

As this is a Racing blog & not much Racing has happened of late, due to an ongoing niggling Injury & prioritizing other aspects of life in the mean time.

For those of you who used to stop by on a regular basis, thanks for your support & whilst on that note, a huge thanks to all that helped to make it viable for me to belt around in the bush for so long, there's a fair list of you down the side of this page & a few unsung ones too, thanks heaps, really appreciate it.... GREAT times :-)

If you feel like taking a trip down memory lane, scroll away!

Thanks for stopping by,

Cheers,

Troy

PS: With a fresh approach to getting on top of this lingering injury & a bit of luck, this is not my swan song, just a mere pause in proceedings.
Hope to see you on the bike again soon.

I'm back

2010-07-15T08:12:00.003+10:00

Hi folks,

Firstly like to apologise to those who dropped by in recent weeks & seen no change here!

I have just arrived back from a 3 week break in the US, spending most of the time in the land of the big trees, Oregon!......Found some really great trails, didn't do a heap a of riding as the main point of the exercise was to re-charge the batteries & get over those niggling injuries. Mission acomplished, "hopefully" on the later anyway.

Oh ye did I mention we found some really great trails!!!! more on that later, have some pretty pics for your viewing pleasure. Epix boys look no further, that's where it's at, the land of the big Redwood trees.

Prior to that was just working my fingers to the bone funding the trip.

Now it's time to get fit again & what better way to start than a roll around for 6hrs with 450 of my closest friends this Sunday at good old Lysterfield for round 2 of "Chase the Sun" see you there, if not be square. I'm lead to believe this event sold out weeks ago. So jump onto Round 3 & 4 because there will be no more, this year anyway.

Let the good times roll,

Troy

National Marathon Champs

2010-04-20T21:02:00.002+10:00

Brutal & Beaut,

All rolled into one, Brutal climbs & Beaut descents.

Big Hill Events sure lived up to there name with this event, "Rohin, Director of Big Hill events" mentioned at the pre race dinner/riders briefing that he wanted to make this the toughest Marathon event in Oz & why wouldn't he, when they are putting on the national championship event.

For mine Rohin succeeded, It was damn tough!

I certainly didn't make things any easier for myself going in 3 & bit weeks off the bike since my injury from Terra, with 2 very short rides last week in desperation of regaining some fitness, hoping to carry my fitness over for that long was optimistic to say the least, halfway up the first climb I knew I was riding this course & not racing.

Must say I am a little disappointed on the fact of what might have been as Terra is the ideal lead up to this event, however that is racing & life as we know it sometimes.

In closing I am glad I finished & don't seemed to have aggravated the poplatius any further which was the main goal & one bonus was I did get to ride most of the day with my old mate Ash.:-)

Troy

Update

2010-04-12T20:16:00.004+10:00

Must apologize for the lack of posts of late & the delay of Terra report!

Have no other excuse than being extremely busy with life!

Willo's Funeral on Friday was a sad day indeed, however it was a great send off to a true legend of our sport with only positive words spoken.

So in brief on the racing front,Terra again didn't fail to deliver, was right up there on the epic experience front, not going to spill too many beans here as I have been working on a story which I was asked to write about the event by Willow, will stick my neck out to say that is was nothing short of emotional & amazing.

Therefore grab yourself a copy of the next issue of Enduro mag to read all about it!

Should also mention I've been working hard to get the body ready for the Nemisis National Marathon Champs since Terra as I tore the "Popliteus", a muscle band behind the knee.
Thanks to Dom from 1st Place Osteopathy I'm a 50 50 chance of being on the start line, Dom is a true cycle injury expert, has enormous passion for fixing you up & his main focus is getting you back on the bike ASAP.

Hopefully see you on the start line as it's shaping up to be a great event, by all reports quite the challenging course too.

Troy

Passing of a Champion Friend "Willo"

2010-04-01T23:36:00.004+11:00

James "Willow" Williamson,

Jim was a true Champion Fella on & off the Bike, a great mate, always up for a spin, chat & a laugh.

I'm going to miss you buddy as I'm sure you'll be truly missed by many & my heart really goes out to Nikki & his family & of course Lewie.

Jim & I checking out our new threads at 08 Worlds Presentation.

Hope you all have a great Easter, Get out for a spin & think of Jim.

Troy

PS. Terra report coming your way soon & Good luck to all racing the 24 Nationals.

TERRA AUSTRALIS 2010

2010-03-07T19:06:00.010+11:00

I have just received confirmation that entries are in fact still open for TERRA AUSTRALIS, It runs from March 21st - 27th, this does fall into school & uni holidays for most & for you Elite boys out there, the pointy end of the field is looking a little light on due to Oceania's in NZ the weekend TERRA starts, with some decent cash on the line, 700km & approx 15,000m vertical of climbing all in the dirt, what more could you want!?

As mentioned in my previous post I'll be pairing up with the very much in form Phil Orr, (Ex elite XC racer & last years winner of the Vic Enduro Series), looks like We'll be going head to head with my ex BMC team mate Joel Donney(2007 U25 solo24hr Champ) who by all accounts will be riding for the TORQUE team with the very quick Steel Van Hoff, So should be game on :-)

Here I am having a laugh with one of the event organisers Iain, they are a great bunch of people who run this event & they really go the extra mile to ensure each every competitor has a great week, by the end you will feel like one of the family, don't get me wrong this is a challenging event on the bike, but rest assured plenty of laughs & good times shared off it.

So if you're up for a great week on & off the bike in the spectacular Victorian Highlands I highly recommend you check it out & get your Entry in.

Hope to see you there.

Troy

Vic Enduro Rnd 2 Mt Beauty

2010-03-07T17:45:00.004+11:00

Any excuse is always a good excuse to head up to mt Beauty & what better one do you need than a state Rnd 6hr at the Big Hill Mtb park.

With the knowledge of super fun trails ahead makes the drive up the hume that little bit more bearable.

Personally I had a great race, feeling strong for the whole 6hrs finishing up 2nd to the very much in form Phil Orr, whom i rode the first two & a half hrs with until he turned the screws that little bit to far for me to sustain on the climbs, with young Scotty Chancellor right there ensuring I didn't slack off, taking 3rd just 40 seconds back after i launched my 6th or 7th attack on the 2nd last lap & finally make it stick.

Phil, Scotty & myself accepting the spoils,
I was happy to stick with Phil for as long as I did in the hilly Terrain as we will be riding TERRA AUSTALIS together, still have to sharpen things up in the next couple of weeks so i don't hold him up too much, Really looking forward to a great week in the Victorian Highlands, was certainly a highlight on the Calender last year.

I'm lead to believe entries are still open, so if you're up for a great week on & off the bike I highly recommend you get on board, for more details check out TERRA AUSTRAIS.

A big thanks again must go out to Andy at Kaos for helping to race prep the steed with a slight set up change, resulting in no Neck & Back pain :-) & of course to Stephen at Mtb Images for these great pics especially the one of me getting lite over the log bridge, it's a corker.

More on TERRA real soon.

Enjoy,

Troy

Vic Enduro Rnd 1 You Yangs

2010-02-16T16:18:00.004+11:00

Game on

The first race of the season is always a bit tricky to know were your form is compared to the rest of the campaigner's even more so due to the uncharacteristically flat nature of the course.

From the gun the hammer went down & stayed down, for those of you have been to the Full gas dirt crits underneath the west gate would understand, this was a full gas crit on steroids, with a 10k lap & 6 down in just 2hrs, that's crazy fast when you're ducking & weaving through trees in the loamy hard pack conditions.

4th wheel in the prologue keeping an eye on things with Rohin from the Total Rush team driving it early.

Five of us got away in an early break, two teams & two other solo riders being Phil Orr(Eventual winner) & Brad Davies(3rd) & myself, I had a feeling due to the nature of the course this could very well be a decisive break, so was eager to do my fair share of work to consolidate the break.

On the gas grabbing a bit of air time.

This would later prove to be the case with Rohin & Steve taking out the pairs & as mentioned Phil & Brad filling 1st & 3rd on the podium & big Joel Reid sneaking through in the later stages to take 2nd.

Still having fun in the bermed creek bed.

As for me around the two & a half hour mark I was starting to feel the effect of my earlier efforts & had to leave the boys in the break to it & settle into my own tempo & try to hang on to 3rd.

Stating to pay for the earlier efforts.......Ouch.

At around three & a half hours Joel had caught me & we did a lap or so together then my neck & back started to really stiffen up causing some major grief, I was left with no option if I was to finish the race other than to pit & seek treatment.

Fortunately for me Scott "scooter" Vercoe from IMPACT MASSAGE was set up with his table next door to the KAOS camp & hooked into my back & neck which enabled me to get out for a few more to finish the job off trouble free, however the half hour off the bike saw me end up down the list on the results page.

If you're in the need of a good massage I highly recommend heading down to see Scooter , he really knows his stuff & loves to ride himself so understands our ailments.

Definitely not all was lost, coming away from the race with some great intensity in the bank & the knowledge that the core definitely needs more work.

Well done Jac for taking out the women's.

A huge thanks must go out to Andy from KAOS for building an absolute weapon of a race bike, being the CLEANSKIN Titanium hard tail all XX'd up & some very blingy super light, super fast custom built wheels with DT Ceramic 190 hubs finished off beautifully with UNION Titanium spokes.

Also a big thanks to Stephen from Mtb Images for these great images.

Catch you on the bike, heading out for a roll with the KAOS crew down the beach, 6.30pm at the shop Tuesday's if you're keen & 7.00am Saturday's.

Enjoy,

Troy

2 weeks in Adelaide for TDU & XC champs

2010-01-31T21:07:00.005+11:00

TOUR DOWN UNDER 2010

Martin Kohler with the tour girls.(Not all about racing)

Whilst life has slowly been getting back to normal, if there is such a thing, let's just say now I'm home, I've been working hard to compute & recap the experience, as so much was condenced into the two weeks spent in Adelaide that it feels like I was away for months.

Anyway for fear of boring you with all the details I've decided to keep the text minimal by sharing my personal highlights of the tour & let my pictures with captions tell the rest of the storey.

Grab youself a cuppa, strap yourself in & enjoy the TOUR DOWN UNDER from the inside looking out on board with TEAM BMC & a bit of MTB NATIONALS just to keep it real:-)

Rolling down a pier at the beach with Cadel & the boys to check out the view after the racing was done.

Definate highlight was getting to know Cadel & a few of the boys on a personal level, mainly the Swiss lads being Martin Kohler (Swiss Junior Champ & Stage 1 Best young rider & sprinters jersey winner), Thomas Frei (Formerly of Astana), Karsten Kroon from the Netherlands(Very experienced pro,Started his Career with Rabobank then moved across to CSC which became Saxobank) & George Hincape (Needs no introduction, Tour veteran & former right hand man for Lance)

The one common thread I noticed amongst the team was a relaxed confidence without even a hint of arogance, there is such a great vibe throughout the whole team, I had a bit of a chat about this fact with Cadel, to quote him,
"I am the happiest I've been in my whole Cycling career due to the fact of being surrounded by such good people, right from the top being Andy Reis, (Co Owner & Sponsor of the team) he is such a cycling enthusiast with a huge passion for the sport which filters down right throughout the team"

It's no secret that when you're happy & motivated is when you produce your best & likewise for those around you, so keep an eye out for big things to come from the BMC PRO TEAM.

Enjoy the photos.

The boys having a laugh before final stage.

You'd be laughing too if your rig looked as good as one of these puppies.

Rolling out with the boys before final stage, the crit, even got to cut a couple of laps with them, mainly chatted to George about Mtb & how he needs to upgrade his XTR to Sram XX.

George & Thomas behind

Rolling around with the boys

Cummon George keep up :-)

Cadel chatting to the boys

Cadel Having a chat to the press.

You may recognise this guy.

Martin & I

Martin & John (Team Director)discussing tactics prior to race.

Karsten Kroon with his game face on.(Mauro Santambrogio behind)

The race is on.

City of churches.

Rabobank provokes the first break which Martin got across to.

Stay tuned more to come.

Troy

TDU & XC champs

2010-01-27T09:54:00.003+11:00

Hi folks I'm back!

Had an Amazing couple of weeks in Adelaide for the Tour down under & National XC champs, hanging out with some very big wigs of our sport & getting to know them as people which was just fantastic.

Have a trillion images to edit & some storey's to tell believe me, keep your eye out over the next few days as I having a feeling you may enjoy!

Well I certainly did & if I can do justice to even half of what I experienced, you should too.

Troy

National XC Champs

2010-01-07T23:44:00.002+11:00

Looks like I'll get a chance to race the National XC champs whilst down in Adelaide!

Managed to get a leave pass from the BMC camp to race in the Veteran class on Saturday morning & will also be racing the teams relay for FullGasPromtions on Thursday as my major commitments don't kick in until Sunday when the actual Tour starts.

Let the good times Roll!!!!

Troy

TOUR DOWN UNDER

2010-01-07T07:20:00.003+11:00

Well folks,

It's official, "I'm excited" Not only am I heading down to check out the Tour Down Under, to see the likes of Lance & Cadel going at it with thousands of screaming fans.

I will actually be involved as Team assistant for BMC, what it actually involves I'm not really sure at this stage, however when I was asked, it took me all of about "3.5 seconds" to accept the job.

As I know more, so will you!

Troy

Support a couple of good causes

2009-12-20T21:34:00.002+11:00

HELP WITH TREKKY'S FIGHT AGAINST CANCER

Own a piece of Australian mountain biking history and support Trekky’s cancer treatment. Up for auction on ebay (item 150397647262) is an official Australian national team jersey signed by members of the Australian mountain bike team that raced the world championships at Mt Stromlo in September 2009. The shirt is a brand new medium sized Santini jersey with MTBA logo as worn by our national team.

Most of the team has signed the jersey including Beijing Olympian Dan McConnell, national champions Rowena Fry and Lachlan Norris and many more including Katherine O’Shea and Paul Van Der Ploeg. All proceeds from this auction will go to assist Brendan “Trekky” Johnston in his fight against cancer.

Brendan was diagnosed with cancer just before the World Championships this year; he had urgent surgery to remove the cancer and amazingly was able to get back on the bike to race the championships and finish 50th. He is now at the start of a long road of chemotherapy. You can read more on Trekky’s website. So help us help Trekky and score yourself some unique Aussie sporting memorabilia. Bid now here.

ANOTHER GREAT CAUSE & AWESOME CALENDER THROWN IN FOR GOOD MEASURE

You can read all about it here, but basically Ride Calendar is about raising money for medical research into brain and spinal cord injury. The calendar is a non-profit initiative and all money raised from the project will go to the Brain Foundation and Wings for Life.

Niki has put together some stunning illustrations, the whole calendar can be viewed online through the wesbite. You can also buy the calendar online and it’s in select newsagents across Australia.

A good cause and awesome illustrations — what more could you want!

Make a great Chrissy present.

All the best!

Troy

Kona 24

2009-11-29T09:52:00.007+11:00

With a big year of pretty much Racing everything this year, Kona was all about just going down to have some fun, test & show off the new 2010 model bikes & generally just do a bit of socializing, cut a few laps & enjoy a good weekend away at a great event.

Well that's what happened in a matter of speaking! Just 24 got crammed into 6.

So with TEAM KAOS entered in the 3 man category, consisting of "Captain Kaos himself Andy", Shane & myself with the emphasis on having fun! There's that word again.

Arriving in Forrest with the Knowledge that I wouldn't be joined by Andy & Shane until mid to late afternoon at best, due to work commitments, then being informed that the mixed 4 Kaos team had two members pull the pin at the last minute, throw in to the mix a good bit race atmosphere & my decision was made, Andy & Shane could join the others to make up the 4 & I would race SOLO!

Feeling good about my decision, just couldn't help myself!
Got off to a good start sitting in second place for the first few hours & loving the brand new Titanium "CLEANSKIN" hardtail all XX'd up, it's an absolute weapon exclusively distributed by KAOS.

Not far into the 5th lap on the hardtail the heavens decided to open, with the course at saturation point due to the heavy storms the night before, but holding up pretty well, this down poor tipped them over the edge causing the trails to deteriorate very quickly with some real boggy section making it heavy going on the legs & even worse the very fast, flowy & smooth descents became littered with breaking bumps like corrugation's on an ungraded Oonadatta track.

My back was starting to ache so I backed it of a little (pardon the pun) for the remainder of the lap, which in turn allowed Bellie to join me, I was looking forward to jumping onto 4 inches of comfort, being my trusty BMC FSO1, settle in for the afternoon & roll around with Bellie for a while, at this point we were sitting in 2nd & 3rd with Jase a few minutes up the road.

Only a quarter of this 6th lap down & my Forks deciding they would give up the ghost, turning my non lock out forks into you guessed it? Fully rigid lock out mode!
Managing to stay with Bellie for the remainder of the lap for moral support more than anything as 40 or so minutes of that torture & knowing the forks were terminal, I knew my race was done as I wasn't prepared to finish the next 18hrs 50mins on the hardtail, given the condition & not to mention coming off a couple of bulged discs in my lower back 3 weeks ago.

So I wished Bellie all the best as we rolled into the pits & watched in disappointment as he rode off for lap # 7.

As night fell so too did the showers, making my retirement from the race a little easier to chew on, by this time Andy & Shane had arrived to we headed on over to the cosy Forrest Guesthouse for a great home cooked meal & some sticky date pudding, helping to ease the empty feeling of abandoning the race.

It's now time to soak up some summer sun, rest the old bones, work on the core a bit before I start to focus on 2010, with the focus looking like it's going to be, TERRA AUSTRALIS & Possibly chasing another stripey jersey:-)

In Sponsorship news, most of you would have already heard DIRTWORKS are no longer the distributors of BMC, they have been picked up by ECHOLON sports from Qld & it seems they will continue with there focus on Road & Tri, therefore unfortunately the Australian BMC Mtb team will be no longer.

A big thanks go out to DIRTWORKS/BMC for all their support & looks like they have some tricky looking new products for 2010, again to Andy at KAOS for his ongoing support, NIGHT LIGHTNING LIGHTS simply the Brightest & best system going round, DEFEET socks & aparel for keeping me comfy, PORTLAND designworks for great CO2 systems & tricky grips, PLANET BIKE for keeping me safe out there, FIRST PLACE OSTEO for getting me back on the bike earlier than expected time & time again, PULSE for a great massage, RECOVERY for keeping me fueled on the bike & healthy off it & MTB IMAGES for all your great pics.

I will keep you posted on 2010 prospects as it unfolds, one thing I will say though it's looking all GOOD!

Have a great summer!

Troy

State Enduro Series Final Round

2009-11-16T20:50:00.006+11:00

Well I did manage to get on the start line at Officer on the weekend for the 6hr held by the Fatties for the last round of the state Enduro series,
Going into it with a slim 11 point advantage over the very much in form Phil Orr.

Not one to make excuses, it was always going to be a tall ask, with the preparation going in basically consisting of me flat on my back for 9 days trying to get over a couple of bulged discs in my lower back, getting back on the bike just 2 days prior, amazingly feeling more comfortable on the bike than any where else, go figure?

We all know about the theory of tapering for an event, however that's bordering on ridiculous, but you've got to be in it to win it!

Before I get into how the day went down, A huge thanks must go out to Dominic from 1stPlaceOsteopathy for all his great advice & 1st rate treatment, without him I wouldn't have been on the start line, Simple as that.

The race started off at a fairly reasonable pace, nothing to crazy, with Adam Gibson being the only Solo rider getting away off the front, as he was not in contention for the series, I was more than happy to let him go, Phil was basically glued to my wheel for the first 4 - 5 laps, right where I wanted him as it enabled me to dictate the pace & keep an eye on him.

Due to being slightly cautious of my back I was opting for Granny gear on some of the steeper climbs, where under normal circumstances i would choose to power up in the middle chain ring, especially with someone like Phil on your wheel, so as not to show weakness,
However I chose to try & conserve, in doing so shifting into granny a smidge too early without enough tension on the chain it dropped passed onto the bottom bracket, causing me to stop to put the chain back on, giving Phil, Joel & Paul a 30 second gap.

Phil chose this to be an opportune time to attack, this being a defining moment in the race, I had no other option than to chase & try & get back on, putting in a decent effort on the next two climbs, they were within reach, then I over cooked it going into the shoot, (any of you who have ridden Officer know where I'm talking about, for those who haven't it's a steep rutted out bumpy descent that kinks left toward the bottom)Anyway I crashed quite heavily ending up with my mid rift wrapped around a fairly chunky tree.

After shaking the dust off & extracting myself from the tree, I couldn't believe I was OK apart from dirt ground grazes rite down the right side of my body, then noticing a wet sensation in my shoe, after checking my bottle for cracks, looked down to see it was indeed claret filling my shoe coming from a decent cut just bellow the knee, coating the shin & calf in a deep shade of Winns Coonawarra Shiraz Vintage 1999,
Proceeding to chase as the cut coagulated & a stoked feeling that the back had survived the impact, it became evident the rear hanger was bent as the gremlins were alive & kicking in the drive train, with a quick stop to realign in the attempt to quieten the gremlins down, I was again on my way.

Continuing to tap away as the heat of the day was kicking in, just hanging onto the slim thought that Phil too could have some bad luck,
That didn't happen, it was Mwa who had another mishap to slow progress in the shape of a flat tire whilst Phil continued to power on to a well deserved win & snatch the series in the process.

O well that's Racing & least I can go away from the experience knowing that I went down swinging.

I ended up 5th on the day & 2nd in the series, definitely no shame in coming 2nd to someone with the XC pedigree & form that Phil has, Congtrates Mate!

Again a huge thanks to Dom for getting me on the start line, Andy @ Kaos for keeping my bikes Running for what has been a long season of racing & to Dirtworks & BMC for your continued support, MTB Images for adding some colour to the report, last & so far from least to all the clubs who hosted the series, we are very lucky riders to have so many great trails all within easy reach of the Melbourne CBD.

Ride On,

Troy

Happy days to "not" in a flash

2009-11-05T13:25:00.003+11:00

With a fun day had by all on Cup day at Ben Randell's, blatting around in his backyard, See Pic bellow.

Very much looking forward to the Gravity 12hr this weekend,
Until yesterday that is, when I put my back out lifting some timber up onto a balcony.

Confirmed today I have a "bulged disc" in my lower spine.........Boo!!!!!!!

Hopefully with a few days flat on back & anti inflammatories, It will settle down enough to get a bit of Dom's(First place Osteo) magic touch & be on the start line for OFFICER 6hr in 10 days time.....Fingers crossed.

Thanks Bellie for the pic, Me about to take flight & Ben on the hunt :-)

Cadel Signs with BMC

2009-11-03T22:48:00.002+11:00

The BMC Racing Team confirmed that it has signed World Champion Cadel Evans to a three-year contract on Sunday. The Australian was released from his Silence-Lotto squad by mutual agreement with the team on Saturday.

World Champion Cadel Evans now rides BMC
Evans made it clear that he is still targetting the Tour de France as a major goal. "I look forward to working with a new team, in a new environment, towards my same goals; honouring the rainbow jersey at the highest level of the sport, and ultimately at the highest step of the Tour de France podium”.

"Obviously, I would like to do better than my two second places at the Tour de France," he said.

Winning a Grand Tour
Cadel Evans took second place in both the 2007 and 2008 Tours de France. Now Cadel Evans wants to win a Grand Tour. “Cadel Evans hear about how our team was expanding by signing big-name riders like George Hincapie, Alessandro Ballan, Marcus Burghardt, Karsten Kroon and other strong racers, and this news immediately fired him up with the idea of riding for such a flexible, engaged and passionate team” explained BMC Bicycles owner and BMC Racing Team co-owner Andy Rihs. The thirty-two year old Australian cyclist who lives in Switzerland is looking forward to building a newly fortified program with the BMC Racing Team. Cadel Evans believes the BMC Racing Team will help him accomplish his goal of winning a Grand Tour.

KaosCustomBikes, Australia’s number 1 BMC dealer, will be proudly supporting both the current World Champion and BMC Racing Team.

SURFCOAST 6hr Mtb FESTIVAL Wrap up

2009-10-28T21:34:00.005+11:00

This event just keeps getting better, with improved trails, climbs rewarded with fun descents linking up with fast & flowing single track, the event village again having a great vibe with the inclusions of a Hawaiian style bar, band & DJ's back again & a big crowd on hand to enjoy the festivities & show their support for the some 465 riders.

Lets not forget it's set on the cliff tops of the great ocean road looking down over Angealsea beach,
Our mate Hui turned on the weather too with an absolute perfect mid 20s day & a nice balmy night, making the ride all that more pleasurable.

Oh ye there was a race on too, with 3 & 6hr on offer to ride Solo or in a team with your mates.

Thanks to Mtb Images once again I can use their pics to help out with my race report.

Got myself off to a good start gaining around a 1 minute 30 lead on the solo field approx 3/4 into the first lap without feeling I was digging too deep.

Then before I knew it I was biting the dust just like this lass, whilst the dust was settling I realised the fourstroke had not got off as lightly as I & was not going to handle as well as usual as the Bars had stapped clean in two......Boo....

Made my way back to the event village thinking my day was done & it was time to enjoy the bar & bands, Event organizer Mick Sheean had other ideas, he graciously had his bike waiting for me to saddle up, thanks "Mick"
Whilst out circulating on Micks Bianchi Carbon Hardtail deep in the traffic, unbeknown to me the boys back in transition where hastily slapping a new set of bars back on my FS 01, thanks "Norm Douglas" for spannering & "Kaos Shane" for the bars.

With everyone else putting in so much effort to keep me out there, it was my turn to put in!
Was always going to be a tall ask giving the likes of Scotty Chancellor & co a 15-20min head start, not to mention clear track whilst I was eating dust back in the traffic.

Didn't stop me from trying though as the legs were feeling good, then when the 3hr race was done I managed to get some clear track & put some hot laps in, the chase was well & truly on, as night fell I knew this meant there was only a couple of hours to go, digging in really deep & the course hooking up well due to a bit moisture in the night air,
My lap times were dropping as the hunted were increasing along with the added encouragement from the other side of the bunting, with Norm again leading the charge with cheer squad in toe & giving me lap splits,

I hooked in harder & harder, giving it everything, I was pulling them back in 2-3minute chunks per lap only to basically be beaten by the clock.

Finishing up a mere 3mins off the podium in 5th place, Oh well you can't win em all & still not a bad result from 160 solo starters & considering the early mishaps.

A big thanks to all concerned for keeping me circulating, Norm had the Formula 1 pits going on with a full pit crew running around, good on you guys, resulting in me having a most enjoyable afternoon of racing.

Plenty coming up too so stay tuned,

- 7th Nov - Gravity 12hr

- 15th Nov - Officer 6hr Last round of State series, in the lead by a mere 11 points after 6 rounds.

- 28th Nov - Kona 24hr

Warmer weather too,

So get out & ride your bike, if don't have one, best you go & see Andy @ Kaos & get one, plenty of flavours to choose from & a great time of year to pick up a bargain on 09 stock!

Troy

SURFCOAST 6hr report

2009-10-26T23:03:00.002+11:00

It is coming, I know so is Christmas.

Been a long day & I'm hooped,
Keep an eye out, was certainly eventful so could be worth a look!

Work smerk, wouldn't it be nice to get paid to ride our bikes!

Even better get paid to sleep/recover!!!!!!!!

Must be sleep writing, because I'm already dreaming!

SURFCOAST 6hr Mtb FESTIVAL

2009-10-25T21:49:00.002+11:00

Was an absolute cracker, if you didn't make it down, Highly recommend you put the weekend aside next year.

Report coming your way soon!!!!

Been a while

2009-10-11T21:34:00.005+11:00

Whilst there is still no shortage of racing on the calender, what with the Yowie at the You yangs last weekend & the Scott 24hr in Canberra this weekend,

I have opted to have a short break as I have only had a handful(a small one at that) of weekends off from racing since the first week of March.

With this in mind I am very much looking forward to finishing off what has been a most enjoyable & quite successful year of racing on high note.

The events of choice are all ones I have previously done & rate highly!

24th October - Surfcoast 6hr Mountain bike festival.
7th November - Gravity 12hr
15th November - Round 7(Final round)of the Vic Enduro series(Current series leader in Solo)
28-29 November - Kona 24hr

So If you're up for a bit of racing I highly recommend these events, they are all great events in there own unique special way.

See you on the startline & be sure to check back here to see how they went down.

Speaking of Events you may well of already heard, CORC has won the bid to host the WORLD SOLO 24hr CHAMPIONSHIPS next year.

In other news, have a squiz over at the Kaos web or drop in to see all the new product & crazy specials they have at the moment, to make room for the soon to land 2010 stock.

Whilst BMC is still very much the focus brand,
Kaos is now the newest Cannondale dealer in Melbourne & they also now offer Custom made TITANIUM bikes direct from the factory to you!
The quality of these frames are second to none & they are a super nice ride at a surprisingly affordable price.
Pop in & test ride one to see for yourself!

Ride on,

Troy

Aply Epix

2009-09-28T23:57:00.002+10:00

All the lads have summed up the day well with Pics, Video, Trail tails & yarns, you'll find all the links you need right here

So not much else to say really, other than I had a great time slipping & a sliding on some fun trails that I had no idea existed around Warandyte, Smiths Gulley & ending up in a great little pub at St Andrews just in time to watch the grand final.

6.5hrs in the saddle on virgin trails(to me anyway)with a good bunch of blokes & finish up with a good feed & beer, happy days & thanks to the boys for making it happen.

Ride on,

Troy

Cadel Wins

2009-09-28T01:48:00.003+10:00

Couldn't help myself, had to stay up & watch the road race world champs in Switzerland & was rewarded with a very exiting last 10km & Cadel riding pretty much the perfect race, making the break on the final climb & picking himself up a rainbow jersey!
The Aussies road a good team race, bridging gaps, driving when needed, getting in breaks & in the process getting Gero in the top 10 too! Just great to watch in such a European dominated sport.

With the world champs coming to Geelong next year,(starting in Melbourne) & Cadel coming down as defending champ, it'll be huge!

Cadel back in the day, Syd Olympics.

Ride on,

Troy

EPIX

2009-09-23T21:30:00.003+10:00

Finally my weekend schedule allows me join the boys on an EPIX adventure,
I'm not going to disclose too much & steal their "thunder" except the fact it is in the forcast,
It's sure to be a hoot & looking forward to a blat in the bush without having a number stapped on.

Read all about it, here! as it approaches & especially after the weekend to find out where we ended up & what went down.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Australian MTBA Marathon Champs

2009-09-21T09:30:00.004+10:00

mtb-images

Aussie marathon Champs have been won & run, Bendigo Mtb club in conjunction with MTBA put on a great event!

It was a sprint finish for the Aussie jersey with Murrey Spink grabbing the Green & Gold, Jase(team BMC) had to settle with silver & Neil VP a mere 100th of a second back to bronze, Exciting stuff!

I had a good day also picking up silver, in the Veteran class(30-40), with a very Strong Taswegian John Darcey turning up meaning business taking out the Gold with Jason Quigley coming through for bronze,
Fellow Kaos rider Leigh Barret finished with a very credable top 10 finish.

Full results can be found here

Bendigo's endless trail network blew me away & the weather was perfect, what more could you want!

Again the BMC Fourstroke 01 was the perfect waepon of choice & thanks again to Andy from Kaos for giving her the royal treatment.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Jeoff Toohey Badly Injured

2009-09-17T22:25:00.002+10:00

Fellow Aussie 24hr Mtb Champion has been hit by a car & is in a serious yet stable condition, read report here.

Fingers crossed for a full recovery mate.

Take care out there!

Troy

National Marathon Champs

2009-09-16T22:46:00.002+10:00

I'll be heading up to Bendigo this weekend for the National Marathon Champs, for those new to the scene, that's 100km point to point, flat stick on varied terrain in the scrub, ranging from single track, 4x4 trails & fire road with a big bunch Euro style start.
With National jerseys, wads of cash & prizes & of course bragging rights up for grabs. By all reports, huge entry numbers too!

So it's looking like a big one.

Check back when the dust has settled to see how the BMC boys have fared.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

WORLDS

2009-09-07T10:01:00.009+10:00

What a weekend,

Nothing short of huge was the UCI Mtb Worlds event in Canberra over the weekend,

I was lucky enough to experience it first hand,

To some it up if it's ok with our fellow neighbours to pinch a word & phrase, Wickid!!! Choice Bro!

Over the coming days, weeks, months I'm sure you'll see & hear all about it so I'll try to keep it brief with a few of my personal Highlights.

FRIDAY- Running up Cardiac climb(Brutal climb) numerous times with cow bell in hand & cheering at the top of my lungs for Lach, Paulie & Cal in the U23 XC, awesome job fellas 11th, 16th & 18th respectively.

FRIDAY NIGHT- Being track side with a good view of the big screen too, seeing Gravey & Caroline take double Gold in the 4X, the Crowd was & went nuts.

SATURDAY- Joel's local trails in the morning & Seeing Macca in the Elite XC go from 54th on the grid to off the front on the fire road before going up Cardiac & holding 4th possie to the top of the climb,Madman! The crowd again was huge with cow bells, horns, whistles & massive cheers for the riders.

SATURDAY NIGHT- Caught up with Stuart Dorland from 24hrs of Adrenaline & chewed some phat about next years 24hr Worlds(more on that later) then it was Party time with all the XC riders & crew.......Fun times!

SUNDAY- To see tens of thousands of people going ballistic at the men's DH was a sight to be seen.
Oh & Kabush just owned the short track, with Paulie, Ben Hendo & Neil(Before getting it sideways in the loose stuff) putting in strong performances.

TRIALS ran all weekend on various courses, very clever cats.

To wrap it up, great to see the worlds best strut their stuff in all discipline's, for me personally, good to catch up with various industry folk & on a whole really good to see so many people sharing the one common thread,

The love of Riding Bikes!

For results, pics, free casts etc check it out here.

I'm sure Paulie will have some fun tails to tell too.

Grover has a good take on how the womens & mens XC races went down.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Vic Enduro Rnd 6 Castlemaine

2009-08-24T18:23:00.003+10:00

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

2009-08-17T18:35:00.009+10:00

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

2009-08-12T23:22:00.004+10:00

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

2009-08-08T14:24:00.009+10:00

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

Jason Wins

2009-07-27T07:14:00.003+10:00

Jase in his finest moment!

Directly after taking line honors to become World Champion!

Congratulations, well done mate!........ Of course he couldn't have done it without his pair of BMC carbon Four stroke 01's.

Read all about it at http://24wsc.com

Give him a day or so & I'm sure Jase with have his take on how it all went down here.

Also well done to fellow Aussie Andy Fellows, managing to get himself on the podium taking 3rd & Jess Douglas running a commendable 4th in the Ladies.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

World 24hr

2009-07-26T21:51:00.004+10:00

Speaking of Aussie Battlers, here's Jase 14hrs into the world 24hr Champs, currently in 2nd place, just 6 minutes down, with a 7 minute gap back to 3rd,
Knowing Jase like I do, he would be right in his element, as he likes a close race to keep his head in the game during the witching hours,
Then smack it home when the sun comes up,

So hears hoping when we, back in OZ wake in the morning, find it has all gone according to plan.

In news on the home front, I was joined by Joel to again take on the XC wippets for round 3 of Chase the sun,
Again finishing just out of the money in 4th palce by just a mear matter of minutes,
A big plus for the day was we all managed to catch the Sun, as it was an absolute ripper of a day!

Some other news which has just been announced, Australia with Officially host the World 24hr Champs in 2010,
More on this later.

Live to ride, Ride to live

Troy

Bit of a run down

2009-07-19T12:10:00.004+10:00

With a small gap in the Enduro race calander Since the Forrest 6hr 2 weeks ago, Ive taken the opportunity to have a bit of a break & get reaquainted with the road bike to help bring the form back up for Rnd 3
Word on the street, Entries are filling fast, so get em in.

Whilst I haven't raced for 2 weeks, there's been 2 little Aussie battlers in particular that have impressed me on the world stage.

Mark Webber getting a champers shower, fair to say he was pretty stoked after many years chasing victory.

Heinrich Haussler, Just 25 Born & bread in the little NSW country town of Inveral, Crossing the line with emotion getting the better of him, sheading a tear whilst taking Victory in the hilly 200km Stage 13 of the tour.
He managed to gap the other riders in the breakaway on a very fast tech descent in the pouring rain "RESPECT"

With the tour heading into the Alps tonight, things are about to get interesting.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

FORREST 6hr Champs Wrap up

2009-07-07T08:24:00.005+10:00

I'll start my wrap up of the Event with a small quote from the Forrest home page.

We had one of the best 6 hour Mens and Womens solo races in recent times. Dan McConnell, Jason English and Troy Bailey kept the crowd entertained for almost the whole 6 hours. Dan McConnell came out the victor with Jason English second and Troy Bailey finishing out a world class top 3.

Must say it was quite the privilege, to be standing on the podium along side this pair of absolute guns at opposite spectrum's of the sport,
Both heading to Canada next week, Dan for some XC world cups chasing UCI points for this years World Champs on home turf & Jase for the World 24hr Champs......... Go Gett'm Boy's!

Even though they well & truly handed it too me & daylight should've been awarded third, thanks for helping break the rest of the competition though,

As I had a fair ding dong battle with Jarrod Moroni & Phil Orr until the going got to tuff for them in the tricky conditions, both pulling the pin about 4hrs in.

With a good gap on the rest of the field it was just a matter of bringing it home to grab my spot on the box.

As you can see by the number, I was entered in a team with a last minute decision to race solo as I was feeling pretty good, glad i did.

Big Thanks to -Norm & the Forrest crew,

-BMC, couldn't think of a better suited bike than the Fourstroke 01 for these trails

-Dirtworks & Kaos for your greatly appretiated on going support.

Last & so far from least my on course Cheer squad :-}

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

FORREST 6hr Champs

2009-07-06T09:20:00.002+10:00

What a Beauty!........ Click on the logo for results & brief race report.

Mine to follow shortly,

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Pics a plenty

2009-06-23T21:13:00.005+10:00

Thanks to mtb images once again for these great pics,

Had some fun with a few to mix it up a bit.

Sequence of a descent

"1"

"2"

"3"

The boys have been building

Lets not forget the climbing, making you see all sorts of pretty colours.

Live to ride, ride to live.

Troy

Rnd 5 Dirtriders 6hr Rock Hop race report

2009-06-21T20:44:00.004+10:00

You can't win them all!

A tough day in more ways than one!

Got off to a good start, holding the lead for two & half laps,

Then the Gremlins came out causing some drive train mechanicals costing me big chunks of time.

I think it was caused by grazing the rear derailleur on a rock in a very tight section.

With the amount of steep climbing on this course, approx 350m per lap, smooth shifting gears was quite important to say the least, wheels don't turn real fast with a chain wedged in between the cluster & the spokes..........Boo

A couple of laps later throwing a chain on a smooth slight downhill???............Hiss

I ended up completing 9 laps, 5th or 6th place, with over 3000m of climbing & due to the early fast pace & spasmodic chasing between mechanicals feeling like a spat out half chew unwanted anchovy from a Pizza.

Great course & should be some good pics to come.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Rnd 5 Dirtriders 6hr Rock Hop

2009-06-20T20:02:00.003+10:00

Headed out today for a practice lap & set up the Kaos camp.

If I'm to restrict myself to one comment!

Bring your climbing legs!

How can you ever stop at one,

With rewards a plenty of sweet trails!

Rnd 5 Dirtriders 6hr Rock Hop

2009-06-17T22:04:00.005+10:00

Click it

It's on this Sunday, with the weather promised to stay good right through until Monday,

Therefore the course should be tip top,

Bit of a call, as we have so many good trails down here in Vic, but I'm calling it & pretty sure I wont be disappointed, well it's damn high on the list anyhow of my favourite trails.

So if you're not entered, get on it.

See you there,

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Geelong 6hr Rnd 4 Vic Enduro series

2009-06-08T20:22:00.003+10:00

GMBC & the You Yangs we solute you!

Again we lucked out with the weather, choosing to rain the night before, leaving the course fast & tacky, leaving us to enjoy the You Yangs Mtb park at it best, whilst it threatened to rain a couple of times, it remained cool & dry all day.

The course it self, with the main descent, needing special mention, was such a buzz, with perfectly apexed bermed corners to rail requiring no brakes at 50k an hr, for me that's where it's at, full noise bombing descents with confidence...........The main advantage to riding this course solo, is I got to ride this descent 13 times including the practise lap................. Toooooooo much fun!

Oh ye there was a race on as well, with one absolute BIATCHE pinch climb which also had to be done 13 times, which evidently I was the 1st to the top of on lap 1, helping Paulie Van D, Willo, Adam Gibson & myself get away to an early lead,

Then lady luck chose not to shine on us, instead sending us to the bottom of the fire road right over the back of the park, resulting in a costly 9-10min detour all due to some local punks moving some bunting & some red mist not having the presence of mind to call wrong way earlier.

From there on, it was all about the chase, grabbing the 2nd fastest lap (teams included) of the day on the 2nd lap & finishing up 3rd in the end behind Evan & Phil respectively.

Lady luck choosing to look the other way on Kev(Team Kaos) in his 1st ever Mtb race, taking a nasty tumble, fracturing #3,4&5 vertibrae in his upper back, word is they are minor fractures &
he will be ok! Here's to a speedy recovery mate!

The 4stroke was again the weapon of choice, simply supurb!

Thanks again to all concerned.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Chase the Sun Rnd 2

2009-06-02T09:20:00.005+10:00

Chase the sun was on like Donkey kong,

Thanks to mtb-images

With Joel coming down again to help me take on the star studded field as long as a Van der plog arm, of XC wippets in the Pro pairs,

Finishing up just out of the money in 4th.

Results & Pics a plenty here

Like everyone we did manage to catch the sun,

Smashing day in more ways than one,

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Bendigo 6hr Round 3 Vic. State series

2009-05-25T06:39:00.005+10:00

Yesterday the Bendigo Mtb club set an awesome fast & flowing course,

Railing, (Thanks Russ Baker for this shot)

Which seemed to suite me, as it all came together, to take out a hard fought win!

I was especially stoked & surprised to have got up due to the quality of the field, there was half a dozen guys in the field of 50 odd solo's, all capable of victory.

From the gun, Evan Franzkie shot off, latching onto a couple of team riders, to gap the rest of us, dozen or so in the next bunch, he lost contact with them on the back fire road, about half way round on the first lap, deciding to sit up & wait for the bunch,

Just as we caught him it started to go up, so I threw in a bit of an attack just to stir things up a bit, as I was feeling pretty good,

Putting in, (Thanks Stephen Rowe for the images)

To my surprise, it worked & managed to put about a 30 second gap in, by the top of that climb,

That's pretty much how it stayed for the next few laps with Evan, Paul Randell & Phil Orr riding together, then Phil came across, breaking up the trio, as soon as he got close I attacked again, I was just thinking if I could maintain the buffer he would have to work to get back on,

Whilst Phil & I where going at it, we manged to open up a bit more of a gap on Evan & Paul, still only by a few switch backs, however.

Then Phil disappeared on the back descent, couldn't believe my luck, he must have binned it!
So I back it off a notch whilst keeping an eye on Evan & Paul
(Later finding out he had flatted),

Negotiating a rocky descent

However being the cunning XC racer that Phil is, he snuck back up using some other riders for cover, as soon as I saw him I attacked again, knowing the gap I had, he must have put an effort in, to get back on, it worked gaining another 30 secs - 1 min buffer,

It went on like that for the next 2 - 3 hrs, Phil would surge, then I would go, In the end I got up by just under 2 mins.

Thanks must go out to Phil especially, for a great race & pushing me all the way,

Big thanks to Andy at Kaos for giving the Fourstroke, the royal treatment, didn't miss a bit & handled the rocky conditions with ease.

Also must thank all my supporters & sponsors listed in the right column, your ongoing support is greatly appreciated.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Six Hours In The Saddle

2009-05-17T21:38:00.004+10:00

Thanks to bicyclephotos for the shot

The S.H.I.T.S was held up in Beechworth on the weekend,

For me it was a race not to be taken seriously, It was all about
having some fun & the Finish Line Events crew didn't disappoint,

Putting together an all new tech 9km course of 95% single track in the
Beechworth Mtb park,

With some rain on Friday night, conditions were a little greasy early on, how ever the rain did stay away all day & the course just got better, by 2pm it had bedded in & was hooking in nicely,
making my last 3 laps to finish off the day with a smile from ear to ear.

So mission accomplished.

If your in the area I recommend you pop in & do a few laps & don't forget to replenish your stores when your done at the Beechworth Bakery.

Live to ride Ride to Live,

Troy

DIRTWORKS 100KM CLASSIC Race report

2009-05-04T19:12:00.005+10:00

A day of jubilation & disappointment,

Mother nature played her part in the best way possible, with the early start time of 6.30am,
The early low cloud/fog help the temps be a manageable cool instead of snapping, in previous years,

Which soon broke into beautiful blue skies in the mid 20s, with a bit of rain early in the week, the course too, was as good as it gets.

I got off to a good start working at the front of what was huge bunch, along the first 8kms of road, just enough to earn my spot, warm the legs & lungs up whilst saving myself for the first climb,
Which was sure to break the bunch up,

Thanks aurora for the images.

It didn't disappoint & worked in my favour, being 2nd up the climb & 3 of us getting away, with one guy dangling about 50m ahead & one sitting on my wheel for the next 10ks, then on one of the many smaller ridge climbs i manged to bridge the gap & drop the guy sitting on.

On the very next decent I hit the front, having some fun in the process, then continued to drive along the ridge line at a decent pace whilst riding within myself, opening up good gap on the main field, by the 50km mark.

Over the next 15km was the rockiest section of the race, with sandstone ledges & loose boulders a plenty, I concentrated on riding the smoothest lines I could as I was again running the light weight Zmin tyres,

Then half way down the last rocky decent of the course, I dropped a ledge, unavoidably hitting a rock square on with the front tyre, cutting the tyre & burping it from the rim,
I promptly stopped to gas it up whilst the stans no tubes tried it's darnedest to seal the cut & re-seal the tyre to the rim,

Pretty rocky.

By the third time I stopped to add more air, the guy in 2nd place went by, hastily getting back on I reached the bottom of the decent, hitting a short, straight, smooth dirt road section, hopefully giving the stans a better chance of doing it's job,

Turning left to go through a gate, the tyre almost rolled off the rim, it was time for a tube,
Whilst putting the tube in a bunch of 8 or 10 went past, dooh!

A few minutes later, once again on my way with my angry pants on, forced to go it alone on the fast bitumen section until Brett court me half way up the last climb, he too suffered some mechanicals earlier on, therefore proceeded to help me absolutely bury myself till I was hard in the box trying to regain position, thanks mate.

Brett & Jase working together early.

We did pick up a few positions, however we just ran out of road, finishing up a disappointing 6th,
Mainly disappointing due to the fact, I feel the cards were played correctly & was pretty confident of taking the win.

Oh well that's racing! As a good friend of mine (Jason Jackson) said yesterday, there are alot of variables have to all come together on the day to win a 100km event.

That's where the jubilation comes into it, when you cross the line & you're informed that your BMC team mate, Jason English has taken out the event, setting a new course record!
It obviously all came together for Jason, he is just going from strength to strength, which is just great to see, well done mate.

Jase taking the win

Cliick on the event logo at the top for results & more images.

A weekend off from racing this weekend, then 5 in a row, more on that later & product reviews coming your way soon.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

DIRTWORKS 100KM CLASSIC

2009-04-29T22:44:00.003+10:00

The Dirworks 100km Classic is on again this weekend,

It's shaping up to be another big event, especially if the Veteran men
catagory is any indication, with some 390 entered in this catagory alone, that sure is quite a few old boys lining up to have a crack.

Be sure to check back early next week to see how the BMC team faired.

I have some tricky new products to review, coming your way soon!!!!!

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Chase the Sun Round 1 report

2009-04-27T22:18:00.003+10:00

Having a crack at Pro pairs chasing some lute with Joel,

Sundays race was a reinforcement to preparation is key,

Due to a late arrival home following the BMC 100 last Sunday night & a very busy week, my race bike didn't get the Andy tickle it needed,

Therefore the new cables installed before the BMC had stretched causing some ghost shifting from the gun, not able to find a happy gear whilst putting the power down trying to stay with the lead bunch,

The poor SRAM chain couldn't hold the strain, snapping at the weakest link so to speak, as the boys road off up the road, I proceeded to run back to the tent where Gerald & Joel hastily got her going again (Thanks guys) whilst I caught my breath from running,

With my angry pants trying in vain to get back on, was really never going to happen with a couple of very windy (to say the least) fire road sections, having to work them alone whilst the boys up front worked together,

Chasing with my agry pants on! Thanks for the image Tim.

After the first lap we were already 5 mins down, however managed to get us back into 5th place,

That's pretty much how it stayed, loosing a minute or two each lap, working alone whilst the guns up front continued working together.

When I say guns,

Check out the quality of the field ahead of us,

1st Torque Bois- Robby Hucker & Luke Fetch

2nd Felt racings - Paul & Neil Van Der Plog

3rd Giants - Murrey Spinks & James Williamson

4th Torque - James Mabus & Steel

So no real shame to be 5th to these XC whippets, especially giving them a head start.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Chase the Sun Round 1

2009-04-26T18:48:00.003+10:00

Chase the Sun Round 1, sure was fun,

Contrery to alot of people beliefs due to weather forcasts,

Lysterfield was at it absolute hooking best.

Report on how it all went down real soon.

Live to ride, ride live,

Troy

BMC 100km Classic

2009-04-19T22:26:00.006+10:00

BMC 100km Classic was run & won today,

The best 100 km marathon course ever, with 75-80km of
single track & predominantly fast & flowing at that,

It's quite apparent the Woodend wombat trail crew have been very busy,
building new trails obviously designed with the BMC fourstroke 01 & our riding
pleasure in mind,

As I had an absolute ball & the fourstroke just ate the trails alive,

I finished up 2nd in the Veteran class to Benny Randell,
& 16th overall, not too shabby considering the cream of the crop turned up from far & wide to make up 1200 entrants, click on the wombat for results.

Jas picked up 2nd also, to Matt Fleming in the Elite men.

A huge thanks must go out to Andy from Kaos for getting my bike race fit again, after two stage races, with numerous creek crossings,
a couple of solo 6hr Enduros & a few crits, was certainly up for a bit of TLC the Andy way, full strip down & rebuild, the result.......... didn't miss a beat.

My race wheels, nice & light built by the man himself, consisting of STANS 355 rims, DT 240 hubs & some mighty colourful TI spokes, with the Ritchey Zmin tyres were the perfect choice for the tacky single track condition, accelerating especially well out of the tight corners later in the day when the legs were not so fresh.

If your bike is feeling a little sluggish & can't afford a new one, the best performance upgrade you can give your old bike is a nice light wheel set & no one builds them better than Andy at Kaos, so why not pop in & have a chat.

The BMC team were all lucky boys too, receiving our super sleek new Lazer Genisis Helmets & BBB sunnies.

A great day was had by all & if you didn't make it on the day, I highly recommend heading to Woodend.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

24hr Solo Nationals

2009-04-13T21:15:00.003+10:00

Firstly my apologies for not getting stage 4-7 of Terra Australis to you as yet,
I do however have some very valid reasons,

With a very busy week shortened by Easter & to be totally honest, still feeling far less than great,

Then I proceeded to head to Canberra for the 24hr Solo Nationals over Easter, however due to my health, not to race! to support Kaos & BMC's own, Jac & Jason respectively.

A successful 24 it was for both of them,

With Jason taking out the win in the mens, Picking up his second consecutive National jersey & ticket to Canada for the Worlds,

Canberra's Dan Mackay took out 2nd, pushing Jas all night getting to within a couple minutes around day break, then with the rise of the sun Jas found his second wind, bringing it home,

Queensland's very own Andy Fellows was also still in the hunt until the early hours of the morning, eventually fading & hanging on for 3rd.

Jac finished a very credible 7th in the womens & an excellent result of 2nd in her age group,
It took Jac a while to find her groove, however as darkness fell, Jac got in the zone & rode very consistently all night picking them off 1 by 1, I'm sure her Night Lightning lights gave her an extra bit of confidence too, turning the pitch black Majura Pine forest into day.

Congratulations to both Jas & Jac & huge thanks must go out to Mel & Dave of the Kaos crew for their superb job of support crew for Jac.

Congrates must go out to Jes Douglas for taking out the win over Katrin(current #2 in the world)
& commiserations to Johnny Claxton & Mark Fenner, both DNF for their own reasons, click on there names to hear why in their own words.

Keep an eye out for the final wrap up of the Terra Australis as it was an absolute cracker of an event & I'll do my best to due it justice.

Speaking of great events, the BMC 100 is on again this weekend in the awesome trails of the wombat forest, Woodend, Vic.

So plenty to report on, in the near future.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

TERRA STAGE 1

2009-04-07T16:55:00.002+10:00

TERRA STAGE 1 Falls Creek - Mt Beauty
96km, 2600m+vertical gain

The hits keep coming!

It was always going to be a tough, especially when I was woken up at 5.30 Saturday morning with my throat closed up struggling to breath, due to a severe throat infection & flu like symptoms, no doubt brought on by a stressful week, not enough sleep & not allowing the body to recover from last Sundays 6hr, with a bout of concussion thrown in for good measure.

Any how, on with the show, to sum it up, I certainly wasn’t feeling great, however had a reasonable start & was holding good position, then the wheels fell of so to speak, about 20km in I started to suffer from a severe lack of power, then copped a side wall slash to the rear tire on a fast rocky virgin trail decent which the Stans did seal for a while,

Getting to the bottom of the first descents in front, it was all down hill from there, so to speak!

Time for a tube, then another, then picked up a bit of debris off the track bending my rear dérailleur hanger, so a bit of bush mechanics was required,

All & all not the start we were hoping for, still managed a 4^th place, 5 & 8 minutes down 2 Torque teams consisting of James Mabis, Pairing up with the owner of Torque & Dan Mac With Luke Fetch also suffering a few mechanicals, With Mark Fenner & Sam Back taking the Stage win in just under 5hrs.

The one consolation to all this, it was certainly one of the most scenic rides I have done & the word is there is a whole lot more to come, did I mention the weather was absolutely magic.

Thanks must go out to Joel for his patients on what was a pretty trying day.

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

TERRA STAGE 2

2009-04-07T16:36:00.002+10:00

TERRA STAGE 2 Falls Creek – Dinner Plain

106km, 2200+m elevation gained

Another tough day in the saddle, crossing a huge valley from Falls Creek to Dinner Plain {just down the road from Mt Hotham}

With some more very steep, true granny ring climbing rewarded with all out bombing, super fast descents, choosing some tractor like tires getting us through without flatting even though the rolling resistance suffered a little on some of the flatter faster fire roads, worth the trade off I reckon, as your not too quick on the side of the track playing bush mechanic.

Feeling a bit better today & getting through pretty much unscathed apart from a twisted chain about 10km from home, with a bit of a tweak got us across the line without loosing too much time & thanks to the event mechanics for sorted me out with a nice new Sram chain.

The boy's burning the candle.

We came across the line in 3^rd place behind Mark & Sam, with the stage win going to D Mac & Luke.

The highlight of the day again being the spectacular scenery & the perfect autumn weather, not to forget throwing the fresh mountain air into the mix.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

TERRA STAGE 3

2009-04-07T15:00:00.004+10:00

Stage 3 Dinner Plain - Bright
74km, 1220m elevation gained, 2480m elevation lost

These stats could be easily read as an easy day, this would prove to not be the case, Feeling a bit better again today with the course predominately going down, I thought this might be our chance to make back a bit of time,

So after the controlled start of a couple of km I went to make a breakaway, that lasted no time at all with D mac & Luke pulling me in & drove right by, soon after Mark, Sam & Joel were back on & we all worked together trying to pull them back on the climb up to Mt Hotham & then up to Mt Loch,

With the views, totally breathtaking, although chewing the stem could have had something to do with that too.

They had put a fair gap in, therfore we were on the rivit all day trying not to loose too much time to the D mac train, it was a super fast stage, some fire road descents up in the high 70km/hr with the 20km flat run in to bright averaging 40km/hr putting a different kind of hurt into the legs, from the previous two days of climbing, only to find out later that Dan was holding high 40s - 50 on the run home.

Not all was lost, we managed to put some more good time in the teams behind to consolidate our overall 3rd placing.

More to come, going to roll the legs out with the Kaos crew.

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

Terra Australis report

2009-04-06T10:45:00.004+10:00

In a word,.....WOW!!!

Without a doubt one of the best events I've experienced, with all the right ingredients,
Extremely challenging terrain with stunning scenery, really well organized (hats off to Iain, Clayton & the whole Finish Line events crew), Great people with lots of laughs & friendships forged & perfect weather all thrown in with the fresh mountain air.

Joel & I finished up 3rd overall behind the Total rush boys of Mark Fenner & Sam Bach, With victory going to the Torque Pair of Dan Mac & Luke Fetch.

Full report coming your way in the next couple of days.

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

Terra Australis

2009-03-28T00:26:00.002+11:00

Terra here we come!

Should be able to keep an eye on how it's going down daily,

Read on,

TWITTER

Tell your friends and family they can follow your progress in Terra
Australis live. Updates including live results, photos and video will be
posted via Twitter during the course of each stage. Registering for Twitter
is very simple, just go to www.twitter.com <http://www.twitter.com/> and
follow the registration process. It seriously takes 1 minute.

Once you have registered search for TerraAustEpic and start following.

The full results of each stage will also be available through
www.terraaustralismtbepic.com <http://www.terraaustralismtbepic.com/> at
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

Round 2 Vic. Enduro Series, Mt Beauty, report

2009-03-23T08:52:00.003+11:00

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 Vic. Enduro Series, Mt Beauty

2009-03-20T21:57:00.002+11:00

Hi ho hi ho, off to Mt Beauty we go,

Any excuse is a good 1 to head to Mt Beauty,
Be there or be square,

For those of you unfortunate square ones,
have a squiz back here early next week, to see how it all went down.

& remember,

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

ENDURO SEASON

2009-03-15T19:20:00.002+11:00

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

BMC Mts to Beaches Clean sweep

2009-03-09T18:14:00.002+11:00

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

New BMC team mate & Website

2009-02-22T21:28:00.004+11:00

Welcome & well done to young Brett Anderson, our newest addition to the Australian BMC Mtb racing team, from South Australia,

Check his profile out at www.teambmc.com.au
On our new Australian BMC Mtb racing team Website.

Picking up a very respectable top 5 placing, in the Otway Odyssey, on the weekend, finishing just behind some very big names in our sport,
1st Chris Jonhgerward
2nd Dan Maconell
3rd Murrey Spinks
4th Adrian Jackson

Rumor has it, he's a training partner of Chris Jonhgerward, this is one rumor I'm lead to believe.

I didn't participate, choosing to focus on other races, so thanks for flying the BMC flag nice & high Brett.

With all focus now on the "BMC" Mountains to Beaches event, March 1-6.

Click on the flyer for details.

With Jas & Brett entering solo, Joel & I entered in pairs, with a bit of luck we should have all bases covered for this great inaugural event,
Bring it on,

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Poor Willo

2009-02-17T21:59:00.002+11:00

Had a call from James (Willo, Current World Solo 24hr Elite Champ) Williamson this afternoon, the poor fellow was out on the Yarra trails this morning doing some final prep for this weekends Otway Odessy,

Coming a cropper & went cartwheeling down an embankment/cliff, breaking his collar bone & ending up in the yarra, having to swim with a broken wing, to save his bike that was floating away,

Lucky it was carbon!

So if anyone wants to buy a cheap entry or needs somewhere to stay in Apollo bay, drop me a comment with your email address & I'll pass it on to him.

Here's to a speedy recovery mate.

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

Bush fire fundraiser 6hr Enduro Wrap up & Results

2009-02-15T21:46:00.006+11:00

Today sure was a successful one, with over $35,000 raised by the Victorian Mtb Community, for the Bush Fire victims at the 6hr Enduro out at the You Yangs.

There was a great atmosphere with over 300 competitors, a tough yet fun course was set, with plenty of climbing & some of the fastest bermed flowing single track you'll find anywhere.

It was on from the gun, with Willo (Racing in a pair with Nicky) & Clacker (Solo) setting the early blistering pace, I made a conscious decision to hold back & ride a more realistic pace due to the amount of climbing, whilst keeping an eye on Evan Franzke (Kona Solo rider) a couple of switch backs ahead.

Then the race started to play into my hands, passing Clacker whilst he was on the side of the track after crashing, then a couple of laps later passing Evan whilst taking a drink in his tent.

Clacker catching me at about the 3hr mark, telling me he was suffering from a sore shoulder due the crash, doing half a lap together he then flatted, not long after deciding to pull the pin.

Whist maintaining a strong & steady pace at the 4hr mark I was holding a 5-10min gap on Evan,
deciding not to give chase to save his legs for Otway next weekend.

That ladies & gentlemen was the ball game as I had half an hour on Geoff Weitz taking 2nd, allowing me to finish up 20mins early.

Got to be happy with that, picking up some good early points in the Vic Enduro Series, as it was the 1st round.

Jac did well picking up 2nd in the womens Solo.

So a good day was had by all!!!

Thanks to the Kaos Crew for feeding & taking care of Jac & I,

To BMC for providing the ultimate Enduro race bike(FOURSTROKE 01), it almost feels like cheating this bike goes so well, climbs like a hard tail & handles like a dream on the descents, with the RITCHIE Z min tires hooking into the dry conditions perfectly.

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

Bush fire fundraiser 6hr Enduro

2009-02-12T17:24:00.004+11:00

With the HDATO 8hr in Eidon being a little close to this for comfort,

It's been moved to the You Yangs, all entry fees & funds raised will go directly
to help the victims of the devastation,

King lake will never be the same!
It really hits home when you know these places, amongst others, all to well.
So come on down to the You Yangs & show your support,
Enter at www.entryzone.bighillevents.com.au
Rego 8.00 - 9.30
Race 10.00 - 4.00
As usual solo or teams.
In other news,
Whilst we have been burning, London has been freezing.
A positive swing,
These races are looming, get on them, you only live once!
Click on the Images for details.

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

Rocky Riders State XC round

2009-02-07T18:49:00.002+11:00

For those heading up to Castlemaine tomorrow
for the Rocky Riders State XC round,

It has been moved from the Pines to Jubba land,
due to extreme fire danger & related permits,

Not a bad trade off if you ask me,

Whilst the Pines are great, Jubba land rocks!

With today being a day for hibernation playing with bikes at Kaos head quarters,
due to the hottest day on Victorian records,
46.5 degrees in Melbourne &
a fair bit hotter out in the country with a big portion a Blaze!!!!!!!

A cool change on the way & hopefully some well needed rain,
To help the CFA & settle the dust for a us.

See you there,

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Dirt Crits

2009-02-05T22:42:00.004+11:00

Coming into a little bit of form at the FGP Dirt Crits tonight,
Nudging out Willo to pick up 2nd to A.J.

With the Introduction of a bit intensity this week, coming off good miles &
a pretty solid strength phase, hopefully a sign of good things to come.

Must say my BMC Fourstoke 01, without a dought made my job a whole lot easier.

Thanks to Stephen Rowe for the Images.

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

Updates Coming soon!!!!!!!!

2009-02-02T22:30:00.003+11:00

Must apologize for the lack of posting!

Certainly not due to nothing happening, that's for sure!

One thing you can be sure of, I've been riding my "bikes" loads,
working heaps,

In a nutshell it's been a very busy start to the year!

Even melted into a puddle last week,
Finally solidified again.

I'll fill you in on what's been going on, what's coming up & give you the low down
on the new BMC Ferrari!!!!!!! I'll be racing this year!

Ok, maybe not a Ferrari,
However my new Four Stroke 01!!!!!! feels like one in the dirt,
It's a dead set Thoroughbred!!!!!

So stay tuned, a whole lot more to come as soon as I find the time,
Not forgetting my long ride home!

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

BMC Demo day

2009-01-16T17:01:00.002+11:00

BMC's new 2009 range of Mountain & road bikes will be on display
& better still ready for you to test ride,

This weekend out at Lysterfield, by the lake at Trailmix, so come out for a fun filled
weekend & test ride your bike of choice,

Myself along with other BMC crew will be leading out bunches on the dirt & road, from 8.30-4.00 both days.

Just be sure to bring your own peddles & some Id!

See you out there.

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

Sydney to Melbourne Peddling Styles

2009-01-16T16:57:00.002+11:00

The storey of my journey is still, work in progress!

Coming to you soon!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas/ New Years Break

2009-01-12T22:15:00.004+11:00

I'm home sweet home & Happy New Year folks.

As mentioned I headed to Sydney to spend Christmas & New Years with the family, which was great!

Whilst up there I also started back into my base phase of training, heading out early each morning for a few hour to beat the heat & start prepping the body for the trip home.

Which in summary was the most enjoyable base phase, bar none, 1380km in 9 days,

Via the south coast of NSW, up to Canberra, Back down to Lakes Entrance via Cooma & Delegate, round the bottom of VIC & zig zagged my way back to Melb. through the rolling hills of dairy farms & vineyard country.

Full storey with pics a plenty coming your way over the next few days.

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

All Smiles

2008-12-25T05:16:00.003+11:00

With the Worlds,
& Work,
Behind me, what's left to do?

Head to Sydney for Chrissy with the Family & then Ride home!

What a great idea!
Nutrition packages packed & sent to designated Hotels.

& the New Nokia Navigator to help me find my way,

Should be an adventure, if nothing else, should be nice & fit when I return, or completely Stuffed,
One or the other, tipping combo of both.

Be sure to check back after the 12th of Jan to see how I faired.

Have a bit of a scroll down to check out my new toys & the year that was, 08.

All the very best.

Live to Ride, Ride to Live,

Troy

Christmas Comes Early

2008-12-25T03:52:00.003+11:00

Introducing the newest edition to my Quiver, team elite 03 is the model & it's hard to believe there is 2 models above this as it's soooooooo sweet!

Yep that's right, she's a hardtail & a Single Speed @ that.

Crank Brothers coming on board,

As do Ritchey, that rymes with tricky,

Z Race look nice, will be sure to let you know how they handle,

Keeping it all alloy, with Richey Pro, bar, stem & post, Bullet proof!

With Fox gone to a clothing company, bring on Manitou.

Did someone say tricky,
That's exactly what these exzentriker trickstuff bottom brackets tensioner's are,
Brought in by the man himself, Captain "Kaos" Andy @ you guessed it, Kaos Custom Bikes.

Received my new apply named Racemaster a couple of weeks ago.

I think rocket ship sums it up pretty well!
With a set hand built wheels by the man himself "Captain Kaos" Andy, built for speed & reliability & of course, colour coded to the frame in the new Black, "BLING"

The Schwalbe Ultremos will be staying on untill I where them out, judging by the last set, that's about 8000km away, without a flat mind you, Touch wood on repeat performance.

Seriously, this is without a daught the quickest bike I've ridden, with less effort this is the only view your mates will get in a sprint,

As the BMC RaceMaster will do it all for you! Well almost.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas & remember,

Live to Ride, Ride to Live,

Troy

08 A Memorable year for Team BMC Aus

2008-12-24T18:57:00.004+11:00

What a year it was for team BMC

Jas from broken back to Cover of Enduro/2nd in the World.
Grab a copy of issue # 9 for an interesting read, an interview with Jas, available at all good news agents.
We are all there actually, looking our best of course.

I was pretty chuffed to get a full page shot in the same issue.

Cool cover!........ Not a bad read too, just quietly.

The next issue BMC ran an add with the same shot, got to be happy with that!

Go Aussie,
With the "Willonator" leading the way, whom is now my new house mate!
The race is on! for the bathroom that is.

Which brings me to next years focus, Stage races! Fun Times!

Be sure to make some room in your calender for both these events, they are sure to be absolute crackers!

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

It's Coming

2008-12-21T23:25:00.002+11:00

So is Christmas........

Maybe even a little early.........will elaborate later.

With another Jamb packed weekend of work, fun stuff &
to be completely honest, weather just far too good to be sitting in front
of a computer screen.

Heaps of cool stuff to post coming as soon as I find/make time,
So keep an eye out.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Busy Busy

2008-12-18T21:03:00.002+11:00

It's certainly that time of year again!

Busy busy in all realms,

Flat out like a lizard drinking...............etc, etc, etc,

So there certainly has been a whole lot going on of late,

I'll try & bring you up to date on the weekend,

Next year is shaping up to be a cracker......... more on what's to expect there too!

Hope the Silly/Festive season is treating you all well!

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

Australian MTBA Marathon Champs

2008-12-07T22:29:00.004+11:00

Today I headed up to Wandong to pre-ride the,

Australian MTBA Marathon Championships course,

With photographers present in order to help promotion of the event,

One thing I can say, this is sure to be a great event in true European marathon style &
with an Australian jersey up for grabs it will be on for young & old.

A great day was had by all!

Pics & Links to follow.

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

Bens Ok

2008-12-04T06:34:00.003+11:00

For those who where up late last night, having a look around,

Bellie posted a photo with a helmet with some pretty bad cracks in it,
Then there was a comment from Richard who was on the Fatties ride with us,
mentioning he would like to know how Ben got on at the Hostpital,

For those who weren't out blatting around on the Yarra trails last night,
Ben Randell had a head on with a virtual brick wall, one of the biggest most solid guys you're likely to see on a bike, at speed too!

I was on Ben's wheel at the time, his head pretty much buried into this guys shoulder with enough force to crack his helmet in quite a few places & once Ben had got his breath back from a pretty nasty winding, couldn't remember much of what had happened, or that afternoon for that matter.

So it was time for Ben to take a ride in a Van with flashing lights & bed in the back,

Consequently, I received a text late last night from Ben saying he was out of Hostpital with a mild concussion & a sore back, essentially he will be OK!

Therefore those of you out on the trails, especially this time of year, there is allot of traffic out there with many blind corners & whilst accidents do happen,

Expect the unexpected to be round the next corner!

Check out Bellie's blog for a different spin on the event, he had his camera too!

Take care Ben, something is obviously telling you to rest up & good luck on Monday too mate, where he goes back to the big white house to get a piece of bone removed from his hand!

Live to ride, ride to Live,

Troy

Impressive Entrance to Wedlock

2008-11-30T23:10:00.002+11:00

I know this is supposed to be a racing blog,

However with this post I the wed,

I'm sure most of you would already know, Ash "Epix" Thomas, Former World cup XC junior, Founder of the Felt Enduro racing team.

Was married this weekend at one of the nicest country homesteads on the Murray your likely to see,

With an impressive entrance to the altar on the beach,

Putting on a show for his guests,

Turning up on his wakeboard.

The happy couple..............Awww

BMC Takes the Double

2008-11-30T19:24:00.003+11:00

Yep......Hot off the Press.......BMC take the double!

With Jason & Jac taking out the Male & Female Solo
Categories, at the Kona24hr down at Forest in Victoria.

With both Jason & Jac getting the job done on their
always performing BMC fourstrokes!

Jac with the added advantage,
of a pair of Hand built wheels by Andy the man himself of KaosCustomBikes,
Nightlightning lights turning night into day for her &
Maybe a few coaching tips from Mwa!

To Jac's credit she has been working really hard on her fitness with heaps of time on the bike & working just as hard on her skills with Jes & Norm at Mtbskills.com.au,
So a big congratulations to you Jac!

Jason continues his unstoppable form with another convincing win!
Well done mate!

Congrates must also go out to young Scott Chancellor for taking out 2nd & Fellow Worlds competitor Carl(the man)Maroney picking up third, not a bad effort for a guy in the 40+ category, making him more than double Scott's age! Youth VS Experience at it's best.
Nice work guys!

Results aren't up yet, knowing the fullgas crew, they wont be far away,
You will find all the detailed results here!

Live to ride, ride to Live,

Troy

Confucius Say

2008-11-27T22:39:00.003+11:00

Man who eat many prune, sit on dunny seat for many moon!

If only that was the cause,

With my blood test results back, indicating that all my levels are apparently back to normal & the docs diagnosis, a nasty virus.

So I'll take that as a win I guess, even though energy levels are still low, just have to eat well & more rest, easier said than done when work is coming out of every orifice!

On that note, you may have guessed Kona24 would not be wise,

Ironically wasn't on my schedule anyhow, as my trusty apprentice Ash & Em are to be wedded this weekend, therefore a relaxing weekend on the Murray with friends to help celebrate this occasion is in order.

Good luck to Jas, Joel & Jac all flying the BMC flag solo this weekend!

Live to ride, ride to live,(Taken literally, I've been dying of late)

Troy

PS. The plan previously spoken about has been put on hold, pending variation, due to health.

Reverse Lights

2008-11-18T07:02:00.004+11:00

The reverse lights have been well & truly on!

For over a week now I been feeling far less than myself,

With hopefully hitting rock bottom toward the end of last week,

With work being an absolute battle Thursday & Friday, suffering from the runs, aching body & absolute no energy,

After locking myself away for the whole weekend, with a whole bunch of good wholesome food & slept for most it.

Feeling a little better for it, however still not right,

I managed to get to the Docs yesterday, following a thorough examination bloods were taken!

So hopefully they will show up what's a miss.

Need to get right! Before I embark on what I'm planning to do in a months time!

More on that later!

Hi Ho, hi ho, I gotta go.

Live to Ride, Ride to Live,

Troy

Update

2008-11-13T18:58:00.001+11:00

Hi guys,

Must apologize for lack of reports & news as promised,

I have been absolutely flat out & today i feel like

absolute shit!

Barely got through work,

Need to go to bed, haven't even got the energy to go to the doctors, to find out what the .......

is wrong with me.

let along write something inspirational.

will get em done ASAP.

Troy

Report & News

2008-11-06T22:36:00.002+11:00

Having an extremely busy week,

Golden Triangle report & some interesting/exiting news to come ASAP!

Live to Ride, Ride to Live,

Troy

Golden Triangle 105km Epic

2008-11-04T23:51:00.004+11:00

With the Golden triangle 105km Epic Marathon being run & won on Sunday!

I picked up 2nd Place in the Hotly contested Veterans class.

With a full report to follow real soon.

So be sure to drop by again to get the dirt on how it all went down, it was certainly eventful! To say the least.

Plenty more news on the horizon too, so stay tuned.

Live to Ride, Ride to Live,

Troy

SURFCOAST 6hr Mtb FESTIVAL Wrap up

2008-10-26T20:30:00.007+11:00

Sometimes not even the power of the No. 1 plate can help!

Which I did earn from taking out the Inaugural event last year,

Yesterdays race was not to be my day, In a nutshell I had one goal for this race & that was to defend my No. 1 plate!

Off the gun I went out with the lead bunch feeling pretty good until the cloud lifted raising the temperature from the already pretty warm high 20s, to bloody hot mid 30s, about an hour & a half in the pace was pretty quick & with my average heart rate hovering around 5 beats off my max for that period of time in that sort of heat would rarely end well,

Causing some major overheating, even though I was keeping well hydrated, the effort I put in to stay with the leaders basically cooked me like a well done chook, even when I backed the pace off, my heart rate would not come done, this is definite cause for concern, apart from feeling like "total ass",(to use a quote from a film I'm sure most of you have seen, "24 Solo", If you haven't I highly recommend you do).

Therefore I had no other option than to abort mission! Thankfully I made it back to the Kaos tent for some shade, cold water sponge & a lie down, half an hour later, my core temperate had come down & with the sun lowering so was the air temp.

Just to add a bit of colour!

So I thought I'd head out for another lap to see how I felt, forgetting about the race & just cruised around enjoying the course still not feeling great, then by 8pm with 2hrs to go & the temp pretty nice I stated to feel a bit better & managed to cut a few decent laps to save a bit of face, coming back from stone motherless last,

To 6th place & managed to get a day & night lap on the top 20 overall fastest lap board.

Well done to Scotty Chancellor (Orbea) for putting me in the total hot/hurt box & taking out the win!

The Koas flag flew nice & high dispite my miss fortune,

With Jac picking up 3rd in the Womens Solo in her very first Mtb event "Excellent job",

Shane, Ben & Dave taking out the Male 3s, "Nice work boys."

Kaos Lees just getting pipped for a podium, placing 4th in the hotly contested Male pairs, well done to Grover & Sean for taking it out.

A special thanks goes out to Martin who took care of Jac & My Nutritional Needs especially helping me to cool down when I came in almost dead.

As always a Huge thanks to my Sponsors/Supporters who's links you will find on the side of this post especially to Andy from Kaos for the great race prep on the bike
& of course the Night Lightning Blast II performed nothing short of brilliantly, turning Night into day allowing me to be the only solo rider on the top 20 Fastest night lap board.

Finally a big Congratulations goes out to Mick & the Crew from Southern Exposure for putting on a Stella event with a super good vibe, great track, a swag of awesome prizes & managed to grow it 4 fold from last year, reaching the capped limit of 400 riders, well done guys.

Live to Ride, Ride to Live,

Troy

Spinning Surly Steamroller Styles & BMC's 4sale

2008-10-19T19:20:00.006+11:00

In previous posts I have mentioned what a great range of products dirt works distributes

The Surly Steamroller Single Speed is certainly on that list of great product, just so happens that it is the newest addition to my quiver.

I've had an absolute ball the last couple of weeks spinning my heart out chasing bunches up & down the beach,

With this weekend being no exception, yesterday dubiously doing the hell ride, one of the fastest bunches getting around, to my pleasant surprise managed to stay with the bunch till the end, getting 100ks in just 2hrs & my average heart rate just 18 beats of my max.

Today not being any different heading out to Glenvale Crits whilst avoiding Around the bay like the plague, getting a solid 1hr effort in just 12 beats of my max on average for the hour, all at about 120 rpm...........Ouch

Great form chasing training for next weeks Surfcoast 6hr.

Whilst I've been spinning away on the steamroller, my trusty BMC Roadracer has gone up
"FOR SALE"
as the word on the street is my new 09 BMC bikes are due very soon!

The bike is pretty much as in the picture less the wheels, it has

- Mavic race equipe wheels,
- Durace components,
- Carbon bars & seatpost
- Has a brand new bottom bracket
- It's a 53cm 2008 BMC Roadracer, Superlight alloy frame with carbon rear triangle & forks.

Sure it's done a few ks, however it is less than 1hr old, in great condition, very well maintained & absolute Steel at $2600.00

So pop into see Andy at Kaos Custom Bikes & take it for a spin & while your there check out the Brand new 09 BMC's as he has a couple of demos in store.

A sneak peak at BMC 09 Racemaster
& Fourstoke 02.

Keep an eye out as my race bikes will soon be up for grabs too, being a Current model BMC Trailfox 01 & Fourstroke 04, both well specked & maintained for around $2500-$3000.
If interested drop me a comment.

Live to Ride, Ride to Live,

Troy

SURFCOAST 6hr Mtb FESTIVAL

2008-10-17T13:27:00.002+11:00

Yes folks it's on again, just a little over a week away,

so be sure to get your entries in to avoid missing out on all the fun on & off the bike!

Click on the header above for all the entry & weekend details.

See you all there,

Live to Ride, Ride to Live,

Troy

Scott 24hr Aus.champs. Race report.

2008-10-14T17:22:00.006+11:00

Jacs new Outback packed, bikes lock & loaded, Thursday eave we headed North for Australia's capital city, what a smooth comfy drive at that, certainly made the 7 hrs a whole lot more bearable that's for sure.
The Kaos, BMC, Nightlighting camp set & head out for a practice lap on Friday with James Williamson, Sean Lewis & Matt Flemming,

Very happy that I did as it became evident there was a distinct lack of grip out on course due to the extremely dry, firm base with a light dusting of loose sandy shale over the top, not to mention rocks & heaps of them.

With the knowledge of the course conditions I decided to go for the more aggressive tread, softer compound Nobby Nic tire on the front of both bikes, especially with the amount of sharp rocks out on course therefore allowing me to run a slightly higher pressure yet still have plenty of grip & more importantly allowing me to hook into the loose corners with the confidence instead of concerns of the front end washing out.

The congregation for riders briefing gives you a good idea of the size of this event.

As does this shot, the sea of bikes awaiting their captains 90 seconds before the gun went off.

From the gun, It would appear fireman Sam Bach has been neglecting his duties as the Total Rush boy was certainly in one hell of a rush & on fire to boot, with his team mate Mark Fenner not mucking about either.
The Giant Nightlightning boys of Johnny Claxton & Geoff Williams were in hot pursuit going lap for lap.

Whilst not surprised by the early pace up front, Joel & I had decided to run double laps from the start due to heat of the day, giving us approx 90mins on & 90mins off at a slightly more realistic pace, allowing us to cool down & eat some real food, instead of 40 0n 40 off in the red zone giving chase.

It's a long race & given the distinct lack of training both of us had done since the worlds, not to mention myself carrying a couple of injuries that I was not 100% over, going out hard was not an option if we were to avoid ending up looking like this truck.

With all this said we punched out some consistent pretty quick lap times, 6 laps in, only4 minutes off the Giant Nightlightning boys, then all our good work & strategy went out the window, with me puncturing & the hole being to big for the stans liquid to seal.............."cop a loss, i'll just throw a tube in & be on my way", simple right?

Only to be stranded track side for half an hour attempting to get the tubeless valve out of my wheel........thanks to the two dirtworks guys who stopped to help "who's names escape me", between the three of us we managed to get the nut off, leaving us all with sore thumbs.

With this loss of time it put us back into 4th, 20 mins in arrears of the local team Queenbean in 3rd & about 35mins off the Giant boys in 2nd with the Total Rush boys another 10mins up the road.

So with some time to make up, night falling along with the mercury, it was time to throw some hot single laps in, with a couple each under the belt we had pulled back to within 4 mins of 3rd,
now it was time go back to doubles, consolidate & ride strong through the night, by day break we were back into third by about half an hour.

From there it was all about enjoying the mornings worth of riding, holding it together & keeping the pressure on in case of a mistake up front.

The dawn lap, brings a smile to my dial.

Joel bringing it home TT styles.

Jason "the man" English, his wife Jen & a bunch of TV cameras in his face!
after taking the win in Solo!

The aim was to get up on the box & up on the box we are!
Big ups to the Total Rush & Giant Nightlightning boys!

A special thanks goes out to my team mate "Joel Donney", who didn't put a peddle wrong for the full 24, The boys at "Bike Shed", for keeping my bikes tuned to perfection the whole race, who had a workshop set up as good as any shop,
Nightlightning Lights for making my night laps that much easier, BMC for my great bikes, was especially loving the Trailfox at night, with 125mm of rear travel & 140mm up front, soaking up all the rough stuff, making it pure bliss on a course becoming rougher & a fatiguing body, with basically no sacrifice to lap times, Schwalbe tires, for giving me all the traction I needed, Oz rider grips, I plain swear by them for comfort, feel & durability.

Lastly but so very far from least Jac, Mum, Dad & Rach for taking care of all our needs in the pits.
Especially Jac for driving all the way home on Sunday afternoon/eave while I could barely keep my eyes open & slept half the way I'm sure.

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

BMC podiums again

2008-10-13T14:11:00.002+11:00

Well the Scott 2008 Australian 24hrs Championships have been won & run,

With Joel & I picking up 3rd in the hotly contested pairs category behind the Specialized Total Rush & Giant boys respectively & Jason taking the win in Solo with Bellie picking up 2nd.

Full report to follow Soooon!

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

Scott 24hr

2008-10-09T01:28:00.002+11:00

Joel Donney(U25 Solo 24hr World champ 07) & I,

Ready to fly the BMC flag again on the weekend at the Scott 24hr, We'll be teaming up to race in the Marathon Pairs, that being said we'll do the equivalent of 5 marathons each in one 24hr period,
All whilst dualling it out with some big hitters stepping up to the plate in the category this year,
What else would you expect when it's the biggest race of it's kind, participant wise in the World.

Lucky I'll have Night Lightning on my head, turning the night into day!
BMC Fourstroke & Trailfox to take all the hits for me, Schwalbe tires to keep me hooking in.

A very special thanks to Leisl at Pulse & Dom at First place Osteopathy for getting my body ready, It's amazing how much the body can respond in just one week with the right treatment.

We'll have the Kaos tent up in the Solo area supporting fellow BMC (Front cover of Enduro mag) rider, Jason English, so drop by & say hi!

Hope to see you there!

If not drop by early next week to see how we fared!

Live to Ride, Ride to Live,

Troy

P.S Grab yourself a copy of the latest Enduro mag, there is a great interview of Jas in there and you might even see a Pic or two of Mwa as well.

Whilst you are at the news agency be sure to grab a copy of Freewheel as well, there is a fantastic article about my Buddies Ash & Jason where you'll hear just what their Epix are all about.

TRIBUTE

2008-10-01T19:52:00.010+10:00

To follow on from the Highs & Lows of my previous post, the one other major reason i started this blog was to be able to thank & pay Tribute to those who so generously support me in my racing endeavors.
I think it more than fitting to start with the man behind KaosCustomBikes, "Andy", A man who prides himself on building a quality bike to suite, you the customer with all your personal needs & If you don't know exactly what you want he certainly has some great ideas to get you on the perfect ride.
On a personal note, meticulously builds & maintains all my race & training bikes to keep then performing & looking their best, You're a champ, Thanks heaps mate!

It was Andy who recommended & Introduced me to the great guys at Dirtworks, who are the distributors of BMC & a swag of other great products, Consequently have proved to be a really great bunch & a very generous sponsor indeed, It's been a big year of racing & look forward to another cracker, you guys rock!

Not only do they Sponsor a bunch of riders on a range of products, these guys are so into the whole culture that is bikes! that they put on & Sponsor a bunch of Mtb events also.

Such as the BMC 100, DIRTWORKS 1oo and now the Inaugural BMC MTB (Mountains to Beach) a 7 day stage race from Thredbo to the Beach, March 1 - 7, sure to be an absolute Beaut!

Through a Dirtworks association Lazer helmets & BBB Sports glasses have also come on board, check their sites out for a great range of helmets & BBB have a whole lot more than just glasses,

Which by the way are nothing short of fantastic glasses, with their super tech transitional lenses making them perfect for riding at night & just as good riding on the sunniest of days, not sure how this is possible, however I can say they work! Another feature is they are very light, yet very robust at the same time,
Last but not least so comfortable & easy to look through in any light condition, you have to keep checking they're still on your head, with the rubber nose piece, that's pretty much guaranteed.

The Lazer helmet has proved to be very comfortable & If they're good enough for Geoff Kabush!
Then nothing more needs to be said, so check em out!

Following the generous support Night Lightning provided for the Worlds,
I very pleased to announce that Night Lightning will continue their support for this coming season of racing.

They are without a dought one of the Brightest, lightest & most reliable lights available on the market today, I can certainly recommend with complete confidence,
As I ran the New Digital I Blast on my helmet only, in some of the wettest & muddiest conditions I have ever encounted, Running just the head light created plenty of light & allowed me to swap bikes each lap without having any lighting concerns & were completely reliable all night long.

Click on the logo above to check them out.

SCHWALBE have a great range of tires, I run the Racing Ralphs, Tubeless construction in all dry condition racing & riding, basically the Ralphs have everything you want from a cross country tire, fast rolling, heaps of grip, light weight & tough as nails,
When the mud gets too deep for Ralph, I switch to the Nobby Nics & the track might as well be dry & If that does happen, the Nobby Nic is surprisingly still a very fast rolling tire.

For the road you just can't go past the Ultremo, fast, smooth & did 8000km on a back tire in the depths of winter without a flat, some would say I got lucky, this could be true, I tend to think it just might have something to do with the great construction of this tire.

OZRIDERS grips & Chain Stay protectors,
Let me start with the grips! there are two main advantages Ozriders have over their competitors, Comfort & durability, they are definitely as comfy as anything I have I found in the past & I just can not wear them out! Unlike it's rubber based competitors that I used to wear through on a far to regular occurrence, The foam base Ozriders just keep on keeping on.

As far as the chain stay protectors go, any proud OZI just has to have one!

SPORTRECOVERY, The name pretty much says it all, apart from the benefits of these great Nutritional product on offer for all you ON as well as OFF the bike needs, check out this site for some great advice & products alike.

Whilst all the above mentioned people/companies have great products which play an important part in doing what I do.

However the next two i will pay tribute to, play an integral roll of keeping my body going through all the stresses, strains & injuries I encounter, plain & simple I couldn't do what I do without them.
FIRST PLACE OSTEOPATHY

PULSE for health & rehabilitation

For a coach who can really get the best out of every Individual & can really get you to your peak performance for any chosen event, look no further than David McKenzie at ECHELON 1,
He doesn't know much about Mtb, but he'll sure get your engine running!

If you have any Building or Renovation need, Large or small, drop me a line at stonningtonren@optusnet.com.au

Last & so very far from least,

My pit crew of Simon & Jac, who gave up their valuable time in their busy lives to support me in Canada, with Jac taking care of all my food & Nutritional needs & Simon taking care of the bikes & progress race results, quite simply couldn't have done it without you guys, with a special thanks also to Joel's Mechanic mate, Shane for keeping both the bikes running for the full 24hrs.

Not forgetting Martin from the Kaos crew, was my chief pit B....ch for the first few enduros last season & the rest of the Kaos crew for your support through Kona 24 last year & all your well wishes throughout the year.

Thanks again to all concerned
& Mum & Dad of course.

Be sure to remember,

Live to Ride, Ride to Live,

Troy

PS. Thanks to Dom at First place Osteopathy I am back in alignment & my rump is healing well,
So I'm looking forward to heading to Canberra for next weekends Scott 24hr.

HIGHS & LOWS

2008-10-01T14:56:00.005+10:00

Right from my very first post back in May, announcing my Intention to take on the World at the World Solo 24hrs Championships in Canada,
Within that post i promised to share the highs & lows of my training & racing.

HIGHS
As most of you would be well aware, I became a world champ a couple of months ago, Doesn't get much Higher!

LOWS
Coming down from such an achievement, with such a massive focus & build up!
With hope of using the form gained to do well at home turf Enduros, only to return with a cracked scaphoide in my left wrist...Boo!!! #1
With it on the mend after 5 weeks, crashing in my first race back, re-injuring it...Boo!!! #2

So forced off the Mtb for another 4 weeks, a low in it self, maintaining my fitness on the road was the call,
Following clearance from my Doc. I headed out on the Mtb last Sunday to test the wrist, getting through a solid 3hr ride without a drama... Yippie!!!!

As a result the decision was made to enter the Scott 24hr in Canberra, with fellow BMC 24hr Champ, Joel Donney as a pair, which is less than 2 weeks away,

For those of you not in the know the Scott is the biggest 24hr race in the world, Participant wise, with some 4000 entrants this year, the Woodstock of Cycling.

Only to head out on a training ride last night, to get my front wheel chopped at 40-45km/hr causing me to hit the Tar mack fair on my bum!....Boo #3, Resulting with rotating ice packs to my rump for the rest of the night and today.

As the first 24hrs are critical with injuries of this sort, ice and rest are in order to get the swelling down so I can see my Awesome Osteo at First place Osteopathy tomorrow to check my alignment.

Will keep you posted!

Live to Ride, Ride to Live,

Troy

SURFCOAST 6hr Mtb FESTIVAL

2008-09-11T00:37:00.003+10:00

This years Surfcoast 6hr Mtb Festival has all the ingredients
of fun times on & off the bike,
with no dought of it being bigger & better than last years great event,

Following a sneak peak of the course with event organizer Mick last weekend,
I can honestly say you are in for a treat, with some fast flowing sections to get the adrenaline pumping

& some nice tight & twisty single track, with the addition of a whole new section & bit of reverse direction to last years race, will be sure to keep it interesting for the full six hours, all set in the beautiful Aussie bushland as seen in these pics.

Just to top it of, parts of the course have views of this picturesque coastline second to none!

lets not forget it all finishes off with a great band in true festival style, with a great camp area & cabins available too.

Sure there are plenty of Mtb races on the calendar these days, however put this one in as a weekend away with a great race thrown in for good measure, not to mention the swag of product for prizes & giveaways that will be up for grabs.

So grab your bike, board & beer,
& head for the Surfcoast come 25th of October & be sure to get your entry in sooner rather than later, as it will be sure to sell out.

See you all there,

Troy

Worlds cont.

2008-09-01T00:30:00.002+10:00

As mentioned on Friday, drop on over to Epix for all the relevant links to check out the action at the World cup event in Canberra.

With the weather not being as bad as expected here in Melbs, not much time spent in front of the Computer.

Just a couple of small outings on the road bike, bit of time spent with friends & a bit of thought into what's install for the coming 12months, with this in mind worlds recap & Tribute, to the just deserved still to come.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

WORLDS

2008-08-29T00:20:00.008+10:00

Worlds recap to come real soon, with some less than desirable weather on the horizon for the weekend, you never know your luck!

In other news there is a World Cup Olympic format Cross Country(XC), Down Hill & Four Cross event on this weekend in Canberra, with a few of my mates (Mark, Rohin & James) gaining wild card entries in the XC, good luck boys,
With the Epix boys being a little more computer savie than I, drop over for all the necessary links to see how it all went down.

To the folks not quite in the know, I hear you ask, why am i not present at such an event? I considered going up to race the Veteran support race, however my little mishap last weekend put an end to that,(healing well though) besides it's about 22hrs to short for my liking.

More to come,

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

Castlemaine Rocky Riders 6hr

2008-08-24T22:49:00.004+10:00

To sum the race up for me, "Too much fun for Two laps!"
Unfortunately that was all I got in, as my day was cut short by an off at high speed, resulting in re injuring a healing one.

Up until this point I was having an absolute ball on one of the best XC/Enduro tracks getting around, bar none! This course has it all with a good mix fast flowing single track, some techi descents, the climbs are single track & switch backed, taking the sting out of them & always rewarded with a fun descent.

The two laps I did get where nice & quick sitting with the team riders & playing around with the Felt Epix boys, Ash & Jason(Formally Felt Enduro Race Team) making an exception to their non racing rule, simply because they have such fond memories from past events held there. (I'm sure the boys will get a report up of the fun times had over the weekend)

It was on my third lap that I had my mischief holding down 1st place at the time with eventual solo winner Evan Franskie in hot pursuit seeing it all unfold right before his eyes.(Thanks for stopping mate to check if I was OK & congrates on the win)

I put this into the O well, that's racing basket, this will more than likely put me out for a few weeks!

Therefor my postings of current events is likely to be a little light on,
which in turn may give me an opportunity to get the rest of my Canada trip, 24hr Worlds report & the long overdue Tribute posts done!

So keep an eye out for them as I have some great content to share.

PS. If you didn't manage to make it up today, I strongly advice you put it on the calender for next year, to have a sqiz at results & photo links etc, check here

PPS. I also popped out to see the Kaos gang & (Show my Jersey & Gold medal off) last weekend at another Great event being the Anaconda Enduro Series held out Lysterfield, where the Commonwealth games were held, we are very fortunate to have such a great area to ride/race literally at our fingertips from the melbourne CBD.

It's been really great catching up with everyone at both events over the past two weekends, It just reinforces why I enjoy being involved in this sport, we have such a good little community full of great people.

Live to ride, Ride to live,

Troy

Kicking Horse (Speaks for it's self)

2008-08-14T18:44:00.006+10:00

Woke to an early misty morning for my first real ride since the race, what a way to start back into it, climb up kicking horse for first runs before they open the chairs to the Down hillers.

Half way up,

Getting there, consistent 10-12% pitch all the way.

Oh yeh, & what a cracker day at that, even after the trying muddy conditions of the 24hr, my trusty BMC Trail fox climbed like a trooper!

What goes up must go down,

Rewarded with some ripping lines on the descent,

Some cool structures thrown in for good measure, check the spiral, fun, fun.

Bit of a gap at the end of this berm up in the trees,

The Trail fox loved it almost as much as me, perfect for going up & 5 inches just enough to come down on most of the lines, mind you there was plenty of lines to choose from for all levels from green(easy) to double Black diamond(steep & Gnarly)

Even something for the dirt jumpers down towards the bottom,

Kicking Horse! the best way I can discribe it, is a low key Whistler,

Great set up!

Race Report, Supporters Tribute & more Traveling tails still to come!

Live to Ride, Ride to live,

Troy

Kicking it in Whistler

2008-08-13T05:33:00.006+10:00

Farewell BMC house & the beautiful 3 sisters mountain rangers

Of Canmore,(Alberta) already miss you.

Jumped on the plane in Calgory,

Arriving in funky town(Vancouver) in time for a beer,

Whats next oh creature of the night????

Grab a pick up & head for Whistler!

So that's just what we did, check out my new truck(I wish)

Some more terrible scenery on the way!

The sign says it all,

No need for Endura here it's all about down hilling & free ride.

How's the view from the bar?

With a bit of dutch courage & my bikes boxed up & safely locked away at Vancouver airport,

It was time to grab loaner! a little more suited the terrain of just going down! Beefed up with some bigger brakes, tires & most importantly more travel in the suspension.

Feast your eyes upon some of the lines on offer,

bridges & tech descents a plenty!

I did mention the bridges, check this one, It just keeps going..................

& going..........................

& going...........................

& going..............................

As mentioned, views very hard to take,

Much more to come.

Live to ride, Ride to Live,

Troy

Arrived Home

2008-08-11T02:12:00.003+10:00

A full race & Canada/riding report will be coming your way as soon as I get all the pics downloaded & edited.
For your viewing pleasure. Arrived home at lunch time on Fri. Was welcomed home with Blue skies & the temp a little crisp out of the sun, however couldn't resist a spin in the Sun down the beach in my new World Champs jersey.

Today however was a shock to the system not getting above 10 degrees & snowing in the Dandies Brrr, leaving 29 degrees in Whistler just 2 days ago.

Is it any wonder why you can fly here for half the price it cost to fly there at present.

Dropped in to see Andy at Kaos head quarters, it would seem our arrival was slightly over shadowed by these brand new BMC beauties turning up about an hour before us.

The new BMC TT01, 2009 Time Trial frame is without a dought the fastest looking non motorized machine I have ever seen,
Check out the bottom bracket/rear triangle arrangement, It screams.......Grunt.
If you have a spare 15k(frame only) you could own one of these bad boys.

Coming back to earth a little, BMC have a new model in their road bikes, the SLX has just arrived, I had the pleasure of seeing it come out of the box, It's predominately a carbon frame with only the bottom tube on the main triangle remaining alloy.

It's price point sits it right in between the Road Racer (My Current Bike) & the Team Machine & looks almost as tricky as the Pro Machine (Full Carbon missile) top of the line road machine, by all reports it's not just a looker either.

Might have to put my name on one of these beauties, drop by KaosCustomBikes to check them out before they run out the door.

Be sure to drop back soon to check out how the race went down & see what Canada has to offer!!

Live to ride, Ride to live.

Troy

BMC Press Release

2008-08-03T20:18:00.000+10:00

Posted by Ash...

BMC - Upload a Document to Scribd