Chase the Sun Rnd 4

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

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

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

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


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

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

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


Showing a clean pair of heals

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

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

Joel putting in the yards in the worst of it,

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

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


Thank you linesmen, thank you ball boys,

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

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

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


Hats off to this man

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

More racing news coming soon.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

Surviving Winter

DEFEET technical active apparel, keeping you toastie!


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



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



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


PLANET BIKE lights for staying alive.


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



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



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


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

PORTLAND Designworks


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

In racing news, plenty coming up so stay tuned.

Live to ride, ride to live,

Troy

FTF winter series XC Chum Creek

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



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



Burnt silhouettes,



Tech section #1


#2


#3


#4

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

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

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

Live to ride, ride to live.

Troy

Jason Wins

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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