Ay Up

Sorry for not blogging lately.

We have moved and been super busy.

I will give you the a full run down soon.

I have been using some pretty cool gears so reviews will be up soon.

Later

Infinate Nutrition

So there are alot of nutrition companies out there that claim to have the right stuff. But how many times have you tried the good gear and the taste is wrong or it's way to sweet or just seems to be missing something. This is what make Infinate different to all the other companies out there.

You don't have to adjust your taste buds and body to suit the product the product is changed to suit you.

I got on board with Infinate about 5-6 weeks before world Jason from Infinate was great we had a chat on the phone and he asked heaps of questions about my riding what I usually eat ect. He put together a mix that we thought would work and hopefully see me through the race with no problems.

Now over the shorter races you could get away with not using any extra gels, food and just run a bottle loaded with Infinate, as you know with 24hr riding thats not possible so keeping this in mind I ran Infinate in my back pack and ate a steady flow of solids as well. Pizza mostly.

I have to say I was really happy with how my race went nutritionally.

So if your after something a nutritional product that you can tailor make to suit your taste buds then follow the link below.

http://www.infinitnutrition.com.au/

More reviews to follow in the near future. What if I told you there is a set of hubs out there lighter then XTR and can be aquired for under $200 for the set.

Ay Up racing team

this is the site for the Ay up racing team.

Cx it out to keep up to date with where at and where we have been: http://www.ayupracing.com/

For Sale XTC

I decided to build a very light SS

Giant XTC SL frame

Pro full rigid carbon forks

XT brakes

Truitiv bars, race face SL 90mm stem, Thompson seat post

ZTR alpine rims with circus monkey hubs [ freaking light wheelset approx. 1300g]

$2500 ono

I will get more and better quality photos up soon

ph: 0407260310

For Sale carbide XC2

This is your chance to get on the best dual suspension bike getting around


Carbide XC2 mostly carbon frame apart from bottom part of rear swing arm.


Basically full XT running gear with a XTR shadow rear derailleur.


Fox fit RL 2011 forks and Fox rp 2 rear shock


Wheelset is 819 rims with DT swiss 370 hubs kenda small block 8 tyres


FSA seat post, ritchey stem 100 mm and race dues sl carbon bars

XT brakes

Will have a picture up tomorrow

price $5500 ono




ph: 0407260310

World 24hr Report

Where to start: [ here you go Rach]


Well I am going to start by saying thank you to all my family and friends the have helped me at and up to this race. Kiri, Chris and Al where my crew for worlds and they did a great job. We also had Rodney and Bec form Super sports down and Mr Ay Up himself, Thanks very much for all your support guys.



And to the race:



What was my plan? Well I decided that for this race I would start slow and let everyone bury themselves throughout the arvo and hopefully come home strong. In my mind I was hoping to get myself into the top ten. Easy plan hey.



We all got called up to the start and before I knew it we where off round through transition and though to where our bike were be held. Chris had my bike and all I had to do was grab it get on and pedal. As I was running I pulled up from my run to grab my bike when my feet fell out from underneath me and I ended up flat on my back on the sealed bitumen. GROSS not the start was looking for.



My feet found the pedals and I was off, the plan for me was to set 1hr 10min laps for the first few hrs and go from there. By the end of my first lap I had cleared the course in 50min, to fast for my plan. I slowed up and cruised the course making sure I had the lined dialed before night fall. By the time night fell I was sitting in mid 20's in elite right time to turn it up a little and start heading for the top ten.



Over the next couple of laps people were dropping the pace while I was maintaining it, ever lap I came through, I would jump up 1 or 2 places. I could tell I was doing well because my crew were excited, I was talking , Joking and actually coherent throughout my race. My race continued like this until about 2 am then the pace dropped off which is ok but not ideal.



Ok once that glow appears in the sky I will be right with a bit of luck I will be able to up the pace and drag myself up just afew places. Well it was not to be I was lapping just shy of 1 and half hrs and I couldn't put any pace on. I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong the whole morning, legs felt ok, food was good and I could descend fine but just no power to go up hill. I wanted to pull the pin at 21hrs or so but with my crews help I got around the course, then on the last lap it became obvious what was wrong, going up the first lot of switch backs I could hardly get a breath in it was like I shallow breathing.



I am not to sure whether this played a factor for the whole morning or not, I am not to disappointed with my race considering that everyone suffered and pulled out for alot of reasons but I do feel I could have done better. That's racing.



I just want to congratulate Crummy on his race, it is probably the best 24hr he has ever done in my eyes, he has trained super hard this year and finished top 20 outright. Congrats mate U deserve it. Also congrats to all the Auz guys and girls that smashed there race.



I need to say thanks to all the people that make racing that little bit easier for me



Ay Up: for the the lights and other support they have given me throughout the year.



Super sports: for my trusty steads they were perfect for ripping the Stromlo course apart.



Ospray: for the hydro packs, I don't usually ride with a bag on my back but because of the length of the course and no second feed station I decided to. The bag was really good and it was the little things that made it great like the magnet on the mouth piece. [Reveiw to follow]



Infinite nutrition: Not saying that you can do a 24hr on nothing but this stuff but it would be the closest thing out there. This is really good gear [review to follow]

KWT: for hooking me up with my tread. Bike sticks like glue when your rolling with Onza.



I need to say thanks to Pedal pwr plus, Action cycles and Cognition for the help they have given me throughout the year, all of these shop a great and only to happy to help you out.



Last and not least Australian Aerospace [ my work] the company and all the guys and girls from work have been really great with all there support. Alot of them can't understand why I do 24hr racing and at 3 o'clock in the morning I don't either. LOL But thanks heaps [for all you 24hr riders out there I should be able to convince work to give you a discount on your next helicopter purchase]



That's it for 2010 for me catch you at the lunarC in Jan.

World 24HR

Track Sick

Lets Roll

Catch you when my legs are ripped off.

Bozz

Esanda

I need to put out a massive thankyou to Esanda.

Al cheif pit crew and soon to have her first race under her belt works for Esanda, Al approached them and asked if they would like to sponsor two riders to do the Boonha marathon. She got the go ahead and I was lucky enough get my entry paid for.

So thanks very big to Esanda for the entry. It is very hard to find companies that are prepared to support riders.

Thanks heaps

Update

Well hope all your prpearation for Worlds is going well. Mine is ok but as always I could have done and do more, the joys of work and family.

Anyone want to give me a full time wage to ride?

Well I have been going over the bikes and trying to get them prep. and dailed in for worlds.

I am running my Carbide Sl with pretty much XT/XTR, 2X9 Arozine cranks and Onza Canis tyres.

And my Carbide XC2 with XT, 2X9 Arozine cranks, ZTR Alpine wheelset and Onza Canis tyres.

I have to make a special mention to a couple of people who have been helping me out along the way.....

Firstly my work, Australian Aerospace, who have been awesome in supporting me & my riding. They're giving me time off work to get down there and race this year. If anyone out there wants a helicopter I'm sure I can sort out a deal. :-)

Supersports, for sorting me out with my trusty steeds. I feel sorry for anyone on a hardtail in 3 weeks!

Ay-Up Lights.....need I say more? But after leaving one of my light units sitting in a bucket of soapy water for a week - it worked first time without fail.

Cognition, for sorting me out with all my extras & spares. These boys are located at Noosa & are more than happy to sort anyone out with gear or answer any questions/problems you may have.

Infinite Nutrition, have recently hooked up the Ay-Up team & myself with all our nutritional needs. It's a one stop drink which takes care of the majority of your nutritional requirements, apart from the good stuff like pizza & pancakes :-)

That's it for now.

Later

Tomac Diplomat 29er Review

Here is a review done on the new alloy 29er by Tomac http://www.mountainflyermagazine.com/view.php/sneak-preview-2011-tomac-mountain-bikes.html

Some food for thought guys. There just might be one at World 24hr.

Stay tuned for good friend of mine Mick Pearson words on the Carbide Sl he rode last night.

Ay Up D2D

Well what were my expectation for the race:

1. Don't have the nutrition problems i suffered in the Merida 24

2. Ay Up need to be on the top spot

3. Have fun

I rocked out to Canugra about 12 on Saturday to get set up relax and enjoy the atmosphere before the start, my ace crew consisted of Al, Stacey and Soz. I had a roll around the course before the start of the race and like the 24hr last year it had loose sand on the corners, fare bit of grass and those hills thrown in for good measure. It was great to have all the Ay Up boys all in the one place.

Before I knew it was time to line up for the start, the gun went and I found myself settling in around 5th before the grass hill climb. I was hoping to have a good race but my legs were not 100% because I was backing up from the Merida 24hr. And thats about were Russ layed down his race intention, he put the foot down right from the word go. So I jumped on his back wheel and for the next few hrs the lead changed between us but not by more then afew minutes. In this situation you need your crew to have everything down pat and Al, Stacey and Soz did. I rolled through the pits without even stopping alot of the time. Big thanks to my crew

Early Hrs: by this stage I had put some space between me and Russ so the plan was to stay consistant hit my lines and not flat or crash, O and stay on top of my nutrition. Which I managed to do.

By the end of the race I had put a lap on the Russ so I was well clear, I rocked around for my last lap and finished with 10min left on the clock.

So in the end I finished 1st in the solo field. Really stoked

Did I achieve my goals:

1. No nutrition problems

2. Ay Up rider on the top spot Yes

3. Have fun you bet

Thanks to my sponsors Super sports for my sick ride [Carbide sl] and to Onza for the glue that sticks to the track and Ay Up for the best lights ever. Thanks to Ay Up for supporting this event they put alot of prizes on for evevryone. A big thanks needs to go out to Andy and Jo for all the effort they put into the race. Thanks

Stay tuned for Carbide Sl reveiw

Merida 24 Race Report 2010

Well I knew this race was going to be tough especially with level of competition rocking up. So what wasmy plan for this race, well try and have my head in the right place, get the nutrition down pat, top 5 outright result would be nice and maybe if all goes well I might hit the magical 400km mark.

Myself and good friend Al rocked out to Hiddenvale late Friday arvo to set up camp right across for the Australian Aerospace boys. The plan was to have a good sleep and take my time to get organised Saterday morning, after a practice lap I was feeling confident on the track so I spent the next couple of hrs chilling and waiting for Kiri, Maia, Pearso,Kel to rock up. Chris and Nat and littleman rocked up about an hr before the race.



Race: The gun went and I decided to sit straight on the back of Jasons wheel, I saw Adrian Booth take off up the front but I figured if I paced myself from the start it should set me up well for the rest of the race. I ended up rolling the first lap chatting with english before he tightened up the screws and chased Adrian down. 2 laps later I got told that Adrian and English were going head to head so I was pretty happy doing my own thing. For the next 9 hrs I was rolling around the course hitting all my lines and eating more food then I usually do. But as with these sort of races any little thing thats is not right soon shows through.





11pm: I came in off a lap and pretty much collapsed in the bottom of the Tomac tent, Al freaked out and basically woke me up gave me some soft drink, garlic bread and some other stuff don't really remember. I got back on my bike but the damage was done, I spent the next 6hrs trying to get food into me and hoping that I could finish with a respectable amount of K's under the belt. Over these 6hrs my position slipped back to 4th or 5th.

6am: I actually started to feel better my ace crew gave me some goals to get myself back into contact with the guys in front of me. On one particular occassion I was told that the guy I needed to catch was in a red jersey [It was time to play].

I caught the guy in the red jersey and as soon as he saw me coming he took off. I knew I was onto the right guy. I rode with him up through the fire trail and then put a little test on to see if he would follow or not. He didn't repsond, so I bured myself all the way up the aeroplane trail and into the gully track to make a gap, it worked. Although I tried to catch second but he rode to good a race and I couldn't catch him

In the end: I rode over the 400km mark and got a third. I could have not done it without Al, Pearso,Nat, Kel, Kiri and my little baby Maia. I also need to mention aunty Al over the last couple of races hass taken alot of time to help me achieve my selfish goal of becoming some sort of MTB rider, I don't think you can do this sort of racing without a ace crew so a big thanks to Al.

Thanks to Ay Up for my lights there the best, thanks to Super sport for my trusty stead[Tomac Carbide SL], also thanks to Onza for my tread.

Thanks to everyone that help me out.

Merida 24hr Photo

Chris cruising

This is the only time you will see me riding with Jason. Before he turns the screws up and leaves me for dead.

Some quick Stats: 28 laps complete, 400km in the bank 3rd outright solo and one great job done by my support crew.

report to follow

Something AL sent me

Motivation

1) I will promise to do my best. My best will vary from day to day, from hour to hour, from minute to minute. But in that minute, I will do the very best that I can.
2) Lactic acid is my friend. The wind is my friend. Anything that opposes me is actually helping me to become stronger. If I had no opposition, I would be weak.
3) If I can run, I run. If I have to walk, I walk. When I am forced to crawl, I crawl. And then I rest and live to fight another day.
4) I fear no man but I fear my workout. If I don’t fear my workout, it isn’t hard enough.
5) I may puke. I may cry. But I will not quit. Ever.
6) I never cheat. There is no honor in cheating. What joy can there be in a victory I did not earn?
7) The workout missed is the opportunity missed. I will not cheat myself of the opportunity to become a better athlete and person.
8) I understand the value of the push-up, the pull-up, the sit-up, the squat, and the deadlift. Just as there are a million ways to make chicken, so too are there a million ways to squat, sit up, pull up, push up, and deadlift.
9) I will give everything I have. And then I will find more within myself.
10) I don’t complain. Complaining is for crybabies. There are 11,232 babies born in the US everyday. I will leave the crying to them and I will soldier on.
11) I will bite off challenges, spit out results, and beg for more.

What are you going to do?

Ride my bike

Update

Well after weeks and weeks of trying to get out for a ride with my mate Chris I finally did, the plan for last night was just a roll around to get the legs spinning but on the way back I ran into Chris. Chris was just heading out for his ride so I decided to tag along when i asked him where he was headed the response was Mt Cootha.



Basically we went up the front of Mt Cootha and my type X single speed smashed my legs to pieces, they felt like jelly. My ss is set up 32 on the front and a 13 on the back. Thanks for the ride Chris it's been along time between drinks.



Merida 24hr just around the corner and the competition is looking tight with the usual suspects and rumours of English rocking up.



To other news my two eldest girls have just figured out that riding there bike up and down hills is fun. No idea where they got that from.



Later

Mt Perry 6hr

Well after a hectic Friday I met up with good friend Crummy who had made the trip up from Sydney to race. Saterday morning saw us through all the gear in the back of the yellow racing machine and with Al coming along as support crew me and Crummy new we wouldn't have any troubles with bottles throughout the race.



We got to Perry about 1pm on sat and set up the Tomac tent next to Adi and Rob who also had a Tomac tent Fellows and Jo arrived not long after and set the Ay Up truck Denis right next to us also. Me and crummy headed out for a practice lap and well the track is just awsome nice tight single track ect ect. once your there you can appreciate why the event is seen as a must do race.



Sat night saw the night crits I went into this as a bit of a laugh. I am no speed machine and got knocked out first round, Crummy however made it through to the second last round and only just got knocked out. Probably by a handle bar width.



So to the main event: after a average sleep I woke to zero on the temp gauge. Freaking cold lol. Kiri and Michele [Kiri mum] and my 3 girls rocked up and not long after that it was show time. I had got myself into a good position on the start line and after the gun wenti saw myslef sitting in about 8th, the elite field had alot of good rider in it so there was no point in me trying to get away to early and burn myself out, Fellows and Benson soon set the pace so i decided to settle in behind Andrew mallet, he is alot quicker over a 6hr distance then me so it seemed like a good idea. Mean while Fredo and Toohey were sitting a little further up the track. Like with most plans they change I washed out on the first lap and lost mallet, so new plan try and get back to mallet and hopefully fredo and toohey might slow a little and I can catch them around the 4-5hr mark.



Basically my legs decided not want to play for the first 4hrs and I was feeling pretty trashed Crummy was only 30 seconds back and our little state of origan race was going NSW way. This would not do, I saw Crummy and he yells out I see you Bekkers and I thought myself thats the last time you will to Crummy.

So to the interesting bits 4hrs of my legs not wanting play, the last 2hrs I started feeling better and went into 24hr mode. Came 5ht in elite and the state of origan remains in Qld.
Crummy pulled up 3rd in his age group and a massive thanks goes out to Al, Kiri and the girls for supporting us both for the entire race.

To the lads that put this race together thanks heaps for a great track and weekend. I am sure it's going to be bigger and better next year.

Merida next up, I hope my legs want to play.

Thanks heap to Tomac, Super sports and Ay Up for the support

Whats been happening in Bozza world

Well I will start with the most exciting news we are the pround owners of another [number 3] little girl LOL. Maia Jade Bekkers. Mum and bub are doing great and it won't be long before she is chasing her sisters around on a bike. Well to the next most important stuff as you could imagine my training of late has been a little speratic but the time I have been putting in on the bike has been good.

For the last month or so has seen me jump back onto the Single speed[ New SS Tomac Type X] and I feel that I should be in a good place to take on Mt Perry in two weeks.

Will put some pictures up of the new ss soon.

Inferno 6hr

The course was between 10-11km at old hidden vale. This course in particular is the one that the teams riders for the merida 24hr hr will be riding in July. The conditions were perfect bone dry and fun fast course. For me 6hr events are not my thing but because I was in Brisbane for the weekend anyway I thought a 6hr would be good training.

All I wanted to achieve for the race was to put down some fast consistant times for myself I was not to concerned were I finished but on the box is always good. I am not going to bore you with a long drawn out post so I will just get to the important end. I held an average of just over 20km/hr for the race had not mechanicals and finished in 2nd. 121km total.

My Carbide sl ate everything the course could throw at it and I didn't really give any consideration to slow down going into the rock gardens, were everyone seemed to be flatting. My Canis tyre were a great match to the sl and I never had a problem with traction.

I would like to thank my sponsors Tomac for my carbon stead, Onza for keeping me glued to the track, Pedal pwr plus and Ay up for all there support.

later

Port Macquire12hr

Well last Friday saw the Yellow Vito van loaded up with a couple of Carbide SL, a hand full of AY Up lights, myself and Chris and a trip to Port ahead of us. We made it down to Port by about 9pm and set up camp right next to the 4 man AA team on the oval at Telegraph point. Chris had been telling me all about this race for a year so I was pretty stoked to be there, Chris yells out me come and check out the this corner then another then another by the time we thought we should head back we were about half way around the track and by 1am sat morning we had mad it around the course [Walking]. We were in for a treat this track was great.

The Port 12hr starts at 12 midnight Saturday night, so on Saturday morning we headed out for a practice lap, what can I say all of us were just loving it, every corner was well groomed, nice burms , a couple of log drops and a spine ride thrown in for fun. This was a course you could enjoy riding for a full 12hrs. The course was about 9.6km long


After a full day of being awake, you would think I would be ready for a sleep. No I couldn't sleep and by the time midnight came around, I was on the start line and yawning my head off. The gun went and I found myself alongside Fitzy into the first corner then I settled into third position for the first half of the lap. Then as you would expect English came screaming through with a team rider in tow. So the start of the race went like this for the first couple of laps and I was pushing pretty hard. After about 4hrs I was hurting my head wasn't in a good place and when I asked mickers how I was travelling, he told me I was in 5th but Jason was in 3rd. So what did I want out of this race? to see how I was travelling and have a bit of competition to push me. Well I got it I thought to myself, harden the F up got back on my bike and said to myself no more middle ring. Big ring it all the way and try and real myself back into podium contention.



So as you could imagine I kept chipping away trying to put consistent lap times in until I found 3rd. I caught him within the first km of the lap and decided to sit behind him and try and figure out where I was quicker then him and where I needed find some pace. The plan worked apart from a stack along the way I rolled into transition just behind him. I quickly grabbed some food jumped back on the bike and headed out slightly in front. I put the hammer down and kept looking over my shoulder to see if I could see his lights. I didn't see him so I kept hammer down.


As morning was upon us English was ready to lap me for the first of many[ Machine]. The rest of the race went on the same and I kept trying to increase my lead. I was in no position to catch 2nd and English was way out in front. So by the time 11:40 rocked around I was about 45min in front and with a long drive ahead of me I decided I was happy with what I had done.


Achievements : just over 200km completed, 20 laps out of 21 done in the Big ring.

All up the track is sick, definitely worth the drive to race on English home track.

Big thanks to Tomac for my Carbide SL it's wicked, Ay Up for the best lights ever and to Onza for keeping me glued to the track[Canis]

Gympie Sports Star of the Year

At the beginning of the year when Kiri nominated me for this. My first reaction was, isn't this only for local teams like soccor and cricket? What I didn't realize is that the Sportman association with the help of Apex raise money to help local athletes.

Here is what the Newspaper had to say:

AN explosion of cheers marked the moment when Gympie endurance mountain biking athlete Sean Bekkers was crowned 2009 Sports Star of the Year at the weekend.
A visibly stunned Bekkers accepted the honour at the Gympie Civic Centre Saturday evening during the Gympie and District Sportsmen’s Association 2009 Sports Star of the Year Awards.
“It’s a massive surprise,” Bekkers told the 170 guests present for the ceremony as he attempted to compose himself.
“I just want to thank the Gympie and District Sportsmen’s Association for the recognition.”
The 2009 Sports Star of the Year managed to edge out 11 other nominees for the award, decided by the barest of margins during the voting process.
Gympie Apex president Glen Smith opened the golden envelope to deliver the eagerly anticipated announcement.
Bekkers’ family was on hand to witness the memorable moment and the athlete paid tribute to their support.
“A massive thanks to my family for all of their support and making all this possible,” he said.
“My partner Kiri has been source of strength for me and her help makes the difference.
“I also have to say a huge thanks to Kiri’s mother who has been the ideal babysitter for us during competition.”
Bekkers’ victory in lifting the title of 2009 Sports Star of the Year marks a new brave new era in Gympie sport.
It’s the first time endurance mountain biking has been recognised at the awards, demonstrating just how diverse Gympie sport has become in recent years.
“That was my main goal,” Bekkers said.
“If I could come away and have a handful of people know more about endurance mountain biking, then that was enough for me.”
Winning the top award on the night, however, has ultimately given far more exposure for the sport than Bekkers could have possibly imagined.
Bekkers’ claim to fame came on the back of an incredibly impressive 2009 and the audience marvelled as his list of achievements were canvassed.
Numerous wins at state and national endurance mountain biking events filled his sporting resume to the brim.
But it was his success overseas in Canada that gilded his shot at the prestigious award.
Bekkers competed in the 24 Hour World Endurance Mountain Bike Championships in Canada last year, finishing first in his age group and 18th overall against the very best in the sport the world had to offer.
The dedicated athlete touched on his training regime during his acceptance speech, raising a few eyebrows when detailing the nature of his training rides between Gympie and Brisbane.
“I think this weekend when I go back to Brisbane my wife may let me use the car,” he quipped.
With the title of 2009 Sports Star of the Year safely in his possession, Bekkers now says he is motivated more than ever to continue achieving.
“It’s just a great feeling to be acknowledged for my efforts and I have lots of motivation to keep doing well,” he said.
Meanwhile, 2009 Sports Star of the Year Awards organizer Jackie Curran was overjoyed with the success of the night.
“It’s gone really well,” she said.
“The entire night flowed really well and I think everyone has enjoyed themselves.”
Curran thanked the members of the Gympie and District Sportsmen’s Association that were on the awards’ committee.
“A lot of effort went in from every one on the committee behind the scenes, so a big thank you to everybody,” she said.
“I’m just happy and proud at what we have achieved and it was great to see all the sport stars gathered here tonight.”
Curran joined Bekkers in celebrating the diversity of Gympie sport.
“We had so many different sports on show tonight, so Gympie has to be very proud of that,” she said.

I am super stoked to have won this award and to get some more recognition for the sport of 24hr mountain biking.

Thanks heaps to the Sportmen's Association you guys do a great job.

From the Jet Black

About 12km of use.

Jet [Wet] Black 24hr

Well, like Andy said it was a quick trip to Sydney - race a two man team, get the best result possible and get back. So we set off on Thursday arvo and the plan was to rest a little on the way down, so we drove to Coffs and set up camp probably under the noisiest bridge ever but at least we got some zzzz in.

We then drove down to Taree, and with a little help from the local bike shop and Andy's built in GPS it wasn't long before we were spinning the legs on some nice groomed single track. The track had a little bit of north shore type stuff, and if we had a little more time up our sleeves I'm sure we would have been treated to more sweet single track. The weather was nice: a little humid and sunny but this wasn't to last.

We eventually made it to Wisemans Ferry, and the country side around there is stunning. We set up camp that arvo and had an awesome pub meal and then hit the sack. That was about where our luck ended & the good weather stopped.

Race day - Woke pretty early and went hunting for the coffee van. Had breakfast and then we headed out for a practice lap. The first impressions of the course was a little boring: a couple of kms of bitumen and a big fire road climb which then dropped into a fun little descent and into a part of the course which alot of people were weary of. There was a little rock garden that went along the edge of the creek which wasn't that bad in the DRY. The track then went back out onto grass and into transition. Think the course was around 6 or 7 km.

After a little chat with Andy it was decided that he would do the first stint and we decided to string 3 laps together between changes. There was all the usual hipe leading into the start of the race then the gun went, and like you would expect from Andy he was off like a shot. He led the field out and about 21min later Andy went through transition with nothing but air behind him, followed by the rest of the field about 3 or 4 mins later [machine].

Ok so I have a team mate who's setting land speed records, so no pressure on me LOL. Andy came through transition, my turn. I set out to hold, if not build on the lead Andy had made. I had 3 good laps and that was when it started pouring. Not that this was bothering me too much but I had nothing other then my Canis tires (which were great by the way). By 8pm the race got called off by the organizers which I think was a good idea the track was not holding up and everyone was just destroying there gear. This was great - the first 24hr I get a sleep.

Sunday: The organizers had spent the night (while we were all sleeping) re-routing the course so we could get some ridding in to finish the race. Me and Andy woke to the Tomac tent destroyed and sitting in a pile, and the bikes lying all over the palce. The decision was made to race for the last 4hrs and we went into this with a 10min lead on the field. With there being only 4hrs of riding left the pace was going to be on. The re-routed course was fire trail but still a pretty steep descent and this is were the crazy part of the race was. We were chewing through a new set of brake pads in under 12km of riding (crazy). After trashing the bikes we managed to finish with the overall win and 1 0r 2 laps up on our catagory. Wicked

Big thanks to: Tomac for my Carbide and Ay up for my lights - they never fail. As usual my Canis tyres got put through their paces and were great, I love these tyres [Canis]

Thanks Andy for a wicked race, and good luck for this weekend

Later

Tomac Carbide REVIEW

Where to start? Well, when I was given the opportunity to get onto a bike that a legend like John Tomac had something to do with, how could I say no? I at least had to test ride it. Rodney and Bec from Supersports gave me a run down on the Carbide and hooked me up with a demo to try.
So, I have this sweet full carbon carbide to test ride. I went straight up to Gap creek - it's where I seem to test ride everything for the first time. Some key elements that you should look for in a dual suspension are efficiency, stiffness and if your a weight weenie how light it is or could be. Well as far as being light goes, the bike with the build kit on it came in at 10kg - pretty heavy LOL. I have been told that a guy in Spain got one down to 7.4KG to race stage races over there.

As for efficiency and stiffness, the Carbide has these covered hands down. The Carbide doesn't seem to take any of your pedalling efficiency away with the rear suspension wide open and once you click the rear shock to closed you won't ever want to jump on a hard tail again. I have been a big believer in hard tails for their efficiency, but after riding this bike it has totally changed the way I look at dual suspension bikes, and hard tails for that matter! Put it this way I don't think you will see me tackle another enduro on a hard tail again.

So back to Gap Creek let's just say I had a ball, the Carbide exceeded all of my expectations and I think you would be hard pressed to find another bike that can out perform this one. Do yourself a favour, if you're in the market for a new bike give one of these a demo at the very least.

Thanks heaps to Rodney and Bec for the opportunity to get onboard with Tomac.

Bring on 2010.

LunarC 8hr

Well a lot has happened since the Pitch Black last year. The LunarC was ment to be my first solo race for the year and a bit of a feeler for my performance at the moment. As with most plans in racing they change. I rang Fitzy on the wednesday before the race and he told me that his team had pulled the pin, so we decided to have a crack at the two man catagory and hopefully pick up where we left off from last year.

The race was held at last year's Insomnia track, & being the first race of the year attracted 250+ riders. The course its self was not overly technical, but pretty fast with nice flowing single track & a few hills to keep us honest. This made it the ideal track to introduce Richard & John from Aus Aerospace to the mountain biking scene. The start time of the race was midnight Friday and there was a good atmosphere among the competitors as most people wound down from their working week.

Seeing as Fitzy did first lap honours at the Pitch Black last year, it was my turn to get out there first. The solo riders took off 2 minutes before the teams, which meant there were a large number of solo competitors to get thru once the teams got underway. By the first corner it was clear that the riders who could manoeuvre thru the field the quickest would get a good lead on the other teams. With this in mind, Timmy from FTR got away from me until about the 8km mark where I managed to catch him again. As it turns out, Team FTR was keeping within a minute of us for the first few hours which kept us looking over our shoulders.

Meanwhile, John & Richard were running their own race & getting a good feel for night racing. To their surprise they were lapping consistently and holding their own in the field. This was great considering neither had much experience night riding. When I asked them if they were enjoying the race i got the same response - "loving it".

In the early hours of the morning we were finally able to get a bit of breathing space between us & FTR which we held for the rest of the race. Fitzy provided some outstanding overtaking skills coming into transition, which kept things interesting.

Andy Fellows took out the solo category with a convincing Win over the rest of the field.

In the wash me and Fitzy [ Team Ay UP ] finished in 1st in the two man and by the looks of the results were 25 seconds off taking the outright win for the race. John and Richard finished 20th in the two man which is a great result.

Thanks to everyone for making it a fun race and to FTR for keeping Honest looking for ward to the next battle.

Big thanks to my sponsors Tomac for my xc weapon, Ay Up for blazing a way through the night and Onza tyres fro keeping me glued to the track.

Keep the legs burning and I will be putting a review together on the Carbide sl soon

Tomac

As you can see I have had a great opportunity to get on board with Tomac. I will get back to you with all the detail soon and a review on the Carbide sl after LunarC 8hr this weekend. Bring on 2010