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