Off to the Circus

Road trip to the 3 Ring Circus.

The circus is put on by the Wildhorizon the group that give you Mountains to Beach and the Highland Fling. Its been along time since I have had the opurtunity to race down here. The Circus is a 2 stage format with a 20km night stage Saturday followed by a 50km day stage Sunday and 1000 odd poeple entered should make for a great weekend.

Go Ay Up

Avanti 6hr 2011

Well after 2 weeks of racing bikes I was running low on brownie points and decided I was not going to race the 6hr, but Zack and Ethan were racing a 3man team and ended up a man short 3 days out from the race. After a quick plead to the minster of war, piece and finance I was given the go ahead to race. Woop Woop


As you know I don't often race in a team and I have never raced with these lads. I knew from the Parkland session we did last month that the lads were very fast and I would have to be on it to do them proud. The Bekkers family loaded up the Vito and headed down the Hway, we arrived at Canugra, perfect clear skies and a pretty warm morning greeted us. I didn't get a chance to do a whole practice lap but I have raced here alot before and wasn't to concerned. Zack and Ethan arrived and the team was complete. Captain Dave and Ethan parents were there also, Captain Dave basically ran the team throughout the race, he kept track on laps times and when riders were due back through pits. I was voted in to do the first lap, I found myself standing along side Dave Whitney, nothing like some pressure straight up. It wasn't my cleanest start off the line, I pulled my cleats 3 times in 50m. RUBBISH





By the first hill I got myself back up to 5th and for the remainder of the lap this is were I stayed, i came into pits slapped the number on Ethan bike and he was away. This was rather foreign to me, stopping. Capt. Dave informed me my first lap was around the 19min mark. Ethan came through on about the 20min mark and Zack pretty much the same on his lap. All I could think was wow these lads are in there teens and just about smashing my times, I really need to step up my training. 1hr in and we were sitting 1st in our Category and 3rd outright. My next two laps were OK just kept running into traffic on the course, everyone on course were great at letting me pass and i managed to sneak past most people with no real hold ups. Zack and Ethan said they had the same for these couple of laps also. My last 3 laps i was quite happy with, I managed to rip them back under the 20min mark and i aslso caught sight of the 2ND outright. I caught up to 2ND and just tagged his wheel for most of the lap just before we got to transition i got a very small gap and got Ethan out on course and we were in second outright. Ethan set a cracking pace and although slipping back to 3rd whilst on his lap he showed some good grit and determination to keep within 15 seconds of 2ND outright. Zack went out and smashed his lap also, Zack didn't gain to much ground by then end of the lap but once again he dug deep and kept us within 15 sec of 2ND.





My last lap: by the end of the first set of switchbacks i had caught 2ND and went on to smashed it all the way to transition, once again the boys dug deep for there last laps. Team Ay Up end up 1st in cat by 2 laps and 2ND overall. Well done lads and I appreciate the invite to smash the race with you both.


Having a proud Dad moment now, the best thing about the race was I got to see both my girls race there first ever race. I had brought there bikes down and when they heard there was going to be a race for them i saw them practicing around the paddock. We lined them up on the start line. They started and climbed the hills like little machines. Well done girls.

Catch you on the next post

Later

Bike Fit

Well for the past 3 years I have set my own bike up, adjust this here, tweak that there until it felt about right. Since having my 29er although it's unreal to ride I couldn't get it quite right. For the Tailwind 8hr I had it feeling pretty good, well so I thought.

I went into FTR [For the Riders] the other day, while I was there Tim had a look at my bike and questioned the set up, after a brief discussion about my choice of set up it was pretty clear that a bike fit would be in order. If nothing else I just wanted to see how much better it could be. A very good friend of mine Al had here bike set up by Tim a couple of weeks back and said it was an improvement a Thousand fold.

Below is a clip of my own position on the bike, there were a few stand out problems, my reach to the bars, seat height and the angle of my back was another stand out.

From here Tim could pick some changes without even going to the computer, getting the bars lower and bringing the length of my stem back to 90mm was to be the most dramatic change. Tim started with positioning my cleats in the optimal position and then went on to make me look like a crash test dummy by positioning Velcro dots on my foot,ankle, knee, hip shoulder and wrist. Only one side of your body gets measured at a time. Tim told me that most people are very different from one side to another surely I won't be an exception. As it turned out I am not to Mogny. Whilst your on the trainer the computer has a stick figure of you riding and puts all the data into a spread sheet highlighting the keys areas that need tweaking.

The next clip shows my position after 2hrs of tweaking and adjusting.

I guess it's up to you to decide whether you can see any major changes but if you look at my reach to the bars, leg extension and bar height you can see a difference. For me the bike fit has been awesome, I feel very comfortable on the bike and after some rides over the last couple of days its become clear that it has been well worth it, after racing Canugra on the weekend climbing and descending seem alot better too.

My suggestion to you guys and girls is, if you have thought about getting a proper bike fit done and did what I did " Hmmm maybe one day" I would strongly suggest getting it done. I believe I have been riding with alot of unwanted issues due to my lack of knowledge on setting up my bike. Tim from, For the Riders http://news.fortheriders.com.au/ is more than happy to answer any questions u my have.

I think it's one of the best things I have done to improve my riding.

Monkey off My Back

Last weekend saw the last race of the QLD Enduro series, the 8hr. As you know my past few races have been anything but good, mechanical and the 24hr I saw aside of myself I would rather forget. So the plan leading into this race was to punch out 11 laps, and above all have fun and finish.

Race day came around really quick, when we got out to the course Sunday morning it was nice 2 degrees or something none QLD like that. From doing a practice lap the day before I knew it was going to be a rough course and although I had my dually there ready as a spare I was determined to ride the 29er and not let myself throw a race due to lack of time on a bike. I started back off the front and rolled through the first part of the course which would eventually turn into a Muddy pit, once at the first climb I decided to stay up in the gears and keep a little pace up, Clint Peirce was riding in front of me and from previous races I knew he was in good form. Having done alot of training on a single speed in the past and even now on the road bike now knowing that I climb out of the saddle on every hill, this was to be my approach for the entire race keep it in the big ring and climb every hill out of the saddle. SS roots.

As the race went on Clint kept opening up a lead and on the 3rd lap he bolt away, at this stage of the game I had no intention of chasing him down and I concentrate on keeping my lap times consistent and keep my nutrition right, I seem to always fall down in the nutrition department when it comes to racing. Kel pit crew expert kept me informed of my laps times and gap to the next rider, Mickers thanks for throwing me some splits as well. Every lap I kept increasing my lead on third as did Clint from me. The Segma 29er was great to roll on the course and handled everything that I could throw it over, but like everyone else on the course the it was punishing on the hands and arms, for the last few laps I was literally peeling my hands of the grip so I could stretch my hands out especially at the end of Rock Bottom.


All up for the race: My 29er was a weapon on the course, I got my target of 11 laps and depending on whether you use your garmin or the lap detail this equates to either just over or under 160km in 8hr 1min for me. STOKED. My average for the race was 19.4km another victory. !st in Opens and 2nd outright, a special mention goes to Kel, she crewed for 4 or 5 of us the entire race and as always had our gear ready to go.. Thanks heaps Kel. Pearso, Mikey and Richard rode well and Al coming over the line 4th and taking out 3rd in the series. Congrats to you all. Team mates Andy and Nathan took 2nd in the pairs category, Go team AY UP.

Rumour has it next year there will be a 5 races series.

Afeter some consistant weeks of training things are looking up fro getting some form back.

Keep the rubber down

Tailwind Promotions Super series Race 3

Team Launch

Well life is finally starting to settle into a routine which means my riding and training is becoming more consistant Woop Woop. But for some exciting news the Officail launch of the Ay Up racing team is this weekend, so keep your eyes pealed for the boys rocking the tracks.