mwg

stromlo was just awesome. we had the best time. scottie after a shaky start perform like a trooper [which he has always been!] i am going to do everything i can to keep him. i just love him too much to let him go.

on saturday morning i cancelled soccer for the boys. aidan was sick, i was sick with a cold and lachlan had very sore arms from being jabbed with his last shots. i had a 3+ hour drive ahead of me to stromlo and i had to pack the car. i needed to get on the road asap because i was going down to put a deposit on carbo. i was feeling so shabby i had to take a cold and flu tablet. i truely wasn’t the best and when i met up with chris at the bike to secure cash transfer for carbo, he did comment on how sick i looked/sounded. i paid up, went and looked at the scale 20 [carbo was at the parramatta store] and hit the road again.

i arrived at brad’s in plenty of time. he was completing the finishing touches, preparing furio. nick arrived shortly after and we were away by midday. the drive was easy and we entered stromlo at around 3.30-4.00pm, which left us time to set up camp and go for a teaser ride to check the track, conditions and see what we had really got ourselves into.




i was quiet surprised. it was cold but not ridiculously freezing so we took of before the sun set. we had no idea what the course was going to be and just road around for a bit until we spotted a CORC red arrow sign and followed that for a bit. we basically climbed up the first hill of the race and i was really loving the undulating nature of the track. it weaved its way up the hill without to much of an incline but still contained a fair few techy corners with rocks and ruts that you had to plan your line before just hitting it willy nilly.

on the descent we decided it was getting colder and darker so we took the most direct route down – on a fire trail rather than the single track, but as we rounded a bend we spotted a “section” which had full single track with banked corners, jumps the LOT. so we took up the challenge. it was just awesome. nick went first and was yelling and woo hooing because it was just an amazing piece of track, hitting the banks then punching out over a smallish jump, getting air then straight back into the next switchback banked corner … hell yeah! this is what we had come for.

it is hard now to remember the couple of negatives, one being i was still sick[ish] and also the fact i had a major technical problem with my bike. after placing the new chain on the bike was skipping cogs really tragically. on every power down moment the chain would just let loose and skip around 4 cogs at a time which made any hill climbs a real issue, i couldn’t power up the hills!!! i just knew that night was going to be pit crew evening, fine tuning the bikes ready for the next days racing




we returned home, went into town to pick up some supplies, then back to base camp to eat and start the fix-up shop. nick needed to put on his new tires, and i had worked out i need to put my old chain back on with only the problem link to be replaced. nick tires were a nightmare and we attempted quiet a few times to get them on with major issue. first we couldn’t get the tire off, then we pinched the tubes once on. shit fight really is the only way i can describe it, but we finished it off and head to bed. it was cold then. really bloody cold. probably -3 ish…



as brad captioned this image “the nightmare known as nicks tires”




nicks old tires frozen


when we woke in the morning nick tire had gone down so it was back to the tire nightmare for nick and brad, as i worked on fixing my chain. after a quick test run my bike was running i would say 90%, still the odd skip of the chain but enough for me to ride, and nick had tires which were now holding air [they were now presta tubes no longer schreda]

we had discussed it and felt it best that brad start off first. he is the most level headed rider of the team and is really consistent with his riding and we knew it was going to take patients to do the first lap. i was to go out second which i was really happy with and brad entered transtion in a really respectable time considering the shit fight he had with traffic, at one point at the beginning of the first single track he said he was walking his bike.

i took off and felt not to bad, my chest did hurt from the cold/sickness but i just ignored it and went out hard, like i always do. the weather was amazing and hot! but i unfortunately had my leggins on as well as a spray jacket. i reached the top of the first 3km climb but was really warm so i stopped and took the jacket off. i took the first lap at a reduced pace because we did have 7 hours left and i was not familiar with the full course. as for the course it was just amazing. so nicely designed and a real pleasure to ride, but it definitely bit back in parts, just to keep you honest and alert. there was no time for resting either physically or mentally. a quick over view of the track is as follows:

a decent climb, small break then more climb. this brought you out on the other side of the main hill. then it had a quiet technical downhill section with A and B lines [B being easier] then the descend on the other side would drop you through sections where you were unable to see around the up coming corner, through the small pine trees, then drop you out onto a fire trail, back up a short climb and into another single track, winding bends, small technical sections, another very short fire trail, back onto winding single track, then spilling onto what seemed to be the down hill flat section for the up coming World Championships which i found really quiet bone jarring for a bit, onto a flat single trail with a fire trail crossing that had an awesome jump on the off side, around a very fast flowing single track, one last jump, through a pipe and into transtion. tag team off to nick, and back to base camp.



nick waiting for me in transition


me on the transition entry run in orange as per usual


as i said i took the first lap tentative, i wanted to make it home in one piece – fuel up and get ready to hammer the next lap with more knowledge of the course and a new found confidence. scottie was running pretty well and i had forgotten totally about being sick.

when nick returned he didn’t look happy, his bike was stuffed, the back brake was partially locked on, much the same as me in the dirtworks 50km and everything was squeeking – he was pissed. we attempted some repairs but it wasn’t really fixing the issues, they were better and the trooper he is, decided it was ok enough to do another lap on the caldera. i returned to transition and waited on brad…


the b-man on a good lap and enjoying it obviously!


at the time it did seemed a little longer than it should have been but time was really hard to judge. i saw brad but he didn’t look like everything was ok, it took me a bit to work it out but i realised he was “scootering” in to transition. i spotted the back derailuer and realised he had no chain. i didn’t spend time talking to him. i just took off asap and left it to them to fix.

this lap i did push, as best as possible and it made me realise quiet a few things. i am a really good climber, it is very rare i am overtaken on a hill, and i seem to be able to power up them with general ease. i am really starting to read the track much better and understand the lines, as well as the limits of scottie. i didn’t stack but i was on the edge a lot, really trying. i was loving it. that lap was exciting, fun, fast!, and one of those moments you really enjoy being at one with your bike. i was riding well and really loving every second of it.


through transition again


back to transition and at this point i felt as though i wasn’t going to be doing another lap. as it turned out we were looking like we were quick enough as a team to do nine laps which meant i was going to do one more lap. i knew i wouldn’t be as quick but was ready for it none the less. brad then told me it had taken them an hour to fix his chain because they had no idea what they were doing with it. lol, i had the chain breaking tool, and had kinda slightly shown brad what i was doing in the morning but they were a little confused. i had a look at his chain and it looked fine so he was going to go out none the less. brad got ready, transition happened again and nick returned with a big gash on his arm and again with a damaged bike and pissed. he said he really hammered that lap but pushed to hard and had gone over the handle bars. he had also rapped the bars around over the frame and bent everything. after some manly attitude the bars were back off the frame but weren’t straight. he then again attacked them and straightened them enough to get the caldera back home.

i then convinced him to book in a BMC to ride a lap of the track. it was such an awesome concept. he basically did his last lap on a $7K dual suspension


BMC Trailfox full bling


in hindsite, i’m an idiot! i should have booked one in too. maybe next time.

brads last lap was his favorite, he really enjoyed the time on the bike without any technical issues, he hit transition in a great time and i was on again. when i first took off my chest started to hurt again, and my legs, and my arms, and my arse, and my brain. this lap was going to be a bit of a struggle but i so wanted to hold it together and get around in enough time to get nick underway before the cut off time on the bling + BMC. again i climbed well, really well and overtook quiet a few people, but on the technical sections i really slowed and took my time. after the few races i have done i now realise when you are fatigued, exhausted it is so easy to lapse in concentration and end up parting ways with the bike, which is never going to end comfortably that late in the day. i let everyone one pass me who was faster ,slowing early and moving right out of the way, even in some cases running into the thickle bush just to ensure i didn’t hold them up in any way. i also took most of the technical quiet calmly. i did push a little harder on the last 4 km’s thinking about the fact it was going to be the last race with scottie, was kinda sad really but good things await. i made it into transition with a good amount of time before cut off and off nick went.


nick departs on the bling mobile – just 7K’s worth of bike… phfffttt


brad and i started slowly packing up. i was sore, but not too bad. we spoke about going down to take some shots of nick for when he crossed the line, he should be back in about 10 minutes was the last thing we said when nick rode up next to us. we were blow away, he had smashed the lap on the BMC bling. and was grinning ear to ear. He was at last enjoying the day!

we hung around but didn’t stay for the full presentation, would love to have but it was late and i still had to drive to enmore then home, and i was tired and sore.


my morning spastic look – which seems to come natrually



the result?

we had a ball, we overcame mechanical problems, rode hard and just lapped up every minute riding on what was an amazing track. the actual results were really good as well.

Our results are as follows:

9 laps total in a time of 8:24:07

21st out of 34 in our category [mixed threes]

127th as a team out of 295

my individual times were

lap 1 – 54:11

lap 2 – 52.48

lap 3 – 55.19

nicks were:

lap 1 – 52.40

lap 2 – 51.12

lap 3 – 46.25

brads were:

lap 1 – 1.02.22

lap 2 – 1.12.13

lap 3 – 56.57



so. as a wrap up

we will be back next year. bigger and better than this year.

i will be training a lot more now. as much as i can. i need to improve my fitness as well as my technical skills.

brad, nick and i make a great team and it was so good to see us all pretty much with the same times. brads were only longer due to mechanical issues and the start conjestion. his last lap proves he is as quick as both nick and i. nick is a supper human, the lion was on fire.

i also answers my age old question… would i be quicker on a better bike. nick proved it is not a question anymore it is proven. YES and by up to 5 minutes a lap!!!! imagine the next lap if he had the same bike. he had never ridden the BMC before that lap.

and best of all. carbo is coming. i am really excited about his arrival. it is going to be a big turning point in my life, and riding future.

come on BMC Working Week Series Stromlo 2009. we will be ready!

and a big thanks to brad and nick for such a great time.


post lap 1 with a grin to die for