A Busy Weekend

This weekend was a very full one.

Saturday morning was another trail care day on the Nirvana trail and we had a pretty good turn out of volunteers. The guys from For The Riders were out in force to help us build some quality rock features. Unfortunately for us, they have a bike shop to run so they had to bail out after two hours. Huge kudos to all of the guys though. They punched out a couple of hours of solid trail building, then had to bust their arses to get to the shop on time. Thanks guys. Thats above and beyond the call.

This left just five of us to try to complete the alloted work. To say this was a bridge too far would be an accurate assessment. Pushing wheelbarrows of rock and blue metal half a kilometre along Daisy Hill's most technical track was gut busting work. Then we were down to four. I had been planning on taking it easy with the wheel barrows this weekend because I was racing the single speed on Sunday. That plan soon was out the window!

We managed to finish all of our planned work, bar one section which we will have to come back to.

It was four very knackered and thirsty amigos that dragged their butts up the trail for a few sausage sangers and a cold drink at midday. Apart from the grub all I wanted to do was to lie down on the ground as I didn't have the core strength remaining to sit. The other guys were all absolutely shagged as well. I have never seen them so tired and it seemed, disheartened(my opinion only). We can't carry on doing this work with so little help, hoping that the word will spread. Something has to give.

After a great nights sleep I was up bright and early Sunday to prepare for the Karingal 4 Hour race. Well, I slept well but I wasn't feeling too much like racing. My knees were so sore from yesterdays wheel barrow shenanigans that I could barely walk down stairs. I moped around for a while so that breakfast had time to kick in and slowly my interest level picked up. Throwing the single speed and some water bottles in the car it was time for the short drive out to Karingal.

Well, in short I was bloody glad I did. The 25mm (1in) of rain we had overnight was just what the Race Director ordered! The trail was in primo condition with no mud, just hero dirt everywhere.

Knowing my lap times from previous years I was hoping for 7 laps today. I started steadily, trying to keep my heart rate low. Stopping at my "camp" after lap one for more water and a bite to eat helped with this slow and steady philosopy. I strung laps 2 and 3 together without a break. Prior to lap 4 I topped up with water and food again. While I didn't feel like eating I forced myself so as to keep the system going.

With an hour to go I thought "well, that means just two more laps". To my surprise, I managed to get two more laps in before the 4 hour time limit was up! So, after a drink and further food I headed out for a leisurely last lap. All race long the dynamic duo of Sara and Karen were cheering the riders on and now on the last lap they were handing out shots of beer. I oblidged them by downing a couple before the final blast down to the line. Thanks ladies!

At the finish line I honestly felt I had a few more laps in my legs, just not at anything like race pace. In the end I managed to punch out 9 laps which was waaay better then I was expecting for the day. That worked out to 60km (38mi) and 1800m (5900ft) of climbing. Woo Hoo!

As far as results go, I maintained my standing in the world of MTBing. Last in single speed category! If I was in Sport Category I would have won it by a lap. Man, I'm getting sick of being bloody ordinary on a mountain bike!

But I had a hell of a lot of fun. The track was in the best condition I have ever seen it and the nice cool weather was a godsend. Sorry, no photos as I was solo today. 

A huge thanks must go to the members of the South Brisbane Mountain Bike Club that didn't get to race, who gave their time so that the rest of us could enjoy the day. Your efforts are valued only just behind the two champion girls handing out free beer!

Cheers.....I need a sleep.

Feelin' Fine

The man flu has gone just as quickly as it came and I am feelin' way too damn good...

I have managed to roll about 100 km (62 mi) of trail under the wheels since Sunday which is probably too much considering I want to race this weekend. But who cares? The weather has been great and I am healthy again!

We have some trail care this weekend, then Sunday is the annual Karingal 4 Hour which is always a fun day out, as long as I don't overdo it. I will try to take it easy like last year.

Bring it on......

Scouting Ride

Sunday dawned relatively cool and clear. Today, Derek had planned a scouting ride to try to link up various pieces of single track here on the south side of Brisbane for an Epic ride he is planning shortly after christmas.

We had nine starters for the 6am start and we managed to finish up with eight. To my mind an acceptable loss rate on a ride like this!

Did I mention it was relatively cool? Well, this didn't last long. We were all drenched with sweat at the end of the first single track, just ten minutes into the day! It was hot, hot, HOT on sunday. I personally downed at least four litres of water laced with Endura and Nuuns.

Anyway, enough from me. You can get a feel for what it is all about here......I was toast by the time we hit Resurrection.....it is going to be a BIG ride.

Karingal 4 Hour

Well, the good folk from Brisbane South Mountain Bike Club have put on another great mornings racing with the staging of their annual Karingal 4 Hour on Sunday.

The setup featured a new, spacious race base with plenty of room for setting up your tent, shelter or home away from home. Great prizes like Garmin 705s and new bikes were on offer thanks to major sponsor For The Riders. 

Another new feature this year was a dry track! No more mud and carnage as displayed last year. No sir, it was going to be fast and flowing so I thought I would take it down a notch by attacking the race on my trusty fully rigid single speed. Just to make sure I took the sting out of myself, I was saddled with the wrong gearing for this undulating little track. 32/18 is not the ratio for me to push here. FedEx wasn't going to have the 32/20 freewheel here in time and two teeth on the rear doesn't sound like much difference, but it is so much more forgiving on my pipe cleaner legs.

Undaunted, I lined up somewhere near the back so as not to hold anyone up when I blew up on the first hill! It was a very leisurely start with a 500 or so metre roll along the fire road to help sort everyone out before dropping into the singletrack. On said first hill, having only one speed, I could not entertain the speeds being showcased by my fellow back markers simply because my legs would not turn a 32/18 ratio that slowly on such a steep climb, so the only solution was to smash it! So I did for a while, then backed off for sustainability reasons. This was after all a 4 hour ride er....race. And that was how I paced myself for the day. A new toy helped with the pacing. As I completed each lap I pitted under our shelter, changed camera angles, grabbed a fresh water, a bite to eat and had a chat to Chris. All very civilized!

My goal was six laps and I must admit that on my third lap I was thinking to myself, as the morning warmed up, that there is no way I can double the number of laps in the time left. Just then, Shane, the eventual winner of Open mens, flew past me into a corner and gave me a little inspiration. Although there was no way I would be backing it in like he was! Really impressive to watch a seriously fast rider racing, if only briefly.

I continued to roll around, chat and generally enjoy myself for the remainder of the allotted time. In the end I pushed out six laps in about 4:20 with a moving time of 3:30. Obviously taking it pretty easy, but the legs were toast by the last lap.

Please bear with me a little as I attempt to figure out how to use the new camera. I promise I will change the mounting location in the future (unless I receive requests for more ;) ). In the mean time, I present...um... "scrote's-eye-view"! Look away if easily offended.



A huge thanks to all from BSMC that pitched in and helped out with the set up, running and of course the pack up after the event. Many club members choose not to race so as to provide everyone else with a great day out and I am selfishly in the riding group, so without mentioning names, this core group of volunteers always puts on a race day that equals professionally run mountain bike events. Take a bow ladies and gents. Top effort.

All the time in the world

This morning when I woke up I thought it was time for a decent ride. You know the type, where you fill the camelbak to the brim, pack a banana and some gels and you ride wherever you want, at whatever pace you want. So after packing the wife off to work and the kids off to school I sat down with a cup of coffee to contemplate a route.

Generally, heading east from home gives me two main options. Bayview, in Redland Bay or the Eastern Escarpment, which can in turn lead to Bayview if you so desire. But for today I had a hunger to ride the Brisbane South MTB club home track at Karingal. So over the Eastern Escarpment to Karingal it would be. The initial warm up along the West Mt Cotton rd track turned out to be a cobweb clearing exercise. I was literally covered in web and had numerous small arachnids hanging off my bike by the time I broke out onto West Mt Cotton rd. Did I mention how much I hate spiders?
It was warming up by this stage and I was really noticing the humidity today. Summer must finally be on the way. Adding to the thick air along here is the biting aroma of road kill rotting in the sun. There are always numerous wallabies and kangaroos that find themselves the victim of hit and run incidents. My challenge is to hold my breath for long enough to exit this pungent zone.

Turning off the sealed road onto the dirt and as I point my bike up the first real climb it becomes apparent how much rain fell here last week. During the passage of one storm cell, 110mm (4 1/2inches) dumped in under one hour! The trail was scoured clean by the torrent of water that rushed down it. Totally amazing to think of that much water in such a short period in time.

Nearing the top of the first climb, it appears that the mysterious Bunya Lumberjack has paid the Eastern Escarpment a visit, with the log rollover at the top now modified.

The wind had also done it's thing with numerous trees down. The bottom of the climb near the cow shed is blocked by multiple trees that brought each other down during the storm.

With the humid air this morning the view wasn't quite what it usually is, but as I had all the time in the world today there was time for a photo stop.

Up and over the top was the usual tough push. The way down the fire road to Karingal is one of my favourite rides here on the south side. I am not sure why really, just that I enjoy the steep, rocky down hill and the lack of use the trail receives. Today, the trail is totally different as the deluge has caused all the old lines to be washed away and replaced with new ones that need bedding in by having a few wheels over them. Could be a while before that happens.

Dropping in on Karingal is always rewarding. The single track here is well designed and holds up to the elements well. Sunday was a trail care day in preparation for the Karingal 4 hour on the 13th of November and it was nice to ride some of the trail that we had prepped yesterday.

I thought I would keep the eastern escarpment loop theme going by following the back roads across to the Koala bushland in Redlands council area. These are easy flowing fire road through native bush and when in here I always feel like I am a million miles from the city.

Along the regular loop is the pineapple farm. I have always wondered how they got the pineapples to grow in the rocky, barren looking soil around here. Perhaps I wasn't the only one to wonder as it looks like they have given up on the whole deal and let the fields go to ruin.

There are miles of trails in here that make a very nice cross country loop with a bit of technical riding on the badly eroded trails. There are even some creek crossings complete with filthy looking water. After seeing a small terrier floating upside down here several years ago I try my best not to put a foot in. God knows what is down there.

Exiting the koala bushland (without seeing a koala) I head across the road into Daisy Hill for a roll on some singletrack. It is nice to ride in here during the day as the trails seem to belong to me, with nobody else in sight. 

Heading generally for home now I will finish off the ride with my new favourite singletrack link up. Back into Cornubia I start down Stupidly Happy until it intersects with Resurrection. Here I hang a left and head up the hill via Resurrection, onto a brief fire road haul, then down the drop to the start of Wallum Froglet. Minimal fire road and maximum fun! I have to stop for a photo at what I think is a signature section on WF. I love riding this bit in particular, knowing how much work went into creating it.

Back home again for a cold drink and a guess at the temperature. It feels like close to 30 degrees. I am somewhat deflated later when I find out is only about 25! This summer is going to hurt if I insist on riding during the middle of the day. While we may have to resurrect the Friday Fling and opt for the cool of 5am, there is nothing like sneaking out for a leisurely roll by yourself, especially when it feels like you have all the time in the world.

Midweek MTBing

So, with work encroaching heavily on life again lately and the Tour Divide coverage holding my spare attention, I finally was able to break free. I had an opportunity to take a roll around the Koala bush lands with Dean0 this week. It had been too long since the last dirt ride (12 days due to work) and despite a late finish at work, the plan was set. We would push off from Cornubia and head across to West Mt Cotton rd and the Eastern Escarpment. Then a lap of the Karingal track to see how it looked after the Sushine Series round there on sunday. From Karingal it was to be via the standard EE loop to Daisy Hill for whatever we felt like, then back across to Cornubia to finish off with a roll down Wallum Froglet to home.

Done with this....

                                                                            So, on to this.

After a bit of a chat and a good look at the view, it was..........

Going,

Going,

Gone!

The Eastern Escarpment is as rideable as it has ever been. Would you believe it is fun? Er, how about rewarding? Er, then how about hurty?

A brief stop to appreciate the easterly view.

Then a slight diversion to take in the "new" westerly view.

From here you can see clear across to Daisy Hill and the Shailer family property.

We then put the hurt on ourselves a bit. In a good way, of course, with a lap of Karingal. The track is in perfect condition. Maybe I should have ridden in C grade as well as helping out after all last weekend?

The desire to take photos dwindled at about the same rate as the pain increased, so the only "stills" are now in my head. Until I can find the USB plug for that interface, I shall leave it to your imagination to guess how it panned out. Suffice to say there was no blood award but there was hurt for my legs.

Yet another great morning in the saddle with great company. It is what mountain biking is about.

Now to recover in time for the 6 hour this sunday.

Go "The Nigel"!

Karingal 4 Hour

Sunday morning dawned cloudy and cold. Well, cold for this time of the year here in Queensland. A quick look outside confirmed what I had been hoping against for several days now. Rain. Lots of it. Bugger. I continued to drag myself around the house, eating some breakfast and thinking that I did not really want to ride around in this weather for four hours. Bloody bugger. I couldn't not turn up either. Being a member of the club and knowing the massive amount of effort the other members had put into track preparation and setup, I HAD to go! "Oh well" I told myself. I am only in the social category today so I will just trundle around and have FUN. The bike that best suited these conditions was my Kona Unit single speed. The words Single Speed and Karingal 4 hour were not to be used in the same sentence as far as I was concerned, but the weather had tipped my hand and out of bicycle preservation I HAD to ride Stanley.

Getting the bike out of the car it proceeded to bucket down again. I still felt like I was moving in slow motion.  Not really wanting to do it. Once down in the start area the other guys from the wednesday morning ride crew were set up under a shelter kindly supplied by Chris. This was very civilized and proved to be the first bright point in the day. Hellos were exchanged and I had dawdled for so long that it was race time already. The rain held off for the pre race brief and all that I heard was that social riders were to start at the rear of the field. No problems. I can do that. So I did. I made sure I was absolutely dead last away. Climbing the first hill I couldn't help myself and passed about twenty riders. They must have been saving themselves for later.

Early on when you could make out the colour of my kit. This didn't last long.

I continued to cruise around chatting to Deano and Chris at varying points. It was very wet but the Maxxis Ignitor on the front wheel was gripping the drowned earth with aplomb and giving oodles of confidence. What wasn't giving quite as much confidence were the brakes. They were fading to nothing, being ground away by the mud. Luckily the BB7s are simple and easy to adjust which I did until the pads were no more.

At least I had some brakes. Chris had lost all rear brakes and had decided to call it quits as Karingal is a track that demands at least a rear brake in these conditions. So Dean0 and I continued to circulate and chat and generally laugh at this absurd situation. That was until I was climbing a steep pinch, standing and putting in the big ones when my chain gave up the ghost, went "ping" and I duly kneed the handlebars about as hard as I could!! Some choice words escaped my lips but luckily no one was around to hear. Shortly after this Dean0 turned up, laughed and commiserated me on "losing" in the Daisy Hill Wednesday Morning Crew bragging rights challenge. Oh well, I was in second place after Chris's retirement, Rich's locking his keys in his car and Dr Geoff and Coaster pulling the pin early that morning. I decided I was going to finish the lap and scootered the flat bits, coasted the downhills and pushed up the climbs. I messed with some other riders minds by pushing up behind them as they struggled to grind away up the hills. I had a chat with Outdoorgaz while he shot photos of the race for our club. Most of these shots here are courtesy of Gaz, so thanks again mate for putting up with the wet to document our stupidity!

The end result was a Nightmare on Elm St scenario for our respective washing machines........yet we were still smiling?

Stanley hates me, but I think he secretly had fun too despite throwing his chain. I gave him a spruce up today with a new front axle, front brake pads, bottom bracket and with a new rear wheel to build as well as new rear brake pads to install.Oh, and a chain! Most of these maintenance items were due anyway, apart from the brake pads.

Thanks to BSMC and For the Riders for a great day out and and awesome prize pack just for turning up!

A Varied Week

After Mt Perry there was a fair amount of cleaning and packing away of camping gear. Probably the bit I most dislike about camping, but it makes for an easy camp next time.
Before I know it, it is wednesday and time to gently blow the cobwebs out of the legs with the Regular Daisy Hill Wednesday Morning Ride. As I leave the driveway at 5:15am though I notice that Chris's garage is open with the light on. Ouch, this will hurt! No such thing as a gentle transit to Daisy Hill when accompanying Chris. I seem to set my new record transit times on mornings like this. Surprisingly my legs feel OK this morning, despite the hammering they took at Mt Perry three days earlier. The monday lunch cruise must have done them wonders!
Once at Daisy Hill we met up with four of the regulars for a very brisk ride. Luckily for me Floody noticed I was flagging at certain times and very kindly invoked a flat tyre to slow the pace for some recovery time. Jody asked me to take a photo because people say he never helps, but notice his left foot and Floody tugging at his good tube? If that is how he helps change a flat it is best he stands back and just gives cheek like the rest of us!

When I was suffering again shortly later we had some more of this.

Thanks for a great ride, as usual guys. You have got to LOVE winter in Brisbane!

Thursday was back to work with a quick trip to Bali to relax and prepare for the next Sunshine Series race at Karingal. Tough work and perhaps not the best preparation in hindsight, particularly the bit where we sat up all night at 38 000ft!

Landing at Ngurah Rai

Note the third world smoothness of the runway!

Parking

Beer o'clock.

My Digs.

Home sweet home. You climbers may recognise some of the peaks in the distance. I love how clear the air is after a frontal system scours the contaminants away.

As for the race at Karingal, I started well, within sight of the leaders until the second climb. Then something went "pop" and my thighs felt like they were on fire and just wouldn't push for about a lap. They did come good on the last lap and I managed a safe top 10 finish out of a field of 40!(C grade mens) Happy days!