Never Work With Children or Animals

In a final post regarding the opening of Ginger Gully I would like to present Andrew's view of the opening day. Yes, I am banging on a bit about this but honestly I put so much effort into this build(as did everyone that came along) not to shout it from the blogospere.

Official opening of 'Ginger Gully' from SEQ Trails Alliance on Vimeo.

You will see my kids and might even catch me trying to stay off camera for everyone's betterment. The numbers of rider that turned up (at our request) was very impressive and everyone looks like they are having a great time...apart from the little fella on the blue bike who clearly thought he was going to DIE!

We have been promoting our trail building efforts in a positive light, trying to encourage more participation and the proof is in the pudding. Pretty much everyone loves the trails.

So, fast forward to the next Saturday morning and our monthly trail care day where we do minor repairs to existing trails. After having about 60 people at the free BBQ we hoped there might be a flow on effect at the trail care morning, a mere 6 days later. 

Well, (insert tumbleweed emoticon here) we had a massive turn out of 5. Yep, thats right, 5. Three regulars, one new bloke(thanks Kevin) and one 12-14 year old boy who was actually at the trail opening day and decided not to do his usual ride but to come do some digging this week(thanks Ryan). I had to run off after just one hour to get to my kids sporting commitment, leaving just 4. Riding the trail a few days later and not surprisingly almost nothing had been done. Three small fixes of the ten to twelve that were on the list. No slight on the guys that were there. They just couldn't do it in the time allotted.

So what is the answer? Somehow we need to engage the volunteers so that they feel a connection and want to come back. Unfortunately we are working with a local government organisation that is setting an inflexible standard and our volunteers(me included) feel excluded from any decision making. Yet we provide ALL of the elbow grease that makes the build happen.

Maybe the volunteers need to be more charitable as well? Social commentator Hugh Mackay puts the case for "giving back" very eloquently in this conversation with the ABC's Richard Fidler. I find that Hugh puts into words the feeling that I have had for the last couple of years and couldn't articulate, even to myself. Don't worry, it isn't religious but please take the time to listen. It is thought provoking stuff.

Or perhaps W.C. Fields famous quote of "never work with children or animals" should be expanded to "Never work with children, animals or volunteers". Actually, it may not be that catchy.......

Cheers and thanks to all of the guys and girls that put so much personal blood, sweat and beers into making some freakin' awesome trails. 

You know who you are.

First Second Half Spin.....

Freshly back from Un Zed I had a text from Dean0 asking what I was doing. My answer, "going for a ride" was soon replied to with a "see you soon". Excellent!

My first ride this Financial Year and the first in just over a week. Last week was a total loss with massive days at work and me just trying to stay rested enough to cope with those long, demanding days after my weekend away, so no time for the usual gym spin sessions.

Getting out also gave me a chance to try out my new winter gloves. Winter gloves here in the sub tropics simply mean full fingers. My old full finger dirt bike gloves are showing signs of severe index digit wear (too much nose picking?!?) after about 7 years of service. Some sweet Pearl Izumis from Wellington fit the bill.

There is never an easy ride here in Cornubia but the climb up Wallum Froglet is certainly a pleasant way to warm up. Meeting Dean0 coming the other way we threw together a couple of laps of Cornubia and a few climbs of the hill.

Dean0 was smokin'.

All of that secret training he has been cramming in is certainly paying off.

Some seriously fun climbing(suprisingly, that is NOT an oxymoron) and chewing the fat ensued with more plans being laid for upcoming bike packing trips. Time to break out the maps and start planning the details.

IceBreaker comfort. Gotta love the Merino.....but not literally....!

Testing The Waters

An acquaintance that helped massively during the construction of Wallum Froglet has proposed a mountain bike ride that takes in ALL of the single track in Daisy Hill, Cornubia and Bayview. This sounds like a heck of a challenge and will potentially kick some attendees arses!

So in the interest of self preservation I thought that I should see what it feels like to ride all of the single track in Cornubia and Daisy Hill.

I had some company for the Cornubia section of the ride, with Owen coming along for a pedal.

After Nirvana we bombed down Trail 9, a trail that I hardly ever ride. Mainly because it goes nowhere and you have a solid climb to get out again. But today I had to suck it up on my own as this is where Owen bailed out to head for home.

As I crested the hill and was about to dive down Turning Japanese it began to sprinkle with rain. Not heavily, just enough to make the ground nice and grippy. And the wood slippery....best to take it easy

I was trying to head in a clockwise direction and take in the trails with minimal backtracking. There would be plenty of k's without too much backtracking!

A few more showers passed through during the ride but nothing that would make the trails unrideable. Damn. I was going to have to keep going!

I must say that I was pleased to finally have all of the Daisy Hill trails under my wheels and be heading toward home. My legs were definitely starting to feel the ride. I had neglected to take much in the way of food with me and was paying for this folly now.

The final trail out to West Mt Cotton rd was painful. My legs were toast, my butt was sore and the trail was actually quite overgrown, with a few trees down across it necessitating some climbing over or under these obstructions. Actually, it was nice to get off the bike.

Was I happy to roll out of the bush, onto the road and grind my way home? Actually, hell yeah! I felt much worse than I did last weekend when Dean and I did 115km. I am not sure if this is because of my poor calorie intake(which was almost perfect last weekend) or if it was the fact that this ride was purely single track.

The stats for the day are laid out below. Man, that was a tough 48ish km/30mi. I say ..ish because the gps doesn't calculate the correct distance in tight single track. It underestimates the distance becase it only records when a parameter changes, so cuts a metre off here and there in corners. On a ride like this it might miss as much as 1km/.625mi. Not much if you are on a motorcycle but plenty when you are crawling home on your lips!

Adding in Bayview will see another 16km/10mi added to the ride just to get to Bayview and back. Then adding in the trails down there will see this ride not too far short of an Epic!

Bring a Vegemite sandwich folks...and taxi fare.....


On another note, it is the second anniversary of A View From Above. Yep, two years ago I was inspired enough by other blogs I was reading to have a go at it myself. I would just like to say thanks to you, the readers who have encouraged me with comments.....or stony silence when appropriate!

I am looking forward to "living the dream" for a long time yet and hopefully sharing my adventures here in the blogsphere...possibly with only the odd temper tantrum seeing as I am in the terrible twos now. ;)

Cheers
Dave

Good.....No, Great Friday

Today didn't start so well, with me having to bail on an early ride with a mate, due to me feeling "fluey". (Sorry Dean0!)

As the day wore on, I downed plenty of fluids and some placebos....er vitamins and began to feel better. I also noticed what a cracker of a day it was too! A slight coolness in the air, something that we haven't really had here in Brisbane so far this year. Too good a day to waste sitting around the house, trying not to eat meat or chocolate.

So I saddled up and went for a roll through Daisy Hill, via Wallum Froglet. Up the new trail to get to Daisy, then back down it to come home.

I am not sure what an actual Wallum Froglet looks like, but I know what our Wallum Froglet looks like.(It looks better in HD too.)







                                                                     Yep, it was a great friday.

It Must Be Saturday Morning Again

Saturday morning reared it's ugly head all too soon this week.

After putting in six hours of "trail build day"preparation during the week with Chris, I must admit I was slow to drag my sorry carcase out of bed at 5am. Not helping my cause was the fact that I had assisted a mate with a particularly large bottle of red wine the night before. My wife keeps delighting in quoting me on the night as saying "it would be irresponsible of me to make Jon drink that all by himself !" Geez, I'm a good mate. I really took one for the team Friday night and was glad I wasn't operating any heavy machinery Saturday morning!

We finally have access to the forest for one of our vehicles and it was a godsend not to have to carry all of our tools the 1 kilometre up the hill to where we are working. Yes, we needed all of our energy to push wheel barrows loaded with rock the last 400 metres or so! I was a lather of sweat after the first five minutes and progressed from here to being totally drenched before we had finished for the morning. Man was it humid!

As expected, the digging was tough. The steepness of the side slope necessitates a wide bench to ride on, which means mucho soil to be removed. In various spots on the low side of significant trees, retaining walls had to be build. This equals hauling more rock in the heat. Hard yakka for all concerned.

Now, my trail pixies who had taken 40 000 photographs last week were having a sleep in today, so the photographic documentation of the morning is somewhat scant. Here is all I managed to snap.

Now, while there may be no evidence of anyone actually working in the above photos, rest assured that everyone that came along put in a mighty effort. Jeff was just testing the line for us in that last photo. It always helps to have a bike on hand while building so as to get the flow of a certain section just right.

Anyway, the guys (there were no girls this week) punched out about 80 to 100 metres of trail. That leaves this 30 metres for next week, before we reach the gully crossing in the top right corner.

We will be through the crossing and climbing up the opposite hillside next week. This may require the use of a jackhammer to persuade some rock we ran into to play nicely, but just quietly, I am all for some powered assistance at this point!

Sunday morning dawned bright and shiny after light rain Saturday night and a quick ride up the trail revealed a nicely bedded down trail. We couldn't have planned the rain any better!

Sunday afternoon and it was off to Underwood Park to let the kids loose on their mountain bikes for a few laps of the track. We ended up with four kids and about six adults lapping, despite the heat and humidity. A wall of thunderstorms approaching from the west put a pleasantly cool end to the afternoon, with the kids bundled into the car and sent home, while Chris and I did some mad, single speed spinning through Daisy Hill forest to beat the rain home by about five minutes! No wonder my legs felt trashed today on my road ride!

All in all, a very productive and fun weekend.

The trail, so far........

Another Part of the Puzzle II

Well, I have been waiting for a jacket to ride this new/old R1 and the call finally came yesterday that my "old faithful" Rivet jacket was ready to be collected from the dry cleaner.

Fully rejuvenated from 5 years of Flyboy neglect and Queensland humidity I must say it looks bloody good, considering I bought it in 1993! It is also unearthing some great feelings and memories in me......and my wife. I was showing her how good it looks compared to the pants part of the suit that is yet to be cleaned and I swear I could see in her face a wistful look, possibly thinking back to a trip we did in 1997 down to Phillip Island in our early courting days.

Or possibly remembering me with hair! That ugly bloke on the right is the Road to Nowhere guy.

Anyway, the jacket looks great and I will send the pants and my Brando jacket in for the same treatment. You can clearly see the difference from the jacket to the pants in this picture. No comments please on the 90s styling. I like it....

Funny how it works though. I had an email from the US yesterday saying that a particular Alpinestars mesh jacket was back in stock. So, I ordered it again (4th time) and am yet to get the "we regret to inform you" email, so I may have my choice of jackets soon. All that remains is to organise a helmet that doesn't smell like Granny Moses armpits and then I am free to rock!

I must admit that despite the...ahhmmm...costs so far, it has been a great trip down memory lane getting all of my gear in order. I hope that the riding will be as much fun as I remember. As all of my previous riding was continuous through my late teens, 20s and early 30s, it is slightly daunting to be getting back into it in my early 40s. I was flying with a guy of similar vintage last week and we were discussing motorcycles, as he had been a rider before having 3 daughters and he admitted to "losing his nerve" and getting out several years ago. Bloody brave guy to admit that to another bloke actually. I think much more of him as a result.

I hope my judgement is up to the task, as without it, choosing corner entry speeds and braking points might be guesswork. A clear recipe for disaster on a motorcycle. I am nervously looking forward to it. Perhaps a refresher training course might be in order?

I stumbled across this test from "back in the day" when my bike was at the cutting edge. Funny to read but, it is just as I remember the hype at the time. Trip back into the past with this 2002 R1 Test .

On another note, the mountain bike trail building here in Cornubia is powering ahead. I had a slight "melt down moment" in this post when I discovered I would miss out on the chance to ride a signature Australian trail due to trail care commitments. I have re-organised that trip and last weekend we had another strong turnout to trail building, so happy days!

Better still, because MTBers are a pretty fit bunch, they punched through all of the trail that we intended to build by 8:30am and I had to rapidly mark up another 80-100 metres of trail to keep them busy!!

Adding to this, a BBQ was thrown on by the local council bush fire services guys in appreciation of the efforts of the local mountain bikers. Remember, these trails are for the use of trail walkers, runners, as well as riders, but the only people to build or maintain them are the Mountain Bike community. As a result, we are finally gaining some serious traction with the landholders. To our credit (my opinion) we are pretty inclusive with regard to selling our trails as walking, cycling (and horse riding where appropriate). This coupled with some serious numbers on two wheels being counted out on the trail, has our political masters finally paying us some respect. I almost feel like a real estate developer, sway wise!!

Feels funny to be on this high after the low I felt last week when faced with the massive building effort that I was slow to realise was staring us in the face. Some great support during the week from the other LCTA Trail Care coordinator (thanks Chris), as well as the massive effort by the volunteers on saturday, was more than enough to resurrect my spirits after my ....erm...blow out.

I am soooo looking forward to this weekend's effort. Here is were we will be this week.....the wide angle hides the steepness of the slope.

Fun times ahead!!!!

Now That All The Rain Has Gone

Just a day after we received about 150mm (6 inches) of rain, I thought I would head out and see how the trails had held up...........

Move along please.  Nothing to see here..........

Can't afford not to!

It has been head down, bum up around Flyboy HQ lately. The builders doing our renovations have me fairly well occupied, then throw in running around after the kids doesn't leave much time spare. Lets not forget there is work. I appreciate having more days off by working harder when I go to work, but ten hours on, ten hours in a hotel, eleven hours on, eleven hours in a hotel, followed by another ten hours strapped into an aircraft is catching up with me! These last two weeks have been the easy weeks this roster!! Yikes!!

Wedged into this hectic schedule are some calming moments. Trail building here in Cornubia is one of them. A few weeks ago we happened across this very nice waterfall, just below where our new trail will run.

Sorry about the Samsung Galaxy picture quality.

Trail building is becoming a regular feature. 6am every saturday morning and a bunch of scruffy looking fourty somethings shuffle along the mean streets of Cornubia, carrying all manner of digging implements. Our destination is a narrow corridor of bushland in Cornubia Forest that has been named "Wallum Froglet". It will be one of the best "fire access" trails in this state when we have finished with it. It will link onto more sweet "fire access trail" that is yet to be crafted, creating a mecca for the "knowing, discerning" MTBer here in Brisbane. Singletrack connoisseurs need only apply.

Another bummer is that my instant fitness acquired in Rotorua is on the wane. This full schedule is only giving a very small window of opportunity to actually do some cycling. About one ride per week since I have been back. After some soul searching I have pinned down what is fuelling this lethargy. I believe it is the fact that I have resisted any self coercion to actually write up a race schedule. I have not actually sat down and mapped out my year ahead, meaning I have no training goals/plan. This means if I miss a ride, it doesn't matter! Dumb logic I know. I need to get off this blog and decide what races I want to ride this year before it is too late, then get off my arse and train.

I put some hurt on myself a couple of weeks ago by riding while I was suffering after effects of a cold. This made me reluctant to get out last week. Luckily I did though. I rode over to Underwood park and took part in the Brisbane South MTB Club club race day. I must say I had a good time. Not necessarily flogging myself, but riding hard, yet smart, I felt good and had a great time. Maybe it is time to get some scheduled training happening?

Some super sweet deals have been appearing on the interwebs of late and I have hatched yet another cunning plan for bicycle blinginess! I love Chain Reaction Cycles and the deals they provide. Some of the components are so cheap, You Can't Afford Not To buy them!!!! The Australia Post Santa arrived tuesday morning.........................

Stand by for some unbridled "blinginess" coming to a Trek near me!

Who ate all the pies?

Well, I managed to survive another christmas. A family christmas at home this year with no travelling meant the comfort of being in my own home. This is the first in nearly ten years for us and it was nice to have my family around. It did entail some collateral damage though. Due to the requirement to eat far too much rich food and sample way too many fine (and not so fine) drinks, my waistline was an early casualty. Coupled with the deludge that Queensland has endured over the last few weeks, curtailing any exercise involving two wheels I am starting to puff just walking up stairs! Not good. On the up side, santa was very kind to me this year. He must have checked my undie drawer first as my sock and undie count was zero, while my new digital SLR camera count was 1! Woo hoo!!

To set the scene, about twelve months ago I purchased a mag trainer so that the weather would not interrupt my training schedule.

Well, after one ride on a "go nowhere bike" I very gently pushed it into a corner. I definitely have an issue with putting the hurt on myself yet not benefiting from being outdoors. Fast forward to the big wet of 2010. I have been shuffling my ever increasing girth around the house, looking sideways at the trainer, thinking "yeah, I should" then "no way, the boredom will do my head in".

What to do? There will be no MTBing for a while yet. Way too wet still. Do I really want to pedal my heart out only to go nowhere? Do I need to? Er...well yes, probably!

Too much of the above demands that I do something. Luckily for my sanity the weather report is finally inaccurate. Instead of the precipitation that is forcast, my alarm wakes me to partial sunlight! Yes sir, right here in the sunshine state. Real sunshine.

 So I saddle up. The road steed will suffice today. I don't normally stop during a road ride, but today was an exception. Here is the view from Cornubia toward Mt Staypleton and that folks is sunshine, albeit weak, but sunshine nonetheless! Speaking of weak, that is how my legs felt today. It is surprising  how quickly fitness fades away especially when it is overwhelmed by way too much good food and perhaps a little too much neck oil. Actually, is there such a thing as too much good food?

Cheers!

Single Speeding Slick Singletrack is Soul Soothing

Introducing Stanley.

He is a very unassuming, low maintenance sort of single speed. His technical name is Kona Unit 2 and he is modded with some White Brothers Rock Solid carbon forks.

He and I are just getting acquainted. Last weekend for our very first ride we decided to get to know each other fairly intimately and take on the Eastern Escarpment. Great first ride on a single speed, as by the end of it you will know if it is meant to be or if you want to murder your steed with an angle grinder and blowtorch, then hide the remains in several neighbours wheelie bins! I am happy to report that Stanley and I survived our introductory ride with the seeds for a healthy mutual respect being sown.

Yesterday morning dawned with passing rain showers. Perfect Stanley weather!

We planned a quick scoot over to Daisy Hill and back before soccer duties. Trails were perfect here in Cornubia with a little rain to damp the dust down and dry trails in Daisy. It never ceases to amaze me how localised showers can be at times. On the way home via Stupidly Happy we sampled some Super Sweet Single track Serenity.

The rain was clearing, yet the belly of the cloud was still dragging itself over the Cornubia Escarpment letting through random shafts of golden sunlight to highlight the trail.

This is going to be an interesting relationship................

By the way, I survived the addition of another steed to the stable. It is poor Stanley who lost out and lives in the garden shed. N+1......

Back on the bike

Well, after a week of work with no cycling to clear the mind, I was finally able to climb aboard for a road ride and then a MTB ride.

The road ride put some hurt on me. Funny how after a week off your body forgets the pain. It was fairly quickly reminded yesterday afternoon when I could barely walk up the stairs.

Following up that smattering of hurt, I pulled the MTB out for the regular wednesday morning ride. Time to throw myself into a hole of hurt and drag some dirt over the top!

It was good to catch up with the guys this morning. There are no photos as the pace was reasonably hot and I don't think I could have held the camera still for long enough. I did manage to make one small video though.

Everyone's favorite, Stonehenge.

After hitting up a few more trails with Steve, I limped to a breakfast rendevous where I inhaled a huge omelette and toast, washed down with a small bucket of orange juice and a coffee chaser. Feeling almost human again, I thanked Steve for not riding straight over the top of me when I bonked!

The cruise home was very steady, taking in some of the local bush.

Cornubia bike track.

No need for the lights now!

In it's natural element. The new Fuel did not disapoint.

Admiring the new rock wall installed in the local creek.

Time for a rest now, both me and the bikes. Lookout sunday though. I will be ride deprived again by then!