Blogs

March 1

After a couple years of enjoying various events ranging from Club XC, marathons and 24hr team events (not with much success I might add) I've decided to take it to a logical conclusion and have a crack at a 24 hr solo. Given I'm a complete newbie I have a fair bit to get sorted out before the event, The Scott 24hr on October, so I thought I'd keep a record on this here blog both for my benefit and to be able to tap into the collective knowledge of the forum.

i just moved back to aus and love my DH riding
im interested in where all the trails have gone?
i live south sydney and noticed lucus heights have just been left for dead and helensburgh /engadine theres not much going on where i used to ride
can anyone point me in the right direction?
i went for a ride at oxford falls recently and was wondering if there is any trails like that on the south side

cheers,
Culley

For those who may have read my recent blog on heli-biking in Queenstown NZ- here is something that topped that experience!
I returned over the weekend from a fantastic few days in the Kruger - a wildlife sanctuary (about the size of Wales) in South Africa where we were fortunate enough to accompany 2 armed rangers on a mountain bike trail ride following existing game trails (and making a few trails of our own).

This was my first local club race - & a great learning experience. Having come out of a recent cold & minor ankle surgery, I signed up for D grade. I found it easier than I thought... I'll be in C grade next time.

My ankle held up fine. I'm getting the stitches out today. The new parts of the track look great! I'm really looking forward to seeing the pros power around in a few weeks.

I did find it a little hard to figure out who was racing who... maybe there should be a coloured arm band system? Red = A Grade, Blue = B Grade etc.

HMBA XC Round 2

With Round 1 washed out everybody was pretty keen for the first XC club race for the season.
Getting ready for pre race briefing, it was evident there was going to be some changes to some of the standard XC course for the race. All the rain in recent weeks had left some of the course a little boggy, plus a few new sections had been recently cut, in readiness for the National XC round in early March.

Just back from a few days in Victoria. Some riding details:

The weekend consisted of a Super D Friday afternoon followed by an XCO race on Saturday around a 5k loop with a 23k Point to Point race Sunday morning. This was my first super masters event so was not sure how I would go. It pissed down with rain and hail about 15 minutes before the start of the SuperD so they delayed it for a while until the rain cleared.

Getting a bit fitter. Less stops and the hills are getting easier.

Well,

It was a struggle on the first ride with a group in a while. Robbo hung back and helped me through it. Felt good to finish.

Just returned from Queenstown and some awesome heli-biking in the Remarkables. Vertigo bikes in Queenstown provided a full (and excellent) service and supplied everything. Good intermediate to advanced skills required to stay alive and a good rush - 5,000ft decent in two hours (includes stops to take in the views), quite technical and fast with a bit of terror thrown in. Highly recommended.
It's back to Manly Dam for me over the week-end but I will be dreaming of other places.
GregHM