As the holidays approach hope everyone is in great shape and looking forward to some great riding coming into the new year.

It seems a few people are heading overseas and there was a question about Packing up a bike - very handy for those who'll be flying. Sadly not everyone has been having luck with their equipment though, jp even asked, Anyone got a contact at Giant? regarding a problem with his BB. Might be best to go easy on the guys in the LBS over the next week or two though, as they are under the hammer it seems. More shiny new bikes on the trails in the near future then!

For those who'll be looking to work of some stuffing and mince pies, Discodan asked about the Best club to start racing? Seems there are a few around our area, but nothing local. Oh well, if you can't beat 'em and all that. Although it looks like Sydneysiders have walked away with D and B grades as reported by CCOMTB D grade cross country champione! Well done guys! Brian noted Capital Punishment Entries Open, but this caused a little discussion due to the organiser's poor luck with their events last year.

Other random threads of interest:

What is Mountainbiking about?
6 Foot Track trip
SRAM vs Shimano shifter action, a revelation
Dealing with Sweaty Clothes after Morning Ride
Bike Bingle - report accidents and near misses

While elsewhere on Global Riders the GTA crew discuss the merits or otherwise of a Maximum Adventure Race on the trails they have worked so hard on - tricky subject. And BMORC crowd said, Thanks to everyone for turning up tonight after their important meeting Tuesday night.

Hi folks will be staying in port Maquarie region between 29th and 3rd and would like to spend some time riding the awesome trails of Kiwarrak
hoping to meet others to ride with .So if anyone thinks they might be also be riding these trails around this time we could possibly organize a ride meeting.
I am pretty flexable on time so I can fit in with others, allthough morning rides are preferable.
cheers Craig.

[Mod. moved to Manning Valley/Great Lakes]

Stolen from my house in Queenscliff! Mint condition Trek EX8 Green.
Unique with Stans rims and Hope hubs. Juicy brakes, XT/LX. Has two rear frame protectors one with a UK .com detail.
If seen please contact me. More detail to follow, still too gutted!

Sorry if this is off topic, but I'm just blown away by the latest Google toy... Body Browser:

http://bodybrowser.googlelabs.com/

It's like Google Earth for your body... great for looking into all those aches and pains we have!

I was out at Oxford falls last night and wondering about how you could link up the 4 areas. If you started on a loop of Manly - could you ride through Bantry Bay (fire trail) down through Killarney Heights to the Roseville Chase bridge - up the river into Garigal Cascades - up past the tip over SH3 into St Ives - through Terry Hills, back down the downhill into Oxford falls, down through deep creek and into Red Hill via the NSW sports institute - back up Red Hill to Lady Penryn Drive and along the road to Allaambie Heights and finish. Is any of this illegal?

Does anyone have a contact at Giant Bikes? I have a warranty issue with my 2010 TranceX1 and my local dealer says it's very unlikely Giant will look at it before Christmas. I was planning a lot of riding over the Christmas break... my bike is unrideable and I'm devastated! Being a long-term loyal customer I thought I'd try contacting Giant myself and pleading with them to fast track my warranty claim. So any contacts would be greatly appreciated!

Hi all,

The WSMTB XC calendar for 2011 will soon be posted on our web site www.wsmtb.com, but the dates will be:

- Summer 4 Hour Round 1: Saturday 15 Jan, 6pm to 10pm (moved form Sunday to Saturday evening - to run cancelled twilight race from 4 Dec 2010)
- Summer 4 Hour Round 2: Sunday 30 Jan, 8am to 12 (new date)
- Summer 4 Hour Round 3: Sunday 20 Feb, 8am to 12
- Club Round 1: 6 March
- Club Round 2: 3 April
- Club Round 3: 22 May
- NSW All Schools XC 18-19 June
- Club Round 4: 24 July
- Club Round 5: 7 Aug
- Club Round 6: 11 Sept

Hi All

I'm keen to get into club racing this year so I wanted to get some input on what would be the best club/series/location to go with. My rather meagre research has come up with:

HMBA at Awaba http://hmba.asn.au/
CCOMTB at Ourimbah http://www.ccomtb.com.au/
WSMTB at Yellomundee http://www.wsmtb.com/v2/

I'm not keen on travelling much further than this on a regular basis, are there others I'm not aware of?

The HMBA 2011 season calendar is now available by clicking this link or just going to the HMBA website.

Keep checking the HMBA site for updates as the calendar is subject to change as the season progresses.

It usually drains pretty well so im thinking it should be OK?
Cheers String

So I have been riding into work for a while now, however the recent temperatures in the morning have started to pose a interesting problem. I sweat a lot when I ride in and go through almost a litre of fluid an hour if its hot, which is posing me two significant issues currently when riding in which are:

1. my nicks and shirt are normally pretty drenched when I get in, so getting them dry is a slight issue

(Not quite sure where this should live)

I found this cool infographic

Bicycling Magazine
Time Line

A huge amount of dates, a huge amount of info and a couple of bikes thrown in for good measure. We worked With Bicycling Magazine to create this timeline mapping out the progress of bike and technologies over the last few decades