Farewell old Friend

The great news is that the replacement frame for the GT has arrived in the bike shop and will be fitted this week. So its a fond farewell to my loaner Marathon frame which has served me well. Hopefully it will come to the rescue of some other rider in the near future.

Puddles of Fun

The Bendigo area has been getting its fair share of rain in 2010 but May had been very dry until this week when we recieved more than 50mls. So mud and puddles were on the agenda for Steve, Tony, Brett and David when they headed out for the Sunday morning blast. Tony was still nursing a few sore bits from his crash last week but apart from that everyone was in good spirits.

We had run extra air in the back tyre to suit the Bendigo 6 Hr circuit last week but that wasnt a good match for the slippery tracks we were about to tackle so some quick deflating of tyres was in order.

We headed out via the Salomon Gully track towards Diamond Hill and hooked up with Murrays track for the journey to Sandhurst Reservoir. We have previously featured Tony's Crossing which was named in Tony's honour as he was the first to ride this tough entry and exit through a gully on Murray's track. Well it appears that some other riders have also had trouble with this gully because the exit has been remodelled with some well placed rocks to make it more rideable. Well it certainly is for Steve who has no trouble with this piece of track now but unfortunately the renovations arent to Tony's liking as he has been unable to complete the exit since the changes were made. So Tony's Crossing has been renamed Steve Crossing until Tony can remaster it.

Although we ride mountain bikes that are designed for going in the dirt its not ideal to ride through every puddle as you never know how deep they are and giving your bottom bracket a wash with muddy water is best avoided. However it was an attempt to miss a puddle on the outside of a corner that caused the first crash of the day. I could have ridden through the puddle which looked pretty shallow but I thought I would just steer a bit more to the left to miss it but the front wheel didnt agree with the angle I put it on and the next thing I knew I was almost in a kneeling position next to my bike as I lost the front end. The good news was that apart from a muddy knee the only damage was a small tear in my new knee warmers.

The second crash of the day belonged to Tony and this came right at the half way mark of our ride. Tony was leading and just heading down to the Channel crossing. There was a bit of a wash out on the left hand side and although he was only going slowly its probably best not to wipe your nose with your hanky as you tackle this section of track. The better line is on the right but Tony was on the left and got caught on a shrub sticking out which temporarily snagged him before releasing him off balance down the drop off which resulted in Tony heading over the bars.

It was a bit of a hard landing and right on the damaged knee from the week before. But with a few minutes to gather his thoughts and his breath Tony was back into it like nothing had happened.The good news was that the rest of the ride was pretty uneventful.

Distance 41kms

Time 2 Hours 15mins

Success at the six hour

The Sunday Morning Crew took on the Bendigo 6 Hour event on the 23rd May. It was a perfect day for a 6 hour event, brilliant sunshine, nice and warm in the sun and very little wind.

Brett, Ros and Steve raced under the newly formed Naughty Jills Racing Team Banner and combined brilliantly to come home in 1st place in the Mixed triples class. Tony, David and Phil joined forces to debut the Sunday Morning Crew name in an official event in the Men's triples and come 8th out of 11 which was a good result considering a less than ideal start to the race.

It was a pretty close tussle in the mixed event for the first 6 laps but the class of the NJRT came to the top after that and thanks to another quick lap from Brett near the end the result was never in doubt. Ros was very disappointed at not being able to go out and complete an extra lap but it wasnt needed and the guys ended up in first place with a buffer of 9 minutes over the 2nd placed team.

It was a slightly different story for the boys in the other team. Tony headed off in a confident manner and controlled his natural urges to go out hard, settling into a nice rythym in the first few kms however his lap was derailed by a flat tyre and a faulty pump. Phil and I went through a range of emotions waiting for him to arrive in transistion. First of all we were excited wondering how close to Brett he would be, then we were confused as housewives and school kids crossed the finishing line with still no sign of Tony and then we were worried when we realised that every one and I mean every one had been through and that we were officially in last place. We were thinking of all the bad things that could have happended when Tony appeared in the distance and rode his way towards the transition area. He appeared to riding OK as he approached the final corner, maybe a little too fast, maybe with too tight a line but for some reason he ended up on lying on the ground in sight of the finishing line as a result of his front wheel losing grip. Covered in blood and dust he remounted and made it across the line. After a one hour first lap our challenge for the day was to make sure that each of us could fit in 3 laps for the day which we achieved. Phil rode very consistently and did 3 very close lap times and Tony recovered very well from his 1st lap disaster to do a really good last lap.

Overall it was a really enjoyable day and we are all looking forward to our next team event which looks like being the Castlemaine 6 hr in August.

Last Chance Training

Well the Bendigo 6 Hr is on next weekend so a few of us took advantage of a beautiful Autumn morning to get some last chance training in before the event. Tony and David will be joined by Phil (who is a new inductee to the Sunday Morning Crew) in a 3 man team while Steve, Brett and Ros will make up a very handy mixed combination. Brett was baby sitting and Ros had headed off to Woodend for the first race in the InterWinter series so it was left to David, Tony, Phil and Steve to hit the trails. That's Phil on left of the photo, Tony in the middle and Steve on the right looking resplendent in his new Specialized top.

We headed out to the Spring Gully shop and out Murray's to the Sandhurst Res and did the first section of Fastaways to the first road intersection. We decided we needed some hill work so we turned off here and headed towards Mt Herbert. There is a bit of tough climbing to make it to the fenceline at Big Hill before you actually get to tackle Mt Herbert itself. We decided to take the access road on the Melbourne side of the fence to the top. Its a smoother track but still very steep. There are a couple of spots for a breather on the way up and some magnificent views if you care to stop and look. But as appealing as the view was the thought of having to start the climbing again was enough reason to push on for the summit with just a quick glance across Bendigo. Tony showed his love of hills again as he made it look easy and was well rested by the time all of us made it to the summit.

We tried a spot of Paddy Melon ten pin bowling at the top. There was enough of them lying around on the ground to keep Bear Grylls going for a year but as we werent starving to death we decided to try rolling them down the hill to the Kangaroos resting at the clearing below. Well the Kangaroos had nothing to worry about because none of us did very well. Some stopped early, Steve managed to pick out the only stump in sight and the rest exploded against some invisible rocks and flew into the air in a million pieces.

After all that fun we decided it was time to get back on the bikes and head back to town. We managed the rocky descent of Mt Herbert Rd without any incidents and followed the Great Dividing Trail back to Diamond Hill. My GT had developed a new rattle along the fence track so when we stopped to text Brett to meet us for coffee I gave my bike a quick once over and found that the rear brake assembly had come loose. Another timely reminder to give your bike a once over before you head out to ride.

Its all in the finish

A diver can do the best triple somersault ever but if they mess up the entry to the pool they wont score well. The same goes for a gymast on the uneven bars, if they dont stick the landing it's all over as far as the medals go. In Mountain Bike riding you can ride hard for hours on the tricky single track and even be the pace setter for the guys hard on your tail but if you cant mono the front wheel over the kerb outside of the coffee shop then all your hard work has been wasted. Alas that's how it was for our Tony on Sunday morning. We did our favorite ride from Diamond Hill to Sandhurst Res along Murray's track and then the Fastaways extension and back home. Tony came out of his driveway fast and didnt slacken off until we had the coffee shop in sight. We were so close we could smell the coffee. All that was needed was a little lift of the front wheel to get over the kerb and onto the footpath before heading inside to order his mug of cappucino. Unfortunately the front wheel didnt lift in time and Tony was sent over the handlebars and onto the nice green grass, still clipped in his bike flipped over and tried hard to land on top of him. Tony was back on his feet in a flash just in case none of his fellow riders or the customers of the cafe had seen what just happened. However the polite applause from the crowd and the uncontrollable laughter from his mates confirmed that this momentous occassion will be remembered with a smile for a long time by the many people who were lucky enough to witness it.