Wet and Wild

Queensland might have its theme parks but Mother Nature turned our local MTB trails into a giant adventure playground after more than 4 inches of rain soaked the already drenched Bendigo region in the past couple of days. As it had rained all day Saturday and didnt stop until 5am Sunday morning the chances of a ride werent looking too good but a break in the weather and a late text from Steve was all the encouragement that was needed.

We knew that there had been a lot of rain when we rode past the Quarry Hill oval and there was a dam there that none of us had ever seen before. That wasnt a good sign for what lay ahead on the trails so we made a pact that safety was to take priority over speed today.

To say there was water everywhere is an understatement. Some tracks had turned into rivers and the creek crossings were unrideable. We had to choose our route carefully to avoid the worst affected areas to make sure that we didnt damage the environment while it was in this fragile state. This meant that we rode on a higher % of fire roads than normal and rode some of the trails in reverse.

Mel edges closer to our version of the Niagara Falls

We all ended up very wet by the end of the ride. Brett nearly came to grief in one large puddle and a couple of times we thought we had lost Mel in some of the bigger ones but to her credit she always rode out the other side. You might get a weight advantage riding a small size bike but it means that you are closer to the water when its wet. Steve suggested that if it kept raining we might have to strap a snorkle to her Giant.

All in all it was a lot of fun on the bikes and Mel even had time to ride an old car tyre down one of the wettest sections.

Pump it Up

Who would have thought that you would need a University degree to operate a bike pump. My old Blackburn Mammoth ( a great pump) has been handed down to the next generation of riders so it was time to buy a new one. I did some research on the Internet and decided that the Lezyne pumps were the way to go. They are compact and very light but still deliver a good volume of air to make pumping up your flat tyres less of a chore. So after a visit to the LBS I was a proud owner of a new Lezyne Alloy Drive model. These pumps come with a reversable hose for Presta and Schrader valves which stows inside the handle when you are not using it.

So the first task was remembering what the official name of French valves was so I new what end of the hose to use. With that sorted out I was feeling pretty happy about my new pump when we hit the trails for our weekend ride.

Whilst not wishing a flat tyre on anyone Rod was kind enought to oblige me when he got a pinch flat heading down a rocky section of trail. He pulled out his spare tube and we had the tyre and tube all sorted ready to inflate. However what was to be my moment of glory turned quickly turned sour when I managed to break the top off the valve of the tube as I was attaching the hose. So not only did I have to hand over one of my spare tubes to replace the one I had broken I also had to let one of the other guys use their pump to fix Rod's flat.

So when I got home from the ride that morning the first thing I did was grab out the packaging from my new pump and read up on the correct method for attaching the hose!

ps. I've since used the pump to fix my own flat out on the trail and it worked extremely well.

Steve getting  to know Dave's new pump

Steve Sharp and the curse of the deathly Hardtail

Harry Potter has hit the cinemas again with our hero fighting off more demons and their evil spells. Our spiritual leader Steve has been fighting a demon of his own lately. Keen readers of this blog might recall a nasty incident involving Steve and a log at One Tree Hill (blog date Feb 2010). Well its happened again and just like last time Steve was riding his Scott Hardtail when he got into trouble. A group of us including Steve's son Alexander were riding the Fastaways trail and the conditions were quite slippery due to the high rainfall Bendigo has experienced this year. Brett, Alexander and I managed to safely ride over a fallen log which had a fairly big puddle on the other side of it. I had just finished saying to Brett that it reminded me of the water jump they have in Horse Riding and that I hoped everyone made it over safely when we heard a crash behind us. We backtracked to find Steve off his bike and covered in mud down the entire right side of his body. The damn Hardtail had failed him again but at least there was no blood spilt this time.  The only reason Steve was riding it was because he had let Alexander loose on the Specialized so you could really say it was Alexander's fault that Steve fell off.

Maybe Steve needs to try the latest Harry Potter bicycle

As it turns out that wasnt the only trouble Alexander caused Steve that week. The Sharp boys decided that Alexander should get a tattoo for his 18th Birthday. It would be a way to cement the  father/son bond with Alexander getting some ink done to compliment his Dad's old school tattoo.

Now tattoos are pretty common these days and Alexander was 18 so he didnt officially need his Mum and Dad's permission so with Steve supplying the cash the boys headed off to turn Alexander into a man. The new tattoo was a work of art and the boys were very pleased with themselves but there was one loose end they left undone. To all the young men out there please remember that if you dont tell your Mum before you get it done make sure you tell her before some one else does.

Unfortunately Alexander's Mum found out about the tattoo at a school function when a parent of one of Alexander's friends asked her what she thought of her son's tattoo. How did they know about it you may well ask? Well Alexander was so pleased with his tattoo he put the news up on Facebook to let all his mates in on the news.

Crew member attacked by wild wombat

Due to a variety of excuses from every one else it was left up to Phil to fly the Sunday Morning Crew flag at the Dirtworks 100 held at the Wombat Forest near Woodend on Sunday.

Phil had lifted his training regime to new heights and was feeling quietly confident prior to the event. But we all know that preparation is the key to success and that means checking your equipment as well as doing the necessary kms on the bike.

For reasons known only to Phil he decided that he would take his old glasses to Woodend. Unfortunately his old glasses and his new glasses have slightly different prescriptions which may explain the 3 crashes that Phil had whilst making his way around the course. As a reuslt of one of the crashes Phil managed to crack a rib as well as suffering a few cuts and bruises.  Despite his injuries the thought of a DNF didnt enter Phil's mind and he made it around the entire course. His overall time was very respectable considering the amount of time he spent on the ground.

Phil will be spending the next few weeks off the bike recouperating and we wish him a speedy recovery.