If these rumours are true I hope for Phil's sake he likes white shoes!
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| No more GT for me. How sweet it is! |
Saturday, January 29, 2011
New signing at Specialized
Although Team Management are refusing to comment there is a strong rumour doing the paddock that Phil Souter has signed with Specialized for the 2011 season. Previously with GT it was believed that Felt had secured Phil's services this year but according to those close to Phil design problems with the 2011 Felt bikes have led to a change of heart.
If these rumours are true I hope for Phil's sake he likes white shoes!
If these rumours are true I hope for Phil's sake he likes white shoes!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Phil Carman come on down
What do most people think of when you mention the words mountain bike. It's a fair bet they will say dirt and mud. Which makes my latest visit to the LBS all a bit bizarre.
I was sick of tightening the cleats on my old shoes so I decided that it was time for a new pair. So with my Christmas gift voucher in hand i headed off to do some shopping. As it turns out my LBS has recently became a Specialized dealer so all the Shimano products have been replaced by the Specialized range. I got the sales pitch from the shop mechanic and decided to try on a middle of the range pair. They felt really comfortable and if even half of the sales pitch was true I would be riding a whole lot faster and stronger the next morning when I hit the trails with the crew.
The only catch was that the pair I tried on was in white and as good as they looked all nice and clean I knew they would never look that good again once they had been for a spin. White might be alright for our roadbike cousins but as you can tell by some of the photos on this blog we dont always look as pretty as them when our ride is finished. But not to worry the guy from the shop assured me they came in black as well. The only thing was they didnt have any in stock so they would have to order me in a black pair. We went over to the shop computer to check when he could get them and low and behold there aren't any black ones in Australia. Now even the purists of Tennis have realised that white is not a good color for clothing for sports that involve grass, dirt and sweating. Unfortunately the guys at Specialized haven't yet. The only explanation I can think of is that Phil Carman must have got a job in the Specialized design department.
So my voucher stayed in my wallet and I headed back home to find the allen keys to tighten my cleats again.
By the way for those of you who aren't Collingwood supporters Phil Carman was a very talented AFL footballer who many say cost his team the 1977 grand final when he got suspended in the Semi Final. As well as being talented Phil was a touch flamboyant and took to the field in some shiny white boots when black was the only color any self respecting footballer would be seen in.
I was sick of tightening the cleats on my old shoes so I decided that it was time for a new pair. So with my Christmas gift voucher in hand i headed off to do some shopping. As it turns out my LBS has recently became a Specialized dealer so all the Shimano products have been replaced by the Specialized range. I got the sales pitch from the shop mechanic and decided to try on a middle of the range pair. They felt really comfortable and if even half of the sales pitch was true I would be riding a whole lot faster and stronger the next morning when I hit the trails with the crew.
The only catch was that the pair I tried on was in white and as good as they looked all nice and clean I knew they would never look that good again once they had been for a spin. White might be alright for our roadbike cousins but as you can tell by some of the photos on this blog we dont always look as pretty as them when our ride is finished. But not to worry the guy from the shop assured me they came in black as well. The only thing was they didnt have any in stock so they would have to order me in a black pair. We went over to the shop computer to check when he could get them and low and behold there aren't any black ones in Australia. Now even the purists of Tennis have realised that white is not a good color for clothing for sports that involve grass, dirt and sweating. Unfortunately the guys at Specialized haven't yet. The only explanation I can think of is that Phil Carman must have got a job in the Specialized design department.
So my voucher stayed in my wallet and I headed back home to find the allen keys to tighten my cleats again.
By the way for those of you who aren't Collingwood supporters Phil Carman was a very talented AFL footballer who many say cost his team the 1977 grand final when he got suspended in the Semi Final. As well as being talented Phil was a touch flamboyant and took to the field in some shiny white boots when black was the only color any self respecting footballer would be seen in.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Floods All Over
First of all let me say that the thoughts and wishes of the Sunday Morning Crew go out to all those affected by the floods inundating many parts of Australia at the moment. Any mentions of mud and water in this blog are made in the knowledge that lives have been lost and homes destroyed and the affect on our riding endeavours is trivial in comparison.
Mel, Tony, Roz and I ventured out that way under magnificent blue skies which is totally ironic given the fact that floods are washing through the town of Rochester about 40 minutes from where we are riding.
Although we are Mountain Bikers and we expect to get dirty the amount of rainfall recieved in recent times has created a new environment in which to ride. There is a whole new series of creeks and streams running through the bush that none of us have seen before.
To give you an idea Crusoe Reservoir which has been a dirty little pond for many years now has water running out its overflow. Mel lead the charge through the water and checked the way forward was safe for the rest of us.
From Crusoe we headed across to Big Hill and the back of the Sandhurst Reservoir. The tracks were particularly soggy in this part. The ground is so water logged that there is water just bubbling up out of the ground in some places.
Its amazing that the tracks are still in as good as condition as they are.
Mel, Tony, Roz and I ventured out that way under magnificent blue skies which is totally ironic given the fact that floods are washing through the town of Rochester about 40 minutes from where we are riding.
Although we are Mountain Bikers and we expect to get dirty the amount of rainfall recieved in recent times has created a new environment in which to ride. There is a whole new series of creeks and streams running through the bush that none of us have seen before.
To give you an idea Crusoe Reservoir which has been a dirty little pond for many years now has water running out its overflow. Mel lead the charge through the water and checked the way forward was safe for the rest of us.
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| Mel on the way back from checking the trail for Tony |
Its amazing that the tracks are still in as good as condition as they are.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Mt Buller MTB
The wife and I decided that we deserved a few days away. I was keen to check out Mt Buller to help me decide whether to ride the Bike Buller festival so we tracked down a place on the banks of Lake Eildon about 50 minutes from Mt Buller(or 40 if you like exploring back tracks and dirt roads which I do).
When I go to a new place I like to get my bearings so one of my first jobs when we got to Mansfield was to get a map. I got a very detailed one of the Mt Buller area which included the small town of Macs Cove where we were staying.
The place we stayed at was called Willowlake. There are 4 cabins on the property as well as the main house. The cabins have some lake views, heaps of friendly bird life that likes to come in for a feed (sparrows, magpies, rosellas and cockatoos). You could also hear the kookaburras singing their famous song nearby. It's a great place to stay and apart from the location and the facilities it's worth the trip to experience dinner in the restaurant. The food is nice enough but its the antics of the 67 year old waitress cum cleaner which make it a unique experience. She is a cross between Manuel from Fawlty Towers and Kath From Kath and Kim. She provided a lot of laughs and a very Aussie view of the world.
Anyhow enough about the accommodation this is meant to be a bike blog.
The two of us did a gentle ride around Macs Cove and then I took off to do a bit more riding. I decided to ride along the Mansfield road to the top of Martin Gap near a hill called Jim Crow which was 590 meters high. The climb was nice and gradual and on the way up I spied a dirt track to the left of the main road so I decided to take that for the decent. It was pretty rough and rutted so I was taking it easy when I came across a very large tree across the track. It didn't seem like there was any way around the tree so the only option was to start riding back up the hill and hope to find a way across to the main road before I made it all the way back to the top. Lucky for me there was a very faint set of wheel tracks not too far up the hill which headed in the right direction which I managed to follow.
The next day we went sight seeing at Mt Buller. We road the sole chair lift operating (mainly used by down hill bikers)and then I paid a visit to one of the bike shops and booked a 3 hour cross country tour for 9 am the next day.
When I turned up it was just me and my guide Tom on the ride. He was really helpful and offered plenty of riding tips as well as picking out the best trails for us to ride. From the bike shop we headed out the Gang Gangs to the Skills Park before climbing the Corn Hill summit. Then we did a couple of laps of Misty Twist before heading back along Corn Hill Rd to the main Mt Buller road which meant we had about a kilometre of climbing back to the shop.
Having a riding partner who knew all the tracks was a real benefit. Throw in some expert tuition and great trails and it was an excellent way to spend three hours and something I would recommend to everyone. By the way the new Stonefly trail linking Mt Buller to Mt Stirling opened this weekend and definitely sounds like its worth the drive to get there.
When I go to a new place I like to get my bearings so one of my first jobs when we got to Mansfield was to get a map. I got a very detailed one of the Mt Buller area which included the small town of Macs Cove where we were staying.
The place we stayed at was called Willowlake. There are 4 cabins on the property as well as the main house. The cabins have some lake views, heaps of friendly bird life that likes to come in for a feed (sparrows, magpies, rosellas and cockatoos). You could also hear the kookaburras singing their famous song nearby. It's a great place to stay and apart from the location and the facilities it's worth the trip to experience dinner in the restaurant. The food is nice enough but its the antics of the 67 year old waitress cum cleaner which make it a unique experience. She is a cross between Manuel from Fawlty Towers and Kath From Kath and Kim. She provided a lot of laughs and a very Aussie view of the world.
Anyhow enough about the accommodation this is meant to be a bike blog.
 |
| The view from our cabin |
The two of us did a gentle ride around Macs Cove and then I took off to do a bit more riding. I decided to ride along the Mansfield road to the top of Martin Gap near a hill called Jim Crow which was 590 meters high. The climb was nice and gradual and on the way up I spied a dirt track to the left of the main road so I decided to take that for the decent. It was pretty rough and rutted so I was taking it easy when I came across a very large tree across the track. It didn't seem like there was any way around the tree so the only option was to start riding back up the hill and hope to find a way across to the main road before I made it all the way back to the top. Lucky for me there was a very faint set of wheel tracks not too far up the hill which headed in the right direction which I managed to follow.
The next day we went sight seeing at Mt Buller. We road the sole chair lift operating (mainly used by down hill bikers)and then I paid a visit to one of the bike shops and booked a 3 hour cross country tour for 9 am the next day.
 |
| The summit of Mt Buller |
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| The Trail map of Mt Buller |
When I turned up it was just me and my guide Tom on the ride. He was really helpful and offered plenty of riding tips as well as picking out the best trails for us to ride. From the bike shop we headed out the Gang Gangs to the Skills Park before climbing the Corn Hill summit. Then we did a couple of laps of Misty Twist before heading back along Corn Hill Rd to the main Mt Buller road which meant we had about a kilometre of climbing back to the shop.
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| The Trail guide description of Misty Twist |
Monday, January 10, 2011
Welcome to 2011
We left 2010 behind safe in the knowledge that the drought had finally broken as evidenced by Lake Eppalock overflowing for the first time in many years. Unfortunately the drought was replaced by a plague of locusts. In fact the abundance of water has seen all types of insects, spiders and bugs appearing in huge numbers. But I'd rather put up with the bugs than die of thirst even if they do make riding a bit more of a challenge.
The Sunday Morning Crew riders have been doing their own thing over the Christmas/New Year period with a lot of secret training sessions taking place for the guys who have events coming up soon and some others just trying to make sure all that Christmas pudding and trifle doesnt leave a permanent reminder on their waistline.
It was on one of these pudding recovery rides that Phil, Tony and I encountered just how much the insect population is thriving in the bush surrounding Bendigo. We were checking out the trails around Big Hill and Mt Herbert looking for new ways to get up and down and were enjoying an area that was locust free. On this particular section of the track the locusts had been replaced by hundreds of butterflies. I think they were the Common Brown type of Butterfly as shown in the picture below.
It was around 7.30pm in the evening as we rode up this valley full of butterflies and it was a very pleasant experience on a warm summer's night. Being the inventive sort of guys we are we decided to name this piece of track Butterfly Valley.
It certainly made for some unusual riding styles as we made our way down. Phil and I encouraged Tony to go on the front because he was the tallest and should have collected the most webs. It was the job of the second rider to keep an eye out for any passengers on the body of the lead rider and the last guy could just sit back and enjoy the ride along a clear path.
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| Your standard plague locust |
The Sunday Morning Crew riders have been doing their own thing over the Christmas/New Year period with a lot of secret training sessions taking place for the guys who have events coming up soon and some others just trying to make sure all that Christmas pudding and trifle doesnt leave a permanent reminder on their waistline.
It was on one of these pudding recovery rides that Phil, Tony and I encountered just how much the insect population is thriving in the bush surrounding Bendigo. We were checking out the trails around Big Hill and Mt Herbert looking for new ways to get up and down and were enjoying an area that was locust free. On this particular section of the track the locusts had been replaced by hundreds of butterflies. I think they were the Common Brown type of Butterfly as shown in the picture below.
We continued to make our way up the valley towards the top of Mt Herbert and stopped for a rest before tackling a new way down that Tony and I had discovered earlier in the week. However it wasnt long before we were seeing the more sinister side of nature as we descended down what was to become known as Spider Gully. This particular singletrack decent is rocky and narrow and its lined by trees on both sides. Its a perfect place for spiders to build their nests from one tree to the other to catch their unsuspecting prey. Because its narrow and rocky you have to keep your wits about you which means there isnt much time to be looking up for spiders and their webs. The spiders would normally be after something a bit smaller than a mountain biker but the size of their webs made it difficult to avoid them.
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| A couple of local orb spiders |
It certainly made for some unusual riding styles as we made our way down. Phil and I encouraged Tony to go on the front because he was the tallest and should have collected the most webs. It was the job of the second rider to keep an eye out for any passengers on the body of the lead rider and the last guy could just sit back and enjoy the ride along a clear path.
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