Bendigo 6 Hr Enduro

What a difference a day makes!



The day before the event was warm and sunny. It was the type of Autumn day that Bendigo is famous for.The track was being marked out and the marquees being erected. The track had been given a make over and everything looked set for a picture perfect enduro.

It was actually dry for the start with the guys looking resplendent in their SMC jerseys

Fast forward 24 hours and the track had turned into a bit of a quagmire and riders and bikes looked they had been dunked in a geyser. How do you make so much mud? Its easy just add water to dirt.

The view from our marquee up pit straight



Despite the rain there were still plenty of smiles on people's faces and the race can't really be descibed any better than these words from our youngest SMC member Alex who summed it up as follows

 "Bendigo 6 hour enduro was rad! Ridiculous mud, multiple crashes, took out a tree, team got second and medal has a bottle opener... Happy happy!"





What more could a mountain biker ask for. It was great to see the SMC mixed triples team racing under the NJR banner back in their rightful position on the podium. A great team effort from Alex, Steve and Roz saw them come home in 2nd place.

The NJR team with their winnings



All the other crew members who road the race should be pleased with their efforts under tough conditions. Brett, Roz and Mel are backing up at Forrest next weekend and we wish them all the best. Roz could be unveiling her new all carbon ride so expectations are high.

Tony and Bryan on their mud machines

For the rest of us there's a local club ride to keep us entertained. Its back at the 6 Hour track and if the weather stays dry we will get to see what we missed out on the week before.









What a find!

There is a saying that one man's trash is another man's treasure and that was surely the case for me recently. As I walked out of my garage my attention was drawn to the trailer on my neighbour's front lawn which appeared to be full of rubbish destined for the tip. However somthing caught my gaze and my heart skipped a beat. Was that a bike rack in the trailer? A closer inspection revealed two seperate bike racks each able to hold 3 bikes. They were very rusty but otherwise in good condition. My neighbour wasnt home so I had to endure a nervous wait for him to return before I could ask him if I could take them off his hands.

He was more than happy to hand them over and told me they had been hand made by his brother but he no longer had any room for them. I rewarded his generosity with half a dozen stubbies and carried my prize home.

Eager to try them out I gave them a quick rubdown with sand paper and inserted three of my bikes into one of the units.

All that is needed now is some sandblasting and powdercoating and they will straight inside to the bike room!

On the roadie to recovery

After a very nasty face plant incident its good to know that the SMC spiritual leader is back on his bike (even if it is a roadie). A night ride at Salomon's Gully ended prematurely when Steve took the wrong line down the a set of steps. Luckily Tony, Geoff and Alexander were on hand to administer some love and affection and search for Steve's missing teeth.

Steve's looking forward to the end of his soup only diet and hopes to be in peak fitness for the upcoming Bendigo 6 Hour (will there be a father and son pairs entry?).

Get well soon Steve, we cant wait to see you out on your recently pimped Specialized.


It only hurts when I smile