Father's Day 2011

Well the first Sunday in September is Father's day and although there were two new bikes being shown off by crew members the poor old Dad's missed out this year. It was Son of Steve,  Alexander and  newly sponsored Giant rider Mel who are the proud new parents of a Specialized Stumpjumper and a Giant XTC0 29er respectively.

Alexander is giving the Scott hardtail a rest and joining the dually club while Mel has gone the other way going back to a hardtail as well as becoming the first member of SMC to join the dark side and ride a 29er. We met at Steve's before heading out and after a quick inspection of the new bikes its was off to Murray's track to put them through their paces.

Mel recently won the Giant Real Riders competition and her prize was a brand new bike and some riding gear.  Seeing Mel was the only rider on a 29er Brett enquired if Giant had supplied Mel with any spare 29er tubes. Although the answer was no Mel wasnt worried because "she never gets punctures"and anyhow dont sponsored riders have pit crew to change flat tyres?

We headed out our familiar trails and wouldnt you know it within 20 minutes Mel had pulled over to the side of the track with a very flat front tyre. Luckily Gareth came good with a repair kit and although not on the Giant payroll the rest of the crew pitched in to help get Mel back on the road.




Mel looking worried that Giant will yell out her for breaking her new bike



It was a great day for riding and hopefully a promise of what the rest of Spring has to offer. The guys on the new bikes were flying especially after Brett gave Alex's gears and Mel's front brake a tweak even if it did mean Brett had to break his vow of never working on a 29er. 



Alex on the new Stumpjumper



Mel looking happier with air in her tyres

Steve showing there's still life in the old Specialized







Castlemaine 6 Hour Enduro

It was a very depleted Sunday Morning Crew that turned up at Castlemaine for the Jubberland 6 Hour Enduro. This is one of the best events of the year and while initially it looked like there would be crew members featuring in many different categories a few injuries, an operation, a nasty training incident and an overseas trip meant that our numbers ended up being lower than we hoped.

Tony started the exodus with a diagnosis of a torn ligament in his knee. I guess that's always a chance when you are 6ft 6 tall and play footy for 20 years. Phil had his tonsils out and was still in recovery mode, Rod hid in Trish's suitcase when she flew off to attend a work conference in Sri Lanka but worst of all Roz did a superman over the bars and managed to bruise every muscle in the right side of her body. She was in hot form prior to the accident with the NJR team already preparing their victory speech. The Sharp Boys were so devastated they withdrew the whole team after Cousin Geoff refused a last minute request to don a skirt and fill in.

The crew members who did ride enjoyed a great day with the track in excellent condition and no incidents to speak of.

We hope Roz, Tony and Phil recover quickly so next year we can be back bigger and stronger.