Steve Sharp - SMC Spiritual Leader

The latest crew member to feature in our rider profiles is Steve Sharp who holds the honorary title of SMC Spiritual Leader and is also Alex's Dad. Steve has been riding motorbikes all his life and Mountain Bikes for nearly ten years. Steve knows his way around the local tracks better than most and keeps us entertained with his stories from the trail.

Uphill or downhill - Downhill with lots of corners.

Best day on a bike -  Every Sunday with mates. Well actually there was this one time at band camp. Umm can I mention the day both Sharps were on the podium at the 2009 Aus MTB marathon titles.

Currently riding - 2011 BMC 120MM SPEEDFOX I also have 2009 Specialized carbon epic (for sale), Avanti giro roady.

BMC good points - climbs well, is a great enduro distance bike, smashes downhills, looks awesome, did I mention looks awesome?

BMC bad points - still have to pedal, found out my boss in Melbourne owns the shop I got it from so I missed out on a bigger discount.

Carbon Epic good points -  super quick in tight single track. extra light, sort of your weight watchers dually.

Carbon Epic bad points - a little skittish down rock steps at night.

Is that a  "Giant" jersey you are wearing Steve?

Wash gloves or not -Bugger I think they might need a wash now, do love the feel of sliding hand into crunchy stiff gloves though for that extra grip.

Favorite trail - Woodend dam track, alpine assault track across the Bogong high plains followed by 30km decent (yep thats right 30km screaming downhill). Nerang State Forest back of the Gold Coast, Daisy Hill near Brisbane.

Broken Bones - Tradition in our family is to break collarbones. Alexander is a third generation collarbone breaker. Others I have abused include ribs multiple times, foot (both), fractured skull, nose, cheekbone, teeth do they count? Rotor socket on shoulder, multiple severe laceration requiring stitches, dislocated knee. That's all I can think of right now, oh almost forgot knocked out for hours with severe concusion requiring overnight hospital stay, hahaha that should do it.

Most useful tip -  Ride as smoothly as possible and the speed will come on its own.

Dream ride location - Rotorua NZ.

Most important Camelback item - Mobile phone.

Favorite lube - RocknRoll gold.

A pair of Foxes

Mel is in da house!

Last Sunday's outing incorporated a great ride through the bush around Kangaroo Flat and an SMC house warming party for Mel who moved into her new palace a few weeks ago. Mel was given the honor of being the lead rider as well as taking care of baking duties. It was a mixture of old friends, family and some new riding companions that took off for Mel's magical mystery tour.

First off we headed to Specimen Hill where old and new exist together. You have old mine diggings going underground on one side of the track and the latest mobile phone tower technology rising high into the sky on the other side. Unfortunately for yours truly the tower is secured by a  barbed wire fence and as I rode past a stray strand of wire grabbed my handle bars twisting them around the wrong way resulting in me ending up laying on the ground. Apart from some cool looking cuts and a bit of blood there was no real damage except to my pride and we continued on.

Where is Alexander when you need him?

The only other incident for the day was Trevor's jammed chain which managed to secure itself between the Granny ring and the bottom bracket. After a lot of huffing and puffing, the removal of the rear wheel, changing of the gears and a little bit of swearing the chain was back in its rightful place.

Mel's chosen track was a beauty with some nice flowing downhills, plenty of rocks and a testing climb to get the heart pumping a bit harder. It's a great network of trails in between Crusoe Road and Lockwood Road but you definitely need an experienced guide to show you the way around. Mel had no problems finding her way and the only time we got lost was when she asked me to lead the way back to Olympic Parade. A turn right 100 metres before the correct track had us doing a nice little loop around the water race but everyone took it in their stride and before too long we were back at Mel's.

Where's Mel?

Mel must have been up early to get all the baking done. There was a great spread including chocolate cake, chocolate biscuits and great tasting potato and cheese scones (with vegemite) that disappeared too fast to get a picture of. The pressure is really on Spencer's now to lift their game or they run the risk us calling in at Mel's after every ride. Thanks for the great ride Mel and enjoy your new home!

Here she is.

The JNR Sharp from NJR

After posting our interview with new SMC member Greg there were a few requests from other riders wanting to share their story. It's always good to hear from the younger generation so this time it's Alex's turn. Alex is the son of SMC's spiritual leader Steve. He has all of his dad's flair on the bike jammed inside a 19 year olds body so it's very enjoyable to ride behind him as he takes every opportunity to get some air. He is also studying to be a paramedic which makes us older riders feel safer knowing that emergency first aid is never far away.

Uphill or Downhill - Downhill, but you must go up to go down, so uphill is worth it.

Best day on a bike - Probably any time at Mt Buller, riding big trails on big bikes, and you get a chairlift.

I'm currently riding...

2009 Specialized stump jumper

Good points: playful and light!

Bad points: struggles uphill compared to the old hard tail.

This riding gear is not SMC approved

2012 Kona Operator

Good points: quiet, light. Pedals like an xc bike.

Bad points: that it's rider needs to pull his head in and stop crashing!


Wash gloves or go for the extra grip of sweat and dirt - Wash before races (superstition). dirt and sweat all other times.

Favourite trails - Mt Tarrengower race track, international- Mt Buller, Redesdale 24 hour

Broken bones - 2 (collarbone and hand)

Most useful tip you have been given - When in doubt go flat out

Dream ride location - Mont Saint Anne

Most important item in backpack - Steri strips

Favorite lube – KY

(I knew one of the crew would say that, most likely Tony, but Alex beat him to it!)

Let me introduce you to........

Greg Taylor is the newest member of the Sunday Morning Crew. A keen road rider who gave up cycling for golf Greg has recently got back on the bike and has taken to the dirt to get closer to nature.

Greg kindly agreed to answer a few questions for us so we could get to know him a bit better.



Loving that single track

 Prefer going Uphill or Downhill - It sounds perverse but I prefer Uphill, it also hurts less when I fall off

Best day on a bike -
Had lots of good days on a bike but the most recent at the Wombat is right
up there even though it didn't involve winning anything

I'm currently riding...
Specialized Epic Comp 29er
Good points: The dual suspension and the Big Wheels
Bad points: 26 inch riders hanging it on my Big Wheels

Wash gloves or go for the extra grip of sweat and dirt - Definitely a washer (too much of a roadie)

Favourite trails - Latest favourite is Redesdale 24Hr track

Broken bones - None (touch wood)

Most useful tip you have been given - Look where you want to go not where you don't

Dream ride location - Don't know, not a fan of the cold so somewhere warmer than Bendigo in
winter, perhaps Maui.

Most important item in camelbak - Mobile for when I get lost




Favorite lube - Squirt

The happiest man on the planet

Mountain biking brings a lot of joy to people from all walks of life in countries far and wide. The ability to forget about the worries of the world and focus on which line to take whilst embracing whatever the elements have to throw at you can at times put you "in the zone". Exactly what "in the zone" means varies from person to person. It can relate to your bike and being able to ride a hazard that you have always walked before, it can relate to the mind and thinking of nothing other than the track ahead or it can relate to your spirit and being in a place where you love life and want for nothing more.

Yesterday I went riding with a man that was "in the zone". He was on a new bike, with a new camelbak and he was starting a new job the next day. He was riding under a beautiful blue sky sharing the track with only one other human being and some kangaroos and he was happy.

What else could he ask for? Well how about getting married a week earlier to his soulmate on an exotic island in the middle of the pacific. Life doesnt get any better eh Bro?

New Camelbak

New bike

New wife

Happiest man on the planet!

Fox on the Run

A couple of crew members have denied the trend of 29er bikes and purchased themselves a shiny new
26 inch BMC Street Fox each.

First reports are that its a case of true love for Steve and Tony even if Tony is having a little bit of trouble staying upright on his. Steve would also like it known that he got his first! If anyone is in the market for a slightly used Epic or Anthem give the guys a call.

Acouple of silver foxes with their street foxes

The 3 Hills Challenge

Most roadies would have heard of the 3 Peaks challenge which entails a lot of climbing over a 235km course that takes in Tawonga Gap, Mount Hotham and Falls Creek. Well Phillip and I decided to do a Mountain Bike version on Boxing day and we called it the 3 Hills Challenge. It started out with a desire to do a longer km ride to help with our training for the Otway Odyssey in February and it doubled as a way to get rid of a few Christmas lunch calories (too much pav and trifle, hang on there's no such thing as too much pav and trifle). As we thought about the different routes we could take we came up with the idea of doing a lap of the echnida trail which encircles Bendigo. The full loop is about 65kms which we thought would be a good workout when you include the climb up One Tree Hill around the 40km mark. The other two hills are Lightning Hill in Eaglehawk and Diamond Hill near Kangaroo Flat.

Not being sure how long the ride would take we decided on an 8am start. Our starting point was at the top of Specimen Hill Road so we acutally had four hills not three.

Our starting point. Although it's Christmas we didnt quite make it to Bethlehem.

The first part of the ride is pretty flat fire road through West Bendigo and it takes you through the areas hit hardest by the 2009 fires and brings you out near the Eaglehawk Golf Club. From there its past the Tip Top Bakery which always smells great before heading back into the bush towards Woodvale before turning back to arrive at Lightning Hill. Unfortunately the lookout has seen better days and the stairs to get up onto the man made structure have been removed. Probably due to an OHS ruling by the local council. The view of the forest surrounding Bendigo is still good though and would be even better if we could just cut down a few of the trees blocking the view.



Someone has removed the stairs so you can't actually get on the Lookout!

 From Lightning Hill we headed into the Whipstick before making a turn back towards Epsom and a quick run on the Linear Creek path before picking up the O'Keefe rail trail for a short while before crossing the McIvor Highway and picking up more fire road which brought us out on the Eppalock road. Once we crossed this road it was on to Heartbreak Hill (that's five) and the climb up One Tree Hill. We had been going for about 2 and a half hours now so we took a quick rest at the top before heading off on the fun descent towards the One Tree Hill Pub.

The fire lookout on top of One Tree Hill.

After a quick run up the singletrack beside the Spring Gully Reservoir we made it to Diamond Hill. I'm not sure if there were any diamonds found here but there are plenty of old gold diggings in the area.

This is a lot steeper than it looks and is not the usual way up to the Diamond Hill Lookout

 We rode on through some more old diggings before heading into Kangaroo Flat and a short burst amongst the holiday traffic before heading back into the bush near the Crusoe Reservoir and onto Maiden Gully. After some more fire road riding we made it through to Rocky Rises Road and although there were no more hills we did manage to ride over a large knob thanks to some local graffiti artists.

Next stop was Olympic Parade and we had just about completed our loop. By the time we had added in a few little detours we had clocked up just over 70kms in just under 4 hours. We had been on pretty much every road surface you can think off from singletrack through to four lane highway. All in all it was a good way to rack up a large amount of kms in a short time and still be in the bush for most of it.

Phil in front of the different trail markers we followed.