Author Archives: Admin

Shimano MTB GP Round 3: Ourimbah

The author, obscured by watermark. Will buy the real one soon, honest.

This past weekend saw the third round of the 2013 Rocky Trail Shimano MTB GP, out at one of my favourite circuits, Ourimbah Mountain Bike Park near Sydney. I rode in the 4hr Solo Male Elite category, and here’s how my race went.

There’s generally quite a civilised feel to the start of a morning at a Rocky Trail event. The 9am race start, when compared to the 7am sharp of something like Capital Punishment, for example, is positively luxurious, so I made good use of the time, registered early and went out on a lap to check the state of the course. This was a deliberate choice – Ourimbah has many A and B line options, and a few spots of rain earlier in the week would inevitably leave a mix of hero dirt and slippery mud, so line choice could be significant. I’d also recently modded my bike with narrower handlebars, which would make some lines less of a squeeze and change my options for riding them. Finally, I hadn’t ridden the Lost Forest in a long while, and was a little unsure of how it would go.

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The day I trained so hard I paralysed my dog

It was raining when I left the office this evening. I’d been vaguely planning to smash out a few hours of riding “on the way home” to make up for a weekend of CBF. When I saw the state of the local microclimate, I figured I’d hit the home trainer and do an hour or so in the tender loving care of The Sufferfest instead.

This is where the trouble began

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Review: Cell Bikes Azure bib short

Historically speaking, I’ve never been a bib short kind of guy. Standard knicks or mountain biker shy shorts have always been good enough for me. Besides, bibs are expensive. Seriously, you’re talking a minimum of $100 for the most basic bibs, whereas for half that I can get a pair of Pearl Izumi Quest knicks.

Azure Bib ShortAnd then Cell came up with their insanely low-priced $40 Azure bib short. A couple of days later, they put it on special, two pairs for $45.

Sold. Seriously, take my money. Now.

As ever, delivery was prompt (and free), along with a new saddle and a load of CO2 cartridges, and off I toddled to try them out.

Now, I’ve bought Cell clothing before. It tends to be aimed at the lower price point, and as such is often a compromise designed with the more casual rider in mind. I wasn’t expecting high-end racer gear, and that expectation turned out to be correct. This is NOT automatically a bad thing – far from it – but there are three points I’d like to mention.

First: sizing.  If you’re going to buy these, consider going a size smaller than you think you should. I buy a medium in Pearl Izumi Quest knicks, and I get a good,close fit. I bought a medium in the Azure, and got a rather more comfortable experience. Essentially what I got was at the very biggest end of the ‘medium’ scale, almost too big. And I don’t consider myself to be whippet-like at present. The legs are also ever so slightly shorter than I normally like.

Second, the chamois insert is on the bulky side – no biggie for a novice rider looking for max comfort on slower rides, but a shade over the size I like these days and that probably means I won’t be taking these on endurance races. Experience suggests the chamois used will soften up before stiffening again towards the end of its useful life, but a more long-term test will confirm or deny that.

Lastly, the colour scheme turned out to be more blue than I expected from the pictures on the Cell site, and the blue panels seem to show up sweat patches. No biggie. Just ride harder so the whole things are one big sweat patch, right? Also, I do like a reflective trim, since I commute, and these appear to have only small reflective logos on the side.

That said, they’re a comfortable, well built bit of kit that’ll prove invaluable through the winter months – they’ll ensure my lower back and midriff are just that little bit better protected from the elements and help avoid the annoying gap in the kit that emerges when commuting with a backpack. I’m pretty convinced they’ll be my new favourite thing the first time I do a couple of hours of hill repeats in the rain.

They’d be absolutely ideal for novice or casual road riders who are maybe a couple of pounds over fighting weight, or for a rider like me who doesn’t normally go for bibs but could use a pair  in the kit cupboard, which I think is exactly where Cell – in quite a savvy retail move – have pitched them. Not everyone is a racing snake, but everyone needs decent quality clothing that’ll keep them comfortable on whatever kind of riding they go for.

Product: Cell Azure Bib Short
Price: $40
Pro: Price, price-to-quality ratio
Con: Fit, colour choice.
Rating: 3.5 stars, four and a half if you’re the target demographic

 

Race Report – The 2013 Convict 100

Before I delve into my experience at this year’s Convict 100, a note on geology.

Elsewhere in the world, Geologists divide rocks, the lifeblood of their profession, into three broad categories. Igneous rocks, formed in the fires of volcanic fury. Sedimentary, laid down over eons in ancient seas and finally metamorphic, beginning as one type but being transformed into another through the immense pressures of geological processes.

Here in Australia, there are also three types of rock.

Sand
Rocks made from sand
And sand with rocks in.

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Loving the Local Bike Shop

Cycling Tips ran a piece recently on ten very cool bike shops. Yep, they’re pretty cool, but debate rages in the comments about the inclusion of two Melbourne shops and no Sydney places (or anywhere else in Australia for that matter). With that topic floating around in my mind I toddled off to my local cool bike shop – Atelier De Velo in Sydney’s CBD.

AdV is a very nice space indeed. Spacious and airy, with a coffee counter at the back looking out onto a little courtyard area (ex-London folk like me would call it a mews, actually), an unsegregated workshop space overlooked by a fantastic mural, plenty of vintage and modern kit to drool over, a wall so full of trick bikes that they spill out into two tiers and what’s more, downstairs is a whiskey bar (The Baxter) for when the bike shop closes and you need a little something extra. OK, so The Baxter isn’t actually part of the same business, but let’s face it, it shares a pretty cool space with Atelier. What’s more, the service is first rate. And an example of that came by during my visit today.

My mission, today, was to acquire a bit of energy food for this weekend’s Convict 100. While I was there, I figured I’d pick the brains of the guys about hydration and nutrition. I’m trying to move away from carrying a Camelbak in endurance races, having been spoiled by lap racing in the Shimano MTB GP series. It’s just nicer to ride unburdened, and that’s easy in lap races. But long marathons are a different matter.

The problem I of course have is that I currently ride a dual-suspension BMC Speedfox SF29 and as a result only have one bottle cage. Most 100km races I’ve done have three aid stations, meaning I’d have to make a single bottle stretch to 25+km – a big ask if riding hard – or find a way to carry a second bidon along with the other essentials of a long MTB race (toolkit, food, water, electrolyte tabs). That’s some full jersey pockets, and full jersey pockets are worse than the camelbak.

A triathlon-style rail-mount is too likely to lose bottles over rough ground, but Chris knew what I was looking for, even if I didn’t.

“Go down the road to the [redacted] dealer and see if they have a pair of [brand] seatpost mount rings. I’ve got a pair and they rock”, said he. “They should fit your seatpin, which is what, 31.8?”

Yep, the LBS sent me to a competitor because they knew exactly what I needed. Customer needs came first and I applauded inwardly (and called back in for another coffee later) when the dealer in question came up with the goods. And, of course, put some money over the counter at AdV for the rest of my gear. And decided it was worth writing about.

Anyway, that’s one of the reasons my LBS is awesome, and why you should be buying at your local whenever you can, instead of running off to the internet every time you need a piece of kit. Internet retailers definitely have their place, but how many of them will send you down the digital road to the competition just because you need a particular thing that they don’t have on the shelf? How many of them can whip out an allen key and fix a niggling bike problem on the spot, just because you’ve mentioned it offhand? How many of them serve brilliant coffee?

And how can browsing bikeporn on the internet compare with browsing it in-the-flesh over a cup of espresso and some avocado on toast?

It can’t. It just can’t.

The Rocky Trail Shimano MTB GP Series starts Monday

And I’ll be there, barring the worst of disasters on my final prep ride at Awaba tomorrow.

Beware, though, Monday is April Fool’s Day. Expect shenanigans.

A moment for a minor rant

Yesterday afternoon, as I was heading home early from work – rather unusually on my road bike – disaster struck.

At about 45km/h on Lilyfield Road, my bike bottle made a daring escape from the cage in which it had been imprisoned, and leaped to freedom.

A rather short-lived freedom that ended a millisecond later as it was crushed to death under my rear wheel.

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Any way we can get that down for a spring cleanin’?

Look, I have no idea if there is actually such a satellite, but if there is, are we sure we want Lance’s little helices on there? Really?

Whaddaya mean I’m racing the next day? Aaaaaaagh.

Race Report: Capital Punishment 2013

Last weekend, I made the trek to the nation’s capital for the annual Capital Punishment 100km MTB Marathon race.

Previous years’ XCM series status was not forthcoming this year, for various reasons, but the field was still packed,with over 700 finishers crossing the 100km finish line at Stromlo, first of whom were Andy Blair for the Elite Men and Jenny Fay for the Elite Women. A further 709 riders finished the 50km version of the race from the National Arboretum to Stromlo, led home by Bradley Morton and Kylie Webb respectively.

For my part, I rolled into Kowen Forest at around 6am, parked my car in the dark and saddled up for my 7am start window, stopping only for a coffee and a return to the car when I realised I’d sleepily headed for the start sans helmet and gloves. A good start, huh?

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