National DH race at Stromlo 2008

Commitment at G20

Originally uploaded by collective.dust

Fast and furious downhill racing with Nathan Rennie beating a field of top Aussie riders to take first place for the weekend. The winning time was a 2:37.95!, Bryn Atkinson came in second with a 2:40.11

The course had been tuned to allow more flow and faster cornering and the times reflected this. It was great to see the local riders like Ben Cory and Jared Rando in the top 5.

It’s inspiring that Australia produces such good DH racers that can take it to the international level and beat the best in the world.

I was a bit disappointed with Sam Hill’s comments in the latest AMB where he openly expressed his dislike of the Mt Stromlo DH track. I guess he should know what a world cup track should be like but unfortunately his comments have put a bit of a dampener on the locals who have put a hell of alot blood, sweat and tears into building Mt Stromlo bike park.

Anyway enough griping, check out more race photo’s at flickr

 

Sam Hill vs Subaru WRX

I came across this footage of Aussie downhill world champion Sam Hill, taking on a Subaru WRX rally car in Anup, WA. Riding doesn’t get much smoother or faster than Sam, it’s no wonder he has 2 world cups under his belt….unstoppable! You can watch the full race at Pinkbike.com

 

Robbie Maddison - Jumps a football field on a MX bike

An Australian freestyle MX rider, breaks the world record by jumping the length of a football field! It is amazing and frightening how far these athletes can push the boundaries. Happy New Year.

 

First impressions - Troy Lee ‘XC’ glove & Five Ten ‘Impact’ shoe

Troy Lee Designs XC glove

Originally uploaded by collective.dust




Five Ten ‘Impact’ riding shoe

Originally uploaded by collective.dust


2 fantastic products that live up to their reputation!

Starting with the gloves I went for a small size 8. Previously I’ve found that gloves that fit perfect in the shop tend to loosen up considerably only a few months later causing bunching under the palms. That being said the XC’s fit is firm without being restrictive. They are a cool understated design for a bike glove, mono colours with nice detail. There is a distinct lack of heavily rubber padding on the top of the glove which goes against the design trends for most moto/mtb bike gloves these days, that being said it’s rare that you land on your knuckles if you have an off. The padding on the palm is thick enough for some extra protection and comfort and when gripping the bars doesn’t bunch up at all. I tested the gloves on the Stromlo DH course which has a new whoopy section below the bridge. The gloves felt perfect from the first run…comfortable under the palms while allowing unrestricted finger movment and good feel of the brake levers when required.

The Five-Ten ‘Impact’ shoes are something that I’ve had on the wish list for a while. I had heard great things about their performance and when world champion riders like Sam Hill and Nathan Rennie use them, well enough said. I went for a US size 9 which is perhaps half a size too big but once the shoe laces are tied it is fine. The first thing I noticed was the stiffness in the sole, this is a good thing for ensuring more of the energy from your legs are getting to the pedals and cranks and feels more like an extension of the pedal. The second thing is the grip, absolutely phenomenal. Five Ten are a rock climbing shoe company and the stealth rubber that is in the sole is designed to provide maximum grip on any surface. Well for the first run I planted my foot on my stocko flat pedals and I never moved them until I finished. You literally have to lift your foot off the pins to reposition they are that grippy. I went through some rock garden sections a couple of times and my foot was simply stuck to the pedal. Usually I would need to readjust my feet on the pedals after these sections but not with the ‘Impacts’. Styling wise they remind me of pumped up school shoes but there’s no denying they excel at what they were designed to do….stick to flat pedals.

 

How not to ride in Utah

Just came across this video on Pinkbike.com, this footage is the last year the Red Bull Rampage was held in Utah and it had rained in the days leading up to the event. The result was instead of soft red dust, the track and transitions were packed down hard letting riders go faster and hit the deck harder. See for yourself…

 

First downhill race, day 2 Rrrracing

I get to the track at 10:00 am and the carpark is full I park next to a guy with a black Intense M3 whom I recognise as Jon Myssonski, an IT contractor from my Agrecon days. I remember him riding a Mountain Cycle Shockwave back in the day and he was racing DH right back then. We catch up and I tell him it’s only taken me 10 years to enter my first downhill race

After I kit up with armour and my prized carbon fibre Troy Lee Design stack hat I register in the Sport category and attach my first race plate, number 137 to the Big Hit.

Unlike yesterday there about 70 riders ranging in age from under 13 to over 40. I catch up with Drew (who I use to work with) and his mates Benny, Andrew and Marlowe. Drew’s not too impressed after his first practice run with the amount of pedalling required and is riding his giant STP0. Benny swaps from his STP0 to a Iron Horse Yakuza and seems at home riding anything.

We all do a few practice runs in the hot windy conditions and the track gets pretty churned up with deep dust bowls forming in the breaking areas. The bermed S bends as you enter the wooded section are pulped to fine bull dust and its a bit of a lucky dip to guage when the rubber is going to hook up. I take it fairly easy in the practice run just trying to remember the best lines to take for the race runs.

Finally racing starts with the juniors setting off proceedings and eventually going to the elite class. I am 4th rider up in the Sport division and I felt suprisingly relaxed going into my first timed run. I line up at the start gate and ensure that my front wheel triggers the timer. The coordinator counts me in and I’m off racing against the clock. I get through the first section ok with a bit of time lost going over the loose right hip. Through the wooded section trying to stay off the brakes as much as possible and hitting most lines as planned. I cross over slick rock and my lungs and heart are in my mouth, and my legs are burning. I sit down to ease the burning and try to pedal as fast as I can for the next 2 minutes to the finish line. The last 200m of the track are alot of fun with some jumps and fast berms, unfortunately the 3 mintues leading to this point rob you of all energy and it’s more of a chore than fun to get through them. I hit the finish line with a 4:16.07. I dump the bike at the tent and can barely breathe let alone stand up as my legs feel like jelly. I recover with some water and then back on the bus for the final run.

The final run goes about the same as the first except I follow the line of the better riders to cut the hip at the top and avoid jumping the bike on some of the smaller jumps on the course. Michael Andrews, in the elite class, tells me that any time the bike is in the air is when you are not pedalling and gaining speed…geez I have a bit to learn. anyway I get to the end with a 4:13.55, cool, I shave just over 2 seconds from the first run. I am feeling pretty happy with my run and then I see Benny has riden a 4.03.84 and Drew has done a 4.05.87 on a hardtail! These lads are inspiring to ride with and seem to be naturals at this stuff. Even more impressive are the elite riders, Michael posts a 3.46.91 and the fastest rider Jamie Green does the course in 3.32.07! Jon who is in the Vetrans class pulls out a 3.50.01 which is quick. I thought that I was going fast but I am a snail compared to these guys. I ask Jon and Michael about how they ride so fast and they reveal that they pedalled standing up the entire length of the course and touched the brakes once … after the finish line. Damn I have some practice to do if I want to get to that level of riding. This article on how to ride fast seems to sum up the lessons learnt from the weekend. Here are the official race results for the weekend

All in all I absolutely loved the racing experience, every one is really amped to be riding and it really helps you to improve your skills by riding with better riders. Until the next local race….

 

First downhill race, day 1 practice

After many years of just playing around on mountain bikes I finally got the courage to go in my first downhill race. Mount Stromlo Bike Park’s beginner DH track was the venue and is a lot of fun. In terms of difficulty it is classed as more of a descending XC downhill, so it wasn’t a big hit with the elite riders, but for getting more people to give DH racing a go it was perfect.

Day 1 is for practice, I arrive early and help the race coordinator set up the finish line tent. Other beginners roll up and practice gets underway. Usually a typical ride on Mount Stromlo consists of riding and pushing my DH bike to the top, trying to get my breath back and then blasting down to the car where I am too tired to struggle to the top again. This time I had the pleasure of parking my bike on a dedicated bike trailer and sitting in the air conditioned comfort of a mini bus with tinted windows. The time to get to the top was about 3 minutes without even a breaking a sweat!

The start section is fast and flowing and then heads into a wooded section with a few little tight drops in between the rocks and trees. The previous week I managed to jam my middle toe between a tree and my pedal which resulted in a broken toe….needless to say I didn’t make that mistake again. The last section of the track is technically downhill, but only just. When you get off the mountain this is about the halfway point and if you want a fast time it means getting up off the seat and pedalling flat out. Unfortunately my training regime of sitting on my butt in front of a computer 8 hours a day didn’t pay off and I was flat stick trying to turn the cranks let alone standing up and pedalling flat out.

I manage to get 6 runs in during the morning without having an off…tomorrow is race day