Author: Mischa

Ben N has set up a new blog to document the evolution of the Fern Tree Freeride trails above Hobart. I’m not sure of all the details but I know Ben’s got access to some great land, and there are a few dedicated souls helping out with the building. Looks like there’s a shitload of scope for some amazing trails up through there, so keep your eye on it! I imagine there will be build days of some sort in the future, so you might be able to lend a hand and lift a shovel.

Check it here.

Tim posted about the excellent Ride Journal a couple of weeks back, and now you can download issue 1 for free. It’s got heaps of great little articles about all kinds of riding and it’s really quite inspiring. Lots of great photos as well. Go do it, seriously.

Click and scroll.

Mick and his Hetchins are off to Europe next Tuesday, he is riding an Audax Permanent called the Tour de France, a 4,800km circuit around France. Being an Audax ride there is a time limit, in fact for this one there is two, you can choose to ride that distance in a maximum of 30 days (minimum 160km per day) or 60 days (min 80kms per day).
Mick is tacking the 60 day option and if you think that is not hard core enough bear in mind that he is in his early 70’s.

There is more – Mick was one of the inaugural Audax UK members, has ridden the PBP twice in the late 70’s early 80’s, was part of a team that established one of the longest permanents in Europe the “Trafalgar to Trafalgar’ Trafalgar Square in London to Cape Trafalgar near Gibraltar. 3,200km with a max time limit of 16 days (minimum 200km per day). And these exploits are just the beginning of the stories he can relate once you get him talking bikes, which isn’t hard.

Tomorrow will be his 300th consecutive day of riding his Hetchins. His Hetchins was built for him in 1979 and is just a classic, original Hetchins are such collectors items they have been counterfeited.

And there is more. He is so keen to keep up his tally of consecutive days riding that on his way to Europe he has a day long lay over in Sydney. He will be rebuilding his bike, putting his box and other luggage in storage for the day and going off for a ride before heading back for his international flight.

“You have made a sound decision to purchase your Davies, Craig Motoring Helmet. Wear it and don’t feel self-conscious. Driving even for the most proficient is dangerous.

Ultimately, motoring helmets will be commonplace, but in the meantime, you will be a leader whilst those who may consider your good sense misplaced, will follow.”

Finally, with the quality Motoring Helmet, we can now begin active advocating of helmet use for motorists. Not only do those poor souls suffer higher levels of pollution inside their cars – compared to cycling next to them – but they also have a higher risk of head injury than safer activities like… um… oh i don’t know… cycling. Just to pick a safe activity off the top of my head. Completely random. Honest.

Selling fast on Ebay.

I’ve added a few new snaps to the gallery, and I found a bunch of photos from a ride that were on there but not made public for some reason.

I’m currently trying to figure out how to let people upload their own photos of their bikes and stuff. Hopefully I can sort it out and we can kick things up a notch.

Right, my first thought was to post up some long winded history bullshit about Ben and Michelle and all the stupidly loose shit I’ve seen both of them do in the (way too short) amount of time I’ve known them both. But really, you’ve all either seen the photos, received the drunken phone calls, or been bear hugged in person so I’d probably just be wasting my breath. Safe to say, they are two of the best people on the planet and if there’s one thing you should do before you die, it’s share a beer with both of them. Once you’ve done that, I’d recommend feeding another ten into each of them and doing your best to come out at the other end without being covered in texta tatts or suffering sprains from dance floor battles gone wrong. Good luck!

Anyway, I swear this post has a point and I really think the photo below is the best way to sum it up. After all, a picture paints a shitload of words. Most of those words are probably drunken gibberish and the rest are probably related to bikes or beer. The last few at the end however, are the important ones…

Yep, Beans and Mash are cooking up a miniature version! So on behalf of all the heads who rep Bottles And Chains, and everyone else in between I’ like to say congratulations ya nut jobs! Pretty sure the only thing to do is celebrate with a bike ride and a shitload of beers (or lemonade for Mish?).

Onya!

I do try and avoid riding the blog-wave and posting stuff that I find on other blogs, as it can often feel like you’re wandering around the internet reading the same shit over and over, with slightly different witty comments. Or not so witty, if you happen to be on this website. The Candy Cranks site is doing the rounds at the moment, but given that cycling seems to be suffering from a massive case of cock forest/dude ranch/sausage party/not enough bloody girls, I’m just going to perpetuate the machine and link up what is actually a good blog.

So go over and have a read. While you’re at it, figure out how we can get more girls riding bikes so I don’t have to spend so much time hanging out with guys in skin tight clothes and pointy shoes.