Author: Ben

Ok. I’m not buying into the whole ‘horses for courses’ argument.. I say, have a bike? Ride it. Ride it anywhere. Ride it hard. I’ve seen fixed gear off road, BMX in XC races, Downhill bikes in enduros, XC bikes in downhill races, and touring bikes in timetrials. Each time, the pilot of the ‘unorthodox’ bicycle is having a dead-set hoot! But if we change tack slightly and talk bike riding from an asthetic point of view, seeing the correct tool for the job being used is often much ‘easier on the eye’.

My case in point is illustrated by the two following video’s. The first is the ‘Bootleg Sessions’. Watching freestyle fixed gear is like seeing a game of first grade rugby, it looks very impressive, that is, until you see the All Blacks play. Cue the second video. ‘Erik Elstran’, in comparsion to the first, is like pitting the All Blacks against the Glenorchy first grade side, the difference in playing abilities is immediately evident. Horses for courses? Nah, I’d just rather see Carlos Spencer play.

Bootleg Sessions v.3 — Full Trailer from Ride/Relax Productions on Vimeo.

Erik Elstran – April 2009 from North of Ten on Vimeo.

Timmy Stredwick’s first attempt at organising Bike Week? If you watch this video closely, I think you can see Liam Correy and the ‘Healthy Transport Hobart’ crew in the background.

NZud Rotorvegas local, and full time SS’er Matty Rayment is a good bloke. He rides a ridgid 29er, plays punk music and likes drinking beer.. The Aussie contingent at the  ‘Rest of the World’ Singlespeed Championships welcomed Matt with open arms as he was one of the few from across the ditch who understood how it should have been. Anyway I’ve stolen the below post from Matty’s blog, ‘Start Slow, Get Slower’. Well worth a read. Benny.

SVBBSPNZSSC09

‘It’s a strange mix of feelings for me after last weekend. I’ve spoken before about “Sunnyvale baked bean syndrome” which is what I used to find would happen after a big weekend or week of playing music, usually supports for international acts although it could have been a couple dates of a tour or an ep release show. All the good times, adrenaline, booze and people telling you that you’re the best thing since dah dah dah wears off, and you find yourself (in my case) in Sunnyvale (where I used to live) sitting in your lounge eating baked beans, with a distinct lack of anyone applauding you when you get up to make more toast. Continue reading “The ‘Sunnyvale Baked Bean Sydndrome’ and the ‘Rest of the World’ Singlespeed Championships”

I thought I knew what to expect.. I mean, aren’t singlespeed ‘championships’ just an excuse to drink beer and throw the empty cans at those that mistake the event for a ‘race’? This paradigm has certainly been par for the course in Australia and I really expected more of the same from the boys across the ditch at the 2009 ‘Rest of the World’ Singlespeed Championships. How far off the mark could I be..?? Continue reading “The ‘Rest of the World’ Singlespeed Championships”

Two weeks to go.. Packing the bags this week and over the ditch on Saturday yo! Been practising my hydration intake as dictated by the Coach! More info at: www.nzsinglespeeds.com

I love dirt. I love mud, ..mud fkn rocks. I love ‘cross too, but even more, I love watching roadies mashing carbon fibre uber bikes over mud strewn cobbles.. yeah, the Paris Roubaix is the shit.  With sections carrying  names like ‘Road to the Slaughterhouse’, how could it be anything but good. Queen of the classics is correct. Phil Liggett talking the talk.. “Hammering opponents all the time, hoping you’ve got enough for the pave at the end”.. so rad. Go Phil, go. Boonen on the go (literally?)..  Taswegian boy Wesley Sulzberger smashing it up with the lead group, awesome.. All awesome. Hats off to SBS for showing it.

..and just to plug.. Did you know that a BnC teamster beat Roubaix rider Matt Goss on the track 09? True. BnC world beaters, just like our Andy eh?

Oh dear, BnC in a triathlon? Yes, unfortunately it’s true. Who would bring such shame on the BnC name? I blame.. Continue reading “Name, Shame, Blame.”

8am. Sunday Morning. Eastside, Alice Springs.

Post boozy Saturday night, Benny rolls out his singlespeed for the first of the ASCC short-track race series. The 12km singletrack course snakes around the very rocky hills above Alice.. all techy and pea-gravel sketchy-ness, ..so NOT the course for a fuzzy headed BnC’er, especially one with poor tech skills at the best of times. So what happens? With his brain function at minimal output, choosing rational lines through the never-ending rockgarden is simply not possible. Instead, Benny takes his 80mm of travel and just plows through EVERYTHING in his path and amazingly finishes in 3rd place! How? I don’t know.

Some respectibility returns to BnC. BOOZE brought back.

Kids, drink beer, it makes you ride better.

‘bike builds shouldn’t be about discreetly color matching your low flange hubs to your panties’

The Coach, Autumn, 2009.

Continue reading “BnC Colours”