Author: Ben

 

Organised by Hobart Wheelers & Southern Vets bicycle clubs, the Mountain Welllington Challenge is one of Hobarts iconic road events. This year Bottles and Chains are throwing the gauntlet down and are challenging Hobarts fixed and single speed community to take the challenge and ride to the top on ‘one fkn gear’. Fixed or single speed.. choose your weapon. To enter, your bike must possess two working brakes.. not a bad idea given the steepness of the descent. I’ve only heard one story of a fixed rider making the summit.. Dave Sipsy McCaig (Hobart’s fmr Canadian courier) regaled us with a story about Canadian John riding to the top in the early hours of sunday morning after a particulary huge saturday night. If a drunk Canadian can do it.. so can you! Contact us @ B’n’C if you’re keen. We’ll run our own little sub-race within the challenge if there’s enough interest! 

Sunday 9 March 2008

Start time
Registration 8.30am – 9.45am; Time-trial start from 10am
Riders depart from the start at 15 second intervals to keep everyone spread out on the narrow road.

Location
Longley Hotel, Longley

Distance
20km (1km up)

Included
Ride insurance, time recorded, spot prizes courtesy Bike Ride

Entry Fee
$20

Former Hobart courier Mat Hunnibell has been kicking about in South America for the past few months. Rumours abound surrounding Hunners antic’s abroad, some true others not.. Anyway here is a picture he sent into BnC headquaters of his Red Tuk-Tuk motorbike. Mat had just stopped to deliver the boys at the building site their morning newspapers when he paused to take this snap (Note the single speed in the foreground). Good to hear Mat’s off the crack and holding down a steady job. 

     

As promised earlier, here are some better quality pics of Mat Grundy’s new ride. Built (Frankenstein style) by the big man himself (with a little help from Grasshopper jnr jnr..). The set up has a few unusual attributes. Ah, note the front hub.. yep, it’s a BMX hub.. but the hub and rim hole counts didn’t match so there was a bit of improv wheel building action.  ..um, the front fork is an old school 1″ touring job.. probably perfect for a man of his stature? The seat post bolt is out of Russ’s old Repco Superlight.. the stock Soma bolt stripped out on the 1st attempt to tighten it.. Lame. Brake lever courtesy of my Surly emo and until it’s recent liberation, the brake itself had been living at the bottom of a spare parts box @ Treadlies for the past 15 years. Cranks are old Campy mountain bike cranks? WTF? Strange but true. Seems to ride well.. although the pilot did whinge a bit about having to pedal ALL the time.. so much for him being a seasoned single speeder.* 

*(I always suspected that single speeding wasn’t about bikes and was all about the beer).

How fkn cool are these shots? I fished them out of some old issues of ‘Tasmanian Mail’. The above shots were taken at the 1907 Latrobe Wheel.. Hard packed clay track.. supposedly the best in the state at that time? And the shot below is of the 1908 Scottsdale Wheel!! This is the track my Grandmama’s cousin’s were racing on back in the 1940s.. (See my earlier Old Bike’spost) My Grandma can’t remember if this was a dirt or grass track and I can’t tell from the pic which it is either.. yeah, sorry about the picture quality eh.. Photocopying micro-film! Not ever going to be good!!

Ah, these shots are getting me pumped for some B’n’C grass track racing!! hmmn.. another possible future event?

Friday – Track @ Newtown

8 riders turned out, but with 1 escaped dog needing rescuing (?) only 6 riders raced.. and as no Hobart Wheelers were present, well, we held the fort and organised some races.  Andrew took out the 10 lap scratch race with Michael coming a close 2nd, myself in 3rd and Glen in 4th. Ah, next we held a sprint derby complete with heats and finals.. the end results were.. 1st Ben 2nd Glen 3rd Michael 4th Clint 5th Andrew 6th Mat. It was a fun night, Mat Grundy had his first ever crack at track and rode well.. and we’ll all be out there again this friday so come along!

Saturday – Advocate Newspaper 

To the Advocate readers who overwhelmingly responded in the affirmative to the newspapers poll question, ‘should bicycle riders be banned from major roads?’ ..wake up! Shame on the North-West Coast! : (

Sunday – Mersey Valley Devonport Cycling Club Carnival

Attended the MVDCC Carnival on Sunday. Great event.. but one bad fall in the womens Keiren stopped racing for several hours and the program had to be cut short. I don’t know who the rider that fell was or what injuries she sustained but I hope you recover and are back on track soon! Ah, a few riders from Hobart turned out (Justin x 2 & Andrea) and we all made the finals of our respective events (1000m & 2000m), I think Justin McMullins may have placed 4th in the 1000m but I may be wrong? (geez those NW boys are quick!!) Cheers to the blokes from the MVDCC who help with pushing, I owe you a beer!

But most exciting was what I found under the grandstand.. A roller racing set-up! Took a few pics for reference and asked a few questions.. and as a result, we may have secured the first parts for our BnC R.R build!

I’ve just read Manbau’s post on Fixed.org.au (http://fixed.org.au/forums/index.php?topic=3448.0) regarding a 1938 four star Malvern Star track bike he picked up after posting a ‘wanted’ ad in the local rag.. It got me thinking, “How many old bikes are still out there in A-grade condition?”. I imagine that alot of pushies have ended their days on the tip face, replaced by more modern equipment or discarded after the owner passed away.. but surely a few would have survived the passage of time?

I know from my own forays into backsheds and garages that treasure is out there.. I once spent an arvo in a old packing shed sorting through a hundred or more bikes. There were certainly ‘gems’ in there, a Massey Harris track bike circa 1890/1900, assorted track bikes/frames dating from the 1920s to the 1950s, a 1970’s cruiser with GT racing stripe seat and sissy-bar as well as a 1950s Ken Self townbike with sparrow bars and 3spd hub. This collection was owned by an old bloke who had spent the past 40 years rescuing bicycles from the tip and although alot of them were in perfect condition, many weren’t. Regardless, this isn’t what I’m really referring to..

I would love to know the fate of all of those bikes that were loved by their owners , bikes like our own that have memories attached and have been carefully maintained and looked after. For example, what of the track bikes ridden in the 1950s? The owners would now be in their 70s or 80s.. and I imagine that alot of them would have hung on to their rides for nostalgic reasons, there could be a whole mothball fleet out there! Actually, come to think of it, I can think of a similiar example. Only recently I saw a 1970s blue and yellow Ken Self track bike get pulled out of storage after not seeing the light of day since 1978. It was in immaculate condition still.. but the owner, now well into his 50s and highly unlikely to ever race track again was not selling. After an hour in the sun trackside, the Ken Self was returned to it’s resting place in the backshed.

It’s a similar story in my own family.. what happened to the bikes I see in old family snaps? My Great-grandfather rode a wonderful looking bike to work everyday and several of my Grandmothers cousins rode trackbikes seriously in the 1940s ..but where are those bikes? I think I’m going to have to spend a few more sundays going to garage sales. Out.

Track is back! Tonight!! Newtown Oval, 6pm with racing beginning at 6:30pm. No points, no money, no trophies or sashes, just some fun. It will cost you a fiver (got to pay for the track somehow). Anyone who is keen for a second series, come along.. The Dirt Devils/Hobart Wheelers are gauging interest and a second series will depend upon numbers. Bring your friends, bring your families, bring your grandma, it’s on like Donkey Kong.

It’s red.. but will it be fast? With the big man onboard, probably yes.. more (and better quality) photo’s soon..

I’ve been loving the daily commute to work, Margate via the Channel Hwy through Taroona to Hobart (27kms) and back each day.. although I may be becoming known as the ‘smelly guy’ at work (no showers on site). Commuting is a great thing, I’ve met two single speeding roadies this week.. one guy (sorry I forgot your name) on a Langster and Jess on his Pista Solo, yarned with a few other commuters, had time to think about things other than work or domestic issues (bikes) and at the same time practise my ‘spin’ for track. Can’t believe how much it’s improved my fitness as well, it is the best type of training eh.. each morning I race against myself, I put on the same album on my mp3 and see if I can be at a further point along the road before it finishes (I was short by about 20meters today).. And I quite enjoy ‘duels’ with other commuters, especially the ‘faux-lypians’ on their carbon/titanium bikes with their shaved legs.. Haha.. nah, no disrespect, I’m just jealous.. and can’t afford an uber-bike. Oh, the picture? ^^^ What has it got to do with this post..?? Nothing really. It’s just a cool pic of a bar at Parattah next to the former Velo-track. 

Hobarts ‘Bikes and Spikes’ carnival was held on sunday at Newtown Oval. BnC were in attendance, with one team rider (being myself) entered.

Before anything is said about the carnival a few ‘thank you’ are in order..

– Tim Smit: Mate ta for getting out of bed early Sunday morning and driving me to track.

– Clint & Jack Turner: Cheers for picking up and delivering my errant seatpost in time for my 1st event.

– Dave Dennis: Thank you soooOOoo much for loaning me your bike, the advice and for acting as my pusher.. Can’t thank you enough mate.

– Simon Va Der Aa, Dave Welsh & Nathan Fraser: Ta for the advice boys, Dave I’ll stay low next time, Vanders ta for the heads up and Nathan I’ll try not to almost kill you next time!!

Ok.. now the event. Well.. The 1000m handcap, I came last. The 2000m wasn’t much better.. (I was so nervous that I was shaking like a drunk with dt’s). Went ok in the Miss ‘n’ Out race (reckon I was about middle of the field), but it was in the Sprint Derby and the C Grade Scratch that I started to calm down, relax and get my head around what needed to be done.

I drew Steve Rossendell and Jeremy Hills in my heat of the Sprint Derby.. I knew I was pretty much screwed, I mean Rozzie won the wheel yestreday and Jez won one of the northern carnival wheels (Burnie? Devonport??).. so what else was there to do but sprint ‘BnC Style’ from the outset and make them earn their win!? Well, that tactic kinda worked.. Dropped Jez and the rest of the field off the back but was mowed down by Rozzie. 2nd wasn’t a bad result.

The C Grade Scratch field was pretty strong (eg: Danny Pullbrook) so I wasn’t liking my chances.. There were ‘suprise’ sprint laps where the winner could pick up a cash prize. These laps were indicated by a whistle blast as we crossed the line.. well I was hanging off the back when I heard that whistle blow and I went for it.. a 450m sprint later and I was $30 richer!! Yeah! A sprint lap win!! BnC represent!!

Throughly enjoyed my first ever carnival, met some great people (Nath & Brent give us a call next time ya down eh?), learnt ALOT and it was great to have all the BnC boys in my corner backing me! Bring on St Helens…