Category: Bikes

Dave of the red italian carbon/mid-life crisis (formerly ‘Surly Dave’) asked if I would post the following for him. Now, I think it is a legit ride, but it may just be Dave organising another opportunity to show off his new red, racy bitch, er, I mean bike. Turn up. It’ll be a fkn radical ride. Hunners, you better get on it. I’ve been training and there are only four more weeks until Carnival action kicks off… don’t wanna be blown away by the apprentice now do ya?

Dave this one is for you:

“The inaugural Channel Challenge 110km ride is on this coming Sunday 23 November. The ride traverses some of southern Tasmania’s most scenic waterfront roads with four major climbs as it passes from Huonville through Cygnet over to Kettering and back around the Channel. A moderate/hard ride with 1500m of ascending. There is also a 50km option for riders seeking a shorter day in the saddle.The ride starts from the Huon Jet Boat Base at 8am – turn left just before the Huon River bridge if you’re coming from the north. Plenty of parking, toilets and a 24-hour service station nearby. Be there by 7.30am to register. Entry is $10, $5 for Audax Australia members. The ride is unsupported and has a time limit of seven hours. Riders will need to to be self sufficient and of reasonable fitness.”

Maps:

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Channel-Challenge-50km
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Channel-Challenge-100km

Online entry:

http://www.formspring.com/forms/?348145-6uP8mayWH8

Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=97109255373

Sometimes great minds just think alike eh?

Its out there, im putting it out there so i know its out there. 25 is back. Throw me a lager im broke. So who wants to race…anyone keen for a hellcat. You guys have seen nothing, this will destroy you. Details to follow. Who wants to step up to the plate?

Bottles and Chainette Janelle Smith rode some pretty mean track @ the UCI World Masters Track Championships and won two GOLD MEDALS YO!! Top shit Janelle, all those boozy nights paid off I see? …unforntunately this bodes badly for an number of the boys @ B’n’C as their chances of beating Janelle on the loop this season are even lower than last… Best bit is Mischa can legitimately throw some rainbow hoops on Janelles B’n’C jersey, when he gets around to doing them that is (hint, hint..)

Stolen from http://www.tas.cycling.org.au/default.asp?Page=18857

“Hobart Cyclist Janelle Smith has proved that competitive cycling is not just for the boys. Recently returned from the UCI Masters World Track Cycling Championships in Sydney, Smith, 36, showed that training in a tough Tasmanian winter is great preparation for world class age group performance, winning the 35-39 years world championship for women in the 500m time trial and the match sprint. Janelle’s winning time in the time trial was 38.453 sec, an amazing average speed of 46.81 kph. Continue reading “Bottles and Chainette earns rainbow hoops yo!”

Alice Springs Masters Games Track Carnival was held this past friday night. A strong field of competitors from around the country had turned up to battle it out on the town’s 333meter, 37 degree banked velodrome. One old fella rode all the way from his home in Western Australia to be there (at the expense of his martial status!). B’n’C was limited to sideline action due to not meeting the age requirements.. 🙁 ..but, the very next day was the Alice Springs Cycling Club’s ‘King of the Mountains’ event in which we had an opportunity to vent the pent up white line fever that has been building up in Yulara for the past 3 months…

A field of forty riders entered and I felt pretty sure of my chances.. The weapon of choice was carbon, it had gears, I’d only drunk 6 beers the night before and with a comfortable temperature of 38 degrees, what could go wrong? Water. Forgot to take water. Suffered pretty bad because of this oversight and rolled in 14th. 🙁 Continue reading “Pics’n’Shit from Alice”

Im half a world away but i can almost hear the soothing tones of Hobart beckoning. Its got to be better than the “mister, mister” or “where you from sar”, i keep getting from all these bloody Indians. If only Bill’s brake would let me sleep at night though. All it wants to do is go hit the piss and look for hookers. I dont know what Bill’s done to this poor young fellow. Lets just say i think he was brought up with a rough crowd and has had a terrible father figure in his life. I know he’s got a complex, he’s an old shimano 105 without much bling credentials. Im trying to tell him that you dont have to be a record or a dura-ace, its what you’re attatched to. Being the open minded brake he is, he replied “i know, i just want to mount myself to some fine freewheeling italan steel”

I will see what i can do…

Word is out, but bills brake just wont listen. He (she maybe…) wants to see the world. So its on like donkey kong and his (hers) adventure has begun. Delhi and the waters of the Ganges have been conquered and we are both going for tea tomorrow in the hills of Darjeeling. Bill, your brake does love you but thought it was time for you to fend for yourself…

 

My Maths Teacher once stated to my parents that I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed. I think I may have gone someway towards proving his point today.

Northern Territory. Great Western Desert. 40 degrees celcius. No shade in sight. Midday, the hottest part of the day. So what do I do? I go for a ride. Continue reading “‘Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the Midday Sun’”

The dates for the 2008/2009 Tasmanian Christmas Carnivals have been announced yo! Dates are as follows:

• Rosebery: Saturday December 20th, 2008
• Latrobe: Friday December 26th, 2008
• Launceston: Sunday, December 28th, 2008
• Devonport: Monday & Tuesday, December 29th & 30th, 2008
• Burnie: Thursday 1st January, 2009
• Hobart: Sunday 4th January, 2009
• St Helens: Saturday 17th January, 2009

Time to start preparing for the upcoming Track Season. Hobart Wheelers will hopefully be resuming the Friday night track training sessions at Newtown Oval and for those further north, Alice Spring Cycling Club opens it’s 333 meter, 37 degree banked concrete velodrome every Sunday arvo for training rides. Hopefully we’ll see some serious BnC representation @ these Carnivals and if I remember correctly the Brunswick riders were keen to do a VS BnC Teams challenge in the lead up to Hobart. So go on cadets, throw 92 on ya fixie and hit the Track! 

Check  http://www.fixedgearfever.com/modules.php?name=Velodromes&op=list&cid=au to read a short blurb and see a Google Earth satellite image of each of these venues yo. 

So I’ve been in Melburn for about six weeks now, and have been riding pretty much daily. It’s a different breed of cyclist here. Commuters are generally happy to keep their scowls fixed in place, stare straight ahead and don’t make eye contact. Roadies in full team kit and Specialized and Cannondale carbon numbers cruise through the ‘burbs but will generally say hello if you press them. Fixed riders will either snob you or do the ol’ neck crane to check out your bike, some no doubt mentally taking stock so they can rush home and blog about it. Commuter racing is in full swing, with some people getting really mad if you overtake them. Meh. Three cyclists dead within two weeks, one found on the road alone, one crushed under a bus, one hit by a car on a cruisy suburban ride.

Bike paths criss-cross the city and are a slower ride than the busier streets, dodging dogs and their walkers, kids with frisbees, and recumbent riders taking up the whole goddamn path. The other option’s taking the road and dealing with a constant stream of traffic and always hoping that the stream of cars waiting to turn across you will see you blowing through the green in between three lanes of cars.

H picked up a singlespeed cruiser (see above) and has been riding half and hour to work and back again. I’m feeling a bit cheated as it only takes me 7 mins to get to work from our place. I’ve been taking the long way around to try to get at least some feeling of having ridden anywhere. It’s easier to get from A to B than Hobart, but somehow I feel like it’s cheating a bit riding with no hills. There’s no climb home, no dizzy spells when you get in the door, no feeling like you’re going to vomit when you get in the door. I think some longer weekend rides are in order to kick out the cobwebs. Here’s hoping you’re riding hard and having fun doing so.