Category: Bikes

    

Winter is in full effect in Tasmania, snow, ice, mud and slush.. ALL the usual winter fare. At BnC we don’t let the inclement weather slow us down, we just bust out the fat tyre flyers and head for the hills. The past few weeks has seen the boys out and about on trails all around the state. Mischa headed north and rode a few laps on the sweet Stubbs Road singletrack, Clint has been taking advantage of the softend soils and has cut miles of new trails at *********, and the two Matt’s have been leading their tribe of singlespeeders up hill and down dale each weekend.

Interstate, Mishmash and Jimmy have been pimping their rides in Canberra. The Mash-machine has had a facelift and Jimmy bought himself a new rig, a Specialized Stumpy. Both of them have been doin regular missions to Majura Pines and Jimmy hooked up with a Canadian who is training for a 24solo.. Finally got a report of Jimmy being worn out, never thought that would happen… The White brothers and Simon Ditcham completed a tour of WA with their band the Scandal.. On the way home they stopped off in Melburn and did a few laps of the Brunswick Velodrome, I’m not sure they were sober at the time?

Overseas.. well, Hunners slept with the right people and was given a job couriering in old Londontown.. Dutch Timmy has being scratching around in Holland looking for ANY elevation to climb on his mountain bike.. “I have to say I miss the hills and mountains a lot. When I ride my bike I look for every elevation in the road (like bridges and dykes) and sprint up to the top. There is a small training hill which is a loop, so I just ride up there like 10 times to get the feeling of a good climb. I am smashing all the people on expensive carbon roadies with my steel old school single speed, so the BnC-training camp paid off I am now working in the local bike shop, so I am spending money on upgrading my bikes. Today I got a full lycra kit from the boss, so yes, I am also wearing lycra now…” ..and Canadian Dave is back in Canada hassling chipmunks, they’re not quite as big as possums but Dave stated that they are just as satisfying.

I took this photo whilst in NZ. Thinking of the family’s anguish over losing a loved pet I decided to help out and post up the flyer on BnC..  

It’s finally rolled around again, the time of the year when coffee addictions soar, communication with family and friends becomes labored beyond sufferance and tempers shorten with every stage. The Tour!

Continue reading “3 weeks, no sleep.”

Last Saturday Mr Buckley and I turned out to rep BnC @ the STVCC and Triathlon Tasmania Sandford Time Trial. Bucks decided to take on the 20k TT (which included an absolute bitch of a hill climb) whilst I took the softer 14k option. Neither route was particulary flat, with plenty of undulations and potholes to boot. The turnout for the event was good with plenty of serious Timetriallers in both distances.. Continue reading “Fixed Time Trial”

I’ve been having a long running discussion with Mischa about the merits of hard tails for thrash sessions. We’ve sat and watched the ‘Hard Tails Rule’ section in ‘Earthed 3’, where Peaty and another rider slay English back-wood trails on zero inches of rear travel, mightly inspiring stuff.. A recent issue of Dirt Mag (www.dirtmag.co.uk) sung the praises of hard tail thrashing.. This is a hymn book I’m happy to sing from, I especially love the pslam ‘Down and Out on a Hardtail’.. (http://www.dirtmag.co.uk/features/down-and-out-on-a-hardtail) Personally, I love the connected feel a hardtail gives you with the ground.. especially if it’s made of steel. Throw a 140mm fork on a steel hard tail frame, a beefy wheelset and some wide tyres and you have a ready made recipy for fun. Anyway, when I came across the new NS Society frame.. well, I fell in love..  As my esteemed college is in the market for a new bike ..and taking into consideration our earlier conversations, I felt THIS bike needed a BnC post just to throw in another opinion..

     

So Pringle? Yes??

Okay kids, dispatch #2 from London. By the sounds of it Tassie is bloody cold but at least the points are firing. 3 months done so far. The sun is out and the rain is bizzarely absent. Im now unemployed but things might be looking up, judging by the phone call i just got. Someone might be giving the paper boy a radio on monday. Gonna be funny when their clients ring up wondering where the fuck their packages are. Still you have to start somewhere. Shout outs need to go to car window smashing Ryan for the heads up and stupid amounts of alcohol he makes me drink with a bunch of people i dont know on a saturday nights. After so long off a bike its always reassuring to know i can still get paraletic drunk and ride my bike in a big city and discover the blood and bruises when i wake up in the morning. At least its better than having a drunk hobo ask you for a blowjob at 10 in the morning and then having an old man piss in front of you while relaxing in the park in the afternoon. The joys of living in a huge dirty city full of smelly people. Still im gonna see what happens and if it means having to skip the ECMCs so be it.

Leave the bike in the shed today… Just like ‘Point Break’,  the proverbial ‘Ten Year Storm’ has rolled into the Derwent River and will be lighting up all the southern points over the next two days.. The swell is expected to peak late Thursday or early Friday morning. Currently there is a small wave on 7 Mile Point and a dag on a few of the southern reefs (hint hint) ..I’m waiting for the word and I’ll bail on work and hit some waves with the Old Man. It’s worth taking a look at the current off-the-richter swell charts https://oceanography.navy.mil/legacy/web/cgi-bin/graphic.pl/metoc/311/21/0-0-1/0 and also perhaps keep an eye on the Cremore Point web cam http://www.coastview.com.au/site/cremorne/ Just to whet the wave appetite here is a pic of Nutgrove Point in Sandy Bay doin it’s thing last time a swell like this one rolled in..

I’ve often flagged my interest in hitting a few Audax events on the fixie.. and I’ve even done a few 100’s fixed.. Maybe even a bit of fixed cycle touring one day.. but this really cranks my chain. Racing FIXED across America. This is a wet dream for me. Oh YEAH! Check the blog for more pictures and details.

http://www.kaisercycling.com/

http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,23882890-3462,00.html

ONE of the highlights of Tasmanian cycling has been cancelled this year, for the first time in its 111-year history.

Organiser Ray Slater said the Launceston City Cycling Club had to call the $7000 Launceston-Hobart race off after Tasmania Police refused permission to race on the Midland Highway.

Mr Slater has been the race’s driving force since 1972, putting in about 100 hours of his time each year — while his tax accountancy business has donated prize money of $1000 a race.

Mr Slater, 78, said his unsuccessful battle with Tasmania Police to secure a permit this year caused him nightmares. Continue reading “Pigs Halt Launceston-Hobart Race”