Hellbound And Pedalling
NEWS HOT OFF THE PRESS!!
Clinton, Jackie and Ethan Turner welcomed the newest member of team Bottles and Chains into the world @ 3pm this arvo! Eva Elizabeth Turner!! A healthy little girl!!! Jackie is doing well and will be pleased to be able to drink beer again (we’ll sort you out asap Jack). We’re all stoked here at B’n’C head quarters for the Turner Burners and believe that Clinton may have allready contacted Treadlies about purchasing a ‘pink’ bike? Well done!
Series 1 of track wrapped up on friday night. It was a bit of an anti-climax as the final race was washed out. Kinda sucked. The B’n’C support team had all turned out and even some stray Victorians (Nathan and Brent) had rocked up wanting to race.
Anyway it ended well for team Bottles and Chains with a 1st and a 10th place overall for the series. Hats off to Vanders and Dave for running the whole show.
1st. Ben Storer 100.5 (Team Bottles and Chains)
2nd Danny Pullbrook 89
3rd Janelle Smith 87.5
4th Steve Rossendell 81
10th Clinton Turner 68.5 (Team Bottles and Chains)
This year has seen a real growth in the numbers of riders at track. But there is just one comment I’d like to make.. I noticed that there were alot of cyclists turning up to watch who showed a real interest in having a go but were turned off due to the cost of buying the required CA licence. If a cheaper alternative could be found, be it a club membership or alike, I think we would have seen the numbers participating double. Perhaps this is something the Hobart Wheelers could investigate?
Track will be back after xmas/nye with Series 2. Keep and eye on www.track/hobartwheelers.com for more details.
Yesterday arvo myself and few of the B’n’C boys drove out to New Norfolk to check out an old velodrome we’d heard about. We found the track, but it wasn’t what we’d hoped for.. Years of neglect had left the tarmac in a bad way. Glass, grass, potholes, moss and tree roots had all done their work. It was totally unrideable. Such a shame.. It is without a doubt the nicest shaped track I’ve seen so far. It has two distinct straights, beautifully curved ends and a bank runs the whole way around. It would have left Newtown Oval for dead when operational.
We spent a bit of time just kicking about, checking the whole track out. The relic features really said alot about the hey-day of track in Tasmania. There were lights set up at intervals around the oval, so at some point they must have held night races. It really must have been a huge cycling scene.
I’ve heard rumours that someone had been looking into having this oval re-surfaced. Likewise, I heard that at one point the Southern Pedals were considering re-surfacing the now derelict velodrome at Franklin oval. It would be awesome if either eventuated. I believe that if the numbers of track cyclists in Hobart continues grow as it has been doing, this is could be a real possiblity.
I’d be interested to hear any stories about racing at New Norfolk or Franklin. If you have any yarns that you’d like to share or, even better, some old photos.. send them in to Bottles and Chains and we might post them up in a retro track thread.
I’m pretty much the only person who regularly rides a bike to the place I work, which means I’m ‘the bike guy’ or ‘Cadel’ or ‘Lance’ or whatever else is supposedly hilarious on whatever day. When I walked into the staff room last night and everyone yelled “holy shit, you’ll want to see this!” and pointed to the TV I figured it would be some thing to do with bikes. Too fucking right. If you were watching the news last night you no doubt saw the velo-destruction at Revolution.
If not, here’s some footage.
Now don’t forget tonight is the final race night for Round 1 of the Tasmanian track series at Newtown Oval! Hopefully we don’t see any action like the previously mentioned, but I’m sure there will be plenty of excitement in the final battles for points. Bottles And Chains sponsored rider Ben Storer is currently sitting in first place in the standings, beating Australian pursuit champions and others of fine pedigree. Come along and cheer him on!
Another Ken Self emerges from the dark corridors of the internet, and this time it’s on the other side of the world (that photo up the top is from another Ken frame, for those keeping tabs). Tasmanian born and bred, and generally the nicest track frame geometry you’ll ever ride. Click on the photo to see the original condition, the strip and the amazingly restored paintwork. Brilliant!
It’s your last chance to do a charitable thing and help out Possum Dave’s older brother (let’s call him Hedgehog Ryan). If you’ve forgotten who he is, he’s that guy who got run over by a Mercedes in London and then got stung with the massive damages bill after he took to their windshield with his bike. There is no justice, there’s just a load of bullshit.
Anyway, go spend some money on a t-shirt and stop the poor guy getting deported!
Oh yeah, and don’t forget to read the post below this one. Alleycat!
See you there!
If anyone happens to know the where-abouts of a roller-racing setup in Tasmania, please let us know! Roller-racing used to be huge back in the day and given Tasmanias rich track racing history, there’s got to be something lying around somewhere. Alternatively, if you’ve got a bit of know-how on building a DIY setup get in contact. Running something through a laptop hooked up to a video projector would seem to be the easiest (and most portable) way.
A monthly carnival of roller-racing, beer drinking and live music would be a damn fine way to wile away a Tasmanian winter.
The Scandal are finally back after almost a year. Come see them play with Lead Sketch Union this Friday at The Brisbane Hotel (Hobart), and Saturday at the Gunners Arms (Launceston). They’re going to be some ripper shows!
The video’s from their Never Hold To Shore launch show last year.
Ok so we’re a bit slow off the mark with this one, but we are in Tasmania after all. Ben picked up a copy of that beast of all hype-beasts, MASH. Yeah yeah, the fixed gear movie not that shitty comedy show. Starts well, with some nice footage of some dudes who are doing pretty impressive stuff, mostly. I’m not going to pretend I can do any of the stuff those guys can handle, but it’s a little BMX-esque when you ignore the fact that they’re riding track bikes. I guess that’s the appeal though. Anyway, there’s some trick riding and lots of general city riding. Then a lot more general city riding with a few more tricks. We get some bar spins, some wheelies, and then a bit more city riding. Fixed gear bikes look smooth as hell when they’re ridden well, but there’s only so much you want to watch. The whole thing should have been cut down to 20 minutes of solid footage, rather than the pad-out it seems to have received.
Anyway, much respect to the guys involved for nailing some crazy fixed gear tricks and putting together the film. The packaging is brilliant, with the DVD being stuck inside the cover of a little book, filled with photos and ridiculous bike riding prose. I dig it. The subtle printing of skid tracks on the front cover is really nice too.
If you’re keen to see the film I’d recommend buying it rather than ripping it off. The book’s worth seeing, and you may as well support the guys who’ve put a heap of effort into creating something for you to enjoy.
If you’d rather not pay for it, just go watch some of Lucas Brunelle’s stuff, it’s more fun.