Author: Ben

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.

info@bottlesandchains.com

 

After months of fruitless searching for a 56square track frame one landed in my lap Friday night.

Dave Welsh handed me this beautiful ‘Ken Self’ frame at the last track meet. It had been hanging in his garage since he last raced it in 1978. Dave was happy for me to have it, as he was keen to see it being raced again.

So today was spent in Clintons garage cleaning it up. The bottom bracket and headset were stuffed but everything else was a-ok. It came equpped with Campy pista cranks, Sugino Super-Mighty ring, some old school track pedals and a Cinelli seat. Nice eh.

Hoping to have this machine up and running for the second round of track racing after christmas!

ah, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree eh? American Dave had this er, ‘altercation’ @ the oval last night.. (Those McCaigs must really hate geared bikes?)

hmm, anyway on a slightly different bent.. the numbers were slightly down on other weeks at track last night. Dave Elleridge only ran one grade so Clinton and I had to race against Steve Rossendell and that young fast guy on the Avanti and sh#t they are quick! We went ok though, managed to hold our own and pull a few 2nd’s out of the hat!

It’s friday. It’s raining… spewin’! No riding today, well not for me anyway but I bet Dave is out there getting a wet backside! Haha, sucks to be a courier sometimes eh mate! Well I hope the downpour stops in time for track tonight..

Ah, now what rubbish am I gunna talk about today? (Haha, whilst the boys are away in Melbs no-body can edit my posts!)Well I’ve mentioned my opinion on the merits of er, riding plus .05 before..^^^^ so perhaps I should voice my views on riding with tunes? Yeah, why not..

My Old Man reckons that stuffing headphones in ya ears whilst riding is a sure-fire recipe for disaster. You can’t hear the traffic about you and you’re effectivly losing 1 of the 5 (?) senses.. I suppose he has a point, but for me, the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

I often ride with my mp3 player blaring in my ears and I always seem to ride faster and way harder! ..I think my choice of tunes has alot to do with this. Slayer, Suicidal Tendencies, Mindsnare and Mark of Cain are probably my favourite riding tunes (it’s all about matching drum-beats with heart rate.. ) although Slayer can be a tad much.. I’ve hit a pretty solid double that I normally wouldn’t touch whilst cranking ‘Angel of Death’..!

..but then again, I tried to ride up Mount Wellington trails listening to Lee Scratch Perry.. made it way harder than it needed to be.

Hope your having fun riding in Melbs Mischa! Show those mainlanders ‘how we roll’ in Tassie! (insert B’n’C team salute here).

Ben

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDyvbgnbzEA

Well, being the resident er, B’n’C “History Nerd”.. I couldn’t help but post up this link. It’s the earliest known footage of a guy rockin’ flat-land tricks on a fixie and it dates back to 1899!! I’m pretty impressed, especially after seeing a bike of this vintage last week.. I know how clunky and heavy that pushie woulda been!! Respect!

Well, it has been a busy few weeks for the B’n’C team.. The ‘Disciples’ ride weekend, Mount Wellington runs, epic fixed rides, training at Newtown Oval, track racing, bike building, frame hunts, beers, bbq’s and bands! It’s all full steam ahead!!

So a brief overview of a few memorable moments is in order..

Aladdin’s Cave

Mischa and I got wind of a farm shed out in the country jam-packed with old bikes.. We made contact with the owner and got the ok to take a squiz inside and found a treasure-trove of old-school rides! There were bmx’s from the 1980’s, a track bike from about 1910, a fixed Massey-Harris from the 1890’s, about two dozen Malvern Stars with 3-speed hubs and an uber cool Ken Self town bike with sparrow bars dating from approx the mid 1950’s. Must have been 200 odd bikes in this shed.. totally over-awed when I saw it! We’ll be keeping the location a secret, I’m a Surfie by trade so it’ll be like Mischa and my ‘secret spot’! 

Iron Chef Grundalingus

This was one event that came outta of left field.. Last saturday at the Macquarie Mansion, Mat Grundy showed that he has more than one string for his bow, whipping up what was perhaps THE best asian stir-fry I have ever had! He catered to all comers, vegan and meat-lovers and did so in style.  Not only is Grundalingus a bike mechanic of some repute but he is also a quite capable food mechanic. Top work Mat!

 Acoustics in the Park

The Disconnect boys put on a top arvo at the West Hobart SK8 Bowl last weekend. Beers, tunes and a free bbq. The day was an absolute pearler, one of those that make you love being in Hobart. I arrived just as Linc Le Fevre was playing.. He was sitting in the shade under-neath a big tree, cracking out one of his more laid-back numbers, while about 20 or so punters sat around watching.. nice.

We had arounded up another ‘import rider’ for the B’n’C team that morning and recruited him for the festivities. Dutchman Tim Smit had arrived in Hobart the night before and his first Tasmanian experiance was this event. He was pretty stoked as he immediately had secured about a dozen bike riding buddies and had beer being pushed into his hands.. rad way to arrive in a new town eh?

A few of the crew hit the bowl on their skaties. Jib put on a pretty good display, grinding a few lips and turning over the top of ‘thrasher’ corner. No skin was lost.

Track Racing

We’re into our fifth week of track racing now and slowly the B’n’C boys are improving. Clint and I have been getting a few tips from Simon Price, Vanders and Dave about the tricks of track and have even come up with a few er, ‘new’ tricks of our own (read: sprinting flat out from the start.. ie, brawn NOT brain racing! haha!) It’s been pretty fun so far. One friday night we had about 10 or so B’n’C supporters sitting on the grass watching.. The more beers they drank the louder the cheering got and the faster we went!

Hoping to hit a few of the Christmas Carnivals under the B’n’C banner.. maybe Hobart and St Helens? Dunno how we’ll go but it’ll be a good opportunity to learn some more and meet of few of the inter-state crew.

Lesson Learned

..and finally I’ll end with the lesson I learned the hard way.. ‘don’t let Jimmy Black steer the boat’ (it’ll end in tears).

Ben

Well two rounds have been completed and B’n’C has been a presence 2 both meets. Last friday night saw the boys busting out the B’n’C skull logo shirts and a bit of rowdy sideline cheering action.. Ethan (aged 2) put in a particulary good effort with a bit of sign slapping! All of the support spurred myself and Clint on and over-all, for two newcomers to track, I reckon we didn’t do too badly! So after two rounds the B’n’C boys sit in 7th and 17th position.. nice one!

http://www.track.hobartwheelers.com.au/html/overall.html

Elite cycling and performance enhancing drugs are almost synonymous. Rasmussen, Vinokourov, Landis, EPO, Testosterone, Nandrolone.. but what about amateur cycling? Is it tarred with the same drug fuelled brush??

Anecdotally, I’d say yes.

Think back to the first time you attempted a large drop on your Mountain Bike.. had you consumed a few cans first? What about the first mono you ever pulled?? Was it done outside a pub after midnight??? Or think of the circumstances surrounding your first successful skid on a fixie.. did it involve consuming half a dozen pints at Knopwoods on a Friday arvo????

Without performance enhancing drugs many of us would never have progressed past bunny-hopping the curb.