Hellbound And Pedalling
I’ve been listening to a shitload of Austin Lucas and Chuck Ragan lately, and revelling in the banjo pickin’ that’s to be heard on both their records’. I’m pretty sure it was the scene and theme from Deliverance that first made me aware of the pure awesome that the seemingly goofy banjo is capable of. As such, the Rapha video below is a nice mix of bikes and wicked pickin’. Enjoy.
Mathias, WV from RAPHA on Vimeo.
This year’s UCI MTB World Championships are being held in Australia, which is bloody good news if you enjoy watching MTB riding and can afford to travel to Stromlo in September. It’s also good if you’re into mountain biking, because it’ll probably raise the profile of the sport a bit more in Australia, which might even help legitimise it in the eyes of councils, governments and land managers. That hopefully leads to massive trail networks covering hills all across the country and endless days of joyous flowing singletrack and wide muddy grins and lots of happy people on bikes with knobbly tires.
The 2009 MTB WC website is live and kicking and will hopefully have a bit more content soon, including the price of tickets. Can someone arrange to get me a photographer’s pass? Cheers.
Ben N has set up a new blog to document the evolution of the Fern Tree Freeride trails above Hobart. I’m not sure of all the details but I know Ben’s got access to some great land, and there are a few dedicated souls helping out with the building. Looks like there’s a shitload of scope for some amazing trails up through there, so keep your eye on it! I imagine there will be build days of some sort in the future, so you might be able to lend a hand and lift a shovel.
I dunno what’s goin’ on around here, but here’s some more Launnie-related stuff. Basically there’s been a new draft put forward regarding mountain biking in the Trevallyn and Kate Reed Nature Recreation Areas and it’s currently up for feedback. I haven’t had a chance to read it, but you should go over and check it out, especially if you live in the area. It’s an easy way to have some input into the areas you ride, so make the most of it while you can!
Feedback has to be submitted by June 1, so don’t fuck about!
Tim posted about the excellent Ride Journal a couple of weeks back, and now you can download issue 1 for free. It’s got heaps of great little articles about all kinds of riding and it’s really quite inspiring. Lots of great photos as well. Go do it, seriously.
Mick and his Hetchins are off to Europe next Tuesday, he is riding an Audax Permanent called the Tour de France, a 4,800km circuit around France. Being an Audax ride there is a time limit, in fact for this one there is two, you can choose to ride that distance in a maximum of 30 days (minimum 160km per day) or 60 days (min 80kms per day).
Mick is tacking the 60 day option and if you think that is not hard core enough bear in mind that he is in his early 70’s.
There is more – Mick was one of the inaugural Audax UK members, has ridden the PBP twice in the late 70’s early 80’s, was part of a team that established one of the longest permanents in Europe the “Trafalgar to Trafalgar’ Trafalgar Square in London to Cape Trafalgar near Gibraltar. 3,200km with a max time limit of 16 days (minimum 200km per day). And these exploits are just the beginning of the stories he can relate once you get him talking bikes, which isn’t hard.
Tomorrow will be his 300th consecutive day of riding his Hetchins. His Hetchins was built for him in 1979 and is just a classic, original Hetchins are such collectors items they have been counterfeited.
And there is more. He is so keen to keep up his tally of consecutive days riding that on his way to Europe he has a day long lay over in Sydney. He will be rebuilding his bike, putting his box and other luggage in storage for the day and going off for a ride before heading back for his international flight.
“You have made a sound decision to purchase your Davies, Craig Motoring Helmet. Wear it and don’t feel self-conscious. Driving even for the most proficient is dangerous.
Ultimately, motoring helmets will be commonplace, but in the meantime, you will be a leader whilst those who may consider your good sense misplaced, will follow.”
Finally, with the quality Motoring Helmet, we can now begin active advocating of helmet use for motorists. Not only do those poor souls suffer higher levels of pollution inside their cars – compared to cycling next to them – but they also have a higher risk of head injury than safer activities like… um… oh i don’t know… cycling. Just to pick a safe activity off the top of my head. Completely random. Honest.
Selling fast on Ebay.
I’ve added a few new snaps to the gallery, and I found a bunch of photos from a ride that were on there but not made public for some reason.
I’m currently trying to figure out how to let people upload their own photos of their bikes and stuff. Hopefully I can sort it out and we can kick things up a notch.
Reviews! Yeah that’s right, we’re gettin’ all pro on your sorry arses! Mostly.
The reality is, I like getting new shit and talking about it to other people. Most of the time they don’t really care, which is fairly understandable. To counter this, I think I’ll just start writing boring reviews about stuff I get so that when other people are trying to waste time at work they can at least skip over them and decide that work is probably a better choice. See, it’s all about the greater good.
Item #1 for review is a new light I got for mountain biking during the winter months, a NiteFlux Photon Max Extreme. Yeah, go back and read that again because it’s the only way that name could be more hardcore was if it had a few extra Xs and was superimposed over a picture of Vin Diesel. That was half the reason for me buying it, but the other half makes a little more sense. I bought a great little Light and Motion Stella 120N spotlight last year, just as winter was coming to a close. I didn’t get to use it nearly enough, mainly because I’m soft and don’t like going outside when it’s cold and dark. Anyway, it’s a great little unit and the current version is now 200 lumens (rather than 120) and has a Lithium Ion battery, which makes it even better. So yeah, if you want something good value, light weight and fancy looking, get one of those. It works brilliant on a helmet. There, so that’s the Stella reviewed. It is excellent as a helmet mounted spot, but one good light got me craving more and I really wanted a good bar-mounted flood with plenty of grunt. Enter the Photon Max Extreme (from here on in referred to as the PME).
In brief review: Sweet light if you’re on a budget. Light output is good but not as bright as they claim. Battery life is short, but I guess that’s why you pay more for the other lights. The beam is wide, but evenly lit without a small bright spot so it’s great on the bars. It’ll do nicely for this winter.
Right, let’s continue with the product promotion! Jamie over at Skin Grows Back has worded me up that the SGB Bags are actually available already, they’re just not up on the website yet. I’ve got a shitload of details about them here and they are a serious as fuck bag. This is heavy duty, hell or high water, reality is a bitch, tough as nails street gear. Like the following says, this bag ain’t a fashion statement, it’s a piece of equipment. They’re priced at $450, but worth every cent. Think of it like a hiking pack, custom built for a purpose using a lot of clever systems and heavily tested features. You pay for quality, and you get it in bags (ho ho).
Read on for all the details and more photos. If you know you need one, hit up the SGB heads and let them know. Obviously they’re a small operation and there’s a turnaround of about a month. It’s like tattoo: invest good time and money into something that’s going to last the rest of your life. Get serious, do it.