Um..

that there be high... says i...

A week of nothing

What has been lurking in the shadows for a few weeks finally attacked on sunday arvo. The cold from hell. I've spent most of the week on the couch going slowly mad.


Legs want to turn in circles but the rest of the body would not allow it. Its funny how sometimes you can get so tired that sleeping a whole day sounds awesome. Unfortunately that usually results in being wide awake at 3am. Perfect time for a training session i hear you say.... well.... i guess but thats not my bag man... even if i wasn't full of cold.


It's gotta be one of the worst i've had for a while, sore throat, blocked sinus, continually block nose, headache, aching teeth, lost my voice, coughing fits and general lethargy. Glad to say it seems to be leaving....



It's not all bad though, my new Ay Up lights arrived this week, one turquoise, one cherry red and one hot pink lightset. In narrow, intermediate and medium beams. Heaps of batteries and so many little extras its more like a survival kit than a light set. Check them out. Aussie made and well priced.


So small, thats a 50c piece beside the light....






"Good Things Come to Those Who Wait" is all i can say about the ETA of our Yeti ASR Carbons. Whoever said no news is good news obviously wasn't waiting for a new bike!!



thanks to YetiFan for the pic....



So without any real news I have some more trail pics to look at.



Corners are good, slightly off camber into a flat landing pad then straight out across the hill.... drift in, keep your speed, pedal hard cause this is coming up...




Later on things get a little Canadian on you.....

I'll have a go

Thanks to Bellie for the pic

If a tree falls on your trail.....

well, not quite on it but so close...

Out to some new trails today, unfinished but with plenty of potential. The recent rain has dampened things down a little but its all still bone dry underneath. Makes for fun times.

There's an SPD under there somewhere...


Its steep out there, rocky too.... Perfect for a 575

Style

There is only one way to look good in a pair of aviators....with YETI merch!!

Ben and Myself should be teaming up for a couple of events in July, I will keep the legs going after the worlds, so we can have some fun in both Vic and Qld. I will travel down to Vic for round 2 of the 'Chase the Sun', and Ben will come north to sunshine, to race the RACE FACE 8 hour at the start of August.

September might see both of us pack some bags, and head over to NZ for a 12 hour race and then come October, its 24-hour racing in Australia. Throw in XC races, Marathon Races, a 'Yeti' training camp for a week and its going to be a busy and fun year.

Sure I am off to France and Italy to go ride some mountains, but it still hurts a little, knowing that Ben will be getting his ASR-c beofre me.

575 Loving....

The 575 might be aimed as an all mountain bike, but its still a super quick XC bike when it needs to be....

The happening

Well, it look like an idea over a beer or three has come to reality. Now its time to make that hard choice, over which YETI bike should arrive first. Its a tough choice. The Yeti ASR-C will be the race bikes for the year, but one Yeti is never enough.

So now, I sit and ponder....a 575 or a ARC. I can see both being needed, but which one first...
So this little Rhino is changing his colors, and going turquoise. The first race outing will happen in July, and then in late July, Ben and I will team up for some 2-man enduros.

Story time will come.

FTF Winter Series Round 1. Chum Creek

With only 39 riders total for the day it was a small field that lined up in A grade. Possibly the reputation Chum Creek has or the Eastlink Ride snorefest kept people away but this made for a great days racing. Minimal people on course made passing and the "straight up mate" climb a lot easier.

This was my first XC race in the Yeti Jersey and I'd brought the 575 along for a laugh.

An uphill start through a grassy paddock and we were away. As usual I was slow to get rolling and hit the first climb in 7th. As we zig zagged our way up I could see the Trio of Joel "Big Dog" Read, Rohin "Aussie" Adams and Scott "I would have but my back wheel fell out" Liston stretching their lead away from me.

Thanks to a small lie down by Andrew Choma I moved up a position and in usual style decended onto the back of the next group of 2.

Passing Jason Jackson and Matthew Molan up the only fire road climb I moved into 4th and thats where I stayed.



I did manage to catch Rohin and Scott by the last lap, with some noisy encouragement from Ross Sanelli I was on their wheels at the last single track turn, only a wide left hander onto the grass and a crappy grassy climb to the finish. Apparently Joel Read had been Big Ringing this section all race but for me it was all over when we rolled onto the grass.


Rohin Second, 2 seconds later, Scott 3rd, 2 seconds later, Ben.... Not bad for riding a 6inch travel trail bike with 2.35 tyres......I had the lockout on all day. Ha Ha Ha


The bike was awesome, its been a while since i raced XC on it and can't wait for the ASR Carbon.


Big thanks to the Fatties crew for putting on the race for minimal people, No thanks to Joel for smashing us all and leaving the 2 trees in that i hit my bars on every lap. Cheers Champ.





No Photos unfortunatelty, saw a few cameras but haven't found any pics. All i got is one of the 575 on a "secret trail"..... one day it'll be ready...

Chase The Sun Round 2

I teamed up with Russell for 6 hours of furious racing around the Lysterfield Mtb park. With a quick application of "Carbon Look" gaffer, white electrical tape and a Black texta my old hardtail was converted into a Yeti for the race.

The course was pretty much single track out, fire road across, singletrack back. The downs were fast, the ups were fast. The fire road was long and hard. There was nowhere to rest.

It was a cold start, actually the sun didn't show till after midday making a nice finish to the race.

I was on first lap dutys (thanks Russ) and managed to get onto the lead group in the singletrack. Onto the fireroad and it was time trial ahoy.... I stayed with the Felt, Giant, Torq and All Round Champ AJ up till the last section of fire road then the change to an uphill gradient got me and i fell off the back.

Coming through the finish to hand over to Russell we were only a minute or so down, time to settle in and play the catchup game with consistent lap times.

I managed to catch Jack of Felt 1 on the fire road and passed him in the next section of singletrack bringing us into 3rd. Russell kept Scott Liston at bay on his next lap and I put a gap on Jack that they couldn't bridge.

Props to John Claxton for doing 3.5hours straight and keeping 2nd place in pro pairs. We tried but couldn't catch. And to AJ who was riding solo but for at least 4 hours was 3rd in pro pairs.

Results and Photos can be found on the Full Gas Promotions site