Ay Up.....Update

Andrew from AyUp has picked up a new Race Truck. A landrover defender, that so far has the AyUp logo on the side.....and then more decals coming.

He picked it up in Perth, and is taking his time driving it back to Bris.....
Wonder when Ben and I get the chance to PimP this ride to a race....
At least we won't get lost, not with a bright orange truck...

Local XC Race

While Russ/Ben were racing in VIC, I was up racing my Yeti at the local XC race in Mt Crosby. A slight extension of the course from last time, with an addition of a a rocky singletrack downhill 9instead of a plain fireroad descent) helped keep the amusement levels high.

The legs were a little heavy from the previous day, but as the race went on, the legs started to get better. I tried to maintain a steady pace on the the climbs, and really try to make up time in the tight and twisty.

The end result was a good one, with top spot on the box with my name on it...
I am up for new race wheels, and I got to borrow some ROVAL wheels for the race. Quite light, and the stiffness was surprising. They changed my ARC hardtail into a very responsive weapon..
And with the XC race starting at 8am, and all over by 9ish.....i was home early, cleaned then beast.....and let it play in the backyard.

Bendigo 6 hour

Yeti Australia takes 1st place Male Pairs.


Taking advantage of a Felt Racing flat tyre on lap 2, Russell and I took the lead early in the race and managed to hold off all.
Perfect weather and an awesome course made for great racing. Unfortunately for the Bendigo Club a timing program meltdown meant no progress results and a honesty system had to be used to decide the winners in each category.
Hopefully they can salvage something for those interested in individual lap times.
Congrats to John Claxton and Jess Douglas winning the solo classes.

More photos if i can finds any.

Found on a 303 Forum.....

"the theory is sound but you don't see any yeti riders winning world cups do you? and they are the people who can really tell the difference between the top bikes"

"thats because there team sucks ass. no offense to any of the riders. but they'd rather put there money into the bikes rather then paying steve pete or sam hill to ride for them. if they went and payed them $100,000 to race for them, sure they would have wins. but there team is pretty mediocre. "

"They haven't had many downhill wins on the World Cup level, but Sam Blenkinsop, and Justin Leov are putting in solid results so far this year, including Sam qualifying 1st at the Italy test race, and don't forget about 4X and now BMX with Graves looking at the Olypics while killing it in 4X when he races and Ross Milan posting good results as well, like winning Fontana. "

"The yeti team isnt just about results, they have an amzing team chemistry. Yes they might not be top of the leaderboard but they have some killer riders that will be there soon, Sam Blenkinsop, Justin Leov. These 2 riders are progressing amazingly well. Jared graves, the guy owns the 4x track. Go onto itunes and search for the yeti podcast and you'll see that they are the friendliest most laydback team on the world cup circuit."

Sounds just like us.......

New Retro......

The TOMAC inspired YETI......

Yeti ASR 7

The ASR 7 is a long travel All Mountain bike based on the 575 platform, but with added travel. Key features include:
-7" of travel, 16.9" chain stay
-single sided chain stay, oversized carbon swingarm
-oversized pivot bearings
-12x135 standard rear hub
-custom threaded rear axle
-oversized carbon dogbone (link)
-tapered headtube
-hydroformed top tube-coil or air shock compatible
-ISCG mounts and e-type front derailleur mounts for 3,2 or a single chain ring with guide
-approx 7 and 3/4 pounds



http://reviews.mtbr.com/interbike/yeti-asr-7/

Interbike 2008

Interbike has started, and this was the first thing Ben and I have wanted to see......

The 303R

This is an 8" rear travel DH bike that is similar to the regular 303 DH.

Some of the key features of the 303r:
-just under 11 lbs (frame and shock)
-one linear rail saves weight over the 303 DH, but with the same leverage ratio
-little lower price point
-shorter chain stays
-adjustable geometry with eccentric at the shock mount (changes head tube angle, and bb height)
-super stiff rear end

Could these soon be seen under Ben/Rhino racing for laughs in downhill races in 2009?

The answer is......a solid maybe!

Xtra Small ASR pics

Seen at the 12 hour race but we didn't manage to get a get a photo at the time. The frame is so small the top pivot of the dogbone link has to be above the toptube rather than under.

This is Megan Dimozantos' bike, she's an expat aussie living and racing in New Zealand. She came 2nd in the 12 hour Solo female category.

More New Zealand Stuff......

Mel raced at Taupo too...

She entered the 6 hour event and placed 4th, same number of laps as the winner. Not bad for a spur of the moment decision to compete...

The Super Loo in Taupo

A Mapei Bus, one for the roadies... It was parked at the base of the Gondola in Rotorua.

Bellie reminding me of what position he finished in the 12 hour.

Designer Ug Boots?? Two Hundred Dollar-e-doos!!

Taupo Day Night Thriller 12 Hour

Team Ay UP/Yeti Australia 1st Place 30 Laps

The Ay Up race village... The track is right there at the bottom of the picture. It zig zagged its way through the whole campsite.

Kitted up and ready to go. The laps were short, real short, 20 minutes so Ryan and I decided to do double laps to give us some rest time. The singletrack part of the loop was through a pine forest and had been "Groomed" before the race. My first lap was my sighting lap and the track was indeed well groomed...

My start was average, here's how it went... Roll up to start line, no idea which way we are going, ask the bloke next to me, up that way i think, ok follow the guy in front then, the starter counts down from 10, 9, 8, 6, 5, edge forward look over to my right, 4, everyone has started already, 3, i'm going, 2, 1 GO! Up a gully, avoid the screaming fans and into the campsite zig zaging.

Over my 2 laps i fought my way up the ranks and finally got a clear run for a bit. The timing was taken care of with a transponder on the ankle which meant we had to hand it over at each transition. Easier said than done. Coming in after 2 laps i was pumped with adrenaline and nearly fell over trying to get the velcro thingy off my ankle, damn thing stuck to my sock. Our next transitions got better.

The course was wide, flowing and pretty easy, perfect for beginners and a great course to get people into the sport. During presentations they got all the first timers to raise their hands and there were heaps. Good for them but for us it meant a lot of passing. "passing on ya right', "right", "coming through", "grunt" by the end of a 2 lap stint we needed some quiet time.
Racing was hard, with so many people on the trail and minimal climbing it was big ring all the way. Hammer Time! After 6 hours we were getting a little weary and as yet still didn't have any accurate results from the organisers. We could be in 5th and bellie was apparently in 38th place.... We heard later that the timing tent had some power surges and because of that the results were all over the place. We almost went into cruise mode, lucky we didn't...

After 8 hours of racing we finally has some accurate results and I'd had the first of 3 gels. 1st place and a healthy lead....

Ryan had made the call early on that it would be night time that would seal our race. At lights on we were in first and with our super bright Green and Gold AY UP light blazing we kept our lead with consistant laps. In the dark I found i didn't have to call "passing" as much, the lights were bright enough to make most people move over.

The end of the race was an interesting one too. In New Zealand you must finish before the 12 hours are up. SO, any laps completed after the 10:30pm finish time are not counted. Interesting concept, worked ok for us i think i came in with plenty of time to spare. But if you were trying to push a last quick lap out it could be a wasted effort, one team headed out with less than 20mins to go, no chance mate...

The presentation was the usual affair, but the dark and huge screen behind us didn't help the photos
Who cares about the rugby anyway.......

Yeti at the Olympics.

Grave's BMX apparently wasn't the only YETI at the Olympics.....

Sadly got no specs on the pole!!!!!!

Trails.

Its been hard coming back to QLD and riding the local trails, they all seem like a giant highway compared to the REAL tight and twisty in New Zealand. What hurt even more, as I came back on Tuesday, Ben is only about to jump on a plane now.

Those 3 extra days of riding THOSE trails would have been wicked.

BIG HUGE mad props to Bike Vegas for providing Ben and I some sweet arm warmers, look for these in the dead of the night at the Scott 24.

Random!!!

The Van the morning after the 12 hour......
Rhino with Bellies son Jackson......
Ben wearing the cap that all SOLO riders had to wear.....
Ben and Mel on the chairlift at the rotorua luge place. Much fun indeed.
ben showing his thoughts on the 36" wheel craze......
Outside Zippy's cafe each morning.

Parking our van........
My view of the morning, not much room to walk.....
The whole AyUp tribe gonig for a fantastic singletrack ride through rotorua.....
Yetis in singletrack, and Ben hiding behind a tree.
Ben 'cooking me some eggs'...............quess you have to see Once were Warriors...

Um........no comment.
Home sweet Home......
Team Yeti, in small, medium and large......
Ben and I the day after the the race, with the fresh realisation that we had been given kids hydration packs as first prize......

Done and Won!

Ben and Myself have flown across the pond to NZ, to take out the win the 2/3 Mens 12 hour race!

AyUp Lighting/YETI Australia stood tall on the podium, with the wallabies losing on the big screen behind us!!!

This is really all we have to show, a medal............and Ben and I each got a Kids Hydration Backpak as well.
Ben about to rock the trails......
Ben and I high up in the trails around Rotorua. Just after this photo, we found a rally sweet trail.
Me racing around through the campsite at the race, not sure if the ARC was the best choice for the race, as the ol behind wasn't loving the constant bumps after 6 hours.
We drove around like this, I think when your in another country, you don't need to look out the back mirror.