Mates Before Dates Tour 06'

So the train has finally come to a halt and has stopped back at home station after a whirlwind week and a half trip away. First stop was to Thredbo for round three of the National Series..hard to believe there is only one left now. Anyway transport was J Healy's almighty Pajero stacked to the hilt with road, DH and XC rigs for the trip and most importantly Cannondale's Jose Hernnandez. The Thredbo experience didnt go so flash for me, crashing stupidly in practice the day before (who woulda though gutter height step ups are that hard?), landing badly on my left wrist that consequently swelled right up. Race day I had a good start but pretty much went backwards until the final two laps where I actually got my hand off it and managed to pass a few people, finishing a disappointing 12th place. Funny game this bike riding. As for the rest of the week away, I think I'll just let the plethora of photos dictate the story...

Must say it was pretty good to leave ole' smokey Vic for a bit...luckily the majority of smoke at home at the moment is only Yokohama...

The Corriyong Flyer.


In keeping with Cannondale team sock height requirements (its in the contract right??) , Norris shows his customised SRAM XO pair...coming soon to a race near you!


Billy Joel took me and Norris fume sucking behind the big rig...managed to hit 80km/h on the mtb..we were stoked


Do what you gotta do...


The brain clearly struggled with the altitude of Thredbo!


"I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle yeah.."


Former XC flyer turned DH'er Dh'er Billy Joel pin'ed it for 6th in Expert...


Norris just give'nr ute style....


Then we moved onto the rigs...

Merry Christmas y'all, hope everyone is havin' a good one....lator, cw.

By Popular Request...

Well I'm no DJ, but by popular demand from comments on the last post, here they are...the famous orange pants owned by none other than the Dali Lama's new favourite son, Winny Green..or should that now be Winny Gandhi??





This shot will either make or break my Xmas present this year...

Comments anyone..!!??

Short Shorts.

Ah what a day....another day on the mtb, still haven't touched the roadie! Hit up a schweet bike path ride down to the beach with Eva and Trev yesterday...even survived going through the brown paper bag capital of Victoria, Doveton...shame i left the camera behind cause there were some classic moments. So friggin smokey up here right now cause of all the bushfires. Think I heard like one fifth of the state is on fire. Damn. Busy packing to hit the road for a week and a bit which should be rad...and always stories to tell upon return...lator, cw.

El Scorcho - State XC #1

Yeoh. 42deg was the word up from the supercoach for today's first round of the Vic State Series at Officer. Damn. I can (and anyone else out there) tell ya that it was brutal, absolutely brutal day for pedaling two wheels in your favourite coloured lycra. So with five of the best to do (was originally six) it was one hell of a day to boot. With added pressure on watch I pinned it off the start line taking young gun Braunsteins along with for a solid gap on the main bunch, until about the middle of the lap when I realised I felt like my body was already at meltdown going that pace and I had to play this one smarter if I was gonna survive another 2hrs of quality oven time. Lap two Brauny came to the front with a little gap as I started to feel a little internal self combustion happenin, but it wasn't till lap three that I managed to get back the lead again after he unfortunately had pedal issues. So with three laps left and never enough water in the bidons by the end of them it was game on to try and hold on for the big W.

Photo Credit: kjc

Man it was a total suffer fest. Pretty interesting to try and race a bike when your brain is melting. Wouldn't recommend it! I kept trying to tell myself to have fun, have fun with the singletrack and not cook the goose cause in those conditions bam, once you hit the wall its all over. With consistent lap times I survived, taking my first State Rnd victory in the end by over four minutes. Radness to the max. I was happy for sure but completely and utterly fried, baked, cooked, smoked, charcoal and whatever other adjective you wanna throw in there that was me. Those who saw me post rolling over the finishline will testify.... and managed to lose 4kg in the process...wouldn't recommend it as a weight loss program tho... So happy dayz and a perfect start to the series and always sweet to get that elusive win on the scoreboard. Major props to added pressure (who now becomes lucky charm) and Lachy for coming out in support at their very first mtb race...hats off to you both and thanks for the cheers out on the course on such a h-core spectating day, much appreciated. The day rounded out with a nice afternoon pool swim and a flick...awesome. So roll on Thredbo eh! Lator, I'm off to drink all the water outta Silvan damn..cw.

Breaking New Ground

Haven't touched the old tamac tweaker all week. Been dirt city. Don't think there ever has been a week of training at home without a spin on the roadie. Could be a good thing. A very good thing. Okay so I did almost cheat with Eva and Trev on a city ride using slicks but hey it was still the dirty bike..or dusty bike right now...and Rob put us on that much singletrack along the anyway..which was pretty fun on 1.75 and 80psi.. So i've been fired up all week for the first state round at Officer this weekend..been too long between drinks since racing at Tassie I reckon..plus this weekend will see added pressure come out to watch in support..better perform or my ass is grass! Oh go check out the Yeti site too cause the 07 line is up has just been put up...just remember to wipe the drool off the keyboard when your done. Green is down tmw which will be mayhem as always. With no water up in the dingo its hydration is done at the local..makes sense to me..anyway its waaaaaaaay past my bedtime and my legs are nicely toasted from walkin some trails tonight...peace out, cw.

Long And The Short Of It.

Rolled over the mountain today to hit the Warbler (Warbie Trail) with Trev. Flat and smooth as the ole' Walberry is I took the ASR cause dammit I like riding that bike more than anything else at the moment...plus I knew if I went via Silvan I could pin some singletrack on the way down the hill.

Came across this sick jump on the way..damn the kids are really scrappin' for materials these days..wonder if mum every really knew what happened to the old Hoover...? Love the 'bail out branch' in the centre there to soften the blow..before you plow into the iron pipe...nice one

Treva sporting the beginings of a very dapper mullet..very good line and length from the young man..hopefully it makes it to some ProTour races next year...obviously has been hanging out with teammate Eki...

Damn, if only I kept my dirty neck warmer..and between D-Macs current rat-tail and Trevs cut it coulda been the 80's revival..or a ripper night in Frankston....cw