Sorry about the lack of content for our regular readers of late, our bad...

But we're back now! And we've got some stories to tell too. After Jason's hilarious night on Wednesday, (at least we all thought so, and he was laughing a little bit) I rolled out for some more madness at Tour De Burbs with Randall. There I was able to find something refreshing and missing of late, a bit of bunch discipline, with people prepared to loudly and firmly suggest appropriate road behavior to other riders in the bunch. The only way that bunch rides will be able to stay under the radar will be if the bunches self discipline, in my opinion. But I digress...

Saturday dawned in the 4am time slot, and Jason and I headed down to the Great Ocean and Otway classic cycling event to assist Ascend with their sponsorship of the event. With 3500-4000 (!) participants at the event, one could say it was HUGE!! Ascend had a great presence at the event and was a smash hit with their Recovery and Muscle bars, and the Recovery drink was the main attraction!






Whilst my ride was limited as I had to get back to Melbourne for an auction, Jason and John Claxton had an awesome day along the great ocean road. I believe there are some great photos to follow, and I'll leave the rest of the story up to him!


What I will show you before I leave is Clay Porter's new flick - What I was going to do was embed the trailer, but I found a behind the scenes cut, so watch that, then go find the movie 'The Tipping Point' around somewhere, or at your LBS...

The true test of man and machine!

Wednesday night I ventured out with Mr T on his new Virtue Team to head down and join the FTF crew for another eventful ride. As some know this ride/slugfest is a great way to test your fitness and equipment. With that in mind I figured it was time to do some testing of my own.

26/03/09

5.25pm, Test 1- Local knowledge: Can you ride one of my local descents that is rutted out at twice the speed that I would normally ride into it?

Answer: Nooo, the outcome is you fall off at the bottom and land in a tree that hangs over the Mullum Creek.

7.40pm, Test 2- Tire pressure: Can I get away with 30psi in the rear tyre and bomb a rocky descent at warp speed without pinch flatting?

Answer: Noo, I can only make it half way.

8.20pm, Test 3, Choosing new lines: While following the contour of the single track can I turn left and create a new line even though the track is heading right?

Answer: Hmmm, No. If the track is heading right and the river is on my left I think not.

8.25pm, Test 4, Will my bike float and will I find it in the water?

Answer: YES. As long as I crash my brains out and fling it into the river at 30km/h. Finding the bike was easy, just make sure my rear flashing light is on and there is no problems.

Don't mind the water coming from my bike, it will stop soon.

Big thanks must go to all of the FTF riders that helped made this test possible.

I think there is going to be some funny photos around the interweb from Fatties ride this week...

Someone was very lucky not to have a swim... Can't say the same for their bike though.

F1C hits Ebay - also Easton EC90 SLX forks for sale

As promised - the F1 C has hit Ebay.

Also listed is a set of Easton EC90 SLX forks... At something in the order of 350g, they are some pretty tidy bits of kit! So check them out with this link

Just a few extra pictures taken on the Wednesday Night FTF ride last week. Tell me where you can go and ride with guys at this level week in week out. The bunch is always happy to take on new riders and show them the local trails.
Also don’t forget about the FTF winter series coming soon.


Nice and early Saturday morning we all met up at Rohin’s pad in Richmond to head out for some much needed soul searching as most of us have been feeding out of the good paddock that little bit too long.

The loop worked a treat! It’s always cool when you get a large group of your riding buddies together and head out in search of some fitness. It didn’t take long before Andrew Bell took the rains and showed us all what he has planned for his next race in NZ. After around 3hrs we all splintered off in our own direction heads pointing to the ground thinking thank f**& that’s over!

Just what the doctor (Rohin in blue) ordered…

Ash and I are heading down to the 2XU Great Ocean & Otway Classic Ride 2009 this weekend. Ascend are one of the sponsors looking after the event to release their new protein drink. If you have never ridden in the area this may be a great opportunity to head down and soak up the scenery with your mates and enjoy the Great Ocean Road.

Check here for all the details.

As a quick courtesy note, the F1C is destined for Ebay on sunday.

Whilst in the past, we've tried to keep sales within a reasonably tight group (ie readers of this blog etc) to make sure we reward people with some great prices, but I need to get this bike sold to pay for the next one.

So if you are interested, this is your last chance before it goes out there to the world. Ebay will also attract a premium price wise.

Last chance.

Thanks,

Flat Bikkie!

Singlespeed night for us at the Fatties ride, and it wasn't a slow one. Seemingly with the sunshine, bought with it a lot of riders out of the woodwork, myself included. Even the leggy Paul Van showed up, albeit looking like the tassie devil after a busy day.




First proper ride in anger with the Nightlightning for 2009, and they are killing it! So simple, secure and bright, they were just the thing to keep pace with the rest of the crew. And lucky too, as towards the end of the ride the Tassie Devil started to bonk, then blew apart a link in the chain of the bike he was on. Without tools, nor food to fix the body, it was default mode to get home with Bellie and I, and some donations to get the bike going.










Still, that's about the only photos I have to offer as I know I spent the night absolutly flat biscuit chasing guys like AJ, Randall, MattyL, Rohin, Braunstiens, and a cast of many others through the bush on a lazy Wednesday night, and rolling back in the house at 9.45, gave me a bit over 4 hours on the rivet. Gold!

And whilst the transition from normal life to bike life never seems to go smoothly, the mix of frantic preparation, food inhalation, caffination and departure after a day at work now has a new recipe of Ascend bars and coffee that really gets it going! Aonther bar in the pocket and I'm good to go! Those bars rule! 4 hours flat out on an overgeared SS, with just 2 bars and I made it! Get on them! :) And to remind you if you do want to purchase some of the Ascend product, be sure to contact us for the discount code to save yourself some money, allowing you to buy more!

And who has Jim Hsu's travel blog they can link for me??

Topsy Turvy world

With a new bike on the way, and the old deal up in the air, it would just be typical that I get a text at 6.30am to say that "wife lost job, deal off'..

So looks like the road bike is back on the market...

*sigh*

Its never smooth sailing now is it...

Have a good day! :)

Every time we get to take our Compulsions out, it seems like a great ride. Saturday was no exception. Whilst the day proceeded to crap out, we all got out early to get 'er done. Out to Lysterfield for a dawn start with Randall, Big Mak, Sam, Joel and Jason and we were having fun from the moment we hit the trails.





Chasing up the climbs really wasn't even a chore, with our bikes just doing what they do. That equilink sitting just behind the seatpost really does mean that these bikes can be ridden anywhere, and if we can take nearly 6" travel trail bikes and keep XC riders in sight on the climbs, we're givin' them all sorts of hell on the way down!




Cam drew the short straw on a hardtail singlespeed today, and did awesome! The boys gave him no quarter around the park and he was up for it all and more. Although we did take a little bit of joy when he was heard asking anything/anyone for a derailleur...







Dawn patrol, although there were some 24 racers I know of that were doing it a whole lot tougher out there, at 4am...



And to wrap the day up, we went and played in the boulders!




Randall making some new lines...

And lucky for these two souls, they beat the worst of the rain! Damn that looks scary and dark though!

Could it be?

I looks like my F1C may have been sold, although I'm yet to see the cash in hand.

If thats the case, look out for a new bike, the AR2!!


Here's the good oil on it!

And speaking of good oil and bad segue's, we're still in the testing phase of the new Squirtz dry chain lube. And its looking the goods. I've gone through the proper testing (as per the instructions) and now its time to misuse it. To see what happens when its used in the real world! Too much, too little, mud (!?) dust and general neglect are all things that need to tested when you get a new product, to see if its going to hold up! We've been using the Squirtz lube for months now, and its doing really well. A bit of rain will be the test! We'll let you know!

This is a response to a question posed in the comments section in regards to Night Lightning lights.

"Hi guys,

Tried to find an email address but this seems like the best place to get in contact. I have a weird question. I noticed that one of the riders in these posts wears a Bell Sweep helmet. And I know that you are sponsored by Nightlightning. I have recently purchased a Bell Sweep to replace my old MET Annaxagore 2.

My question is, I'm struggling to work out how to best attach the Nightlightning to the Bell. It doesn't have a "nice" setup like the MET. Do you guys have any tips on how to get it mounted on a Bell?"


G'day Fabian,

After at least 4 years, and possibly more, this is the solution that I use to keep the lights on my helmet. That velcro that is used, (available at Bunnings I've since discovered) is just amazing. Get it in contact and it just sticks so well. Make sure the helmet is clean before you stick it on, and then this position allows my lights to shine perfectly where I need them to go.

Hope this helps,

Ash,

Unforgiving!

Of late all of my riding has been trail blazing around my local area on the latest Epix toy the Compulsion. But after heading out last Thursday on the roadie I soon realised that base fitness has a time limit and mine expired long ago.

So too the hills I head! If you are a mad hill hunter and enjoy your tongue dragging in your front wheel I would strongly suggest you look out for these signs. Don’t go looking for intensity on this loop, it WILL find you!

All riders that have ridden Warrandyte-Research road will know this pic is no optical illusion.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink…?

Back into the Dandenongs on Saturday morning, bright and early. Well, not as early as some would have liked, but a nice happy time :) Making the trip out was Bellie, Ben, Matt and Jason, and myself (bloggers ride?). Kicking off from the 'pony club', we headed up into the hills with the intention of crossing over the top and checking out trails on the other side of the hill.











The Compulsions passed with more than flying colours. They absolutly killed the downhills, beyond all expectations, and uphill they were excellent. Whilst they are no lightweught crosscountry bikes, they have uch amazing efficiency when the road points uphill that we have no qualms about following people anywhere at all.





Some decent climbing took place to wake everyone up, I seem to remember 500vert in 7 k's or something like that. Whatever it happened to be, for a social fun ride, there was some stem chewing going on out the back. The bite marks should buff out....

(sweet house eh?!)

Once over the top, we bumped into one of many road bunches criss-crossing the hill, with this one containing mountain biker Tim McColl. Rolling down to Olinda saw knobbies mixing with skinny tires, and some good giggles.





In the middle of the ride, it all gets a bit selectivly hazy. All I can remember is having my arms 'stinging' towards the end of whatever it was we were doing, and having a huge grin on our dials. ;) There are some trails that are just too much fun up there in the hills! And big travel bikes with oversize front axles just make it sooo much damn fun!!!




Heading back over the hill towards home.


So in all, one flat from some more errant rim tape, Ascend bars being chomped all over the place, plenty of climbing, and some awesome singletrack! Good times with good company, and I can't wait to get back out there!

And we couldn't resist leaving you without a picture of Randall who managed to lay it over, on a fire road within sight of the cars. His comment after the crash was something along the lines of 'I looked back as I flew through the air and noticed that my bike was a fair way behind me...'


I dunno, maybe you just had to be there, but it defied belief...