Castlemaine Rocky Riders 6 hour

***Big thanks to Stephen Rowe for shooting the pictorials***


The Castlemaine 6 hour promised, on the back of previous years races, to be a great event. What would make it so good? I guess the feeling of being back at one of the original MTB races, far removed from the pressures and needs of city life. A genuine bonfire, built bigger and better than last year (thanks Marty!) and with promises of even more eyebrow singing heat next year. A 16" 4x track, which we all assisted in building last year, and improved on this year with mattocks, rakehoes and a few beers. Yep, beers, weird huh! The 4x always seems to be a highlight, with nobody really having any advantage over anyone else, yet everyone having a great night. And lets not forget I stick by the mantra of 'it never rains in Castlemaine', so by mid winter I think many people are ready for some sunshine action!


Which leads us to our own weekend which you must be interested in as you are reading the Felt Epix blog after all!


We loaded up the new camper trailer to the back of the truck for a bit of a shakedown, and hell why not? If we have comfort, why not bring it along!? A full compliment of bikes, a complete kitchen and protection from the elements all rolls along in one convienient package, and away we go. At 60kmh. On a freewhy... Memo: Urgent, flux capacity failing, please send turbo at earliest convienience...



We popped in an offer on our new Epix vehicle, we're waiting to hear back from them....



An enduro in deepest darkest winter still draws a great crowd, and with a bar and cafe from Thearte Royal in Castlemaine, we're always well looked after.



Its been a long time since either of us have strapped a number to our bars and it even kinda looks like it here. I actually had to cut a number off my carbon plate, so much have I not dealt with this stuff! But a race like Castlemaine draws us back every time!


Tim Sheedy did an amazing job on the mike again, keeping everyone in stitches all day and night- I don't know how he does it, and even took the first prize in the 16" race doubling with commentary duties!


Ready set bang, and I can actually see the front! Well, more like I saw Jack disappear around the corner and up the road... And you know that smile genuinely lasted the first 2 hours, such was the entertainment value of the course!! There was a lot of beeping and reversing after that point however, but that fine as I was just having fun riding around!


Jason worked his way up into the mix from a good start, passing me one lap and then standing by the road playing with his bike whilst waiting for me to catch up, like a good team mate. He even managed to fix the lack of air problem in his tire in the mean time, but I tell you I was a bit miffed to find him not waiting for me at transition for a rider change. This solo thing, I'm not sure...



From the get-go, I rode my Virtue 1 in full travel mode (130mm), pro pedal off. And what a wicked way to ride! The course didn't really have any sustained climbing (contrary to what my legs tell me), so I didn't really pay that much of a price, but when it turned downhill, oh the fun! Those forks really seem to work through their travel too eh?!


There was a drop in the course (awesome A and B lines!!) that was a good surprise for anyone who didn't do a practice lap!! I think Randall may have gotten a shock, but knowing him, he probably just gapped it and landed 40ft away!




Actually Jason had quite a moment on the top of this as well, but I've run out of time, so I'll attend to this tonight...




***********GPS plot***************


More to come......

Castlemaine and the Rocky Riders gettin it on!

This weekend sees a few events compile into one extravaganza. First Felt Epix finds itself with a number strapped to its bars, as we both head out onto an always great track for the Castlemaine 6 hour. This will be pretty much the first race I've done since hanging up the plates, and one of few that Jason has done, and it takes a special race to draw us back at maximum attack.

The Rocky Riders 6 hour, like I said a few post ago, is a really cool race. For me personally, it takes me back to the fun races that I attended when I started out. They may have always been fun in the interim, but I was trying to win them , so fun was overtaken a little by focus. With the 16 inch racing, the MTB on the big screen, the communal catered BBQ and the always lovingly created course, how could you not want to make it there!! Hell, I just hit my hand with an angle grinder, but I still want to ride it more than get some bandages out! Although my keyboard seems to think otherwise...

If you ask really really nicely on the day, I'm sure that the Rocky Riders can accommodate you for the race, so its no excuse not to ditch your home town and come down to a great event at Castlemaine.

In Epix news, we've got some exciting news too!! Its twofold, with a sensational deal that Ascend is offering the general public. We've been given an amount of cards that have a special code on them that offers the holder 15% off Ascend products purchased through the web! 15% off is a good deal whichever way you turn it, with a huge range of products on offer. In actual fact, we will have plenty of those products in a convenient sample size on offer at the race this coming weekend, as well as plenty of nutritional information on each of them. Secondly, I've been informed just today that Ascend are releasing an electrolyte drink, which we shall be trialling this weekend, which adds to their already extensive range of products. I've no pictures sadly to pretty this up, but there will be the whole 9 yards on Monday morning for you to have a look at.

So to sum up - come to Castlemaine this weekend, try out some new products for free that you wouldn't ordinarily have a look at, and get a great deal on anything that you like there!

Finally, the video I posted this morning - rubbish quality.. So I'll redo it in a higher resolution and get it up for you soonest.

Cheers,

Castlemaine in Motion

As promised, a small video wrapping up the Castlemaine Epix.

Castlemaine Epix

If you'll excuse my tardiness, lets get this going!

Castlemaine Epix came about as a long ago made idea to go and visit some friends in Castlemaine and get them to show us what some real trails are like. We held off on doing the ride until it got quite deep into winter because as we all know, Castlemaine doesn't really do mud, thankfully for us, and thankfully for the preservation of their trails. So early one sunday morning we made the trek northwards.

Joining Jason and myself, was Ben Randall( Yeti Australia), Joel Read (FTF/SRAM/Total Rush) Matt Tait, Nick Lewis, Jason (Castlemaine Cycles), and Kyle. The day dawned pretty bloody early for the Melbourne crew, after a larger night for some of us at a Charity cocktail party, where some may have gotten a little more charitable than others! ;)



The plan was to get a shuttle out to the drop off point, ride awesome singletrack to another meeting point to pick up the shuttlers, and continue more local trail back into Castlemaine. With great thanks, the Rocky Riders club trailer was dragged into service, bikes loaded and thundering off down the highway!


Unloaded and good to roll, the obligatory photo call was conducted, Joel again served to remind us that pink and red will never be complimentary, Ben gives us his best angle apparently, and we're good to go.




(I think I had already started eating... Pity, instead of filling my face I could have remembered the things that I had forgotten, like gloves... and my medication... and my Garmin... And it wasn't even me getting charitable the night before!)



The 6 speed (yep!!?) Rover with club trailer, with Nick giving us some last minute directions, which literally in about 3 minutes we forgot, and took the only wrong turn available to us, and proceeded to find 30 kilometres of singletrack which whilst taking us south instead of north, was some of the best trail we've ever ridden. Maybe he was hiding it from us!? :) It was quite a comedy when we realised 3 hours later that we'd gone the wrong way, having done the old left instead of right trick about 3 minutes after this photo, but nobody cared at all. Even with the bitumen shuttle we had to do to try and correct our error, we could care less as the trail we'd done was that good!!


But back to the story, is it any wonder we kept going the wrong way??




Amusingly, we even took a bit of a bobble on our incorrect route, but that was only so we could go and visit the Cricket bat factory!


Trail trail trail, its what we come out and do these rides for!!




This hole had hidden ditch in it, which if Jason had cut *any* tighter, he would have been swallowed. So I set up for a photo!!



It kinda looks like someones backyard I think, but its very definitely not! It a pretty long way from anywhere, yet is a perfectly formed singletrack!


Snacky snacky time. Joel wraps his laughing gear around the latest from AscendSport and reports back to to positive. In fact there was a lot of positive comments about the bars later in the day, to the effect of 'they really kept me going'. Which is good, as its far easier to criticize than it is to offer praise, especially when you're tired, so Ascend is onto a good thing!



Preeeety... As in preeety good trails maaaaate!!



Whilst the lack of gloves wasn't helped in the cooler climes, I must say the grips performed remarkably well, and remained clean as well which is a bonus. Right up until I dunked it in the dirt trying to follow Randall up a cliff. But the red is looking very nice with the kit and bike, isn't it!



I have no idea what I was trying to achieve here...



Joel gettin 'er done.






And it just wouldn't be an Epix without stairs, walking or adventurous navigation.





Check out these switchbacks! There was 4 switchbacks to get you down to a creek with a bridge missing a few planks, very very cool.



The blowhole was a cliff face that the gold miners of yesteryear blew a hole in to divert the water. It was pretty amazing to think what and how they did this, as its a scary place with all the brittle shale rock around. I certainly didn't feel comfortable knowing how brittle and unstable the rock is, so we hit up some more singletrack instead!




Joel took the opportunity to rid himself of some claret, spilt after a bobble mid conversation with Randall.



Oops... It was very funny to come around the corner, and see Joel killing himself laughing down in the prickles.



And with a bit of a jump, we take you to later in the ride...



The uh, local advice I guess you'd call it, suggested that perhaps a seat post lowering might be in order. Straight away, on those words, Randall clipped in and rocked it. Dropping out of sight, we had no idea what was down there, and neither did he, but he had a crack! Jason blindly followed quick as a flash, and took what looked like the elevator drop from hell. Thankfully it wasn't that bad, and we all smashed it down, but it was damn steep I can tell you!



As usual, pics don't do it justice...


And heading along some more singletrack. You'd never get sick of it, regardless of what the cliches say!


Woo, still more!!

And so ends today's installment as I have to go to work...! There's a bit more to come, and I've even got a video I'll throw together over the next few days, so c'mon back, we'll have something for you!

Thanks for dropping by,

Felt Epix.

Oh and can I suggest that this weekend's JubbaLand 6 hour would be a damn good race to get along to - buffed course, little to no mud (imagine that!! Your drive train would thank you!) and some great extra curricular fun and games on Saturday! Check the website, and come along to my favorite enduro event of years gone by.

Castlemaine - assisting with suntans year round...

Our apologies for not getting the story to you as soon as some but with getting home at 8.30pm, an 8 hour epix and a naturally early morning, its all gotten a bit much! So, the photos are almost ready, we've got a little vid for you this time as well, and whilst we appreciate you stopping by, you'll just have to do so again shortly :)

We did however, have a hell of a lot of fun out there, and a special thanks need to go to Nick from the Castlemaine Rocky Riders and Jake from Castlemaine cycles. 2 big hearted blokes who without their assistance and guidance (which some might content we didn't really follow...) we couldn't have had anywhere near the adventure that we did. So thank you very much from all of us who rode yesterday!

The full story and pictures will be up asap.

Red hot, hot to touch...!

With another Epix rolling around within a matter of hours, and the weather doing nothing to assist our enthusiasm, it was time to slap on some shiny new stuff for that warm and fuzzy feeling. During the week, the new OzRiders coloured grips rolled up, and it would be remiss of us not to give them a proper thrash'n.


With the new colour range of Ozriders grips available, it was time to pimp the virtue before the Epix ride tomorrow.


(*Jason*) My tyre choice for the ride is completely wrong! The fact that they have sealant and it took me a hour to put them on before we went to the Grampians has convinced me not to touch them....



The new and improved cockpit! Might have to watch out for wild bulls..., ole!








'Till tommorrow!

Ascend, listening to the athletes.

That’s right they listen! Once again they are working with their athletes to create products that not only assist you in gaining muscle strength, endurance and recovery, they are designing their products to be consumed while on the go.

We have been testing the muscle bar and recovery bar now for around two months. The recovery bar, A.K.A mint aero bar, firstly tastes brilliant which always helps! Secondly you are able to chew and digest it at the same time as you concentrate on maintaining your training/racing intensity.

The muscle bar is great to consume after a weight or riding session when you are still on the run. I eat it on the way home from my long rides (4-5hrs) to aid recovery and found it to work well.

The muscle pre-mixed drink has also just been handed to us. The taste and texture is alittle stronger than the self mix amount that is recommended, but it beats taking to work or in the car a shaker, milk and a container full of powder that everyone asks, “what’s that you are mixing up?”

The bars and pre-mixed drinks are yet to hit the shelves, but not to far away. When they arrive, we strongly suggest you include them in (your essential tool kit) while free riding, weights training or racing. You will not regret it!!

If you want more info on Ascend click here or please feel free to ask us.

In the past few weeks, we've been graced by some great new products here at Epix, and another one to arrive is the crown race remover from Xpert tools. We've all been in that situation working on a bike, normally an expensive bike, and you need to remove the headset race. Short of getting a chisel, or ruining a screwdriver and the fork crown, you seem to hit a problem every time. Now some of the large tool manufactures make a a specific product (which is excellent) but the the home garage hobbiests, this crown race remover could be just the shot.



With 2 pinch bolts to tighten the collar under the crown race, one simply nips it up nice and snug and then with a hammer and a punch, work your way around the collar and the press fitted crown race will slip right off. Brilliant!

New and blue!

Literally just as I was about to type words to the effect of 'no news to report on the ozriders front', there comes a knock at the door. Lo and behold Mr OzRiders himself appears at my doorstep, fresh from the Full Gas crits (and still clockin chamois time) and brings me a special little sample selection of shiny new grips!



Whilst nothing too drastic in terms of changes to an already successful grip shape, 2 new colours are in the process of being added to the range. A glorious red that seems to be quite reminiscent of a certain manufacturer of drive trains, and a blue that seems to conjure up images of possibly its competitor...! The red is a real standout, and sure to bling up plenty of bikes, and the blue is going to add a dash of colour to just as many bikes.



My pick, go the red! :)



On a serious note however, OzRiders is run by one guy, literally, and out of his own pocket. For us to be able to purchase these products (and another new product due of release in the second week of September!!) everyone needs to make their sentiments known. If you like the OzRiders grips, let us know. Comments here, emails to Ozriders, talking to us, anything... The point is, if there is no feedback on new products, they can't be tailored for your needs and desires!!

Speak up, or forever be stuck with the mundane.



I'll leave it to Jason to relive Fatties ride last night, as I blew to a million billion pieces and didn't really see anything of note, except perhaps Elvis tucked into the trees somewhere. I even got lost on my way back home, on the bike path no less... A couple of servo stops got me home, but I'm sure Jase had a much more enjoyable time of it out there!

Rumour has it that there is some new OzRiders stuff being delivered today...

I wonder if its what I've been waiting for..?!?!

We shall see....

Nightlightning Mountain/Road Lights.

With the lack of ride able day light hours at the moment riding lights are a hot topic throughout most riding groups. This prompted me to take a snap shot while riding home from the regular FTF ride. I was standing around 6-7mtrs away from the trees and had the Nightlightning iblaast on the high setting.


The above photo was uploaded to a photo program and a heat map has been incorporated. This function identifies the hot spots in the picture.

As you can see the beam is more than wide enough to see what’s ahead and the illusive and annoying small hot spot of most light sets on the market has been eliminated. I am planning to go back to the same spot and test the light on low and medium settings.

For further info on the light set check here or contact via email here.