Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Thursday, 20 August 2015
Interesting Travel Day
TRAVEL DAY
5:50am - Bus Shuttle from Whistler Vancouver
3 Hour Shuttle
7 Hour Wait at airport for flight because I mixed up am and pm.
1.5 Hour Flight Delay
5.5 Hour Flight to JFK, new York ( Slept for 1 Hour )
Train to Baggage Storage
7 Hours before next flight which left at 6pm
1 Hour Train to New York City
Met Jay (A rad guy I met on Spinlister.com to borrow his road bike)
Rode down Central Park top to bottom, Times Square to Soho where I tracked down John Bleeker's Pizzaria, (Best Pizza in NYC Award)
Funny menu, don't get me wrong it was big and tasty but it cost me $34+$3TipUSD ($50AUD)
Rode straight back through mid town via Trader Joes to buy some beloved #CookieButter to get on the first train at 1.45pm, exactly as planned.
BUT THEN The trains got delayed!
Got to luggage storage, and after having to get cash out since it was cash only I had my bags and it was 3.30pm!
Caught train to my terminal
1 Hour till my flight
I Got through American Airlines Chaos check in (People crying every where with exploding bags)
I had a really nice check in lady that said that both my bike and bag were 2kg's over each. So I took a jumper out and put it in my other bag :/
Then due to a miss communication, I got the labels off another lady and through my bags went though after I grabbed another handfull of clothes out the check in bag. At this point it my flight was boarding.
Got the express line through customs, still had to do the whole shoes off, stand in the tube, bend over and cough.
Oh great my bag is getting searched.
They pull out the 2 jars of unopened cookie butter that I forgot about.
"Fine Bin it my flight was boarding 5 minuets ago"
Re-packed my bag with my laptop (At this point I still hadn't had my my post NYC Commute Protein!)
Ran as hard as I could looking like a dude with a bomb.
Just got on the plane, sweating everywhere
Still in my cycling jersey and nix just to grow mushrooms for the fun of it. (Yes I was wearing baggies over the top)
Plane turns off
Get Delayed for 3 hours
So everyone got off the plane.
13 Hour Flight (Didn't Sleep)
landed at 9am
6 Hours catching 2 Trains to Finale Ligure (Slept a little)
Got all my shit out to the street
Picked up by my AirBnB host
I was hungry, So I had to build up my bike to ride down the mountain to buy a Calzone Pizza and buy some groceries from the SPAR - All I found was Nutella, Biscotti and eggs :/
Rode back up the hill
Got to bed at 9pm
5:50am - Bus Shuttle from Whistler Vancouver
3 Hour Shuttle
7 Hour Wait at airport for flight because I mixed up am and pm.
1.5 Hour Flight Delay
5.5 Hour Flight to JFK, new York ( Slept for 1 Hour )
Train to Baggage Storage
7 Hours before next flight which left at 6pm
1 Hour Train to New York City
Met Jay (A rad guy I met on Spinlister.com to borrow his road bike)
Rode down Central Park top to bottom, Times Square to Soho where I tracked down John Bleeker's Pizzaria, (Best Pizza in NYC Award)
Funny menu, don't get me wrong it was big and tasty but it cost me $34+$3TipUSD ($50AUD)
Rode straight back through mid town via Trader Joes to buy some beloved #CookieButter to get on the first train at 1.45pm, exactly as planned.
BUT THEN The trains got delayed!
Got to luggage storage, and after having to get cash out since it was cash only I had my bags and it was 3.30pm!
Caught train to my terminal
1 Hour till my flight
I Got through American Airlines Chaos check in (People crying every where with exploding bags)
I had a really nice check in lady that said that both my bike and bag were 2kg's over each. So I took a jumper out and put it in my other bag :/
Then due to a miss communication, I got the labels off another lady and through my bags went though after I grabbed another handfull of clothes out the check in bag. At this point it my flight was boarding.
Got the express line through customs, still had to do the whole shoes off, stand in the tube, bend over and cough.
Oh great my bag is getting searched.
They pull out the 2 jars of unopened cookie butter that I forgot about.
"Fine Bin it my flight was boarding 5 minuets ago"
Re-packed my bag with my laptop (At this point I still hadn't had my my post NYC Commute Protein!)
Ran as hard as I could looking like a dude with a bomb.
Just got on the plane, sweating everywhere
Still in my cycling jersey and nix just to grow mushrooms for the fun of it. (Yes I was wearing baggies over the top)
Plane turns off
Get Delayed for 3 hours
So everyone got off the plane.
13 Hour Flight (Didn't Sleep)
landed at 9am
6 Hours catching 2 Trains to Finale Ligure (Slept a little)
Got all my shit out to the street
Picked up by my AirBnB host
I was hungry, So I had to build up my bike to ride down the mountain to buy a Calzone Pizza and buy some groceries from the SPAR - All I found was Nutella, Biscotti and eggs :/
Rode back up the hill
Got to bed at 9pm
Tuesday, 11 August 2015
2015 Crankworx Whistler, Enduro World Series
I made it to Whistler - Life goal Done
Riding in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park was a dream come true, I noticed so many iconic sections of trail that I instantly remembered from the old MTB Movies. When I was 8 getting a sore neck staring up at the TV in the Bike shop watching New World Disorder, I never would have thought I would be riding the same roots and rocks as those dudes let alone see them in person walking around the village.
2 days out from race I unfortunately tried Manuel to bunny hope, a rope, looped out and fell from my shoulder height onto the ground whinded my self for 5 minuets, sounding like this...
I rode with my sore wrist wanting to throw up. Food, Shower, Bed.
Day before the race I got out to practise stage 1 'hey bud'. My wrist was terrible, I climbed for 1 hour to do one 8minuet run, but I just wanted to get off the track after the first couple of corners it hurt that much.
Stage 1 - 99th
2 corners in I was really surprised my wrist was not too bad, I didn't have to ride to the limit of my wrist because I was riding to the limit of the wet roots. I decided to ride the stage as if it was Stage 1 at Rotorua where slower is faster. Stoked to not crash.
Stage 2 - 81st
Top of The World, Whistler. Long stage. Start next to snow and finish in a hot forrest. I only had a couple of fumbles, slipped on some roots and put my sore wrist down and got a shooting pain, got down and noticed my knuckles were swollen. But happy to put down a 15min run with only minor fumbles.
Stage 3 - 59th
My best stage. Fast open section with switchbacks into tight wet rooty single track like stage 1.
Stage 4 - 81st
I had a great run with out any mistakes.
Stage 5 - 71st
The Race within the Race. This stage started at the Top of the mountain and followed all the downhill tracks into the village. I had a Pinned run but as went to turn into the track we practised over and over for that stage, but the race went a different route. I got my bike and myself caught up in the bunting and easily lost over 15 seconds getting untangled. I got going again, Lindsay then passed me, I followed him all the way down one of the tracks, he then lost his chain! So I got back on the gas and had a smooth run all the way to the bottom have my second best stage.
Overall 79th Place - Looking back at results, I was pretty disappointed, but stoked that I was even able to ride the whole day on a my sore wrist.
The next day I went to the hospital, the doctor, said he defiantly looks like something is broken from the 'Distortion' (Purple and Swollen) He sent me off for an X-Ray, and the doctor said its fine! No Fractures! He was still puzzled as to why it looked so bad. Time to Heal.
NEXT! 1 Week of Whistler Crankworx, Then onto Finale Ligure, Italy!
Thanks to this Crew for a mad 3 weeks
Riding in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park was a dream come true, I noticed so many iconic sections of trail that I instantly remembered from the old MTB Movies. When I was 8 getting a sore neck staring up at the TV in the Bike shop watching New World Disorder, I never would have thought I would be riding the same roots and rocks as those dudes let alone see them in person walking around the village.
2 days out from race I unfortunately tried Manuel to bunny hope, a rope, looped out and fell from my shoulder height onto the ground whinded my self for 5 minuets, sounding like this...
Day before the race I got out to practise stage 1 'hey bud'. My wrist was terrible, I climbed for 1 hour to do one 8minuet run, but I just wanted to get off the track after the first couple of corners it hurt that much.
Stage 1 - 99th
2 corners in I was really surprised my wrist was not too bad, I didn't have to ride to the limit of my wrist because I was riding to the limit of the wet roots. I decided to ride the stage as if it was Stage 1 at Rotorua where slower is faster. Stoked to not crash.
Stage 2 - 81st
Top of The World, Whistler. Long stage. Start next to snow and finish in a hot forrest. I only had a couple of fumbles, slipped on some roots and put my sore wrist down and got a shooting pain, got down and noticed my knuckles were swollen. But happy to put down a 15min run with only minor fumbles.Stage 3 - 59th
My best stage. Fast open section with switchbacks into tight wet rooty single track like stage 1.
Stage 4 - 81st
I had a great run with out any mistakes.
Stage 5 - 71st
The Race within the Race. This stage started at the Top of the mountain and followed all the downhill tracks into the village. I had a Pinned run but as went to turn into the track we practised over and over for that stage, but the race went a different route. I got my bike and myself caught up in the bunting and easily lost over 15 seconds getting untangled. I got going again, Lindsay then passed me, I followed him all the way down one of the tracks, he then lost his chain! So I got back on the gas and had a smooth run all the way to the bottom have my second best stage.
Overall 79th Place - Looking back at results, I was pretty disappointed, but stoked that I was even able to ride the whole day on a my sore wrist.
The next day I went to the hospital, the doctor, said he defiantly looks like something is broken from the 'Distortion' (Purple and Swollen) He sent me off for an X-Ray, and the doctor said its fine! No Fractures! He was still puzzled as to why it looked so bad. Time to Heal.
NEXT! 1 Week of Whistler Crankworx, Then onto Finale Ligure, Italy!
Thanks to this Crew for a mad 3 weeks
THANK YOU SPONSORS
23degrees-sports.com
Alpinestars.com
Trekbikes.com
Funnmtb.com
ZlevyCarbon.com
Maxxis.com
SRAM Australia
KenmoreCycles.com
Cyclinic.com
TorqAustralia.com
ForbesMTBCourses.com
ForbesMTBCourses.com
Saturday, 1 August 2015
EWS Crested Butte - Race Day 1 - 43rd place
Hardest day iv had on a bike, and its only been day 1 of 3.
Bus Shuttle left at 9pm
First Liaison 10:37am
Stage 1 Start Time 11:37am
Stage 2 Start Time 3:02pm
Stage 1 - 38th
It went well, felt controlled but a bit loose at times, especially around the rocks where I heard a lot of 'Dings'. In the last couple of minuets of the stage I had caught up to Timmy who couldn't hear me yelling due to us wearing full faces and going 30kph down the granite sandy track. He eventually saw me on a switchback and let me pass. I was very happy with the run, alot to take in for a 15 minuet stage.
Liaison 1
We were given 3 hours to get to the next stage, we didn't less around and but still only had 10min to spare. It started with a 1 hour fire road climb then up a downhill track that looked better than stage 2!. The downhill track took 1h50min to climb up which was mostly pushing our bikes. This made for the hardest day on the bike i'v had! Wanting to absolutely die up the top, I sat down for 5min then go the legs spinning ready for stage 2. (omg I want to sleep just writing this)
Stage 2 - 52th
Fun, funny, leg burning, annoying but successful. It was roughly split into a 3 tracks, 1 fast rock, rooty track into a flat rooty xc track that had a climb where I caught up to the 2 riders in front of me which happen to be Timmy and Lindsay who had just crashed, as we were trying to run up the climb I passed Timmy and followed Lindsay's dust for a 45 seconds then he crashed again and I was able to open up and ski down the 3rd part of the stage which was a 2 minuet rocky shoot finishing into a creek!
5 hours of riding, 50K, 1711m Elevation later.. We got shuttled back to the event village. After an hour or so of dyeing on the grass we drove to our accommodation, ate some corn chips and Lindsay and I headed to the bike park to practise 2 stages that are on Day 3 of racing.
Finally got to sit down at 6:50pm to check results and write this blog post while it was fresh in my memory (The only thing that is fresh right now)
THANK YOU SPONSORS
 |
| VitalMTB.com |
First Liaison 10:37am
Stage 1 Start Time 11:37am
Stage 2 Start Time 3:02pm
Stage 1 - 38th
It went well, felt controlled but a bit loose at times, especially around the rocks where I heard a lot of 'Dings'. In the last couple of minuets of the stage I had caught up to Timmy who couldn't hear me yelling due to us wearing full faces and going 30kph down the granite sandy track. He eventually saw me on a switchback and let me pass. I was very happy with the run, alot to take in for a 15 minuet stage.
Liaison 1
We were given 3 hours to get to the next stage, we didn't less around and but still only had 10min to spare. It started with a 1 hour fire road climb then up a downhill track that looked better than stage 2!. The downhill track took 1h50min to climb up which was mostly pushing our bikes. This made for the hardest day on the bike i'v had! Wanting to absolutely die up the top, I sat down for 5min then go the legs spinning ready for stage 2. (omg I want to sleep just writing this)
Stage 2 - 52th
Fun, funny, leg burning, annoying but successful. It was roughly split into a 3 tracks, 1 fast rock, rooty track into a flat rooty xc track that had a climb where I caught up to the 2 riders in front of me which happen to be Timmy and Lindsay who had just crashed, as we were trying to run up the climb I passed Timmy and followed Lindsay's dust for a 45 seconds then he crashed again and I was able to open up and ski down the 3rd part of the stage which was a 2 minuet rocky shoot finishing into a creek!
5 hours of riding, 50K, 1711m Elevation later.. We got shuttled back to the event village. After an hour or so of dyeing on the grass we drove to our accommodation, ate some corn chips and Lindsay and I headed to the bike park to practise 2 stages that are on Day 3 of racing.
Finally got to sit down at 6:50pm to check results and write this blog post while it was fresh in my memory (The only thing that is fresh right now)
 |
| Issac and Timmy - Practise - Finish of stage 2 |
23degrees-sports.com
Alpinestars.com
Trekbikes.com
Funnmtb.com
ZlevyCarbon.com
Maxxis.com
SRAM Australia
KenmoreCycles.com
Cyclinic.com
TorqAustralia.com
Friday, 31 July 2015
Enduro World Series - Crested Butte, Colorado PREP
RACE SCHEDUAL
Enduro World Series - Crested Butte, Colorado, USA - 3 Day Race - 31st/7 - 2nd/8
Enduro World Series - Whistler, Vancouver, Canada - 1 Day Race - 9th/8
Crankworx Whistler FOXAir DH - 1 Day Race - 11th/8
Crankworx Whistler Garbanzo - 1 Day Race - 12th/8
Enduro World Series - Sobrabe, Spain - 2 Day Race - 26th/8 - 27th/8
Enduro World Series - Finale, Italy - 2 Day Race - 3rd/9 - 4th/9
With a 3 months of bike parks and epic mountains ahead of me, the packing for this trip was important. Iv taken basically a second bike in spares all for that 'What If?' that lingers around in my head leading up to this trip. But with only 2 x 23KG checked in bags I had to get priorities right, so I packed the essentials.
I had to say goodbye to my girlfriend of 1year and 10 months, This was tough, as she will be leaving to go on her own adventures to the USA by the time I get back. So goodbye for 5 months <3
It was a long travel day, 13hour Flight to Los-Angeles, Bus to Domestic Terminal, 5hour wait til my 3hour flight to Denver, Train to my baggage!?, Bus to Car hire to meet the lads Lindsay Klein, Timmy McCullough and Issac Denny. We jumped into our BEAST F150 and had a 1h 40min drive to Winter Park, Denver, Colorado.
Found it! #BillyMadison
#PerfectForKids
The riding in Winter Park was amazing (VIDEO BELOW)
The visit to the Yeti Corporation in Golden, Colorado
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| A Woman set a land speed record of 140km/h down a hill in the snow. #78ToothCog #78 |
 |
| Years of history |
 |
| Love land Pass, Colorado |
The Altitude
Mt Buller, VIC, AUS - 5,922ft in village
Winter Park, CO, - 9,100ft in town
Keystone, CO - 9,280ft in town - 12,408ft at summit
Crested Butte, CO - 9,375ft in town - 12,162ft at summit
To put it into perspective, iv always felt the altitude when going to Mt Buller, lungs hurt, short of breath, and when it comes to sprinting a bike, 'tunnel vision' would be my word of choice.
At Winter Park and Keystone! Its all the same except much more, slight tunnel vision can be felt just climbing up a hill, lungs and legs hurt, and the sprint efforts...that was an experience, I felt like a kid from fat camp that had to sprint with his mouth shut.
Crested Butte
The Crested Butte Trails were interesting at first, High speed, Foot wide narrow, and can only see a couple of meters ahead with the outside of the trail being covered by flowers upto your handle bars which you hit non stop, to be honest, not that fun, just epic scenery. But it turned out that all the stages of the race were a 20min drive away from the town of Crested Butte.
The practise days were long. On the Wednesday the course got released at 8am so we decided what we wanted to do and headed off at 9am to practise stage 2 then stage 5 and 8 in the after noon. We got to the liaison that goes upto the stage of stage 2. "Ah yeh should take us take 45min to climb" 1h25min later of walking up steep 'Hiking' trails we got the stage of stage 2. It was a good 15min stage down a long open field down a rut of rocks, then BAM into a 30second climb that we got off and pushed :/ (It was steep! and at altitude) then we had to ride out to where Timmy was waiting with our shutttle (2 hours later). We then found another way up the hill that was a lot easier. We did one more run that was only a 45min Ride/Push to the top. We got home for lunch at 4pm 0_o
We then headed out to the next stage for practise, Issac and I went shuttled so we only got 1 practise run, other guys got 2. By then we got home at 7:45pm and then rode out to stage 8 got to bottom at 8:15pm with a 30min climb to our accommodation, THANKFULLY a polar bear named Shaun was picking up Grubby Graves and his side kick Richie. So we hitched a lift up the mountain via the grocery store.
We got home, starting cooking straight away... finished eating at 10pm
We then headed out to the next stage for practise, Issac and I went shuttled so we only got 1 practise run, other guys got 2. By then we got home at 7:45pm and then rode out to stage 8 got to bottom at 8:15pm with a 30min climb to our accommodation, THANKFULLY a polar bear named Shaun was picking up Grubby Graves and his side kick Richie. So we hitched a lift up the mountain via the grocery store.
We got home, starting cooking straight away... finished eating at 10pm
THANK YOU SPONSORS
23degrees-sports.com
Alpinestars.com
Trekbikes.com
Funnmtb.com
ZlevyCarbon.com
Maxxis.com
SRAM Australia
KenmoreCycles.com
Cyclinic.com
TorqAustralia.com
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