VES Round 4: Blores Hill

Blores Hill is rad. I knew this in advance thanks to a sneaky tour a week out with a good mate Craig. The trails are fast and flowy but with plenty of technical sections; a perfect balance. The new descent in particular (not included in the race) is an absolute cracker. To top it off they drain incredibly well and track maintenance is A1. Go #VESMTB and Gippsland MTB!

A photo posted by Chris Burke (@burkesmtb) on Jul 23, 2016 at 2:20am PDT

Slapping on the layers, 'realfeel' of minus 3 according to the BOM

Me and Chris's race strategy was simple this round: keep the tyres inflated and go fast. With that decided I almost missed the start, rolling around chatting with Bret Murray of the Commonaeros; we made it to the start line  with under a minute to go! A bit flustered I picked a terrible position on the outside, missed clipping in again and then nearly got taken out by a guy who decided he wanted the inside line after all...

A video posted by Bicycle pics by Mark 🚵 📷 📹 (@ogaram) on Jul 23, 2016 at 5:21am PDT

After picking my way through the pack and getting some clear track ahead I hit #fullgas and pulled out about a one and a half minute gap on the opening lap. Tagging Chris in with clear track, he put the pedal to the metal and managed to eek out even more time; on his first ever lap of Blores Hill! As Chris came into transition the weather was going from bad to absolutely filthy. I smashed out the fasted lap of the race as wind, rain and hail lashed the field. By this stage we virtually just had to keep it upright which was no mean feat on the rapidly deteriorating track. Riders were coming through transition looking like mud people and the valley section of the track was becoming more like cyclocross than MTB.


Chris charging on the drying track. Note: He's not wearing lower leg-warmers... he's just that muddy!

At around the 5 hour mark Laura and Jess (our amazing wives/pitcrew/dietitians/timekeepers/morale-boosters) pointed out that one of the riders from the OCS team was making a dent in our lead. I pulled out the stops and restored our lead on the following lap, a move which meant we made the final lap cut by 30 seconds. This gave Chris a chance to head out on a victory lap of the rapidly drying track and also put us a lap up on the entire field.
A big thanks needs to go to Ben @benthebiketech and Thad @connectbikefit for their awesome work in getting the new #norcorevolver bikes so dialled. With great equipment and a clean run we were really able to dominate in the testing conditions


Top step again!

Congratulations also to team OCS and the Commonearos for the solid race in some proper winter conditions.

Albury: VES round 3/Evocities Round 2

Amazing trails that need to be paid a bit of respect... evidently.

The third round for us was a combined race with the NSW/ACT evocities series. This meant more depth in the feild and some serious competition with decent prizemoney on offer for the overall places. Chris and I had never ridden Albury but by all we'd heard we expected a fairly technical race!

This was also the maiden voyage for us on the new #NorcoRevolver bikes (full review to come), massive thanks to @benthebiketech. Playing around on the new rigs in the week leading up to the race, we were both blown away by the Norcos. Super light and incredibly supple yet efficient suspension. They still really feel like they can handle tough trails but are much more race ready than the bikes we were on.

After carbing up on local pizza and pasta the night before we were all set for race day. The starting lap had me line up beside the usual Vic suspects (commonaeros and stick insects) as well as some pretty serious factory teams (Merida and Norco). Tobias looked set to have a fight on his hands in the solo category as well, up against Shaun Lewis; fresh off a win against Jason English...

SBS highlights of the race can be found here:

http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/716411971548/evocities-round-2-albury

The first lap went great for me, though I did my usual trick of wasting about 20 pedal strokes before snapping my left foot in... this meant I had to charge hard to get back on the wheels of the Merida/Norco guys before the top of the climb. Charging into the technical Albury descent for the first time with your heart-rate redlining is pretty unnerving; this track is proper mountainbiking. We belted the first lap and unfortunately shocked Chris who was elswhere warming up when we came through transtion. This meant I had to keep on charging against the new riders tagged in with fresh legs. In trying to keep up I took a bit of a weird line up one of the boulders and crashed, loosing a drink bottle and spinning my levers around. I couldn't make the gap back after this and tagged Chris in with a bit of a gap to second place.

Smashing through transition

Chris's luck was out on the day, mirroring my shcocker the previous round. He was delayed coming in after his first lap and minutes later he came running into transistion limping a deflated rear tyre. I think he managed to cut one clean lap without incident the whole day. Two burped tyres and two crashes later we'd lost enough time to the leaders that there was no longer any hope of a win, especially given the brutal pace those guys were sustaining!

I admittedly went into cruise control here a little, saving a fair bit in case we managed to make the final lap and one of the teams had some sort of issue that would mean I could chase them down. Chris's second stack really put that out of the question and we were left in no mans land with no teams behind in reach of us and no one in front  we could reach, Pretty weird way to end a race.
When all was said and done, Chris and I could debrief a little and I realised how much he'd actually hurt himself. In an ideal world he definitely should have had a few stiches, not continued racing!

In the end we were happy to come away with third. The teams in front were super quick and I don't think we could have hung on even given a perfect race. The New bikes were amazing and it feels great to be wearing the kit for Ben given the support he's provided, and the fact that he's a top bloke.

Bring on round four.

Castelli Gabba 2 Review: 

A crazy Norwegian adventurer once said ‘There is no such thing as bad weather, just unsuitable clothing’. As the morning temperatures have plummeted over the last few weeks, with a few dipping below 0 degrees, I found myself desiring some more ‘suitable’ clothing. When in the market for a winter jacket one cannot go far until they encounter the ‘Gabba’. Castelli’s ‘Gabba’ jacket is one of those products that has reached a level of fame that it becomes synonymous with its application. Like you may say pass me a ‘Kleenex’ or put a ‘Band Aid’ on it, there are those, so entrenched in cycling jargon, that they will actually refer to bad weather as ‘Gabba’ weather. 

I decided to take the plunge and buy the Castelli Gabba 2. I picked up a great deal from Wiggle,$171 with an extra $15 off. the ‘Gabba’ jacket is part of Castelli’s ‘Foul weather race protection’ range I. After tossing up between the LS and SS versions I decided the SS was more versatile when paired with Castelli’s Nano-flex arm warmers. This is the configuration that a lot of the pro road teams have been using for a number of years (even some of those not sponsored by Castelli!). 

The finishing on the product is classic Castelli quality. The Gore WindShield material feels firm and strong, almost like a thin wetsuit material. Attention to detail is excellent with a full zip shroud, drainage pockets and special butt flap (more on this later). 

It is an Italian pro race fit, so it runs small. I am 6’6” and 82kg and the XL fits like a glove. It is just long enough in the front and with the but flap at the rear comes down well past my waist. Although I can’t seem to get the butt flap to stay in place, it rides up under the jersey and while it isn't really an issue, it kind of defeats its purpose. It is definitely more comfortable to wear than your traditional flappy, sweaty, rain cape. It feels just like wearing a summer jersey, except you are warm and dry. 

I tested it on my morning commute today. When worn with a thermal base layer, I was toasty and warm in 5-6 degree temperatures. Castelli recommends the jersey for use in 6-16 degrees however with clever layering you could definitely stretch this to the lower end of the spectrum. I am yet to try it in a full deluge however Im sure it wont be long until I get this opportunity. 

Overall it is an incredibly well thought out and versatile jacket. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a jacket that they can wear commuting, racing and social riding in a variety of conditions. 

Against all odds

Chris and I arrived at the Lysterfield hopeful of a good result on the more technical track. I was on starting duties and planned to go out hard as last round I unknowingly let the eventual winners slip away early. Mark @ogarm caught the start on film and you can see my wind-up starting (navy/white capo kit) which put me in front at the end of the first lap with a healthy lead over the field.
start video
Chris took over and managed to hold Tobias (you know who) off for a while but most importantly kept the gap back to the pairs field. Toby was a man on a mission and as it turned out, no-one would touch him all day. I was tagged back in and this is where things began to unravel.
At the top of the Commonwealth games track I blew out the rear tyre. Making a snap decision to roll back to the pits and re-attempt the lap, I swapped shoes and jumped on Chris's bike, losing a bunch of minutes and a bunch of positions. I hauled the gap in over the next lap and handed the bike back to Chris in a reasonable position on track. Chris was in great form all day and smashed out another quick lap, reeling us ever closer to the front-runners.
I took over on my own bike once more and had just caught sight of the Commonaeros at the top of Glen track when the rear blew out again. This time miles from the pits. I proceeded to slip and slide my way all the way down middle track, trying desperately to keep out of the way as the fresh 3 hour field stormed past. Wheel-spinning tyre on rim I dragged my way up the climb to the toilet block and ran to the pits to swap bike once again with an astonished Chris. Thankfully the marshal at the top of the climb recognised me returning, or at least had the sense to lift the barrier for a man fueled on the air of two flat tyres. At the conclusion of this lap we were back to around 8th position and 10 minutes down on the lead.

Chasing hard, breathing hard.

Down to one bike again, Chris and I alternated; switching bottle, garmin and rider on every lap. At this point we'd given up on a win but set ourselves on chasing down the podium places. Digging deep we clawed our way back once again until on the penultimate lap, Chris caught the group and made the last lap cut by literally a few seconds. I'd all but given up on getting to ride another lap and was shocked when Chris came in and the leaders were right there! Needless to say I gave that lap everything I had left, leaving no chance of someone drafting or catching me at the finish. Carving through lapped riders, brushing hips and shoulders on trees I charged home, urging cramping legs on. In the end it was enough and we came home with a 50 second advantage.
Massive thanks to LDTR, VES and bighill events for running the event and a special thanks to our wives Laura and Jess for the encouragement, snacks, pep-talks and time management :)
I think Chris's wife Jess may have a future in team management...

Spent but happy.

Happily the prize pack had a couple of Maxxis tyres in it. Just what we needed!

Trying out the Gopro down Aneurysm at Lysterfield

Had to take it a bit easy so we could stay close (not wanting to get sketchy/run over eachother) and the bar mount is pretty shaky. Still, you get the idea.

Going to try a chest mount chase and see if its more stable next time.

11 minus 1: In honour of John Butler.

So I for one can't be bothered/can't afford upgrading at the rate the marketing pressures suggest. My bike is only a year old and already the drivetrain is 2 generations behind... I'll wait for 13 speed and then upgrade :P

When the Norco was due for a new chain and cassette I found a dirge of wide range 10 speeders available and the price of the few available was ludicrous. As an experiment (I like those) I bought an XT Shimano 11 speed 11-40t cassette and an 11 speed 105 chain. I ditched the 19t cog to get 10 speeds and put an extra couple of cassette washers on the driver. To fix the shift movement I added a 2mm washer under the cable and moved it to the other side of the pinch bolt. I also had to wind the B screw right in.

 The results?
It shifts better than it ever did as a stock 10 speed XT group right across the range. The derailleur movement seems more accurate than before. The 11-40t is perfect for me in terms of spread. I experimented with an 18t road cog to give a 15-18-21 instead of 15-17-21 in the middle but the small shift ramps meant it was horrible to shift across.

Happy days!

Introducing...

So Chris and I (Nick) have been riding bikes since we could walk. This year we thought we'd actually commit to one discipline for a little while and try racing out. To this end we've entered the Victorian Enduro Series as a pair and plan to race the whole season.
The blog is really just an excuse to share our experiences through the season as well as general bike-related garbage along the way.

Strava profiles:
https://www.strava.com/athletes/118109
https://www.strava.com/athletes/513484

This is kind-of where the team started...
(Chris on left, me centre and a mate Dave right)
Chris talked me into racing the Granite Grind last year and after placing 5th in elite behind Jack Lamshed, Ben May, Murray Spink etc. I was pretty excited about the prospect of xc racng!

Up at Mt. Buller on the Epic trail

 2nd place in the first round of the VES

Although we'd both only raced a handful of times we had high hopes for our first race as a team. I drew the short straw for starting duties and sat with the fast solo guys for the first couple of laps to get an idea of pacing (Thanks Toby and Scott!). Unfortunately we let the eventual winning team get away early without realising! In a fairly arbitrary style we decided  to run double laps all day (about 50 min stints) and I for one really liked being able to warm up and crank out a couple of laps and then sit around and hang in the pits. There's definitely some plus's to team racing. You see the race from a whole new perspective; part racer, part spectator. I should also mention that the track was brilliant. Normally I'd stick to the more 'descendy' tracks at the You Yangs but riding the plantation at 28ish km/h average makes for some seriously slidey fun! The jumps section was a hoot every lap as well. On a side-note I'd elected to stick an 11-30 road cassette on for the race and reckon it was a great call.
Our position yo-yo'd a bit through the race as we alternated stints but come final lap I couldn't see any teams ahead and thought we'd won it. Chris had been told we were in 4th so we waited for the final call. 2nd it was and neither of us had expected that!
On reflection we were really happy with the result and what it bodes for the rest of the season. Chris's pace was quick and consistent despite being fresh off a 2 week cruise and I was able to pump out nearly identical mid 24 minute laps all day and threw in a blinder on lap 3, including a KOM on on of the climbs!

We don't mind dallying in most disciplines either

Next installment should be some footage from the local trails and maybe some how-to's... I like to play bike Macgyver :)