Another week another MTB and Cycling adventure

Hello all you riders out there in computer land - sitting in front of a computer instead of sitting on your bike, how sad this can be! It was another whirlwind week for all parts that are the three co's.

MTB Day Trip
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Haute Route Accommodation
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Facebook Pages for mtnbike & twowheeltours
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MTB Skills Clinics for Ladies 
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MTB Day Trip:
On Saturday 26 Feb we took our first official MTB Day Trip up to Ourimbah and Awaba MTB parks. We all had a great time besides a few minor incidents ... below are just two clips from a two 'mis-jedgements' - the other clip from our trip can be found here.

What are these day trips about ... they're all about taking Sydney riders North to hit up the MTB trails at Ourimbah and Awaba. mtnbike departs from two locations in Sydney, 1) Super Centre at Moore Park and 2) 120 Pacific Hwy North Sydney. Cost is $89 and includes transport of you and your bike plus lunch. The trails up there are flowing and full of single track. Book Now to get your spot sorted. If I come along what should I bring? Check out our FAQ section.

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Haute Route Accommodation

Accommodation has been booked for La Haute Route. Five star accommodation pre and post race in Geneva and Nice. Below is a brief review of what is in store for those lucky enough to be coming along for the racing adventure. 

Accommodation Geneva

Le Richemond  Set on the banks of Lake Geneva, overlooking the famous Jet d’Eau, with the snow-capped Alps in the distance, the historic Le Richemond is one of the most prestigious hotels in Geneva. All rooms are decorated in a contemporary style and equipped with a unique individualized heating/cooling system, dual-line telephones with voice messaging, LCD flat-screen television with interactive video on demand, satellite, cordless keyboard with internet access through the TV, data port with high speed internet connection, in-room safe, minibar, hairdryer, heated towels rack and many enjoy views over the peaceful Brunswick Gardens or Lake Geneva. In addition, in all Suites: docking station for Ipod, plasma screen in bathrooms, and DVD player.

Le Negresco Set on the shore of the Mediterranean, the Negresco is much more than a luxury hotel; it is the result of human adventures, of meetings, of anecdotes, of artistic flair – from the situation itself and its collections. The decoration of each one of our 94 guestrooms and 31 suites has been inspired by the most outstanding periods of French art and history. Rooms have been individually decorated to reflect styles as different as Louis XIII and art deco. The most recent technology has not been forgotten and every room is equipped with LCD television sets and Wifi Internet access.

Accommodation Nice

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Facebook Pages for mtnbike & twowheeltours

It is with great honour that we now classify as 'amateur sports teams' on facebook! We are closing down the standard pages and now moving to 'liked' pages. If you are a member of facebook and are not FRIENDS of mtnbike & twowheeltours click the links and join in to see what we are all about.

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MTB Skills Clinics for Ladies 

We are just about to start another block of Skills Clinics for Ladies on MTB's. Below are more details and we will be running another block of four in April. Dates to be released in the very near future.

Skills Sessions 2011 - Each month we will be running a block of four skill sessions at Moore and Centennial Park.

Details are:

In March they will take place on Tuesday 1, 8, 15 and 22

Cost - $100

Time - 6:15pm - 7:30pm

Equipment - we reccommend that you at least have a comfortable pair of cycling shorts, a helmet and a working recently serviced mountain bike.

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Have a good week and see you out on the trails/road.

Will Levy

will.levy@twowheeltours.com.au

+61 (0) 430 121 776

www.twowheeltours.com.au

www.bikeshuttle.com.au

www.mtnbike.com.au

AMB + mtnbike weekend = May 29/29 '11

Life is never meant to be dull! It is has been another great week both on and off the bike. 

In brief:

AMB

Trizone

SMP Saddles 

Day Trip

Ladies MTB Skills Sessions

AMB - Australian Mountain Bike (!) - the big news of the week is that we've got a weekend coming up where the boys from AMB will coming down to Canberra. To start the weekend a skills session will be held, during this block of time riders will be coached on techniques such as cornering, braking, obstacles and many more MTB skills. Throughout the weekend AMB will be riding with us and continuing to coach and instruct. A truly great way to improve your riding ability and a great learning experience. More info can be found on the site by clicking here. 

Trizone - Big thanks to trizone for their great work and helping to spread the word of bikeshuttle.com.au - we have some events coming up which we will be shuttling bikes to, these including the USM Event Mooloolaba Triathlon (late March) and the Olympic distance Byron Bay Triathlon (early May). No more packing your bike, putting it in a bag, then taxi, then plane etc etc! Let us transport your bike from Sydney to your event without the hassle. 

SMP Saddles - this week I added to my Cannondale CAAD 10-1 a SMP Composit saddle. I've been riding my old saddle for almost 10 years now, afraid of change! How very wrong I was, Oly, from Cheeky Monkey Randwick, suggested that I give it a test and I'm sold! It does seem a little hard to the touch but the way it is designed is quite impressive. Obviously much research has gone into these saddles and my body appreciates it in every single way!

Day Trip - mtnbike is about to take its first official day trip from Sydney. Heading out from Moore Park Super Centre and North Sydney Post Office on Saturday 26 Feb we will be heading to Ourimbah and Awaba MTB areas. These two great ride sites offer plenty of flowing single track and are favourites to many Sydney MTB'ers - the only issue is that they are not really in Sydney ... they are 1.5 hours away! That is where we come in and take you to both locations, provide you with lunch and do all the driving! Come join us for an MTB day trip - we will be offering these trips once a month, our next one is slated for Saturday March 12. 

Ladies MTB Skills Sessions - it is hard to believe but we are just about to finish another block of our MTB skills weeks for ladies! We will be running another block in March and we have a number of eager riders looking to enhancing their bike handling skills. These MTB sessions take place in the Moore Park/Centennial Park areas on Tuesday nights. We work on different skills each week including the following:

Session One - Slow Corners - Sweeping Corners - Braking - Neutral Position - Balance

Session Two - Changing a tyre - Tight Corners at a Higher Pace - Climbing Technique - Balance - Neutral Position

Session Three - Cleaning your bike - Obstacles - Neutral Position - Pumping the Bike - Wheelies

Session Four - Putting Practice into Trail Sections

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That is all the info I can muster for the week. Take good care and look forward to seeing you out on the road or trail. 

One more thing - Australians wanting to head to Haute Route - this will be an amazing cycling race - here is the new flyer ... 

Cheers - Will 

Will Levy

will.levy@twowheeltours.com.au

+61 (0) 430 121 776

www.twowheeltours.com.au

www.bikeshuttle.com.au

www.mtnbike.com.au

MTB Canberra - Gear Up Girl - 2011

Monday 14 Feb 2011

The First Gear Up Girl Weekend of 2011 - nine ladies were in Canberra this weekend working on their MTB skills, riding some of Australia's best single track and making new friends. We left a very rainy Sydney on Saturday morning with the majority of the drive spent in the rain, was this to be a wet weekend? After speaking to Peter Dowse in Goulburn he mentioned that Canb had experienced a little rain the night before but it was dry. Once through Bungendore the rain stopped and before you knew it we were unloaded and working our skills. Spending time working on MTB skills such as your balance, cornering, braking and obstacles build your confidence to become a better rider. To view pictures - click here.

After about an hours session we split up into two groups and head out onto trail. There continues to be great single track out at Sparrow Hill. Even with the new freeway going out to HQJOC (a new military base) there is over 12k of flowing single track. Once again thanks to Paul Cole for all his work in building and maintaining those trails.

The comment which I heard most after completing the 1+ hour ride was "why can't we have single track in Sydney like that!" The best answer is, there is plenty more of that type of track to come, this is just ride number one of the weekend.

After a hearty lunch and a quick photo op - we headed into Dickson for our Apres Bike Coffee. A few goodies were bought at Mal Adjusted and then time to check into the AIS. A little bit of down time before heading back out onto track. Once again this little track is one of my (and our riders) favourites. Spending a few more hours out on the bike certainly helps to continue to work on your skills. Not that there is anything out on trail that is 'over the top' (literally) but working on flowing corners, braking and logs to roll and jump over is all apart of becoming better on the bike.

Only one rider signed up for the MTB massage, it is always a treat to watch them walk into dinner with a huge grin on their face after their hour long massage. The rest of us were smiling at the ALL YOU CAN EAT dinner which was well deserved after two great rides in one day.

A few of us headed out to All Bar Nun for a few quiet ales. It was always amazing to me how much people can recall of the days riding, "remember that bit ... remember this" - all making for great tales over a drink or two.

After some solid sleep and a great Sunday morning breakfast, we loaded up and headed out to Mt Stromlo. They are building a pretty big jump park at Strom and it looks like it will be open in the very near future! We completed a brief skills session to work on berms, neutral position and shifting weight - then time to hit the trails.

After riding at Stomlo last weekend and after so much rain there were some pretty hairy sections but the trail fairies have been out this week, thank you trail fairies! At the very top, Echidna Gap Junction, I was a little hesitant to put our riders on the trail Wedge Tail Junction, it was pretty arduous (for a green run) last weekend, once again trail fairies had been there and it was back to its AMAZING flowy self.

The trip down was one of thrills and a few spills. Using the skills that we had learned on both Saturday and Sunday were vital. Some riders expressing "I wouldn't have done that before" and "I've got so much more confidence" are all great to hear, especially when the riders can hardly keep the smile of their faces!

Another good serving of food for lunch under the shade and over looking more of the goings on of Mt Stromlo, a truly great venue for cross country running, criterium riding and much much more. Back to the AIS for a clean up, grab a coffee in Dickson and then off home. Usually many of guests spend the time sleeping but these ladies were still full-o-beans and reliving the tales from the weekend, a truly great group!

Many thanks ladies for such an enjoyable weekend - it looks like we'll have a few of these ladies back for another trip in the near future.

Don't forget we have a day trip coming up Feb 26 which will take in Awaba and Ourimbah. Safe riding all and see you out on trail.

Will Levy

will.levy@mtnbike.com.au 

+61 (0) 430 121 776

www.mtnbike.com.au