AMB weekend to Canberra

What an amazing weekend! A total of ten riders headed down on Saturday 28 May from Sydney to Canberra. Mick Ross was our 'go-to' guy from Australian Mountain Bike Magazine. He has been with the mag for some 27 editions, he has been riding since hanging up his tap shoes (truth), been a 'pro' racer and is one funny guy. 


The bikes and riders were loaded in North Sydney and Moore Park and next thing we were in Goulburn at the Greengrocer Cafe. It was a tad cold and the ride from Goulburn to Sparrow/Kowen was rather foggy but everyone was 'amped' to hit up some flowing single track. 

First ride was Sparrow, originally 40+k of trail now only 12 ... I say only because it is still amazing track, hats off to Paul Cole and his crew for keeping it is such great condition. We did a brief skills session on how to 'J-hop' and Mick taught us about how to handle the bike in other situations - all great stuff. The lap was pretty hot in pace and it was a good chance to ride behind Mick to watch how a tap dancer rides.


Needing a little energy and before hitting up Kowen we stopped back at the bus for a bite to eat. A few adjustments by our guest Aaron Dunford - FUSION PEAK - and we were back out on track. The MTB trails over there are great especially after being used for the MONT 24 Hour a few months back it was certainly hard packed.   

After that loop we all looked a little shagged and it was time to refuel with a beer, yogurt and fruit, not necessarily in that order.


Check in at the AIS was short, before I could get the bikes out of the trailer all the riders were back at the bus and ready to ride again. It was coming on to dusk, most of us had lights, some riders had demo lights from RADICAL LIGHTS and before you knew it we were at Bruce Ridge ready to play in the spaghetti system of trails. 


The natural light went quick, a few riders decided to head back to the AIS but a few stayed out to play. One of those being Mick Ross, above I mentioned that MOST of us had lights, well Mick did NOT. We rode till around 6:30, completely dark, and Mick never missed a beat. Riding behind him to give him some light was quite the sight to see. It looked like he had ants in his pants as his legs were opening in all different directions so he could get the light to shine on the track! Oh and I was pushing it just to keep up with him! One word, amazed!


Back to shower and then consume some calories at all you can eat dinner at the AIS. Aaron takes the cake for being the human vacuum this weekend, for a tall lanky fellow the boy can put away a bit. After dinner, since we had all worked very hard, we head off to All Bar Nun down in O'Connor for some well deserved refreshing ales.

Bed and back up at 6:15 to hit up the trails of Bruce Ridge again. An hour out on track to loosen the legs up was just what the DR ordered before breakfast. The temperature was perfect, two weeks before it was ZERO degrees when all of the GEAR UP GIRLS came out for the Sunday morning ride, this time it had to of been 5C - almost balmy! 


Breakfast - all you can eat - well done Aaron - then off to Mt Stromlo. CORC was having a 7k race out there but that doesn't mean that the trails are closed, another reason why the MTB family are such great people. We did a warm up loop and then a climb to the top. No need to rush and you could see it on the riders faces that they had done some pretty hard work already this weekend. 


Once at the top for the obligatory photo it was time to descend. We reconvened at the bridge before the start of Luge, talk about smiles on faces! The calls of "can we do that again" were heard over and over and they still had luge to go. We all made it down safe and sound and then it was time to check out the Willo Track, Double Dissolution and some others on the back side of the Mt. We had one little spill which required a 'DNF' back to the bus ... it was a pick up but we all live to tell the story, some just have better stories than others from the weekend. 

Lunch out on course, it was great to reminisce about the ride/weekend and general good times in the glorious Autumn day - again Aaron going to WORK. Back to the AIS - shower, off to Dickson for a coffee, or beers and munchies for the ride home. A few sleepers for the ride back but there was also lots of other chit-chat about MTB'ing and general riding.


It was a great weekend, the trails, weather, riders and food were spot on. Thanks to all those who came along, Richard, Laurie, Greg, Aaron, Mick, Garth, Damian, Luke and Mark. Looking forward to having you along for other weekends in the future and another AMB weekend down the track.

Canberra Bound - MTB trails await

Monday 7 Mar 2011

Another perfect weekend in Canberra - we had our fittest group ever head down on Saturday morning. I was on my new steed, the Cannondale RZ One Twenty-1 - to have a NO chain feeling all weekend was amazing! With Sram X9 (2x10) gearing I found myself never in the small chain ring and kept the bottom 3 clean all weekend ... an truly amazing bike! It was great that we had fit MTB'ers as at our first ride site, Sparrow and then the new Kowen Trail, was Ben Henderson. The weekend before Ben was racing at the National Champs down at Eagle Park down in Adelaide, to read about his 'experience' down there click here. Riding the trails at Sparrow Hill were as per usual great! Even with the road being built through the majority of the area there is still 12k of flowing single track ... don't forget that Manly Dam(b) has all of 10k! 

After that 'warm-up' session we headed over the road to ride the new MTB Mont 24 Course, being run April 9-10. WHAT A TRACK - hats off to all the builders including Paul Cole, Alan Vogt and co! There is a little more climbing than at Sparrow but that also means there is PLENTY of flow! The final run is very reminiscent to the old Roller Coaster at Sparrow - the Kowen trail is now up there on the favourite MTB track 1st page.

From there lunch, coffee, check in at the Australian Institute of Sport and then back out on trail for some more entertainment ... now if you can't make fun of yourself then your taking yourself too seriously ... I had an accident - never before have I scratched my forearms! Not only one forearm but both! There will be footage soon of the crash ... I leave it at that.

For dinner we were joined by Ben, h is girlfriend Ali and Peter Dowse from Capital Bike Hire. It was a great opportunity to ask some questions to Ben about his training practices, nutrition and other regimens. Ali is a physio-theparist and masseuse and also gave us some insight how we can become better riders/athletes ... all while eating ALL YOU CAN EAT.

There were some tuckered out riders so off to bed early. Hats off to Simon and Michael for getting up early and hitting some more trails. Simon had forgotten his lights so he got to use my Chutta Radical-Lights, needless to say he was impressed at the amount of light that they threw out onto the trail!

Once we filled our stomachs at breakfast, plenty of bircher muesli, bacon and eggs etc etc we were off to Stromlo. The trail was in good condition after the Rocky Trail Entertainments race that was held the day before. I was impressed that our crew did so much riding after already having completed so much the day before (and morning). Simon Finch, one of our riders, is in training for Cape Epic in South Africa, rumoured to be one of the toughest MTB races, and seems to have the lungs and legs for the race - GOOD LUCK to Simon and we'll all be following him with much interest! It was three laps for him and the other Simon, nothing to sneeze at all!

Another big session of food eating followed then back to the AIS to shower before heading back to Sydney. Big thanks to Heinz and Simon for coming over from Adelaide for the trip, they were impressed with the trails down in Canberra and I look forward to heading back to Adelaide to ride some of those great single tracks that they have in Adelaide in the very near future.  

What's next - we have a busy schedule coming up - we will be out at the Rocky Trail - Mt Annan race which is being held 26-27 March then we are sagging the Tour de Cure which is raising money for the fight against Cancer. The 70 riders will depart from Sydney and finish at the MCG in Melbourne - the riders departing Friday 1 and finishing Sunday 10 April. It will be great to be part of something so special. 

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

---

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

First trip of the season

Monday 7 Feb 2011

News from our recent trip - Headlines read Sydney Swelters 42C in Saturdays papers! Meanwhile, our riders were riding in almost chilly conditions in Canberra, a freezing 28C! Even leaving Sydney on Saturday morning at 7am it was HOT! We got down to Canberra and put up the new Cannondale tent, gee it looks good, and completed our initial skills session. It is always great to spend a little time warming up before hitting the trails.

Sparrow Hill is always a fantastic place to ride, flowing track, hard compound and riding through a pine forest is always that little bit different. Paul Cole continues to work tirelessly on the track out there, hats/helmets off to you Paul! 

We came back to a lovely lunch, some riders barely able to wipe the smiles of their faces! This was our first trip down for the season and with many more to come I'm already looking forward to them all! A great lunch was consumed, many thanks to the Greengrocer Cafe in Goulburn for their sandwiches, and then it was time to head into town for a relaxing coffee ... again in the pleasant conditions that Canberra had on offer this past weekend. 

After checking in at the AIS we were back out on trail to ride a completely different track. Now riding through true Australian bush, completely different to the pine forest of Sparrow, it was nice to be railing corners on flowing single track. This session can last for anywhere between one to two hours ... all depending on whether you have a massage lined up for that evening. 

Time for all you can eat dinner and a thunder and lightening show for dessert, quite amazing to see it come and go all within 20 minutes! Then it was time to head to the pub for a few quiet ales and some stories from the days trails.

There were three of us up for the 6:15 morning ride, within five minutes we were on track and enjoying flowing trails. A great way to warm up and stretch the legs. The trail was in perfect condition even after last nights storm and after an hour we were headed back to the AIS for 'fat' breakfast.

Next stop more fun out at Stromlo, the conditions for Sunday were posted as isolated showers, we saw maybe two minutes of showers while warming up at the base of the mount. The skills session went over corners, braking, obstacles and berms. All necessary skills for hitting the flowing trails at Stromlo. It is amazing how quickly time flies when you're having fun. Before you knew it, 12 o'clock was there and lunch was there for the taking.

Bikes on the trailer, everyone well fed and back to the AIS for a shower before heading back to a MUCH cooler Sydney. In all it was another great trip. Lots of laughs, some amazing trails and repeat riders make for a great weekend.

Next weekend can't come soon enough ... Gear Up Girl weekend here we come!  

---

On other fronts - Our Sydney Skills Session for girls only is filling up. For the four Tuesdays in February we will be meeting in the Centennial Park area to work on cornering, braking, balance and obstacles. The first round of these 'Up Skill with Will' (named by Katheryn) went great in December. All the ladies benefited from the small setting and specific instruction, all ladies mastered how to wheelie with one rider mentioning "I've been to other skills and I never got how to do this!" Come join us for some fun in the park. For more information click here and to book click here.

Europe on horizon but still a heap to do in Aust

Saturday  5^th March to Sunday 6^th March 2011

News just to hand - 

mtnbike.com.au is 

offering a - BEN HENDERSON TRAINING WEEKEND -  this is the perfect weekend to learn and train with one of Australia's best. Ben is just off winning the Opening Round of the Jayco Australian National Series at the You Yangs in Victoria.

Saturday will be a three to four hour session with Ben on his route which he used to train for the World Championships in 2009. That evening Ben will take an hour session talking about his training principles, MTB nutrition and recovery. Sunday will see another three to four hour session with Ben, departing directly from the Australian Institute of Sport and ending up on the flowing trails of Mt Stromlo.

Spots are limited to ONLY 10 riders

 

This will be the perfect training weekend, especially if you're one of the lucky ones with an entry in The Mont, April 9 - 10. 

Please note that this is a weekend where you need to have a high level of fitness. 

This will be similar to our regular weekends, depart Sydney on Saturday morning and return Sunday night. All transport for you and your bike included, accommodation at the AIS and food food food.

 

If you know of anyone that may be interested tell them to get in fast as this weekend is going to be sold out quick!

Itinerary

Saturday

7:00am Depart North Sydney Bike Bug (120 Pacific Hwy North Sydney)

7:15am Depart Moore Park Super Centre (South Dowling, collect at roundabout off Todman Ave)

9:45am Arrive Goulburn Area stretch/toilet

11:00am – 2:00pm Ride # 1 3 - 4 Hours MTB with Ben Henderson. Including Ben’s 2009 MTB World Championships training loop. Includes multiple 10-15 minute climbs reaching an altitude of 1100m, starting near 600m. 95% fire roads trails in locations virtually unexplored by cyclists. One

challenging  uphill section, rumour has it that only two riders have been able to get to the top.

Shorter options  available for anyone lagging. Optional Final climb up Mt Tuggeranong. Lunch on

course (supplied)

Après Bike Coffee on way back to AIS**

2:30pm Check in Australian Institute of Sport

3:00pm – 6:00pm Ride # 2 – Optional Ride - enjoy some flowing single track – pool is open if ride is

not wanted, bring swimmers**

6:00pm – 7:00pm One hour discussion on Ben Henderson's training techniques, recovery and training

hydration and nutrition

7:00pm – 8:00pm Dinner AIS

Après Bike Beer – Bus to O'Connor departs AIS 8(ish) and return 10(ish)**

Sunday

7:00am – 8:00am Breakfast AIS

8:30am Check out – leave bags at AIS

9:00am – 12:00pm Ride #3 3 - 4 Hours MTB with Ben Henderson. Including riding from AIS to

Stromlo via some sweet flowing single track, Black Mountain and the Arboretum Lunch on course

(supplied)

12:30pm Depart Mt Stromlo and return to AIS for showers

1:30pm Depart AIS

4:30pm Moore Park

5:00pm North Sydney Bike Bug

* please note that itinerary is subject to change ** own cost

The cost for our Canberra weekends is $450. This covers accommodation, food and all transport. Accommodation is at the Australian Institute of Sport. For more information check out the FAQ pages then hit Book Now to make sure you get your spot on this trip.

We drive. You ride.