Road Trip - Goulb > Canberra + Canberra > Canberra

What a weekend - it was great to head out on a roadie trip. The routes were set, the cyclists were all looking forward to doing some ‘big’ K’s and before you knew it we had departed Sydney and had arrived in Goulburn. After a coffee at the Green Grocer Cafe it was time to head out into the cool autumn day, heading to Canberra. 

The back way to Canberra really is a great ride, rolling hills and some wonderful scenery. The ‘crew‘ arrived into Lake Bathurst an hour after leaving Goulburn, setting a decent pace of 30kph. Lake Bathurst is one of those towns with popular trees aligning the main street, at this time of the year it is a beautiful sight. Next stop, after our one and only flat of the weekend, we were in Targo and up rolling through the undulating hills of the area. Coffee in Bungendore was well deserved and sitting in the sun added to the great morning. 

There is a nice hill out of Bungendore heading up towards Macs Reef Road but it didn’t even register on the cyclists legs. Before they knew it, after some more rolling hills, they were on the down hill stretch to the Nations Capital, Canberra. 

Lunch was at Tilleys in Lyneham a regular haunt for many Canberra-ites and it was such a glorious day to be sitting outside and reminiscing about the time just spent in the saddle.

It was time to check into the Australian Institute of Sport and relax, the pool was open and massages had been booked. We put the heater on, had time to read the paper and also a few cycle related magazines. 

‘All you can eat dinner’ can never come quick enough after cyclists have done 115k. Saturday night at the AIS is ‘fat night’ --- ice-cream and a few other treats to recharge the athletes stores after a week of hard work ... including cyclists!

We usually head to the pub on Saturday night but this time we had no takers, back to a warm room, a little TV, magazines and dark chocolate. It was not long offer before lights were out. 

The weather report for Sunday morning was for a chance of rain, they must have got the wrong day. Breakfast of bircher muesli and anything else you would like was consumed eagerly. Before you know it we were headed down the hill from the AIS and through a sparsely populated Canberra. 

The Cotter loop is a famous one if you are a cyclist from Canberra, not many cars, some rolling hills and some steep ones too. There was an option to head out to Corrin Dam (+50k) but we decided to head out to the Space Station instead (+10k). Out there we had a chance to tell some stories about the universe, the riders were all highly intelligent - aren’t they always? - then they were off to complete what they had started. The ride out of Cotter Dam was a long haul but a few other cyclists were on the road to make it that much more of a ‘race’. There was also an option to climb to the top of Mt Stromlo but we had no takers, “maybe next time” was the answer by one rider. On the last major hill of the day there was an unofficial KOM, congratulations to Caroline of taking the honours.  

Time for a Turkish coffee in the sun in Turner then back to the AIS for a shower before a big lunch. All up that days ride was 105k. 

On the drive home we usually have everyone asleep by Lake George, this time we had a great time of regaling the adventures they had just had. 

It really was a great weekend, thanks to the riders who provided many smiles and laughs. Looking forward to doing it all again sometime in the near future. 

Gear Up Girl MTB Weekend Canberra May '11

Monday 16 May 2011

Just back from a weekend in Canberra, who says it's too cold to ride down there in May and June!? I must admit that it was a brisk 2C when we came home from the pub on Saturday night but ALL 6 riders were up at 6:30 ready to ride on Sunday morning, this is the FIRST time ever that we have all ALL riders up for the cobweb cleaner ride!

It is always hard to sum up a weekend in such a short space. In short, it could not have been a better weekend! The riders were amazing, so excited to be out riding, hungry to learn, full of stories and laughs and fearless!!

I know that you should never have 'favourites' but I will just say that this group was one of the best. From the first ride out at Sparrow it seemed like they were already best friends. Many new skills were learned during the session, an hours worth of MTB skills and then we were out on trail to ride that amazing single track. Once again, Paul Cole and co continue to keep those 12k of trails in amazing condition. A few kangaroos kept us company on the trails but other than that we had the whole place to ourselves.

Coming back to the bus and having lunch in the sun was just a perfect way to end session one. After saying good bye to Peter Dowse, our MTB skills session leader out at Sparrow, we were off to Dickson to stop for a coffee and grab some extra gloves at Mal Adjusted.

Check in at the AIS and the girls only needed 15 minutes to turn around and be back out on their bikes, dare I say a new record!? Then it was off to check out the trails of Bruce Ridge, now legalised and a HEAP of fun! The trail fairies were out recently and have done some altering of some sections, all to make it that much better of a MTB ride site!

We rode until sundown, thanks to Hiran from Radical Lightsfor the demo lights. Again they worked better than anything else we have ever tried. Lighting the way for us all to make it home safe and sound.

Massages on offer, all you can eat dinner, rooms with the heaters on and a trip the pub round out our regular Saturday evening.

Come Sunday, as mentioned above, all riders were front and centre for the early ride. Back over to Bruce Ridge to check out some of the other trails that are out there. After and hour of flowing single track it was time to head back for a delicious hot breakfast.

Time to head off to the amazing trails of Mt Stromlo. The car park was pretty full for a brisk Sunday morning, true testament to the toughness of MTB'ers! Some time to work on our skills around the base of the mountain saw the ladies pick up some more skills. Before you know it we were off on trail again. There is a loop that we take in before heading up that has some good examples of what you'll see around Mt S. One being a see-saw. I had pulled up near the run into the see-saw to let the riders know that it was approaching. Next thing you know one rider is giving it a go!! Like a walk in the park, she was calm and composed, got to the top of the see and sawed down to the bottom! IMPRESSED is one word that comes to mind. To prove it not a fluke she did it again as did some of the other ladies, impressed once again.

Time to take off some of the layers we had all applied and the to the top! The ladies ALL made it to the top of Stromlo and with one big hurrah we celebrated reaching the top. The trip down the mountain/hill saw many smiles and times where the ladies put into practice what they had learned.

Another lunch in the glorious sun and then back to the AIS for a shower and back to Sydney. Phew - what a weekend, thank you to all those who came along for so many great memories. This truly was a great weekend and I'm already looking forward to our next GUG trip in September. Before that trip we have a few more on the cards, especially out Australian Mountain Bike Magazine trip. For more details check out our home page.

On the horizon

INFORMATION NIGHT

Thursday 12 May 2011

6:00-8:00pm

MC Cyclery
 

230 Clarence Street Sydney
 

A EVENING OF BEERS, PIZZA &  la HAUTE ROUTE
 

Come along and check out Sydney's newest GIANT Bike Concept Store - take a tour of the store and hear more about the la Haute Route

An 11 day tour coinciding with in the inaugural Haute Route
A 7 day race from Geneva to Nice - August 19-29 2011
 

We are offering twenty riders and their partners the chance to travel in style and comfort

This tour is also in combination with Ride Cycling Review, Australia's finest Cycling publication

RSVP
 

 For more information click here

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Canberra Calling - can't wait to MTB in Canberra this weekend, it seems like an age since we've taken a trip down to ride Kowen, Bruce Ridge and Mt Stromlo. This coming weekend we've got a Gear Up Girl trip, this will be our fifth trip in a year, I must admit that these really are a lot of fun these weekends. Lots of laughs, skills being learned and new friends being made. I've looked at the weather and although it is rated as a 'cold' weekend it'll be clear ... nothing like riding in crisp air - what Canberra is famous for. 

It really is hard to believe that it has been 2 years since we began mtnbike.com.au - now look - we've got four trips in four weeks. Then it is time to head off to EU for 8 weeks ... then hitting the ground running when back in September. There are some big things on the horizon for us in the second half of the year. Attending more races, offering more MTB skills sessions in the Sydney Area and a MTB trip to NZ. 

Watch this space for more info - once again exciting times for mtnbike.com.au

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Haute Route Info Night Mark it in your calendar THURSDAY 12 MAY 6:00pm facebook RSVP Sydney MC CYCLERY 230 Clarence St Sydney NSW 2000 A EVENING OF BEERS and PIZZA TO GIVE YOU ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED ON THE HAUTE ROUTE. A great night to check out Sydney's newest GIANT Bike Concept Store. There will be an opportunity to take a tour of the store and also to hear more about the Haute Route in August. The tour is in combination with Ride Cycling Review, Australia's finest Cycling publication, where we are offering twenty riders and their partners the chance to travel in style and participate in the inaugural Haute Route - Geneva to Nice. August 19-29 2011. For more information click here. mtnbike.com.au Offers fully catered mountain bike day and weekend trips. Taking Sydney-siders North for a day trip and South to Canberra for the weekend. We have three Canberra trips coming up before heading off to EU. The weekend trips are all about experiencing and riding what Canberra has to offer mountain bikers – flowing single track. These trips are for all levels of riders. A skills session and guides are provided for all levels of ability. Coming up we have a a trip with the boys from Australian Mountain Bike Magazine and a standard trip on the firstweekend on June. bikeshuttle.com.au Is a bike transport company which was created to take the hassle out of transporting your bike (road, triathlon or MTB). This weekend we are heading North for the Byron Bay Triathlon. Come early June we will be heading over to Melrose South Australia for the Fat Tyre Festival. If you're sick and tired of packing up your bike and dealing with the stress of it all - here is the answer. Your bike is dropped off to a central location in Sydney, it is placed on the trailer 'as is' and then shuttled to your event. When you pick up your bike at the race destination you will be ready to ride. No more:  Boxing your bike Taxi issues Airport issues Luggage costs Assembling your bike Other events which we attend are      Tour Down Under - SA      Around the Bay in a Day - VIC      Noosa Triathlon - QLD For more information click here. twowheeltours.com.au mtnbike.com.au bikeshuttle.com.au We have some busy months ahead                        This weekend off to shuttle bikes to the Byron Bay Tri                      Then down to Canberra to ride our MTB's on the flowing single track with Gear Up GIrl + Clarence Street Cyclery Then taking Commonwealth Bank away on a road cycling weekend. Goulburn > Canberra on the Saturday then 120k around the hills of Canberra on Sunday        To end the month we will be heading South with Australian Mountain Bike Magazine Come July and August we will be based in Europe and have three trips on the cards 1) The last week of the Tour de France     2) A week of Mountain Biking in Switzerland         3) The Haute Route Come September we will be back in Australia and offering our MTB & Road trips and shuttling to different events                   In October we will be heading on our NZ MTB Adventure - Rotorua and Taupo - the info has been released

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. 

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!  

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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.