Big Wheels keep on turning

The start of Slacky's latest love affair.

Cannondale Twenty Niner 1



After working on lefty's for the last year and a half, I really wanted to get a bike with a lefty on it to race on. They are lighter and far stiffer than normal forks........and different. Only problem was that there was no way that I was going back to a 26" hardtail, especially an alloy one, and at the spec level I wanted, a scalpel was a million miles out of my price range. Going the the catalogues and spying pics on teh Interwebby, the 29er caught my eye, cool paint and retro graphics and of course, the carbon lefty.

Now whilst knowing that Cabin races a 29" bike and loves it, and having done a 12 hour solo on a fixed 700x32c bike and also the Infamous SS cyclocross 24 hour team, I had a notion of how big wheels rans, but it was still quite a leap into the dark.
The worst part was the wait, the eta of the bike was pushed back several times, and it showed up the tuesday after the Wild Wellington race. I can neither confirm nor deny that I was bouncing around, clapping my hands and giggling like a lil schoolgirl. I was a tad excited tho.
So I blew off track that night to stay late at work and build my new baby up.
Some people might not like the colour and graphics, but they really do it for me
The cool thing about the Lefty on this bike is that it's the same as the one of the Team Scalpel, just with less travel to accomodate the larger wheel. Weighing in at only 1174 grams and being far stiffer than a normal XC fork. It just really push's my buttons.
I had a couple of spec changes in mind from the begining. I replaced the XT shifters with XTR for the bling factor and the double downshift. Swapped out the alloy riser bars for flat carbon Raceface Next SL bars. I also swapped out the Truvativ Carbon post for a longer Raceface Next carbon post with far less setback. Also the fizik seat for a Specialized Phenom SL to pamper my tushy. I also fitted Shimano Endcaps and seals to the cables to keep my shifting smooth for longer.
So the bike with those few spec changes, and the Stans Arch rims, FSA afterburner BB30 cranks, XTR shadow rr Dr (Haft mere Carbon bling), Conti Raceking 2.2 tires, XT brakes and the super light lefty fork, came to a svelte (for a 29") 23.7 pounds.
I got up extra early the day after building the bike up so I could get a ride in before work. a quick blat over Mt Vic and up to Brooklyn and down back door. The thing that struck me was that it wasn't hard to accelerate. Sure a fraction more noticeable mass in the wheels but not a lot. And the frame is so stiff, and the BB30 BB so so smooth that when you give the pedals the good news, the bike shoots forwards like a rocket. I found that climbing on the 29er I aws using the same gears as on a fully, but due to the bigger wheels I was going faster. Coming down backdoor was definitly an eyeopener. The steering is so precise that when your not used to it, it's almost too quick. And when your going down offcamber, the fork/wheel isn't wandering around like a normal fork does. I found myself telling myself off for making or anticipating steering correction, cos the lefty tracked so true and straight. And over roots, OMFG, unbelievable.
But hey, it's stil a hardtail, it's still rougher than a fully, but it's so much smoother than a 26" hardtail, even a steel one.
I raced it for the frist time at the PNP final at Makara and I noticed a significant improvement in my climbing, I was going gangbusters in 2nd as well, until I sliced the sidewall of the rear Conti Raceking. Just one of those things I reckon, althought they do have quite thin sidewalls at 650g. So I retaliated by putting an even lighter Stans Raven tire on. Very very quick tire, and surprisingly grippy too.
The standout feature of this bike tho, has got to be the way it just eats up flowly singletrack. To the point where even I'm starting to feel uncomfortable with the speed. It's just that much faster in flowly singletrack than any bike I've ridden. I'm getting used to it now tho
The big wheels don't like to be thrown around at all tho. So I'm having to make quite a consicous effort to change my style of riding. You need to stay off the front brake more and earlier in corners due to the bigger wheel and larger gyroscopic effect. And I've found that you steer more with the inside hand than you do on a normal bike.
But I'm stoked, the way this bike climbs (the macrocarpa climb on Mt Vic is far easier than on even a fully), the way it handles singletrack, the way the big wheels smooth out rocks and roots, and the fact that my fork is lighter than yours!! It's an awesome race bike, which is what it's getting used for. Sub 2:30 Karapoti, here I come

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Im Addicted.. (thats bad)

My criteria for a new bike were pretty basic, lightweight was the only real one.. oh and dont break the bank.

Pretty much the most affordable lightest bike available is the Scott Addict.. No way I would pay $7k (on special for last years model ,$10k new), so off to Trademe and came across a 2008 Black R1 frame on full dura ace for $4k including pedals and carbon bottle holders, nice.. After mosing for a couple of days I laid down the cash and the bike arrived.



First day I smashed 1min 15 seconds off my Makara road hill climb time from the week before and just over 1 minute off my previous PB, this bike flys up hill.

Was going to write some sort of bike review, but this is all I could come up with.

Its fast...



Think that sums it up nicely.



Heres a piccy sporting some race wheels loaned courtesy of Joel for my Taupo Classic attempt this year. As seen here including 2 bottle holders, pedals and a wired speedo, it weighs 7.22kg (About 6.6kg without all that stuff) thats 1.7kg lighter than my Giant with Ksyrians SL's.

Will report back after my smashing in the Taupo Classic this weekend, at least when I get smashed I cant blame the bike, well I will, but I have no right too.

Angrys Gangsta ride

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Slacky gets to test ride Bling, SC Blur LT2

So there has to be some payback for being a low paid bike wrench and getting to ride fruity bikes is one of those things

First off, I want to point out that I've always been slightly dubious of al the Santa Cruz Fanboi's and their constant tosspottery in saying "Best Bike EVA!!!"
So I was rather keen to ride the Blut LT2 so I could decry their standpoint. So I'm quite gutter to having to admit that whilst not maybe the best, it's pretty darn close.


A frantic after work bike build of Peter Burkes new Blur LT2, the night before heading up to Roto-Vegas for the wideopen product launch gave me a new bike to thrash for that weekend. Built up with Sram XO for the shifting, XT cranks for the pedalling, Avid Elixr CR brakes for the stopping, Deore XT wheels for the turning, Conti Mountainking on rear and Schwalbe Nobbie Nic up front for the ground gripping, Fox 32 Talas (15mm QR) for the bump eating, thomson seatpost, Hope Stem, Monkeylite XC carbon bars and naturally the obligatory ODI grips (in pearl of course). And the bike weighing in at a respectable 27 pounds
Lucky me had the pleasure of the first ride, so I celebrated taking it's cherry with a 3 hour strop on the Vegas trails.
First impressions were pretty impressive. The bike pedals very well, and then you flick the pro-pedal on and it just eats the track up. The rear end doesn't react to pedal input so much, but it's very active when the shock is open. Thankfully it doesn't sit/sag back into it's travel when you put the good news to the pedals, even on really steep stuff. the Blur LT2 just soaks bumps up without any noticeable killing of speed or momentum, they just seem to disappear from underneath you.
The handling of the Blur LT2 is fairly neutral, with no weird quirks or peculiarities, which meant I was very quickly able to get up to speed. Heading down singletrack on this bike was nothing short of awe inspiring. It was at the same time both nimble and stable. It's very predictable and neutral handling characteristics allowed me to feel super comfortable in letting the bike slid around and really attack sections of trail.
The only things on the whole bike that I can really fault is lack of bottle cage (but I am a jeyboi) and the low BB, but this also allows for it's fantastic cornering, so it's a wee bit of catch 22.]
It asn't until I got the bike back to Welly and on familiar trails that I really appreciated what the Blur LT2 could do. I rode up some super steep and techy trails that normally test me to clean, but I got up the same trails without a hint of a struggle or sign of loss of traction. In fact, instead of looking for the sweet lines, I found myself looking for the hardest one's, for the rootiest and rockiest. now IMHO I'm a pretty darn good techy climber when I'm on game, but the Blur LT2 made me feel like a climbing God!. The climbing grip displayed on the bike with a Mountain King 2.2 UST tire was nothing shy of outright incredible.
Going down the braking stays active and doesn't pitch you up and forward like some bikes tend to do. And with the outstanding Elixr CR brakes, you have so much more control and confidence at your disposal that when you come accross something that you normally ummm and ahh about, your far less likely to have any qualms in hitting it.
In redesigning the Blur LT, Santa Cruz have come very close to the holy grail of trail bikes. And you have no idea of how much this pains me to say it, but if I had the cash, I'd get one. If your partner tells you that you can only have 1 mountain bike, and you do the odd race, the odd epic, jungle rides, and a bunch of just general riding, this is one bike on the poduim of choice. And it's a very small and select group at the top, very small.

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Goldie's PNP Final Round Hit-out

Hey riders,

Was really looking forward to some pain at Makara for the final round of the series, was feeling reasonably good apart from the early start and driving down from Levin. Was a good sized field of 15 elites and the Master 1 riders starting with us, i dunno how that came about but i wished when i was riding masters we started that way.Got away to a pretty good start up the road and hit the first bit of dirt in about 6th place behind Connor who straight away arsed up with some problem with his front brake grabbing, i personally think he`s just been doing too much road training and not enough dirty stuff, shame though cos i reckon he would`ve been right up there.

Anyway, popped out on the 4wd track and was about to drop into swigg when Dave sharp came steaming by passing me and ed, wasn't sure what grade he was racing at that stage but thought he ain't an old master yet so must be with us. So followed Dave and ed at a decent clip until ed let me past somewhere up koru, i was super impressed with Dave`s riding and kept his wheel until he let me past at the pylon at the start of aratihi, i think we had a fairly good gap on the following riders at that stage and i could see hisky and josh not to far ahead.

Climbed aratihi fairly well then launched down upper and lower leaping lizard and i was closing the gap up nicely, caught hisky and josh just past the nikau turn off and kept with them up possum bait until i messed up on 1 of the tight switch backs and they got a slight gap, was a real hard case watching the different riding styles, hisky been smooth and calculated and josh bouncing around almost wrestling with his bike. Lost a little bit of time stuck behind a few slower riders on nikau and did`nt want to panic them on the tight stuff but they were all good and finally let me past when they could, i steadied in to a good rhythm and climbed up aratihi once again, where hisky and josh and started pulling away a little, i looked behind and saw big Gav getting near. Gav managed to slip past me just before the summit and i held his wheel down zac`s. I was ready for the wind up there only because I`ve never ridden zac`s without the wind, it was fairly brutal, especially when you`re a light weight like myself. I climbed back up that nasty rocky climb with Gav and then back down zac`s for the second time just to see if it was still bloody windy and yip it was. Gav started pulling away while i was measuring the wind speed, i was unable to ride the whole climb just bailing out on the top before i got blown over the edge.

Turned left into ridgeline and fought my way down choosing some pretty dodgy lines but managed to stay upright unlike hisky who was leading josh and caught a gust of wind which sent him and his bike end over end over end over end, big up`s to him for dusting himself off and jumping back on his horse, I carried on down ridge line extension back down swigg starfish and popped out on to the rode where i battled against that nice head wind back to karori park finishing in 5th place.

It was a real enjoyable race lots of little battles going on within the big battle. 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th placings were all within a minute of each other with legend Stu winning and already showered and writing his podium speech. Special mention again to Dave sharp who ended up a few minutes and a few placings back, Good Shit Man!! All in all a fairly enjoyable series, very pleased with me new bike. My next outing is the taupo huka xl (70ish k i think) event, after that still undecided about my summer plans as my partner Megan has a bun in the oven so i`ll either be riding a heap more or a heap less.

Over an Out, Jase

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Trudi’s FAMOUS Bushlovers Macaroni Salad

Trudi’s FAMOUS Bushlovers macaroni salad

An essential re/pre-fuel for all keeners. Very very famous. For extra Bushlurve, garnish with punga fronds.....

4 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
½ cup mixed veg
3 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
3 Tbsp sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp soft brown sugar
1 ½ cups macaroni

Cook macaroni as per usual.

Heat oil and soy sauce on a medium heat and add brown sugar stirring. Add garlic and veg and heat until bubbling. Add seeds. Cook for another 5-10 mins.

Once macaroni cooked add to mixture.

Double this recipe for a group larger than 4 people.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!

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Slacky races, half forked

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm new bike bling. So my Cannondale 29er 1 finally turned up last tuesday. Only been hanging out for it, like forEVA!!!
Big wheels, Half a fork, XTR goodies, just in general, super hot.
So after a few shake down rides and fettling the bike in, it was time to race the sucka!. Unfortunatly Angry clive wasn't racing, so had to make do with smashing Davo, and Tony Teo to bits.
So after a sifty warm up, and showing off my fancy rig, the big show happened.


The race took off with Davo trying to be a hard bastard and sticking with the elite boys, this didn't work for him and he sat down for a cuppa or something. I think Tony Teo joined him. Carl got his aggro on and took off with the fast elite boys, and I followed Yoga into Rimu Trail. The pace thru here was meh, but I figure that's cos of the roadies up ahead.
dropped onto the 4wd track and I grovvled up the loose 4wd climb. CAn't remember who I was behind, but we meandered down swigg and starfish. Snuck a sneaky inside pass at the bottom of Koru Dryfeet and followed the great jordanini up Koru, he snuck onto Connor who after a great start was having a muzza of a time with a bent rotor, he pulled of in disgust at the skills area, and jordanini followed. So I bolted like a rabbit and took off up the sally's alley. After a quick post coitus ciggie, nipped into missing link. Sneaked a sight of young tom tom miles ahead and set about gunning him down. Still getting used to the new bike and the big wheels so took till the bottom to get close. For some reason he fell over after going round the 1st switchback on the climb. I think my manliness just outright overwhelmed him. Rode hard up Aratehi and pulled in some dude who I don't know but looked like they were suffering. Kept looking back for signs of Davo and Tony Teo, but no sign, so figured they were OTA holding hands and making out. Tom tom wasn't too far back, but was kept at bay by my manliness. Faffed a few corners on the way down the 4wd track. I now know that 29" wheels catch the wind more than 26" ones do.
Headed into leaping lizard half expecting Tom tom to catch me down there as the lil buggar ain't half quick. But aside from a few small mistakes, was getting more and more used to the big wheels. Flowing singletrack makes that bike sing like a fat man at the opera.
Into the fast part of leaping lizard and took it some what cautious over the jumps and hammered elsewhere. The lower sections were entertaining on a HT after a long time riding and racing fully's, but caught up to Mr Ed near the bottom. The filthy roadie got away on me for a bit across the grass, but caught him again at the bottom of possum. Got a glimpse of Super Carl as well. Got up possum clean, but Mr Ed eked a bit of a gap out while I sneaked a squeezy. Was feeling super good.
Eased into Nikau and closed right up on Ed and then Ppppppppppppssssssssssssssssssssssssss. Buggar. Ran 50 meteres or so to a corner where there was room to fix a puncture. Checked the sidewall, and sure enuff, wee gash. Whipped the wheel out, tire off, valve out, tube from back pocket, blew it up with mouth to give shape. Put tire back on rim after quickly running hand around to double check nothing in tire (doesn't hurt ya know) Start puting tube in, Ross Greyhaire flys past....buggar...... start beading rest of tire back on, Davo slowly rides past (he's on a fully you'd think he'd go faster) , hit on him but he leaves, too soon after tony I think.........buggar........ Grab pump and start pumping like I'm 13 and I've just discovered what it's for...........richard flys past......hmm wonder where tony teo is.......finish. Wheel back in bike, should I put my gloves back on...nah stuff it, pin it.
Hammered up the bottom of nikau, up missing link, charged up Aratehi, occaisionly seeing Davo in the far distance., past SC making like a singlespeeder, into Ridgeline and I open up the taps on the big wheels. Fly down, in to Extension, spotting SC again, poor lass is stalking me, big wheels are eating this stuff up like Big Gav in a bakery. Drop into swigg starfish, getting my groove on, exiting onto the road and Lisa's yelling "pull a wheelie au!". Stuff that, and drop one of my patented Slacky Sprint bombs and take off like a kid after an icecream truck. See DAvo up the road but the loolie has popped and the end is too far to make that gap. He attempts to mock me, but I see thru this, as I know he just wants to meet me in the loo's after.

so end up 4th, after sitting well and truely in 2nd, gutting, but still good, cos I know that the new bike has helped me climb much faster and I've had fun. Which is what really matters.

Highlight of the day for me was playing in the play ground after the race. Low points were the puncture and bloody Lisa tellin lil sarah that I don't like Weta's...........gee thanks......


Look for some bike review pos to come in the next few days... Satan Cruz Blur LT, Turner 5 spot (DWlink) and Cannondale 29er.

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Sharpie At Teh Pointy End - First Elite Race

After wrapping up the senior men title a couple of weeks back in Belmont I popped into Pro Elite for a ride with the big dogs. I was fairly nervous, but as I really had nothing to lose and a whole heap to gain I was keen as mustard to get going. Lining up for the start I had thoughts of dropping out the arse end of the pack and being subjected to Davo’s punter lines for the first 30 minutes. Not so.

I got into Rimu 8th in the queue. I saw someone take a wrong turn up towards Ridgeline Extension, so managed to gain a place there. Awesome. Out onto the 4wd I followed Jase “The Ace” Goldie before creeping past him and 2 others. I latched onto Hiskey’s wheel and managed to stay in touch down Swigg/Starfish, up Koru and Sally Alley and down/up Missing Link until the bottom of Aratihi. At this point I waved Jase through, took a drink and carried on up. Jase and Hiskey put around a minute on me up Aratihi – I was hurting, and sweating like a rapist. I hadn’t expected it to be so hot up there. Towards the top I spotted Bigg Gav on his way up. Damn. Down Upper Leaping Lizard (Awesome fun) and into rest he got very close. I pulled aside and let him through a wee bit after the Nikau turn off. Had an OK run down Lower Leaping Lizard by my standards – I’m a bit of a punter on the down hill sections still. Near the bottom I was all on my own and thought I was nailing my lines when Kurt Lancaster came steaming past me. Mad respect to that man, he was HAULING down there – made me look like a real n00b. I stuck with him up the climb, and got pretty close – close enough for a pass. Just as I was thinking of calling I heard a grunt from behind me… I assumed it was someone fast calling to pass me, so pulled aside. It was Carl Patton. He hadn’t called to pass, he was just grunting. Ah well. Michael Naylor was hot on his heels, so he snuck past at the same time. At this point I figure I’d lost around 30 seconds between pulling over, letting 4 people past and getting back up to speed. I suppose because it was my first race I was being super polite (Not like me, I know…) and gave my position away very easily just incase I was holding people up. Lesson learned. I certainly won’t be doing that again.

Anywho, back to the racing. Out of Possum and into Nikau, my legs felt a little dead. I kept the pedals turning over, but not making any headway. The guy in front started eeking out a small gap, and by the time we started Aratihi he had about 20 seconds on me. Around a third of the way into Aratihi the second time my legs came back to life. Heading into Zac’s for the first time I felt there was still a fair bit of racing to do. On the 4wd climb back to the top I eyeballed the 2 in front of me. While I could see them they were about 1 minute in front. On the second pass I’d gained a little time back, but not enough to make a difference. Turning into Ridgeline I had a bit of a m0ng – wrong gear, couldn’t get clipped in, wobbling about the place… eventually got going, and had a fairly uneventful run down. Tom Bradshaw caught me on Ridgeline Extension after I was held up by a slower rider. Again, I let him through. GAH. He put about 10 seconds on me down Swigg and Starfish, and I put in a bit of an effort on the road to claw him back in, to no avail.

I ended up 9th. I’m not happy with 9th, but I’m encouraged by it. Just over three and a half minutes off the podium in a 110 minute race. Not too bad for someone who was 108kg just 24 months ago.I’m super lucky in having Mark “Cabin” Leishman as my new coach too. I haven’t ever done any training, so I’m looking forward to getting faster for an attack on the North Island Cup and Nationals early next year. Next up for me is the Rotorua round of the Mid North Island Cup in 3 weeks time – I’ll always find an excuse to go riding in vegas ;-)

Just a quick spam: Thanks heaps to Penny Farthing Cycles for their support. We have a great arrangement, where I get paid every 2 weeks to ride for them. All they ask in return is that I show up at the shop (For autographs etc) for about 40 hours each week. Nice. Also, thanks to Scott for hooking a brother up with super-light super-nice bikes and of course my lovely wife for putting up with my constant bike talk/riding/stubbies/etc.

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Davo's PNP Series Wrap-Up

What a mint series of races that was. I did quietly set myself the target of winning the series on my singlespeed, but then at the last minute, switched to my 'new' FSR for Makara. Still, I did the other four on the onespeed so I'm still pretty pleased with myself although admittedly still a sellout.

After heckling Marco for a start with the Elites, we got it, then regretted it fairly quickly. It was good having a big, fast field and to head out with, but it was a bit too juicy for me! I got into Rimu ahead of fellow Bushlovies, Mono and Slacky (at least I think I did) but as soon as we emptied onto the 4WD they and plenty of others, smashed me in - I just couldn't go fast enough!

There was a slacker somewhere up ahead, as the pace slowed on Swigg/Starfish which allowed some re-bunching behind me which included Tiger and Ross Weston (vying for 3rd overall). I dropped them in the singletrack be they re-acquired me on Aratihi where I rode like Old Mother Hubbard. I gunned Leaping Lizard and caught up although Tony had a problem. In a fantastic display of sportsmanship, I stopped to educate Tiger on how to use my gas carts'. Silly punter had 'burped' and had no pump.

I never caught Ross, and I hoped that Carl Patton had given Ricky the good news as if Rickster won he could take the series! As fortune (not Ricky's) would have it, I passed him on Nikau pumping up his flat tire. "I'll be up your pooper soon" he announced as I passed. This was a huge motivation to pick my legs up. I became sluggish on Aratihi and towards the top I could see Ricky closing in quickly. I knew I could still beat him if I had maybe 30secs going into Ridgeline. I rode fast enough to keep my gap and had a ball with the new full suss' bike. I waited around on S.Karori Rd for him so he could see me cruise across the line with one foot. I'm a good mate.

I definitely felt slow on the climbs and I don't think it was the heavier bike, but more the lack of training and the ride I did with Tony, Pete, Clive, Whacko and Sharpie the day before (nice BBQ after too - yummo). I still did my best, but got luck to stand on the round podium thanks to Tony and Ricky's troubles! still, I'll take it.

Tony still had an ace weekend. Not only did he win the Merida/Rocket Bikes sponsorship, but he also got laid on our pre-ride. Unfortunately we had to call the council to get his date put down afterwards (need to find pic again!)

Another great series from Marco and his grand team of helpers. Well done to all those sponsors who invest their time and money into the local scene. Big ups to all the Bushlovers. The Team took 19 medals during the series in addition to 4 series podium places. I have deduced that Whacko is due a 3rd overall for the series in U23 due to winning the final round which counts over the same 50pts from another chap who won another round. Time to email Marco ;-) (Edit - Whack didn't do enough rounds to get the U23 Trophy)

See you at the Rally! davo

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Race 5 and a Fluke for The Tiger

So the nerves of race day had started and I had only just dragged my head off the pillow. For some silly reason I agree with the Father Outlaw the night before to get up and watch the All Blacks at 6am… With lack of sleep on my side I trudged over to the smell of cooking Bacon, Eggs & Black Pudding. I’m a sucker for the smell of bacon, porker I know. Finished fuelling with a bowel of porridge and loads of water.Race report time, this won’t take long folks ;o)

So lining up for the start with the Pro/Elite rider Davo and talked about different ways of taking Carl Paton out of the race, dropping slick, pump in the wheel or just blatant pushing him off Ridgeline.Disappointed to see Davo was not wearing his famous Denim Lycra, just a boring blue bum to follow toady (No ladies no sausages involved here, Davo saves them for the women). The horn went and everyone shot off like a Winston Peters with a fist full of donations. Up the hill making me feel like I was going to be dropped like a 90 year old's breast, which for a while I was. Struggling on the first hill I finally warmed up by time we hit Aratihi and I could see those blue butt cheeks sagging with the pain of the climb. Pushing to catch Davo I closed the gap 2/3rd’s of the way up Aratihi. To my surprise Davo pulled over for me to pass. Taking this perfect opportunity to pounce (Do ya like that baby, Pounce like a Tiger) I did so powering to the top of Aratihi taking a good 50mtrs out of him and finding my stride. Leaping Lizard was going sweet until disaster hit!!! My front tyre rolled off the rim. Having tubeless left me flaccid and dejected (No this is not bedroom talk ladies). As Davo barreled down with his new comfort machine (I’d call it the ‘LazyBoy’) I yelled out to see if he had a pump, the gentlemen that he is stopped and gave me the last of his gas canister, before disappearing into the distance like a knight on his gallant steed. Watched most of the field zip past me with the odd “Oh!!! Bad luck Tiger” from fellow BushLover’s and a slap on the arse from Pete, thanks honey ;o).

Things just got worse… I don’t know if you all know or not, but once a tubeless tyre pops off the rim you’re basically stuffed from there on. I pumped it up 4 more times before finally biting the bullet and asking a passer by if he had a spare tube. Thanks to that man, saved the rest of my race. Down now by about 30min I gassed it up the last part of Possum Bait to trudge on home way too far off the pace for any podium finish.Stoked to see BushLove all over the podium again (Mono, Davo, Slacky Wacko, sorry if I missed anyone), Great to have you back out there Slacky, those calves still haunt me. Oh yeah the Fluke part of my ride, somehow I managed to pot the Merida/Rocket Bikes Sponsorship. I have to say besides Pete slapping me on the arse was a highlight of my day.Big thanks to Merida, Rocket Bikes Shane. Despite the mechanical issues this was a great course, I would say even one of the best in the series, I’ll be back next year for revenge on the podium.
Chur
Teh Tiger

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New Modern Machinery For Davo

First ride on my new second-hand bike today! The frame is my birthday and xmas present so don't take the piss or i'll be offended. Took it for a spin up Danzig, down Chopper and Big Weta then over Belmont Trig, down the Koro Koro stream and up to Oakleigh St; a mint circuit.It is a Stumpjumper FSR. I've always liked Stumpies since I got my first MTB in 1988, a fine burgandy colour Hardrock with Suntour gears. I will post some retro pics of me as a junior dawg sometime.
I'd never ridden a suspension bike for longer than a jaunt around a carpark so was looking forward to this jump into this centuary (2004). I expected it to ride like a bit of a wet noodle, but I hardly felt any bobbing atall. It was easy to forget I was on it until it cushioned my tushie on the bumps, rocks and dips. I think this is due to the platform dampening I've read about and the design of the FSR which has links from horses. Riding up Danzig was somewhat different to last time I rode, which was in the PNP race on my rigid singlespeed. I just stayed in the saddle, aimed at all the rooty bits and hardly felt a thing. On steep sections and on the rocky bits of the Trig climb, the rear wheel felt like it was glued to the trail. On the downhills, especially the rutted, rocky sections heading south off Belmont Trig, the real advantage wasn't just the 'comfort' but the traction. The rubber was spending more time on the trail meaning I could manipulate the rear brake more than usual. Same with cornering - more grip as the wheel is stuck to the ground. I need a new stem to compensate for the longer top-tube, but apart from that it seems to be mint. It looks like a monster to keep clean and maintained and weighs almost 27lb but the smoothness of the ride means I felt like there wasn't a weight penalty. I think i'll end up splitting my time between this and the SS. I did miss being able to feel the 'finer points' of the trail and thought gears were cheating after several month racings and riding SS, but these 'modern' machines are certainly nifty bits of kit. I look forward to racing it at Makara at the weekend - see you there! Cheers. Davros

Edit - Frame sold. Despite being a great comfy ride and quick down the hills, I decided the full suss thing wasn't for me. I never got the same 'feel' of the trail, and felt it was a bit like going rockclimbing in gumboots. Sold it to buy something rather different = A nice rigid steel SS. D

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The BLRT Welcomes Tony "The Tiger" Keith

The Bushlovers are pleased to welcome on board Tony "The Tiger" Keith.

Comments from the membership committee included:

"He's suitable - He's a complete tool like the rest of us"

"Tony is a GC. We should let him in as long as he makes with the head"

Tony is a bit nifty and claimed the top spot in the Masters 1 cat' at the Belmont PNP. He is also quite an uggo, so makes the rest of the team appear better looking.

Not sure what it means to 'make with the head' , but we're sure he will.

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12 hours Singles and Riding Jacko

Short one from me:

Got told to buck up or lose my Bushlove team spot, and so thought I'd head out to redeem myself at the weekend's 12 hour. Having done the event in a singlespeed international all-star team last year (1 skinny Pom, 1 brickhouse Welshman, 1 skinny Asian and a token Kiwi), it was put forth that it would be a good idea to try another singlespeed team.....


Team reshuffles meant that our singles team was bolstered by 2 Bushlove members vying for young stud honors, but let's face it, Jack0 has larger shanks. The rest of the day was spent trying to crack 19-minute laps, I came close at 19:30. Abusing the Burkes Mixed team of 2 guys (Pinky and Liam), and 2 girls (Rachel and Clive) was also amusing throughout.

We trailed 5th for what seemed like the entire race by 5 minutes or so before Jack declined his 3rd consecutive 19 minute night lap, leaving us respectably in sixth. Of course by then I was dry, and already had a beer in my hand.

Bushlove SS team maybe? Sponsored by Emotion (Welshman promises white lycra skinsuits with gold sequin logos...)

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Bushlove Does Wild Welly

Slacky Hurts

This is pretty much the theme for racing longer than 3 hours for me, partly due to diet and arthritis, mostly due to being a big pussy. This year The Burkes team was up against the same mixed team as last year, just in different livery, this time Sam, Conner, and Tom were in RnR kit, with Al the token roadie and the lovely Rose.
We stuck with the multisport duo of Liam and Rachael, Myself, and newly burked up Angry Clive, that's 50% bushlove baby....

It was pretty much obvious that the whippets were going to win Mixed (which they did), and the youngsters came 3rd overall as well.
Luckily we're used to being 2nd to them, Angry first lapped for us, but his planned double went south when he punctured at the end of the first lap, and I had to hurriedly get on my shoes, helmet, gloves, and move myself to the left (it's not cricket hanging to the right). I ripped outa there like a fatman after a cream bun, latching onto Old Man Ian Pantin. This was possibly a very bad idea as he's very fast and warmed up, and I was not. In the hole from the start, just thankful I was managing to stay in front of Al the token roadie. Took the rooty DH at a comfortable pace the first lap, with no real issues, and pulled around for another lap. Buggar, English Rob.........and then he was gone. He'd obviously had P ontop of his weeties that morning. I struggled the rest of the lap, trying to get out of the hole from the 1st one. Tapped it a bit on the rooty DH, not quite making the corner at the bottom.
Rest of the race was just hammer hammer hammer, Liam, Rachael and speshly Angry doing awesome work.
I scared Scotty at one point going past him down the rooty DH at warp factor "holy shit" seeing how deep I could go without braking (it turns out that just past the easy turnoff is nearly too far)

I popped at about 5ish is quite a spectacular fashion. On the 2nd of one of my doubles, I popped at the bottom of the climb, and suffered and I mean suffered around the rest of the track. I nearly chopped granny on the alexander rd climb at the bottom, and I even nearly got off and walked near the top. I was pretty much out on my feet. Got some Kranskys in me, and I felt a bit better. Meanwhile I think about this time another Burkes rider, Andrew Young, popped out a double for us.
Whilst I recovered, the others hammered.
Clive finished off his last double and went home to bed, as the silly fool was racing a road race the next day, and I did another single. Felt ok, but I wouldn't ahve been able to knock out a double. Liam and Rachael both knocked out laps on the Blur LT which left me with 25 odd mins to finish the last lap. I came in with 7.5 mins to spare.
2nd in mixed behind the whippets, and 6th overall.
I slept most of the next day, and was still tired as heck on Monday.

Next year

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12 hours of Smashing and a Filthy Roadie (The World's Longest Blog Post)

Wild Welly

Photo stolen without permission from Oli Brooke White

I showed up early at the Velodrome about 8am (as being over 35 I was concerned about getting a car park, whereas a few years ago would have parked in a loading zone by a fire hydrant blocking an ambulance.) and got in a nice pre-ride lap to suss out the course it was a bit muddy in places but as about 60% of it had been run over with a plate compactor it was going to be a pretty fast course.
Helped setup the burkes tent (well watched while they did) and got ready for the start as I was out first.
3 2 1 go, and was straight into a tarmac hill climb behind Carl, Gav, Jonty and 1 other, was right behind this bunch until the crossover at the top of the gut buster and then Carl and Gav slowly pulled away, Jonty was on a cross bike and was super quick up hill but I managed to overtake him in 1 section but couldnt hold him off on the last climb and I came in on his tail and like the rest of my cursed season ran over a piece of glass at the bottom of the gut buster, luckily enough I was close enough to the tent section to make it without it going completely flat, so yelled out at Ricky to get ready, unfortunately Ricky was still supping lactose and carb free soy Lattes as he was expecting me to be doing 2 laps, but Ricky the superstar must be used to getting undressed /dressed pretty quick (I can only assume from all the bored housewifes than wander into Burkes) and was ready in a flash for his lap.
My first lap was a 17:02 which I was very pleased with but was 1min 15 seconds behind Carl Patton.. mans a freak..
The rest of the race was reasonablly uneventfull apart from a stack on the tetchy little right hand corner at the bottom after you come out of the Velodrome was carrying way too much speed into the corner escaping from Wacko.
Burkes Mixed team finished in 2nd place, behind the stacked R&R sports team, I didnt wait around for the prize giving as I needed some sleep before the Martinbourgh Fun Ride 115km road race the next day.
Big ups to everyone who competed and congratulations to Pete (Vert) for not killing himself I believe he may have been drunk by about 9am.
Also the fairies deserve a special mention, they guy in the photo is a client of mine and will recieve a dose of mockery when I see him next.

And congratulations to Tony, Gav and co from the Searletech team for taking out the (whimps) 6 hour race.

Now Ricky, wheres my medal?, its going to double the size of my medal tally.

A filthy roadie teaches a nice country boy a lesson in road racing

I wasnt sure how I was going to feel for the 115km Martinbourgh Fun Ride on the Sunday have been a bit under the weather recently with colds and infections and other tasty stuff and having thrashed my legs on an off for the previous 12 hours I was just hoping to complete the race.
Tony rocked up to my place to drive us over to Martinbourgh at 6:45 and we arrived nice and early about 8am ready to roll.
I was trying to avoid being seen by Tony in his SPDs and was gratefull he hadnt worn his trademark Karapoti top I was also tempted to tie his number onto the handlebars of his bike rather than pinning it on his back.
3 2 1 Go.. Race stated out at leisurely pace like most road races and then picked up after about 2 kms and then the podium spots where promptly gone when Craig Lawn and 3 of his buddies attacked from 10km, 2 of them showed up looking a bit broken about 30 km's later but we didnt see Craig again, it looks like he TT'ed the whole race. Settled in for a nice hard road race as there where now 500 people racing for 3rd spot.

Joel was out front a lot trying I think to get a breakaway going I would have joined in if there was any danger of one actually forming but any little breakaways where quickly reigned back in.
Tony was going well circulating around the front of the pack, I had a few goes out to the front and back but I felt there wasnt much urgency to the bunch.
Conner was also out there for his first road race (didnt realise this till the end) and was riding strong despite also having ridden the 12 hour the day before.
As martinbourgh is a mainly flat ride we only really had a few surges in speed to deal with and nothing felt too hard which was great as I thought my legs would have been toast.
So stuck it out till the end and decided to have a sprint for the finish line about 600m out hoping Tony, Conner or Joel would join me, but Joel had attempted the same thing about 500m earlier and I dont think he was keen for another shot, Tony and Conner where sprucing up their hair and putting on makeup for the photo finish behind me somewhere.
Into the last corner the sprinters who had been sitting at the back of the pack all day smashed through along with Tony and Conner, I think Tony thought he had me there as he had a nice lead into the final sprint, but he blew his bolt too early and I caught up to him and waited behind and put a filthy roadie move on him and sprinted past in the last 50 metres for 15th place and a time of 2:58.
Was pleased with my time and performance, legs felt good and the pace of the race wasnt too difficult and yet we were 5 minutes faster than last year.

Well done to Tony and Connors in there first road races and Joel for smashing it out front.

Next big race is the Taupo Classic, going to get my legs ripped off there for sure.

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Belmont PNP - Davo, Davo & Whacko Report

Better late than never. Though best to get this in quick as the Wild Wellington Relay was on today and the BLR has Slacky, Angry, Whacko and Kah strutting their stuff. Reports will follow once they recover.

Teh Race of Mono
The fourth round of the PNP series at Belmont was an interesting one for me. I knew that a win would throw the series my way, so felt a tiny bit of pressure before the race, especially considering I didn’t really enjoy the course and haven’t done any training since August. I also had a new bike for the race which I’d only ridden once a couple of days before the race. Factor in that it was the first time I’d raced a hardtail since Karapoti ‘04 when I was a teenager. Nice one.

I had a decent climb from the start, at the front into Danzig with Rhys Musson close behind, and Hamish Collie on his tail. Along the 4wd and into the paddocks I only ever had about 50m on Rhys. Every time we got to a fence/gate he eyeballed me (Can’t blame him, he’s only human) as he got within spitting distance. I caught up with Marco just before the road section and gave him some shit for making everyone ride through acres of dung.
Rhys caught me on the Sweetacres climb and eased past. As he was doing so I introduced myself and he returned the favour. For the rest of the climb we were within 20m of each other, with Marco keeping us company. After a brief descent we headed along to the saddle again to head down the bridleway. Rhys was about 40m ahead of me, and he missed the turn off. I yelled out, and motioned for him to follow me. I cruised for a bit to let him get back past me. I would have felt shit if I’d won because everyone else got lost. Honest.
On one of the wee pinch climbs up towards the end of chopper he made some enquiries about Bushlove Racing. I suggested he ring our office during work hours and speak to Cindy, our receptionist (I gave him Kah’s home phone number). I followed Rhys down Big Weta, and possibly startled him when I started w00ting half way down. That was loose, and great fun. Turning back up Danzig I sat on his wheel and stayed put at a comfortable pace. At the rapist hut he found a slippery root (hur hur) and I snuck past. We ended up walking/jogging about 70% of Danzig this time up. God it was frustrating.
From the top when we popped out of the little dogleg bit I put a burst in and pulled a wee gap before hitting Chopper. I’d ridden Chopper earlier in the week with Davo with no dramas at all, but the rainfall had made it more exciting come race day. Only one minor spill for me, with Rhys close behind at the start of Big Weta. I managed a good run down this time, and extended the lead just enough to rule out the possibility of any kind of sprint finish. My chicken legs were feeling good though, so I just carried on and enjoyed splashing through the stream before steaming up the road to claim the win. Rhys finished close behind, about 20 seconds I think, so great stuff there to get such a close race. Unfortunately for Hamish Collie he took a wrong turn (Possibly the victim of botched marshalling) and arrived at the finish a little early.
As I’ve had 3 wins and a First Loser in the four rounds I’ve got the senior men title wrapped up, so will be steaming into Pro for the final round on my home trails for some pain and a good arse whipping.

Davo's Race....

Short report - I was riding a rigid singlespeed with v's. The course was fine for it and I really enjoyed the different challenge. The start went well and I hopped off and shouldered the bike to pull away from the M1 and Elite (who joined us at the base) I stayed away from everyone incl Wayne and Stu Houltham, till the top of Danzig. I was chuffed.

I faded out a little on the SS but good ole Bushlover Jase Goldie gave me a hand-sling and I was back in the game. I rode with Wayne for the first while and was chasing Tony the Tiger who was riding hard. I faded slightly heading towards the airstrip and Wayno gave me a little push which spurred me on to catch Tony. Sadly we had entered the 4wd section and Tiger revved the big ring and gave me the good news. Although I gave Tiger a shout when I saw him on Sweetacres (hoping to rattle him into making a mistake ;-) I never caught him and he romped on to a fine win, his first MTB win I believe. What legend. I held off Angry Clive to hang onto second.

An awesome race. The slippy singletrack was mint. I went off a bank on Big Weta and my bike went over my head and we landed in a tiny stream. I was back on in no time and not hurt. Phew! I enjoyed the old school racing in muddy fields, with the rigid and my rainbow gay pride polyprop.

Looking forward to Makara. After getting second at Belmont I am leading Slackboy Pincott on the point table. I think I have to finish close to him at Makara to take the series. Hard to do though. Slacky rules at Makara and built half the tracks!

Thanks to Nigel and Shane for pics. I would have been faster up Danzig if I had left my date at home (Tks Shane!).

A grand Bushlove day with many podium spots!

Cheers. DAvo.


Whacko Jacko's Report (Definitely written by him)

After cruising the paddocks for a date, I found Davo's goat and missed my start. Despite this I still smashed the field and got a tasty third. Bryn and Tom held me off, but I'm guessing they train and ride with gears, whereas I do neither. I chilled out on the way home listening to my mix tape of MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. Those dudes rock me to the core.

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US Election Ride

Since I am not allowed to vote here in the US election, I had a spare 4 hours to go for a ride. I'd done a few reccys to sort out some local trails and it was time to link them together for an honest solo-Jonny-mission.


I dropped the kids at school and continued on up to Windy Hill OSP. This park is mostly walking-only and during the week is chock-full of wives walking groups. The main bike opportunity here is a decent climb that takes you straight up to the top of Skyline, about 400 metres vertical. There's also a few other fun single tracks that head over to other parks. I took the wiggly traverse that connects to Alpine Road. Alpine starts out as tarmac 1 car wide and really pretty with the fall leaves. After about 20 mins of climbing it becomes dirt for another 20 mins, all up about 500 metres vertical.

I crossed into Monte Bello OSP, past the location of a previous rattlesnake sighting, and headed up Bella Vista and Old Range trails, about 2 km of sweet single track climb through open grassland to a highpoint at about 850m, perfect gradient for the single speed. From here it's a super-fast descent down a 4wd track back into the Canyon Trail. The Canyon Trail is about 8km gently down the San Andreas fault underneath huge oak trees all hanging with moss. Very pretty with lots of deer. It starts out as 4wd and slowly narrows to a fun single track. At the bottom you arrive at a scene straight from Deliverance, scary. I was out of there as fast as my banjo shanks would go! A bit further down the valley the tarmac started again and I turned hard right up Redwood Gulch road - ye gods a super tough climb. According to my onboard gps-computer-sattelite-tv doodad it maxed at 31%, and continued on for nearly 2km at nearly this grade. There was no way I was going to walk and managed to mash my way up, not pretty but no walking! After this it turns into a more reasonable climb for a further 5km and a total of 600m in one stint.

At the top I teed into the Bay Area Ridge trail at Saratoga Gap OSP, the beginning of some great single track. The trail follows alongside Skyline highway and links up many different parks. I puttered along for about 8km though Saratoga Gap OSP, Long Ridge OSP, Skyline Ridge OPS and into Russian Ridge OSP, all fun single track with lots of good views. I was starting to fade at the 3 hour mark having brought only water and no food (yeah good one). I took the tarmac back to the top of Skyline for a fun descent. On the way down there are lots of side track options that remind me of the technical bits of Mt Vic, fun.

Some stats (geek, that's me): 3 1/2 hours, 55km, 1700metres climbing. 75% off-road, 50% single track. A dozen deer, 1 huge turkey, 1 raccoon, 500 squirrels, no mountain lions (this is good). Two beers and a lie down, I'm starting to feel human again :)

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Podium full of Bushlove

Like everyone (apart from really hard people) I wasn't looking forward that much to the Belmont round of the PNP series haven't pre-ridden the course on the Thursday and going down what we thought was Big Weta but in fact was a downhill shute called the slide, I thought a westpac rescue was on the cards.
Watching the heavy rain out the window on Saturday evening I just pictured all the clay downhills getting even more claye'er and the mud in Belmont sticks like glue nicely bound together with pine needles, I knew we would be in for some fun.


On arrival I went for a reccy up Danzig and down Big Weta, no dramas really slippy but nothing the mighty Anthem cant handle.

Lined up for race start next to Tony "the warrior" Teo (I just made that up) and gunned it off the start into the first pinch climb , only to see Pro Elite coming back down via Big Weta the marshals had pointed the wrong way, so now all the good riding lines had gone so nothing for it but to sprint up the 4wd track to the Danzig turn off. Davo loped past holding is bike on his back and was one of the first into Danzig and I thought Tony was behind me but apparently not he must have gotten in there pretty quick as well.
The first parts of Danzig where rideable but once past the rapists hut the track was very think and slippy so thankfully I had put in sprigs in the morning and there was nothing much to do but run most of it, I could see Ross Weston about 20 metres behind me and when I stalled with a wheelspin he past me.

After Danzig we headed out the the farmland, the grass was reasonably grippy so no dramas, but to my surprise I saw Tony and Davo miles ahead of me, I thought Tony was still behind so he must have hammered it up Danzig. Ross was about 100 metres ahead as I struggled to find a good rhythm, so I have concentrated on catching Ross.

Up to Sweetacres climb, now I actually liked this climb as its at about the limits of what you can actually ride, myself and Tony had ridden in all on the previous Thursday and its pretty steep but grippy, however after the rain I only managed to ride about 70-80%, I was slowly catching up to Ross though and saw him walking a section ahead so busted a gut and caught up to him and past him, now Ross is no slouch so he started to chase but I managed to eech out a small lead down to Old Coach road again.
Next was around to the Bridle downhill section via the funny little up/down section (which we had to do 3 times) off Old coach road,( Marco must have been in a funny mood that day thinking the rest of the course wasn't hard enough.). At one stage Ross was about 30 metres behind me going into the downhill sections which I knew where going to be tricky.

So into Big Weta I go, saw Scotty and Ben videoing and while trying to look smooth and controlled for the video lost it on the front wheel and went sideways into the trees.. ow, No damage done though so back on and down Big Weta my tyres where double the size packed with clay, mud and pine needles with absolutely no tread visible , I learnt a lot about when NOT to use your front brake down a clay chute.
On one of the final drops on Big Weta I saw a Dad with 2 young pre-school kids on a corner just off the riding line and I was thinking shit don't hit the kids.... and promptly wiped them all out, poor little fella was punted back a couple of feet and looked completely stunned (as you would). I profusely apologised and hopped back on as they all looked Ok apart from the screaming.

At the bottom we got to do Danzig all over again, joy... It was pretty chewed up the second time around, so had to walk/run most of it I could hear Ross behind me, so pushed on hard. Once at the top it was down the little up/down for the last time and into Chopper, Chopper is a great little track and had quite a bit of grip in areas , however having no visible tread on my tyres it made for exciting times. No crashes on the last couple of sections saw me down to the bottom to complete the lap through the creeks and out to the finish line.

Was stoked to get 3rd, my first podium in a PNP race I thought with the conditions I would have been quite a bit further back.

Time for another Dodzy skillz course I think, although I was pleased with my riding today given the conditions, last year a race like this would have been carnage for me.

Congratulations to Tony for coming in 1st and Davo for P2,
In fact Bushlove had a great weekend

Mono 1st in Senior men
Davo 2nd in M1
Angry 3rd in M1
Goldie 3rd in Pro-elite
Jacko 3rd in under 19
Kah - home drinking lattees found some fluff in his belly button.

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Who farted?

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