Learning to Fly

Mr Carl - on the farm!

I have a confession, I may not be the worst mountain biker in the world, but I'd probably make the short-list. I have shocking balance and an almost debilitating fear of edges. And yet, in late 2010, I talked Mr Carl into buying mountain bikes. My reasoning had nothing to do mountains, I wanted us to spend some time at my parents farm and I had an inkling that the idea might go over better with bikes involved!

Sand + Bike = Fun!

So Carl and I bought mountain bikes, Pitchy and Contessa. Pitchy is a tough beast, an all mountain, full suspension bike which looked decidedly out of place swerving through the red drift sand on the farm. Neither Carl or Pitchy were fans of the sand, especially when it jammed up his pedals and he kept falling over. I tried hard not to laugh as I coasted through the sand with Contessa, sneaker encased feet easily dealing with the swervy conditions. I pretty much continued laughing up until I received a quick lesson on the effectiveness of disc brakes, which resulted in me flying over the handle bars and through the air. Once I landed, I stood up, dusted myself off, and laughed some more. My love affair with Contessa had begun.

The start of something good

Still, we hadn't exactly done any mountain biking, more trail riding. Over the years I have tried to remedy this, with attempts to "mountain bike" through Fox Creek, however the fairly steep terrain combined with a fear of edges always made it difficult for me to really get the hang of it. Most of the time I'd end up gingerly picking my way along trails, envisioning tumbling down the mountain should I put one foot out of place.

 

Tunnel vision

We also spent a bit of time at Melrose, which for those of you who don't know is probably the mountain biking capital of South Australia. It was there I first got a hint of how much fun the mountain biking business could be! Although terrified of the trails on the mountains, I eventually managed to find a trail called 'Weaving Camels' which zigzagged back and forward over a creek bed. There were very few edges and I found I could actually ride this trail with some confidence and eventually a little bit of speed!

CX skills master!

But one trail three hours from home isn't really enough to develop any sort of skill or confidence with a mountain bike. So I was pretty keen when Mr Carl said he wanted to try out Cobblers Creek, a park that's about 10 minutes away that has recently undergone some trail development. The map even showed an easy trail, something which both Melrose and Fox Creek lacked. Mr Carl wanted to focus on his CX skills so decided to try it out on his CX bike, but I was keen to try Contessa on terrain she was designed for.

 

All smiles after the first run!

It was a miserable day when we decided to head out there, drizzly and overcast, but we were determined to go. The rain had reduced to a fine, misty drizzle by the time we arrived and actually stopped soon after we started riding. We decided to start on the easy track, however not knowing the area, we ended up riding up the most awesome downhill section ever! Ok, I might be over selling it, but for someone who has had so much difficultly trying to get comfortable mountain biking, when I see a track that I know I can actually ride with out stressing out I get really excited.

Happy trails . . .

 

Obviously, the next thing to do was to turn around and ride it the correct way! And it was so much fun! It swooped up and down a gently sloping creek bed, the trailed skillfully designed and built to allow even less skillful riders (me) to enjoy the flow of the trail. By the time we did our second lap down the easy track, I felt like I was flying!

. . . and scenic trails . . .

After getting the hang of the easy trail we decided to head up to the ruins that were marked on the map. It wasn't our original plan, but it turned out to be a good one with the trail up to the ruins a combination of fire track and single track. The steepness of the uphill was in some way negated by the trail design, which snaked it's way up the hill via a series of banked hairpins. 

. . . make for big grins!

These hairpins offered a great opportunity to practice some of the skills I'd read about but never really got the hang of, specifically the art of looking where you are riding! This may sound like common sense, but it's easy to focus on what's directly in front of the front wheel when riding, which restricts the riders ability to react to changing trail conditions. By looking further in front, say 5 to 10 m, you can easily anticipate changes and corners and ride more smoothly.

 

  

The view from the top

Bike skills development aside, it was still a hard slog to get up to the ruins, but the view was worth it. It was surprising to see just how close to suburbia we were, with houses and roads easily visible. Yet as soon as we headed back onto the single track, it felt like we were in the middle of the bush! 

Stormy skies stayed away

Houses and roads soon became the furthest thing from my mind as the single track turned downwards. Finally I got to make use of the full suspension my bike offered as Contessa and I bumped and skidded our way down the hill. My new found confidence meant that I didn't ride my brakes the whole way down and I was grinning like a cheshire cat when I finally caught Mr Carl at the base of the descent.

  

Not just a roadie!

I was keen to try it again, so Mr Carl and I headed back up. We tried to take a shortcut to the start of the descent, however we ended up walking up a rock garden! Still we made it and proceeded to swoop and weave our way down the hill, faster this time as we were more familiar with the trail. At the bottom, faced with the setting sun, we knew we had to head back, before we were locked in the park. Grins on our faces, we headed back and enjoyed one more ride through the easy trail on our way to the carpark. I had finally found my mountain biking legs!

Mountain Bikers!

Roller Frenzy Madness - The Bobs must be Crazy!

So what do you get when you put a whole pile of passionate cyclists in the back room of a pub with their own bar tender and a couple of rollers? Answer: Roller Frenzy!

How was your Friday night?

For those of you who are wondering what on earth I'm talking about, rollers are a form of bike trainer where the bike is placed on a set of cylinders in a frame, that rotate as you ride. Commonly the bike is free standing, that is not attached to the trainer, which means you need a certain amount of balance to use them. Suffice to say, if you ever need a laugh, google bikes on rollers and I suspect you will find numerous videos showing you exactly how not to ride them! Thankfully, in the interest of public safety, the front forks of the bikes were secured during the roller frenzy. I really didn't want to see the carnage that would result from me riding an unsecured bike on rollers!

Pecker Legs

Anyway, our club vice president had talked me into having a go, something about mid level women usually doing all right (flattery will get you everywhere!). The Boss of the Bobs (Rob Cannon) had also signed up, neither of us really having any idea what we were getting into. However we decided to get into the spirit of the event by kitting up in our Bob kit and have a bit of a race against each other. A polite request by the Boss resulted in us being paired up against each other for our qualifying round. However, for some reason we also became the first riders to go, and it was an eager crowd that lined up to cheers us on!

The Rikster vs Miss Wiss

Cannonball, aka Rob Cannon and I had worked out a plan for the evening. We were going to do our qualifying round, then get beaten in the first round so that we could sit down, have a meal and cheer our mates on. But first there was a bit of pride on the line - who was the fastest Bob?

Dark Destroyer

Apparently me! There were a few seconds in it, but I had beaten the Boss Bob! I had also quickly realised just how hard roller frenzy was going to be. No resistance meant that my legs were spinning like crazy and when the crowd is cheering you on, you just had to go flat out! Also, we couldn't see the dial so you really just had to pedal as fast as you could and hope that you would beat the other person.

Qualification out the way, we hobbled over to the bar, grabbed a coke, and parked ourselves in the beer garden to cool down. With 32 riders we were able to relax as everybody else did their qualifying ride, cheered on by the crowd. Soon we found up who we were up against in Round 1 - the Smiling Assassin for Rob and the Dark Destroyer for me. In case your wondering, we had to give ourselves nick names for the night and somewhat unimaginatively, I went by V.

Pain Face

With Cannonball again first rider up, I found myself on domestique duties! This mostly involved cheering very loudly and taking the bike when he was done, as he was mostly too busy coughing to carry it. Much to our surprise, Cannonball beat the Smiling Assassin on the line! Rob was having a bit of trouble following our plan, but I figured that I was likely to stick to it, as the Dark Destroyer was super fast. However, I hadn't counted on the expertise of the handicappers, nor the motivational effects of the crowd!

With everybody cheering loudly, I went flat out and due to an advantageous handicap, managed to hang on for the win! Rob and I laughed at each other for our inability to stick to our plan, who knew the Bob's had a competitive streak?

Wannahuckalugie

 
So after a bit of a break, we faced Round 2, Cannonball vs the Wannahuckalugie and V vs Sic Mic! As it turns out Sic Mic had a brand new bike (literally delivered that day) complete with pint holder! I figured such a dedicated cyclist would have my number and both Rob and I were looking forward to a bite to eat and a sit down, specifically one that didn't involve moving the legs! However it was not to be, with both of us getting through to the quarter finals! 

Sic Mic + pint holder

By this time, standing was becoming difficult and both of us looked like we were running out of steam. Cannonball was up against the Procrastinator and I was up against the Flash! If we both made it through this round we'd be facing off against each other in the semi finals!

The crowd roared as Cannonball lined up against the Procrastinator, legs ready, coughing kept to a bare minimum. Then they were off, heads down and legs flying! Some excellent handicapping once again rendered the decision a difficult one, but Cannonball was awarded the win! Rob C was through the semi finals!



Then it was my turn, and in my state of complete exhaustion I almost became the only person on the night to fall off the rollers! Thankfully some excellent guidance from my holder, David Miller, resulted in me starting the race semi-upright and on my bike.

I knew if I won this one the next round would be Bob vs Bob! The potential for drama was high as we got the starting signal and I powered my legs into action. The crowd cheered for both of us, but in the Flash pipped me at the post, ending my night, but on the bright side I could now have a cider! 

Deano cheering on Sheepstations (I think)

After a restorative cider, I resumed domestic duties, excited to be supporting a Bob in the Semi Finals! Even though I'm sure Cannonball was hoping to bow out this round, I couldn't help but hope he would beat the Flash, who had just beaten me.

The Flash

 


After a suitable break, I set up the Cannonball's bike on the rollers and positioned myself in prime cheering position. Head hung low from coughing, the Cannonball made his way onto the bike. The Flash was raring to go and I must admit, I thought it would be a hard ask for the Cannonball to take him. But Rob C is nothing if not stubborn (often to his detriment) and when they were told go, he pedaled his legs off! I cheered him on with the rallying cry of "Go Bob" and he just kept pedaling harder. Finally the race was done and he had won! The Cannonball had made it to the final!

The Cannonball . . . vs

 



This is where I may have lost the plot a little, laughing my head off as I collected his bike an congratulated him, because what I had been told is that the final would be raced over 1000m! That was double the distance we had been racing! There was Rob, doubled over, coughing his lungs out with me standing there laughing at the fact he would have to go on! The Bobs must be crazy!

. . . Deano

 

The final would be Port Adelaide favourite "Deano" vs Crazy "Cannonball" from the Bobs. Deano looked fit and raring to go, having taken out competitors such as Pecker Legs (who had beaten Anna Meares) and Sheep Stations, not to mention the fastest rider on the night, Rikster! Cannonball on the other hand, while having knocked off some quality competition, looked like he could barely stand and the compere was having trouble getting a word out of him between coughing fits! Still, I had seen him ride in worse conditions numerous times, so I wasn't going to give up on him yet.

  

The Final

Dutiful domestique, I placed his bike on the rollers, checking that all was well with the machine. Resuming my prime cheering position, I readied what was left of my voice for the final round. After one final cough they were given the start and they were off. Deano's legs spun like crazy as he tried to chase down the Cannonball. Rob C was going as hard as he could, but he was fading fast, his head almost moving more than his legs as he struggled to get the last ounce of speed from his exhausted body. In the last 150m, after much shouting and cheering, Deano caught the Cannonball and hung on to win Roller Frenzy V!

The Bobs had done themselves proud, with a hard fought 2nd place. Neither of us had anything left and I'm pretty sure I sacrificed my voice as well as my legs at this race! Congratulations to Deano for the win and many thanks to Port Adelaide Cycling Club and all the volunteers who helped put this race on, I'm looking forward to the next one!

In case you're still at a loss as to what I've been talking about, check out this short video compiled by the Dark Destroyer. Also, thanks to Mr Carl for providing the pictures for this blog post.