22/3/10

Happy New Year!!!!!!! (In March)

Hey there everyone.

Yes, I know, it’s been ages since my last blog, but it’s cause I’ve been pretty busy, so I guess that’s good.

So I was looking back on my last post and it got me thinking about how much I love riding. You know, nothing gives me as much of a high as riding some kick arse singletrack.

So, what’s been going on in GP land??

Well, after returning back from my U.S. holidays, I had a spiffy new Trek Madone 5.2 Project One waiting for me.  This is a pretty trick setup!  Trek have taken the huge step this year to make all their Madone 5 and 6 series all Project One bikes.  Trek have done the P1 bikes for the last 8 or so years, but have only offered them in the top of the line 6 series, so offering them in the 5 series now makes getting your very own custom machine that much easier to grab.

So, how does it ride?? Well, it rides pretty darn good. The frame is pretty stiff, without it being overly harsh and the new seat mast design also softens most road vibrations.  I spec’ed my P1 with the new Shimano Ultegra groupo and hand built some White Industries hubs into a pair of Mavic Open Pro rims.

She’s a lil pearler to ride and I know that there’s no one else in Oz with the same bike as me……unlike some other mass produced bikes!!

Just before Christmas the 2009 Gravity 12hr MTB race was once again held out at Rosewhite, in the North East Victorian alpine district.

This was the 5th year running that I’ve “raced” it and I always look forward to a fun filled weekend hanging out with mates and riding some sweet arse trails.

This year was a new look team. Yep, due to Ian and Carli expecting their first child and  going to ‘Huff and Puff’ class that weekend, I called on the expert skills of Goose, Andy and Sharon. We also had Shell along as the teams Cow Bell ringer!! We’d also changed our name this year to “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”……..for obvious reasons…….

 

We all arrived at the race location on the Friday afternoon, to a scene of devastation. Just under year ago, the Black Saturday bushfires ripped the heart and soul out of the Victorian High Country, with a fiery force that had never been seen. The Gravity course was right in the middle of the fire’s path, and the trail was lost.  As we drove the dirt road to get to the camping ground we could see the devastation.  Underneath the new growth, you could see the blackness of the burnt trees and still the smell of fire in the air. It was kinda eerie. There was a feeling of sadness in the air, but at the same time everyone was so happy to be back at the Gravity for another year.

The weather had turned it on again, with the sun showing its face for the whole of the weekend!!  Again we’d decided to take this race ‘very serious’ with a very special pink themed race outfit for each of us.  Goose had brought the Pink Flamingos to add a bit of class to our ‘trailer trash’ camp site.

The race started ok, with me doing the first lap, then Goose, Sharon and finally Andy. We were pumpin through the laps and the day was heatin up. Because of the fires, there was a thick layer of ash on the trail, which would stick to your face and clog your lungs.  About ¾ into the race, Goose broke his chain and was out. By this stage we’d worked out that we were pretty safe in our current position, so we all decided to take a lil brake from racing and just enjoy the atmosphere. We’d brought along a number of Cow Bells, so we ‘discreetly’ encouraged all the riders as they passed.

After a nice 1hr sit down, I started the last lap. We’d blinged out my bike with an array of glow-in-the-dark products and I strapped a new Monkey Light to my wheel.

By the end of the race we’d managed a very reasonable 8th place.

It was a super fun weekend and I’m totally looking forward to next year!

 

Cheers
Dr. Doug