A ride to the playground.

Sunday the sun broke through the clouds so dad took me on a bike ride to the playground.

It was a fun ride to get their traveling through the back allies of Balwyn.

I took a big tumble when my front wheel got stuck in a hole.

Fraser was leading the way to the playground and i couldn't get their fast enough.

At first i played on the slide.

Then i played on the swing.

The rocking Kangaroo was so much fun.

Then dad left me hanging on the monkey bars. I could have hung their all day.

Leaving the playground i had another big crash.

All was good though. Dad said it i have to keep my hands on the handlebars until i get a bit older.

On the way home their was heavy traffic on the footpath. i had to pull over to let the pamphlet trolleys past.

Dad has also been teaching me to cross the road safely. Looking right and left checking for cars.

I always practice my curb hoping when crossing the road.

The final stretch home was flat out. I was even out pacing Fraser.

We went so fast on the way home we had to wait for dad to catch up and open the gate.

Ergon Grips.

With work flat out leading up to Christmas i haven't had time for updates. I have however been prepairing for the Kona 24 hour next weekend. For the last couple of years i have been searching for the ultimate grips with some good finds but nothing that improves performance until now.

Jeff found these Ergon grips and gave them a try at the Scott 24 hour and couldn't believe how good they were. He said i just had to give them a try, so i did.

The diagram shows how the design of the grip improves comfort. Been and endurance MTB rider, comfort is one of the things i was looking for in a grip, the Ergon delivers this.

What really surprised me was how they improved riding performance. Let me explain. Because the grip supports the palm of your hand it seems to relax your fingers so you don't grip hard, your fingers just rap around. When it comes to descending fast or flying through single track the only way to do it is by staying relaxed and letting the bike flow. Because you are not griping the bars you have this relaxed feel. By not griping the bars you also push down on the outside of the bars through corners keeping the front wheel from sliding out.

If you don't believe me drop by the Giant tent at the Kona 24 hour and i will let you test ride a pair. you will be convinced.



Also available is a bar end version although i haven't tried them yet. They are available for triggers or twist shift.

Mitch's first big ride.

I am almost 2 now and have been training up for my first enduro. Today dad decided i was ready as i hadn't been having my day time nap and getting up way to early in the morning. He said i was in great condition and would have no trouble completing the gruelling 5km loop that we have been running in the afternoon's.

I waited in the starting chute, full of beans.

The first decent was a bit hairy but i managed to hold it upright down the gravel path.

Out onto the footpath where i put my head down and drove into the wind.

Crossing the big grassy park was tough.

This is the beginning of the big climb 1km long.

A final burst over the crest of the big climb catching dad unexpectedly.

Steeling the break on dad and going for home.

Road crossings were difficult but my skills are getting better every day.

The home stretch. Dad had no hope of catching me it was a downhill finish.

It appears though dad was smarter than i thought as i fell asleep in my high chair after some food and drink completely spent.

24 Hour fun in Canberra

This go's down as one of the best yet and one i personally will never forget. We only decided to go to this race 4 weeks ago. Jeff was a bit shocked but up for a challenge. so i entered us into the 2 man category as we had not tackled this category before. All did not go to plan and we nearly had to pull the pin when my dad had a minor heart attack just before dinner Thursday night. After a long night and been reassured by the doctors that everything was well under control and they just had to monitor his condition for the next couple of days we hit the road Friday lunchtime.



Thanks to fellow Nighlighting rider Troy Bailey we were saved a great spot 50m from transition backing onto the food vendors. Always good to be close to the coffee and food. As you can see Giant supplied us with a great new tent with full back and sides, it was just perfect.

Just for some fun i was up for the prologue dash for cash. Unfortunately about 20mins in one of the sharp rocks stabbed my rear tyre and put an end to my chances.

As you can see it was a rather large hole about 10mm long. I was looking for a little more speed and ran a Geax Baro race on the rear, this however was not wise as the course was far to rocky. Jeff and i switched straight back to the ever reliable Geax Sagauro and didn't have any more of these frustrating problems.

I started the run and first lap getting us off to a good start. Jeff followed it up with more consistent laps. Night time came so out came the Nightlighning lights, one on the bars and one on the head. Having this much light we were able to keep lapping out good times and stay on schedule. With the temperature dropping i put on the long Skins bib knicks and my night laps picked up.

By morning we were noticing the affects of using the Ascend protein bars as our legs felt great and neather of us had had a cramp. Also Andrew Bell using the Ascend products had fort his way back up into 2nd place in the solo men's category.

The rest of the race went great. Our Giant Anthems just ate the bumps and rocks making it easy. Jeff and i just went about riding as fast as we could and managed to finish 2nd pushing the Specialized team hard for their well deserved win. Also finishing 3rd was BMC who were also using the Nightlighning lights.

Congrats also to Jess Douglas who took the female Solo win on her 2009 Giant Anthem

A big thank you to all our sponsors and our wonderfull wives for granting us a leave pass for a long weekend.

Hawks win, 6 hour win. Anthem sale.

Well it has been a while since the Hawks have been on top but now we are here to stay. Mithchell backed the right team going with the mighty Hawks instead of following mum and the Cat's. He was rather happy when they won.

Ending on ebay shortly is the Giant Anthem Advance at a bargin price. You will be dissapointed if you don't pick it up.

The next day I was to be a bit weathered. Packing my bags while under the influence for the 6 hour at Bendigo, i had forgotten to put a jersey in. So raced in a Skins top. With the rocky conditions and twisty trails this was beneficial anyway. As it turned out the race went well establishing an early lead and riding pretty consistently for the 6 hours. It just proves you don't have to do mega Km or long hours to race well over 6 hours. It was great to see the Yeti tribe take the win.

Wednesday night on the fatties ride was a cracker. One section of trail at Westerfolds, Ben Randell worked his way to the front and let us have it. He held 45+km/h along the Yarra river single track. In all my years of riding the trail i cannot remember going that fast. It has me wondering just how fast he is going to go when it is not dark. So if you are up for the challenge and would like to experience speeds like this on the MTB come along and find out just how it is done. We leave at 6:30pm Wednesday nights from Eaglemont scout camp in Ivonhoe.

Thursday we rode the Tour of the Burb's with 100 other riders. The pace was fast up front with a strong pace set up the hills. My legs felt a little flat so will have a couple of easy days.

Next week i will be preparing to contest the 2 man category at the Scott 24. Jeff and i will be racing our Giant Anthem's at full speed for the 24 hours. So we stay stuck to the trail we will be running Geax Saugaro rubber the proven 24 hour tire performer. We will be taking Ascend's new protein bars and electrolyte drinks to give us a huge advantage over our competition and will have some available if you would like to give them ago. Also i am sure you will see us at night as we will be running our Nightlighning Blasst light system's that will have the trail lit up like it was day time.

Time for an update

I have been having a long overdue break from blogging, training and racing. This is about to change as i kick off back into racing this weekend at the Bendigo 6 hour. Then i will be going to the Scott 24 hour to contest the 2 man category with Jeff Williams.

Currently i have heaps of goodies on ebay including a Giant Anthem Advance for sale. They end on Saturday so be quick.

I have been riding a little. Thursday night Tour of the Burbs has kept my legs turning. Actually tonight's ride has prompted this post as i had a lucky escape. I was descending down Foot st in front of 100+ other keen riders when i hit a hole in the road. At the time i estimate my speed at about 80km/h. There was a load bang as my tires exploded leaving me to hold my line and cop abuse for not signaling that i had a flat. I still can't work out why they would want me to take my hand off the handlebars to do this at 80km/h with 2 flat tyres, maybe they wanted me to crash in front of them so they could slide along the bitch amen at 80km/h. This moment go's down as the scariest i have had on a bike. One thing i can vouch for is Vittori Rubino tyres, reckon they are the only reason i kept it upright.

The other ride i have been doing is the Fatties Wednesday night ride. This has been rather entertaining and has kept the MTB skills up. The other week AJ took a disliking to wildlife colliding with a wombat breaking a spoke in his front wheel, fatso didn't seem to mind though just waddling off into the bush.. That wasn't enough for him as 2 mins latter he ran down a defenceless little bunny rabbit leaving it sleeping in the middle of the track. Latter that ride Erin had a go at log hopping not quite making the height tearing the ligaments in his shoulder, it was rather spectacular.

I also have been riding in the new Skins cycling knicks. I will be posting a full review on their entire cycling range shortly but basically they are the most comfortable knicks i have ever ridden in.

Ascend - what an awesome product!

My posts have nt been very regular lately because life for me at the moment is flat chat and so the riding has taken a back seat. One thing i have kept up is the Ascend products. I sprinkle the Muscle Protein powder on my cereal for breakfast - this helps maintain the supply of protein to the muscles which finishes the repair process from the previous day of training or work (bricklaying). The Ascend line of protein products has allowed me to maintain my muscle strength during my break from training.

For the lead up to the 24 worlds i was using the Ascend protein to help with my recovery from the training load. The power test proved that it was helping as i hadn't punched out that much power in 7 years. You may then ask if i was in such awesome form from using the Ascend protein, what happened at the 24 Hour Worlds.

To put it simply the human body is not a machine. The Worlds was my 4th 24 hour event in less than 12 months. So apart from a knee injury my body simply would not allow itself to be destroyed. The body would still work well for shorter events and training, but this is still a far cry from racing a 24hour Mtb race at this level. The body knew what it was about to be put through and simply would not allow itself to be pushed as its reserves had not been fully replenished from been emptied out so many times in one year.

Having the Ascend protein is one of the only reason's i have been able to keep going at this level all year. The body just needs some rest from the 24 hours for 12months. I am looking at it as another opportunity to focus on some marathon racing and lots of team events at the upcoming 24 hour races - maybe even a couple of stage races. These races for me have always been used as lead up events to boost fitness but thid year i will focus on this race format.

So if you want to feel awesome on the bike - use Ascend products. Just remember it helps you recover faster so you can train harder and more frequently.

Team Giant win Chase the Sun Series.

Ok so i have had a break after the worlds. This is common practice for me to just walk away after a big build and have some time away from riding. I have been catching up with my family and work has been crazy since getting back. We seem to be getting somewhere now, finally finding a competent bricklayer to help us get through the work load.

After 3 weeks of zero riding i had to get straight into racing with Rd 4 of Chase the Sun on the weekend. This i was not expecting as i had gotten the dates wrong and thought i had a couple more weeks to get my legs rolling again. We had a great course set for the race using the entire Com games course with and add on of fire track and some minimal single track. I thought this was great as it had rained all week. The Com games track is hard waring and holds up well in the rain. This loop should be used if the weather is bad all the time. I think Full Gas are learning how to adjust according to the weather conditions so we can still have a great race no matter what conditions they are faced with.

I was up first pairing with Murry Spink again. I was surprised i actually came in a close second on the first lap. Murry quickly asserted his dominance sending me back out for a double with a small lead. I held pretty well just holding my place. Murry just never slowed down tapping out the 5 fastest laps for the day taking the pressure off me so i could just survive my laps, sucking up the cramping. In the end we won closely followed by Team Felt and the Torq Team in third. This finishing order worked out better than we thought and gave us enough points to take the series.

My advice to anyone else who is considering racing cold straight of a break. Don't do it. That night i was woken several times , my legs cramping refusing to relax. Anyway a few easier rides over the next couple of weeks before i look at some more races.

World 24 Domination

Willo at presentations shaking Champagne

Alexander and Willo's bike. This is the best bike man in the business. Our bikes were spotless and didn't miss a beat all race.

Willo with Meg just before he crossed the line to take the World 24 hour win.

Jason English crosses the line in 2nd place.

Mark Fenner crosses the line in 3rd place.

Craig Peacock taking his Age group tile for a 3rd consecutive year.

The race for me was over early but more on that latter. The whole team did incredibly well. In Elite Men we filled the first 4 places James Williamson(GIANT), Jason Englisnh(BMC), Mark Fenner(SPECIALIZED), Jeff Tooey(FELT). Katrin VanDerSpeigle finished 2nd in Elite Women,

Craig Peacock(SCOTT), Troy Bailey(BMC) bothe won their age group category. Also many other placings.

Myself in summary. Battling cramps from the beginning, then a clumsy fall straining my knee i was unable to get going pulling the pin at the 8 hour mark. It was a great experience to be their to see so many Aussy riders preform at their best in the most horrific conditions.

BE THE BEAR

24 Hours of Aderalin World Championships live at: Adrenalinlive.

Live 24 Worlds Coverage.

This will be Georges home for the race. Their are more Aussies in Elite than anyone else. We are all in a line up pit ally. Starting with Johnny Waddell, Myself, James Williamson, Jason English, Katrin Van Spiegal, Jeff Tooey and Mark Fenner. The other age group racers number another 20 in groups around the pit area. Tune in via the web and cheer us all home.

The live coverage of the race this year is at:

24hoursofadrenalin.com, World 24 Hour Championships, go into AdrenalinLive on the left.

Bike support and a new room mate.

The Start/Finish area is starting to shape up as the event approaches.

They were busy setting up the pit lanes for the solo riders.

The rain set in last night. It cleared by morning and is meant to stay away for the race.

I went for a scenic drive with George in the afternoon. This is a view over Canmore.

Here is a photo of George at a lake we visited today.

I was down at the local the Bicycle Cafe here in Canmore having my bikes checked out before the race. I meet up with Johnny Wadell who happened to be looking for a place to stay. Since we had a spare room he has joined us for the rest of our stay here in Canmore. Johnny is going for a solo only approach for the race. Should be interesting to see how it pans out for him.

Thanks to Giant i was contacted by a bike shop in Calgary (pedal head). Alexander there has agreed to look after Willo and my bikes for the race. This is fantastic and means i will sleep better now knowing the bikes will be well cared for during the race. To have them offer their time to look after our bikes is greatly appreciated and gives us extra motivation to preform.

Relaxing in Canmore, New Cycling Skins

Over the last few days we have been relaxing and taking in the sights. This is a view from a tee at the local golf course here in Canmore.

George and i went on a little hike. It followed a dried up river.

Went through a moss covered forest.

Past unusual landscapes.

Then arrived at a canyon that was a rock climbers paradise.

Along the way we dropped in on some local Bears, unfortunately they weren't home.

Today i was able to try out the new Long Bib cycling knicks from skins. This was my first use of these and i am impressed. They fit perfectly and you can really feel the compression, this feels empowering making my legs like coiled springs.

Practice today was done with Willo. The course was also different today as it had rained overnight making the technical sections very tricky and slipery. We were also lucky to see a Bear cub run across the track in front of us on the lower section of track. This is the bike after one lap of the course.

I went out the other morning just to test my Nightlightning lights. No problem all charging well.