Interview with local legend- Jason Tolland AKA Jake, Frank the Tank, Gary Fisher

Chances are if you live in Central Victoria you have come across or heard about a guy , Jason Tolland, or Jake to the locals. He is a local mountain biking legend in the small but massively expanding town of Castlemaine, located smack in the centre of Victoria. Jake owned Castlemaine Cycles for ten years, until it recently sold and is now known as Cycle Concepts, in which Jake is now the Manager. (Which is great for all as it gives him more time to ride and build trails!) Jake is the driving force behind why Castlemaine is being put on the map as being one of the best places in the country to ride. Jake has spent countless hours over many years, building tracks all over the town, and organising social rides and club races. He is however quick to point out “I have had over the years a lot of support from the local guys and gals that have gotten into the mountain bike scene here in Castlemaine.  We have through the development of the club gone from 2 guys running a race to a team of people within the Rocky Riders who come together for club races, enduros and social rides. “

Each week the club has 3 rides leaving from the shop and all abilities are welcome, the riders are extremely friendly and always wait up for people. These rides are also great as they always finish with a compulsory beer and pizza at the cafe next door. Home for school holidays, I found myself in at Cycle Concepts annoying Jake most days and after hearing so many of his hilarious stories, passion and knowledge for bikes, I wanted to dig a little deeper and find out what keeps this old school, hardcore mountain biker so passionate about the sport. Here’s how it went:

Name: Jason Tolland

Also known as: Jake, Frank the Tank

Occupation: Bicycle Retailer (Cycle Concepts, Castlemaine)

No. of years riding:  20 something  years

Current Bikes: Giant Anthem Advanced SL 0, Yeti 575, and a Giant Anthem 29er (forcefully by my employer and strictly for scientific purposes only)

Dream Bike: 25^th Anniversary Yeti 575, Yeti 66 and Scott Genius LT and anything that is new and shiny from Giant

Favourite place to ride: Castlemaine, Morzine in France. Places that are technically difficult and that scare the shit out of me.

Favourite cyclists:  In the old days it would be John Gregory, he raced the World Cup series with less than $2000 in his pocket and camped at races. Nowadays it would have to be local talent Lach Norris, and all of the local boys as they’re always willing to have a crack which I greatly admire.

You’ve been likened as the Gary Fisher of Castlemaine, some might even go as far as of Australia, how did it all start?

God I hope I am not anything Like Gary Fisher ! I have never invented anything or made masses of money . Back in the day I was living in Melbourne with no car and could only go as far as the train could take me, heading out on rides around Kinglake and the Dandenong’s.  I would come home to Castlemaine once a week for a ride and then one day it just clicked that there was so much potential for riding here and it was the place to be. I bought the bike shop in town.  I happened to run into a man named Evan Jeffery, who has excellent skills and is super fit. Evan had started a loop of technical tracks in the Pineys.  We both knew that it needed more. Together we set about creating a network of trails we could ride. We built the tracks to suit both the terrain and our preferred riding style; all the steep nasty climbs are thanks to him, and all the fun stuff like flowing berms and switchbacks are thanks to me.  Through the shop and my many riding buddies, Castlemaine was a must go location for quite a while.  Before my kids came along our house was an unofficial B&B for lots of my mates to drop in for a ride and a cheap bed.  Cross country racing was more popular in the early 2000s (remember Cadel @ the Sydney Olympics ) We wanted to run races and make use of the trails that we had built, so after a few races run by other clubs helping us, we got a committee together and formed our own club subsequently the ‘Rocky Riders’ club was formed.   

You’ve been on the riding scene, and in particular mountain bike scene, for most of your life, what is it that has kept you hooked for so long?

The sense of adventure I get every time I get out on the bike, I love that.  Achieving the right balance of flow , speed and smoothness  on the trail is high on my list .  The best riders make riding look easy, that is what I aspire too. Also, it gives me friends that aren’t boring; otherwise I’d be going to bbq’s at people’s houses talking about pets, kids and house renovations. Mountain bikers in general are the right kind of people, we all share the same ideals and sense of purpose.. Riding also means I can drink heaps more beer.

What has been your craziest bike moment?

I used to head to Mount Beauty and race in the cross country on Saturday, sleep in the back of my old Land Rover  then back it up on Sunday for the downhill race with the same bike (minus the bar ends and  add motorbike goggles and chest  armour ).  Some awesome crashes but such good times.  The hairiest moment would have been on a long back country ride in the Victorian Alps.  When time, distance, huge mountain climbs and the weather took a turn for the worst.  Our pickup vehicle could not get through to where we were supposed to meet. It left our group exposed and with a long ride out.  Riding through the bush 20 miles north of Licola in the dark, without lights, food or any sort of survival gear was scary and quite dangerous.  Eventually the back-up vehicle found us and we were, tired cold and ok.

It’s a well known fact that you’re an old school hardcore hairy mountain biker who has a massive passion for all things bike related. How has the mtb scene changed over the past 10 years?

There are a lot of people that come over from road riding, buy all the latest gear and expect to be awesome at it. They need to put in the hard yards and practise the skills required in order to have an appreciation of the sport. These days if you’re fit you can go quite well, where as,  back in the early days of mountain biking ( before decent brakes, forks or frames ) you used to have to demonstrate some form of finesse. I really admire the people who practise the skills over and over until they master it, who give it all a crack in an attempt to get better at the sport. In order to succeed you need to fail, and I think a lot of people nowadays want to be good without having to put in the effort or have a crack.

You have created a heap of sweet single track all around Castlemaine, how do you decide on what to name a track?

Pretty much if someone has put in the most effort, or had an epic stack or it’s on their land etc. we name it after them. Not a lot of thought goes into the naming of a track, we try to keep things simple here.  Jubberland is named that because the guy who owns it surname is Jubber (actually spelt Dzioba), Ken’s track is named that because Ken built it, and Porno track got the name because found a porno on it one day. Baco trails sit right behind the Bacon Factory, and the Pineys, well there in a Pine forest.

What tips would you give someone wanting to build a track in their area?

Read the IMBA Trail Book, it has some great advice in it. Also, make sure you build them legally. I attempted a degree in Environmental Planning and Policy and have a basic understanding of the bureaucratic framework and implications of trail building. Following the correct processes is important if you want the trail to still be there in the long term. It’s about consulting and advising the right people before hand and maintaining a positive relationship with them. It’s when people build trails without consulting the land managers or obtaining the current permits which result in conflict and a negative outcome.

It’s because of these trails that Castlemaine is being put on the mountain biking map and races are being held here. Your weekly Wednesday night rides are getting massive, with people travelling from Melbourne to ride. Is it a good feeling to know you helped create it all and people are out having a blast riding your trails?

It’s funny, for a long time we tried to keep the trails a secret but as new members joined the club our views slowly began to change and we decided we wanted as many people to know about the trails so they could see how awesome the riding is here. I love running the events, and I always try to make the courses as fun as possible. I set out to create a course for each race that I would have loads of fun riding.

What events do you guys have going on here?

July 17^th we had the Inter-Winter Series over at the Baco Tracks which will be an Olympic Cross Country course. August 27^th/28^th we will have our 6hr Enduro as part of the State Series, which has loads of novelty events, camping and fun times. The club also has 3 social rides every week, Wednesday night, Saturday morning and Sunday arvo. In summer we also run a Crit Race on Thursday nights, and on any other given day there are people out riding and keen to ride with others.

The mountain bike purist that you are, you were a non-believer- dare I say – hater of 29er’s. However you were recently spotted stealthily riding the Giant Anthem 29er. Please explain.

Yes this is true, I was seen out wearing a pink tutu riding the 29er. However, you can’t be a hater if you’ve never tried it. What I didn’t like about it was when every man and his dog jumped on the bandwagon and then stated paying out on those who continued riding 26er’s. The course and what you want to do with the bike dictates the best choice of bike. There are definitely some good things about the 29er, but there also some not so good things. I hope that 26er’s do stay around and that 29er’s will just be another aspect of mountain biking.

Where do you think Castlemaine will be in terms of mountain biking in the next 5-10 years?

 I think Castlemaine will be seen as a mountain bike mecca for offering a massive amount of diverse tracks; we have pine forest, the Great Dividing Trail, rocky goldfields single trails and old mining access tracks. They range from stupidly insanely technical to easy and flowing. If you are a beginner there are tracks here to suit, and if you’re an Olympic Cross Country rider there are also tracks to suit.” What I don’t want to see is the trails being turned into a mountain bike park.” The fun of mountain biking is the journey; starting in one place and finishing in the other, getting a little lost in between and making your own adventure is what it’s about. I think having mountain bike parks takes that sense of adventure and the fun out of a mountain bike ride.

What has been the most significant equipment development since you’ve been in the business?

Affordable dual Suspension bikes have allowed riders to push their capabilities a little further and take their mountain biking to the next level.  It has allowed us older guys keep riding comfortably and to keep on pushing ourselves to go over higher drop offs and ride more technical trails.

Pretty much every time I walk into this shop you are either bruised, bleeding, broken, fractured or concussed. I have seen you do some gnarly moves out on the trails, your one of the most talented and skilful riders I have ever seen. How does someone with your skill level end up pinning it so often?

Well, those gnarly moves are all flukes!  Most of the time I just stack! Every time I have nailed a trick, I have fallen off half a dozen times trying to get it. The trick is to keep trying until you get it, you will never succeed if you first don’t fail and try again. I will continue to practise until I nail it, and that generally results in a lot of stacks first! The main reason for all the stacks however is I try to show off. Generally, pulling a mono whilst sliding round a berm at a quick pace will most likely result in catapulting over the bars (ed. which explains why he has brace on his wrist at the moment) most of my stacks are a direct result of trying to be a show-off!

So that’s how my chat with Jake went, his knowledge and insight into mountain biking are phenomenal. I have definitely learnt a lot from him and what I admire most is his attitude and values of mountain biking. He loves the sport at its purist and most basic form. His stories about racing cross country, early days of downhill, enduros and completing massive self supported rides across the country have me wanting to make sure I am in this sport for a very long time! Jake works full time, is a father of 2 young children, president of the Central Victorian Rocky Riders club, teaches MTB skills to school kids, build and maintains trails and coordinates the events and social rides and still finds time to ride his bike and share his awesome stories. Certainly take my hat off to him, and on behalf of everyone who has ever ridden at Castlemaine would like to say Thanks Jake!!

Another one of Jake’s ‘Where Am I?’ moments

Castlemaine is located 1.5 hours  Northwest of Melbourne smack bang in Central Victoria. There is an amazing amount of diverse tracks, ranging from pineforest to goldfields and bush tracks. The main track networks are the ‘Pineys,’ the ‘Baco,’‘and the Great Dividing Trail. The Pineys are full of tight switchbacks and technical trails, the Baco has some steep climbs and lots of fast flowing berms, whilst the Great Dividing Trail or “ Goldfields Track “ runs from Ballarat to Bendigo

( www.goldfieldstrack.com.au )has a great mixture of trail types, fire roads, double trail, singletrack ( the best is located between Daylesford and Castlemaine )  lots of harsh rocky drop-offs combined with cruisy less scary trails. One thing is for sure, these trails offer something for everyone, whether you’re a beginner or an Olympic cross country rider you won’t be disappointed when you come riding in Castlemaine.

CLUB RACES AND SOCIAL RIDES:
Sunday July 17^th: Inter-winter series “Chasing Bacon” XC Race

Sunday August 28^th: Victorian State Series ‘Jubberland’ 6 hour Enduro. Be sure to head out and setup camp on Saturday as there’ll be lots going on, the novelty events are priceless to watch.

Saturday Morning Shop Ride: Leaving from the Theatre Royal at 9am

Sunday Afternoon Shop Ride: Leaving from Theatre Royal at 2pm

Wednesday Night Shop Ride: Leaving from Cycle Concepts at 6pm, finish with a beer and pizza at the Theatre Royal

Thursday nights in Summer: Crit XC races

LINKS

-          Jakes blog containing hilarious photos, stories and general info about cycling http://castlemainecycles.blogspot.com/?spref=fb

-          Rocky Riders website: www.rockyriders.com

-          Cycle Concepts website: www.cycleconceptscastlemaine.com.au

-          Follow Cycle Concepts and Rocky Riders on facebook

Some of the Races that Rocky Riders have organised:

Pineforest enduro  2002-2003 60kms of hard work,

Singlespeed Nationals 2004  Castlemaine Fat tyre Fest 2005

Singlespeed  World Championships 2004

Interwinter 2010-2011

Castlemaine 6 hour enduro from 2006-2011

29er V 26er

This is obviously a very hot topic in the mountain biking world at the moment and as I am in the market for a new bike, ultimately I was faced with this decision. Which way should I go? I have been pondering this for a few months now and have been doing my research. I have been eagerly following the conversations on the forums, speaking to those who own 29er’s, bike shop employees, and chatted to those in the bike industry for their opinions. I was writing pro’s and con’s list about both bikes, weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of both and was losing sleep over what I was going to do. Until rather obviously, Jo from Giant told me to go ride one!! As soon as I did, I knew within 15 minutes what my decision was. I’ll share that later, firstly though I want to discuss what I was thinking prior to actually going and riding one.

Option 1: Cross to the 29er world, buy a dually for 24’s, and a hard tail for 100km races: PROS

-          Bigger wheels equals going faster

-          Rolling over rocks easier

-          Comfier dually for 24 solos

-          Everyone seems to be riding them so they must be good

-          Everyone who rides them are telling me they are awesome and I should get one

-          More of a road bike feel so would be good for fire road races/100km marathons

-          24 hour races generally aren’t too technical

-          Is this the way mountain biking is going, will everyone be on a 29er in a couple of years?

-          A lot of pros are riding them, winner of 2 of the World Cups recently have been on a 29er, as have winners of Cape Epic.

-          People who own them advise you don’t need to be a strong 6 feet man to ride one

CONS

-          Bigger wheels equates to harder to negotiate in more technical terrain, especially tight uphill switchbacks which Castlemaine has a lot of.

-          Heavier

-          Is it just a fad that in 2-3 years everyone will be back on 26ers?

-          Need to be a massive man to lift the wheel and get the full advantage of them

So these were the types of questions constantly running through my head and I was leaning towards to the 29 thanks to my ‘pros’ list being longer. After I met the crew at Giant there advice of going out and riding a demo 29er was pretty obvious. Luckily, Jason from Cycle Concepts had the Giant Anthem 29er out the back that he let me borrow. I headed out on some cruisy tracks in Castlemaine to test the beast out, I was pretty confident I would be heading over to the world of 29ers, how could I not when I was hearing was awesome things about them.

Yes they were faster, and yes they rolled over little rocks so effortlessly that you could barely notice you were on a rocky trail, however I felt as if the fun was taken out of it. I love riding with the Castlemaine crew, mainly because within that group are riders who are so skilful, they are so ballsy and do things on a bike I could only ever imagine. I admire these riders, I look up to them and hope one day I could be half as good as a rider as what these

guys are. Name a trick on a bike and they can do it, balance, coordination, speed, determination and courage are what these guys have. When I go home after a ride with them I am filled with motivation to get out there and practise. Just spending time on my bike practising still starts, monos, bunnyhops, all this stuff may seem juvenile but master these skills and you will greatly improve in any race. They launch off rocky dropoffs, hammer down descents, jump mineshafts and scoot over logs whilst doing a mono.

At first I thought these guys were plain stupid, now I can see they take calculated risks based on their skill level. Yes it seems unfathomable to me to do some of those things but to them they have failed then practised until they have mastered the skills that will enable them to ride like that. Yes it requires some courage as well, but the skill involved is what makes them so good. The funny thing is most of these guys hardly race, and if they do it’s always in a team and there’s beers being drunk on laps off. They just love to ride their bikes.

Anyways now that I’ve set the scene I’ll get back to how this fits in to my decision. What I want to achieve is to have skills like that. I want to achieve success in this sport because of my skills, determination and mental toughness, all things I am working on improving. I believe riding a 29er takes away the ability to be able to practise these skills; they make you a lazy rider and is almost a way of trying to achieve better results without actually putting in the effort and hard work. I get the feeling some people who race mountain bikes are always looking for that extra advantage and they think by having the latest power meter, speedo or heart rate monitor will do it, by having a 29er or the latest bike will get them that success; when really, if they put all their efforts in learning the skills and spending more time out on their bike for fun, they will probably achieve better results.

So, what I want to do is practise the necessary skills, have the courage to have a crack at technical drop-offs and have FUN riding my bike and I think a 26 inch is the way to do it. I do think 29er’s would be awesome for 100km/fire road races and suited to some courses, however as I am only a teacher on a measly wage I don’t have the option of having that many bikes in my shed!! Yes there are pros riding them, however that’s not their sole bike. They get to choose the best bike for the race they are doing and that’s the difference between them and me. I need one bike for 3/6/12/24 hour enduro’s, cross country races, stage races and the 26inch dually is the way to go. So now I’m losing sleep thinking about how awesome the Giant 2012 range is going to be and I can’t wait to get one!!!

The reason I became a teacher..... HOLIDAYS

So it’s been 4 weeks since I had surgery and obviously it’s a MASSIVE relief to have the problem sorted, it’s still very frustrating and slow. So laying in the hospital bed post surgery, the surgeon told me I could start riding pretty much straight away, starting at 5mins in the morning and night and to go for it. So that’s what I did.... and I built on that. The first couple of days I did 5 mins, then I built it up to 7mins, and by the end of my first week back on the bike (1week after surgery) I was at 15mins in the morning and night. It was feeling a bit sore but being back on the bike was magical and I felt like a whole new person, I was happier, and noticed a massive difference being back in the classroom.  I then decided I was up to doing 1 hour at night, out on the road at a very cruisy pace. I did this for a few nights, with a day off in between each. My hip was feeling sore because I was back on my feet all day teaching prac PE. By the third weekend the sun was a shining and my good friend Suze was down to visit.  We did 2.5 hours on Saturday and then again on Sunday, and that night my hip was pretty dam sore, so a couple of rest days were in order. Did a few rides during the week, around about the 1 hour mark and on Friday it was the last day of term. SWEET! What a massive term and full on few weeks with reports and sports days; so after a quick ride I decided to hop in the bath to relax. Upon attempting to get out of the bath I slipped and landed hard on my hip resulting in a massive amount of pain and a feeling of going to be sick as well as pass out was the result. 

Iced it and went to bed, felt it abit the next day and decided that morning I wouldn’t ride. However by the afternoon the sun was shining and the beach was looking awesome so I decided my hip was just a bit bruised and a 1 hour roll along the esplanade wouldn’t hurt it. I was wrong, it hurt. After 15 minutes of riding I knew it would be smart to turn back but as Al was a fair way up the road I decided to keep going as I knew he would be stopped up the road a bit for me. I was wrong about that too. He didn’t stop, so after 30minutes I decided to wait on the side of the road for him to turn around and wonder where I was. He didn’t. I headed home and after a 1hour ride went down to the beach for some cold water therapy. Decided I would definitely be having some rest days now. Monday morning we arrived at the surgeon for my post op appointment and waited 1 ½ hours in the waiting room, finally in to see him and he explained further what he had done. In your pelvis you have a groove where the head of your femur sits in, the ball and socket joint move together. I didn’t have a groove for some unknown reason, it was simply flat. This resulted in my femur head just banging against my pelvis, hence not much range of motion as the head of femur was catching. He also said the damage to the hip was caused by a crash/fall onto it.

He also explained the seriousness of the procedure and if I have a fall off my bike my femur head is weak that I will probably break my femur. Also, he mentioned that had I not of had this surgery I would have been looking at a falsey by the time I was 30. NOT COOL. So my plans to spend the holidays mountain biking in Castlemaine and Forrest just went out the window. DAMMIT.  He said I should still only be doing 15mins on the wind-trainer AM and PM for the next 2 weeks, then 6 weeks of road riding and THEN I can get back on the Mountain bike. OH MAN THAT SUCKS. So pretty much I’d been doing too much riding too soon and it is a 16 week recovery not a 2 week recovery like I was treating it, would have been nice to know 4 weeks ago but anyway. Over to the hospital for a CT Scan to make sure the job was done right, and a scan on my right hip to make sure that wasn’t dodge-arama. So it was turning out to be a pretty crappy day, that was until we headed out to the Giant Headquarters and then it turned into a FREAKIN AWESOMELY RAD DAY!! We were introduced to all the friendly crew there then shown some bikes, which were SWEET. Then it was out for lunch to chat about bikes, races, the tour, bikes, training and bikes. Sam Mitchell from the Hawks then joined the table much to Al’s delight. Got some sweet as gear which we were most thankful for, and I haven’t actually taken the hoody off yet it’s so comfy and looks rad, especially now we’re hanging out in Ballarat or should I say Antarctica. 

So now I’m just hanging out to demo a 29er, trying to be patient with going to the gym and swimming and making sure I do other stuff for the next 2 weeks until I can get back out there on the road. Hopefully I’ll be able to have a crack at the Scott 24hour albeit minimal training and stoked to have entered Wildside. With races such as the Surfcoast 12hr, Gravity 12hr, Forrest Festival, Highland Fling in the later stages of the year I can’t freakin wait!!!! But for now I’ll do some kayaking, yoga and other stuff to keep myself occupied.  We'll stay up late and watch Le Tour then get paid to sleep in and have an Apl De Heuz Tour party.......ah the life of a teacher..........