THE ‘A’ LINE WANTS YOU: JUBBALAND ROCKS!!!!

THE ‘A’ LINE WANTS YOU: JUBBALAND ROCKS!!!!

It was that time of the year, the last weekend of August. That means only one thing. JUBBALAND 6 HOUR ENDURO was here. I freakin’ love this race, it reminds me of when I first got into MTBing and it means I get to home for a weekend of fun riding and catching up with mates! We rolled in on Saturday and I was keen to take Al on the sweet single track that goes from my folks house right to Jubbaland, do a practice lap, then ride home. Should only take an 1 ½ hours or so. My navigation skills are extremely ordinary and even though I had ridden the track 2 weeks earlier and was feeling confident it took a bit 5 minutes and I was lost.

Finally made it out to Jubbaland for a practice lap and I remembered my love hate relationship with the track. The hate stems from some of the technical, switchback rocky climbs and descents, getting frustrated when I stuff it up and going back to try it over and over. Then feeling the love when I finally nail that A line. The first A line on the track, took me almost a year of riding to it then chickening out before I finally went over it. Looking back over my training diary I have written NAILED THE A LINE AT JUBBALAND WAHOOO thats how special that day was for me, and the feeling of satisfaction I got from finally going down it. However that A line is scary that I think I simply felt relief that I had made it down alive. There was no sense of wow that was nowhere near as scary as I thought it would be, I can do that no worried now. It was all HOLY S#*& how did I not just kill myself. So I decided I wouldn’t be attempting it in the race, and when I went through on my second lap of the race and it had been taped off, I seriously wondered if perhaps someone had died on it the lap before. So our Saturday ride turned into a 3hr stint, not ideal and it would seem my race would follow the ‘not ideal’ routine as I did things that you know you shouldn’t do.

1.      Long ride with not much food and drink the day before instead of resting

2.      Using nutrition on race day you’ve never used before

3.      Not taking weather into consideration and having not enough bottles out

4.      Following other people’s advice on how much to drink, knowing I drink a lot more

5.      Changing bike setup dramatically 2 days before a 6hr race.
(Also not ideal was the Le Mans running start when I was under strict instructions from the surgeon not to run, but as Jake told me I could cheat I made a ew shortcuts to get to my bike)

The first 2 hours were painful, it was hot and I was using Hammer Perpeteum which is a high carb drink that one drink bottle would last me 2 hours for. However, due to the sun being out and me knowing I drink loads of water I was cursing this decision. I was feeling dehydrated and wonky in the head, I needed more fluid. Third lap I decided to grab a Nuun, take my time and get myself feeling good again. Just wanting to get through the race, I settled into a rhythm and decided to ride my own race, not chasing down the solo rider in front of me.

The Thursday before the race I changed my flat narrow bars to riser bars, flipped my stem, changed my saddle and chose a comfier higher position on my bike to try to negate the wrist pain from the weekend before. After Saturday’s ride I woke up with sore hamstrings and lower bike. Not ideal. Once again I set out with ‘this is just a training ride, I’m not here to race, my goal is to finish upright.’ And once again as soon as the gun went off, those thoughts went out the window.

The track is like 1 massive 10km rock garden. It’s tough to eat and drink as its 97% singletrack and the fire roads are loose and uphill. It’s a challenging course and any errors can result in significant damage. I saw loads of people with busted sidewalls, flats, busted derailleur’s, busted chains and even a busted bike or two. It seemed you needed to carry a spare bike with you just to get through the race!! Knowing the course and the conditions was a massive advantage and running my bike suited to the conditions results in no mechanicals or stacks for the day. The track took plenty of casualty’s as some were impatient in waiting to pass as well as fatigue hitting towards the end which resulted in silly mistakes being made. I decided with 1 ½ hours to go I would see what the legs had in them and up the anti a bit. On my second last lap I managed to get myself into what I thought was 3^rd position and decided to go hard until the hard.  (Pic: Marty nailing the A line with perfection as usual)

My legs were feeling surprisingly good up the climbs, but I was erring the side of caution on the technical descents to avoid stacks. I found myself struggling to get up the technical climbs which I had gotten up no dramas earlier on, I didn’t have the concentration or fitness to get up them in the latter parts of the race. I was taking comfort in seeing many other riders feeling the same way!! I was saying to myself ‘don’t hit that log’ and 3 seconds later would hit the log, or ‘don’t go off the track’ and no doubt I would go off the track. It was on the tight switchback rocky climb I knew I needed to get up to try to maintain my position, and that’s where I stuffed it up. A chick overtook me here, looking strong, and I thought she’s looking too strong to be a solo rider, she must be in a team. I convinced myself I didn’t need to bother chasing her, and I would keep my tempo and roll into 3^rd all going well. What I didn’t realise was I was actually in 2^nd, and that strong fresh looking chick was in solo, and she had just overtaken me in the last 15mins of the race. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I have been kicking myself that I didn’t go harder and chase her down however I’m pretty sure I was going as hard as I could, and she was definitely looking much stronger than what I was feeling!! Turns out the solo chick was local rider, Kim, and she got back just before the clock struck 4pm and smashed out another lap, whilst I got back 1min after. Which I was massively relieved at the time as I really don’t know if I could have done another lap even if I had of known where I was at.  Pretty stoked with 3rd though.

Jubbaland is a rippin course, its brutal on the body and kudos to the SS RIGID rider who broke his downtube. I was smashed on a dually 4 inch travel bike. Some people say it’s a XC course or for team races only, however it is a race that challenges solo riders, you’ve gotta be fit and you’ve gotta have good technical skills. And best of all, it doesn’t suit roadies and puts guys who rock up with all the gear no idea back in their box. There are lots of enduro’s out there that all you need is fitness to go well, here you need to be fit and be able to handle a mtb. There was a greater sense of accomplishment as I got home feeling absolutely smashed from head to toe.

The atmosphere at the event, on Saturday night and Sunday is stella. Camping, a bon fire, kids races and 16” races its a weekend the whole family can enjoy. A big thanks to Jake, Rocky Riders and the Jubba family for organising such a rad event. Thanks also to Giant, Ay-Up Lights and Nuun Hydration for our support and counting down to next year’s race already!!!

sweet as handcrafted trophies

WET AND WHINGING IN WINGELLO

So when the surgeon told me I could start mountain biking on August 21^st I was stoked that the SRAM Singlemind 7hr Enduro at Wingello was on that very same day. Ripper I could enter that, but not before heading out on a sneaky 5hr mtb the weekend before from Castlemaine to Daylesford to get the feel of my bike back and some endurance in the legs. (hadn’t been ridden since March) About 1hr in we hit a kangaroo, us 1, roo 0. Then it was a quick stop in the bike shop in Canberra as we live in hillbilly central nowhere near a bike shop we got some supplies. After leaving Marlo we arrived in Wingello State Forest some 8hrs later to rain and mud whilst Marlo was having its first sunny day in about a month. We set up the tent and headed out on a practice lap. My knee, hip and throat were feeling sore and I was started to get bad vibes about being at the race. No showers out in the bush so we cooked up a quick pasta then jumped into our tiny tent all muddy and tried to get some sleep through the downpour.

I was started to have massive doubts about racing, with 1 very slow 5hr mtb all the training I had had, and some short road rides I was massively underdone and concerned if I fell on my hip that I would break my femur. I convinced myself that I would take it very easily, stop when I wanted to stop and be careful. It seems the closer you stay to race HQ, the later you are to the event. 30mins before the race I asked Al to put some more ait in my rear tyre, my tubeless valve decided to bog itself and we decided to put in a tube. Madly trying to organise food and drinks for the race, we just made it to the start line in time and consequently started way back in the field. All I had to do was not fall off I kept saying to myself. According to my polar clock on my bars, this plan lasted all of 4min 32seconds. Heading round the first bend it was quite sandy and the competitor next to me slid out and lock straight into my bars and 5 of us hit the dirt. Quick examination of the hip and I was good to go, fuelled with adrenaline and angry at what had happened, I hammered out a 38min lap and came through in 1^st place solo female, not realising it at the time.

Halfway through the next lap I realised my back tyre was going flat, having never gotten a flat on my MTB in training or racing, I was significantly annoyed but set about changing it as quickly as possible. My co2 canister failed miserably, as did the next 2 I tried that some kind folks lent me. A fellow competitor lent my her pump which I had no idea how to use, and then a guy called Dave in a totally rockin CLIF bars ONESY skin suit quite easily pumped it up with his co2. Made it back round to transition and headed out for another lap, keen to catch the solo chick who I’d been chatting with before the flat. Got about 10mins up the road and rear tyre had flatted once again. Ok time for a new tube me thinks. New tube in, c02 on, and kapow co2 explodes without putting any air in, try another one, same result. What’s the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over expecting different results..... That seemed to be what was happening to me right now. So after having 4 c02’s fail, a tubeless vale and 2 tubes fail I had a quick tanty then started walking back to transition and realised my polar computer had broken off my bars. It was at this time I saw Al coming up the climb, so focused on getting up on his SS rig that he didn’t even realise I was there until I yelled at him. Sitting in 3^rd in SS, he was torn between helping me and racing. I was upset and whinging declaring I was going to go back and sit in the car. He tried to tell me to get it fixed and get back out there. Having a small domestic on the top of what we named “Tanty hill” ongoing competitors came up the climb looking a little bewildered and asked if we were ok to Al’s response “It’s ok, she’s my girlfriend” Scooted back to transition where I took my bike to the mechanic to get a new valve and ran into a mate who I hadn’t seen for 8 months so chatted to her for a bit then I got bored and cold so decided to head back out on the track. I also thought to myself HELLOOOO I have been sitting out on the sidelines for 6 months, no amount of flats, exploding co2’s or dodgy tubes could ruin my first race back as it was just RAD to be RIDING!!

The track was surprisingly tacky and not a lot of mud which was great. There was quite a lot of fire road and I was feeling for the SS riders who were busting their guts up the climbs only to be caught again on the flat and downhill sections, legs spinning like crazy. Then again, who’d be silly enough to ride a SS....... The single-track was smooth and flowy and a couple of pinch climbs were really felt towards the end of the race as the legs were burning. I soon learnt that racing unfit requires you to leave your ego at home. I had to keep reminding myself that this race was only for training, that it was simply to get fitter for the Scott 24hour. Easier said than done though, and continual thoughts of how much fitter I used to be, and how my skills used to be heaps better, and how I COULD and SHOULD be in a better position. I kept comparing my race to if I was fit, and you can’t do that when your racing unfit. I guess I can see why some people only race when they’re fit, but racing is what makes you fitter and you need to work with what you’ve got.

I was lucky enough to catch up to Al and ride the last 3 laps with him which was good fun as we don’t usually get to race together. We pulled each other along, both absolutely spent and I was relieved when I crossed the line 2 minutes after the 7hour mark, no chance to go out on another lap!! Thank goodness. Packed up the esky and tent, this was the first enduro we had done where we did our own support and it worked pretty well.

We jumped in the car and headed on the 6 ½ trip home. At about 10pm we hit the windy sections and the logging trucks came whizzing by we knew it was stupid to be driving but needed to get home for an 8am start at work the next day. Then we hit another roo, this one was bigger and this one got wedged underneath the car. Pulling onto the side of the road it took a bit of manoeuvring and Al trying to yank it from out of the grill to be able to continue driving.  Us-1, Roo-1. Needless to say the Nescafe’s were being smashed at work the next day. In regards to the event itself, for the entry fee of $80 it would have been good to get some more goodies in the show bag, and an acknowledgement of the top 3 SS riders at presentation as there was a category in the race. Organisers did a fantastic job handling the weather conditions and provided a well run event. A massive thanks to the 4 people who stopped along the way to help and at the end of the race I had acquired 4 co2’s, a pump and a tyre lever! A big thanks to the volunteers, race organisers, Ay-Up Lights, Giant Bikes and Nuun Hydration, boy it’s GOOD TO BE BACK ON THE BIKE!!!!!!!!!!

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..........

PART 2: PROBLEM SOLVED!!

So continuing on from last blog which explained what had been going on, I had a few calls from friends with some suggestions, thanks heaps for those guys. What eventuated was I went under the knife last Monday, nervous was an understatement as the surgeon wasn’t sure what he was looking for and if indeed the surgery would even solve the problem. Nerve-wrecking probably more so because we found out our private health we have been paying every month for the past 2 years that  we assumed would cover the surgery would in fact not be covered. To be confronted with an out of pocket $6000 bill for a surgery that may not fix the problem wasn’t ideal....... But we felt there really was no other option.

Once paid, I settled into my bed at 10.30am, after having another XRAY, and at 1.30pm was wheeled away for the operation. The anaesthetist was kind enough to run through the risks associated with the surgery, most likely a legal requirement but I didn’t really need to hear that there would be a 1 in 100 chance I would remember something from the operation. Next thing I woke up in recovery feeling very very ordinary and it was 6.15pm, they said it would be a 1 ½ hour operation....?!?!? I was taken back to my room, and apparently the lady next to me who had a knee replacement was in there for less time than me! Felt ridiculously groggy and nauseous but no pain in my hip. I was keen to get the hell outta there and save myself $800 for the overnight fee, that’s a new set of wheels I kept telling myself, get out of the bed!!! But I was hooked up to a drip and a catheter, some party drug called ketamene, I have no idea why anyone would voluntarily take that stuff!!! It certainly didn’t make me feel like partying!! That was making me sick so then I had maxillon plus panadeine, anti-inflammatories and anti-biotics put into my drip. It then became pretty obvious I would be staying put for the night!!! New wheels will have to wait!!!

Apparently the ketamene has hallucinogenic side effects so the nurse came in every 1 hour to wake me up, take my blood pressure and see how I was going. So much for sleeping.

So the verdict....what was it that had not only kept me off my bike for 3 months, but from teaching properly, walking more than 500m, and turning into an even more cranky and frustrated human being? A tear in the labrym muscle (sits in the pelvis), extensive damage to my hip cup (likely from a stack), FAI (  ), and a spur on the bone that was shaved off. All these are common in cyclists, but the symptoms they were producing weren’t common, hence why it was such an epic ordeal to figure it out.

I was discharged on Tuesday morning and decided to come back to Marlo with Al, seat as far back as it would go, blanket over me I was keen to get the 4 ½ hr drive out of the way. No such luck, we got 30 minutes down the road and the car run out of petrol...on the busy Monash freeway. Apparently foresight isn’t one of Al’s strengths. In his defence, the petrol ‘range’ said there were 41km’s of petrol left in the tank and we were only 2km’s from a petrol station. It was freezing cold, raining and the RACV tool 1hr 40min to arrive, meanwhile I was pretty sure a Mac Truck was going to squash us.  I had to stand up every 1 hour to prevent DVT, so a stop at Traralgon Maccas saw my make it as far as the front door where I vomited everywhere, that was awkward and embarrassing, trying to hobble back to the car hanging on to Al (I didn’t have crutches yet) whilst vomiting at the same time trying to get out of view. We finally made it home and there I spent the next 4 days on the couch. Each time I tried to get up I would get a massive headspin, nausea and then spew. I stopped taking Endone as the side effects of nausea, constipation and head spins weren’t worth it. But I continued to take these steroidal anti-inflams, but turns out they were also causing the same side effects. It seemed for every drug they gave me a had to take another drug to combat the side effect of that drug, which in turn produced another side effect. I’d rather a bit more pain in my hip than the crappy sick feeling.

And where to from now? I have crutches for another week, stitches out next week but I have started riding again!! The beauty of cycling being a non weght bearing rehab tool, sweeeet. 2 x 5mins on the ergo once on the morning and once at night. Feels so amazingly awesome to be back on the bike although the 5 mins goes soooo quick and I try to hide the timer from Al but he watched over me to make sure I get off precisely at the 5 min mark. Dreaming about the day I’ll be out on the trials, cant friggin wait!!! And it should only be a couple of weeks away!!!!

On another positive note, Giant Bikes are going to help me out and I look forward to being part of the Giant Family, as everyone who knows me knows how much I love Giant. I feel very grateful they’re going to help me out. And totally stoked that in a couple of weeks I get to test ride their Advanced SL 1 carbon dually and their 29er Anthem Dually!!  Will be a tough decision whether or not to go down the 29er path, but after a few laps of the Pineys and Jubberland it’ll give me a fair indication. So it’s full steam ahead, it’s funny how this time last week I was depressed, frustrated, cranky and feeling absolutely shithouse and now I’m getting back to my old self. Funny how bikes can be such a massive part of your life. This time off has certainly made me appreciate how riding is more a part of me than my arms and legs are, that it can be easily taken away from you, and to appreciate every time you get to rock up to the start line, every berm and jump you go over, enjoy riding cos you never know when you won’t be able to do it. To think there were times I didn’t want to get out of bed to train, now I’d give my right arm to be able to hit the trials, even for half an hour!!! I’ve learnt I need to listen to my body, train smarter and enjoy every pedal stroke. Bring on the Scott 24hour in October, the Gravity 21hr, Surfcoast 12hr....got em all locked in and cant bloody wait !!!

PHYSIO’s, OSTEO’s, MASSEUSE’s, MYO’s, GP’s, DR’s, SURGEON’s........INJECTION’s, XRAY’s, MRI’s, ULTRASOUND’s, NERVE TEST......

Just thought I’d jot down why I haven’t ridden my bike in 3 months and what’s been happening. The past 3 months have definitely SUCKED to say the least,  frustration ....anger.....tears.....guilt. ...annoyance....  are all adjectives that come to mind. I’ve had 3 separate MRI’s, 2 injections, an XRAY, 2 ultrasounds and a nerve conduction test and they still can’t figure out what is wrong. The upside is I am presenting the hip gurus with an intriguing and interesting case and feel somewhat of a freakshow! Last night I had a surgeon ask his 2 Western Bulldog doctor mates to come see this 25yr old girl and how weird her symptoms are, I had them all gathered around examining me and their only comments where “mmmmm......interesting..... that’s bizarre...that’s weird.....” So I guess the attention is kinda nice!!

So a quick backtrack on how it began. In Feb we headed out on our Saturday 150km ride to Buchan, hilly yes, hard yes, but I’d done it the past couple of weekends and was feeling really fit. Headed out and from the first pedal stroke I had a niggle in my glute which is when I should have turned around, didn’t and by the time I got home some 6 hours later I couldn’t lift my left leg over the top tube to get off. Rested a few days, raced Otway Odyssey 100km the next weekend in pain, then continued to do some training for the next 4 weeks but having soreness in left hip.

Went and saw a myotherapist and masseuse who both diagnosed it as illopsoas tendonitis, complete rest and massage would have it healed in 4 weeks. No dramas, except that turned into 10 weeks.

Teaching is a freakin hard job, especially when you don’t have any way to release your frustration and ‘switch off’ after work. By now I was struggling to work, couldn’t participate in teaching my Prac PE classes and every little thing the students did was magnified by about 100 and I was losing my shit in the class. Lucky to have a wicked awesome supportive principle who gave me time off to sort my self out, this meant a trip to Melbourne (4 ½ hr drive) for an ultrasound on hip to see how bad the tendonitis was. Alas, no tendonitis was present, ripper, but what the hell was wrong with me then?

Needed to see a doctor at VicHouse Medical Clinic but unfortunately they were all booked out for the next week, so I decided to make a stand for myself and declared I wouldn’t be moving from this seat in the waiting room until a doctor would see me. My puppy pleading eyes, low cleavage top and chaining myself to the seat did nothing to sway the male receptionist into sweet talking a doctor. Dammit, What the hell am I going to do?

Stayed the night at my good friend Ailie’s house, who is a triathlete (soon to be ironwomen) and she called up her physio friend, who came around to examine me on a Saturday morning. She said it was very interesting indeed and borrowed her doctor friends referral pad and wrote me a referral to get an XRAY and MRI, thinking it could be a laberal tear or FAI in the hip. Couldn’t be done until later in the week so I headed back to Castlemaine for some R & R. Back down to Melbourne for the XRAY and MRI at Olympic Park, then to see a doctor there. Doctor said the MRI and XRAY were all normal, a tiny laberal tear but it wouldn’t produce my symptoms. (By this stage I had an aching pain in my groin and was unable to lift my left leg more than 1cm off the ground, hip flexion did not exist) His next thoughts were a bulging disc in my back. Instead of having to pay another $380 for MRI which I would get $0 back at Olympic Park, we jumped in a taxi in peak hour and headed to Coburg where I could get $300 back. MRI showed up nothing, and the doctor told me to stay in Melbourne for the night and to go see his colleague in the morning for more tests. Now, mum and I had had to wait 3 hours in between appointments and decided to hit up DFO and made some purchases, which we decided to leave at Olympic Park as we thought we would be returning there that night. However, we didn’t get out of Coburn until 7pm (having left C’maine at 6am) so mum had to head home and I slept on the coach at Ailie’s. Next day went to Olympic Park and got a cortisone injection and a local anaesthetic in my hip joint. Other doctor did some movement tests which were interesting-internally rotating my knee caused pain in my hip yet my hip was anaesthetised..... weird indeed, the hip joint was numbed.... this lead to them thinking it is not the hip that’s the problem, but referred pain. 

Now this is when I really lost my shit, exhausted from lack of sleep on a wonky couch and desperately wanting answers the doctor told me he didn’t know, I would have to wait until next week to hear from the other doctor as he wasn’t even my doctor, and that I could jump on the bike for an hour and spin the legs over. Completely flabbergasted that this doctor who had just seen I couldn’t lift my leg more than a cm off the ground has told me to go out for a spin...... There’s lots of things I would have liked to have said at that moment but instead I just cried. Doh.

Walked out of Olympic Park loaded up with bags and no answers I just sat in a park and sobbed, then jumped on a train and headed back to Marlo town. Had to wait another 4 days to hear from the doctor who then decided I needed a nerve conduction test at the Melbourne Neurological Centre in a week. Waited another week, jumped on the train and headed back to Melbourne. This test friggin caned, they put these pad things on you then electrocute you with this little probe, which was uncomfortable to say the least, but to test the nerves in the back he put a needle in the muscle and then asks you to contract that muscle. Frig, the amount of pain this was causing I was laying there thinking well at least I know what it is now, there has to be something wrong with my nerves. Evil electrocuting doctor then advised me my nerves were in excellent condition.....a relief but still no answers....

Boarded the train back to Marlo and waited another 4 days to hear back from my doctor who said he would try to get me into see a hip surgeon specialist...waited another 4 days and was advised I would be seeing Dr. David Young a hip guru.

Another train ride back to Marlo for some more waiting.

A few days later it was back to Melbourne (waited 2 hours in waiting room) then Youngie had a look at me and said this is totally weird before getting called back to theatre for an emergency so it was another 3 hour wait in his rooms. This is when he saw me and showcased me to his other doctor friends and asked me to stay until tomorrow. Back at 7.15 the next morning, waited until 9.30 to see him, where he asked me to wait until 1pm to go get another MRI, this time on my abdomen and another injection, this time into my illopsoas tendon. His 2 thoughts were either endometriosis which was compressing my illopsoas, or I’d torn my illopsoas.

Over to Vic House and waited until 1pm for a MRI on my abdomen and pelvis, which luckily showed no endometrioses. Then I was injected with an ultrasound guided local anaesthetic into my illopsoas for pain relief and to note any changes over the weekend. The doctor administering the injection was the same doctor I saw about 6 weeks ago who did my first XRAY and he couldn’t believe it was still going on! Once I had this I waited in the waiting room for the girls to sort out my payment and when I went to the front desk to pay my left leg collapsed from under me and somehow I managed to not full flat on my face in a room full of people. Turns out the anaesthetic had leaked into a nerve in my leg and consequently my leg was now numb. I had to sit and wait until it wore off. Unable to walk they called a taxi and a mere 90 minutes later it arrived, to drive me around the block to my other doctor. There I waited another hour for another taxi to arrive and we headed straight into peak hour traffic into southern cross station to make the 6.30 train home. I finally arrived in Marlo at midnight, and once again returned home with no answers. My hip was sorer than when I left and is now the sorest it has ever been even though it has a local in it..... another weird factor to add to the already extreme strangeness of this injury. Also bizarre is that my left quad (bung hip side) is heaps bigger and stronger than my right, but my left calf has signs of wastage....go figure. Well that's what's been going on, hope I dont sound like a sook..... but I'm hoping to have some answers on Monday and Part 2 of this story will hopefully only be a 1 sentence story!