The 2013 Hellfire Cup In January (Drastically Summarised)

The 2012 Hellfire Cup that happened in 2013. What an awesome, very unlucky, but mostly awesome event. 

The Hellfire Cup was meant to be right at the start of the year, on the Australia Day long weekend. Now, the Hellfire Cup was named (from what I know) because it sounds like a cool name for a race - and it is a pretty darn cool name. However, the week of the Hellfire Cup struck disaster as headlines hit the newspaper 'Hellfires'. That's right, there was a Hellfire on the date of the Hellfire Cup, which potentially could have put the event in danger and would have been a risk to run. Because of this, it was moved forward an odd few months until November. 

The event in November was the complete opposite of a Hellfire. The closest thing I could relate it to is probably the story of Noah's Ark, only without the Ark. While it was cold, damp, had mud which destroyed bikes, rained, had more mud and rained a bit more, it all added to the fun (until we had to clean the bikes, anyway...). The photo above was actually the least muddy and wet day - in fact I don't even think it rained. 

The first day was the worst out of all four (In terms of conditions). There was even what seemed to be a 1km stretch of mud so muddy (yes, mud is muddy) that it was pretty much un-rideable after the Pros had ridden through it.. assuming they actually rode through it anyway. The mud was thought to be so bad that they cancelled the night stage on the first day. 

The race was in a partners format, so me and Tim (my partner for Hellfire) were camping next to each other. Our camping partnership soon ended though when the campsite flooded and had to be evacuated. So many things went on at Hellfire - it was the talk of the town. 

Day 2 saw much of the same slippery conditions, only we took turns to complete a lap of the course laid out for us. I can only speak for myself and not my partner... but it was interesting. I made it the majority of the way through the course and then my front tyre slipped in front of an SBS camera. Why. Why of all the places to do it be in front of the SBS camera? I don't know. But after that, I was all over the place, crashing over-taking people, crashing because I tried silly A-lines which were really not lines at all, and I even tried to ride at 40km/h underneath a huge log covering the track where everyone was dismounting - I made it, but I left at about 10km/h and left some of my back behind. 

My SBS debut was pretty amazing. I still haven't heard the end of it several months onwards - It works on some computers and doesn't on others, so it's a bit touch and go as to if you can watch it. 

The third day saw me whip the entirety of the Torq Team. Yes. Not really... I didn't really whip any of the Torq Teams. Anyway, the 3rd day was a Time Trial stage with mud and lots of mud (Mud is a re-occurring theme). You'll also notice I wore matching yellow gloves and shoes before it was cool - Shaun Lewis stole the idea from me obviously. I don't have terribly much more to say about the 3rd day. lets move on to the 4th and final.

The final day was changed from having a Dirt-Crit and Hill Climb to instead, having a 1 minute, eliminator style race. Everyone was there to watch, and we came, we rode, we conquered. Actually I have no idea what time we got in this last race compared to everyone else because I don't think I ever checked. 

All in all, it was a great event, and I can't wait until the end of this year to do it again (If I get lucky with my exam dates though - it's been organised to be on the same week).

http://www.hellfirecup.com

The Cranky Penguin 2013

Ah, the Cranky Penguin. What can I say about this race... I don't really know the right words to describe it.

It was tough. It's probably the toughest, hardest race I've ever done - and I only did the 40km version as opposed to the 70km. The Cranky Penguin had been self-proclaimed to be the hardest race for its length in Australia. Now when I read this, I looked at the distance, the elevation of the marathon, and I shrugged it off. I pretty much said to myself and my Dad, who was also entering 'How hard could it be'. 

We arrived at Penguin (Obviously why the Cranky Penguin has its name) and what was there to greet us, but penguins - and lots of 'em! The whole town was covered in miniature penguin statues (and big ones), signs and they even had penguin bins with their mouth as the hole! This race must have been a big event for the town, as the 'Top Dog' penguin was dressed and ready to roll. 

Because we arrived the day before the event, I was able to go to the Penguin mountain bike park, which was to be the start (besides a massive hill climb through the town) and the end of the race. They had a few A and B lines there which from what I could tell, didn't really give you any time bonus - it was just a series of obstacles to show off and impress people. The above is an example of such an obstacle. Anyway, I got the practice in, still brimming with confidence about how easy the race would be. Boy was I was in for a shock the next morning. 

Getting high on the walls

The next morning I was all set to go. I had scoped out the opposition, secretly planned a race strategy with the guys I knew from down south so we could beat the guys from up north (there's a bit of a rivalry going on, but no ones talks about it and everyone denies it). The 70km racers left 10 minutes before us, which gave us 10 minute of standing around getting nervous - or as I was, brimming with confidence because I still thought the course was easy and no real problem. 

The gun went off and we all left in our big pack. To start with, there was a 'cruise' stage through the flat part of the town with all the townsfolk watching and cheering. There was a lead-out car in front of us, which was to stay at a steady pace and then disappear once we got to the hill which led to the mountain bike park. What I realised was that we were able to 'nudge' the car to go faster, and faster, and faster, until eventually the pack of 100 or so riders was so spread out that it was just me and my arch junior nemesis. 

We went for it. We went fast, and eventually we paid the price. It was much. much. much harder than I had originally thought.

I suffered.

Another fun part of the mountain bike park.

The race proceeded to have continual changes of the leader. One minute it was me, then my arch nemesis, then the guys I plotted secret plans with, then my arch nemesis again. A defining part of the race for me was when we caught up to the stragglers of the 70km race - on a long, technical descent. The two guys in front of me had made it past them on the climb before, while I was stuck - with no room to overtake. With this aside though, I pushed on to eventually win the junior category, and come third overall (having the other two guys that I plotted with beat me by 3 or so minutes). 

It pretty much felt like I'd won a World Cup when I finished (Like Nino, above), only it wasn't for the victory - it was for the relief that I was able to stop, curl up into a ball and move between life and death for the next 10 minutes. 

Overall though, it was a great event - and seriously tough - but in saying that I can't wait for it to be on again in February 2015!... nor should you! http://thecrankypenguin.com.au

Gladly accepted my prizes while I was on the podium. 

Battle Wounds and Tan Lines

Forgetting to put on sun-screen always adds to the lines.

Battle wounds and tan lines. If you're into riding bikes and do it often enough, be it on the dirt or road, it's almost certain that you'll have one of the two. Even if you're in the very small percentage of cyclists who don't share these traits - if you have a look around at any public get-together (e.g. a race, a recreational group ride or even a bike shop) you're bound to see people wearing their tan lines and scars with pride... for better or worse... 

The typical tan lines (missing the sock line though)

Firstly, the tan lines. You'll find these all over a cyclist. I guess the most common area would have to be around the triceps (upper-arm) and where the socks rest. This is mostly due to personal differences between people, such as; wearing baggie shorts as opposed skin-tight lycra, gloves or glove-less, glasses or no glasses, etc. 

Some people will hide their tan lines, keeping them hidden from the public at all costs, while others will embrace it and disregard any external vibes from the outside world. Of course, if you choose to hide the tan lines there are a number of problems you're going to have to face.

1. Sock Height: The much debated and always conflicted argument of 'How high do my socks go" comes into play. If you're an ankle sock wearer, or relatively low down the leg, you're fine here. However! For the many people out there such as myself, who are known to wear their socks as high as anywhere up to their calves (although I don't go that far), the tan line can be a real problem for everyday life. Not only do you need to maintain the high socks while you're riding, but you also have to walk around every day with equally as high socks. Below are some examples of common sock heights.

2. Helmet Straps: Riding a bicycle requires a helmet (Well... in Australia it does at least). Helmets have straps, and where there are straps stopping the sunlight, there is potential for tan lines - and bad tan lines at that. Below is a very over-exaggerated look at what could happen (like really over-exaggerated), but one can still see how this could be awkward when you're not wearing a helmet - so a very large proportion of your life no doubt.

3. Beach Days:Beach days. Pool days. Any day where you go to the beach and have to take off some of your clothes. This is where if you're someone who hides their tan lines, you won't be hiding your tan lines anymore. Mind you, whenever i'm in a situation like this everybody loves the tan lines and can't get enough of them. 

While it's no beach day, it's still an example of a tan in public.

Now that we all know a little bit more about tan lines, we can move onto 'battle wounds'. Everyone has them - The sponsored athletic machine who just won the World Championships, that guy that always consistently turns up to the weekend races and gets the same result every time, and even little Sally who just got off her training wheels (I don't know anyone called Sally). 

Some scars are bad, some aren't so bad. Nobody likes them much, until you find someone else with them and are comparing to see who's is bigger, anyway! I don't have much else to say about these scars, so I'll just end the post with one or two pictures of some that I've got a few photos of. 

If you don't like seeing scratches and blood and stuff, quickly scroll past :D

 My knees when they were relatively free of scars. Think this was the first of many.

AFTER: My poor knee and scar above a few months ago to this post.

 BEFORE: When I got the scar... road bikes on black ice is not wise - that's a pro tip and a half.

My Downhiller friend tried to beat one of my KOMs on Strava recently... ;)

Around about the time I first started riding my mountain bike (Approx. mid-2012) I came off over the bars one night - just missing my eye. Damn lucky.

The DirtDevils Cross Country/Downhill Mountain Bike Championships

Aidan Peterson doing what he does best

The 2014 DirtDevils summer Cross Country series went off with a bang, having five rounds throughout the season. All of which were a lead up to the main event - the club championships. This year, not only were the club XC championships held at Tolosa, but the state Downhill championships were sharing the venue too! We were in for an action-packed weekend.

The Saturday saw only Downhill practice runs - no qualifying yet. It also held the final race in the Cross Country series the day before the championships, and it was a TT hill climb - which wasn't fabulously ideal. Anyway, that got underway early in the morning and was very quickly won and run by Dan de Groot in the Open Male category. I had no one to race in U19 this day so I guess you could say I won, but I wouldn't count it.

Warming-up with the main opposition on the Sunday morning

I had made plans to enter the Downhill State championships, but it was on a borrowed bike that I had barely ridden up the street on, it would have been directly after the suffer-fest that the XC race was going to be and to put it quite simply, I absolutely destroyed myself on the first jump of the whole course - which didn't help in a good mindset to be honest! I decided I'd better leave until next season which would give me some time to train for it, as well as not be mentally and physically drained from a XC race an hour beforehand.

It got to the Sunday. After making the decision not to compete in the Downhill a lot of pressure had been taking off me, allowing me to concentrate on the Cross Country. I'd done my warm-up, gotten prepared and about 20 minutes before the race decided to relieve myself... As I rode back towards the main venue, I felt a prick on my side. I'd practically ridden through a blackberry bush, and in doing so, ripped a gaping hole in my knicks - all of my mental preparation had just left me at this moment. I rushed back to the car, grabbed some Duct tape (works miracles it does) and made a patch. Couldn't have been better, in fact, by the time I rode to the start line I didn't really even need to stop.

 Look ma - One hand!

The U19/Veteran start was fast paced at the start

It was close race between me and the others - especially the junior who came down from up north especially (he wasn't actually in the club). In the long and much-hated climb at the start I managed to get a small gap on him with my sprint- maybe 15s - which I somehow managed to keep for the whole race. He got close a few times, as we found he was faster on the uphills while I made up time on the descents. In the end I got him by 2 minutes, which was a relief! Dan (who was mentioned earlier and also is supported by Cyclingo) wasn't as lucky today in Open, and was beaten by Scott Bowden, riding for 4Shaw.

The Club Champions come the end of race.

I was happy to take the win, as you would be, especially because I'd never competed in a club championship before (for some reason i've just missed all of the previous ones). I also came out with a medal! Medals seem to be hard to come by down south in Tasmania for Cross Country racing - not that it matters but it's nice when you get something for all the effort.

Overall, it's been a great season of racing and I can't wait to see what's in store for Winter!

Some extra XC/DH Photos:

 The Duct Tape didn't last very long

 Dan Booker qualifying with plenty of time to spare

 ALMOST didn't quite make it, but was pretty impressive

I felt destroyed.

No one really liked riding the roots anyway.