Thursday, September 30, 2004
QLD, Victoria, then the world
Kona 24hr is near Bendigo, don't know who'll I'll get as support crew. Pity no-one from here will be going because 12hr is on at same time.
mmmm... soup... yummmmmm....
No Sleep Till Brisbane.
Going to skip Mont 24hr, Ellie's right, I'm still not at 100% since last effort. Feeling good mentally though and quite committed to Victoria for Kona 24hr. Should get entry in this week. Hopefully can use Mum or Jen's credit card. Don't trust myself with one, but a debit card would let me do some more stuff online.
Definitely start of roadie season in Adelaide. Plague of lycra in the mornings. The guys here take it very seriously.
Slowest riders in Adelaide are the cycle cops. You don't want to overtake them, but going at their speed will have you dying of old age by the time you get to the end of the block. Funny watching cars give way to them trundling down the centre of the road when we get tailgated, even when exceding the speed limit.
pancakes rock. organic plain flour (unbleached), fuba bean meal, baking powder and water... voila! put about the amount of flour in a bowl as you would muesli, add some bean meal (few tablespoons) and a big pinch of baking powder, stir in water until runny and then pour large dollop into a hot oiled pan.
must be off
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Rain in the Hills, Sun on the Plain
Today's a beautiful day, but my hearts just not into it. Over work, over the city, over all the crap that comes with it. The stench of stale cigarette butts in every doorway and courtyard. The arrogent arseholes driving 4wd's in the city, 'P' platers in sports cars, taxi drivers with necks so fat they can't look over their shoulders. As DRI said "the city stinks".
Monday, September 27, 2004
Another Day, Another MTB Race, Another Flat Tyre
Every Monday the same blog. EVERYTHING EXPLODES. 50 metres into a 25km race and my first pinch flat. 2km's from the finish line and bang she goes again.
Very close to a DFL, but scraped through to get past a couple people from my class. Had to ride 2km's with no air in my rear tyre, but made it to the end. Even pulled off the 20m of plank bridge with a total flat.
One more race this season. < p> can anything else go wrong?
ps, Lars proved me wrong by showing up.
Friday, September 24, 2004
Food is Good. Drift Food is Gooder
Thursday, September 23, 2004
conation (my favourite foto from this show) enigma 18sept 2004)
bertphoto2004
Adelaide's fastest vegos. Harley, Lars, Dan and Timmm.
bertphoto2004
This is a photo of Lars at his 24th birthday party. It was a quiet but fun night that degenerated into mtb time trials around the house. Lars won a second, his bike's the newest and fanciest, but still, it was a bit of an upset. Only unsurprising thing was me losing. But hey, some has to take 23 seconds to ride around the house. Lars will pike o this weekends XC race, even though it's down the road from his parents' house.
bertphoto2004
TVisSHIT
attempting to use the blogthis! applet, my html stinks like month old pasta. I love pasta. I love my ellie (coz she's smelly). She's stealing my vest and I'm using her laptop while watching the Simpsons. Ellie has declared this day completely and utterly disfunctional day. I would have to disagree, but as a truly functional day for me is one where I go for a ride, play with a PC do some laundry and eat some food; today was great. I've been labelled a nerd for doing this. I guess it's deserved.
Elections everywhere. The Australian elections are their usual farcical selves. Howard's a liar, pushed policies that kill , and is generally a bumbling idiot. Latham's a hack, a party political puppet with no qualms, just sound bytes. The Democrats have demolished themselves and the mainstream press have decided to portray the Greens as a pro-extacy proto commie party (hey at least it sounds fun).
I need to change the channel, but the remote's out of reach and I don't want to put the computer down, but it's pointless watching something with subtitles when there's a computer between you and the TV.
Oh well, might as well get up and make some dinner.
Canaduh, here I come (maybe)
Getting that sinking feeling I'm not going to Canberra for the Mont 24hr. Still, got to keep checking my inbox in case that message shows up at the last minute. Also big conflict between racing the AMTBC 12hr at Mt Torrens or going to Victoria for the Kona 24. 24hr is more my pace and will have less rocks, but the AMTBC race is our last club event for the season.
Life's great. It's a grey day and my thumb doesn't hurt much.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Cheeky
I need this coffee. Not enough sleep, cicadian rythum thrown out the window and my bikes still f**ked from last weeks crash. And did I mention, MY THUMB HURTS.
Should be on a high from last weekends race. But not to be. We race for twenty-four hours, eight riders, three turns each. We spent twenty-three hours knowing our car (trike to be pedantic) was in trouble. An early crash damaged an axle. Anyone familiar with recumbant trikes with hub brakes, I know there's one of you, will know that once a wheel is loose the brakes come on. Not a good racing outcome. We got to heroically claw back from 18th to 7th, but that's not the same as winning, not by a long way. When you're in the lead you set the pace, you can work within your limits and know when it's safe to ease back. When you've lost an hour in the pits all you can do is grind until you break.
Oops, my existence has been remembered, time to play with traffic.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
ARGGH!!
Need I say more.
Friday, September 17, 2004
I Like Cake!
I used to come Dead F***ing Last on a regular basis. Now I win races. I get lent amazing lights and battery sets, get great discounts on mountain bike parts and now, the pinnacle of success, FREE CAKE!
So, it's not a million dolar contract, but hey, FREE CAKE! On top of the cartons tinned peaches and endless supply of powerade I could become a very fat and unheathy person without having to pay a cent. But then I wouldn't be winning racers and the free food supply would dry up. Damn, looks like I'm going to have to stay healthy.
Did I mention I like pasta. I don't get free pasta. Please feel free to send me pasta. Virtual pasta isn't probably as cool as real pasta, but I've never tried it. I like 'aglio e olio', which is the world's simplest and coolest pasta dish. Spaggetti, olive oil, garlic and chilli. Fresh basil and oregano can be added to taste, and should always be served with a liberal dose of fresh cracked black pepper and sea salt. Yummbo.
I used to get into punk rock shows for free, now I have to pay. Paid to see Conation and Against Me last night. Conation are the true gods of Aussie hard-core. Conation are very fast, very, very fast. Really intelligent, dripping with emotion and very, very fast. Murray is zenmaster of blast beasts, mister super posture, super composure, no wasted energy, no loss of focus, just pure balance, timing and poise.
Life is great. And once again I'm running late.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Back Again (this is getting addictive)
I used to be a DFLer. DFLed in the second XC race this season. My first race in C grade, at the notorious (or glorious) Mt Torrens township track. 13 switchbacks, a kilometre of rock garden (appropriately named the mincer) then some steep drops, a cool berm a quick play in the pines. Lovely. I almost came second last but I rammed my forks into a rock and opened my quick release. Next race at Mt Torrens is more my style, 12hr. 2hr races are fun and all, but I just don't get warmed up in time and the race ends just as I start having fun. 24hr solo, that's the way racing should be. I'm good at that. Pick a stupidly low gear and stick to it, don't stop and wait till your nearest competitor has a break before launching an insane attack.
The secret to 24hr racing is not stopping. The other secret is having the most friends at the event, that way every time someone in a team passes you (they do that) odds are it's one of your friends and they'll give you a word of encouragement and tell you how much your competitor is hurting. The super super secret is taking every jump possible (kills the repetition, gives you a reason to accelerate). Super dooper secret is having no pride... pride hurts when you have to let some gumby overtake you coz they're in a team and are able to take risks and to sweat a bit.
Major myth is that you need a dually to race at a 24hr race (bull****). Hardtails rock. All you need is a good saddle and to use every time you have to stand up over rough stuff as a chance to accelerate. My slightly 2nd-hand well loved and well tuned norco kicked arse. Far superior to a heavy and flexy Epic any day (any hints of rear shock envy are purely coincidental and are nothing to do with me be a broke arse bike courier).
Wondering why I think I'm an expert on 24hr racing goto the Dirty Weekend site. I know one fluke doesn't make one an expert, but hey, it's not everyday I win a race that starts (especially when it starts one night and finishes 24hrs later).
need more time
Sick of rumours, next week's XC race in point. All the flyers say Jupiter Creek, the AMTBC web site says Jupiter Creek, people keep telling me it's at Prospect Hill. It's definately Jupiter Creek. I like Jupiter Creek. Prospect Hill has too many jumps for me (although I'm better at that stuff now than I was last time we raced there).
My thumb hurts and I'm in a 24hr pedal prix race this weekend. Recumbents are cool, but I suck, and now on top of sucking I'm covered in bruises and will have problems changing gears. Yay! If I wasn't in a winning team it wouldn't matter, but it's going be twenty-four hours of the 'weakest link' and I know who that's going to be. At least our car is black and shark like so at least I'll look cool. goto http://pedalprix.com and look at ballistic, the world's fastest tricycle. Every grown up kid should have one.
bye, late for work
My thumb Hurts!
First a bitch...
Cheap pedals suck. Old cheap pedals suck harder. Old cheap pedals and worn cleats get you hurt. My knee is Joseph Stalin's favourite colour. The headstem of my bike is cracked and useless. And my right thumb hurts.
I just read Neal Stephensons Snow Crash everyone in that gets around in bulletproof clothes. I don't. My functional but tres cool knee warmers are ripped. My old and more than slightly had it courier bag is more old and had it than ever, and one of the last original parts of my bike is now totally catcus. Yay!
As you've noticed (if you've read this far) I type quickly and profusely wioth little heed as to whether anyone could be bothered reading this. This is just an excuse for me to bitch and moan and put my digital photos somewhere other than Ellie's laptop. Time for me to go, adios.
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