Mountainless Bike Club

New Web-site

2008-11-19T15:34:00.001+11:00

Thanks for checking out the Blog but go to the new website at www.mountainlessbikeclub.com.au. Here you can get all the info about the club, races, photos and more.

Enduro build up continues! Ben Again!

2008-08-28T10:58:00.002+10:00

Last Sunday's race provided racers with a valuable hit out prior to next months Coomie Club 3 Hour Enduro. Great race conditions, saw the 20 strong field tackle the extended 10 km course. After last weekend's track works the course was given the once over by riders keen to get an advantage over the out of towners.
Ben Nicholson has continued his good run with an win in Expert class but was pushed all race by Ian Beruldsen and the consistent Nathan Floramo. Ben has been in cracking form with his on and off road training regime paying dividends with his racing. despite the fact he was racing single speed. He will use the upcoming Enduro as a stepping stone to the CORC 24 hour race in Canberra in October.
As always Sport class was a battle for placings with only a 22 second gap between first and third. The longer course suited the evergreen Mike Erny and he was able to hold off the challenge from his much younger rivals. The battle of the brothers continued with Ross Pedersen finishing second with Leon Pedersen in third. good luck to Leon with his move to the big smoke.
After last months disappointing race at Keribee Alex Drysdale had a solid victory in the Juniors over Sam and Angus Barnden respectively. The sub-juniors pitted the club's two youngest racers against one another. Tyler Beruldsen (10) put his road training and racing to good use to overcome the less experienced Chelsea Dawes (9).
The aim of this months race was to incorporate the monthly meeting with a test of the course layout for the Enduro. The committee was really pleased with the results in some key areas. We had a good field for the race with a mix of age and experience. Our youngest rider was 9 and the oldest was 57. We got some really positive feedback about the course. It is a fast course with some technical areas thrown in but caters for all levels of experience. We are hoping to attract a strong field Coomie Club 3 Hour Enduro to be held on 21st of September. Early entries for the Enduro are promising with riders registered from Sydney, Melbourne and Broken Hill. Registration for the event is available on-line. If you are interested in riding or spectating just go to www.coomieclub3hourenduro.blogspot.com for all the details.

Lead up race to the Coomie Club 3 Hour Enduro

2008-08-20T14:47:00.003+10:00

This Sunday's race for the Coomealla-Mildura Mountainless Bike Club will see racers test their mettle on the layout for next months Coomie Club Enduro. President Ian Beruldsen was wrapped with the turnout at last weekends working bee which set the 9.5 km course and undertook some track works. "We had a very productive day" Beruldsen said. "We laid a 60m board walk across the infamous "sand patch", that caused a few problems in last years Enduro and added a new drop-off down to the river track. The course will be about 9.5 km and incorporate all the best parts of the old course as well as a new section of track that runs along the river to the transition area and finish line." The main aim of this weekends race is to test the proposed course as well as give local riders a look at what they will come up against on 21st of September and provide a bit of feedback.
Racers are encouraged to get out to this weeks race and get one up on the competition. Race registration is from 9:15 am and Race start will be at 10:00. The race fee is $5 plus MTBA day race licence ($15). Bring the rest of the family to cheer you on! Enduro information at www.coomieclub3hourenduro.blogspot.com/

Sundays Race at Kerribee

2008-07-21T09:32:00.004+10:00

For those of you who decided to give Sunday's race at Kerribee a miss you missed out on a beauty. The overnight rain we had did little to dampen the spirits or the of the twenty or so riders who braved the cool conditions. The organisers spent a considerable amount of Saturday morning planning a tight and technical course and were a little worried to see how the course would stand up with some rain. They need not have worried as the dry ground soaked it up. Slightly longer than the April race the course zig zagged it's way along the hillside and wound it's way through the gullies and wash aways. It really took full advantage of the terrain with about 10 drops and climbs. It was great fun and there were some really tricky sections which tested out the suspension.

Ben Nicholson decided single speed was the go and cleaned up expert class from Nathan Floramo and Ian Beruldsen. Ross Pedersen won sport class from Craig Hocking and big brother Leon. Sam Barnden held out Angus and Chelsea Daws did a great job to finish in third. In the inter family battle Phil Sullivan on his 29er proved that a good bit of training can overcome the age factor and showed his son Brent and son-in -law Jason a clean pair of pedals . Good to see another set of big wheels out there as well! Thanks to the timers and spectators! Back to Coomie next month for a pre-Enduro hit out. Sunday 24 Aug. Remember to get and register for the Coomie Club 3 Hour Enduro.

Keep em turning
Brooksy

Mountainless boys try Poker

2008-06-12T12:31:00.003+10:00

The June long-weekend saw ten of us head north to Broken Hill for the Silver City's Annual Poker Run. Celebrating its tenth anniversary the event attracted riders from all over country NSW, Adelaide, Wodonga, Irymple and Mildura. After some very heavy rain in the days leading up to the weekend, event organizers knew the riders were in for some heavy muddy conditions. The event was held over two days with a 23 km Time Trial from Broken Hill to Silverton on Saturday morning, social ride in the afternoon and a 35 km Cross Country race on Sunday morning.
The weather for the time trial was overcast, cold and windy. Riders were staggered at one minute intervals, there were some very interesting battles playing out over the 23 km trail. As the riders neared Silverton, sticky mud clogged their machines, and contributed to some very spectacular crashes with more than one rider going over the bars when misjudging the depth of the mud. Two creek crossings, one with waist deep water made for an interesting challenge for riders who have become accustomed to dry dusty conditions. Broken Hill rider Dave Clarke clocked the fastest time of 52:00 for the 23 km course. However, the Mountainless Bike Club boys performed well with Nathan "Flo-rida" Floramo picking up a third in the Sport Mens class and Alex Drysdale and Sam Barnden picking up second and third respectively in the Juniors. Good job boys!
Saturday afternoons social ride was a slow leisurely familiarisation of the Cross Country course which followed the Silverton Heritage trail. It was great to see the mums and dads come out and join us. The course was nthing like what is around the Sunraysia (there hills for starters) with rocky climbs and fast downhill singletrack with not a tree in sight. That evening, riders and their family and friends, enjoyed the local hospitality with a much needed carbo loading pasta fest at the historic Silverton Hotel.
The morning of the main race was overcast, cold, and the rain was threatening. Forty two riders, as well as an excellent gallery of spectators and support crew braved the elements with the spectators jostling for the best vantage point under the verandah of the Hotel. The Poker race consists of two races in one. A Cross Country race and the Poker Race. The concept is that for each completed lap a rider recieves a playing card. The rider with the best hand wins the grand prize of an original artwork valued at $800. Juniors were required to complete 2 laps, women 3 laps, and men 5 laps. Additional laps could be completed by Juniors and Women to gain additional playing cards. This proved highly valuable, for a Junior veteran of the event, Billy Macfarlan from the Adelaide Mountain Bike Club. With 3 Kings in the winning hand, Billy snagged the original Howard Steer painting, much to the envy of the rest of the field.
Line honours went to Broken Hill's Dave "The Freak" Clarke who locals will know has ventured down here more than once and taken home the prize. Dave successfully defended his title. Although missing out on the painting, once again Sunraysia riders acquitted themselves well in the Crosss Country and the big grins on faces showed the level of enjoyment. In the Senior Men Ian Beruldsen was the best placed "out of towner" in sixth place. Nathan Floramo backed up his placing on Saturday with a third place in Sport Class ahead of Grant Brooks and Ross Pederesen who finished in the top ten.
Alex Drysdale had a good battle for 3rd, over fellow Coomealla Club riders Sam and Angus Barnden in the Juniors. An encouragement award went to Tyler Beruldsen from Coomie, who was the youngest rider (11yo) who not only rode the time trial, but also did the social ride and completed 3 laps for the Poker race.
The experience for the Sunraysia riders was excellent. "Everyone benefited from the weekend's racing. The course location was totally different to what we are used to racing at Coomealla. The wet muddy conditions were a challenge but a nice change. The rocky sketchy surface on the climbs and decents tested skills that we don't get the chance to use when racing around the Sunraysia. The Broken Hill Club have been great supporters of our events and it was really good to have the chance to reciprocate. We will look for some revenge in the Coomie Club Enduro in September." Thanks to the racers, riders and supporters that made the weekend a successful one. The next club race is at the Coomealla course this Sunday 15th June. Race registration from 9:30 Race starts at 10:00.

Race review last Sunday

2008-05-22T11:38:00.003+10:00

Wet and muddy conditions greeted the racers for the last Sunday's race. The rain over the previous couple of days left some surface water on course which effected parts of the track. Ian and Nathan did a quick inspection to make sure it was safe. The track in was pretty muddy so we made a change to the start-finish line and ended up with 6.8 km course. Since we haven't had rain up here for ages nearly all bikes were set up with tyres more suited to dry dusty conditions so the challenge was definitely on maintaining traction in the soft mud. The other thing was trying to reduce the amount of mud sticking to the bike.
Luckily the rain stayed away and in cool overcast weather the race started at a cautious pace, as riders tried to come to grips with the slippery conditions and course layout. Steve Kelly from Broken Hill decided to err on the side of caution and shadow Ian Beruldsen who led the field in the first lap. Nathan Floramo lead out the Sport class from Grant Brooks, Leon and Ross Pedersen and Anthony Connell. In the Juniors, the improving Sam Barnden set up a handy lead from recent good performer Alex Drysdale and Angus Barnden.
By mid-race, positions in the field were set and parts of the track were barely rideable. At the rear of the course the recently built "3rd tee climb and jump" was like riding on ice and the general consensus was to "hike-a-bike". Luckily the rain held off but the a combination of sticky conditions and the flu resulted in a few riders calling it a day early. Well done to gesture Alex Drysdale who let Len Pedersen use his bike to finish the race due to Leon flatting on the third lap. With the amount of mud stuck to tyres and rims a change of tube was out of the question.
Ian's good start put a couple of minutes on Steve Kelly and he took out the Expert class. Nathan and Grant crossed the line in a tie for first and Ross Pedersen second with Len in third in Sport class. Sam Barnden had the Juniors all to himself when Angus and Alex fell victim to the Murray mud.
Despite the tough conditions all racers enjoyed the hit out and the experience of wet weather racing. Club President Ian Beruldsen said "It's great to test your skills in different riding conditions and we certainly haven't raced in conditions like these for quite a while. The area needs the rain and the Coomie course can do with a drink leading up to the Coomie Club Enduro in September." http://coomieclub3hourenduro.blogspot.com/
The June long weekend sees a contingent of Coomie-Mildura riders and supporters heading north to take on the Broken Hill Mountain Bike Club's annual "Poker Race". Hopefully we can put in a good showing. Good luck to all! Next club race 15 Jun 08. Stay tuned!

The 3rd Tee - It's a Drop-Off!

2008-05-15T14:39:00.006+10:00

After some strenuous covert work today - validating footprint data, tailing cars, intercepting phone calls and stealing photo's from peoples camera phones - I turned up the photo's shown below. They show conclusively that "The 3rd Tee" is actually the name for a modified part of the Coomealla-Mildura Mountainless Bike Clubs track!

It appears that two club members were involved in making a sturdy little drop off at the end of the popular "Goat Track" section. It is quite solid and very well constructed. Not only is it higher than the previous drop, but it's constructed from treated pine posts infilled with road base, which has also been used to highlight the landing area and following track.

This work must have been with the clubs upcoming race this weekend (18th May) in mind! It all makes sense!

Here you can see club president Ian Beruldsen caught red-handed, about to take another shovel load of quality road-base to in-fill the drop off.

From footprint surveys I believe that Ian was the ring leader, arriving early in the day and already having one trailer load of road base shoveled and the timber work constructed before another club member - Anthony Connell - came along to help.

I also found evidence of a new "Alternative Route" which turns to the left just before the drop, instead of the right, and shoots safely down between trees. This explains the weird hieroglyphs I found last night - they're actually direction arrows indicating that you have two options of tracks to take at this point! From my early calculations it appears that riders who use the alternative route will loose time to those who take the drop off.

Here you see club member and fellow drop-off conspirator Anthony Connell tentatively peering over the drop. I believe this was taken just prior to his first attempt.

Also found on a camera phone was this photo, which proves that the drop is two feet high:

And if that wasn't enough proof, have a look at this video of Anthony riding the drop.

Case solved!

The Secret Viper

The Wall of intrigue that is The 3rd Tee...

2008-05-15T08:24:00.010+10:00

With my supposed Super-Sleuth's incapable of chasing a lead if it was attached to their collar, I went on my own investigating and fact finding mission under the cover of darkness last night - The Mystery of The 3rd Tee needed to be solved! Starting at our first lead - The Coomealla Golf Club - it didn't take too long before I was lost and blindly wandering around the bush cursing the three B's of night navigation - Batteries, Batteries, Batteries.

As the hours slipped by I became gripped with fear - Where was I? Would my water last? What caused that rustling in the bushes? And would I make it home by 8:35 to see Dateline on SBS?
Panic stricken, I ran. Stumbling, tripping, falling, thump! I looked up, amazed. Dumb founded. There it was! The 3rd Tee! Finally!

With time running out to adjust my aerial and get good reception for Dateline and see the Man that is George Negus, I had to gather facts quickly. Scouting the area blindly, I was crawling my way through the darkness on hands and knees.

Again, Thump! I came across the hard lump you see to the left, resembling a tablet with weird hieroglyphs. What does it mean? Is it a sign of an alien landing?

After 2 photo's my camera batteries ran out. Unperturbed I scoured on my hands and knees. Round timber posts. Vertical. Horizontal. More stone tablets - what strange text was printed on them? Footprints - two sets. What does it all mean? What felt like a rusted old wheel from a child's tricycle. An alien landing surely!

I will continue my investigations today begining with analysis of footprint samples, using them as my second lead. Hopefully I will get to the bottom of this today, as I don't want to miss Inspector Rex tonight. Now if only I could get Inspector Rex on the case...

Signed - The Secret Viper

"The 3rd Tee" - Rumours abound!

2008-05-12T10:58:00.004+10:00

Since the weekend, rumours have been surfacing in the Sunraysia district regarding something being called "The 3rd Tee".

What is The 3rd Tee? According to the rumours, "No one can be told what The 3rd Tee is - you have to see it for yourself."

Pressed for personal time to chase rumours, we’ve sent our undercover agents out to dig up the dirt on this wall of intrigue and report back with everything they find. Stay tuned for further updates as they come to hand – you’ll hear it here first.

In the meantime, don’t forget the next club race - this Sunday 18th May, 9:30am registration for a 10am start at the Coomealla track – straight past the Coomie Golf club. Which, incidentally, is the first lead our agents are following... Stay tuned!

Signed - The Secret Viper.

Kerribee Race Report - 20 April 08

2008-04-30T14:48:00.005+10:00

I learnt something on the weekend. "Prickly pear stings". But apart from that it was smiles all round after Sunday's race out at Kerribee Station. For those of you who don't know where Kerribee is. It is on the way to Euston from Mildura. It's is private property and the course is on the side of a hill which means descending and climbing. Huey put on a beautiful day for us to enjoy and the race committee had prepared a tricky technical course. The course used the deep gullies and washaways that drop down toward the bush. There were berms, drop offs, tight corners and a few of climbs. The laps were shorter than usual, but we did more of them. A shade under 2.5 km but they were a real test of the technical ability of riders. With drop-offs, rabbit burrows and prickly pear to contend with, concentration as well as a practice lap before the race was the key.
The field was started with a thirty second gap between classes to avoid the inevitable congestion in the tight course. Expert class started first and the field let Ian Beruldsen lead them out as he had intimate knowledge of the course layout. However, Ian would find that he would have stiff competition and after the first lap visiting rider, Steve Kelly from Broken Hill lead the field. Ben Nicholson who raced with the roadies on Saturday was running a little late and missed the opportunity for a practice lap. So he sat behind the others on the first lap. Then he really cranked up his pace and worked his way through the field to take the lead on lap three. His blistering lap times (quickest at 7.44) saw him street the field and finish five minutes ahead of Steve in second and eight minutes in front of Ian who finished third. Errol Schmidt and Nathan "Flo-rida" Floramo just off the pace.
Sport class saw a mix of local and visiting Broken Hill riders taking on the track. Ross Pedersen, who had dropped back a class was never headed. The other riders in Sport grappled with the tricky terrain and were dogged by falls, mechanical problems and illness. Big brother Leon took second and Mark Lenton, who discovered you can run tubeless but not tyre-less on his last lap finished third thanks to the kind donation of a front wheel from wife Jo-ann. Jo and Grant decided to pack it in early and watch the fun from the spectator area.
Alex Drysdale's continued to dominate in the junior class and once again he had the wood over the Barnden brothers. Sam managed to account for Angus but both boys rode really well. The three boys have been clocking up the Km's riding to school and their riding ability and race fitness are steadily improving. The jumps training sure came in handy. "Girl-power" was represented by the Lenton sisters, Alexis and Kirstie from Broken Hill. Both girls gave it a red-hot go and took on the challenge of Kerribee.
Race winner Ben Nicholson was impressed by the course layout and the vast contrast to the terrain at Coomealla course. "It was great fun. It was good to use all your mountain biking skills and not just relying on fitness. Once I was used to the track I was able to really work on my lines and the best way to hit the drops and turns. Can't wait for the next race here!"
The general consensus is that Kerribee is a top place to race. You can't ride here and not improve your skills. It is so different to racing out at Coomealla. Hopefully we will be able to race again out there in July so pencil it in.
Thanks to the timers and helpers.
Thank you to the Maynard family for the access and use of their property. The next club race will be on Sunday 18 May back at Coomealla.
Keep em turning!
Brooksy