25th April...Legs have just about recovered now, upper body, well...still getting there! It was a big turn up for the Wed nite ride at Lyster, a Pinnacle Cycles/Bezerk Cycles ride with plenty of adventure along the way. One beauty was the loss of a chain on the way down the Comm Games course leading to a search to recover it! Unfortunately it was only two lost souls looking for said chain while the rest of us were wondering where the f#&k they were!

Made it back to the servo and Baz rolled up eager to roll, so he Sam and I went out for another lap, very nice pace with Baz riding the 29er with his cast on!

I finally got fed up with the mount on my TriNewt and did some creative work with the saw and another Niterider bracket, pics to follow. Works a treat now and is rock solid, easier to adjust and central as a bonus.

Today being ANZAC day, Steve, Sam, Tone, Russ, William, Don and I went out for a Baker Deluxe ride with extra cheese...the extra being in Churchill with the monster climb, you know the one that you can see the top of, goes dead straight and makes us SS riders go "what the f....?" Tone and I being the SS riders were successful this time around, so all good there...

The Baker Deluxe with cheese ride ended up being around a 35km loop, pretty good without using hardly any of the same trails. Steve added some sauce to his meal with one of those slow mo stacks, you know the one, hidden tree root, going up a climb, you're already pretty shagged, aghhh!

So this arvo saw me working on a second E-MTB, the linked one being the first one I made for John. Tommy's is quite different and has been going together quite well, he's chaffing at the bit to get it going! More travel and cool Suntour gearbox, should be sweet! Might have to build my own after finally trying John's completed one tonite, check out the website above and organise a test ride!!!!

Yep, bike is still for sale...the 29er is too, $950 and it's yours!

21st April...The BMC 100...Jeez, I'm bloody knackered now, those hills seemed to never end! Sam and I took off with the first wave or riders around mid-pack and got stuck behind a group as soon as the singletrack section started, it was probably a good way of warming up without going too hard, but frustrating none the less.

The first 40km seemed to fly by with us averaging over 20kph to this point, then it was my worst fears coming to pass with the cramps starting with vengeance, mainly in the quads on the steep climbs, knew I should have fitted the 17 tooth on the rear...

So 2,500m of climbing in 100km, it was a brutal course where the climbs seemed to just get steeper the further you went, way too much fire/gravel roads for my liking, but probably helped get the ride over and done with a little quicker...

Sam was ultra consistant all day and kept us both sane, I think we were both about to go crazy at the 90km point! The singletrack, when we were on it, was certainly pretty sweet, nice and flowing with plenty of varied obstacles from log-overs to some North Shore bridges and jumps. Sam went flying down the descents with the usual flair and speed that leaves your's truly for dead, luckily I can climb ok, ha ha. Certainly worth a day trip if you were keen for something different.

16th April...Jeez, the casulties keep piling up, Steve out with the flu and Baz trying to outdo Carter with a broken wrist! Now sporting a pale green fibreglass cast, he's looking forward to a ride in the next few days!!!

So another good windtrainer session under the belt, they're slowly ramping up in time with over an hour spent spinning away on Tuesday, good to feel the legs burning away...

A great recovery ride saw me bike pathing it around for 30 plus kays venturing to the Knobbysports Dirt Crits under lights. A good turn up with around 25 riders doing their best to get around the track under lights. Sam pulled off a respectable 3rd place, even better considering he had only just got there in time for the kickoff, so no warm up at all. Rach did well too, results yet to be confirmed...I leant my headlight to young Daniel for his first ever night ride, he thoroughly enjoyed it and keen to do some more, nice work Dan!

A welcome break from the bike on Thursday, looking forward to riding at Woodend on Sunday...

Thanks for messages of concern for Carter, he's sleeping better now and getting used to the fact he'll be in plaster for some time yet...

Yep, bike is still for sale...

14th April...30km in Lysterfield without using the same piece of track more than once? Welcome to the newly named "Baker Deluxe" ride. You can upsize to the Baker Deluxe with Fries by doing the same loop in reverse back to back, so 60km in one sitting is more than enough for some, ha ha.

So Sam and I rode one BD tonite and I wasn't Man enough to SS it up those steep f'n climbs, legs were willing but the heartrate said "get real idiot!" Might be revising gear selection...

Carter is still in denial mode thinking we can take his plaster off anytime, so as a consequence is lashing out at everybody, man what a temper! Just to add insult, the pain builds up but he refuses to take some medicine, go figure!

So I've agreed to race on Wed nite with Sam, so I'll be riding out from GS factory at around 5pm if you have any interest joing me, ha ha.

Yep, bike is still for sale...

13th April...Well the weekend was looking ok, had a good but late session on the TACX on Friday nite, got a quick job finished for John K early Sat arvo and was part way through making the cromo integrated headtube for Tommy's bike when you get "the phone call"...

"Carter's fallen off the slide, he's crying a lot and won't let me touch his arm...what do I do?" Some back and forth communications and I resign that it's an early day and head home to look after the other two while Carter is off to the Angliss. To Frais's surprise it's the same doctor as a few weeks ago when Amielle had her "moment".

So by this stage we're all saying he's just putting it on and the visit will be a waste of time...the x-rays failed to agree showing he'd broken two bones, one above the elbow and one below with a dislocation to round it out! Unfortunately for him, this meant no quick slapping of plaster and sent out the door, this meant off to the operating room and "put under" to put it all right again. But no, doesn't end there, no Osteo rostered on today, you'll need to go to Box Hill hospital.

So a swapping around of kids and parents, with Helen looking after the other two, saw us both off to Box Hill with me thinking this going to be a long day/nite. To my surprise we were expected and everything was setup ready to roll, fill in the paperwork, go up to the kids ward where Helen (our friendly efficient nurse for the next few hours) raced us through some more paperwork and Carter's gerney turned up but moments later...

So the quick run through with all concerned on "what's going to happen" or worst case scenario and he was tethered up to an IV and straight off to the theatre, no movie this time, only one behind closed eyelids...

I volunteered for the niteshift and tried to let everybody know that my involvement in the Sunday ride was not going to happen, apparently it bucketed down with the wet stuff in the morning...so he made it though the nite with hardly a wimper, could have been the drugs, until Frais turned up and the tears start flowing again!

You gotta love their attitude though, he was supposed to be performing on Sunday in a dance concert at Knox Ozone and fully thought he was going to be there that day...so Amielle has made him up a count down chart for the days left in plaster, it "might" sink in that he not going to be doing much for some time!

Yep, bike is still for sale...

10th April...Well, sort of fell off the planet for a bit there...my son decided he'd had enough of his virus and happily passed it onto me, so sorry to anyone who turned up looking for me on Wednesday night, but I was a bit under the weather! So one windtrainer session and a fun night of Lyster madness missed, oh well, the BMC to look forward to!!! Got your entry in yet?

Have put my entry in for Chase the Sun round 1, solo and singlespeed, is there any other way??? A nice cruisy 5hr to kick off this time, shame it's on Mother's Day!!! Would have made much more sense for this one to be on the Saturday...team name this year - Bezerk Cycles, stroke of genius hey!

I've reluctantly decided to put my pride and joy of a race beast up for sale, so if anybody knows anybody looking for a real bargain, please drop me a line...yes the carbon/alloy beast, XTR brakes, AC SS wheels, carbon bars and stem, your choice of crank length TA's, Thomson post, Racing Ralph tires, Izumi track chain, F100X forks etc...

7th April...Young Sam was stoked with a 9th place at the S.H.I.T.S, lots of solo riders on the day with good weather blessing all the riders. Results I'll have to get him to type up a quick story...

Baz and I hit the trails again for a clockwise lap to work our aches away. We managed to keep our pace down for a change to actually do a recovery ride rather than another thrashing! It's great to be under lights again and getting used to the subtleties envolved with it...like turning quick enough and not plowing into trees etc, ha ha. Lyster is sweet at the moment, can see it quickly turning to crapola when the rain really starts to set in.

Looks like I'm entered in Around the Bay for '08, early start but needed to get the direction you want I suppose, should be a good warm up for the 24hr a month later...

Got your entry in for the BMC100? What ya waiting for? Less than two weeks away, should be a hoot!

6th April...A longish day in the sadle today, started at 7:30 and home about 13:20, longest pedal I've had since I did the Noojee/Baw Baw ride on Australia Day, jeez that's two months ago...no wonder the legs feel knackered!

So at 8am, Steve and I ventured into the north of Welli Rd part of Lyster for some tracks I haven't ventured on since I did a Fat Tyre Flyers' race in probably the 90's. With some steep climbs and rutted downhills, it was a great warm up for the miles ahead. Well worth a look if you're after a change of scenary...just don't go buggering it up!!!

The group swelled to around 11 riders at 9am when we met up with Nath, Russ and Tone and their newbie riders breaking their Lyster cherrie. Also on hand was some Pinnacle Cycles riders including Consto riding SS again, good to have another SS idiot on the ride!

So with the group containing a vast ability of riders, the usual "rubber band" style or riding ensued with the front runners whipping up the pace and waiting at key places and the tail-enders having little time to stop and smell the roses. Steve parted company to join another party of brave soles for their first Lyster venture...

We collected Baz and another three Pinnacle riders on the route, nice work Emo, and continued on our merry way. Three flat tires later we'd got back to the servo with the newbies thanking the Almighty one for getting them there in one piece and a look of thank f&%k it's over.

Baz and I went back for more...with Baz working through some cramps, we kept a fine pace going and were back to the servo in short order, nice work Baz! So I headed home with the legs feeling pretty dead...good to get a long day under the belt again.

Haven't heard from Sam yet, update tomorrow....

5th April...First windtrainer session that I've done for around three months...now I remember how hard it is too concentrate at keeping it going at the same intensity for the whole period, tempo at it's finest! The banged up knee seemed ok which was a good sign, a mere flesh wound hopefully, ha ha!

Sam competing at Beechworth today, Six Hours in the Saddle, should be a good race. He is getting some good fitness up now, so should be up for a good one.

3rd April...Jeez, what about that weather we've been having here in Melbourne!!! With gusty winds, the GS factory sustained some damage as the roof tried to make its way towards the Bay with co-workers trying to batten down the hatches and prevent water from damaging stock. Fortunately at home we only had one tree remove itself at ground level and only do minor damage...

Unfortunately the last round of the Knobbysports Dirt Crits was cancelled, not surprised if you could have seen the sky...truly ominous! So with the cancellation, I believe Team Bezerk/CPA ended up on top of the points tally...whoo ha! Think I ended up third in the A Grade points this series, not too bad with a race missed...congrats to all the team members who put in a fine effort all series keeping the points rolling along. A big thanks to all who have organised a sweet race series, highly recommended if you want some weekly racing during the daylight saving period.

So an impromptu ride at Lysterfield tonite with BC saw yours truly have some good stacks for the first time in a while...the tracks are covered in debris, trees and the like, so are nothing like the trails you remember. So combine that with "under lights" conditions and some wet stuff, I now fashion a bloody swollen knee and some inner thigh damage... what a ride though! Track was nice and tacky, when not sliding over branches, and was generally pretty sweet with the added extra obstacles keeping the adrenaline going!

Sam is on his way to the Six Hours In The Saddle at Beechworth for Saturday, so expect to see the Bezerk race bike there for a chance to test ride it etc. Tell him to hurry up if you see him riding around, that Stumpy doesn't power itself...ha ha

Thanks for all the kind wishes for Amielle, she's back to her normal self and baring little memory of what actually happened (see earlier posts in March if you don't know what went down) and has healed up well.

1st April...A quiet weekend for a change, a great couple of nights out west in the Grampians with no riding, yes that's right, you're eyes aren't deceiving you, NO riding! Was our 10 year wedding anniversary, so a couple of nights kid free and a chance to visit some places with beautiful scenary.

Last night was the first step back into "training" for the upcoming year of Enduro racing, so back onto the windtrainer of pain for a sorting out session to find some base numbers to work with for future sessions... looks like I'm up for some major sweat sessions!!! If you have any interest at all at bringing your windtrainer around for a session, just let me know, will be Tues and Friday nights.