The perfect tyre?

It is safe to say there is no perfect tyre that is ideally suited to all the conditions that you will ever ride, but I stumbled across a gem this year that I thought I should share. It is called the Maxxis Rendez and normally thought of as a tyre for dry conditions and perfect for the skatey decomposed granite surface of places like Mt Stromlo, but with a few modifications it becomes a very capable mud tyre.

I had a few in my kit bag for my trip to race the World Cups this year and mid way through they hadn't seen too much use as dry tracks are few and fair between over there. I spent a fair chunk of time at Montreal riding on the hard packed greasy mud and root of Mont Royal and the Rendez on the front, in a 2.1" with fairly low pressure (around 26psi), was working fairly well over the roots. I had noticed however that the thinly spaced ramped centre knobs were clearing the mud really well in the slick mud, but the side knobs clogged easily due to their tight spacing (most likely there for cornering stability in dry hard packed conditions) and turning corners was a bit scary. The specific mud tyres that i had were 1.9" Medusa, awesome pizza cutters for proper deep mud and off camber, but roots and rocks are pretty dogdy and the rolling resistance on the fire road sections really limits the applications for these sort of tyres. I had the idea of cutting off the inner row of side knobs. About 30mins of action with some large toenail clippers (plus a trip to the shop to buy a new set when those ones broke half way through) and a couple of blisters later i had myself a custom made tyre. And i was very impressed with the pile of rubber that had collected, because you know what that means.......grams!

I tested it out and as I expected the mud cleared a lot better from the sides. I ended up using this tyre at the Bromont Canada Cup and the Mont-Sainte-Anne world cup, both in very muddy conditions, and it went a treat. I got a bit more efficient at cutting off the knobs by using side cutters instead of the trusty toenail clippers. I have even used them back at home at Stromlo and Cooma with the knobs missing and they still handle dry conditions really well, but i used a fresh one with side knobs at the world champs.

So all in all i reckon that the Rendez 2.1 up front is a pretty good all round tyre that is versatile and could minimise the amount of tyres that you carry if you travel away to a race. It is certainly not ideal for all conditions, but it is right up there for a very broad range of conditions and a very capable all-rounder.

The Rendez with to knobs cut off

Early season training and the Highland Fling

Early season training is going well. Coach has got me doing some nice long k's and plently of gym sessions. I am loving the mountain bike at the moment, it is always at this time of year (without any big races or pressure) that I remember why I love riding. Trying to keep up with Warren Burgess around Manly dam (him on a Rize and me on a HT) has been a highlilght, along with going out to smash apart the Cooma trails but often coming off second best.

The Highland Fling has been a bit of an annual pilrmige for me and this year's event was as good as ever. It is always a great atmosphere at the camping and fun to chat with the neighbours and make new friends. My form was as expected, OK for speed, but lacking in endurance. I managed to get second in the "Bundanoon Dash" behind Pez with Dennis Van Mill 3rd. The main event, the 112km marathon, started well and I spent a brief period in an early solo break. It was all together again through the first transition and as expected the attacking started during the 2nd stage. I managed to hang on in the main bunch until about the halfway point where I blew apart. From there it was a less than impressive display of suffering just to get to the end for 9th position. Good training though, and just a fun event to be a part of - well done the all the Wild Horizons crew.

Back to work and the Cooma trails

My 7 month stint of racing and travelling is over and I am back at work in Cooma. As tough as it is to get out of bed with an alarm every morning I am enjoying having a job once again. Another good point about being back in Cooma is the trails! I went out yesterday afternoon and it was great. The trails were pretty much as i left them - just as rocky and loose as ever. It was very hard and even scary at times having not ridden anything like it for ages. I can't wait to go out again.

I have posted a few of the photos from the Scott 24 hr:

copyright - foto:sportograf.com

copyright - foto:sportograf.com

copyright - foto:sportograf.com

copyright - foto:sportograf.com

copyright - foto:sportograf.com

copyright - foto:sportograf.com

Scott 24hr - Mt Stromlo

The Scott 24hr was held at Mt Stromlo over the weekend. After 2 weeks of not so much as touching a bike after Europe, i wasn't sure how my body would hold up the 24hours of abuse, but after getting 2nd last year, we were keen to go for the win this time. Our team (wonderfully supported by Swell Design - http://www.swelldesign.com.au/) that consisted of Adrian Jackson, Shaun Lewis, James Williamson and myself met up for a practice lap the day before the big race. The track included the full length of the beginner downhill track which is quite rocky, and in my opinion, one of the best tracks on the mountain so i was super happy. With the excitement of being out riding the local trails again with my mates it was hard not to give it too much and my de-trained legs pulled up a little stiff from the session, oh well, it sucks to fall into the trap of enjoying your life!

The field this year was probably the toughest in the race's history with no less than 4 teams that could win the race. Our main competition was Crowne Plaza (Macca, Hendo, Haas & Braunsteins), Gu (Sid, Millar, Pez & Potter) and Rockstar (Gordo, Hamo, Glennan & Fleming) so it was a bit daunting going into the race, but we knew what we had to do. Lewi rode the first lap and he went quite hard, doing enough to mark Hamo (Rockstar) while Paul VDP (Felt 6) and Carlso (Spearman Cycles), who was having a blinder of a weekend with 4th in the prologue, went off the front. When Lewi handed over the me i headed out with Matty Flemming and thanks to Lewi's effort, Crown Plaza and Gu were left behind to chase. Matt and i soon passed the Spearmans and Felt riders and took it in turns at riding on the front, each of us keen to crack the other. After 45 mins, and literally rubbing shoulders at times, we came in together. Then it was over to AJ who managed to put 1:37 into Glennan to give us a small advantage. Aj certainly was looking like a valuable inclusion to the team after Matt Fleming defected to Rockstar in the off-season. From there we just kept plugging away gradually building a lead which was up 9 minutes over Rockstar at 11:30pm, with Gu at 21 minutes and Crowne Plaza at 36min. At that point Lewi and I had a rest while Willo and AJ did 2 laps each. When Lewi and i took over at about 3 o'clock in the morning we had a lead of over 18 minutes from Rockstar! (with 36min to Gu and Crowne lapped) With the knowledge that we had a small lead, Lewi and I set about our laps with a bit less pressure. We could conserve a little and just knock out some steady times, while the Rockstar lads had the pressure on them to chase us. It was extra comfort for us to know exactly how that feels, since we were in that position last year chasing Gu. It is really hard; you have to dig deep on every lap while the fatigue just builds and builds. Come the morning, Rockstar had clawed back quite a lot of time and we were hanging on by 5:55. that is when AJ went out at 9:30am and smashed his quickest lap of the entire race, a 47 flat. From then it was a matter of not crashing and not flatting to ensure that we would take the win. The final margin was about 9 minutes.

An awesome effort from the boys and great to share a win with mates. Thanks to Anton and Col from Swell Design Group for making it happen and to Rosie, BJ and everyone else that helped us out. We will be back to defend next year.

The Swell Team Ute

The lads after the big win

Podium photo

photos by Russ Baker and Dan DeWitte

British XC Series Finals - Plymouth

My final race of the season is over, my bike is clean and packed in the bag to head home. It wasn't exactly a fairly tail end to a big year, but it feels nice to be on a break for a couple of weeks before the training starts again.

The course at Plymouth was really fast after plenty of nice weather. It had some really quick single track descending that was heaps of fun but nothing that was very tricky. I raced a team relay the night before the race with the TORQ-Kona team and we got 3rd, however i did't have great sensations over my single lap so i was hoping i could get it going a bit better for the main event.

On the first lap it was Oli Beckinsdale that took the lead with a group that included Fletcher and a couple of Czech guys. I was back with Liam Kileen and another guy in a chasing group. I didn't what to start super fast so i was happy back in about 7th place. I was feeling quite good (but not great) and was pulling some consistent lap times when i started to notice a problem where my chain would slip whenever i put any pressure down. It gradually got worse and worse to the extent that on the last lap i had to run the main climbs. Unfortunately it meant that I lost a coupe of positions and I eventually finished in 9th. I was hoping for a podium here, but in the end i was happy to hang onto a top ten consisdering the circumstances (having to go to the pub with Matty Z every night this week probably didn't help either!). There is certainly no point dwelling on it though; it has been a big year, i have learnt a lot and got a lot stronger. I am very keen to rest up and start building again for an even better season next year.

So with no riding to worry about i spent a lovely Sunday with my old pals Rob and Julie who travelled down from Manchester to see me. We took in the picturesque Plymouth waterfront, sampled some of the teriffic fish and chips and took a tour of the historic Plymouth Gin distillery, which included plently of taste testing.

Schladming World Cup

After some wet practice days during the week (and some concerns about the steep off camber grass descents in the rain) the weekend was hot & dry.

The start was not too bad, there was a crash very early that split the bunch up a bit so it all strung out fairly early on. I tried really hard to hold my position and i think did quite a good job to come through in 72nd after the first lap. I hit the hill on the 2nd lap and realised that I had dug a bit too deep on the first lap because i started to hurt. For the next couple of laps i tried to hold the wheels but i lost quite a few spots to be back in 90th after 4 laps. The course had heaps of steep climbing and the descents were really steep but not very technical so they were over quickly. This seemed to take its toll on everyone becasue even though i didn't speed up, i started to pass people. Coming to the end of lap 5 (with 1 to go) i was up to 81st, but the red flag came out and pulled me from the race.

I was a bit disappointed to finish a lap down, but with so much climbing it was always going to be a hard one. After a bit of reflection though, i'm not too sad. It has been a long season that started way back in October last year so being tired is understandable. Also after the bit taper and all the hype surrounding Worlds, it is always going to be hard to get back on the A-game. Having said that though, 81st is actually my best result at a European world cup this year (where the fields are typically the strongest), and it does show a level of progression to be there.

I have just one race to go now, a C1 British National Series round. Hopefully i can resist the temptations that are inherent with staying with mates in London and stay sober enough to pilot my bike around one more track!

Champery World Cup

Hot tube after the race


Lach doing some yoga


Lachy smashing the Via Ferrata


Kat on the Via Ferrata


The field climbing the steep hill on lap 2 (i'm at the back of the bunch)

The Champery World Cup didn’t quite go as planned. The start lap went up a long bitumen climb and was a bit scary with the usual hussle and pile-ups. I was pretty lucky and happened to be on the left when there was a crash on the right, then over on the right when there was a crash on the left. The first descent was a shit fight with so much traffic; in fact most of it was running. I tried really hard to get in a good rythmn but the combination of bumper to bumper traffic and wide open climb made it a really stop/start affair. I felt like i had nothing in my legs. The over night rain had made the track somewhat treacherous with plenty of slippery root sections and I was even having trouble to find some nice flow in the singletrack. I had a few crashes including one pearler which was a full superman over the bunting and a tumble down a steep glassy hill. Lucky Macca saw it so we had something to laugh about after the race.

After battling away for 4 laps I was eventually pulled in 91st place. Lachy and Macca were right behind me and none of us were very impressed with our performances. I think there is some form in in there somewhere, but at the end of the season it seems to be quite tricky to extract it. Perhaps we have been having too much of a holiday to race well? It has been really tough staying in a swiss chalet high up in the mountains. Hopefully we can all turn it around for weekend in Austria.