Enduro magazine Timor coverage

Issue 20 of Enduro magazine has some great coverage from some of the biggest MTB events from the last few months around Australia and of course East Timor. It features a headlining article from Paul van der Ploeg with the perspective of an elite rider on the winning team of the third edition of the Tour de Timor. And then a few words about our little Ballarat campaign from the point of view of some weekend warriors giving it a good crack!

Not sure why they chose to publish the photo of me inadvertantly gazing on the presidential jewels, but hey, whatever sells magazines!

'Major Pain' final round of the Vic Enduro Series

Site laps of a mountain bike course can normally induce one of two emotional responses. You can feel that you can approach all trail features and obstacles with confidence and ride comfortably within your ability, or you can be left feeling that the next day will surely produce carnage and bloodshed all over the side of the hill on a scale not seen since William Wallace led the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.

Our site lap of Mount Major the day before the race left Craig and I feeling ample doses of both. The course and the tracks were fantastic but six hours of racing around them was going to require total physical and mental focus. We searched every pharmacy in Shepparton but couldn’t find where to buy this anywhere.

Allow me to paint a picture: Mount Major is a treeless grassy mound rising 200m above the race village set up at the bottom. It is clad in long grass and rocks and several telecommunications towers crown the summit. It is windy and barren, and home to free ranging flocks of sheep, goannas and snakes. World Trails have laid out a network of single track that drapes over the hill like a spider web and takes in all the natural features and contours. Some tracks were as simple as a strip of grass that had been poisoned along the contour of the hillside producing the mother of all off-camber corners which were initially covered in loose dead grass until a line had been worn in after a couple of laps.

There was 300m of climbing per 10km lap, (at 11 laps for the winner, you do the math) with around a dozen technical rock gardens to negotiate in an uphill fashion. The main descent was named ‘roller coaster’ which either followed the contour in an off-camber manner or plummeted straight down before bottoming out on a sharp turn and shooting you back up the hill again. Speeds of up to 50kmph were claimed here, and with each lap that was safely completed one could become more brazen with their speed each time, letting gravity do the work and saving the legs as much as possible for the long climb back up the hill. Check out the crazy course map on the Garmin file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/125171437

Phil flying down the "Roller Coaster"

It was a unique course in that you could see large sections of the track in front and behind which meant riders that you were trying to catch or gap were often well within site, creating psychological gameplays. Either that or it just meant that Craig and I could wave to each other, or we could see how long it would be until Phil lapped us. And it was damn quickly! The young man put in as good a performance as any for the year, in spite of it being the final 6 hour race in what has been a very long year of big races. And Craig’s perseverance finally paid off as well, celebrating his 20^th consecutive enduro round with his first win in the 40+ category. Will Geor also put in a customary solid ride, looking strong throughout the day, but relieved like the rest of us when it was all over.

Will

So now a three month hiatus before the series resumes again with Ballarat to host the first round. With the home ground advantage we should all be out there in Canadian getting to know every inch of the course and getting ready to tear it up!

Mens Open

Phil Orr 1^st place 11 laps 6:22:01
Will Geor 5^th place 9 laps 5:59:17
Matt Turner 6^th place 8 laps 6:01:34

Mens 40+

Craig Sinclair 1^st place 8 laps 6:20:57


Mens Open Solo podium



2/3rds of the 40+ Solo podium



We worked hard, played hard - some photos to prove it

Its been two weeks already since we got back from East Timor, concluding our successful racing week with a few days R & R on Atauro Island to regenerate. Is it just me or does the sky seem a little bit brighter, people a bit more friendlier, the grass a little bit greener (and in need of a mow).
In some form or another, we are going to let you all know just how great this event and the whole Timor experience was.

Rest assured, BSCC was represented in the diplomatic and respectable manner it deserves, and just to prove it you can view most of our photos with hardly any of them being censored or withheld from public viewing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bscctimor/

A summary of results here:

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club finished 10th in the Team Open Mens category and 12th overall.
Full results can be found at http://www.tourdetimor.com/

Guy



Phil



Jedi

Matt

Jezza

Joel

Stage 6 (85kms), Friday, finishing back at Dili,

The final day of the 2011 event, covering 85 km, was no walk in the park. After only a few hours of interrupted sleep, lying on a concrete slab in a school classroom, the Ballarat riders were all running on a combination of adrenalin and sugary gels.

It was a sombre start at dawn with the riders led out in a neutral rolling start by team members of the international security force who had lost a colleague in the road accident the day before.

It wasn't long before the pace lifted and the top 60 riders scrambled for a place in the lead bunch to get a good draft to the first climb. Matt Turner describes how he 'had to burn a few remaining matches’ to bridge over to the next group and hang on the end of the pack until the road started to go skywards. Matt was quickly dropped and considered waiting for the guys behind, but decided to persevere and go it alone. Finally on the twisty coastal descent he caught a small group in front. There’s a bit of a trend here of the Ballarat guys making big gains on the long downhill runs.

Riders covered some similar roads to those used on the first day and Matt, now in a group of 20 riders, was able to settle in for a fast paced peloton ride for the next 50km. The infamous Timor potholes in otherwise undulating relatively smooth tarmac, made for some very amusing hand signals to warn rearward riders of oncoming hazards!

The next climb was a monster and was totally exposed to the burning sun. The group took it easy up the monolith with sweat filling their eye sockets. Matt went for it, and broke away from the group (attacking Contador-style) and dropped everyone in the group knowing that on the other side Dili awaited. Unfortunately by the time Matt caught some riders ahead, they were too blown to work and Matt, running on sheer willpower and hope of the finish line approaching, dug deep and bridged over to a local hotshot rider. They worked together until he fell off Matt’s wheel on a rutted back road through the ‘Wendouree West’ of Dili.

President Ramos-Horta had declared a complete shutdown of Dili for the morning of Friday 16 September. This helped to create a spectacle of peace and celebration for the entire city and all Tour de Timor riders, as they made their way through the suburbs of Dili.

The ‘highlight’ was a 6.5km downhill MTB gauntlet run through the dry Comoro River. The dry riverbed was described as ‘dusty loose hell hole’ by Matt who had maxed himself out. At this point Guy Falla came cruising past looking completely unphased, and enjoying the riverbed ride. And only minutes later another Ballarat rider, Shane Cody, came blasting past, popping another wheelie to rub it in, enjoying the riverbed as well. Matt struggled through to the finish, happy that he had emptied the tank on the final day.

The finish line was at the Palacio Presidente. There was a deafening, and quite overwhelming welcome from the local spectators. All six Ballarat riders finished pretty close together today, and no one bothered to check the results, just happy to have finished. All riders were ushered straight into the grounds of the presidential palace, to recover on the grass and exchange stories of fortunes and adventures for the day. And time for some humble luxuries and much needed physical and mental recovery. Yes, that means laying down drinking some Bintang beer and eating oreos.

Well done guys, six gruelling days, and a taste of the life of a cycling professional. Sounds like a lifestyle they could live with, if only someone was happy to pay them to do it.

Stage 6 Results (and Overall Result)

Phil Orr - 23 (16)

Jeremy Doolan - 39 (25)

Joel Hossack - 57 (92)

Guy Falla - 61 (54)

Shane Cody - 62 (53)

Matt Turner - 68 (50)

Tragedy at Tour De Timor: Aussie soldier dies

The News is reporting this morning that a member of the Australian Army reserve has been killed in a truck accident yesterday. Also 2 members of an ANZAC crew have been seriously injured.

We believe this is one of the support trucks for the Tour de Timor.

No further details on this incident or our Ballarat riders

Stage 5 (142km) - Longest stage and too knackered to call!

Stage 5 Update, our guys all made it through, well done.
Phil Orr 21st
Jeremy Doolan 27th
Matt Turner 39th
Joel Hossack 53rd
Guy Falla 57^th
Shane Cody 100th

Our guys are doing great, considering there are still around 300 competitors completing this stage. With 4.30 to 5.30 hrs in the saddle for our riders, it was another long day.

previous text;
Too knackered to call!
No word on how our riders went today, and the official website is also lacking info. Phil Orr and Jeremy Doolan were spotted during an early section, powering along in the second main group on the road. I assume our guys are just too knackered to call with an update today. NGE.

Today is the start of the return to Dili, along the North Coast, on mainly fast, flat roads. With a few bridges out and some long difficult mountain climbs, our riders will be kept on their toes.

The main climb of the day is a long, drawn out affair starting at 75km and goes on for about 20 km!! With weary legs, an ascent speed around 10 km/hr is expected, so that 2 hrs of climbing!

After this lazy 20km of climbs our riders finally take on the downhill, back to the coast. After all that, our riders still face the final 40km of the 2011 Tour de Timor’s longest day.

The route opens out so it will be hot, fast finish. The road heads inland temporarily, and goes through parched salt plains before leading riders back to the coast and to the finish at Manatuto town.

If I hear anymore, I'll update this post

Stage 4 (79kms) - Tonight we talk with Phil Orr about todays stage

Phil Orr, although finishing well yesterday on stage 3, was feeling quite drained, with no energy and power in his legs, (hopefully he hasn’t dug too deep in those early stages) and went to bed last night suffering with stomach cramps. So Stage 4 was going to be interesting, hopefully all those gains Phil has made over the last 3 days weren’t going to be lost today.

With all riders in the camp resting up for another long day on the bike, everyone was woken early with the chilling and echoing sounds of dogs fighting at 3am in the morning. (It was probably just monkeys playing.....I'm sure foreign tourists say similar things when they hear koalas for the first time screeching in the Aussie bush...'do you think someone was just murdered'?...) At this point everyone was awake, and before you knew it, everyone was up and about, packing up gear. So much for that thing called sleep, try again later tonight.

From the gun today, riders were straight into the action with a major climb to wake their legs for the 4^th consecutive day in the saddle. After a fairly flat stage yesterday, the organisers wanted to remind the riders this is what Tour de Timor is all about: mountain climbs, rough and uneven and rocky surfaces, and some fast descents.

After the ‘warm-up’ climb and long fast decent, the riders hit the first King of the Mountain (KOM) at the 21km mark. Phil Orr lost contact with the leaders on this first climb of the day and was happy to settle into his own tempo and ride into a good position.

The hilly roads were over after about 40kms, however our riders were then faced with open/exposed ‘wind swept’ roads. This went on for about 30 kms and Phil Orr found himself on his own. Phil had a plan to ride along at a decent pace, keeping a bit in reserve, just in case (fingers crossed) a group would come by, and Phil could hitch a ride through to the finish. Well…..with a few kms left, a group of 2 rides finally came by and 2 became 3.

The last 4 kms of the stage, can only be described as a viciously steep and hazardous downhill into the Com Resort on the NE coast. Phil knew this sort of section would suite him. On the way down one of the riders (fearing for his life no doubt) dropped off, leaving Phil and the other rider, Andrew Bell to race down toward the finish. Both riders (Phil and Andrew) ran wide on a loose sketchy bend and ran out of road. Andrew Bell went down, Phil somehow stayed up. They both got going again, however Andrew was a bit shaken up and lost some confidence, and fell again soon after. So at this point Phil had a comfortable gap, and was able to roll over the line in front of another huge crowd in 15^th place for today’s stage.

All our Ballarat riders made it through Stage 4, although not totally unscathed this time. Sounds like Guy Falla had a crash, but still got through in a competitive time. Shane Cody was spotted popping wheelies for the crowd, so those legs are still holding up OK, and Jeremy Doolan was spotted on camera at the start line, trying to psych out his competitors.

Phil Orr 15th
Jeremy Doolan 24th
Shane Cody 38th
Guy Falla 60^th and a crash
Matt Turner 71st
Joel Hossack 154th

Tomorrows Stage 5 is a giant 142km, hopefully knowing they will be heading back toward Dili now, will motivate them enough to keep on pedalling. Stay tuned for more updates

Stage 3 (67kms) – This area really is the back of beyond...

In preparing to write the Stage 3 report, I noted that our Ballarat riders are probably in the most remote part of the island, with tonight being the furthest distance from Dili. and on the opposite side of the island. I wasn't sure if our riders would be able to make contact tonight, as mobile phone coverage might be pretty poor.
Today's stage is the shortest of all 6, being only 67km. Two thirds of this stage is pretty flat along coastal roads, but the last third turns inland, and is pretty steep, rocky and loose. Bone jarring for riders on hard tail mountain bikes.

No official commentary from our troops, stay tuned, as stage 4 tomorrow heads back into civilization, when we'll no doubt receive lots of banter from our riders on their exploits from stages 3 and 4.

Results have been posted, and all 6 of our riders have made it through;
Today's Stage 3 results for our Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club riders
Phil Orr 20th
Jeremy Doolan 26th
Shane Cody 51st
Matt Turner 54th
Guy Falla 66th
Joel Hossack 90th

Here's a stage report from the official web site.
http://www.tourdetimor.com/?page_id=1776

I like this quote from MTB legend Tinker Juarez, it sums up the stage nicely;
“Scenery was awesome, it definitely made me want to just pull over to the side, it was amazing to see so much beach with no one there” he said. “This stage is so far my favorite one”.

Stage 2 (122kms) – One tough stage, a lot tougher than anyone expected

Stage 2 was described as an overall decent from the high mountain finish yesterday, back down to sea level.

The first 10 km was open bushland, which became increasingly dense, jungle vegetation as the riders ‘descended’ the mountain range. I say ‘descended’ as there were more uphill sections than what the riders had expected, with many steep pinches, making a tough first half of the stage. Added to this was the fact that many sections of road haven’t been maintained since Indonesian times, over 10 years ago. This combination lead to lots of carnage in the earlier descents.

The final 70 km was basically flat, but unrelentingly rough on the body. Riders on dual suspension mountain bikes were smiling at their hard-tail counterparts at this point. Among the many road obstacles encountered during today’s stage included rabid dogs, chickens, goats, sows and again hundreds of children along the streets and hanging from the trees

All our Ballarat riders are on hard-tail mountain bikes. They all made it through the stage today in around the same time as stage 1. Albeit, very stiff and sore. It’s hard to give up when you are being cheered by so many excited children. Jeremy Doolan made big gains for the day, finishing 23rd overall and beating some big names. Phil Orr did well again and came in 13^th, and should be nudging top 10 overall.

Full stage results have not been posted on the official website, it may have something to do with the fact Stage 1 had about 100 DNF’s (did not finish), and given the difficulty of today’s stage, many more DNF’s were expected.

Our guys decided to setup camp on the tranquil beach tonight, but have just been told to be aware of the huge crocodile that has been causing trouble for local fishermen. "So a post race ocean dip and cool down is out of the question I suppose", grumbled Shane Cody

Stage 1 Report - Tour de Timor

A nervous start to this 6 day event. A mass start saw lots of start - stop - braking – skidding. At about 6km into the stage saw the first steep pitch for the day which soon splintered the 400 nervous riders into groups. The first 50km was hilly but on bitumen roads running along the north coast. Riders averaged a blistering 40km/hr along this first section making for a quick morning ride.

However the first “monster” KOM (King Of the Mountain) started soon after the riders turned inland at about 65km into the stage. The roadie - group riding didn’t last long, as riders paced themselves up the long climb. While climbing, the riders had plenty of time to take in the eucalypt forest, reminding our riders of home.

With about 25km to go, the second KOM started, which was quite difficult technical climbing. At this point, it was pretty much up hill all the way to the finish, and gradually got steeper and steeper.

Although fatigued after over 100km of riding, the altitude gained returned some fantastic views back across the valley, where the riders had just come from. “The terrain was as brutal as it was beautiful” said Matt Turner. The final 5kms of the stage had lots of village kids lining the route, cheering on all the riders.

There were a number of casualties from the heat, like previous tour winner Neil Van der Ploeg, was seen vomiting in the first aid tent at the end of the stage, while chasing his brother Paul who ended the stage 2nd. All our Ballarat riders arrived safe and in good time, with Phil Orr 14th, Jeremy Doolan 40th, Matt Turner 62, Shane Cody 64, then Guy Falla and Joel Hosack (Official stage position unknown at writing).

The whole day was described as incredibly exciting and, particularly when our riders all met Dr Jose Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste outside the palace for the stage 1 start.

Tensions Rise - 12 hours before Stage 1

Tension is rising, as the Van der Ploeg's (from NE Victoria) are talking up the difficulty of stage one, and trying to unsettle our Ballarat riders. These tactics are mearly raising the confidence of our 6 riders, who have all arrived fit, healthy and ready to race, having trained on some of the roughest, wettest trails they could find.
Today (Saturday) was all about relaxing and preparing for the 6 days ahead, with a massage and pool time taking priority. "It's been a tough day preparing the body, we've been focusing on carb loading (pretty much eating as much food as we could find) and taking electrolyte's/salts" said Matt Turner.
"We've all had to make sacrifices to ensure we're in top condition for this gruelling event, like not drinking any beer tonight", said Matt Turner.
Racing (Stage 1) gets underway Sunday morning, a little over 12 hrs away.

Timor Pre Event – Write Up Ballarat

Keep your eye on this blog during the event, and we’ll bring you a daily wrap up of each stage, and how the Ballarat riders are going.

The Ballarat guys have been training hard, as evidenced in this blog, preparing for 6 consecutive days of racing. Can anything really prepare them for what lies ahead…..

The event has 6 stages (over the 6 days) ranging from 67km to 142km, with 4 days being over 100km long. These are mountain bikes and not skinny tyred road bikes, so 100km is a long way.

The combination of a poor country, lots of rainfall, and dirt roads, means conditions will be unpredictable, and nothing like the roads and tracks experienced back at home in the forests around Ballarat. In fact rumours have it cars have disappeared into pot holes in East Timor. Also many bridges are currently washed out, so after wading across swollen rivers, there may be stages ridden with soggy shoes, socks and possibly soggy shorts! Hopefully the tiger leeches only come out at night. (I hear the local crocodiles don’t like lycra, it gets stuck in their teeth, so they should be OK).

The forecast weather conditions in the week leading up to the Sunday 11 September start looks positive; we can expect about 31 degree maximum each day and each night to hit a 25 degree minimum. No rain is forecast at the moment, and humidity will be about 80% plus each day.

Lots of sweat, soggy clothes and hot over night temperatures, sound like ideal conditions for growing fungi, I hope the guys all packed enough tea tree oil to see them thru..

The roads will be pretty rough, and I expect the mountain climbs, although long and steep, will be a welcome relief from the heat of the coastal, lowland areas.

There will be many areas of jungle along the route, hopefully the local monkeys don’t gang up and take out any mtb riders, when they see the sweet gels come out of their jersey pockets! I'm picturing Phil Orr on the ground, surrounded/covered by monkeys fighting over Torq Gels, with Jeremy and Jedi coming to the rescue.

Good luck guys, hope you and your gear arrive in Dili in one piece, ready for action, and watch out for gecko's

Next report, evening of Sunday 11 September – Stage 1 wrap.

Round 7 Vic Enduro Series

from the pen of Craig Sinclair

Round 7 of the VES was contested at Castlemaine on Sunday by 3 BSCC members: Phil Orr, Will Geor and Craig Sinclair. Matt Turner, though featuring well in series points, chose not to race,  but instead to adhere to his strict training progamme, with his focus firmly on Tour de Timor. A crisp bright morning bode well for  the upcoming six hours+ in the saddle. As ever, Castlemaine Rocky Riders were great event hosts at their Jubberland track. The Castlemaine terrain is synonymous with rocks; loose ones, sharp ones and big ones, and always presents as a challenge of not only endurance, but technical ability to ride in its entirety.

 A last minute event format of a running "Le Mans" type start down a hill didn't meet with everyone's approval, and in the melee, Phil was unable to immediately mark the front men. He did however quickly settle into his usual metronomic pace, working his way forward, crossing the line after the fist lap in fourth, but still unsure exactly where he was in the scheme of things. At the end of the day, Adrian Jackson had established a creditable gap on our current series leader and defending champion, finishing some 21.5 minutes ahead of Phil, both being the only two riders to complete 11 laps of the 11Km circuit. Phil has an all but unbeatable hold on the State Enduro title now for the third year in succession.

Phil Orr

 Will Geor had a productive day on the bike, finishing strongly in 7th, in about the same time as Phil but one lap in arrears. By doing so, he has firmly cemented himself in the top ten in the series, currently 6th one place ahead of the absent Matt Turner.

Will Geor

Craig Sinclair had a shaky first lap with some minor issues of an unresponsive shifter (and body!), compounded by a heavy fall through a coming together with a rider who faltered in a technical rock section. Back on the bike after some swearing and bleeding (and lamenting of scratches to carbon fiber frame), he got back to the task of focusing on the next five and a half hours or so. The reward after 8 laps was a top 10 finish (10th) and elevation on current points to 3rd in the series in class (40+)

The final task for all competitors is to clean the DUST off the bikes -  a welcome change from mud!

Will Geor

2 weeks to go

It seems like only yesterday that we had all the time in the world left to prepare. But now when I check the TdT website the countdown is down to 18 days until Stage 1 begins!

So, to update where everything is at:
Phil Timpano was forced to withdraw due to an injury sustained while racing a 6 hour enduro. In his place and at relatively short notice will be the indestructible Guy Falla. Guy broke his hip earlier in the year and was back on the trainer three weeks later. I am glad he is used to quick recoveries because two weekends ago at the state XC round in Castlemaine he crashed on the first lap and broke his hand. He is adamant the show will go on and no doubt will be taking that plaster off himself on the flight to Dili.

Jeremy has been winning just about every road race he’s entered lately and with Jedi not far off, launching attacks left right and centre. Joel has been putting in solid performances on the road also so no doubt those guys will be in good stead for all the road style bunch racing we will likely encounter on some of the flatter stages.

Phil has been continuing to bag the big miles in training, no surprise there, and is currently leading the Victorian Enduro Series and is the clear favourite to take out a third consecutive championship. Luckily the timing of TdT fits inbetween rounds and will provide some valuable base miles for Phil.

Heat acclimatization is now a priority and a few sweat lodge sessions on the trainer have given us a taste of things to come when we step off the plane and into 35deg heat. Jeremy has been spotted having a private moment with his bike in the YMCA sauna. Steamy!

Our solar lighting project has been given the green light. BSCC provided the balance of funds needed and I was able to personally hand over the cheque on their behalf to the Alternative Technology Association. Just after we arrive back from Timor they will head over there with all the equipment to install a number of systems and train local people to operate and maintain them. Renewable energy is the only way forward for most of the population who live in the mountainous interior, as a national electricity grid will never reach them.

We had the last of our immunizations today and with one more booster in 6 months we are told that we will be able to go anywhere and do anything for the rest of our lives, consequence free!  We couldn’t afford the rabies shot so if a dog comes near us in anger, I’m afraid it may get a stern talking to via a MTB cleat.

So all that’s left to do now is pack our luggage down to within the allowable weight limit, soak our clothes in mosquito repellent, and taper off from the months of training.



meeting with ATA Chief Operating Officer Don Batson



3 weeks to go. Turn up the heat.

Now's about the time we start thinking about how to deal with the sudden change in temperature we are about to experience. Whilst we have been dilligently training throughout the winter getting our fitness levels up, being able to endure a heavy workload in high temperatures and humidity is another story.
Having a high base fitness level will mean that adapting to the heat will be an easier process, although without adequate heat acclimation training prior to the event you can reasonably expect performance levels to suffer.

Advice to us has been to perform moderate intensity wind trainer sessions with the heater on and wrapped up in all our winter gear. I've spent this week in the loungeroom with the heater cranked (anyone who has spent time in my lounge with the heater on knows what a sweltering oxygen deprived experience it is) a full length fleece ninja suit, 2 base layers, wind vest, non-breathable rain jacket and a beanie. Hopefully thats getting somewhere close to simulated conditions.

There's a good article on heat acclimation training and its benefits here:
http://fitbricks.com/new-articles/heat-acclimation-article/

Victorian Enduro Series Round 6

The Gippsland Mountain Bike club set out to impress first time riders in the Heyfield area with their staging of the mid-winter round of the 6-hour enduro series. And racers and spectators alike were definitely not disappointed. The promise of a mud free all weather circuit proved to be true and 13km of the fastest flowing singletrack of the year awaited the 200+ competitors who had descended upon this little country town for the weekend.

The weir at Lake Glanmaggie

Finally, a chance to catch up on celebrity weight loss secrets

The BSCC representatives headed up there Friday night in order to have a relaxed day to reconnoitre the course and unravel the mysteries of the much talked about ‘Trigg Point Hell’, a technical rock climb and descent which was the crux of the course. Aided by local knowledge we all soon learnt how best to clamber our way up there and bounce our way down in relative safety. Of course race day was a different storey with traffic banked up here on the first two laps with most people off and walking, and I’m sure more than a couple of ‘over the bars’ moments for some.

Jase going down the Trigg

The night before the race was very cosy indeed in front of the open fire while the ritualistic gorging of carbs was a shocking sight to behold. Not to be outdone by Phil Orr, Jason Hegert put himself into the red zone trying to consume his body weight in pasta after Phil had casually put away a bucket full of scientifically formulated gruel. Shortly afterwards he was spotted sniffing around the kitchen for desert. Was this to be the winning move? Well part of it. The second part began at 7am with a two hour time slot to fill any remaining voids in our furnaces with anything else that could be used to burn as fuel for the day.



Matt going up the Trigg

And it was to be a very long day. With the course being relatively flat with around 190m of climbing per 13km lap, the race was fast and there was very little let up on the power output. No major climbs meant no major freewheeling descents so we had to pedal the whole way. The frontrunners ended up covering 140km with over 2000m of elevation gain with an average heart rate of around 80% of maximum. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/103012243

Phil making it look much easier

Coupled with the unusual warmth and humidity the course started to claim its victims with riders creeping along, salt encrusted all over their face, barely hanging on to finish their lap. Despite the mostly smooth nature of the course it was incredibly taxing on the body, but overriding the fatigue was most definitely the fun factor of this course.

Will on one of the numerous culvert jumps

Mens solo open.

1^st place Phil Orr 10 laps 6:16:05 and second place overall
12^th place Matthew Turner 9 laps 6:44.23
16^th place Will Geor 8 laps 6:06:09
27^th place Jason Hegert 7 laps 4:52:48 (lost his quick release out on course after fixing a puncture!)

Mens solo 40+

11^th place Craig Sinclair 8 laps 6:35:45

Phil right where he deserved to be. On the middle step.

we loved our little mudbrick humpy at Munjara Camp

Doolan's mug lights up the sports section

Our MTBers also pretty handy on the skinny wheels

A big weekend for road cycling this weekend with two major events hosted by the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club. Saturday was the 101st running of the Melbourne to Ballarat Classic. Jeremy Doolan finished in third place in a time of 2h 21m 53s, and not far behind Guy Falla 12th and Shane Cody 26th.
http://www.cyclingballarat.com.au/news/2011-07-23_melb-ballarat

Today was the Victorian club team time trial championships held out at Bunninyong. Phil Orr represented in a strong team with Jay Bourke, Josh Collingwood and Damien Turner. According to Phil it was hell and he entered a place he "imagined purgatory to be like". For someone who races 6 hour enduros on the rivet to say something like this, you know it must have been painful!

As for me it was another afternon spent playing in the mud, out at Lal Lal. This area is an untapped MTBing goldmine! Anyone wanting to train up for the big hilly marathons this is the place to go.

Doolan on top of the heap again

Read about how Jezza continues to instill fear into the hearts of mortal men, with Jedi right up there paving the way.
http://www.cyclingballarat.com.au/news/road_2011-07-16-corkscrew

An opportunity to light the way

Consider this.

East Timorese currently have access to 307kWh per person of electricity.

Australians have access to 11,500kWh per person and we use nearly all of it.

Only 5% of households in the rugged mountainous areas of East Timor, where the majority of the population lives, are connected to the electricity grid. Lets say that magically overnight every household had access to the electricity grid and that the current rate of supply per capita remained the same. The total rate of electricity supply would still be half that of Australians.

Assuming that access to electricity in order to facilitate health, education and food needs is a basic human right, aspirations to increase energy production in East Timor are certainly justified and of far more essential value than any perceived need to increase supply to our own households here in Australia.

After decades of struggling for independence from Indonesia, much vital infrastructure throughout the country has been destroyed. A difficult task to rebuild after such senseless destruction now presents itself, but what a great opportunity to implement renewable energy strategies and lead the country into a self-sufficient and sustainable future. While our government quibbles over carbon taxes, complex renewable energy incentive schemes, and political point scoring, there are organisations and individuals who are getting out there and installing solar electricity systems to provide lighting and power to schools and medical centres in the villages of rural East Timor. This is making an immediate and positive difference to peoples lives.

Of course these are baby steps in a rapidly populating country where massive investments are needed to deploy energy infrastructure of any kind. Studies have concluded that there is a high potential for electricity production from renewable sources, particularly water resources (252 MW) and wind (72 MW).Significant potential energy from solar, biomass and solid urban waste sources have also being identified, along with over 50 potential projects with installed capacity of 451 MW. This would meet 50% of energy needs by 2020.

Given that currently 100% of electricity is supplied through fossil fuels, this is neither environmentally or financially viable. Electricity cost in East Timor is on par with Australian prices despite the GDP per capita being 100 times lower.

An opportunity presented itself to us through the Ballarat Friends of Ainaro Committee to fund a solar lighting system for a primary school in the remote village of Mau Nuno in the sub-district of Ainaro. The main benefit of this is to allow students, including pre-secondary and secondary students to study at night. There are more than 350 students enrolled at any one time. Teachers will use the building for planning purposes and the facility can also be used as a community hall. The equipment and installation expertise is being supplied by the Alternative Technology Association in Melbourne who have rolled out many such systems over the last few years.

We are now happy and relieved to have met that funding goal and this project is something that can be of immediate and lasting benefit!

Training on the Great Dividing Trail

Upgrades to the Great Diving Trail, or Goldfields Track as it is now known, have been recently completed thanks to a $500,000 grant from the Federal Government. This included new track signage to better navigate your way along the some 200km of dual purpose trail from Bunninyong to Bendigo, trail works to better accommodate two wheels (of the 26” non-powered kind preferably) and some track diversions to separate MTBers from walkers at key locations for safety reasons.

Unfortunately during unprecedented storm activity and rainfall over last summer several sections of the track between Ballarat and Creswick were severely damaged making riding either impossible, unsafe, or extremely frustrating. Now, things have settled down a bit, the floodwaters have subsided and some track clearing has been carried out and after a training ride along the entire length of the Ballarat to Creswick route today, there was only one section along Slatey Creek which we had to detour around due to the fact that the track has fallen away into the river in many places.

The Great Diving Trail is a popular training and social ride for Ballarat’s cross country mountain bikers with a one-way ride taking from 1.5 to 2 hours from the centre of Ballarat to the Creswick end of the trail on the Creswick-Bungaree Road. A round trip will give you a decent ride but for those who are after a bit more there are numerous diversions off the main trail and a whole State Forest to explore.

The Ballarat to Creswick ride is not rocky like its Daylesford to Castlemaine cousin, and is deemed a lot more user-friendly to the less experienced or recreational rider. However there is still plenty there to challenge the more serious rider while still allowing for a high fun factor.



Antanas, Mick and Phil on the GDT



Phil and I set out for an early morning training ride departing from the city and accessed the GDT from the Yarrawee Creek mixed use trail. This allowed us to admire the nicely bedded in downhill runs cascading off Black Hill and to gently warm up the cold legs before rudely hitting the first slippery, rooty climb for the day. Generally you are climbing until the halfway point either on twisty singletrack or rutted-out 4WD track coated in a power sapping clay slip. I did my best to keep on Phil’s wheel and he asked if the pace was fast enough because he could hear me breathing down his neck. Well, he could have heard my breathing from 10meters back because I was going into the red just to try and keep up with his effortless cadence. Don’t worry Matt, its only the two-time State Enduro champ you’re riding with. Just grimace and learn.

We did hit a couple of technical rocky and rooty sections close to the river which were slimy and slippery but its this kind of slow moving terrain that really activates your whole body and gives you that conditioning for the long days in the saddle on the rough stuff.

In seemingly no time at all we had come to the end and then met up with Mick and Antanas, the local trail gurus who led us up some aneurism inducing climbs in order that we may sample some of the fine dining on offer from the smorgasbord that is Creswick Trails.



Mick scares off a potential rubbish dumper



Returning to Ballarat can either be done via the GDT, which flows just as well, or follow your nose along some of the smoother logging roads through the pine plantations for some nice views and fresh air, which will no doubt be forced into your lungs at a rate of knots as you ascend to the highest elevation in the forest. We combined a mix of the two and hit up a few fun tracks at Nerrina at the end just to finish off.

Check out the Garmin data:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98014910



Bike is still white, can't be that muddy out at Creswick!



Rider Update... Medicos tell Timpano Timor trip is totalled

A post surgery medico visit today for Phil Timpano, has confirmed the injury sustained at the Bendigo 6hr Enduro in May, was pretty serious.
Recovery will take a minimum of 3 months, i.e approx Mid October, with end of December being a realistic date to plan any return to serious mountain biking.
So now it's time to come to terms with this realisation, and say good bye to the Timor dream for this year. Good luck to the rest of the Ballarat riders, and take it easy in those lead up events.....cheers Phil T.

Tarmac tactics

Jedi and I kept it on the tarmac last weekend for some road action in the "Long's Hill World Champs" and some serious whippet racing.
Check out the results, fictional stories, and some great photo's
http://www.cyclingballarat.com.au/news/road_2011-07-02_longs_hill

Victorian MTB Enduro Series Round 5 – Albury

On June 25th Phil, Craig and myself continued with our 6-hour solo season on Albury's famous Nail Can Hill.

The 10km course had three distinctive sections. Firstly was the ‘intestine’ loop, a lengthy and technical rock strewn singletrack. Riding through this required constant changes in tempo, cadence and gears as you slowed down to negotiate a rock garden on a hairpin corner, or sped up to take advantage of a dip before a pinch climb. Finally, as with most intestinal journeys, you were spat out the other end and into another smelly situation.

Phil working the 'intestine'

In this case it was 2 km of fireroad climbing where we were offered respite from the previous mental challenge and could now relax and chew on something, like our stems for instance. The climb gradient gradually increased up to around the 20% mark and by the third or fourth time around the granny rings were being dusted off and many poor souls were reduced to walking.



This little bit of pinch was really starting to get tedious after about the 6th time



With legs burning but the summit in sight, gears were shifted up and the initial descent began. A short section of high speed rock garden negotiation ensued as an initial test before the point of no return as you were shunted down ‘the glock’. It was like having someone shoot at your feet and being told to dance until they had run out of bullets. ‘The glock’ was a descent at what felt like 45 degrees with four 90 degree bends in it and was generously paved with jagged pyramid shaped rocks. You know when you came to the end because there was nothing in front of you but a chasm to the hillside below and photographers on either side hoping to catch that special moment.



descending 'the glock'



Once that was out of the way the rest of the circuit was gravity fed and aptly named ‘dirt luge’. It was as fast as you dared to go. More rocks, more sharp and steep corners, some boulders you could jump over, then a few switchbacks before landing back into the narrow and hectic feed zone.

I think we were all feeling a bit underwhelmed at the beginning of the race and not sure if our legs were going to carry us through, and it was easy to let thoughts of pulling over at the end of the next lap enter your head. Strangely, Phil, Craig and myself seemed to feel better as the race drew on, and by the four hour mark were starting to pick up.

Phil came in a hot 2^nd place with 12 laps at 6.04, while I managed 15^th place with 10 laps at 6.06.

To give you an idea of the workload undertaken by the pointy end of the field, Phil’s 12 laps equated to 115km distance with over 2000m of vertical gain, over the kind of terrain that wants to throw you over the handlebars at every turn.

It was my fourth weekend in a row of racing and my legs were quite smashed after that. Time to rest a bit and let the body absorb the valuable endurance conditioning.



Phil definitely looks more comfortable on a stiff hardtail than he does on the podium, even though he is well used to it!



The team!!!

Visit our club website

For an overview of the Tour de Timor and our participation in this years event please visit
http://www.cyclingballarat.com.au/easttimor11
Happy to hear from anyone interested in helping us reach our fundraising goals!!!

From little things big things grow

In September 2010 I followed the progress of the Tour de Timor via the internet, with more than a casual interest. I wanted to see how our fellow club members were faring in this little known country that now played host to a bike race that everyone was talking about. I mused to myself that it would be great to be able to do this event one day when I had enough fitness and experience behind me to even seriously contemplate entering.

I didn't know it until about Febuary this year that the seed had been planted back then, but it took a sudden invasion of chaos into my life to ferment the idea and present it to me in the middle of the night with such assertion that I had no choice but to get up and set the wheels in motion immediately. My initial sharing of the idea with friends and fellow club members was met with much enthusiasm and encouragement and before long this speck of hope on a bleak horizon had ignited into a fireball. This had come along at just the right time and I knew that this would be something I could grab onto and pull myself out of this dark place and thrive! My passion was reborn and I couldn't wait to share it with others who could help to make this project a success.

Inspired by Roger Bade's 2010 mission to Timor Leste where he and his team presented a donation to the Klyber Domin hospital, I also wanted to make this trip more than about a group of relatively affluent cyclists having a bike racing holiday. This led me to meet a number of groups and individuals in Ballarat doing an amazing job raising funds and facilitating aid projects in Timor, particularly Ainaro, Ballarat's sister city. I should mention Liz Hardiman and the Ballarat Friends of Ainaro Community Committe, Kate Owen - a long term volunteer in Timor, Leo Rennie from the Ryder-Cheshire Foundation, Peter Canny from BSCC, and Melanie Horne who is one of the event co-ordinators in Dili.

The first task was to assemble a team of like-minded sado-masachists, who dream of adventure and thrive on constantly challenging themselves physically and mentally. I held my breath as I waited, my hopes hinging on the committment of others. The first guy to sign up, from my point of view, cemented the viability of the whole project and I knew with Phil Orr's enthusiastic endorsement that everything was going to be OK. Soon after we were really excited to be joined by Phil T, Jedi, Joel and Jeremy. Five guys whose riding abilty is matched equally by their tenacity, determination and sheer will to perform to the limit of their abilities everytime they strap on a raceplate.

More tense days followed when the opening of online registrations were delayed several times and I never strayed more than ten minutes away from a computer. Given the popularity of the event and the limited places I felt very anxious about us all being able to secure a place on the start grid. Of course with this much positive momentum already gained there was no way we were going to miss out. When I got the confirmation that I was entrant #1 closely followed by Phil and the rest of the guys, I let out a yell in my loungeroom loud enough to scare away all my demons and there was nothing but glee in my home that night I tell you.

There will be many more thankyous to come once the tour has been run and won, but for now, there are six very excited guys who are regularly and happily flogging themselves on the bike in preparation for September 11.