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