The Don Crosbie Memorial Ride

I'm pleased to say that this mornings ride was far more pleasant than yesterdays. A - it didn't rain. B - there was no headwind. C - the boys weren't smashing!

16 riders rocked up to Bunny's at 4:45am (not so sharp) for the ride out to Many Peaks. We didn't get far before our first mechanical. Croz pulled a flattie along Harvey road (less than 1k from the start!). Must be those Conny's you keep running Croz. Zulu scored a new name after last nites Xmas party effort - Bad Night Bear. Shall we leave it at that Maree????

It was a gentle dog rollover all the way out to the bridge along the Many Peaks road where the bunch pulled up for a pit stop. From what was "heard" (literally from Thunders account of events!) it was a much needed break for the Bad Night Bear! Oh, and it was here that it was noted the Rob was wearing a set of Bontrager XXX Carbon Bling wheels!!!

On we rolled to the second railway crossing where we pulled up for a photo shoot and said our farewells to the 4 who were continuing on to Many Peaks - some had even taken a packed brunch for the trip!

The majority of us turned back and made a beeline for maccas. It was definately a far easier and quicker trip on the way back. I'm claiming full bragging rights for the maccas kick (it doesn't happen often any more so I'll make the most of my day in the sun) after jumping similtaneously from the pack with Dave the Dentist before the roundabout at the bridge. The boys all had their pink tutus on and pulled up for a truck that was CLEARLY going right around the roundabout whilst I cruised to victory across the maccas finish (the crowd was going absolutely wild!!!!!! - just kidding).

I think everyone would agree that this mornings ride was one of the best of 2010.

On the normal Bunny's ride which left at 5:30, the bunch had a turn out of 9 riders - with a couple of newbies thrown in. Roxan on the Demo 5.2 Trek took out the bunch sprint - see what happens when you ride a Trek???!!! after Tuggy blew to pieces going way to early.

The Big Boppa Ride

Last nite the numbers in the bunch were down a little with a few of the regulars being absent from the pack. Maybe it was the wind. It was ordinary. Somehow the cards got shuffled every lap and I ended up with the roaring headwind turn for two laps running!! Note - I must pay more attention when the cards are being shuffled.

Despite the wind, we had two new girls turn up for their first ride with the bunch - Holly and Christine. Both girls rode extremely well for their first ride with the pack - except when Christine missed the turn at the roundabout and nearly took out Grainfed!!! That reminds me. Grainfed scored himself a new blog name on the ride last nite when he was trying to practice "spinning" in the pack. From now until the end of time, Grainfed shall be known as The Big Boppa!!

Adam Mac also made a reappearance on last nites ride - hopefully now he'll be a permanent addition to the pack (this is a hint for you to stay on the bike Adam!). Next week you mite want to remember where the holes are along Chapple St - Squeaker!

Product Of the Week

Since Trek USA have taken over Trek Australia, the prices of bikes and accessories have been coming down, down, down. Nothing is a better an example of this than this weeks product of the week.

Matty's got a big shipment of Bontrager shoes in and the top of the line ones have dropped from $399 a pair to just $299 a pair. So if you're looking for something for Santa to bring in a few weeks, come in and check out the Bo-ranger shoes.

http://www.bontrager.com/

Croz, you'd better come in and get your free tube for The Caption Ride.... you had the best caption, but you also get the prize based on the number of blog comments for the day!!

Dogs are talking that the King is going to make a one night appearance at next years Rocky Cup on Wheels.... could the dogs be right???

The Smoothie

The best $20 I've spent recently was on a blender from Woolies. Ever since then, I've been making smoothies as our post training recovery snack.

At the moment, its the good ol' Banana smoothie that is taking our fancy.

1 1/2 bananas
About 6 ice cubes
1 cup milk
A drizzle of honey
4 scoops Mushasi SLM vanilla protein powder

Blend away until nice and smooth. Oh, and even Andy has taken a liking to them.... soon he'll be the muscleist cat on the block!

PowerBalanceCat

I always thought that the PowerBlance band was a complete waste of time and money, that was until i discovered that that $60 piece of poorly made rubber band actually works!

I was hanging around the house yesterday, doing nothing on a wet, windy, summers night when i decided to put my PowerBalance band on Andy.

"Doesnt this look like a nice collar" i thought to myself, " I might just leave that on him".

I quickly went to the shops to grab something for tea, and when i got home, the dishes were done, the floor was swept, and the TV had mysteriously turned itself on!

"Whats going on here?" I Yelled. I looked over at the couch and Andy was just laying there with the TV remote in his paws. "oh, I washed up", he said, "also did the floor, and decided to treat myself to some home & away" Andy added.

I was shocked! i didnt know what to think! Again, i hear Andy with a sarcastic whisper, "better not ride in the morning, might get a bit wet."

He was right. Come to think about it, PowerBalance bands are still a waste of money, Who needs cat that does the dishes and tells you what the weather will be like in the morning?

The Fairy Tale of Rapunzel

With only 4 more sleeps until my dad & I head of to NZ to complete the Lake Taupo Challenge this weekend I thought I would share a before & after pic to help you understand why I love cycling. Last year I went with my dad to NZ while he completed a 160km round Lake Taupo event for the second time, it’s a fundraising event for a NZ children’s charity that 10 000+ riders complete every year, seeing all these people inspired me to buy a bike. Matt from M1 kindly helped me get a bike in my price range and 10 months later 10kg lighter and a bunch of new friends I can’t be happier.

Rapunzel

The MTB Mash

Despite the wet conditions 7 furry legs turned up for the first moutain bike mash around the Sunshine track near Choice Petroleum.

Even though the original mash time of 2 hrs was cut a bit shorter, the boys still had a huge amount of fun doing a series of handicap lap "races" around the 2k course. Scotty Linster caught himself out when he produced the Cyclemeter on his Iphone - the Iphone showed a definate short cut on one of the laps!! Busted!!

We finally got a new name for DeVolt/DeBolt/DeWalt??? - BRUCE. Far easier. Kind of reminds me of Bruce from Finding Nemo.

The Soggy Weekend

Does anyone get the feeling that mother nature sometimes works against us roadies? Its half cloudy all week and then when the weekend arrives (along with our favourite rides!) Mother Nature has to turn on the major water works!

On Saturday morning there were only two hardarses in the pack - Rapunzel and Woody. Rapunzel turned up at Hungries, waited for the bunch and then went and did 50k on her own!

Sunday, well, that was a different story. After getting the call up tex from Noel just before 5 in the morning advising that the rain was "clearing" six of us headed to Bunny's. To make up for not riding Saturday the bunch absolutely hammered all the way to Maccas. In fact, we went that hard that Croz busted his shoes along the way. I think it happpened when we were smashing along the highway hill coming back in from Glen Eden. Sweeny Todd claimed the sprint victory on the line. Man I was stuffed by the time we got to maccas. I had to sit there for an hour before I could manage to ride home.

And just remember, everything you read on the blog is true!!!!!

TREK 1.2 WSD for sale

Entry Level TREK 1.2 WSD, 2008 model in great condition, Size 50 Suit female height from 160 -164 cm tall.

Shimano Sora Groupset

Carbon Front Forks

Excellent Bike for a new rider who wants to get into the sport

This thing has done a total of about 5000km with a female rider of only 60kg, so it has basically done nothing.

Has a set of Mavic Kysrium Equipe Wheels which retail for $400 alone.

Price $500

Contact matty at m1 for more info.

Sundays MTB Ride

Dont forget guys, this weekend, the 21st of November is the 2 hour event being held on rays track.

Everyone will be leaving the Choice petroleum on Phillip/ Glenlyon at 8am (so show up a few minutes earlier), and the 2 hour ride should start at 8.30ish.

What to bring:

water (hydration pack & water bottles)
something to eat (muesli bar or bananas)
helmet, gloves, sunscreen, towel
mountainbike

Take it seriously and smash the title for fastest around silent assassins track or go easy and enjoy yourself.

I dare say that the ride will finish at McDonalds or some sort af fat filled restaurant.

Hope to see you all out there!

The Caption Ride

Come up with the best "bubble caption" for what BSB was thinking on last nites ride when Thunder took this photo and you'll score yourself a free tube for your efforts!

Croz this ones for you - you need a replacement tube thanks to your reliable Conny tyres last nite!

Don't forget Friday arvo drinks at the shop this afternoon from 4:45pm...

The Speed Concept

This is what the fastest bike on the planet looks like (although the photos don't do it justice!).

The boys have spent the last day and a half assembling this lucky triatheletes dream ride. Its a Project One Speed Concept 9.9. Complete with the top of the line OCLV carbon and Di2 electronic shifting this bike is only the second Speed Concept to be sold in Sunny Queensland.

If you want a bo-beep, you'd better get on down to the shop in a hurry before the owner is in to collect it. And if you want one, bring a cool $15k or so with you.

The Band Of Brothers

Here's what the Zulu and his brothers get up to when they're not smashing around the block during the off season with an average of 37k/hr.....

http://www.wimp.com/ridebike/

No wonder the Zulu's in a league of his own.

The Movember

If I thought Sweeny Todd was looking a bit cheesey with his Mo, than boy did I get a fright when I walked into the shop and saw Ferg with his attempt at the Movember Mo!

Oh, and according to Ferg's tech talk - a crank is called a "pedal bar"....

Don Crosbie Memorial Ride

Just a quick invitation to anyone who would like to join us in a Memorial ride for my Dad ( Keen cyclist for 67 yrs & beloved President of the Kerang Amatuer Cycling Club bless his soul) from Bunnings to the Many Peak Pub on Sunday The 28th of November ( The Weekend after Next ) leaving Bunnings at 4:45 am for a 96k adventure up the beautiful Boyne Valley through Nargoorin ,Ubobo ,Littlemore ,Bulyan & finally Many Peaks.

You will have to arrange to get yourselves back from there or stay and have a feed then ride back the way you came.

Bring some money,plenty of water and something to eat along the way. For those who don't want to ride all the way to Many Peaks just join us for the ride out to the 3rd railway X-ing (50k) then back home for a neat Hundy. See you there and if we don't we'll be thinking of you.

Croz

The WSD STI Lever Ride

Once again, rain clouds were looming before the start of this mornings ride - something tells me we're in for a wet summer. Already I'm just about over stuffing my shoes with newspaper and soaking my jersey's in nappysan!!

Anyway, once we actually got riding it wasn't long until we were stopped again. Chrissy Anderson blew a spoke at the Hanson Rd lights. Luckily, Thunder had a spoke wrench on hand and made an attempt to correct the problem. Unfortunately for Chrissy (because he doesn't ride a TREK!) his blown spoke pushed his tyre into the frame - it was "phone a friend" time for Chrissy. Second lap onto Hanson rd saw SpyCat pull a flat. Another stop. Another Thunder mechanical intervention.

All in all though, it was a pretty smooth ride. And of course, we were rained on before the ride finished.

Meet Andy

This is Andy - newest member of the M1 Bunch. Not quite capable of riding a bike - yet, but as you can see, he's as keen as mustard.

And in case you haven't figured out where he got his name from - he's got a brother called Frank and of course if he could ride, he'd be riding a TREK!

The Sunday Ride

I tell you what, it appears that the Sunday Bunny's float is fast becoming the 2nd most popular bunch ride - there have some big numbers turning up for the rides at 5:30am, and it looks like its just going to continue to get better!!

A big thanks to Thunder Hollows who did a bit of homemade eye surgery in the Bunny's carpark before we rolled out! Peter B and Thunder Hollows also got into a rather provocative discussion regarding carbon pump sizes and extentions - great humor for 5:30 in the morning! Jersey of the day has to go Peter B - would you like to be known as Fruity or Loopey on the blog??? Let me know.

Has anyone else noticed the strange growth that has been developing on Sweeny Todds face lately? I'm not quite sure what to make of it yet..... cheesy?? scarey??? hmmm... I don't know!

After Saturday's last place in the maccas kick, the Tandem Terrors made an attack from behind with about 500m to go and took out first place in the line on Sunday, complete with an impressive disembark from the Rear Terror before the bike rack!

Weekend MTB Riding

The furry legs were at it again yesterday morning (after the roadie ride) getting in some practice laps for next weeks MTB SPECTACULAR at the Silent Assassin's home made track.

Grainfed is pretty impressed with your latest 600m addition to the track Silent Assassin. Oh, Thunder is screaming in the background that the Silent Assassin came 4th at the MTB race last weekend!!!

Contact the boys at the shop if your keen for next Sunday's MTB Mash - they'll give you more info.

Mini MTB Mayhem Mash

Sunday the 21/11/10 there will be a mini mtb mayhem mash (or a 2hr FUN race) at Rays track.

The aim is to get in as many laps as possible of the track in two hours.

Remember that ray made a 10km track in Collie where they still hold the State Champs, so he knows what he is doing.

More info will be available in the next few days.

Cunungra 6hr Challenge

Congratulations to Ray who completed the 6 hour race at cunungra on the weekend.

Heres a hint to anyone looking to take on the "Silent Assassin" on a mtb ride, DON'T! With his stealthy moves and his low heart rate, you have no chance. Ray is a true Gentleman of the sport, holding his place the whole 6 hours, I don't think that there is many 50+ year olds who can do that.

We are yet to find out what place Ray finished in, but we do know that it is top 10.
Photos will be posted as soon as they become available.

Hinkler Central Criterium

If you want one more final hit out for 2010 then get your nominations in for the Hinkler Central Crit that is being held at Bundy's new crit course on Sunday 5th December.

There is some major prize money up for grabs, especially in A grade. Racing kicks off with D grade at 11am, followed by C grade at 11:40am, B grade at 12:30pm and A grade starting at 1:40pm in the afternoon.

Nominations are via the Queensland Cycling website and must be in by 21st November. There are some flyers at the shop if you want some more info.

Brisbane To Gold Coast Ride

The first Brisbane to Gold Coast ride was cancelled at the beginning of October due to Mother Natures massive down pour of rain the week before the ride.

But the second re-scheduled ride was held on the weekend in near perfect conditions - Sweeny Todd, Rob & Terese made the trip down for the ride - along with 9,500 other riders!!! From Rob's brief message it appeared that both had an enjoyable ride and made it safely to the end.

No report from Sweeny Todd yet... perhaps he's still finishing???

Trek Pricing

Who would have thought that we would be posting something financial on the M1 Cycles blogsite????!!!! Anyway, unless you've been living under a rock for the past month or so, you'd know that the Aussie Dollar has now surpassed the strength of the US dollar.

Because of the strength of the Aussie Dollar, if the question has been asked once, its been asked a thousand times - Shouldn't the prices of the Project Ones / Trek bikes now be cheaper than the price shown on the US Trek website??

Here is the response from Trek:

The price given on the US site does not include the individual USA state taxes - which can be up to an additional 20%.

Remember also, that someone has to pay the freight and insurance costs to get them across the US and into Australia.

The US Government applies a Duty (tax) on the bikes leaving the USA.

But wait, theres more - in Australia, Trek still has to pay GST on the bikes + another lot of insurance and freight costs to get the bikes to M1 Cycles.

The price on the Australian Trek website are the RRP - what you will pay.

Keep in mind that if you look at the Australian market, Trek bikes are super competitive and the manufacturing and material technolgy that goes into the frames and components are second to none!

www.trekbikes.com.au

Noosa Triathalon Results

Ok, I've done a bit of digging around this morning and have found out that Ben 10 finished 4th in the Open Mens category at the Noosa Tri on the weekend.

Ben 10s overall time was 1hr 56mins 4 secs - less than 10 seconds behind 3rd place. Not only did Ben 10 finish 4th in Open Mens but he also finished in 24th spot overall for Men (which includes the Elite / Pro men). Ben 10s time was actually faster than some of the pro field!!!

If anyone else knows the results of other M1 riders who went down - Dave the Dentist and Green Trek Paul - please post them!

Well done Ben 10.

The Happy Camper

Well the box was unpacked, the toy was assembled and the camper is VERY happy.

Ben 10 - who by the way, sources his power from Superman Undies under his knicks - has taken delivery of the first of the 2011 Project One Trek Madones to land at M1 Cycles.

Is he happy??? Well wouldn't you be!!!!! As if he wasn't quick enough before.....

The Box

What's in the box thats arrived at M1 Cycles.....