Monthly Archives: August 2008

2008 UCI Mt. Stromlo World Cup Canberra

We got back from the Canberra world cup last night (about 10.30PM). T’was a great weekend despite the rain (which was pretty shit, but what can you do about it?!).

SATURDAY: In attendance was: Jing and Shirley, Felix and Diane, Timmy, Christina and I. We all met up at the Mobil on the M5 on Saturday morning, the drive was super easy and we were in Canberra before we knew it. We checked into The Parklands, got set up and then went for a bite to eat next door at Dickon Shops (Laksa FTW!). We decided to check out the War Memorial (hey it is voted as Canberra’s no.1 attraction, with nothing else coming in 2nd spot lol). I always see something different each time I go there.

We had an awesome dinner at Pangaea in Manuka (a suburb with such a classy look and feel about the place I thought I was in Double Bay). Diane chose the restaurant which served up a storm of amazing finger foods which blew us all away. After dinner we headed to Mount Stromlo to watch the 4X finals.

Mt. Stromlo was cold, wet, dark and muddy. The course looked great, the crowd was huge and the vibe was awesome. The rain was the only let down. We watched the womens and watched Jared Graves take out the mens. We then headed back to the apartments, watched Aliens on the TV + played Nintendo DS and crashed out.

SUNDAY: The girls had been complaining about the amount of “bike talk” the day before, how ridiculous is that?! We were there to watch the world cup and there they were complaining about us talking bikes?! We tactically decided to ditch them the next day so they spent the day at the Museum and Questacon whilst we headed to Stromlo.

When we got to Stromlo it was raining hard. Too bad for Jing and Timmy who both didn’t bring any wet weather gear (lol). We walked through the pits, which were totally empty as everyone was up on the mountain watching the downhill qualifying. The first thing we came across was the bike wash bay and I spotted Sam Hill’s bike mechanic cleaning his bike. I got a good gawk in.


Can I have the bike once Mr. Hill is done with it… please?


Number 1.

We then checked out all the pitt stalls and the superstars of the circuit were out and about (since the crowd was up on the mountain). Sam Hill was chowing on a salad sandwich (surely that’s too healthy for a pre-race feed?!), Peaty was riding around with a resistance trainer attached to the back of his bike. We spotted Rennie, Dan Atherton and a few other riders. One of the team Yeti riders talked us through a 575 (my dream bike), which sold me even more on one, we ran into a few of the Farkin forum guys (who were all pretty tanked), had some food then proceeded to climb up the mountain to watch the final womens DH as well as the mens.


Stralia!


Graves’ winning bike from the night before.


Steve Peat from the UK riding around with a resistance trainers attached to his back wheel.


Go girl! These girls have got balls!


Last jump of the “triple treat”.


Halo.

We had awesome views and could get pretty damn close to the riders. Air horns, cow bells and screaming fans, the vibe was electric for every rider (whether Australian or an international) coming down the mountain. We pretty much walked down the mountain and stopped off on points of interest, the riders came down 3 minutes apart from one another which kept the whole event flowing. By the time we got down to the bottom we were in time to watch the final 5 riders on the big screen (perfect!).

The last part of the DH course was more like an XC course, there was even an uphill part! (how strange considering it a DH course). The long flat all the way to the finish line meant that pedallers could shave a lot of time off. Sam Hill was slow on the day, Rennie, who went 2nd last had the hot seat until the last rider, Greg Minmaar from South Africa smashed his time by 5 seconds.

Satisfied, wet and cold we headed back into Dickson to meet up with the girls for a hot Japanese meal before hitting the M5 on the way home.

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YUMEYA!

Shimano is set to unveil a new line of products at Eurobike branded YUMEYA, Japanese for ‘Dream Workshop’. The new lightweight range will start with after-market upgrades for Shimano XTR bits, giving racers, weightweenies and those with lots of money the chance to exclusify your bike even more. Weight weenies rejoice!

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I love bikes I really do

Matthew Willis finally got the bike he so greatly deserves last night and I’m really super happy for the guy.

I’m pretty damn sure Matt would have wanted to take the bike into the bedroom with him, shine his bedside light on it and gaze at it lovingly before bed.

Read this post of his to feel his excitement prior to last nights delivery. So funny! And just five minutes ago I got this MSN message from a mate Sonny:

Sonny says:
saw matthew
Sonny says:
photographing his bike
Sonny says:
this morning
Sonny says:
in the alley outside my work
Sonny says:
haha

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Giant 2009 bikes now online

Giant (a Taiwanese company, arguably the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world) officially release their 2009 bike range online (Australian web site + Australian pricing).

As much as I’d love to join the growing bandwagon of haters I simply can’t. Their bikes are armed with great design and technology not to mention untouchable bang for your buck. No other bicycle company can release bikes with the same componentry at the same price. It’s near impossible to walk into a store and get ripped off if you’re buying a Giant bicycle, in the end of the day that means better quality bikes out there for everyone (watch out Kmart!).

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Fizik Aliante XM

The mail man just delivered this (I love the mail man lol). Shame it wasn’t earlier this morning otherwise I could have tested it (will have to wait till tomorrow I suppose!). Weight is a hefty 279g but it should be damn comfy (then again I am really starting to like the WTB Rocket V), not sure why they designed the rear like that. I can only hope it doesn’t catch on my riding shorts out on the trails.

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La Perouse

I’ve lifted a lot of inspiration from one of the guy who rides in Seasons (the DVD). He said something along the lines of: “If I only get to ride an hour a day, it’s a good day”. So today I went for a ride out to La Perouse just to test out my new crankset and DAYM! I get what everyone’s on about with the crisp shifting. The front literally shifts as fast as the back. For the first few km’s on the road all I did was play with it. Awesome shit. Having the big chainring back is amazing on road. I’m SO much faster and to all those people saying that they feel absolutely no difference at all between crank sizes, you’ve got to be kidding!!! I am spinning a shitload faster, and in bigger gears. The sound of the Nevegals on the road is absolutely deafening at speed.

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Bank robberies, cheeky monkeys and Indian food

Christina’s fave workfriend buddy Christine (they’re pretty scary when they’re together lol) and Mark (her boyfriend) invited us over for dinner last night to their cozy little home in Newtown.

Earlier that day there was a bank robbery at the bank directly below their apartment, semi-automatics sprayed bullets and SWAT turned up in this little army tank looking thing. When I saw it on the news I could have sworn I was watching American TV. That night the cops had still partitioned off their corner, but what I was more excited about was the store that was literally next to Chrinstine and Mark’s apartment entrance. Cheeky Monkey! I’ve heard a lot about the awesome custom stuff these guys do for die hard cycling freaks.

Great conversations + awesome Indian food = good times!

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Horsing around

Christina loves horses. We couldn’t resist!

I’m always in a mad rush to get to the toy section whenever there is one be it a department store or the supermarket!

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Bose

I’ve been living without good sound for years now. I used to be a bit of an audiofile like my Dad was (hey which typical Asian man isn’t huh?!) but somewhere along the line, move after move, hobby after hobby I just lost it with music so I decided to go all out and buy the best iPod dock money can buy.


And honestly it doesn’t dissapoint! The sound is absolutely amazing, knocks my socks off and fills my big lounge room beautifully. Good times!

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New goodies

Today I got a CRC order in the mail. The Reign’s definitely headed towards agreesive XC now. It’s still very much an “all mountain” bike but it’s also light now at 12.98kg’s.


XTR Crankset + Middleburn gold chainring bolts (lol).


On the bike.


Whilst I was working on the bike this guy kept me company.


Super cool tool holder for the bike stand.


New Oneal elbow pads, a shitload more comfy than the 661’s I had before which pinched into my arm (ie: super uncomfortable).

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