Righty'o so this being my first post for my blog i thought i'd give a little bit of a background story. I'll try not to bore you too much and try and make it brief.
It all started one day when i went in to my local bike shop Action Cycles to visit Cammy and Mick. I had been riding with the boys for a about a year but it was really only getting together for a bash on some local trails usually at night because it was easier to organise and we had recently all purchased some halogen light kits, which we thought were the bomb and at the time and were pretty good for the money.
Mick was looking pumped about something, and he then hit me with the idea of getting a couple of 4 man teams together for a crack at the Merida 24 hr race, to which i replied "what the hell is a 24 hr race". When i said before that we ride bikes, i meant that every semi large hill climb ended with a mothers club meeting at the top to talk about how much that climb has hurt us, so the idea of doing a 12 km circuit non stop, a circuit full of lung busting hills and tricky descents seemed a fairly daunting prospect.
But being blokes in our early 20's we didn't dwell on that to much and talk quickly moved to what are we going to ride, and was it compulsory to wear Lycra?!
So the event day came around and the boys arrived early at my place at Carina. We loaded my new XC weapon- a Norco Fluid Two which Mick and i had decided would be the best tool for the job of course, according to budget and availability. I had spent the night before the race loading my tubes up with that puncture repelling slime, strapped a pump the size of a fire extinguisher to the frame and fiddled with all the brackets and crap that you used to get with old style light kits. So having my new rig all set up, we were off to Kooralbyn for our first crack at the Enduro scene.
Arriving at the race we were told that 3 of our team mates had pulled out so now our 6 man team was only 3! That's okay though more riding for me. My team consisted of my good mates Scott [Scooter] Forbes and Grant [Fuzzy] Gilroy. The boys were all pumped up and ready to race.
It all started one day when i went in to my local bike shop Action Cycles to visit Cammy and Mick. I had been riding with the boys for a about a year but it was really only getting together for a bash on some local trails usually at night because it was easier to organise and we had recently all purchased some halogen light kits, which we thought were the bomb and at the time and were pretty good for the money.
Mick was looking pumped about something, and he then hit me with the idea of getting a couple of 4 man teams together for a crack at the Merida 24 hr race, to which i replied "what the hell is a 24 hr race". When i said before that we ride bikes, i meant that every semi large hill climb ended with a mothers club meeting at the top to talk about how much that climb has hurt us, so the idea of doing a 12 km circuit non stop, a circuit full of lung busting hills and tricky descents seemed a fairly daunting prospect.
But being blokes in our early 20's we didn't dwell on that to much and talk quickly moved to what are we going to ride, and was it compulsory to wear Lycra?!
So the event day came around and the boys arrived early at my place at Carina. We loaded my new XC weapon- a Norco Fluid Two which Mick and i had decided would be the best tool for the job of course, according to budget and availability. I had spent the night before the race loading my tubes up with that puncture repelling slime, strapped a pump the size of a fire extinguisher to the frame and fiddled with all the brackets and crap that you used to get with old style light kits. So having my new rig all set up, we were off to Kooralbyn for our first crack at the Enduro scene.
Arriving at the race we were told that 3 of our team mates had pulled out so now our 6 man team was only 3! That's okay though more riding for me. My team consisted of my good mates Scott [Scooter] Forbes and Grant [Fuzzy] Gilroy. The boys were all pumped up and ready to race.
I really wanted to be prepared for my laps and not knowing what to expect out there on the track, i just ended up packing everything.........Camelbak mule with 3 litres of water, couple of power bars, gels, a big ass multi tool, spare tubes (yeah that's right, tubes, 2 of em!). Just in case. All up, bike and rider weighed in at approx 106kilos! (78 of that being me.) No real surprise that that first lap nearly killed me and it's one lap i'll never forget.
By the end of the race i had clocked up about 120kms and the feeling like i had achieved something really cool. All the boys had a similar experience although some got way to much sleep compared to others. From that day on we found ourselves counting down the days to the next race.
So thanks to Mick and Cammy for introducing me to the Enduro scene and also for all the support with mechanics and bikes over the years, you guys made riding and racing so accessible for me. Fitzy
So thanks to Mick and Cammy for introducing me to the Enduro scene and also for all the support with mechanics and bikes over the years, you guys made riding and racing so accessible for me. Fitzy
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