Tannum Tri - Better late than never...

The Tannum Tri was held a couple of weeks ago with perfect weather for another great event. The event was sold out with just over 200 competitors. There were plenty of Grinders in action, along with other local and visiting athletes, and some excellent results were posted throughout all distances and events.  Ben Wriede took out the Long race and set a new course record in the process. While we could say it’s even more incredible with him just coming off night shift, it is worth mentioning he’s an electrician, so it’s highly likely he wasn't too tired lol. I personally think he saw me closing him down after the swim and he got worried but nobody else seems to believe me! Other winners from Tannum were Mitchell Earl in the Short Duathlon, Julianne Cilliers in the Women’s Short Duathlon and Ben, Cathy and Wayne in the Team Short Tri, well done to all.

A special mention to Mick, Craig and Graeme for helping out with the setting up of the bike course and other duties they performed during the morning, thanks gents can’t thank you enough. Geert for once again looking after the run course. The Wriede's for doing what they always do so well. Of course a big thanks goes to Doug for looking after the swim and pulling it all together.

To any others that helped out that I have missed mentioning, thank you as well; these things run so much easier with people to help out. 

The Lazy Leg Ride

There we were, 3 of us looking less than impressed with the prospect of actually riding so the call was made to go straight to the brew shop. To reduce the guilt we did mange to clock up almost 10k's before relaxing in the aircon at Maccas.

Are those legs shaved Mr Fox?

Ok so how do you get that mark on your left leg?

What a Year!!

It has been a very big year for the Coffee Grinders in 2013.  The organised rides are always well attended and numbers have been steadily increasing throughout the year.  There have been impressive individual participation and performance in road & track racing, mountain biking, and triathlons.  As a group we have participated in events such as the Noosa 85/160, Brissie to the Bay, Bike for Life (Rocky), and our very own 235km Great Divide Gran Fondo.  The Brissie to the Bay is a charity ride of MS Qld and the 14 member TSCG team raised a phenomenal $8447, the 17th highest amount out of 340 teams!!

This year saw the formation of the Port Curtis Bicycle User Group, which our own Graeme and Craig have kindly donated their time to become committee members of.  In August, a large contingent of us (including our families) travelled into Gladstone to attend a community forum with the Council that was organised by the PCBUG.  I think it is fair to say that without our efforts to attend, it would have been embarrassingly small audience with the Council.  Well done to those that participated.

I would like to acknowledge the efforts of Mark and Craig in organising rides such as the Thursday Roll, weekend rides, Calliope & Boyne Valley rides, the Gran Fondo, etc, etc.  Mark has also organised Monday, Wednesday, Friday morning ocean swimming and Wednesday afternoon running, for anyone else out there that doesn't have a wife/husband or family!  The Tannum triathlon is on this Sunday, if you are near the surf club keep an eye out for a number of Grinders that are participating.  Thanks also to the TSCG volunteers who are doing marshalling work for the cycle leg. 

Before closing out with some photos and awards from the Christmas Party, I would like to thank Jody (and Mark might have helped a bit) for organising the clothing purchases throughout the year.  There have been 3 orders placed this year which is a fantastic effort.  It's thrilling to see our jersey being worn at triathlons in London, on the podium at the State Track titles and MTB races, and on the boys in Melbourne.

It's been a fantastic 2013 year and we can look forward to a bigger and better 2014.  Thank-you to all of the people that we leave at home while we are out riding.  Have a happy and safe Christmas and New Year. 

Now to the awards:

Greatest Stirrer - Bloody Wayne : no wonder Kaye is the way she is.
Biggest Scar - Ronnie : she'll be right, it's just a scratch.
Best Trick Gone Wrong - The Fox : could've died! a couple of nurses, no resus but they took photos!
Best Female Crash - Robin : more metal than Robocop.
Best Male Crash - Wentzel : Weipa Wipeout
Crankiest Rider - Kaye : do not fire off a snot rocket near her!!
Closest Near Death - Marty : sticks and stone may ... may kill me.
Outstanding Performance - Dylan : no easy feat to get picked up by an NRS team
Best Dressed - Daryl : the King of Bling
Biggest Motor - Eagle 1 : the big diesel just keeps purring along, always pulling the little pink caboose.
Most Supportive Rider - Garry : never leaves a soldier behind
Best Support Vehicle - Poppy : why ride when you can have air-conditioning?
Most Flat Tyres - Schalk : must have shares in South African tyre company
 
And a couple that I'll throw in for good measure:
The Lone Ranger - Mark : "I'll meet you at the highway"
Mother Duck - Jodie : took good care of young ones, until they dropped her for a faster bunch

2013 Xmas Gathering

What did you do Daryl?  It made Wayne's eyes water!!

 

The speed men

Xmas looms

Hi all,

The last couple of weeks have been pretty mad socially and with only a couple to go until Xmas I can't see it getting any better :-)

This weekend the Saturday ride was small but all quality and the pace was on almost all the way there and back. Craig, Mike and Steve (Birdy) were the main offenders keeping Graeme and I honest at the back. Craig made the mistake of saying out loud he hadn't had a flat for a while and paid the price not long into the ride lol. The Sunday ride was on and off like usual and was the perfect warm up for that first coffee of the day. It was a sad day with the 2 young blokes Sam and Mac having their last Sunday ride with us. These 2 have improved out of sight and will be missed. All the best boys.

This weekend coming we see the running of the Tannum Triathlon on Sunday. With it being sold out already we should see a great event and fingers crossed we get some great weather. Once again thanks to those that have volunteered some time to help out on the day, much appreciated.

Also the Christmas Thursday roll where you all have to decorate your bike will be on the 19th so start getting your decorations and outfits ready.

Mountain biking returns to Boyne/Tannnum this week on Tuesday leaving from the usual spot and time and we might get to see what improvements the lads have working on this last week.

Update

Hi all,

The Tineli clothing order is still on track for delivery around the 18th of December. I did ask the question if there was a chance it would be ready the week before but unfortunately our order could not be separated from the others.

The weekend away in Yeppoon is upon us and I don’t think there are many going up but I’m sure those that are will have a great time :-) For anyone that is going up we’ll leave the coffee club at Yeppoon beach at 6:30 Sat and Sun for a cruise down to Emu park and back with coffee stops of course.

For those staying there will be a Dam ride leaving the Coffee Club at Tannum at 6am. The usual Sunday 7am session from the Surf Club will also be on.

Next Tuesday’s mountain bike ride will be in Gladstone starting at 4:30 from the Choice petroleum at Sun Valley. Once a month we will now travel in to ride some different tracks in case you were wondering why we’re heading in there.

There will be a Thursday Christmas roll on the 19th so break out the decorations for that ride. There could be a twist to this ride as we may also do a tour de lights and start the ride a little later than normal, stay tuned.

The Tannum Tri is only 2 weeks away and I now have a few volunteers helping out for the bike course, thanks to those putting up their hand, much appreciated.

And lastly but by no means least how about Brad Lawlor’s effort at the Track State Titles, second place in the Kilo (1 kilometre Time Trial) champion effort Brad. Imagine how much faster he could be if he didn’t have to lug 20kgs of hair around :-)

Tuesday MTB Ride

A great turn-out to this week's MTB ride with 8 riders taking part.  After a great deal of discussion as to where to ride we headed to Boyne where we expected there would be fair amount of washouts and trees fallen over the track.  On his first ride with the group, and first ride for a while, Simon bailed early.  The rest of us continued on as we leap frogged each other as we stopped to clear fallen trees. 
At the first big chasm Mark and I decided, wisely, to walk it.  Having seen Birdy make it through, Steve decided to do a Gravity Check - and guess what?, gravity was still working.  Luckily there was no medical treatment required.

It's no secret that 29ers are much heavier than 26ers and therefore require more power on steep inclines.  It was noted however, that at one particular, extremely steep, near vertical rise, that only the 26ers made it to the top.  Thanks to G and Steve for providing the very humorous Gravity Checks.

Birdy, Marty, Mark, G, Steve, Wayne

 

Next week we will meet in Gladstone to do a few of the trails in there.

From the archives

I was doing some research the other day into the origins of the Coffee Grinders and the blog, and discovered some interesting reading (and photos).  It seems that the early days (Jan 2010) were all about triathlons!!!  Who would have thought?

 

 

February 2011 - The Thursday Roll:

Quotes from the day:  "The pace was on today at the pointy end and with Kay sticky to Craig’s wheel like her life depended on it" - not much has changed.  Also, "Welcome Graeme and Gary also as it was their first Thursday ride" - and still going strong.



Happy Kaye, nice coffee cup holder:

The diet of champions:

Nice stockings, ladies!!



Look Mum, no blood!!

Some good news and some bad news from the Tuesday MTB ride this week. 

The good news - there was no blood spilt!!  After the carnage of the last couple of weeks it was good to see.  With Wayne off playing with Thomas, Annie & Clarabelle, and the usual no-show by the Berg, 4 riders showed up.  Birdy, the G, new Steve and myself took very little time in considering a change in destination from the Boyne battlefield to the flatter trails behind the high school.  The recent rain has made the tracks ideal for mountain biking.  According to Birdy they are currently the best he has seen them.  He was more excited than Michael Jackson in a kindergarten.

Now for the bad news - as the pictures show, the Tannum Blue development has dissected the track in two places.  It is because of developments like this that we should support the Gladstone MTB Inc. club and their push to secure land from the Council for mountain biking.  These guys are breaking ground with the council that other cycling groups can learn and benefit from, should they wish to do similar things in the future.  Membership costs $10 and is open to anyone, not just MTB'ers.

The Tuesday ride leaves the grassed area, on the Tannum side of the bridge at 5pm.  A reminder also that the Port Curtis BUG Community Ride is on this Sunday in Tannum.

An Epic Weekend

A big weekend around the traps with the rain causing some worries early on Saturday. I'm guessing most of you would have heard about Ronnie's get off resulting in almost 20 stitches. The Golf course roundabout needs to be shown great respect in the wet as Ronnie was the 6th rider it's claimed now according to the local Ambo's. The big man said there was no sliding of rubber, it was just bang he was down.

The ride also produced plenty of flats, a good enough reason to miss riding in the rain for me ;-)

The Hervey Bay 100 was on over the weekend with a few locals making the trip. Some good times posted which is always satisfying for those that have done the right work. If I get some more details from those that made the journey there may be some more to come on this event.

The second Frenchville Frogs Tri was also held with the Fox making his debut! Sure as hell can't say he was tired as he slept most of the way up there lol. Perfect conditions greeted us with no wind around and a very flat ocean. 135 people attended the event proving just how popular the sport is.
The G came away with a second in the long course duathlon after pulling out of the Tri due to a shoulder issue. For those of you unlucky enough to witness the G enter cold water you would be familiar with his very gay flapping arms....I can't help but think this injury is in some small way related to this very disturbing action. John did well with a top 10 finish in the shorter distance Tri and not unhappy with his performance. It did seem to take it out of him though as he needed to have a little rest on the way home too......;-)

Yeppoon Getaway

For something different a few of us are heading up to Yeppoon for the weekend of the 30th of November. We plan do get up there late Friday to have an early ride along the coast on Saturday morning, of course ending with a couple of brews.We will ride again on Sunday morning.
Accommodation is something personal so work that out yourselves but there are a few staying at the Beachside Caravan Park just north of Yeppoon. The little park is right on the beach and is very close to town (and coffee shops) so you can walk there easily.
Just let me know if you're interested and we can give you more details. The rides won't be more than 40ks so people wanting to do more can wake up a little earlier :-). Probably dinner out on the Saturday as there is a Birthday to celebrate!

Roll on....

Great turnout once again for this evenings roll. Welcome back Graeme! 

Noosa Triathlon

This was my first trip to the Noosa Tri and it was everything I expected and more. Sure there's an insane amount of people there to participate in the 2nd largest Triathlon in the world, but what a show they put on. There's a lot I could say but a few things stood out for me. The Crit on the Saturday and a chance to see the likes of Peter Sagan and a heap of other world class Pros was up there. For me Cameron Wurf who rides for Cannondale was the standout rider. He sat on the front of the bunch and controlled the race while there were attacks launching off the front all the time. He never panicked and just rode like a machine for almost the last 20 minutes of the race before handing over to his team mates on the last lap, big motor.
The expo I had heard so much about was by far the best I have ever been to by a country mile, so much to look at. The bike area for the Triathlon was epic. The event was run extremely well and was hard to fault.

Of course some local yokels headed down and took part in the great race. Robin did well and now has an Olympic distance under her belt, well done Robin. The G suffered like a mule by his own admission but still pushed on for a solid time but far from his best. Doug had another solid race but was also not on his best form fading on the run. Graeme performed admirably but just didn't look himself all weekend ;-) Pseudo Grinder Karlene (the smiling assassin) also took part in the teams event as a swimmer and as last minute runner laying down some scorching times.

Even if you don't like Triathlons the Noosa Tri is an amazing weekend of action and I know i'll be back next year for sure.

Frogs Tri Season kicks off

Love or it hate it there is no denying Triathlon is popular, 180 people turned up on Sunday for the season opener at Yeppoon. I'll do my best to condense this. The swim was horrible, very rough and the lifesavers were kept busy pulling people out of the water. The conditions were overall pretty good for the bike and run though with the wind around keeping you a little cool. There were plenty of locals up there male and female and quite a few were up there near the pointy end at the end of the day. Of course Ben smoked the field.
What do I like best about the Frogs races? well I could say it's seeing all the people from all walks of life out there having a crack, or I could say it's fun, but for me it's diving my hands into that great big tub of soft lollies at the end of the race :-) If only there was a coffee van at the finish.....

If anyone wants to know what social swimming, riding or runs are on in the Tannum Boyne area just get in contact with me.

Cheers

Mark

First Mid week run

On Wednesday afternoon we had our first mid week run and 5 runners made it there for what was a great social run. We all ran together and talked the whole way so clearly the pace was not quick. This run is whatever you want it to be but for me it was great to wind it back and enjoy the social side of things.
We did encounter quite a few other runners and I believe some of them will be there next week so I'm thinking this will be a popular run in no time.
The run leaves from the shelter on the Tannum Esplanade near the bottom of Creek Street at 5:15pm.
Rest assured cycling purists this won't be a regular blurb, it's more just getting the word out there :-)

Thursday Roll

Great turnout for this evenings roll with just over 20 riders (despite a few regulars away) enjoying the cooler riding conditions late in the day. The pace was steady and the bunch stayed together for the whole ride and everybody had a good old chat; it was especially noisy down the back...... How good is it to see the younger riders turning up regularly now! won't be long and they'll be towing us around lol.
It's also great to see Brendan turning up each week now despite being the only rider in the group around his age.
We also had some Northerners come down for a ride and dinner afterwards, thanks for coming down Ali and Karlene it's always great to see you guys :-)
Today we encountered quite a few cars from behind in the some of the back streets and not one of them carried on but rather waited patiently for us to turn off, positive signs.

Is it a bird? is it a plane?

Got a lift home today and we drive over the Boyne Tannum bridge and what's on the side of the road - the Port Curtis street sweeper! A rare sight in these parts to say the least. Maybe it was out cleaning up the shattered glass the recycling truck drops every 3rd bin all over town. I wonder if it got the broken tail light plastic and the bottle of urine that have been on the side of the road on the bridge for the last 3 months, guess I'll find out when I ride to work tomorrow. Bravo GRC.

Well Done Dane

Congratulations to Dane Linforth on 1st place, in a field of 21, in the Open Men section at the Mountain Biking Bundaberg 3hr Club Race.  It seems that Dane's time, 15 minutes better than the 2nd place getter, would have given him 3rd place in the Expert Men class.  Nice jersey too!!

 

 

 

Results:  http://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=14432
Photos:  Mark Burns

Well blow me down and call me Shorty

A Sign for a Change

Big excitement recently with Gladstone Regional Council installing 5 "Share the Road" signs in Gladstone.  I was excited, well at least until I spent a week in FNQ.  Whilst I know we have to start somewhere, and appreciate the effort of a couple of the Councilors, the GRC effort could be vastly improved (understatement I know, but we need to remain polite).  Perhaps the GRC civil works department could learn from doing some work experience in Cairns?

Going from left to right, top to bottom, in the picture below:
1. Strips on the road to assist motorists to stay out of the bicycle lane.  These are installed on curves in the road that veer to the left - not corners at intersections, just bends to the left and on some roundabouts that are not protected with concrete barriers.
2. At roundabouts the bicycle lane is segregated by concrete barriers.  Yes they have bike lanes on roundabouts!!!
3. Not exactly sure what this means, perhaps that a bicycle path crosses the road ahead, but hey it's in the motorists face.
4. At a very small township called Mystic Sands there are a couple of the CAUTION signs - not too small either.  Not sure if you've seen a golf buggy, but it is pretty darn hard to miss - especially in comparison to a cyclist. 

In a particular 100m section of road in Cairns, approaching an intersection, I counted 4 cycling related signs, for both the motorist and the cyclist.  Leaving Cairns to the south, just to rub it in a little more, there is a "1 Metre Matters" billboard - not a sign on pole, a bloody huge billboard.

Below are few more of the different signs.  The "WATCH FOR" signs are located on dual-lane roundabouts, at each entry point, and on the left and right side of the entry road.  So a single 3-entry roundabout has 6 of them - how many cycling related signs do we have in the entire Boyne/Tannum area??  Yep, even horses and cassowaries get a guernsey.

Mission Beach, with a cycling population of about 5, has a share the road sign and more Cassowary signs than the Mayors' had free lunches.  Now to be fair, I have noticed at least two cycling related signs in the Tannum area.  At each end of the John Oxley bridge there is a sign that says "Cyclists must dismount" to traverse the bridge.  This may be good for pedestrians, but not very useful to educate motorists about the presence of cyclists.

Let's hope we start seeing some improvements very soon.  Don't get me started on Noosa!! Stay vertical, stay safe.

The Southern Connection

Brad and Dylan out keeping the southerners honest! Love your work men. Dylan's been busy riding with some Drapac cycling pro's to keep his eye in and Brad's been showing up some local A graders on the track. Talk about living the life!

Just a little update

Over the long weekend we saw the Agnes Tri come and go with great conditions greeting those that braved the first race of the season. I won't go into great detail on results but there were some very good showings from local athletes with a lot just happy to finish with a good time. The water conditions were worthy of a special mention with the water crystal clear and flat as. Well done to all that had a go, it looked like everyone was having a great time :-) well as they passed us cheering them on anyway lol.

Over the weekend some Grinders invaded Agnes and and took to the road early Saturday morning for an easy ride to 'The Tree' at 1770 for coffee and breakfast. Mind you it wasn't easy all the time.... every time someone spotted another rider in the distance the pace picked up considerably......What a spot 1770 is, time just stands still there and you can almost forget you have to go back to work even if it's only for a little while.

Last Thursday saw 10 riders brave the stormy conditions and almost make the end of the ride before the rain came down. I imagine they may have made it back if they hadn't of waited a little longer for some other riders to appear......:-)

This weekend we'll be having our first ride from Calliope leaving at 6am from the IGA car park. This is early for some but you better get used to it because they'll get earlier to escape the heat :-) Distances will be 25, 40 and 60 to kick off with so most should be catered for. If there's enough interest for a longer distance on the day that will be sorted out on the morning.

I'm sure a few of you remember the Boyne Tuesday afternoon runs from the Lions park. Well for anyone interested there might just be a midweek run from the Esplanade in Tannum starting up midweek very shortly. Distances will be 2k's through to 8k's just like the old Tuesday run's. No timing will be provided as most people have fandangled watches these days. Stay tuned for further details.

It's now official order number 4 for Grinder apparel is open. So the pink and 'man salmon' jersey's will be on offer, short sleeved white and pink jersey's will be up as well.
This order we expand into Tri kit's as well! Shock horror lol. At this stage we'll have Tri suits on offer in men's and women's cuts. We only need a minimum of 5 suits in each style to proceed and the cost will be around the $120 I'm thinking unless the total order goes beyond 50 items (it gets cheaper then).
I would like this order to go in on the 18th so please have a good think about what you want and get back to me asap. I'll add the Tri suit pics in the next 24 hours.

 

London World Champs

As mentioned in the last post Scotty has not long returned from London where he races in the World Sprint distant Champs. Here are some happy snaps.
Yes that's Big Ben in the background, anyone top that in Grinder kit?

OMG is that sunshine!

Weekend Wind Up

What a weekend for TSCG riders!  The dam ride on Saturday was well paced with a small group of 4 turning up at 6am.  Wayne was the only starter at 7am and met up with the group near the highway as they returned.  Keep your eye out for a couple of time trial contenders in the group, given their record smashing trip to the dam on Sunday arvo!

The big news of the weekend was a number of guys competing in competions around the state, and around the globe.  Scott Wilson raced in the World Triathlon Grand Final in London.  It is the same course as used during the Olympic Games last year.  Scott finished a very commendable 87th in his age category with an overall time of 02:07.  Dane Linforth rode in the Qld Mountain Bike Epic - 50km Pursuit, which was held not far from Ipswich.  He came 4th in age category out of 201 starters, in a time of 02:37, only just missing the podium.  Gerard Galvin competed in the Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast in Mooloolaba, along with 1435 other starters.  The water must have been a bit too warm because he gave almost the entire field a head start after the swim leg.  A strong cycle leg and Gerard was up more than 500 places in the overall standings.  This was followed by a run leg where he gained another 100 or so positions.  He finished 133rd in age category with an overall time of 05:23.  Mark Ruthenberg, raced in Rocky Cycling Club Road Race Championships on Sunday.  I'm told by a reliable source that, despite not hanging around for the official results, he was definitely on the podium in his grade, but if 1 other person had of showed up it may not have been the case.  The results haven't been posted yet so nothing confirmed, but depending on the results there may have been 30+ riders in the grade, temps in the low 40's, 40km/hr headwinds at every turn and non-stop attacks from the starter's gun until the bunch sprint at the finish.

A quick reminder that the Thursday Roll returns to the summer start time of 5pm.  This allows the beer to get 15 minutes colder!!