2013 Dates for Major Rides

Ok I've put a few dates together so people can see what events are in our region and beyond over the rest of the year that I know of.

• First cab off the rank is the Ipswich 100 held on the 14th of April.
• Next is the Noosa 85 and 160 rides on the weekend of the 27-28th of April.
• The Gladstone Tour De Chaplain will be held on the 20th of July this year and is a 100k ride.
• The Bike4Life ride (various distances up to 100k) from what I can gather will be the last weekend in July or early August; we'll just have to wait and see.
• Anyone keen to race at an open level event, the Cunningham Classic will be on the 3rd of August, distance over 100 k's.
• The mighty 'Great Divide' Gran Fondo will return this year and will be held on the 7th of September and covers the distance of around 240k's - don't be too shocked by the distance as there are plenty of breaks along the way - honest!

Thursday Roll

Thursday saw another solid turnout for the popular cruise around Tannum. Welcome Sally who rode in the second group and stayed in contact easily. The second group rode very well and looked tidy the whole ride. The main group has a couple of cafe racers in there so by the end of the ride it starts getting a little messy.
Something you will need to look at very shortly are lights if you don't have any. Spend the coin and get good quality headlights as they will last and provide you with good lighting for hours on end. If you're unsure what are good lights ask on a Thursday night as there are a few good options around.

Rocky Cup on Wheels

The weather held off and the racing was great at this years Cup On wheel races in Rocky. There were a few locals up there having a crack with Brad Lawlor looking the goods in the Grinder strip. Brad tasted success in A Grade but the whole weekend is about the wheel race. He was off almost last but managed to get onto the middle group quickly and ride wheels to save some energy. He moved up nicely but on the back straight old mate from down south came from nowhere and gapped the group and manged to hold on. Brad was higher on the last turn but still managed to hold on to finish in 5th position out of the 24 starters and get into the cash. If only he was that little bit fitter.....

Dylan's first day at work

Dylan has had his first ride in the new team strip and rode a solid race despite having had a very big week and having to ride 2 hours beforehand. He had a dig but the legs didn't have it finishing around 7-10th place.

More riders hit NZ

Last week a couple of lucky Grinders got to spend a week in the land of the long white cloud riding some of the best country there is for mountain biking.

Saturday Grind

It was great to see another big turnout for the Calliope Saturday ride with almost perfect weather for riding. In case you are wondering why most drive to Calliope, it’s so the groups can ride the distances in relative calm without having trucks and the like roaring past, also at Boyne Tannum we don’t have much variety!!!

For the few that rode to Calliope Wayne was on fire from the start and set a blistering pace and it wasn’t long before I was peddling by myself (I find it increasingly hard to push myself at that time of the morning). Once there the usual briefing by Mr Drew was held before the groups headed out. 

In the 70k group we had a few new riders with Robin and Shobai especially doing it far too easily. The 70k group broke up early with some heading back early due to other commitments but pretty much stayed together to the 35k turnaround. Once we got going again Robin, Shobai, Chris and Ronnie headed off at a much quicker pace and left Jody and I to plug along. Jenny wasn’t too far behind after we set off and was solo by then so she had a lonely ride. With the tailwind that was on and off we made good time and got back without too much grief. 

It’s great to see some of these ladies riding now that if you had of said to them a year ago you will ride 70k’s; they would have laughed at you.

The other 2 groups both did a hundy but the quicker bunch got in about 10 minutes before the Kaye and Craig who had left Brad and Wentzel not too long after leaving Nagoorin. There were a lot of tired riders by the look of it if there body language was anything to go by.

A special mention the unlucky rider on the side of the road in Calliope as we headed off that was changing a flat. I was loathe to laugh in case Karma caught up with me but I made sure he heard me calling out :) It was to be the first of 3 for the day for the old Northerner!  

Next Calliope Ride is penciled in for the 9^th of March.

Coffee Grinders Abroad

Some lucky Grinders got to spend some time in NZ recently and by the looks of it they had perfect weather. Thanks for the pics Mike.

Thursday wrap

A great turnout with 24 riders for the roll today. 2 groups operated today and both looked very tidy until the last lap as people started to drop off. The main group were in tatters on their last lap as the pace must have gone ballistic, the red faces and sweat were a dead giveaway. I suspect the arrival of 2 mountain bikers (on their roadies) might have had something to do with it................
It seems hills are to bikes what overtaking lanes are to car drivers, they make everyone speed up to make sure nobody passes them!!!

Rides This Week

The Noosa buildup ride from Calliope is on again this Saturday morning. The 3 groups will be in action again with a 70k ride, a 100k and 110k? (the 110k could change depending on what the guys decide on the day) The 70k ride will 'average ' around 23-25khr, the hundy around 28-30khr and the 110k low 30's I'd guess. I think the 100k ride is looking to ride to Nagoorin so they can top up water bottles there. All rides leaving Calliope IGA at 5:30 sharp. ****Remember to bring enough water and some food along****

Thursday roll time again today with what appears to be good weather for the ride. Leaves 5pm from southern side of surf club, could be 2 groups if there are some newer riders. Remember the main bunch the speed is around 26-27khr, this is a social ride to get people used to riding in a group and have a chat. Oh and be predictable, not like a mad woman's sh#t (all over the place) :)

Sunday the usual 7am from the surf club.

Last Saturday

Only 4 riders fronted for the hundy at 5am last Saturday but it was a great ride despite the number of flats. Not far into the ride we ran into the rain and with it my first puncture at the crossroads. The lads continued on and I met up with them on Kirkwood, not before passing Scottie with his own flat. We passed 'the Greek' on Kirkwood wearing his famous white kit but he was having nothing to do with the Southerners. In need of water and a pitstop we ended up at Maccas and the Earl of Tannum and I made the most of it chowing down a burger before heading for home. 10 minutes later I had my second flat before we continued on once again towards the brew shop. The pace was solid the whole way and I think everyone was happy to get to the brew shop. I'm not sure what the Earle of Tannum is on but I need to get me some!

Brothers?

Been busy

While not everyone is into mountain biking there are a few and numbers are growing. The recent rain has made it possible to fix up old tracks without needing an excavator to break the surface! Amazing what you can do with a shovel and some effort.

FAIL

I'm not going to mention anything about these legs, of course I could but I won't, the issue here is the length of the socks. Now the owner of these legs is a stickler for 'the rules' and when I saw what really could pass as compression socks (I'm not bagging compression socks triathletes) I had to take a picture.

Rule #27

// Shorts and socks should be like Goldilocks.

Not too long and not too short. (Disclaimer: despite Sean Yates’ horrible choice in shorts length, he is a quintessential hard man of cycling and is deeply admired by the Velominati. Whereas Armstrong’s short and sock lengths are just plain wrong.) No socks is a no-no, as are those ankle-length ones that should only be worn by female tennis players

 

In case you've never read 'the rules' he is a link, very funny.

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/