2013 Bike 4 Life

Well if there was 1 thing that was better than the last Bike 4 Life it was the weather! No way was it anywhere near the ridiculous cold we experienced last year!
It didn't look like the numbers were up for the 100 k ride on last year but I could be wrong. Away we went with most punters opting to go in the 30+ group which would have been around 100 riders.
The usual stop start through Rocky but once we got out on the  Emu Park road the pace settled around 35 which was comfortable in a big group. As the group neared Emu Park the couple of slight inclines combined with some increases in pace started to reduce the group size.
Once we turned at Emu Park we picked up a decent tailwind and the pace was pretty much never below 40 from there to Yeppoon at the front of the group.  
This year there was a sponsor who was a Bakery and all riders were sent in to this shop for a compulsory stop of 10 minutes. We were around the back of the shops and the sponsor put on some great food but there was no way he could deliver what we wanted in 10 minutes....a bloody good coffee! We scoffed some food and headed for the main drag for a coffee. This meant we would miss the support vehicles but it was something we could live without. As we passed the SES worker pointing us to Rocky we said sorry we're off for a coffee, he dropped his arm and gave a knowing smile ;-)
We met up with Suzette at the coffee shop and the coffee was great. Once refueled the 7 Grinders did a lap through town discovering about another 30 riders around the corner with the same idea lol
We headed off with a bit of a tailwind here and there and the pace was solid. We picked up a few riders along the way but they were all a bit knackered to hang on as we passed. With about 8 k's to go we slowed the pace a little near the hills but regrouped once up the long slow grinding incline was passed. Schaulk was toast after a decent turn on the front in the breeze and told us to leave him and keep going, which we did after some hesitation. The last few k's were pretty fast with a tailwind and a lot of downhill and were a real buzz. Of course by the time we got there a lot of the other riders were already gone but there were still a few around with the other rides still going.
A great ride at a good pace. I hope they don't take the coffee shop run out of this ride for good, it's part of what makes it so much fun.

Mt Archer Afternoon Delight

Saturday afternoon at just after 4pm John, Mike and yours truly headed towards the base of Mt Archer for an easy (if there is such a thing) ascent of the beast. For those of you that aren't familiar with Mt Archer, once you actually start the ride in earnest it's essentially 10% for the next 5 klms with zero relief along the way, that's right zero relief, no flat spots at all.

As you can imagine it doesn't take long to get a little out of breath and to start sweating. This climb isn't generally something you can start in a high gear and change down when you get knackered, it's low gear from the get go for most mere mortals. 

One thing noticeable was John's participation in the very limited conversation, foxing???

Along the way we encountered some rouleur's resting on the side of the road enjoying the scenery and hydrating for the big ride the next day. They offered plenty of encouragement of course ;-)

On and on the climb went..........

until just past halfway........BOOM! Something nobody saw coming...the Fox popping.

3 became 2 and Mike and I carried on all the way to the top with the paparazzi following us! 

Eventually John made it to the top, not the best day in the office and surely it couldn't get worse.............

This is what happened in John's mind as he finished, and to his credit it did look very similar until

 it ended up like this...:-)

Don't worry we helped him once the photo was taken lol 

A great day finished off with a couple of cold ales and some nibbles and some great company. 

Bike 4 Life weekend

With most heading up early on Saturday I thought why not make the most of it and do an easy ride up Mt Archer late Saturday afternoon to work up an appetite :-) If anybody's keen meet me at Joyce Harding park at 4pm for a relaxed trip to the top. Turn right at the lights on Frenchville Road into Beasley Street and it's right there on your right. You can park your car on the side of the road and this gives us a couple of k's on a slight slope to warm up before we tackle the interesting part.
Just remember it's only 5k's to the top and I assure you if you haven't done it before you will remember it....for the fantastic view at the top of course ;-)

Dinner details for Saturday up tomorrow.

Tour De Chaplain

Last week saw the Tour De Chaplain run out in the Boyne Valley with great weather for the day after some early fog. There were no shortage of riders with bikes of every shape and size everywhere, that can be said for riders as well!
The theory the organisers had was to put people into groups with different averages and send off the slower groups first with time gaps in between groups. It quickly became evident that the speeds in the groups and within the groups were different and were going to cause some minor issues. This did have an impact on some riders and time spent in the sun but overall I think everyone had a great day out. At every stop there were smiling faces and plenty of lolly's, fruit and drinks on offer :-) It also has to be remembered this ride is for people who generally don't ride a lot and want to challenge themselves and have a great day out, which it was!
There were plenty of smiling faces at the end of the ride which is what it's all about at the end of the day.

Saturday Ride

Well today was certainly a strange sort of a day with an extremely thick dew around which didn't clear until well after the ride. Not too many starters for the ride but it was quality ;-) On our way out we picked up Kaye M at the BP before continuing on past the crater forming on the other side of the golf course bridge. The pace to the dam was just right I thought ;-) and we were on the dam road in no time. We met up with Scotty along the way and then proceeded up the mighty dam hill which scattered the bunch some. By the time we stopped at the usual spot Daryl had hands on hips and sucking in the big ones  - if I hadn't of dropped my phone and broken it last night I would have had a picture to share... ;-) But in Daryl's defense he has been off the bike for 2 weeks with a horrible chesty sort of infection. The group split early on the way back and the group of 3 at the front pushing on to make life hard for anybody with aspirations of closing the gap. To his credit Daryl did have a go but 3 will usually always beat 1, especially with some cunning tactics in the lead group lol. It was a great ride and I have to give credit to Kaye M for getting up the dam hill with the gearing she had on, well done Kaye. Special mention to Brian for riding so well, he is one to watch and also the G for turning up, again!

The 2013 Great Divide Gran Fondo

Well it's time to start thinking about turning the legs over again if you are thinking of doing the Great Divide Gran Fondo this year. Starting very early from Calliope on the 7th of September, we travel a total of about 240klm during the day with many stops along the way. The trip heads out to Biloela for breakfast before ultimately heading to Rockhampton.
The pace isn't hot and we start off around 26klm average and try to hold it for the entire ride. At first 26 is very easy but come the end of the day for some it will feel like 40! Last year was the first ride and 5 riders set out with just one not making the distance by only 15klm's. If you ask any of these riders how much fun they had they would all agree it was a special day.
Now a lot of you might be saying 240klms sounds a long way, and don't get me wrong it is! But if you pace it right with regular breaks you may just amaze yourself. You don't have to pull turns on the front, you can sit in and stay out of the wind the whole ride if you want. If the speed is getting to you we also slow a little to get you to the next stop. You can also do as much as you want and pull out if you find it just too hard.
We do have support vehicles but generally if you have a significant other it's good if they can come along for the trip. The recovery/support team last year had plenty of fun along the way also. This year we will do something a little better with the food so there isn't such a long wait in the towns we go through but more on that later.
We generally stay the night in Rocky with a dinner at Sizzlers before passing out not long after that.
If you are interested get in contact with me. If you want to know how much it costs, simple, just your time and energy!

Dululu Pub - about 180 into it

Arrival in Rocky!

3rd Order almost closed

Hi all,

The latest order for Grinder gear will be closing at the end of this weekend. I think we are pretty close on most items now but unfortunately some won't make it to the minimum order number unless we have a run on them over the next few days.