Mountain bike Bash around Olympic course in Lysterfield (Narre Warren)

[YLD-16L]

that, and DH boys are generally less interested in going for 'rides' and going 'uphill' slowly

Maybe back in the day that was the case, but the last 100km+ race a couple of months back up in the Southern Highlands had a few of the top DH riders on the line on their XC bikes in lycra

The top DH guys do road K's, front up to XC's and short track racing on a regular basis - phark some even rocked up to a hillclimb last night

The divide between XC and DH is little at the pointy end of things and vast at the chopper end of things. The top DH guys are fit and know what they need to do to be on top. The choppers are all about image and attitude Any National Round DH after party is a testament to this

So strad, looks like your going on your own at this stage everyone is too lazy.

Ed, I assume you know Bear if you ride a Bear. I heard he was given the arse from DW a while ago - not sure on the reason nor would I believe anything said in the industry

[ed]

man, i havent raced nationals since nov 2000 (1996-2000)

at that time (the early millsy/rennie/rando/kovarik etc era) we used to just ass about, drink a LOT of beer, have massive race week parties, and just ride fast

i remember when the DH races used to be run on the sat, we'd have the afterparty on sat night (and piss the XC guys off who were trying to sleep), then sit on the balcony and pity the poor SOB's whimper around the place on sun.

CA got the shits with it and switched our races to the sun so at least we would be sober for the XC events.

i remember in 2001 the AIS decided to actually take the DH guys seriously and rennie and a few other mates went dow for some testing. nathan jumped on one of the trainers with his vans on (no spd's etc) and instantly broke the output record... hehehe...

i imagine its gotten a bit more serious since i bailed out (tracks were getting sillier - i went to hospital for 5 days, later went back to uni) and its funny to hear you say the DH guys are doing SO much x-training...

[ed]

oh, as for mark leaving DW - no idea. i know trevor has been working there for a while - i assume the two worked together for a bit - ill ask trev next time i see him. mark actually started after i left DW. i used to be their white bros and hayes tech guy. kinda cool as for a while there theyd pay me to go to the races, and inbetween practice runs id just do the tuning richard promptly got the shits with this, but meh!

i sold my bear about 4 years ago, and REALLY wish i hadnt. the monkey who bought it pulled an insurance job on it, and got my paint job resprayed, that really pissed me off. im trying to find it again and buy it back at present...

[YLD-16L]

We might have raced each other at a DH round or two Ed, I raced two full seasons of DH when I was sidelined from XC (DH is definitely more "fun" and more social) but my passion lies in XC so that's what I went back to when able.

You'd be amused to hear that Millsy and my brother (also a DH'er) have done the odd endurance race as a team for training. Amiel is probably the most commonly seen at XC's in the off season and him and some of the other guys from Wollongong do the enduro stuff for fun/training as well.

Rando trains pretty seriously these days, not unusual to see him out doing the solo road K's.

You'd probably remember Phil Catton?? The original bad boy of DH hahaha , he was my manager last year for XC, he's settled down a lot and just does road and XC now.

We've got a big boxing day ride planned to burn off the beer and food, it'll be about a 50/50 mix of DH/XC riders, things are always pretty laid back until it hits the singletrack

Oh and Ed, the new DH crew just think the DH is held on a Sunday so they get Saturday to practice, not due to the exploits of the old DH days

Strad, if you head out to Lysterfield the Olympic course is probaly one of the least fun tracks to ride out there. Check out one of the maps in the car parks out there and do the trails that go around that lake/dam thing and ride the trails near the XC course, they are all much more interesting.

[ed]

LOL - phil catton... yeah, good times! if you run into him, see if he remembers one year at mt baw baw - a particular 'fire extinguisher in the chalet' trick i swear it was his finger on the trigger, not mine! we both got our asses kicked over it though, and had to clean this massive chalet top to bottom of all this crappy dry-chemical extinguisher residue

probably did race with you. years as above. usually hung out with rennie, robbie mcnaughton (ah emma!), some of the newy croud, a few other randoms (remember the UTS dirt pigs?!) and the other bear guys obviously. i was with DW in 2000 (and did the on site tech stuff mid 2000 as well as the racing) and was at AMB mag end of 2000/2001 so carried a camera around quite a bit (including the olympics coverage at fairfield)

[YLD-16L]

Probably spoke on the phone at one stage or other when you were at DW too then as I was retailling my way through uni back then and would often get put through to the tech section to speak with whoever regarding what ever problem some numbnut customer had created and wanted a warranty over

Phil C, the only person apparently to be banned form Mt Buller for his antics in the Arlberg at the after party one year in I think the late 90's. Ironically last year Mt Buller was our teams primary financial backer LOL. I'll ask him about Baw Baw, he seems hesitant to bring up the old days though as I mentioned to some of the younger guys what Phil used to get up to and they didn't believe me, they asked Phil and he said it was all lies

I know Rennie quite well as we were on the worlds team together one year and had the same flights to and from Europe - as you said re the AIS testing, absolute animal in the power stakes.

[stradlater]

SHIT. Seems like there's a whole world of it out there..

And I'm just on my little $600 Giant semi XC bike. I feel so inferior. :-(

I just want to get into it, I've always dreamt of doing some serious DH riding but never really know how to get into it.

Plus i can't sort of warrant the money on one of those bikes.

[ed]

i vaugely remember that banning.... a few broken windows or lights or something....

cant say i was ever involved in any shennanigans, with or without any orange cannon involvment, at mt buller*

last time i raced with nathan was at mt beauty - lying on the grass in the caravan park wondering where one of our buckets went (got stolen by some kids to make a bucket bong!). got abs smashed, and started talking about quantum physics! nathan is a smart cookie under the meat axe architechture! i havent spoken to nathan since his mum died. i actually ran into her as a patient by accident, then proceeded to fall apart when i realised who it was. she and i actually used to get on really well

*may or may not be true

[ed]

strad - join a club, or just go to the nearest, decent sized bike shop, and say hello

[YLD-16L]

And I'm just on my little $600 Giant semi XC bike. I feel so inferior. :-(

I just want to get into it, I've always dreamt of doing some serious DH riding but never really know how to get into it.

Plus i can't sort of warrant the money on one of those bikes.

Doesn't matter what you ride, just get out and ride. Your persuasion towards a certain type of riding will determine whether or not you need a new bike and/or how much you need/want to spend.

Bikes are pretty good value these days, you get a lot of bang for your buck!

You can basically ride any terrain on almost any bike (within reason) just the speed at which you do it, the amount you enjoy it and the longevity of the bike itself will vary.

[stradlater]

Well, I think I might bash this one around till it breaks or something.

There's a reasonable track allong the yarra trail, that's a bit of fun, but I came across a snake on it the other day, that was a little scary.

[YLD-16L]

Well, I think I might bash this one around till it breaks or something.

Good idea.

There's a reasonable track allong the yarra trail, that's a bit of fun, but I came across a snake on it the other day, that was a little scary.

Just lift your feet up high and roll over it if you can't avoid it

[stradlater]

can't avoid it OR shitting myself. Hehe

[Hen]

I'm in.

I'm off to Anglesea for a few days (incidentally they have a new jumps/bike park down there so the dodgy jumps hacker is coming along).

But I'm in town from Boxing day on. Maybe some evening next week or the weekend before new year. I haven't riden proper off road XC for ages. Should get Jez in on the action aswell.

Oh, and the most important part is the after ride beer drinking. Maybe my place rather than the Vic?

Hen

[haison]

Heh, i knew there were a few riders in these forums but didn't realize a couple of you work in the industry as well. I used to race a fair bit, I remember looking up to rennie/kovarik/rando, etc in absolute awe. Now I'm a workshop manager at a bike store, which unfortunately doesn't leave much time to get out to the races anymore. And stupid me has sold most of my bikes..
I've been getting the itch again lately though. There's a Giant Glory DH sitting in the shop that's calling to me..