Saturday, October 19, 2013

WEMBO 2013

Have been mulling over WEMBO for a couple of days now, so here we go.



The Plan
With any event it is good to have a plan, especially as a plan can be reflected on to better the next event. For WEMBO 2013 we used a modified plan that we had used for our successful 2010 WSC.

Training
While I had good intentions on some quality block training it never came to fruition and was more sporadic, with a few good social rides and some racing thrown in. Six weeks out and issues effecting my body all year had settled down and we finally looked to my training from 2010. The idea was to make my body as efficient as possible, in the time available. Using Mark Fenner's FTP sessions and principals a six week plan was laid out. During these six weeks Sydney suffered from hot and windy weather and considering the conditions much of my FTP sessions were carried out indoors. This meant we could control the environment and left me to only worry about focusing on the session. Thankfully most sessions can be completed in an hour, where quality over quantity is the key, spin bike just aren't that fun (sorry Chops).


I still got out on my mountain bike for some fun to either razz around single-track or make some noise amongst a road bunch. It is important to keep it fun.
Throughout the year we have also been involved with many challenge-through-adversity situations giving myself insights, tools and much of the required mental preparation needed for racing a bike for 24hrs.


The Event
Pre-race is all about preparation and relaxation. For us it involved trying to get up as late as possible, very hard when your body clock is set to go off at 6am. Getting to Stromlo with sufficient time to arrange our pit/crew area. Hydrate, ablute, dress, chamois cream, sun cream and the nerves start to kick in. Roll around, high fives, good-lucks, all the time the commentators are trying to build the atmosphere and for a sobering minute before the start of the race we reflect on previous days accident.


The race
Initially I planned on two phases during the event, one being the cruise around for 18hrs and the second being the six hour race to the finish. This year there were clearly 3 phases.

Elite riders five minutes in.
Phase One
With the elite riders already ten minutes ahead we were released onto the Stromlo trail, there was a bit of a rush but I resisted and fell in beside Canberra local and in-race commentator Grantley. This phase initially consisted of me sussing out the trail, sorting the lines, soft pedalling and making the most of the flowing sections. Less braking equals less pedalling, and with a little wind on our backs I was managing to pump and roll an entire single-track section each lap, saving my legs for later use. It was close to the four hour mark when Ed, the leading Elite rider, passed us and seemed like an age till the other Elite contendors caught us.


Other highlights included a noisy dry chain, bike swap, a slow leaking rear tyre, stop and pump it up, bike swap followed by a further bike swap to the dually as the rocky, breaking rut filled course started taking its toll. My crew were now in a rhythm with my hourly needs and things were ticking along like clockwork. With lights on and I waited as long as possible before turning them on, we where off cruising into the night.














Phase Two
Around the 14-16th laps I was struggling physically, on the main climb my body was just wanting to sleep. I tried to counter this with caffeinated gels, which has worked before, but they didn't seem to have an effect. Thankfully hitting the top of the hill and the first downhill section adrenaline kicked in and the remainder of the lap didn't seem to be an issue. Still the falling asleep on the bike wasn't a great time and I was forced to step off multiple times during the climbs to refocus and eat. Through the haze of phase two I do remember plenty of offers by passing riders but I was fighting my own internal battle.

Phase Three
The final phase started when the sun peeked over the horizon and the dawn light reached across the sky and touched the mountain. It was like a switch in me, I felt instantly activated, focused and with raring to go. The turtle had become the hare. I came screaming into my pits, way ahead of time with demands of water and gels, my crew scrambled. I needed to know where I was sitting and my deficit to the next rider, transitioning through the pit area I heard there was a fair chunk of time to make up. Kicking a couple of gears the six hour sprint to the finish was on.
Over the few hours I felt I was on fire, there was nobody I couldn't catch. Every time I looked up the trail there was another possible target and I caught everyone I saw. The time gap to the next rider had dropped, quite significantly and my crew were hoping no one was going to notice. Making our way into the final few hours things were getting close, I got the "give-it-your-all" call and over these laps I surprised myself in passing many riders I thought I'd never see.


Reaching the final descent, only minutes till the finish and it was only empty trail that I could see. Popping the last few tabletops and rounding the 4X track I sprinted the last few hundred meters, after all it had been a race. Immediately after crossing the line I heard Sam Moffit's voice, Sam had been the rider I had been chasing for the last six hours. It had been a fine effort and Sam had managed to hold a two minute gap at the end of 24hrs of WEMBO.


Post-race at a 24hr is just as important as the racing and having experienced some bad post race effects I was keen to make right. My crew were on hand with a liquid protein meal replacement as I rolled the legs around for ten minutes. Heading to our pit area I was relieved to sit down for the first time in over 25hrs and finally tuck into a rice meal, mmm real food. There was still a queazy couple of moments while waiting for a shower, due to possible dehydration and over-exertion my body was having an attempt at shutting down. After removing a later or two of Stromlo dust it was back to rest and hydrate. Hopefully with a week of recovery rides and racing within a couple of weeks.

Thanks again to my support crew and Mark's crew for their help. Thanks to all those who have helped me this year to make it all happen. CORC and WEMBO for running a smooth event. Congratulations to Jason English and Jess Douglas our WEMBO Champions, not forgetting those who deserve an honourable mention by taking out the age group titles.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Curve Cycling Good Carbon Wheels - Quick Look

The Stats.



Wheelset Weight: 1645g target weight - 770 Front / 875 Rear (+/- 20g)
Rim: Full Carbon Fiber Tubeless compatible 
Rim Width: 30mm external, 23mm internal
Rim Depth: 20mm
Hub: Curve Cycling QR
Spokes: DT Swiss Competition double butted
Spoke Count: 28h
Nipple: DT Swiss Brass 12mm

What do they say?
Curve Cycling are based out of Melbourne and we have sourced parts directly from some of the best factories in the world, we back our products 100%.


We give all products a thorough hammering before releasing them to the market, so we only sell products that survive our testing process. 


About these wheels?
Suitable for XC, AM and all round trail slaying. These hand built CarbonFiber MTB wheels are configured to compliment most riding styles over varied terrain. They feature a super wide profile that allows the use of tyres up to 2.5”. The layup of this rim allows for a nice balance of high-impact strength, light weight and stiffness, whilst still maintaining enough deflection for comfort during those long rides and marathon races.

These hand built wheels are configured with the same carbon rims that conquered the gruelling ultra endurance race - The Tour Divide 2013. They carried our very own Team Rider/CoFounder Jesse Carlsson home safely achieving 2nd place in 15.5 days. 


Warranty: 2 years against manufacturing defects




Here at CrummyMTB we hope to bring you a full review soon.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Fox Incline Gloves

In 2010 we reviewed Fox's Incline Glove, here were our thoughts. 
"After riding on Troy Lee Designs XC gloves for a couple of years it was time to try out the latest in XC gloves from Fox. The Incline glove is full finger and lightweight, we were immediately skeptical about the durability as the glove didn’t feature a two ply palm. The use of high quality synthetic leather on the palm continues not to shown any wear, it has remained supple and flexible with its suede like texture. Like many other gloves the Inclines feature neat silicon pads on the fingers but the finger panels join right at the fingertip reducing dexterity severely for those fiddly trailside tasks. The best feature of the gloves has to be the soft Terry-Toweling section along the thumb, it is great for soaking sweat from the brow or in my case a runny nose. 3/4 the weight of the tried and true TLD XC, these comfy gloves are mostly suited to XC race and light trail riding."



Move forward to 2013 and we are again wrapping our hands in an Incline Glove. Much like the previous versions the Incline retains its full-finger lightweight nature. A comfortable and flexible back of hand section with the palm moving to two ply. It does seem though that the material in use in this version of the gloves palm is of a lower quality as they are showing some wear over our previous versions.


The Incline glove did feature a silicon print on the fingertips but they quickly wore off through our rigorous use. But the soft absorbent section along the thumb continues to be a hit and we have found that these comfy gloves can handle just about any sort of riding. 



While we have been a little skeptical over the durability of the palm, the gloves have held together through all our riding and are still going well today. The Fox Incline continues to be a nice glove, now lets get out and ride!

Monday, October 14, 2013

WEMBO Thanks

Thanks to CORC and the WEMBO team for putting on the event.

These sorts of events are much easier to compete in with a great support crew, thanks to my attentive crew Donna and Alex. Our pit row neighbours supporting WEMBO rider Mark Astley, Hally and Haysie, were also great to have around.

Other shout-outs I need to make, Shane Taylor, Sean Bekkers, Jason Pilgrim, Rocky Trail Entertainment, Matthew Spriggs, just to list a few that had a hand in making my weekend.

Bike 1.
Frame: One-On Inbred
Fork: X-Fusion Slide 29er by DIYMTB
Running Gear: SRAM XO/Truvativ 3x9
Wheels: Good Edition by Curve Cycling
Tyre: Conti Protection Series X-King (F), Race King (R), the Jason English combo
Saddle: WTB Silverado
Grips: ODI Ruffian Lock-ons
Pedals: Shimano XT
Brakes: Shimano XT
Finishing: Truvativ/Easton

Bike 2.
Frame: Pivot 429 Alloy by JetBlack Cycling
Fork: X-Fusion Trace by DIYMTB
Running Gear: SRAM XO/ Shimano XT 2x10
Wheels: Shimano XT/Stans Crest Custom Built by Mick Smith
Tyre: Schwalbe Snakeskin Racing Ralf (F), Conti Protection X-King (R)
Saddle: WTB Silverado
Grips: Silicon Foam
Pedals: Shimano XT
Brakes: Shimano XT
Finishing: Truvativ/Easton

Here is the 19.5hrs of data my Bryton captured.