Short Circuit Cancer

Words and photos by: Jason Pilgrim

Kevin, Jason, Michelle and David make up The Global Kaizen Group

Short Circuit Cancer is a charity run by Brent Collier, a good friend of mine, Exercise Physiologist and dual brain cancer survivor. He works tirelessly in the Fight Back Against Cancer. The Short Circuit Cancer MTB Bike event is a 6hr mountain bike race held for the last 4 years at Heathcote National Park. Solo, teams and kids events are all apart of the day with loads of sponsors like Fraser Cycles, Scott bikes and many others. Brent and his Short Circuit Team along with major sponsor Toyota do an amazing job, with last years event raising more than 60k for Cancer research! Yesterday's event had approx 1500 riders in wet, muddy conditions after a week of rain. Everyone persevered in the often hilly but fun course, with loads of kids activities, expo area and festivities keeping everyone entertained all day. The weather was perfect all day, despite the weather mans predictions and already close to 50k has been raised with a load of other money, collections and donations still needing to be counted. Our team sponsored by The Global Kaizen Group consisted of myself, ex dual Olympic silver medallist Michelle Ferris, David Rankine and Kevin Nelson. Together we completed just over 200km of riding as a team which was a great effort in the tough muddy conditions. A great family day of fun for an amazing cause and I would recommend everyone gets involved in the 2015 event.

SCUM's Andrew Fellows 3hr Day Enduro

Words by: Belinda Althaus



SCUM held its first event for the 2014 year on 22 March with a 3 + 3 hr Enduro at Butterfly track.  This even was a memorial event for the late Andrew Fellows who was an active member of SCUM in the early days. 

The event was a combination of a 3hr day Enduro, and a 3hr evening Enduro, with an hour split in between. For the first event there was a decent turnout. It’s hoped with a new event committee, rejuvenation of the trails from dedicated trail builders; they anticipate a XC race every 1-2 months. 

The field consisted of 27 soloists- male and females, 6 pairs consisting of male, females and mixed as well as 2 trio teams and a bunch of kids getting out there and having a go.  The Fat bikes were also well represented with a local team “3 Fat Ladies” made up of Greg Lewis, Adrian Whitehead and Simon Finlay flattening out the trail. It was going to be tight racing amongst all teams.

The other fat bike representing was ridden by soloist Marty Strozik from Newcastle, who placed second overall completing 9 laps in 3.17hrs.  Douglas Pollock completed a neat 9 laps in 3.06hrs ahead of Marty and local Scott Barrett wrapping up the solos men.  With his first lap time of 19.04, Douglas also clinched the quickest lap of the day but it was only just with Mark Astley (Team Smoff) riding a lap time of 19.19.  Solo ladies also rode well, with the clear winner out of the 4 contenders being Liz Smith who completing 7 laps in 2.45hrs. This was ahead of Danielle Cardile and Lyn Pavlich competing 4 and 3 laps each respectively. 

The race, which was supposed to commence at 1pm started about 20mins late and this, would prove a surprise to one particular rider, as you will read later.  I rode as part of Team Smoff (representing ADCC) with Mark Astley.  We started the race of well with Mark taking the first laps.  We had decided it was wise to ride two laps and then swap over, to avoid any warming up/down issues.  Towards the end of the first lap, Mark came through in 3^rd place behind Douglas and Marty. The second lap rolled around and it was my turn to roll. Ahead of me was Fat Bike rider Marty Strozik who provided a good pacing option around the track, and proved to me that tyre width has no barriers!  I managed to hold consistent lap times, and by the end of lap 4 we had moved into second place overall.  Racing was tense amongst the field, but our team’s consistent laps kept us in a good position.  As I was coming into the finishing straight of lap 8, I knew we were still within the time frame to head out for a 9^th lap to hold our position.  Coming into the transition, I noticed that Mark wasn’t there to handover to!  In the midst of the day’s events, he was unawares to the fact that the race had started late. It was only after lead rider Douglas Pollock had headed out for his 9^th lap with a handful of minutes to spare before the 3 hr time lapsed did he realise that we still had time for another lap. The rush was on then for Mark to get his bike back out of the car and get back into kit before my return.  Credit to Mark for achieving what was likely the quickest kit-up time ever. With minimal delay he was on his bike, minus a few details and managed to nearly make up a 2min gap between him and Douglas.  All round it was a great ride by Team Smoff, we only missing out 1^st place overall by 11 seconds.  We rode the race to finish 1^st in mixed pairs, and 1^st in pairs overall, and 2^nd overall on the 3hr Day Enduro.  Next time we will just make sure our timings are confirmed. 

Thanks to SCUM for holding a great event.  I hope the evening Enduro was as much fun for the riders that participated.  I certainly look forward to racing around some of the other local tracks around this great South Coast region.

Product Review - Specialized Fast Trak Control Tyres

Words by: Belinda Althaus

Nothing can get up your nose than an unresponsive tyre, or one that feels like it wants to run away from you.  Most importantly for me when I’m riding or racing is to feel in control, to know that my tyre is contacting the ground with maximum traction but minimal rolling resistance.  The trails I ride are fast, fairly compact and therefore I want a tyre that has a relative all-over tread pattern. 

Specialized Fast Trak tyres provide just that with two smaller knobs down the middle, along with 2 moderate knobs each side along the outer edges. The direction of the knobs also plays an integral part to providing better traction when needed, with a more direct 90 degree wall on the braking side and a sloping wall on the rear to allow smooth rolling, and little resistance.  The slightly larger side knobs provide substantial traction on smooth hard packed surfaces but are also ready to step up to the plate when trails turn a little loose or sandy.  

These tyres are great competitive XC tyres which are built and designed for the fast-paced rider.  They come 2Bliss ready (tubeless compatible), in various tyre widths and if your weight conscious, the S-Works Fast Trak is available for 60g less.  Key differences between the two is a lighter tyre, however this is a trade off with a lighter rubber and therefore less puncture resistance.  How do I run them you ask?  S-Works Fast Trak on the front, less weight where it’s not as subjected to the brunts of the rear, and Fast Trak Control on the rear where we want all the protection. 

Putting the tyres to the test. Photo: CrummyMTB

Keep in mind, Specialized offers a 90-day replacement guarantee on all their tyres.  If you’re not happy with the tyre, you can return it no questions asked.

Quick View - Bryton Rider 40

Bryton's Rider 40 has landed on our bike and we are excited. Excited for the simple things, as we are yet to put any of the features to the test. Simply it is light, 50g, and suitably small. We also like the 30hr battery life (enough for a solo 24hr) and it seems to be able to record not just our GPS data but a whole lot more. Can't wait to throw our bikes down the trail with this neat looking unit onboard for a full review in the future.

Features: Supports training peaks and power meters, has multiple training modes to create your own training plans, supports a speed and cadence dual sensor for indoor training, comes with a pre-loaded test work-out, waterproof and shockproof design for tough conditions, logs up to 600km.

WSMTB XC Rd 1

Words by: Bel Althaus

WSMTB started the 2014 cross country race year off with Round 1 of their XC series held at Yellomundee on the 16th March.  A sudden and decent downpour on the Saturday afternoon before the race did little to dampen the spirits, but it was enough to smooth out the dust for the fast paced race around the 7km track. 

All smiles before race start. Photo: CrummyMTB

The track layout was slightly different to that of the Weld-tite 4hr Summer Series, with the inclusion of a short rocky climb before descending onto the goat track.  This removed the long fire road climb, meaning it was straight from the goat track and Max’s Bridge onto the moto-trail bends. Three women contended the 4 lap A Grade women's race, Larri Wallbridge, Sarah Mills and I.

We started off directly after the B grade men and it was tight racing for the first lap.  Larri held the lead, with Sarah following and me on the back.  Considering this was my first ever XC race, not to mention A Grade, nor ever having raced against these women, I sat on the tail. I watched their strengths, their weaknesses and surveyed my opportunities. Towards the end of the first lap, I scored the opportunity to pass Sarah and move into second place. It was still tight racing with Larri and I slowly opened the gap to around a minute from Sarah.

First lap. Photo: CrummyMTB

Coming into the second lap I again followed closely refraining from making a wrong move or going too early. As we approached the main fire road climb, I knew this was my chance to make a move and ascended into first place.  With descending not being my strong point I put the pedal down to try and open up a lead before coming back into the technical section. The move worked in my favour and the now the race was really on!  That was until... I came into the sweeping moto-trail, failed miserably in trying to put my water bottle back into its cage, become unstuck and side planted into the ground. Thank god there was lots of grass and no trees! Ever watchful of my two competitors I kept an eye out to ensure I was maintaining the lead I had built. I charged on keeping a consistent pace and using my advantages where I could.

Open trails and leading. Photo: CrummyMTB

By the end of the third lap I was confident that I had this one in the bag, after my previous misadventure I tried to keep calm and focus, riding as smooth as possible to the end. I came across the line in first place, with Larri two minutes behind and Sarah finishing a few minutes after her. It was a great fast paced race with some positive and friendly competitors, and an inspiring youngster who will go far. Thanks Larri and Sarah for a good spirited race. 

Lastly to keep in tradition with mountain biking we didn't get away without the rain coming down, by luck it was timed to perfection, the end of presentations.  With that I was up and out for another day!  Round 2 of the XC Series will be held on the 13th April, and although I won't be available for that one, its set to be another morning of glorious racing.  Good luck to the girls in the next race!