NIXCS Series Tamworth Round Finale

Hardy souls gather for NIXCS Tamworth. Photo: Ben Marsh

We woke to a pretty brisk morning for the final 2019 round of the NIXCS series. Multiple cold fronts had crossed the region delivery proper cold and windy weather. CrummyMTB HQ was a flurry of action to fit a quick visit to our local ice covered regions before getting back to Tamworth for the midday start of the race.

A number of committed enthusiasts trekked from Inverell, Armidale and the surrounding areas to take part. TAMMTB had set a fast and flowing course with only a hill and a half in the loop.

Photo: Ben Marsh

With a number of juniors recently peaking for the National Schools event, it was a cracking start and their pace was well maintained through the race. Nick Chisholm lead from the start followed closely by U15s shredder Eddie Willis, the rest of us, eating their dust and fighting for our place over the first couple of laps.

Photo: Ben Marsh

 It was a pleasant ride, when you were riding out of, or with the wind, the rest of the time we found our body, even after warming up, was in a state of shock. We had a good ride with the returning Brad Newman, who managed the sub-zero temperatures in just a jersey and knicks (Brett Bellchambers style).

Photo: Ben Marsh

Thanks to TAMMTB for putting on the event. You can check out our other NIXCS race this year here.

JetBlack MTB Racing are support by the following;

#ridejetblack #jetblackproducts #theoddspoke #rockytrailentertainment #hubbardproof #prismbike #M2Oindustries #blacktownfamilydental #ambmagazine #mitastyres

@jetblackmtbrace @ridejetblack @jetblackcycling @theoddspoke @rockytrailentertainment @prism.bike @M2OIndustries @australianmountainbike @mitas_tyres

SuperFlow at Jollynose - Championships

With the success of our return to SuperFlow last month and our body holding up to the riggers of riding we were looking forward to returning to Jollynose for another SuperFlow session with Rocky Trail Entertainment. This return to Jollynose, after last years fortunate adventure, was only our second time to the area and there was much talk of the trail changes and updates.

SuperFlow is like Downhill racing but pitched on more Cross-Country trails than crazy Downhill trails. That isn't to say there is nothing a little insane, there are often a number of technical features, possibly and A and B lines for you to choose from. And when your whipped into a peddling frenzy from the Enduro crowd cheers, fat-tyres and fluro, you can feel like a Downhill adrenaline junkie.

We had a number of JetBlack MTB Racing team mate in attendance, some regulars and some new to SuperFlow this season. It was great to get out and ride with our team mates now that we don't see them as regularly. What is also pretty special about SuperFlow is the new friends you create along the way, either through a bit of a heckle or some competitive spiritedness, or just a regular chin wag.

Unbeknownst to us we even had some Tamworth locals in the mix. A "Hi Crummy" was all that was needed to affirm that behind the full-face helmet, was someone I did know mid way through the day. 

The trails started at the same places as last year and were generally the same through the top halves. Lower down one trail had been shortened to remove some pedalling, another had been updated with a series of obstacles including a serious flow section of gaps. The third and final trail was a fairly straight forward XC thrash.

We did a series of warm-up mini runs on our first trail till timing started. It was good to test out the hardtail since it has been over 4 months since we had ridden it. We had our Mitas XC tyres on and needed to have that reminder of how far to push both them and the bike. It was also a test for our shoulder as we are still coming back from the clavicle break in March.

We completed three timed runs of our first trail improving the first run by 17 seconds and the second run by another half a second, for a sub three minute run for Fox. We then went and visited Stans, said to be the most challenging trail for the day, and they weren't wrong! Our first run was very much a sighting run and an eye opener, especially as we got down to the gap flow section. Yeah, we were out of our depth. It was almost a four minute run, some twenty seconds off our closest competitor. 

We had joined one of our team mates for the next run, Lazer, and we gave them a ten second head start. We caught them at the pinch of the short pedal climb and tried to scoot away but was caught back up by the line for a 3:50.5. Our team mate had to complete another trail so we parted ways and returned to the dreaded Stans.

After psyching ourselves up and a few deep breathes we took Stans on again, trying to find the most out of the trail to keep it smooth and flowing. Unfortunately we still rolled a few of the largest gaps and couldn't connect all the sections together but managed to drop a massive twenty seconds through finding our smoothness on trail, a time much closer to our competitor at 3:34.4.

Another run was needed on the fast Laser course, just to see if we could better our time. We attempted to chase down an e-bike but didn't improve our time with a 00.1 of a second slower. Close enough to our 3:50.5 previous run.

It was pretty close with only four or so seconds between our closest competitor and after some pretty fast runs we were about cooked. We called it a day, joining our team mates and other competitors for post ride beverages and food.

We ended up coming second in the category after our closest competitor went and dropped nine seconds on his first run of the day. All and all a great day out with Rocky Trail Entertainment and the Jollynose Crew!

JetBlack MTB Racing are support by the following;

#ridejetblack #jetblackproducts #theoddspoke #rockytrailentertainment #hubbardproof #prismbike #M2Oindustries #blacktownfamilydental #ambmagazine #mitastyres

@jetblackmtbrace @ridejetblack @jetblackcycling @theoddspoke @rockytrailentertainment @prism.bike @M2OIndustries @australianmountainbike @mitas_tyres

Mitas X-Road CX Tyres

We have been rolling around on Mitas mountain bike tyres over the last couple of years. Their Scylla XC tyre has been the choice of many XC racers, we found the fast square blocks providing predicable performance and a low rolling resistance. The Scylla fitted neatly our need for a marathon/XC tyre. When we wanted something with a little more grip for our front tyre with Gravity Enduro in mind, we stepped up to the Mitas’s Kratos. The Kratos is a surprisingly fast rolling tyre but with wide aggressive knobs for plenty of grip, the Kratos have track us through the wildest trails thrown at us.

Mitas Kratos

This brings us to our latest review and not necessarily a change of pace either, the Mitas X-Road. You might think it blasphemy mentioning anything road related, but the X-Road is part of Mitas’s CX range. It comes with similar features of their top mountain bike treads; Tubeless Supra 127tpi casing and CRX race compound rubber.

Our first introduction to Tubeless CX tyres

We have been using CX tyres for a number of years both for CX racing and our on-road riding. CX tyres give us a super light but grippy tyre, one that spins up quickly on just about all surfaces. Given a few extra pumps of air, the CX tyres improved our average speed through lowered our rolling resistance and their light-weight was noticed on the climbs, particularly over our previous choices of commuting/training tyre (PRs in Strava, woohoo!).

Endless dirt roads over summer

With a current trend to include more dirt-based adventure rides, and a physical move to a more a hostile riding environment we were more than excited to wrap the Mitas X-Road around our wheels. Planned rides included plenty of dirt roads and fire-trails, some trail exploring of our new location, bunch rides with the roadies and maybe even a race.

Close-up of the almost familiar tread patten

The X-Road tyre tread reminds us of a fairly traditional XC mountain bike tyre pattern. The center blocks are small and closely spaced, providing a fast tread for road and dirt conditions. As your roll over to the edge the tread opens up and gets slightly more bold, this gives grip for cornering and loose situations no matter dry or wet. The tyres are suitably light too; we weighed them in at 350g, for their 33C casing. With a standard splash of sealant the tyres quickly inflated and held firm. The wheels were then placed on our test rig, a steel framed hard-tail mountain bike.

70kms offroad for Buffalo Gelato 

Out on the road the X-Road sat pretty comfortably between a smooth tread and a light XC tyre, giving off just a slight hum as the closely spaced tread rolled across the bitumen. While the tyres are stamped for pressures up to 85psi, we only nudged them to 60psi due to the mountain bike rims they were shoeing. We found that 60psi gave us the suppleness needed for the rough country roads we were testing on, but still kept us fast enough for a bunch.

The dirt roads and fire-trails is where the X-Road excels, the tread pattern offered plenty of grip and rolled effortlessly over the mixture of terrain. For these multi-hour adventures we dropped the pressure down a tad and found the tyres responded well, we were thinking less about being careful where we were riding and were able to enjoy the ride more. We then set about with some all-out exploration, finding running trails and sheep tracks, with plenty of rocks and cacti. It was a blast to bomb downhill on a narrow trail into the unknown, finding the our limits amongst the loose shale. Exploring our new backyard, lookouts, tracks and scenery. To be fair we did hike-a-bike back out of a few sections, but that was more about the gearing choice than anything else.

Local XC race on the X-Roads, guess who won Elites?

It has been summer and CX racing isn’t in full swing, so instead we took our X-Road tyres to a XC race. The local clubby event was only 45 minutes long and the trails included some rough rock-garden features. Even still, the club called it their “Fast and Furious” loop, smooth is fast yeah? Tyres were set at 40 and 45psi , front and rear respectively. These were tough testing conditions, a dry and dusty trail that mixed hard-pack, sandy dust, loose-over-hard and rocks. When pushed the tyres provided predictable drift especially as it moved to sandy conditions. They were also durable enough to allow for multiple close calls between the rocks and rims, with some “yes-I-did-feel-that” moments. We did have to slow down a little to pick our way more neatly through the rock-garden, but with such light tyres we accelerated out of corners faster and held a higher speed on the straights. In our experience the X-Road would be highly suitable for any Australian CX course.

Toowoomba MTB Club trails

Finally we toured some of the Northern NSW and South East QLD mountain bike trails. Sometimes doing a roadie bunch ride, then rolling straight into some mountain biking after. We did find the limits of the X-Road amongst the rocks and Black Diamond trails, however, aggressive XC trails aren’t what the X-Road are built for. The X-Road are neatly placed as a CX tyre, and rightly so. We did love the super-light tubeless features, we fear not catheads and cactus of our new hostile riding environment. And there’s still a bucket load of tread remaining, attesting to their quality and durability after 4 months of solid summer riding. We are looking forward to more adventures in the coming months on our X-Roads.

Ourimbah - SuperFlow

It was only last week we were racing at Ourimbah in the GP4, AND this week we are back again, this time for SuperFlow! SuperFlow is the new generation of Rocky Trail's Rollercoaster Series, of which we participated in originally (1st - 2012, 5th - 2013, 23rd - 2014). It is the XC take on Gravity Enduro, with probably the most popular Enduro series, the Enduro World Series (EWS) grabbing most of the attention.

So we are back at Ourimbah and there is a buzz. It is different from last week’s Grand Prix, a more casual, more fluro, baggy and longer travel buzz. This is the second round of the RTE SuperFlow Series we have been able to get to, we missed the Thredbo round a couple of months ago. Not surprisingly the SuperFlow Series has some serious followers, just about all male categories were buoyant with enthusiasts and punters alike.

We joined JetBlack MTB Racing team mates Eric, Troy, Matt and newcomer Brad at the event rego and hub area for our racing plates. There we also met with the Rocky Trail Entertainment crew, Martin and Juliana for the pre-race brief. We had a couple of hours to check out the two race trails before the 11am race kick-off.

It was a cool start for the practice session, we transitioned along the XC trails to warm up the legs. From the bottom of the valley it was couple of hundred vertical meter, fire-trail climb, to the start of the timed sections. This round I teamed up with newcomer Brad and we sessioned the shorter, steeper “Fox” trail first. 

The short, steep trail was a portion of the Ourimbah Downhill track. It was pretty intense and we stopped a number of times to sus out lines. We also had a chat with a couple of Ourimbah regulars, gleaming some invaluable insights for our race runs. Then it was back on the climb to the top to roll the “Fox” trail again, just to make sure we had absorbed as much trail information as possible in a couple of sighting laps.

We managed to squeeze a roll through of the “Stans” trail before 11am. A couple of sections we hadn’t seen before, but much of it was used last week during the Grand Prix event. All good, lets go racing!

First trail to we chose to race on was the longer "Stans" section. Having just rolled this trail and it being significant longer, our fairly fresh legs would stomp the XC styling of this section. I headed out first with Brad chasing, but through the dusty first descent section with adrenaline pumping I pushed to hard, driving into a tree on a tight left-hand corner. Shaken and with signs of some blood after taking much of the hit to the tree via my arm I went to jump on the bike, but the bars were twisted. I quickly re-aligned the bars as I saw Brad crested the hill and begin descending to my position. I had just about lost thirty seconds due to this off, I remounted and whipped the bike with a frenzy of pedal strokes to get me back down the trail.

At the bottom of the "Stans" trail I quickly self diagnosed some pretty good inflammation to my elbow, no joint pain or deep cuts. All good to continue racing, we headed back to the top for a couple more runs of the shorter DH trail, and get timed on the "Fox" section. 

For the first run at “Fox” Brad went first, I quickly counted twenty seconds and chased after him. My idea was to close the gap as much as possible on the mostly flat transition to the singletrack, then hold onto that smaller time gap as I wrestled the hardtail through the rough course.  It seemed to have worked; Brad was just heading down the singletrack as I was coming up to it. In regards to the “Fox” course it was a definite balance of control, because gaining speed no problem, it all pointed downhill. I was glad I replaced the brake pads a few days earlier, keeping the bike on the trail and pointed in the right direction was executed with volumes of braking.

After transiting back to the top to have another go at “Fox”, Brad checks out the online results, I had set initial time of just over three minutes. That result was not to shabby, with Brad sets a time seven just seconds slower. A quick hydrate, a chat with other riders and we were in the mix for another razz down the track. There was a shuffle of riders as we improved the line-up and self-seeding situation, this time Brad was to chase and potentially improve his time. I let the rider in front go just long enough that I knew I would catch them just before the singletrack to ensure free trail for the tech section. It works, I pass the DH rider just seconds before the trail narrowed and I get a clear shot at sprinting down the trail. At the bottom I wait longer than I should have to, but eventually Brad rolls in, seems he had an off mid-course. I set a time almost two seconds faster, pushing me in the sub three minute bracket.

With my young team mate having a crash it was time to make our way back to the event hub for a break, sustenance and refocus. Of course, we still had to do another lap of the longer “Stans” course to post an official time. A transition back to the top again and a good half day of riding is finally catching up with us.

We roll up to the start of the longer trail, this time I didn't need my own crash again but it was important to set a solid time. I rolled away first, diving through the tough loose first section and onto the little climb, boom, there is the first rider I catch, in fact there were three riders all up. I was feeling pretty on fire, pushing the bike as much as I felt reasonable. I launched over the finishing matt and skidded through the mid of the watching bunch on the firetrail. It was good to finish the trail with no major errors and a big smile on my face.

There was time, and energy for one more lap and see as though Brad had made a mess of his last "Fox", I encourage him to finish the day with a smooth run down. We rode to the top again and hit the trails for the last time that day.

All-n-all it was a fun day out. My three times on "Fox" had only a two second deviation, pretty consistent (placing in the top 100/300 riders). And my two runs on the longer "Stans" had a thirty second deviation, which was about what it felt when I crashed on the first of the two runs. The faster of the runs put me in the top 15 riders for the day. This result put me on the top step of the podium for the hardtail class!

Next stop is near Port Macquarie on the Mid North Coast for the Jolly Nose, Round 4 of the SuperFlow Series. Thanks to the JetBlack MTB Racing Team and our sponsors for another fun day out!

JetBlack MTB Racing continues to be partnered with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance, Rocky Trail Entertainment and AMB. Full results from this SuperFlow round here. Series results so far, here (yes, we are leading the Hardtail Category).

Ourimbah - Grand Prix 4hr Solo

There is no doubting that we love the Ourimbah MTB trails. A quick look back over the last few seasons of Grand Prix’s have seen some favourable results, 3rd 2017, 4th 2016 and 1st 2015. It is the amazing technical sections with their brutal rocks, and the twisted ribbon curves of trails that draw you to ride faster. This is one trail that can hold you in the edge of bar-gripping fear and outright hero-dirt exhilaration!

With a massive break between rounds, I couldn’t wait for the Ourimbah GP weekend to come around. There had been a number of other events on the calendar, a couple of club XC events and a weekend away at Rydal. But when it comes to full froth there is nothing quite like finding your flow at Ourimbah.

We are lucky to have a team of dedicated riders within JetBlack MTB Racing and some of the team had rolled into the forest on Friday, setting up the monster JetBlack pit area. We hummed along the freeway in the early hours of Saturday morning to join the team riders and our support crews for nervous pre-race catch-ups and laughs.

After the rider’s brief we headed down the fire road for the short haul back into singletrack for the race course. As the race got off there was a mid firetrail incident on the hill and due to my poor positioning, I was caught amongst the mid pack riders rolling around on the first lap. 

Looking to pull back some time and bless my bike with endless momentum, I knocked a couple of minutes off lap 2, 3 and 4. It was pure pleasure, allowing our 29” wheels to float clear of obstacles, hearing the swoosh of rubber bitting into dirt as railed heavily into the turns. With this effort I had made it back up to JetBlack MTB Racing team mates, team of 3 7hr of Browny, Elton and Nathan.

It was good knowing I was back into the mix with the teams, but as Nathan passed me on a climb I went to follow and found nothing to back me up. My legs had seen their fun and were now zoning out. Shortly after I made some technical errors and I knew I was in trouble, both my mind and my legs were a fuzz.

The only way out of this hole was to dig it myself and I eased off the gas, hoping I could roll it in on sheer guts. Thankfully I wasn’t the only one having a rollercoaster of a time, while chatting to others out on the course, there were some in deeper holes than I. Then there were high rollers, like Jason English, pulling himself back from a flat on an early lap, chatty as always, and Jon Odams, lapping me during my state of self-imposed recovery, happily holding a wheel then zipping effortlessly away down the trail at the next opportunity. 

Ourimbah’s sweeping trails, with short punchy climbs and fun rough descents still remain a favourite of ours. Rocky, loamy and with un-proportionally long descents, it is mountain biking goodness that we’ll always return to. For this event we managed to hold onto 5th place and snuck a top 20 fastest lap of the day! Whoop!

Next stop Coondoo on the South Coast for Round 3 of the GP Series. Thanks to the JetBlack MTB Racing Team and our sponsors for another fun day out!

JetBlack MTB Racing continues to be partnered with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance, Rocky Trail Entertainment and AMB. Full results from this round here.

Rydal Interclub 3hr

It was going to be a busy weekend, with a couple of events pack in. But a couple of days of wet weather put a dampener on the CX, of all things, it was cancelled. Thankfully just over the other side of the hill, the Interclub 3hr location of Rydal didn't have the same conditions.

Rydal is just a few minutes from Lithgow and home to a whole bunch of hand-carved trail. The Rydal showground plays the perfect part of transition area, and the CTMBC the host club of this round.

Arriving with our JetBlack MTB Racing team mates, we signed on then ducked out for a reccy lap. For this fun event it was decided a pairs team would be a great change and we met with our team mate for the day in the transition area, Brad.

Brad is making waves at WSMTB XC rounds this year by winning D Grade consecutively. He has some mad on-bike skills and has recently transitioned from the club Junior racing categories. He lead out our team, and the whole race on lap 1 for the sprint to the first corner.

At transition one we were sitting as the second male pair team, rolling through as the 23rd rider. It was my turn to head out on the fun windy trail. Away from the flat show-ground area, the trails lead riders on an exciting journey of almost effortless fun. Transitioning back to Brad we had  made up a number of places and were now sitting within the top 10.

Brad puts in another impressive lap to keep us within touch of our competitors. Then it is another handover, and I race out, pre jumping the first log and runching through the following corner, all off the brakes. Hand-over, hydrate, food, rinse and repeat!

With five minutes left before the gate to the trail would close, Brad flew into view and I was tagged for our last lap. This last lap was a blinder too, with less riders out on trail and the changing trail conditions into a tacky, hero dirt ribbon of bliss.

Thanks to CTMBC for hosting the event, my JetBlack MTB Racing team mates for the travel arrangements and transition setup. Thanks to Brad for pairing up with us, turns out we won the Male Pairs Category!

See you at the next event...

WSMTB XC Series Round 1 2018

The first round of the Series took us to the familiar setting of Yarramundi, nestled at the base of the Blue Mountains in NSW. Sound recognisable? Well it was almost what I was reading word for word just the other day before our own Round 1 of the WSMTB XC Series. It continued, “the venue, which is now a familiar stop for the New South Welshmen amongst us, hosting its second national round in as many years”. Wait, hold on a minute, Yarramundi is a national series trail in past history?

We were flipping through a 2006 mountain bike magazine last week before our first round and stumbled across Aiden Lefmann’s (of RLC Sport and Cyclinic) words. A classic tale of persistence and adversity, quite easily re-invented for our most recent event. Take out the solid shredder names from yester-year, inset our newest bunch of shredders and you have yourself a race wrap-up.

After racing at WSMTB’s Yarramundi XC trails for over 8 years now, “it was no surprise to find myself lining up for yet another traditional Yarramundi race, this time”, (Lefmann added, with the added prestige of a national round) as round one of the 2018 Series. “A strong showing of competitors from all over…” Sydney ”… lined up for the series opener. With numbers up in all categories, it shows that there is still plenty of depth in the Olympic format style of XC racing”.

“The Yarramundi course treats you to some super fast, but dray and sandy racing, with very few opportunities to get the climbing legs out to play. The course follows several kilometres of fast but also twisty single-track with the odd section of fire road for the passing manoeuvres to take place”.

Lefmann goes on to call out the good depth of talent on the day, Flemming (formerly Clarence St Cyclery), Taberlay (formerly Avanti) and Cooper (formerly Scott/Ritchey), just to name a few. Like wise we could do the same, Gordon, Green, Brame and Dinham. Names, all becoming synonymous with some fast riding at National level.

We get underway, A Grade, and it wasn’t long before our regular front-runners start putting the hurt on anyone near the pointy end. We had managed to pull in behind BigDog and were attempting to hold the furious pace the guys were producing. Through the trees behind us were our team mates, Browny and Troy, it was going to be important to maintain this XC pace, not letting the endurance team specialists get one up on us.

WSMTB regulars Ludenia, Steve and Ian eventually catch me and there is no contest. Who does catch and we tussle for a couple of laps is Jamie Anderson. Eventually Jamie seems to succumb to his own pressure of pace, we gain a placing, dropping Jamie somewhere amongst the trees and holding it to the finish line.

It was a massive first round for all grades and we had seventeen riders registered for A Grade. WSMTB had altered the trail for the round, making it shorter and perhaps a little more fun. Our team mates Browny and Troy held steady to place further down the order.

We can only envisage the duelling pair of Dinham and Brame at the front of the race were having some form of showdown. In Lefmann’s write-up of 2006 it was Cooper V’s Flemming coming out of the single track for the 150m sprint to the line. Lefmann, digging deep in the last few kilometres had held on with Cooper making the attack to reel back Flemming. In a flurry of pedal strokes and a spray of stones, in that last 100m, Lefmann came from behind taking the win. In 2018 Brame takes it at our local clubby level from Dinham.

JetBlack MTB Racing continues to be partnered with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance, Rocky Trail Entertainment and AMB. Which allows us to ride how we like! You'll see us at another event shortly!
Full results from WSMTB here.

Dylan Cooper's 2006 Writeup.

SuperFlow Stomlo

We were excited to return to gravity based racing this year. 2012-13 were both successful years for us with a Series win followed by a Series fifth place in what was becoming the most fun timed style event for everyone!

Race write-ups - 2012 Del Rio, 2012 Stromlo, 2013 Ourimbah, 2013 Thredbo.

Stromlo still holds a special place in our mountain biking destination list. Our first solo 24 probably set it all off, now we were returning for RockyTrail Entertainment's SuperFlow Series. The series has gone through a few name changes but has been drawing an ever-increasing crowd of followers since its inception.

We were on the Hume early, a pickup along the way, fellow JetBlack MTB racer Kurt. At Stromlo the crew met the rest of the team, then a whole heap of other riders we knew from our variety of riding. Yep, SuperFlow is for everyone!

A quick rego for number plates, GU and a bottle, then race director, Martin, was on the mic delivering his pre-race brief to the 400 odd riders in attendance. We had a couple of hours to chill and sus the trails for today's timed sections, so it was on bike and for a spin up the hill.

We weren’t at Stromlo for the climbing though, the SuperFlow's aim: to bomb down the timed sections, in the shortest time possible. We sessioned the more-fun flowing trails first, then the short-rocky-to-open-sprint trail, to finish.

A clear sky had brought a cool start to the day but with the sun now high in the sky it warmed up fast, seriously fast, and racing was due to start at 11am sharp. With fresh and full RTE bottles we headed up the mountain to join fellow racers for the short social wait to get the first race run underway.

Race runs were in the following order, Stan’s (Double D, Pork Barrell). This trail is one of our favourite combinations having ridden it recently on a Pivot 5.5. Bringing our hardtail this time sure set a challenge for us!

Then it was onto Fox (Skyline, Luge), a bottle refill, then back to Stan’s. Who doesn't love these trails! Finally we headed over to JetBlack (Little Seymour). On completion of this it was pretty hot, well over thirty degrees, time for another break. Lunch. Food. Rest. Recovery. More fluids. Sunscreen!

Given the run we had on JetBlack, there was probably more to be had, time to be lost. We went out for one more run at it. A good thing too, a better run resulted in a shorter time, whoop! Nailed it. Now it was time to rest.

Turns out local elite rider James Downing had brought some of his clan to race too, bulking out the category. It was fun to find a fellow hardtail rider out zipping along the trails. James took the win easily while we nudged out the competition, taking 2nd. Pretty chuffed with the result and a whole heap of fun was had.

This 2018 season is a huge six round series plus a championships, so there is plenty of SuperFlow still to come and we might see you there!

JetBlack MTB Racing continues to be partnered with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance, Rocky Trail Entertainment and AMB. Which allows us to ride how we like! You'll see us at another event shortly!

Full results here.

Muddy Trails of Glenrock

Welcome back! It's 2018 and the racing season kicked off with Rocky Trail Entertainment's Grand Prix Round 1 at Glenrock, within the city of Newcastle. This is not the first time Rocky Trail have used the Glenrock trails, previous blogs here 2017, 2016. The lushly forested, well defined trails are always a hit with riders. A huge range surfaces were on offer this year with an overnight storm. The initial single track was particularly muddy, which transitioned into a dry, if not a little dusty section as well!

After placing on the GC Series podium the last three years running, we're back to do it again, racing with the JetBlack MTB team. It isn't going to come easy though, a quick scour of the Glenrock lineup  and particular our category was brimming with suitably fast names. Martin, head honcho of RTE, got us started well down the main access fire-trail, much further than previous years. With over 300 riders attending, this was one of the biggest GPs EVER! As per usual it was going to be important to be in the first group come the singletrack, a good early position to start from.

It was a hectic start but the open fire trail was suitably long enough to place on the back of the front group. Conditions on this first lap were slick but manageable in the rainforest section, most of the remaining trail was grippy if not dry. Eventually we found the wheel of team mate Michael Brown, which helped maintain pace and consistency. For some though these first few laps saw more action than they would have liked, a couple of local lads in separate encounters were off the bike, one with a broken frame, the other a possible collar-bone.

From gnarly downhill sections to the granny gear switchback climbs Glenrock has it all. RTE chose to remove some of the climbing from yesteryear, in place a smooth fire-trail back to transition. Everything was working well, our Pivot 429 had a service during the week, with the rear shock getting much of the attention. Slickonium grease from DIYMTB had the shock working a treat, evening out the trail. We have also been running our own nutrition over the last couple of years, finding what works for us. You can check out some of our previous reviews here. Anyway, it felt like we got our nutrition right again this round using High 5 products. Thanks to our team mates and family for the bottle hand-offs.

Over fifty JetBlack MTB Racing team riders were at Glenrock, providing a friendly atmosphere for all. It is great to have on-trail moral support and the transition expertise of a large team. JetBlack MTB Racing continues to be partnered with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance and Rocky Trail Entertainment. Which allows us to ride how we like! In the results the team was well represented across all categories and delivered some top results for this event, good signs for 2018 and the GP Series. You'll see us at another event shortly!

Full results here.

2017 National Cycling Carnival - Part 1

An early morning commute from Sydney had me arrive for the Opening address and Safety Brief at the velodrome. There was quite a bit happening, people arriving, bikes in and out of the velodrome and the offer of MTB setup/maintenance tips by members. The local velodrome experts were actively fitting bikes, albeit SS, brakeless, ultra-narrow type bikes and there was also amass of bunting featured both within the velodrome and out, looking like a tidy CX course.

I managed to get out on a track bike but didn’t spend too long on it, yes it felt weirdly narrow and never got “on-top” of the gearing provided.

More importantly after a solid year of CX racing I was keen to look over the technical aspects of the days course at “The Bundahdome”. Having never visited this location previously, I was surprised at the steepness of the marked course on the outside of the velodrome, this technical aspect of the course would be a clincher for many competitors. The off-camber slopes had me drop both front and rear 35mm tyre pressure a couple of psi to find more of the grip I was wanting.

Photo: N. Burton

Unsure of how the week was going to roll, I elected to race age group rather than open/elite for CX. Sus out the competition, have a bit of fun on the first day. Jamie Burton was back again this year, and Ty Domin was present, it was us three that headed onto the course in front of the remainder of the age-groupers, once the young-guns and elites had started. The course had a variety of sweeping corners, the usual CX style, a couple of barriers and a run up the flattest section of the velodrome before turning right and making way along the top of the velodrome. Some off-camber and short pinches later we headed around to the steep outside section of the velodrome. It got pretty interesting here, with switchbacks and well-off-camber traverses across the steep and loose course.

Early on in the event I came through a sweeping off-camber grassed corner and the bike fell-out from beneath me, picking myself up off the grass slightly startled I remounted having only dropped a couple of places. On the next couple of corners I figured out what the problem was, a lack of air in the front tyre, the bike was oversteering generally and washing-out when pushed. This lack of air issue would only make this CX event more challenging.

Jamie working hard to keep up. Photo: N. Burton

A couple of laps later we dropped Ty, after all he did have the wrong gear for 90% of the time, not that we had the right gear either. Jamie and I were duelling throughout the course, quite often swapping the lead. On the final lap just before the second last fast section I dropped a chain and had to dismount to rectify the issue. Fighting hard through the tough off-camber traverses, past lines of the DH heckling crew who seemed to be in full support of skinny wheels doing amazing things on dirt, I pushed a last ditch effort to make time back to Jamie, my front wheel battling me all the way.

Jamie and I didn’t quite make up time to the front runner in the elite/young guns category but we had our first contest for this year’s NCC. Both of us winning our respective age categories, with Jamie pipping me by seconds for line honours.

The hecklers, cowbells and horns, for atmosphere. Photo: N. Burton

What has been great over the previous NCC is the availability of skills coaches or serious riders will to show/demo techniques for all to gain from. This year was a step-up from previous that I have attended with the addition of locals Dylan Cooper and Claire Whiteman for the XC crowd. Fastline Bikadamy was on hand for the Gravity/DH crowd again this year. I participated in both a Gravity and a XC skills session, first with MTBA National DH Junior Coach Indi Boer of Fastline Bikadamy, then in the afternoon with Trek rider Dylan Cooper of Ride Technics. I find as an experienced rider there is still plenty to take away from any skill session, and for me it wasn’t till the following day the lightbulb clicked on to what I had just experienced and gained from both sessions.

Stunt rider Indi Boer, Photo: CrummMTB