Jollynose - SuperFlow 2018

Epic days begin like this, it is still dark.

Pack the car, load the bike.

Short drive, pick up team mate.

It is still dark, there is no traffic.

Hornsby, Wyong, first light.

Bulahdelah, Nabiac, Taree, almost there.

Dusty road, unload bikes, rego.

A tale of bookends.

Bookend 1 - Race Run 1

I had a quiet word to myself, have a safe smooth run, get a run on the board. The top section was pretty open and fast before moving through a more rocky section. From there it was a number of rollers and jumps before the mostly flat sprint to the finish.

Have a safe smooth run, I get down past most of the obstacles, just before the flat finish, the bike has handled well and I find myself in the dirt, on my back beside the trail. How did that happen? I'm shaken, I take a couple of breaths before checking myself for injuries. I'm just covered in dirt, my shoulder seems to have made contact as I was thrown.

A number of riders pass me including my team mate, yes I'm ok thanks, but I'm still a bit shaken as this felt like one of the biggest offs I have had in a very long time. Retrieve the bike from where it had landed in the bush, all seems ok. What did I hit?

I look over the trail, there is nothing obvious at first but as I walk around the corner I spot a 100mm tall thin sapling stump on the inside of the corner. Did this just collect me? I look back to where I collected myself from the dirt, yep must have been. I listen out for any immediate riders before rolling through to the finish timing. Not the safe smooth run I had envisaged.

Bookend 2 - Final Race Run

The same trail a run 1. I needed to revisit and better my time from that first run, but my day had been generally dulled by the crash. No runs today had been 100%, my shoulder had tightened after taking some of the impact, and I couldn't find the spark to light-up the trails. Just one more run, better my crash time, safe and smooth.

Through the open flowing dusty section into the rocks, keep the hardtail light and dancing. Move to the rollers and jumps, sweet, just remember the stump on the inside of the corner, done. Not far to go almost at the flat sprint section, then BAM! The back end of the bike flails loosely around, a quick glance confirms just before the only part of this trail specifically designed for the hardtail rider in mind ;), the rear rubber has come off the rim! Oh it is to late in the day for this, I muscle-up over the front wheel and ride onto the flat sprint section, there is no stopping now. I cross the line on flat rubber and call it a day.

Awesome to share the podium with long time shredder Kyle

At the time JetBlack MTB Racing was partnered with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance, Rocky Trail Entertainment and AMB. Series results so far, here (yes, we are leading the Hardtail Category).

Full Jollynose SuperFlow Round results here.

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.

Round 1 of Rocky Trail's FLOW Rollercoaster - Gravity Enduro Series

Well over 200 riders took part in Rocky Trail's Gravity Enduro series at Ourimbah on Monday of the Australia Day long weekend. The highly popular format brings together riders from the different MTB dissiplines for what is essentially a gravity based race against the clock, or your mates, with some slight hills or flat sections to keep the DH rigs to a minimum.

Two trails were selected and it was the total time across both gave you your finishing time. With shuttle runs to the top of the first track it was all downhill shredding, rollers, berms and rocks. The fastest riders would smoothly link the sections, clear the obstacles and generally be in owe of most watching. The trails were dry and the dust hardly had time to settle before another rider stirred it up, riders were usually separated by a minute at the start gates.

From the bottom of the first run it was a un-timed push or ride to the top of the second run. This run was a little more tame than the previous DH run with more XC style trails selected but still challenging in its own right.

When we arrived at Ourimbah it was already packed with cars, people and bikes. Rego was like... a line to the toilets at a music festival. But the trails were open and with a preview trail and a place to practice the use of the timing chips, riders were already making their way down to base camp, where both race runs finished. Time to get in some practice laps of the race trails and use the sweet shuttles to the top of the DH trail.

Race runs were fun, sketchy but fun still. On the DH trail I held it till my chain jumped and twisted around the rear derailier at the lower end of the trail, not a good thing when there is a pedaly section to finish. And on the All-mountain run, everything is hard when your attempting to sprint and maintain control at the same time, the body screaming "you have hit VO2! There is no where else to go!"

The Gravity Enduro style of event looks to be an even bigger hit again this year with its friendly atmosphere and mixture of trails to just about suit everyone. Grab your bike and we might see you at one!

Kempsey Golf Course Trail Re-visit

Now that Kempsey township has been bypassed by the Highway the trail is 3km from the southern turn-off for Kempsey. These trails are regularly used by the local MTB community, KMORC the local club and in June some of these trails will feature in the Flow Rollercoaster All-Mountain Series.

Jacks Ridge Trail Re-visited

One place that rocks!

Gloves off on Grips

We selected five grips we have used in the last few years to give you our thoughts on them, and ffter riding on them hard you to see how well they have lasted. As with many things in cycling, grips can be a very personal choice and they can change the way a bike feels.

ODI Ruffian Lock-on. With over 5,000km on these grips we have become quite familiar with their characteristics. In the dry these thin profile grips are comfortable with or without gloves but in the wet the Ruffians can become slippery when not wearing gloves. We found they suited rides up to four or so hours.

ODI Yeti Chunky Lock-on. Another grip we have spent plenty of time with, ride with these and it is like having your hands massaged throughout the ride. They offer a ton of grip with their raised Yeti lettering, brilliant in all conditions.

Serfas Silicon. These grips may look new but have already been through the torture test of a 24hr solo. Their chunkiness forms slightly to your hand and provides suitable shock absorption throughout a ride. We also found that they remain grippy in the wet and without gloves.

JetBlack Lock-on "Scott 24 Edition". We gave these grips a fair shot but after numerous rides and races they just didn't offer what we wanted. Having said that these lock-ons could be suitable for your trail or casual rides.

ESI Chunky. Originally we tested the ESI Races-edge grips but found their lightweight nature not suitable for the riding we were doing. Moving to the Chunky versions we found the grips very comfortable even during extended rides. While they may wear with use and can tear easily the ESI Chunkys are a popular choice as they are light and secure without to much of a fuss.

Rollercoaster Stromlo Video

Bringing some of the fun had, more downhill and plenty of it! Enjoy.

GoPro Shots from Rocky Trail's Rollercoaster Stromlo

Not strictly the Rollercoaster

Afternoon skies