Continental Race King

With the likes of Jongeward and English having used these or a combination including these tyre I was keen to see what was so good about Conti Race Kings.

These sweet looking German made tyres looked the goods still packaged, the set I had were the full UST versions and weighed in at a comfortable 700g each.

The setup included a Tubeless rim front wheel and a standard rear rim converted to tubeless. Setup was easy and they both inflated with out the use of sealant, the UST sidewalls and bead sealed tight with no air leakage.

So I popped the bead and added a cup of sealant, which should seal any future punctures.

I had been keen to fit some fatter tyres after running various sizes from 1.9 to 2.1s but fitted to the rims the Race Kings they looked and measured slightly smaller than their 2.2” size. This was probably helped by the very round profile of the tyre.

The low profile tread pattern remains at a consistent height across the profile of the tyre. Both these characteristics, the low tread and round profile, should lead to a fairly fast rolling tyre.

Time to ride! Initially it took a little while to wear through the manufactured wax-like finish on the tyre but once they started to grip I found the tyres were predicable and gripped well in just about every condition.

From hard-packed dust-bowls to soft loam soil the tread is tightly enough packed to offer fast rolling through the middle and open enough through the remainder to find grip in a wide range of conditions.

Testing on the road the Race Kings surprised me by rolling quietly, comparable to my semi slick commuting tyres.

Having used the soft compound Conti tyres of old and wore through a new set during a solo 24 effort. I was happy to find the UST Race Kings, while unfortunately don’t feature the BlackChilli compound, still offer sufficient traction while not wearing through fast.

The front tyre has lost grip when pushed on a few occasions and this is probably why many riders match a Race King tyre on the rear with a more aggressive X-King or similar on the front. But overall I’ve found the Race Kings to be a very good performer for a UST 2.2, reliable through a variety of conditions. 

JetBlack Sydney 24hr

With an incredible history of the most demanding conditions in 24hr racing the 2012 JetBlack Sydney 24hr was on and off my radar leading up to the event. I didn't really want to ride it, especially solo, but the trail offers enough fun to do in a team, if you don't have to ride "to much".

And so it was, a week out from the event and Shane Taylor and I started to scrounge around for team-mates, was it to late to find some keen riders to share the burden with?

Thankfully quite a few names came to mind and we began the task of locking them in. Some had better offers, including some sort of roadie ride in Victoria, but we persisted, not so much down the list , more like across, where the riders aren't ranked, they are just outside our initial scope. Thankfully we found a couple of unsuspecting comrades and the issue of ironing out the logistics became priority, we didn't want 4 3x3 shades and no chairs. Also, what was with the weather forecast, fine and forty, this was going to be a hell of a ride.

So it was we arrived at Mt Annan Botanical Gardens already warmed up with just the task of locating team-mates and setting up a suitable camp for the next 24hrs or so. Initially it was bad new on arrival, Shane Taylor had mechanical car issues and had decided to turn back in fear of not being able to return at all. We went from a rock solid elite four man to a "do we ride as three in a four category". The great event organisers RockTrail Entertainment knew of our predicament and made it easy, a category swap to the elite three man, we were happy.

Mark got us off to a very good start and Kurt went out as second man. We were putting in some solid laps and were already leading the category. It was hot, very hot and we had a plan in place for this type of conditions with a half shell kiddies pool, 20kg ice blocks, water and cool towels. With data out of the AIS saying ice vests could make a difference, it was my aim to keep the team as cool as possible.

As we hit the night and lit up our Ay-Ups it didn't cool down much. We pressed on and were building quite a buffer to the other three man teams. It probably helped being camped next to the Onya team, their enthusiasm and consistent low twenty minute laps seemed to be infectious. 

Out the other side of the night laps Kurt had finally managed a couple of clean laps without a stack and our buffer had risen to four laps. Mark remained steady and mechanical free. I was loving the downtime  between smacking out the teams fastest laps.

We reached the final hours of the race, I headed out on what I thought was going to be my last double lap. I caught up with Nigel from Pedal 4 Pierce who was just finishing up an epic ride of his own, Jindy to Syd via Bathurst with a 24hr in a pairs team. It was a pretty fast lap for me but I had left enough in the tank for my final lap of the double. Nigel's team-mate Craig from Flow had put the hammer down catching me before the singletrack, it was on. I punched hard through the singletrack gaining distance on the downhill and Craig would pull me back in during the climbs. We duelled through to the return stretch where Craig moved into the lead, I struggled to hold his wheel. In the final section the rubber band broke, Craig stomped away, I looked back only to recognise some of the riders from the old Bernard Team, gaining. It was time to bite the handlebars, again.

Our all ADF team, we had a representative from each service, called it at 22:59:59 well clear of the other teams in our category, happy in the knowledge this might be our only chance to finish early and still take the top step.

It was a great way to round out the year, thanks to RockyTrail Entertainment for putting on such a great event and all the other competitors for making the event such fun.

ADCC Team - First Elite Team of Three

Team-mate Mark Astley's 24hr blog.

It is Christmas, let it rain carbon

It is starting to feel a lot like Christmas!

Dibbity-dibbity-do,

Every where I roll.

Conti's Race King wraps a wide carbon rim.

STM Awaba Event Wrap

The final round of Chocolate Foot's Singletrack Mind (STM) Series 2012 was hosted by the Hunter MTB Association on everyone’s favourite trail,Awaba. The Awaba MTB Park is well know for its smooth lines and flowing sections, attracting riders from around the state to experience its fun.

The STM Series draws a large following and this round was no different, with over 300 riders registered making up 177 teams, included the solo riders. A quick crunch of numbers proved that this Awaba round was the biggest STM round this year.

The event hub was tightly packed with event sponsors and team marquees, in some places they were two and three deep. The car park was even more packed with cars parked half way back to the park entrance gate.

It was again a battle between the Canberra locals, Ed McDonald and Andy Hall, in the Solo Male category, with Andy having the upper hand in the series points thus far. The Ed and Andy show began from the offset with Andrew Lloyd kept them company. It was on their 7^th lap, in the 4^th hour where Ed and Andy began to ride away from Lloyd. Late in the 6^th hour Ed continued to push, breaking away from Andy and cementing well over a five minute lead for the remainder of the event.

While the morning’s temperature did start out at fairly comfortable it didn’t take long before it became a hard slog in +35 degree temperatures. But it was the coolness of the rainforest section that offered brief relief before being cooked on the Camel Back Climb.

In the Masters Solo category Radical Lights’ Gary James lead from GO, a little further back his team mate Jason McAvoy was plugging away with Phil Welch remaining consistent just few minutes further back. Jason started to have trouble in the 5^th hour with the heat and began slipping time to Phil, who eventually moved into 2nd. This battle of attrition was evident across all the categories especially the solos with a bulk of riders calling it a day some where between three to seven laps.

There may have been wine tastings from Jimmy Jack but it was the local DHers with the smell of their bacon and egg BBQ sangers that would have most riders mouths watering, that and the sweet hammock setup would have been inviting. They also kept the cool friendly STM vibe going with their hoots and calls encouraging passing riders.

It was the steady efforts that reaped the rewards in the Female Solo category. Libby Adamson started the day sitting in around 5^th and mid way through the day moved into the leading position, a well deserved win in the testing conditions. Janet Martin and Jess Simpson made the most of the morning’s cooler temperatures setting the fastest female solo laps and rounding out the podium.

Hunter MTB Club keep Awaba in great nick and over the course of the day the trail fairies continued to sweep and marshal sections of trail. There was no litter and defiantly no complaints about the brushed effect on sections of trail.

                                   

Wendy Stevenson, already the clear Female Masters Solo category series leader, was conscious of her placing against the Female Solo category but chose a conservative approach through the latter part of the day. Wendy went on to complete the eight hours while her direct competitor Nicole Lancaster called it a day early.

Even the St Johns guys were even getting into the swing of the STM vibe out on the trail. The trail conditions may have in some cases overwhelmed their pannier laden MTBs but they were seen to be giving it a go and hung out at the spectacle that is the bessa-block descent.

With the final round of the STM Series over for 2012, the full results from the round are available online, you can look forward to more excitement from the Chocolate Foot crew in 2013. It all kicks off at the end of April with Round 1 of STM 2013, visit the Chocolate Foot calendar for more details.

NSWMTB XCO Ourimbah

What more could you want than the states fastest XCO riders on one of the states best trails.