New GTS paint scheme.

The guys out in the Baum paint room have recently been working on a few more paint schemes to compliment our recent GT stripe scheme as seen in a previouse blog entry in February this year, now simply known as GT.

http://blog.baumcycles.com/2010/02/corretto-with-new-gt-stripe-paint.html

This particular Ristretto, built for a customer from Singapore who gave us full creative control over the design for his frame allowed us to further develop and expand upon our new line of motor racing and automotive inspired paint schemes.

This time the inspiration came from the colours of the Rothmans Group C Porsche 956 team cars from the early 80's.

The frame is finished in Satin White and is complimented with Crystal Navy Blue; offset with Red and Gold Pin stripes.

You can see more photos of this frame on our flickr site at -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/baumcycles/sets/72157623739136856/

The second of our new schemes is known as GTS.

Soon to come a 7/8 variation of this scheme on a Corretto frame, see illustration bellow.

The GT, GTR & GTS paint schemes are upgrade options for our Ristretto, Cubano and Corretto line of frames.

Mountain Bike Racing

Otway Odyssey

It has been a busy racing season recently for me. February was the Otway Odyssey, a major goal race. Early on a Saturday late in February saw over a thousand mountain bikers assemble in the main street of Apollo Bay for the fourth running of the Otway Odyssey. The race is well known to be a grueling 100km test piece with 2500m of climbing. Many top riders assembled at the front of the pack awaiting the start to the tunes of a brass jazz band whose drummer was having a tricky time preventing his cymbals blowing away in the ripping northerly wind!

There were quite a few Baum riders in the pack - Neil Robinson (regular team rider), Steve Caddy (another team rider and Baum web site developer), Stephanie Russell (customer from the west and regular winner of the Highland Fling), Rob Southgate (customer) and me!

I had set this race as my goal race for my last 6 months training. My preparation had been good and I was all set. For the first 6km toward Skenes Creek we rode into a cross head wind, no one wanting to burn their legs into the wind so the pace was slow. We turned up hill and when the hill steepened, the fast riders put the hammer down.

In the first 20 kms I passed Murray Spink...twice... and Dan McConnell once (both had punctured - a minor detail). I pushed solidly as per my plan, keeping pace with Neil Robinson and several other strong riders. There were some hills too steep for me to ride and as I walked my bike I could see Neil up ahead, bike over his shoulder trudging up the track. Soon after passing Mount Sabine Neil ran into problems with cramping, much earlier in the race than is normal for him. He opted to take it easy, so after a short chat I took off up the hill.

Coming down a steep descent with a muddy section at the bottom, I got my wheel in a rut going left, with my centre of gravity going right - not ideal. I hit the ground in a slippery puddle of mud and got well and truly covered in mud. No harm done, I got up and took off again trying to clean the mud of my grips and gloves.

The first time through the Forrest oval, I could not find my support person which led to some frantic moments. Fortunately other friends helped me and got me on my way. My second transition went smoothly and I had only the tough final 13km to go. Achieving my goal time of 5:30 was not looking likely as I left the oval for the last time. The long uphill fire road of the final loop was tough as usual. It goes on for ever with hill after hill. At times I could see Tim McGrath (also in the veteran division) a few hundred metres in front of me, but as hard as I pushed I could not close the distance. I ended up finishing only 20 seconds behind him putting me in 6th place in veterans and 59th overall in a time of 5:45:35. Initially I was dissapointed that I did not improve by more over last year's time of 6:00:02. Later, I heard that the course was 10 minutes slower than last year and when I realised that I was within 15mins of the winner of veterans, I was happier. Next year I will be looking to go under 5:30, and hopefully win the category.

Forrest State Cross Country

Today was the Forrest round of the State Cross Country series. I am running second in the series (in the Masters category), so it was a race I wanted to do well in.

We went hard from the start as I expected and I was in 4th when we hit the single track. A mistake by the rider in front saw me into 3rd. I pushed on hard for the rest of the first lap. With no competition near me, I slowed during the second lap. As I was riding up the second last hill for the lap, a rider pulled up beside me (Anthony Natoli). I noticed from his number plate he was in my category! "There is no way I am letting him past!" I decided. I hit the last climb of the lap and he and I were pushing hard, side by side, me in the left wheel rut and him in the right wheel rut of the 4WD track. He got ahead of me a the right turn onto single track. Damn!

A third of the way into lap 3 I was all over his back wheel and he kindly let me through. I was faster in the curves, but he was faster on the hills. I decided to make as much of a break through Mariners as I could and then push hard to hold him off on the hills. I finished the third lap still ahead, but I could not back off as he was not far behind. Towards the finish of the 4th and final lap, I was closing on Tim McColl in second place and finished 60m behind Tim and over a minute in front of Anthony. So I finished in 3rd place behind Brian John and Tim McColl. I was happy with how hard I pushed and my pace.

Coming Up

Next weekend: State Masters Crit Champs in Castlemaine.

State Cross Country Series Final Race: You Yangs, 11 April
Next goal: Australian Marathon Champs at Avoca on 18 April. See you there!

Goodbye friend

I've come to value friends who question and test me regularly, so when one is removed from my life, it takes a while to deal with the loss.

I'd like to take this time to say goodbye to functionless pipe on un-named trail.



Every ride for as long as I remember you have asked me if I was good enough. Each winter, you transformed yourself, so that in the spring I almost didn't recognise your features. I would ride towards you tentatively, wondering if memories of our past experiences would guide me through.

You were taken away unexpectedly, leaving no chance for goodbyes. Your replacement? A smooth, faceless patch of dirt, blending into the surrounds, a mere shadow of your complex character.

Goodbye friend. I will miss you.

Smashed

At the end of a long mtb race your body has this warm achey feeling all over that's kind of satisfying, well, all bar your hands. After hours and hours of gripping the bars, through turns, over logs, down rutted descents, through mud and up climbs, odds on they'll be SMASHED.



If you haven't experienced it, just look at those calluses and how raised and red they are, how raw the padding on the edge of the palm is. The fingers are bent like that because you can't straighten them. There is no strength to do things like open car doors or operate eating utensils, they're useless bony meat at the end of tired arms.

Still all that aside, I love the grubby legs in the photo the most. It reminds me of that warm achey feeling, because to me, that is the feeling of accomplishment and I'd gladly do it all again just to feel it.

The thin black line

This evening I watched a rider who, despite our cheers, must have felt so alone. Only a black like for company. A sole figure hunched over the bars, working hard for an hour, working hard for The Hour.

I hope Liz doesn't mind me telling you about her, but I was mesmerised by her performance and felt it was worth sharing.

An hour attempt is brutal, a test of both body and mind. Distance is measured around the black line of the velodrome. Any deviation is wasted energy and wasted time. I wont pretend to know what went on in her head, though if I'd put two years of training in, it would not only give me strength, but also drive expectations. Lap after lap, holding it down through the bends, knowing that you have to keep the legs and bike going, because the clock wont stop moving until it hits 1:00 would be my own personal hell.

Liz set a new record for her age category (a scootch over 37.2km), and while it's not my place to speak of a ladies age, I'll say she's had a few more hot dinners than even Darren has.

Nice work Liz, I was just glad to be cheering rather than pedalling.

Here's a link to where Liz has recorded some of her thoughts leading up to the attempt.