IT IS PROBABLY FAIR TO SAY THAT I AM NOT YOUR USUAL [R]EVOLUTION RIDER… OR WRITER. BUT I DO BLOODY LOVE MY MOUNTAIN BIKING! I’VE NEVER WORN A FULL-FACE HELMET – WELL NOT ON A MOUNTAIN BIKE ANYWAY – OR KNEE PADS. UNTIL A FEW MONTHS AGO MY BIKE HAD 100MM OF SUSPENSION TRAVEL, TWO GEAR RINGS UP FRONT, 10 AT THE BACK AND NO DROPPER POST. AND AT 55, WELL I’M OLD ENOUGH TO BE THE AVERAGE [R]EVOLUTION READER’S DAD, OR GRANDAD TO SOME YOUNG RIPPERS.​​​​​​
I mention all this because it’s integral to the story and why I recently decided to push myself so far out of my comfort zone and contest the 2018 BC Bike Race! Yep that BC Bike Race, the one in British Columbia Canada. Seven days, 625 competitors, 320km, 10,000m of climbing and some of the best singletrack on the planet. I started riding mountain bikes about 15 years ago and became aware of the BC not long after it was first established about 12 years ago. Local MTB mags regularly run stories about Aussies taking the race on and eulogising about their experiences on and off the bike. Those accounts stuck in my mind. There were others races, like the Cape Epic and the Transalp, but they just sounded like masochistic hard work. The BC had the work, but also the reward in those epic trails. Even so, I dismissed any thought I could possibly do it; not fit enough, not fast enough, not brave enough.
Why did I change my mind? In 2016 a mate told me he was planning to do it and he wasn’t that much of a better rider than me. I was jealous. My work life changed that year so I got my weekends back. Mountain biking suddenly changed back from an occasional to frequent experience. And once more, I discovered my simple love of riding off-road on two wheels. The sheer joy of flow in the forest. And I was conscious the clock was ticking. Fifty-five is not that old but it’s still edging toward the back-end of the bus when it comes to doing things like the BC. Come Christmas 2016 I made the call, I was going to do the BC in 2018, giving me 18 months to get my physical and mental shit together.
Bu hikaye Revolution MTB dergisinin Issue 53 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Revolution MTB dergisinin Issue 53 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
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LET’S MEET THE A’HERNS; THERE’S MUM AND DAD, OTHERWISE KNOWNS AS JEN AND NICK (A DUAL COMMONWEALTH GAMES GOLD MEDALIST AND TRIPLE OLYMPIAN IN HIS OWN RIGHT!) AND THEN THERE’S THE KIDS, BROTHER KYE (19) WHO’S A JUNIOR WORLD CHAMP AND MULTI-NATIONAL CHAMP, AND THEN OF COURSE THERE’S SISTER SIAN (22) WHO HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNISABLE FACES IN AUSTRALIA WOMAN’S CYCLING, A MULTIPLE-NATIONAL CHAMP AND OCEANIA CHAMP.
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A KIN TO A LOT OF YOU OUT THERE WE’VE RECENTLY FOUND OURSELVES SWINGING BY OUR LOCAL BIKE STORE TO STOCK UPON A FEW PARTS AHEAD OF OUR PLANNED TRAIL ADVENTURES, ONLY TO FIND, EMPTY RACKS AND SHELVES? IS THIS THE NEW VERSION OF LAST YEAR’S SUPERMARKET TOILET PAPER PANIC BUYING? WHERE HAVE ALL THE BIKES, BRAKE PADS, TIRES AND EVERYTHING ELSE GONE? WITH AROUND A 30% INCREASE IN BIKE SALES ACROSS AUSTRALIA (AND THE WORLD) DURING THE PAST 12 MONTHS ALONE, BIKES HAVE BEEN FLYING OUT THE DOOR THE SAME DAY THAT THEY ARRIVE… WANT A NEW BIKE? GET READY TO WAIT. THIS TIME LAST YEAR THE PRE-ORDER WAITING LISTS FROM MOST BRANDS FOR POPULAR BIKES WAS AVERAGING 1-3 MONTHS, NOW, IT’S BLOWING OUT TO ANYWHERE FROM 6 MONTHS TO A FULL YEAR! IT’S CRAZY. IT’S SCARY. IT SUCKS. BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE BIKE INDUSTRY IS ON OUR SIDE AND BRANDS ARE DOING THEIR VERY BEST RIGHT NOW TO FIND SOLUTIONS TO TURN IT AROUND.
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FOLLOWING THE CRAZY YEAR OR CONFUSION AND CANCELATIONS THAT WAS 2020, THE VIBE FOR THIS YEAR’S AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL DOWNHILL MTB CHAMPS WAS ALL ABOUT A ‘NEW YEAR, NEW ME’ ATTITUDE. FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME WE GOT TO SEE THE COUNTRY’S BEST GRAVITY RIDERS BATTLING FOR NATIONAL TITLES AT THE ULTIMATE VENUE FOR SUCH AN EVENT, MAYDENA!
