Annette Dexter’s enthusiasm, support and fitness is unquenchable! Her last race post was on the 2017 Bayview Blast MTB 100km marathon . Here, she gives an overview of the popluar Queensland MTB event – the 3Plus3. Thanks to Annette for her time and energy. We wish her luck on her next amazing adventure! NG.
On the weekend of 8-9 July 2017, South East Queensland (SEQ) mountain bikers again made a good showing at the 3Plus3 event at Spicers Hidden Vale. The midwinter 3Plus3 has become a firm part of the local riding calendar, along with Hidden Vale’s 24 h and 4 h events in April, the Dingo Duo in October and the Epic in September.
Originally held as a December event, the 3Plus3 migrated to July on a permanent basis after being cancelled due to rain two years in succession. It now serves as a mountain bikers’ Christmas in July. Like other mountain biking events at Hidden Vale, the event offers an opportunity to camp on the 12,000 acre property, rather than staying in limited cottage accommodation at the resort.
Format
Racing takes the form of 3 h lap events events on Saturday and Sunday, with separate courses of approximately 9 km each day in 2017. Riders can choose to participate on one or both days, either as solo riders or in a team of two.
Age categories in the main event range from under-19 to over-50s, and a separate single-speed category is available. There are also kids’ events run across the weekend, with A, B and C grades riding laps of a 2.2 km course across both days and social riders completing the course on Saturday or Sunday only.
Event Evolution
In 2016, the event for the first time offered a separate social ride, with riders using an alternate course to the racers in an untimed event. For the Saturday social event, riders proceeded through transition to a short fire road descent, then up 007 trail, following Dodgem, Western Creek and Woodworm to the popular Plane Sailing trail, exiting halfway along for a descent to Ladder and a climb back to the main fire road, then turning away from race base to return along Gully.
Sunday racers followed the same course, while the Saturday race (and Sunday social ride) took in a short climb up Buckshot, the last portion of Plane Sailing and a descent through Snake to Juiced, followed by a loop through Airplane, Rock Bottom and Escalator. Escalator has had some much-needed spade work, so it is good to see older trails are not being neglected while Hidden Vale pursues expansion of the trail network further from the homestead.
The 3Plus3 remains a popular event, particularly for families. Participation has been growing from year to year, particularly with the addition of the social ride. A Saturday night Xmas feast is available for limited numbers and many riders appreciate an opportunity to stay on after the first day’s riding and catch up with MTB friends before completing the event on the Sunday.
Results
The 2017 overall win for women went to Imogen Smith, who was returning from serious hip and shoulder injuries sustained in a criterium race earlier this year. Imogen rode 14 laps across Saturday and Sunday in a total time of 6:36.
The men’s overall winner was Trek Racing’s Ethan Kelly, with 16 laps in 6:24.
This guest post is by Annette Dexter who is an avid mountain biker and rode the Bayview Blast Sunday 100km marathon for the first time this year. Annette has also been working tirelessly on the new upcoming RATS Cycling Club website. (Until it goes live see this RATS website). Thanks to Annette for this post. I appreciate you sharing your post, I know you are super busy – both on and off the bike! NG.
The debut race featured two, four or six laps of a scrappy 13 km course and was run on a scorching hot November day. From 2015 on, the Blast benefited from Redland City Council’s development of a new race base on German Church Road.
New entry and exit trails (Wolf Peach and Sorceress) were added and the course length was increased to 25 km, with race options of one, two or four laps. In 2016, the race moved to a winter date, and the Blast is now a firm part of the national XCM series.
Race format – 2017 Bayview Blast
The 2017 Bayview Blast involved racing across two days.
Saturday racing included junior events with up to four laps of a 2.5 km course, team and corporate challenges and an all-comers fun lap. The 25 km Saturday race included a separate women’s start wave, with some thirty participants.
Sunday racing taking on either two or a challenging four laps of the long course, with the full-length event involving just over 100 participants and the half-marathon distance attracting a further 250 entrants, including teams. Sunday participants spanned a broad age range from juniors to over-60 racers.
Elite participation was down on 2016 due to a date clash with the Newcastle Port to Port stage race, but Michael England improved on his third place from last year to take the win in the men’s field in 4:50, while local Leela Hancox won the women’s race in 6:08.
RATS Cycling Club Events
The development of the Blast parallels other efforts by the RATS Cycling Club to foster women’s mountain biking in particular. The Chicks in the Sticks start wave in the Saturday race carries the same name as a women’s-only race run by the Rats at Karingal Scout Camp, a short distance from Bayview, and separate women’s racing is also available as part of the annual Summer Sprints series at Underwood Park.
Council and community support are also contributing to the development of an expanded trail network that is ultimately expected to link Bayview with trails at Karingal, West Mount Cotton, Cornubia and central riding opportunities at Daisy Hill and Underwood.
The future for mountain biking in Brisbane is certainly bright!
Source: RATS Cycling Club
Source: RATS Cycling Club
All results from 2017 Bayview Blast event categories can be found here.
On the weekend, I participated in Brisbane’s Bayview Blast MTB Event.
This event is held by the RATS Cycling Club in conjunction with other partners.
I signed up for the social ride ‘Havablast 25 kms Women’s Chicks in the Sticks’ event to help populate and support the category.
Here is Zoe helping me ‘pack’ on the morning of my Bayview Blast ride – she never misses an opportunity to go for a ride!!
This event is held over two days and the order of event looks like this:
Source: Bayview Blast 2017
Sat Race briefing
The Bayview Blast MTB 2017 Event
It was a stunning, sunny Brisbane day.
I had two mates and Zoe (who all came as supporters for the day) with me and we had time to set up a lovely picnic camp in the bush near the race start and get organised before race briefing. The junior events were still being held. I was on my singlespeed and had decorated it with flowers.
How was the ride?
For this event, I was resolute to keep my ‘ride not race’ perspective. For periods of time, I made sure I did this by forcing myself to ride behind a fellow rider, and not pushing to overtake for 10 minutes, but just to be content to sit on the speed set by the rider in front and go at their pace. It was an interesting exercise to deliberately ‘slow down’ – and one I admit was not all that easy to do, but I was glad I did it and I think it was a very valuable exercise to undertake nonetheless.
It was great to be back on a bike after a couple of months off. I was certainly not race fit, but really enjoyed the physicality of riding, riding a course I wasn’t familiar with and testing my mental training on the challenging hill climbs and long slogs. I didn’t see any other singlespeeds on the day and it was an interesting experience having to charge up sections to keep onto of my one and only gear, while those I was passing looked on at me often very incredulously as if I was making a deliberate personal point on the uphills!
Nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, my approach for the ride was to do what I needed to do to get up sections, knowing that I would be gasping for air (like everyone else at the top – so my approach was to keep pedaling while going up and over (not just to the top) and to use the down sections where I was technically more confident as my ‘recovery’ period. Given my lack of fitness, this approach served me well on the day as I finished in a respectable time, did not blow my muscles out and felt surprisingly perky despite the hard work.
Me giving the XCers a little bit of scare – GOLD!!
Post-ride?
An added bonus was that, on crossing the finishing line, I was accosted by the race MC who was calling the day and was quickly interviewed and awarded the ‘best decorated’ bike for the day. This little accolade landed me a free hour-ling massage voucher – Hazah!!
After that little interlude, I returned back to our picnic location to regroup and recharge the batteries. Later on, I was invited back to explain more about my PhD and this blog over the race megaphone for an impromptu interview, which went very well and saw me chatting with a few friendly female riders soon after. A very productive and satisfying day overall!!
Our picnic spot trackside – Zoe & Sara holding the fort.
I’m glad I went and supported the Saturday event and helped fill up the Women’s category. The more ‘serious’ riders were registered for Sunday and I managed to talk one of the 100km Marathon competitors to write a blog post about that day – so stay tuned!
I think the organisers did a great job putting on the event, it must have involved some serious organisation and planning and I super appreciate the effort that was put in and the commitment of the volunteers. It is certainly no mean feat to stage such an event, which is why I wanted to support the local MTB club by participating.
Above: Me and Ratboy (Josh Bryceland) – Peatty’s Team Mate/Mentee and British DH Champ and World Cup Racer. He has been on the UCI World Cup podium 9 times. He is also well known for his mad riding and hard partying ways. It was great I got to catch up with Josh last year as it ended up being his last year racing the Pro circuit and he retired soon after this photo was taken.
Above: Me and Julien Absalon – the most winningest (and considered the best) Elite Men’s Cross Country (MTB) rider in the world …ever!! Too many accolades to list here…Woohoo!!
Above: Me and Troy Brosnan. Brosnan was Junior DH World Champ for 2010 and 2011. He won the overall junior world cup in 2010 & 2011 and Aussie DH Champion in 2011 & Oceania Junior Continental Champion 2011. In 2012 he went Elite, with a third overall in the DH World Cup (2014) and won the Fort William third round. He also won the DH World Champs bronze in 2014 and third overall for the 2015 and 2016 DH World Cup series. He is Australian National DH Champ for 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016 (*Phew!*).
Last year’s UCI World Cup in Cairns
For me, last year was a total contrast to 2015. I worked the 2015 Cairns event, which was epic given that it rained non-stop a week prior to race day.
This turned all the tracks into slick and slippery death-defying shoots covered in thick gluggy toothpaste!
Boy did everyone work hard that round!!! Ahhhh the memories!!!
(See Instagram @Bicycles_Create_Change for more past UCI DH World Cup pics).
Remember Cairns UCI World Cup 2015- aka ‘Rumble in the Puddles’?
If you need to refresh your memory of how epic the 2015 UCI DH Cairns round was – check out this 2’32” Badass mashup video…
…and yes…that is me in the opening sequence!!
But this year will be a little different. I’ll be watching remotely as I won’t be making the trek to Cairns this year for the big event (*sniff*).
There are six rounds each for XCO and DH – and the World Cup 2017 is starting this weekend – woohoo!!
The World Championship heads to Australia and Cairns at the end of the World Cup season with a full program of XCO, XCE and DH racing on show.
I can’t wait!!!
The UCI is expected to confirm the calendar in late June and the dates will be subject to change until then so don’t go booking trips to the events until then! Scroll down for all the downhill (DHI) and cross country (XCO) rounds.
April 29-30: (DHI) Lourdes, France
May 20-21: (XCO) Nové Mesto, Czech Republic
May 27-28: (XCO) Albstadt, Germany
June 3-4: (DHI) Fort William, Scotland
June 10-11: (DHI) Leogang, Austria
July 1-2 (XCO/DHI) Vallnord, Andorra
July 8-9: (XCO/DHI) Lenzerheide, Switzerland
August 5-6: (XCO/DHI) Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada
August 26-27: (XCO/DHI) Val di Sole, Italy
September 5-10: (XCO/DHI) UCI World Championships, Cairns, Australia
Cairns MTB World Cup Working Bee Shout-out
As a member of Cairns MTB Club, I received this shout-out invitation for World Cup working bee helpers. So if you are keen to be part of the action and for anyone in the area… here are the details as sent to me FYI:
With the UCI MTB World Championships just around the corne, there is a way you can be involved now. The Cairns MTB Club has been asked to construct a new spectator/media trail in the “Vines” section of the Downhill track. We have been offered an incentive to get it done ASAP and we want to pass some of that incentive on to the people that help build the trail.
We need are people to help out on regular Saturday/Sunday morning working bees from 7:30am-10:30 am, for about six – eight weeks beginning on the 10th of June.
We do have a budget to meet so the quicker we can get it done, the less we spend on it, giving the club more funds to put back into trail maintenance and development. The job is to create a 1.5m wide riding/walking trail in “Vines” area running alongside the downhill track. There will be a lot of shovel and mattock digging involved.
The Reward
For every working bee (3 hours long) you can attend and do productive work you will receive a gift voucher to use at the bike shop of your choice.
You can put it towards that new something you have wanted or you can donate the money back to the club to help fund the Black snake rebuild and extension. The Gift Vouchers will be handed out at the end, once the work is completed and has been approved by National Parks. All workers will need to “sign in” with their details at each working bee so we can keep accurate records of attendance and hours worked.
If this is something you are interested in getting involved with, please email Club President Craig at President@cairnsmtb.com with your expression of interest.
Reminder
The first Working Bee will be held on Sunday 10th of June and then every Saturday and Sunday morning until the job is done.
This year is a very special year, in addition to being the 200th ‘birthday’ of the modern bicycle, it is also the Giro D’Italia 100th edition Race – Horray!
The Giro D’Italia starts today and this year features a 3,572km course from Sardinia to Milan and includes six mountain top finishes as well as two testing time trials – I can’t wait!!!
What is the Giro anyway?
The first Giro D’Italia was held in 1909 to sell more copies of the local newspaper La Gazzetta dello sport.
In the initial first ten years, there were some major changes regarding classifications and format until its current race design was finally settled on. An Italian won every Giro for the first 40 years until the Swiss rider Hugo Koblet took out the event in 1950. It was pretty much an Italian only affair from 1909 – 1953.
After that, Italian champions often prevailed, but by then there were many other international riders winning such as Eddie Merckx (5 x winner) Bernard Hinault (3 x winner) and Miguel Indurain (2 x consecutive).
It took until 1988 for the first non-European, Andrew Hampsten (US) to win a Giro.
Source: Wikipedia
Who else is celebrating the Giro D’Italia 100th Race?
Er, anyone who loves the pro tours of course! ….and heaps of others people….. like you and me!
As you would expect, the media was in full celebratory flight, with the Independent, and the history of the race (and a focus on British rider successes of course) being promoted by The Telegraph. On a different note, Eurosport contributed 10 things to look for in this year’s race, whilst Sky Sports celebrated with a preview the 2017 race and a prediction that Nairo Quintana (who has featured on this blog before) will take out the gong this year.
I like Google’s humble and playful homage to the Giro, complete with a quirky little animation of riders going over the hills in the background, with today’s banner being:
Source: Google
What’s the fuss – it is just another Grand Tour race, right?
Well-known for its brutal weather and hill climbs, the Giro has a very special place in many cyclists’ heart. Famous for testing rider’s endurance, stamina and mental fortitude, the prominence of snow, rain and regularly produces a gruelling slog-fest race that is remarkable by anyone’s standards. On a number of occasions, the weather has gotten so bad, that races stages are flat out cancelled.
Hardest stages, whatever – I could totally to that!!!
I like this short 4.20mins video as it gives a super quick overview of just how brutal the Giro can be. It has some of my favorite historical stages like; ‘the day the big man cried’; when 81 riders started, but only 8 managed to finish; and (as a fellow Aussie who lived in the same areas where he grew up), I am extremely delighted to see the stage where Cadel Evan is wearing the leader’s jersey (Maglia Rosa) for one day during the 2002 Giro (which Cadel ended up coming 14th in overall).
So this month, be sure to yell ‘Forte!! Forte!! Rapido!! Rapido!!’ full volume at your TV on all of those unrelenting snowy mountain stages!! Woohoo!!
The Indian Pacific Wheel Race (also known as the IndyPac or IPWR) also has some specific rules given that it is a long-distance unsupported road ride. It is very well managed and I am impressed with the level of technology used to track riders and how effective the communications and media coverage for this event is – by the race organisers, the riders themselves (see Jackie’s page below) and the race supporters and rider fans.
It starts in Fremantle, WA and ends at Sydney Opera House, taking in 4 main section:
1. The desert (incl the Nullarbor Plain);
2. Rolling hills of the famous wine districts of South Australia;
3. The iconic Great Ocean Road; and
4. The Australian Alps.
I admit to being completely biased as Jackie has been a dear friend for many years.
It has been amazing watching her transition from rock climbing to cycling and equally inspiring to hear about her rides, adventures and exploits over the years and and to see how devoted she is to riding.
Jackie is an inspirational woman and a phenomenal athlete. Her tenaciousness on the bicycle is nothing short of impressive. It has been great to see Jackie’s updates and videos as well as track her progress throughout the race via the Jackie Bernardi IndyPac 2017 Facebook page – which gives some great insights into the conditions, issues, tips and pure will power required to undertake and push on in a long-haul event like the IndyPac.
Source: Jackie Middleton
Update below shows Jackie coming in hot to Adelaide and setting a mean pace earlier this week for the half way mark.
Source: KO’s Facebook update.
Sad news cuts IndyPac 2017 race short
Today the IndyPac Race was cancelled due to the devastating news that early this morning, a car crash killed Mike Hall, one of the IndyPac cyclists.
At the time of the accident, the race was still underway. Mike was in second position and the lead riders were due to arrive at the finish line in Sydney later today (Friday 31st March).
This is going to be a great year for Enduro racing and it is awesome to see the first two rounds in the Antipodes – and with heaps of support, media and events going on there is something for everyone.
Here is where the series will be taking us this year –
Source: EWS
I’m stoked the first round is in Rotorua. It was raining pretty hard for a while, so now the tracks are pretty muddy and slippery – a real physical challenge!
Great to see the full 7 rounds being held at Redwoods – much better than last times liaise over the other side – much better management and track link-up.
Nice to see the new (old) illegal track (now legal) as well as Dodds, and some of Whakarewarewa Forest’s best double black diamond runs being showcased for the event (see map and track overview at the end of this post).
It will be interesting to see what happens for this round – and for the season. Personally, I’m hoping Sam Hill is in superman form and give Riche Rude, Damien Oton and Jerome Clementz a serious run for their money. I’m also hoping that NZ local boys Wyn & Eddie Masters and Matt Walker strut their stuff and show ’em how to ride NZ style on home turf – it would be awesome to see Kiwis on the podium. In the Elite Women’s, Cecil Ravanel, Isabeau Courdurier and Anita Gehrig are set to battle it out with the rest of the field. What a top line-up. If practice was anything to go by – many agree it is going to be a very exciting round!
So strap yourself in for a great EWS series full of some awesome racing this season – let’s get it on!!
Source: Pinkbike. Follow Fabien Cousinié down the 7 stages.
Well, after two weeks in Melbourne, it’s back to Brisbane and back on the bike. This weekend was Round 1 of the 2017 Shimano Enduro Series. It was at Garapine and although tired and not ride fit, I wanted to make the effort to support the event, my team and get back on the big bike.
Round 1: Garapine – 2017 Shimano Enduro Series
Despite a heavy commitment to uni for teaching and researching, I’ve committed to riding this series. I like the regularity of rounds and I look forward to them, even though I find the riding tough and I am not competitive as a racer, I derive great personal satisfaction as a rider and from challenging myself. Suffice to say, I can now more fully appreciate why there are not may academics my age riding Enduro!
See some more pictures from the day @bicycles_create_change or at the Instagram icon at the end of the post.
Changing from Masters to Elite – why?
It was a great day and I love riding the Garapine trails. This season is a little different from last year as I am registered in Elite and not Masters. As I am riding as an ambassador, I pose threat to the lead female riders and prefer to ride where there is more company – hence the change over from Masters. It is such a pity there are not enough older women Enduro riding to fill out all the divisions like Masters Female – where are you all, my fellow elder sisters? I am more than happy to participate and make up extra numbers. In my view, there can be no genuine winners unless riders like me make up the rest of field – so I am providing a very valuable race day community service by filling out this division.
How was the day?
Registration was at 8, briefing at 9 and racing commencing at 10 am. I presume the logic of the late race start is because Garapine is just under 2 hours from Brisbane and starting later will allow for as many riders to attend as to travel up and attend as possible. But equally, it also meant that we had 3.5 hours to complete 6 tracks within the time limit – 2 x Black Snake, 2 x King Brown, 1 x Blue and 1 x Dumb it Down.
Ordinarily, this was not a major issue, but on this particular day, it meant riding in the heat of a very hot day. This was definitely a contributing factor for me as I’m still adjusting to Brisbane’s humidity and scorching summer heat, let alone riding bikes up and down in a full-face helmet and pads. But that is part of the beauty of race days – and the challenge – everyone else had to deal with the same conditions.
What was my approach?
Taking into account the heat, my physical tiredness and that this was the first time I had been back on my big bike ‘Trucka-sore-arse’, in nearly two months I decided that my approach for this round was to:
Enjoy myself
Ride at my own pace
Use this as an opportunity to assess my hydration/food/exertion formula for effectiveness
Focus on honing my psychological approach to riding this race and not pushing my physical skills to the max (ie. keep positive, monitor negative self-talk, maintain humour and sociability in the face of heat/tiredness, check to see what limiting thoughts come up and address them).
Track selection
It was a self- seeding, self-selecting round, meaning that as soon as a rider had started on their first track they then could choose in what order and when they wanted to complete the course. I didn’t go crazy on the timed downhill stages, in fact, I was very reserved, just testing the waters. I rode two Black Snakes first. It is such a great track and I super enjoyed it, so my confidence was up. By the end of the third track I could feel my lack of fitness and the heat starting to take it toll – but I was mindful to keep any debilitating thoughts in check. I keep drinking water and eating and made an effort to keep moving. By my last trail I was thoroughly pooped. I left Dumb it Down til last, but the track was so blown out and chopped up that it was difficult to navigate and make any real headway, so I picked my way through, just happy to finish in time.
Also, I was conscious that I didn’t want to hold up the elite field who were ‘racing’ – it was an EWS qualifying round after all. I was happy to pull over on track and let others pass where, even though it slowed me down and in some cases, I stopped and got right off track for a few guys who were really careering on course. It was the right thing to do and getting my momentum back up was secondary to being safe, having fun and not over cooking myself. After all, it was a long, hot day and I still had to drive 2 hours home after the race.
How did other riders go?
The Defcon crew were amazingly supportive as usual. We had some good laughs, caught up on post-new year developments and generally had a blast. I had a few good chats with some other riders as we liaised back up the hills and I was happy that I looked after myself and was not suffering like other riders were. Taking the approach of focusing on my mental state paid dividends. I was able to genuinely remain positive and friendly throughout the day. I was in a much better frame of mind than quite a few other riders I saw suffering and complaining – and a few were really quite sick from heatstroke/dehydration. It stopped to help where I could offering water and food.
I have always been fascinated by how different people face the inherent difficulties of a physical challenge. I often wonder, given the immense and immediate benefits, why some athletes don’t train their minds and much as they do their bodies. It certainly helped me get through the day better.
Overall
I was very happy with my effort on the day. It was a great set up and I got to ride some of my favourite tracks. It had a great turn out with 300 riders. Some of the elite riders were really going for it on the day – as you can see from the results. I was able to catch up with a few mates I haven’t seen in ages – and it was great to see some other familiar faces as well. As an Australia EWS qualifier, I was half expecting to see Jared Graves and Richie Rude, but alas my plans to catch up with them were not to be. I can’t believe it has been nearly 2 years since I last chatted with them during the 2015 EWS season – boy how time flies!
Overall, I found the day to be quite physically draining, but that made it all the more satisfying. I’ll be buggered if I’m going to waste the opportunity to ride my bike with mates and have fun.
I’ve turned down an acceptance for me to do a poster presentation at the Australian International Education Conference (in Melbourne on Sun) and I’m not going to the HDR Student Conference that I am on the organizing committee (on Friday) – as this opportunity is too good to miss! I could well go to another WSSC, but certainly not on home turf as well as being physically willing and able and having the means!
So, packing up the singlespeed tonight. I took her for a ride out in the rain this afternoon. She’s riding like a dream and I can’t wait. I’m decorating her in a similar vein to Leki (my flower bike) and you can see a prototype of when I rode my single speed at an MTB event last month. I’m going with colour and flowers so that she will be easy to see at the starting line – just in case there are any shenanigans. I’ve also bought a beard to wear, which I am very happy with and am very excited about catching up with some old and new crew. See some of last years photos here.
There are apparently 1,000 registered of the event form all over Australia and the world. Checking the latest weather updates this morning, showed that it is going to be raining and between 1-12C! After being in Brisbane’s balmy and sunny 26C – this could be a real challenge and reduce the actual riding cohort on the day – but certainly not the festivities!! Just more people to cheer on those who are game enough to ride!
SWWC Weekend Events
The events run all weekend and on offer are activities for riders (and competitors), non-riders and kids. There are heaps of entertainment and satellite events in the week leading up to the main event in Melbourne. If I was there, I would be getting down tomorrow for My Mechanic Rules.
General Run Sheet for the weekend.
Tuesday 18 Oct: My Mechanic Rules heat 1 (Melbourne)
Wednesday 19 Oct: Melbourne pub ride (Melbourne)
Thursday 20 Oct: rides, early bird drinks at Holgate Brewhouse (Woodend)
Friday 21 Oct: social 12 kms ride and Opening Extravaganza at Holgate Brewhouse (Woodend)
Saturday 22 Oct: Group ride, Carni-velo at Hanging Rock Reserve (Woodend)
Sunday 23 October: SSWC 2016 race day, hosting rights competition and after-party
SSWC Social observations – new directions
I find the singlespeed community so welcoming and interesting. I love how it seems to naturally evolve and is so accepting of all types of people, with minimal pretension, yet in its own way, maximum membership identification. This aspect in particular is very curious to me. I’ve often thought that its a pity there is not much accessible, authentic, respectful and insightful work undertaken about the singelspeed lifestyle – sure popular media and advertising has gone to town – but not so much from academia.
As I ride along on my single speed, I’ve often thought about this. I’ve got a few research ideas that I am hoping I might be able to put into motion about some sociological work and/or possible collaborations using the SSWC as a basis for participant recruitment. There are a few areas within the ethnographic literature that are void of original voices and narratives – and none more so than within cycling subculture communities.
After reading work discussing alcohol in sports such as Ultimate Frisbee and Roller Derby (as opposed to Football and other sports which use it as a way of team-bonding or representations of hypermasculinities), I’m curious to see how this might factor in at SSWC. I’m not a big drinker myself, so I’m interested to see if/how that will factor into my experience of the event.
In considering such deliberations, I’ve come up with a general list of sociological perspectives I’m keen to keep massaging and working on. SSWC is a great opportunity to see it all in action, add some new ideas and reevaluate others. I’m interested in seeing what the social functions and mechanisms of the SSWC as a singular event is, as well as singlespeed culture as a whole, such as:
The role of alcohol as a social integrater: drinkers, abstainers, defer-drinkers and under-aged
How SSers self identify individually and collectively – aspects of social distinction – what are the differences between hipsters, fixies and singlespeeders??
Role of gender (women/girls and hypermasculinities?) within the SS community
Values, indicators and central themes to the singelspeed lifestyle
Networks, groups membership and representations of self and image (as opposed to media diffusion?)
Subcultural/Subsocial artefacts, behaviours, norms and signifiers
However, this weekend I am going to enjoy, relax and get amongst it all – who knows what might come up!
Ten days ago I participated for my first time in the 3 hour MTB Chicks in the Sticks Event. This is an all-female registration event, although partners, family and friends were in attendance en mass on the day. It was held on Sunday 28th August, and it had the largest turn out to date of just over 240 female riders on the day. Although official it is a race, and a few keen elite women race it, the overall premise is to ride and have fun and provide an opportunity for women of all skills and levels to get involved.
Chicks in the Sticks 2016 Event set up
There was a variety of choices to be made regarding level of participation – solo rider or team of two – which I was (double Yorkers), then experience level – ranging from Chicken Run (elite), Free Range (Intermediate) and Have a Crack (starting out and having a go). It was also great to see a very well populated Juniors Little Chicks in the Stix, and event more so the Queens of the Roost category (over 50’s) with 21 riders. The final results are here.
It was held on the Scouts private property, Mt Cotton – which for me was a bonus as it meant that aside from a social ride two weeks before, most riders were not overly familiar with the tracks. With a 6.6km loop, it was not an particularly difficult track – but certainly the long step-downs and hill climb in loop were challenging enough for some. The location was well resourced, managed and organised on the day with easy access to facilities, shade, water, rubbish bins, parking, toilets in the village and once on bikes, the track was clearly marked and well marshalled. There was a few select male support crew dressed up riding to keep morale high for those who may have been struggling.
It was a beautiful sunny day, and many families had come out to make a day of it. Many participants had taken on board the ‘have a go and have fun’ message, so costumes, colour and accessorising featured prominently. I noticed that most participants hung around until well after Prezzies, and the village atmosphere for the whole day was upbeat, relaxed, non-competitive, friendly and very encouraging. After official awards had been given, there was (what seemed like) a never ending dispersal of gifts, goodies and freebies given to select race plate numbers and then ultimately the rest were thrown into the audience. It was an impressive stash of merchandise – kudos to the organisers!
How did it go?
I rode with a friend as a team – entitled Bicycles Create Change.com of course! We rode, not raced. We had a great time and were happy to cut our time short (to reign in any possible competitiveness and also so we could cheer each when the other was on course). I had a bell and a squeaky honker that I made good use of at the start line and on track, I sang (rather loudly) Queen’s I want to ride my bicycle as we were cruising along a flat section to great applause from my surrounding riders and after settling down after the second lap, managed to get the name of a few pinners I was either in front or behind for a while during sections. In fact, post-ride, both riders sought me out and passed on their details to invite me to join them for future riding adventures (which they did!), and I have also since see a few on track at various locations and had a good catch up.
I had a great time on the day. I was the only person on the day riding a Singlespeed. Aside from the terrain being perfect for it and that I love riding my Niner, I also used this event as a test run for a possible decoration idea before going down south for the World Singlespeed Champs in 4-weeks time in Victoria. I used my the olde faithful Leki flower power motif –because I have the materials, it is easy to apply (cable ties) and disassemble, I can easily change or modify the design, it transports well and has maximum visual impact.
A good time
Aside from being the only Singlespeeder there, I was also the only person in casual wear (i.e. not full theme costume or MTB kit, or a combination of thereof). I had floral capri pants (over my nicks) and a bicycle print singlet, no socks – lean and clean. I refused to wear any branded gear. I was also very social – telling jokes, engaging with my fellow riders and generally adding good energy to the positive vibes.
An interesting post-script
During the event, I was quite conscious of a few sociological dynamics operating on the day, and since then, my academic brain has been working over time problematizing certain elements – which I have half a mind to develop into more detail for a Journal article perhaps?? Certain ethnographic quandaries were very evident to me such as:
• Racer (competitive) or rider (social)
• Level of fitness and skill – experienced riders alongside newbies
• All female event and female onlyness sports
• Insider (MTBer) and subculture (Singlespeeder)
• Local (QLD) vs. outsider (me originally from VIC)
• Stereotyping of gender in adventure sports (flowers as a representation of ‘femaleness’ – or not)
• Impact and interplay between skill/fitness level and the riders’ ability to ‘have fun’ or enjoy the event
• Track etiquette (see point one and two esp. regarding overtaking).
Some interesting ideas to ponder. I’ll let you know if anything eventuates.
