It never rains at the You Yangs.....

sure....

Put me in coach, I'm ready

Operation a success. I now have 2 owies....

Hello there little fella.... Slightly bigger chunck than we expected.

One way to save weight.

Spy Pics

Custom arm warmers. Perfect time of year for em too....

T-shirts... and if we are lucky....

Our spy cam has also spotted some upgrades to Tims ARC.... Fulcrum Wheels. New Rear XT disc. Weapon.

Plus some custom stickering

Makes ya wanna buy eh??

Thumbs UP! He's OK.....

In hospital, waiting for a CT scan to make sure 1, Spine ok and 2 no brain damage(or no more than usual)



What's your date of birth? 28th of the 7th, 1977 i said. Ok, i'll have to believe you on that one, says the nurse, cause i don't have it on my chart.... checks wrist band, correct. Tick in the box.

Done its job..

That'd explain the headache.

Right. Story Time i guess. Problem is I can't remember what happened.

As usual we were riding the yarra trails, fast as usual. As far as i can recall now, me on the front came round a blind corner, over and down into a dip.

Now it goes a bit point form....

I remember a huge thud.

Lying in the bushes, can't breathe.

Faces asking me if i was ok(G'Day Troy)

Trying to say winded

Shook the guys hand i ran into, He used to do Karate, that's why i'm in a ball on the trail, funnily enough he is a friend of Mels and was chatting to her a few minutes before. If you're gonna hit someone it may as well be a friendly face... OK back to the trail.

Cannot remember where i am. Kinda remember meeting up with the guys to ride but its like a week ago memory. Totally lost on the trail. The whole ride plus part of the arvo has gone.

Walking out with no idea where i am.

Memory loss. People talking about ambulances and ringing Mel.

Got to Banksia Street opposite the nursery and my memories start properly from there. 2 ambulances. Neck brace. Hospital. Doctors. Scans. Drugs...

Anyway. All is ok. Minor concussion. Brusing and a stiff back. Most of my memory has returned apart from the crash but you can keep that one..

Thanks to all who helped me.

Happy Birthday Ozzy Osbourne

Graves DH Bike...

Graves Downhill bike was sitting next to his truck at Round 2 of the National Series, and what a fine looking beast it is.
The split top tube is a unique design, and looks amazing up close. The welds through-out the bike are amazingly accurate, and the bead it true and smooth.

The RAIL technology gives the bike a sleek look, a great design...

Beyond the bike, even his truck is sweet looking...

Especially since this sticker is what started it all for me personally, some 15 years ago I received a sticker like this. And treasured it, never sticking it on my text books at high school...

HAWSON vs. COLLETT

National XC Round 2 @ Illinbah, Gold Coast

ASR v ARC

Youth v Experience

Victoria v Queensland

Mountain Biker v Roadie...

Apparently its been raining up there in Queensland...... An ideal playground for Victorians...

The battle kicks off Saturday 1pm.

OTHER NEWS

Congrats to ASH and Em who tie the knot this weekend. Best wishes to you both.

AND, rumour is some custom yeti wear will be floating around soon... keep posted for spy pics

Tuff Guy/Idiot of the Year

The award goes to this guy...

For spending 1, maybe 2 years with this....

Yep... chipped bone. That little smiling piece of bone is supposed to be attached to the bigger one. And, according to the doctor, the whiteish line around it means its starting to heal.. Been there for awhile yeah.

New Zealand 12 hour? yep.

Ararat DH? yep.

Subaru 12hour? yep.

8th of december it gets removed..............

New Tyres and Thorn Bushes

Since getting an ASR my 575 has been left in the corner a bit. So, to give it spruce up I decide to try some new tyres.
Maxxis tyres have been my tyre of choice for a few years now. Larsen TT, High Roller, Crossmark, Ignitor, Medusa, Rendez(the tyre that doesn't exist according to maxxis.com) even some Minion DH tyres.
The new tyre to try is called Ardent, its a large casing 2.25 all mountain tyre. Perfect for a long travel XC bike. The only drama is it doesn't come in tubeless. So its back to tubes....

Straight away these tyres look the goods. Fast rolling centre strip and wider spaced side knobs for traction. Lean over on the footpath and you can feel the change in tread.

On the trail these tyres are great. The centre strip rolls fast and hooks up well, lean over and it bites into the trail. I had a set of 2.35 Ignitors on before and found them a little squirmy in cornering. The lower profile knobs of the Ardent keep the bike in control through corners and drift time is super controlled.

SO much super cool drift it was sure to get me in trouble.....
Yep, i rode off the trail and into a thorn bush.
Boo.
Now I'm a bit scuffed up on the lower legs, as usual

Worst bit was fishing myself out of the thorns, every move meant more jabs. Plus my rear tyre got a thorn in it. First flat in years and my spare has an extra hole. Time for a little bit of MacGyver work.

Awesome. Gets me to work, just.....

2009 Yeti Jersey's

The new 2009 Jerseys (promo design) are a success, and with the power of the blue bonds singlet, Rhino was able to capture another win aboard the lovely tourquise beast...
Sacrifices had to be made however, and the result of a mis-timed pedal stroke created a nice crater into my shin.

South Australia National Round

with thanks to Tim McGrath

Not really spy pics but still super cool...

Pit Lane

"Old Man" Collett on the attack.....

Parcel

A nice little parcel arrived on my desk today.......

Sent up from Melb from ben.........so far all I know is that its blue.

And upon opening it up, its a Blue YETI bonds siglet.

How very Australian......

Now I just have to wait for the YETI stubbie shorts to arrive.......

Trails Re-Revisited

Once again its been a bit quiet on the racing front. Been hitting up the road recently grinding that bigring and showing those roadies the MTB style. Attack early and Attack often.

Went to Joel and Sarah's pre-wedding party and watched the big man retire gracefully to a garden bed..... On Ya Champ. Well Done!

Another local rider suffered that night.... eat something wrong??? or was it the empty bottle of Beam....


Time to hitup some old trails
Good to see the new 575 still fits in the tray...

Good trails. Time to explore...

Wouldn't be a genuine mountain ride without having to walk up some hills. Doesn't look bad but there were plenty like this, way too steep to ride.

2009 YETI 575....new colours!!!

WORD.

One of the first photos of the 2009 YETI 575.............

Another Rumour...

Is that Ben will soon be rocking a Arc Hardtail with a Tioga Disk Wheel.

Ready for the FTF Wed Night Ride?

But Rhino isn't missing out, he has finally got his new commuter...

Rumour Mill

The big rumour running around is that Ben and I have got ahold of a custom yeti asr tandem for some upcoming races.
Only a rumour.

Upgrades....

Tim McGrath has joined the tribe....

Art shots...

Lookin good

Rides like a dream...


In other news, Bellie has proven that minimal training can still get results. After some early back issues he rallied to end up 2nd at the Scott 24 hour. Unreal.