Gibb River Road Challenge

I recently I ventured to my home town of Broome to participate in the second annual Gibb River Road mountain bike challenge. 167 riders took part in the 5 day fully supported event from Derby to Kunnurra. The course covers a distance of 720kms of dusty rough unsealed road through the middle if the Kimberley. The event raises money for police legacy and other organisations.

I was riding in a team of only two, we had to average 144kms each per day, a seemingly achievable amount, only made harder when chatting with other teams of between 4 to 6 riders. 3 riders tackled the journey solo - one navy trained the others must have had a screw or two loose (being navy trained can’t be so sane either).

Every long dusty day in the saddle ended over a few beers, and a good feed. We camped on the grounds of local stations tucked into our swags.
I have to thank my dad for driving our support vehicle, keeping our fuel tanks full, and the beer cold. It was an unbelievable experience, many friends and contacts were made over an amazing week. We all had one thing in common, the wish to ride our bikes.

Bingles

Kno Pearth pics

 

Kiwi Takes Out CMWC, Aussies Fall Asleep On Grass

Yep, the winner of the women's main race was Jenna, who aside from running some sweet 'side of the road' components on her Peugeot fixie conversion, happens to hail from the land of the long white cloud. Southern Hemisphere Chuckout Collectors represent! Those are about all the boasting rights we've got though.
Out of the two Australian riders in attendance, Doddy didn't race (but did put in a shitload of effort helping out with setup and dispatch. Pats on the back for the big man) and I didn't qualify for the final. Doddy spent the next few days cursing himself for not racing and i spent them swearing that I could have gained at least five minutes on my time if I'd gotten my shit together and properly organised my lock, key, map and manifest. Amazing how much time you can lose pulling the wrong piece of paper out of your pocket. Ah well, there's always Tokyo.
Was a really enjoyable race, run in the parklands of Toronto Island on smooth, wide bitumen pathways. The track was mostly multi directional with only a small one way section. I was a little surprised to find that the city had given us the course but didn't close it off. Having to dodge pedestrians, other racers, families out for a weekend ride, cargo bikes and even the occasional car was a bunch of fun though and definitely added to the realistic feel.
Something you don't encounter on your average workday was the live music stage set up in the middle of the race area. There's nothing like hammering between checkpoints while the band belts out a really tight cover of Deep Purple's 'Highway Star'. I had my metal face on for that one.
Had a shot at the sprints as well and needed to really work just to avoid the shame of last place and take out third in my heat. Them boys are fast. By the time they were down to the final few guys the racers were whipping by us. Can't remember the name of the guy who won it but he had an exceedingly mean looking orange track bike. The qualifying race on Saturday was blessed with perfect riding weather but Sundays final got absolutely shat on.
Huddling under a marquee trying to stay out of one of the many downpours i suddenly didn't feel so bad that i hadn't qualified. Big respect to everyone who pedalled through the weather. Hard to do when you're not getting paid for it. The Toronto crew put on a great weekend for us. Between the official and unofficial programs (Yay for courier politics!) you could choose from Guatamaelen style breakfast at La Carrera, alleycats, bike films at cinecycle, art shows, spoken word messenger poetry (?), goldsprints, block parties, goldsprints at the block party, racing, polo and the ever popular getting drunk in the sunshine (when you could find it).
The legendary messenger hospitalty has lived up to its reputation. Between Toronto and the pre event in Montreal we've been housed, fed, had our bikes repaired and been given beers, advice and directions many times over. Big sweaty hugs of thanks to everyone whos helped us out but especially to Brian, Ben, Jacqueline and J for putting us up.
These have just been a few quick impressions of the weekend but if you want some more comprehensive and possibly even accurate coverage go check out Moving Target at movingtargetzine.
There's also links on there to other blogs as well as the CMWC photo pool.
Sydbma has reportage from Doddy at www.sydbma.org/. He covered what went on at the open forum but neglected to mention that he's now on the IFBMA council. Pats on back once again.
My photos are up at flickr as well photos of a distinctly higher quality from our new mate Walter at flickr .

cheers kids, Dirty O