Shane Taylor

Rockytrail Stromlo Round

2010-12-14T20:01:00.009+11:00

RockyTrailEntertainment Grand Prix Series - Mt Stromlo

The last round of the Grand Prix series was held at Mt Stromlo in conjunction with the Pedal4Pearce charity. There were a number of races held over the weekend including a timed night lap on the Friday and the charity social ride on the Sunday but saturday was the final round of the Grand Prix series and overall series places were up for grabs. Both 8 and 4 hr options were available and a healthy crowd of about 350 turned out despite the threat of rain. There was a little precipitation during the week leading up to the event but thankfully on the day there was only glorious sunshine.

In a departure from my usual solo gig, I paired up with Michael Hernan to form an ADCC male pairs and although we both stated that we were happy simply to roll around and be able to sit down in between laps, I think secretly we were both keen for a good showing. Mick volunteered for the first lap which meant that by the time I was released onto my first I was jumping out of my skin. For the first few laps we were just trying to remain consistent but, courtesy of the timing tent, we found out by about the 5th lap that we were sitting in first place in our category. There were three teams which seemed to be in the hunt and there was only a few minutes separating us but at least the gap was going the right way.

It only dawned on me when Mick was out on the last lap that we were not only in front of our category but were actually leading the race outright as well. As Mick came in for the last time I handed him a beer and in a moment of unashamed man love gave him a hug........a manly one though. Brought us back to reality somewhat to find out that second outright was actually the first placed solo rider who only ended up 6mins down on us but a win is a win and we'll take them any way we can get em.

Once again the race organisation was top notch and massive thanks to Rockytrail for their efforts. Its no wonder that they are starting to draw some serious crowds to their races and I'm really looking forward to completing some unfinished business at the Sydney 24hr next year.

Massive thanks to Merida, ONYABIKE Philip, WileyX, Schwalbe and Shotz for keeping me rolling and out of trouble. If nothing else it was great to finally get a trouble free race under my belt. The legs felt good, the bike was even better and am now looking at getting a roadie for Christmas to really elevate my training capacity.

Unfortunate

2010-11-07T09:36:00.005+11:00

Yes thats my top tube.

No its not supposed to have a hole in it.

Bugger!

2010-08-03T18:19:00.001+10:00

Some new kit arrived in the mail today.
Having never used a decent monitor before am really looking forward to getting more bang for my buck from my training sessions.
Stay tuned for a full review on cycling applicability for what is fundamentally a running watch.

New Bike......sort of

2010-07-03T13:03:00.000+10:00

Well I figured that there wasn't much point having a full groupset and build kit sitting in a box in the Garage so the awesome guys at Merida hooked me up with a great deal on one of their Carbon FLX hardtail frames. Prior to the introduction of the 0.nine this year, this was the frame of choice for the Merida Multivan team and won numerous national and world titles. Coupled with the fact that you never hear a bad word about these bikes and that was all I needed to hear.

I haven't put too much time on it yet to be honest but what little time has been spent has been glorious. Dually's are very good these days but theres something about the purity of a well sorted light hardtail. The effortless way in which it accelerates and climbs is illegal in some states I'm sure.

Future upgrades are already in the works to drop a little more weight (to bring it well under the 10kg mark) and make it a true XC racer. I'll be looking to do more of the shorter stuff after the worlds and this bike should fit the bill nicely.

Merida ACT Team

2010-01-25T18:48:00.001+11:00

Well the new year is well and truly upon us and with it brings new challenges. Catalysed by a move to Canberra, I am very excited to have signed with the Merida ACT state team. As well as having access to some of the best bikes in the world, this will give me the opportunity to mix it with the national Merida - Flight Center team who are some of the most exciting and capable riders in the country. Although the 24's will be the main focus of the year, kicking off with the Jetblack Sydney 24hr in a fortnight, I have also just been handed the opportunity to ride the MONT with the Merida ACT team and who knows what other challenges the year will bring. Luckily, I have just the bike with which to face it though and because words don't do it justice, heres a couple of pics for you to lust over and yes....it is as fast as it looks.