Surly Flinging Monkey Racing

Iron Cyclist

2006-10-03T20:07:00.000+10:00

"Eight years ago, a man's fantasy became a reality in a form never seen before: Kowen Stadium, a giant cycling arena. The motivation for spending his fortune to create Kowen Stadium was to encounter new original singletrack which could be called true artistic creations. To realize his dream, he secretly started choosing the top endurance cyclists on various styles of bicycle, and he named his men the Iron Cyclists: the invincible men of cycling skills. Iron Cyclist Japanese is Rokusabaru Armour. Iron Cyclist French is Hiroyuki Dreggs . Iron Cyclist Chinese is Chen Kenichi Parbery. And Masahiko Giddins is Iron Cyclist Italian. Kowen Stadium is the arena where Iron Cyclists await the challenges of master cyclists from around the list. Both the Iron Cyclist and challenger have twenty-four hours to tackle the theme ingredient of the day. Using all their senses, skill, creativity, they are to prepare artistic dishes never tasted before. And if ever a challenger wins over the iron cyclist, he or she will gain the people's ovation and fame forever. Every battle, reputations are on the line in Kowen Stadium, where master cyclists pit their artistic creations against each other. What inspiration does today's challenger bring? And how will the Iron Cyclist fight back? The heat will be on!" - Pinklespeeder

Surly Coopers Case Results

2006-09-09T23:02:00.000+10:00

The Surly Flinging Monkeys retained the Surly Coopers Case, defeating the Surly Gits by a lap. Which was very fortunate as we'd drunk most of it by the time the race had finished.

Surly Coopers 4x1 Cup (Case)

2006-08-10T20:33:00.000+10:00

The Surly Flinging Monkeys are putting up a case of Coopers Pale Ale for the Singlespeed team that does the most laps on the Saturday edition of the 12 hour. There are a few simple rules

1. You must include Surly in your team name

2. Bikes must have 1 gear only

3. An exception to rule 2 has been made for Surly Pugsleys (these can be geared). It's hoped that as a sub event there will be a Pug-Off for the fastest lap on a Pugsley.

4. The winning team will be expected to share some of their winnings with the Surly Flinging Monkeys

5. The Surly Flinging Monkeys may change the rules

So far we have

The Surly Flinging Monkeys
- Green Monkey
- Black Monkey
- White Monkey
- Pink Monkey

The Surly Gits
- Joe Ward
- Liam O'Dea
- Dunan Miller
- Richard (Poncho) Powell

SSentral AuSStralian Bike Challenge

2006-05-20T14:45:00.000+10:00

When the first email came around suggesting that the Central Austalian Bike Challenge might be fun to do it went straight into the delete file – to hard core. Then a bit later another one came around – yeah why not. Then I was asked which bike I'd take, once that question is asked there can only be one answer (no matter how silly it may seem) – I'm taking the Surly 1x1.

A week and a bit out and it wasn't looking good that I would make it being diagnosed with a "measles type" virus. Lots of rest and I'd recovered enough to at least go - I figured I'd just take it pretty easy.

Lone Dingo Prologue 8.1 km (Telegraph Station – 3 x 2.7km laps)

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I got my bike together just in time for the ride out to the start. After some milling around there was a call for a sighting lap for everyone. Bah! I’d seen half the course on the ride up and despite the flatness I was going to struggle with the 3 laps so I wasn’t going to ride a 4^th, choosing to sit down on the nice soft grass instead - this was my first and only encounter with the infamous prickles all week.

The race cruelly started with a Le Mans start across the deep sand of the Todd River. The crew took their usual position towards the back, however against all mtb-oz etiquette Matt B started running. I’m not sure what he was thinking but some how he still seemed to get on the bike last. After cruising round for a couple of laps the comment was made “At least it looks like we’re not going to be lapped” which was met with a cheery “Coming through on your left guys” from Lefty with Matt Fleming in tow. After letting them get away I made a last ditch effort to jump on the back and of these two, they weren’t working too hard and I nearly caught theme before dying in the sand. Coming through after these two I cheekily attempted to claim the place but was duly sent out for another lap.

Choking in the dust (CyclingNews.com)

1^st Matthew Fleming -01:00
2^nd Aiden Lefmann
3^rd Shaun Lewis
…
74^th Black Monkey

Stage 1 – Chambers Engineering Ridge Trail including the Asprint Hill Sprint. (Velodrome to Flynn’s Grave – 36km)

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Still trying to find my legs after a couple of weeks off my bike, the plan was to take it easy today & see what happened. The start was half a lap around the velodrome (on the infield) and out through the gate. Despite my best efforts there was no carnage as 150 or so riders tried to squeeze through the narrow gate to exit the track. Down the road & we were quickly in singletrack and those of us at the back end of the field were walking up the hill. Coming down off the top of the first hill a couple of riders stopped to get out of my way (always feels good to overtake a dually on a downhill) on the techy descent. The Hill Sprint wasn't too much of a hill but reasonable steep towards the top, unfortunately I lost the battle of traction having to slow down with another rider in front of me wobbling up the hill so walked the final few metres.

Cross the railway line and we're back in singletrack and I'm passing a few riders eventually catching Matt B and Dior. I spend most of the rest of the stage swapping places with Matt B always careful not to follow his 'lines' to closely, through some fun singletrack. On what was to be one of the final climbs I fly past hearing him say “Fark!” I briefly stop and ask if he's OK I get a yes/no mumble grumble chain mumble... OK so I keep going, rolling down to the finish in 62^nd place.

Thirsty work (CyclingNews.com)

1^st Matthew Fleming 1:36:12
2^nd Aiden Lefmann 1:40:52
3^rd Mark Frendo 1:40:56
…
62^nd Black Monkey 2:30:42

Stage 2 – The Rhodes Contracting Big One (Ross River Homestead to Alice Springs – 90 km)

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The theme for today was corrugations – lots of them. Fortunately these were broken up with sand, deep sand and lots of it. It was also the stage people started noticing what bike I was riding.

The start was early – out the door at 5am for the bus trip out to the Ross River Homestead where we were greated with a chilly 2°C morning. Around the same time the sun came up we were off, mmm corrugations a nice way to start. Into N'Dhala Gorge which was spectacular but the riding less so lots of very deep fine sand here especially by the time I came through. Finally out of the gorge and across the paddocks before climbing to Depot 1 where I catch up to Matt B. Dior comes though just as we're leaving. Weeee! A fun rocky 4wd track descent Matt B is getting away from me but no worries I think, I'll just keep enough momentum & I'll catch him on the climb. Half way down I catch another rider and decide to change wheel ruts, there was one spot up ahead where it looked feasable to do it all I had to do was avoid one rock... Needless to say I passed the guy, unfortunately I was in the air and sideways at about 40km/hr not having missed the rock – this was going to hurt I thought fully expecting to be carted off to hospital after I hit the ground. Hmm I start getting up, a bit dazed, and Dior stops to ask if I'm ok, I mumble something like “mostly I think” at which point she points to the mass of blood on my leg and asks if I'm sure I'm OK. It's just an exploded Gu mixed with the red dust. I'm still pretty grazed and shaken though and send Dior & the other guy that stopped to help on while I decided whether to go on or walk the short distance back to the Depot. Eventually I continued on, catching back up to Dior not long after Depot 2 after 10km or so of swapping turns with Vlad from Melbourne and Tattoo Man (Rick?). Rode the rest of the stage with Dior which included some great single track just before reaching Alice Spings but I was a bit too tired, bloody & bruised to enjoy it.

1^st Matthew Fleming 3:11:33
2^nd Shaun Lewis 3:16:09
3^rd Adrian Jackson 3:16:12
…
69^th Black Monkey 5:05:51

Stage 3 – The Aurora Ultimate Ride (Alice Springs Telegraph Station Loop 39 km)

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With an abundance of singletrack and only a little sand this one was billed as the best track of the event and it certainly didn’t disappoint. A short section of 4wd track lead onto the old North Stuart Highway and the entire field seemed to be sprinting away from me as I spun out on the old ashfelt section, but a couple of short and steep pinches & into the single track and I'm catching them back up. I pass Matt B getting rid of some excess fluid at the top of a short climb (rookie mistake Matt ;-)). Lots and lots of tight twisty singletrack, interupted by a couple of sections of sand along a creek. More singletrack after the depot that seemed to go on for ages, climbing and descending along a ridge line. About 600m before the finish there's a little rock garden decent – I make the first section OK, then a tight squeeze before the final drop, is the line right or left I think. I start to the right realizing too late that the easier line was up around to the left – bugger!

1^st Matthew Fleming 1:42:14
2^nd Mark Frendo 1:43:57
3^rd Aiden Lefmann 1:44:34
…
62^nd Black Monkey 2:31:29

Stage 4 – The Gorey & Cole Drillers Track (Alice Springs Golf Club Loop – 46 km)

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After a quick blatt around the golf course it was up into some great singletrack – lots of little technical climbs followed by tight flowing downhill corners. Spoonboy crashed early on, Out of the singletrack and onto 4wd track with short sections of sand (a taste of what’s to come). I spend a bit of time talking to a girl from Darwin who’d only been riding since February before stopping to give a guy a bit of duct-tape to repair a delaminating sole on his shoe. Some more 4wd track before heading out onto the Undoolya Road to revisit the worst sections of corrugations from Stage 2. On this section Aerobar man came flying past and Darwin Chick caught me just as we headed off across the paddock to Jessie Gap. About halfway along the section from the Depot to Emily Creek checkpoint I finally catch Matt B and let out a maniacal laugh sending chills down his spine. His attempt at a brief counter attack was short-lived, as he'd injured his knee hitting a rock after falling off in the sand. Sand, more sand and just for kicks a 50m section of very deep sand to cross Emily Creek. After Emily Creek I pass Dior who was not happy with the sand and sounded ready to to spit the dummy. Finally back into the single track and then a quick sprint through the golf course to finish

1^st Aiden Lefmann 2:01:49
2^nd Shaun Lewis 2:02:12
3^rd Matthew Fleming 2:02:16
…
62^nd Black Monkey 2:59:25

Stage 5 – Top Gear Car and 4WD Centre Route – Race to the Top (ANZAC Hill – 31 km)

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After spinning my legs off on Stages 2 and 4 and with this stage touted as being a fast one I had wandered down to the Ultimate Ride on Wednesday afternoon to see what I could find in the way of a bigger gear. Hanging up in the back of the shop was a Deore chain ring, 42 teeth - not perfect but it will do. So it was with this coupled with the 18 tooth “in case of emergency” cog I started this ride. 42:18, how much could it hurt? The ride up to the start gave a little indication…

Lots of single track to start this one, suprisingly once the masses thinned out and I was able to keep momentum on my side I was able to stomp my way up the pinches. Once on to the seoncd half of the course the big gear started to pay off and I was able to keep a reasonable speed through the flattish 4wd drive tracks. On the downhill section of the Old Stuart Highway I was passed by Huffy Man (Bugger! I thought I was going to beat him for once). Todd passed me on the Stuart Highway at a rapid speed and I was not able to spin fast enough to hold his wheel. Back into the dirt again and another 4 riders caught me and I was able to hang on the back all the way to ANZAC Hill, the big guy on the orange Blur was particularly good to draft. At the bottom of the hill I sat up, & rested before taking a few deep breaths before starting to stomp my way up the hill. The hill is not high but with a 25% gradient it is certainly steep, I'm standing, lungs screaming for more air almost to the top about to admit defeat when Lefty calls out from the finish line “Stomp it Rob!”, one last burst of effort and I'm across the line.

1^st Matthew Fleming 1:11:09
2^nd Mark Frendo 1:13:33
3^rd Shaun Lewis 1:14:39
4^th Aiden Lefmann 1:14:39
…
54^th Black Monkey 1:38:23

Stage 6 – The Neata Glass Time Trial (Flynn’s Grave to Simpson’s Gap – 18 km)

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Some more serious preparation went into this one. With the promise of a flat course the 16 tooth cog went back on and a bottle of Coopers finest Pale Ale was taped into the bottle cage, providing some incentive to ride quickly so it would still be cool at the finish or when ever I gave up along the track. Starting positions were in reverse GC order so I only had to wait half and hour or so to be called up to the start.

The start was uphill, WTF! OK it wasn’t much up hill but enough to make it a real challenge to get 42:16 rolling. I tried in vain to catch my 30-second man (girl actually), before being caught by the guy behind me, unfortunately on a downhill section so I couldn’t hold on to his wheel. Next Todd came screaming though; he was flying, having already passed 2 other riders and one team. Luck for me there was a few tight corners and I was able to hold his wheel for a while before he steamed away. When that boy learns to turn he’s going to be fast! Looking up ahead I could see a gap in the ranges, which must have been Simpson’s Gap, it seemed to close surely I had another 20 minutes riding to do, the track must twist around a lot I though. Next through was a chain of 3 riders (a team and one other) and I was able to hold onto these until I could see the finish line, I reached down & ripped the beer from the bottle holder and associated duct tape and opening it 20 metres or so before the line. It was still cold and not too shaken so I was able to take a few well earned swigs while crossing the line to the rapturous applause & laughter of the assembled masses.

1^st Matthew Fleming 0:26:04
2^nd Nick Both 0:26:14
3^rd Shaun Lewis 0:26:33
…
66^th Black Monkey 0:34:33

Overall

1^st Matthew Fleming 10:08:28
2^nd Shaun Lewis 10:25:09
3^rd Aiden Lefmann 10:25:32
…
62^nd Black Monkey 15:20:23

It was a great fun 7 days. One of the best organised races I've done. A good mix of technical riding, amazing singletrack, 4wd tracks and roads.

Some time in the future I'll be back, with singlespeed of course.

A few photos

from me http://singlespeed.smugmug.com/gallery/1481819
Gordon Garrad (1st Veteran Men) http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~gordon/CABC-MTB-Oz/
www.movingpictures.com.au

To read how the race panned out at the pointy end, read the CyclingNews.com reports

NSW State XC - Round 2 - Killingworth

2006-04-23T20:21:00.000+10:00

After a lot of riders expressed disappointment with the track and organisation at Thredbo, it was very brave of the Hunter Mountain Bike Association to step in at the last minute to host the second round. Judging by the smiles on the faces of people coming back from their warm up laps Adam Freeman had put together a ripper of a track.

Both the Elite Men's & Women's races followed a similar script with a Fleming getting away to a fast start opening up a nice gap, leaving the rest of the field to sort out the minor places.

Juniors Men
Ealier in the day racing started with the Juniors with Jordan Lynch & Michael Baker again taking their second win for the series in the U13 & U15 respectively. Second & third for the U15 went to Kye and Blake Polverino. Jordon was on his own in the U13 but did well to keep up with the older boys.

Michael Baker gets away to lead from the start

Jordan Lynch getting some air time on his final lap.

Under 17 had a completely different field to Thredbo. With the win being taken by Nathan McMillan followed by Stephen Pitt & Chris Searle in a very close finish for second & third.

Chris Searle chasing Stephen Pitt through the switch back decent.

Under 19 Men. Nathan Haas was having a very close battle Alex Pung with the lead chaing a number of times in the first few laps before being able to get away on the final lap to take a comfortable win. Alex came in second, almost 5 minutes in front of Dylan Prohm.

Nathan Haas leads Alex Pung and Dylan Prohm (obscured) through the end of lap 1.

Women's Grades
A lot bigger field than Round 1 but there were still a few grades where the with a lone entrant. The biggest was for the Elite with 6 riders. Kimberly Fleming (Clarance Street Cyclery) got off to a flyer of the start, racing away to over a minute and a half gap by the end of the first lap that just kept getting bigger. Maria Papadopolus (Clarance Street Cyclery) came through for second with Natalie Nohra (Endeavour Cycles) in 3rd. In 4th place was Erica O'Brian on the comeback after her nasty crash at Thredbo.

Kimberly Fleming leading all the way for a comfortable win

The rest of the Womens grades were as follows
Masters 1 & 2: Mary Fein
Masters 3 & 4: First - Larri Brittan, Second - Jo Beaumont
Sport: Nicola Frost
Under 19: Nicola Henderson
Under 15: Caitlin Beaumont

Men's Grades
Master's 1 & 2
David Coward (SIC) took the early lead closely followed by Julien Redmond and Liam O'Dea (Burwood Cycleworld) however they were unable to hold out the more consistent Dean Megahy. Julien Redmond finished in 2nd with David finishing 3rd. Back in the field there were some fierce personal battles taking place Leo Assandri was pushing very hard to beat Scott James before crashing off the side of the final bridge on lap 3 – amazingly he got back on a finished the race. There were a couple of others not so fortunate.

David Coward leading early on

Juzzy aka The Pink Monkey(Blackman's Cycles) flying the flag for the Singlespeeders

Masters 3 & 4
Ken McMillan led from start to finish ahead of Mark Hardy & John Miller.

Ken McMillan (Wheeler Bikes)

Masters 5
Russ Baker didn't have this class to himself this time with 4 other old blokes turning up. Neil Lumley won with Keiran Hogan in second, only just ahead of John Graydon in third

Start of the Masters 5 race

Expert Men
Todd Sinclair took the win from Stuart Lowndes and a very consistant Ben Carmody

Neil Barlow (MWMTB President) taking on the Experts

Elite Men
Nothing was stopping the Flemings today. Mathew charged away from the start to lead from start from finish. Aiden Leifman chased hard to finish second ahead of team mate Craig Gordon.

Matthew Fleming (Clarence Street Cyclery)

Aiden Leifman (Canndondale-Maxxis)

Craig Gordon (Cannondale-Maxxis)

Adam Freeman, course setter extrordinaire finished in 5th

Sport Men
What can I say – the best was saved till last. In fading light the sport men took off with Rob McNaughton making a suprise break. Even more surprised were the rest of the field when they caught him on the first hill. Fortunately for Rob his decending ability and local knowledge meant he was actually able to retake the lead from Rob Parbery who despite stomping up the climbs could not make back the time Rob McNaughton was taking from him on the decents. Michael Hogan found a second wind to charge home for 3rd.

Full results

More Pictures

See you all at the next round

Sydney 24 Hour

2006-04-02T20:34:00.000+10:00

55 Days to go...

2006-02-17T20:27:00.000+11:00

Do you know where your monkey is?