Riding Discipline (or lack of):
Endurance MTB and XC, a bit of Road for a laugh and training.
Favourite Riding spot:
Well, the most exciting riding is definitely the rainforest around Cairns because of its incredible technical versatility, steep climbs and flowing downhills. Closely followed by the You Yangs and Forrest.
Short and long term goals:
In the short term –to finish the Crocodile Trophy 2010 and maybe manage to stay with Bar tBrentjens for about 20k’s at the start of one stage or the other just to say that I’ve ridden with a living legend!
In the long term – to not get injured and maybe attempt the Cape Epic and /or the BC bike races.
Favourite Bike:
My new Specialized S-Works Epic – I’ve only done three rides on it so far but I loved it from the first pedal stroke! Incredibly I have to admit that dual-suspension has come a long way since the end of the nineties!!!
Years Racing:
16 years or so… I raced XC intensively and successfully as a junior than slowed down a bit due to apprenticeship and uni. Now I’ve rediscovered the love after moving to Mount Isa where you have the choice between punishing your liver or your lungs. I chose the lungs!
When did you begin cycling and why?:
One of my earliestmemories is learning to ride a bike at the age of three. Since then there hasn’t been a time where I haven’t owned at least one bike. When I was 13 years old a mate let me ride his rigid UNIVEGA steel hard tail with 21-Speed Shimano DX groupset which was leading edge MTB technology at the time and I was hooked! My first own MTB bike and competitive racing followed shortly after and I never looked back.
Have you suffered any serious injuries cycling?Describe what and how:
I fractured my scaphoid on board of a mountain bike – probably the silliest thing I’ve everdone – I lost balance in a slow technical section, couldn’t get out of the pedals fast enough, put my arm out to catch my entire body weight right onto a stone. It was the most painful and troublesome injury ever. It took two operations in the space of two years to fix it.
I also broke my collarbone falling off a road bike. But hey, let’s be honest which roadie hasn’t done that?!
Oh, and I broke a middle hand bone ramp riding on a BMX. I quit riding BMX after that!!!
Describe your greatest cycling achievement to date:
Riding the full 17km climb from the French side of the Col du Tourmalet on a mountain bike and passing roadies along the way. It’s the greatest feeling if a roadie is desperately trying to keep up with you only because you overtook him on an MTB.
Oh, and (finally) winningthe first road race against the strongest rider of Mount Isa in a sprint lastSunday!
Describe your worst race or cycling experience:
Walking home for 13km after the third flat on the same ride and not a single bloody car stopped to help. (I converted to tubeless after that!)
Describe your favourite race:
A point to point marathon on a sunny day with lots of technical single trail and flowing downhills complete with bragging about the ride with good mates, a few brews and good music around a camp fire at the end of the day.