Footprint: Chocolate Foot News, July 2010
Dear All
While the series is having a little rest this month, there's no rest for us as this issue of Footprint is being partly written from Valence, on the Rhone River in France, at the finish of Stage 11 of the Tour de France. Joe's working behind the camera on SBS's coverage of “Le Grand Boucle”. Meanwhile Fiona is working for Thredbo ski resort applying her capabilities to races on the white stuff! The no-so-great ski season has been a blessing in disguise, giving Fi plenty of time and motivation to get out riding at Lake Crackenback and on the techy goodness at East Jindabyne.
Needless to say we're both pretty busy while still working on making the final 2 rounds of the 2010 SRAM Singletrack Mind Series even better than the first three!
While there's plenty of focus on the road world at the moment there some great things happening on dirt as you'll read in Clubby Corner with a number of clubs receiving grants to build more super fun trails!
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2010 SRAM Singletrack Mind Series – Protected by Brave Soldier
Round 3 – 13 June, Yellomundee Regional Park, Yarramundi
Round 3 at the home of Western Sydney Mountain Bike club – Yellomundee Regional Park was blessed by brilliant weather... once we'd warmed up after a very chilly start! Some must have overheated with too many layers as once the sun came out as we heard a few reports of riders stopping for a dip in the creek at one of the bridge crossings. The riders involved say it was unintentional but we know otherwise... While it was great to work with National Parks & Wildlife Service to ensure the race had minimal impact on the “Endangered Ecological Community” at Yellomundee, we are disappointed to now hear that rider numbers at this venue have been limited to 250 for the future. We hope this is not a long term restriction so that riders can once again enjoy large scale events at the only club race track within an hour of Sydney, as they have for almost a decade.
 Check out our event report, the Chocolate Wrapper, and as always there were plenty of reports from riders, amongst which were this one from our sponsors Mountain Biking Australia here and Jamie Bailey’s event report on Enduro Pulse. And while we're on the subject of event reports, there's a great wrap on Round 1 in the current issue of Enduro Magazine (Issue 16, Winter 2010). If you haven't seen this issue yet, it is a tribute to James Williamson and an inspiring and moving read.
Full results, including current Series & Club points tallies, can be found here, and the video showing the race action can be found in our Gallery along with more fantastic shots from Dave Bateman.
 Round 4 – 29 August, Stromlo Forest Park, Canberra
The venue of the next round needs little introduction as it will be the site of the 2010 World Solo 24 hour Championships - Stromlo Forest Park in Canberra! This will be the last chance to race enduro format at Stromlo before the Scott/Solo Worlds and looking at the entries we already have, it's gonna be huge! Due to popular demand we've decided to extend the race to 7 hours, which based on Round 3, seems to be the perfect duration for mid-winter racing. The ‘cross nutters will be excited to note it’s the Cyclocross Special Category Championship for soloists.
Those who love nights under canvas (or nylon) will be pleased to hear that we've received approval for camping at Stromlo Forest Park on the night of Saturday 28 August. We’ll be there toughing it out with you and the amenities block (showers, toilets, water) will be open.
This round is just 2 days after the 2010 ACT Schools MTB Championships which are taking place on 26-27 August and we look forward to seeing lots of young riders staying on to form junior 4's teams at the Singletrack Mind Series! Entry is just $20 per rider, see the entries page for details.
 We are pleased to announce that mtnbike.com.au are offering a weekend transport, ride and accommodation package for this event for Sydney riders – a great opportunity to let someone else take care of the driving and planning for you! Click here for all the info.
Round 5 - Appin XC Track, Appin
Round 5 on 25 September at Appin XC track is also the Series Grand Finale! We’ve been seeking feedback on this round as we are keen to see everyone out burning up some night laps with their new K-Lites of course! We've listened and the peeps are generally saying that 10 hours of Appin’s techy goodness just might make it a bit too hard for them to truly enjoy the party afterwards. So we’re going to the tried and true 8 hour format, still finishing at the same time (i.e. in the dark!) but you’ll have more time in the morning for a practice lap and a relaxing coffee. Check out the website for the draft schedule.
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 2011 SRAM 2 x 10 groupsets are GO!
The SRAM 2X10 drivetrain delivers maximum functionality and minimum complexity with faster shifting, more efficiency, and lighter weight across a full range of gears. Anchored by Truvativ’s crankset, SRAM 2x10 takes advantage of XX technologies like X-Glide shifting which provides perfect timing and almost instantaneous shifts, up or down, even under load. SRAM 2X10 gives you a drivetrain ready for any XC, Trail or All-Mountain adventure. Simply put, 2X10 is; faster, lighter, more efficient, and has a full range of useable gears. www.sram2x10.com
 Muc-Off Optix Pack
Muc-Off is more than just bike cleaning products.Theye also offer a complete range of lubes and rider care products. One of the most popular rider care items is the Muc-Off Optix Pack.
Great if you ride in prescription lenses, or even if you want to keep your goggles and sunglasses clean on rides. Each kit contains a premium quality microfibre cloth which has been specifically designed to clean optical finishes. Also includes a bottle of the extremely effective eyewear and goggle cleaning solution. The Muc-Off Optix case is made from EVA and ensures the cloth is kept contaminant free, a carabineer ensures the pack can quickly be added or removed from your ride pack etc. Leaves a ‘Streak Free’ finish. Ideal for cleaning on the move. www.muc-off.com
Castech Gets Chocolate Feet Foot’s Foot
Castech is putting its best foot forward to provide the highest quality timing and results service possible.
We have been involved in timing mountain bike races since 1994 and have made some great friends and had a lot of fun. We first met Fiona Dick in 2004 when she was working in Thredbo. With the mountain biking community in Australia being quite small we continued to see Fi and her partner Joe Ward at events around the country. In late 2009 we offered to train her to use our timing gear and her first event was the Adelaide National Championships in January 2010. With her love of challenging work environments, mountain biking and beer she fitted in very well.
 In February Fi and Joe started Chocolate Foot and they approached us to discuss her ideas for running a NSW enduro series. They are intent on making the SRAM Singletrack Mind Series the benchmark for enduro events. To this end Castech provides online results (see www.onlineresults.com.au), big screen LED scoreboard, utilises J-Chip transponders and includes a local WiFi results service providing the most comprehensive and cutting edge timing and results service available. We see the fit between our goals and the goals of their event as such a close fit that we have agreed to partner Chocolate Foot for the next 3 years to bring you the Singletrack Mind Series. www.castech.com.au
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Special Sponsor Offers
As well as having great products for prizes, our sponsors have some great deals for Footprint subscribers:
Hammer Nutrition not only provide people with great Endurance products, but also provide education as a key feature of their service. Once people have the right information on how to fuel themselves for an endurance event, and put it into practice they then realise that there is no need to continually suffer  nutritionally during the event due to poor food selection. Hammer Nutrition strongly suggest that you spend 30-60 minutes reading this great booklet written by one of the gurus of Endurance Nutrition, Steve Born. Over 700,000 copies have been down loaded. As always, if you have any questions regarding Hammer products or need advice please email
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Hammer is still offering a 20% discount to Footprint subscribers until 1 July. To get this 20% discount, buy online and use the coupon code CHOC FOOT in the shopping cart when checking out.
We're pleased to say that Brave Soldier continue to offer a 10% discount to all Footprint subscribers. Go to Brave Soldier and enter the coupon code chocolatefoot when placing your order to receive this discount.
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Clubby Corner
Money for MTB! NSW Department of Sport Recreation Grants announced
We’d like to extend our congratulations to the NSW clubs who have successfully applied for grants from the NSW Department of Sport & Recreation for new trails and facilities. Also big props to the Department of Sport & Recreation for taking Mountain Biking seriously.
Hunter Mountain Bike Association has had a grant approved to build a permanent toilet facility at Awaba Mountain Bike Park. The construction of these facilities will certainly add to what is already considered to be one of the premier mountain biking destinations in NSW. HMBA President Tim Butler and Trails Advocacy Officer Lenny Allen have worked tirelessly in recent months with Forests NSW to bring about a plan that was both affordable for the club and met the requirements of Forests NSW. Ross Cairns, HMBA Trails Crew, was also instrumental in the grant submission. Awaba is already a great place to ride, and the facilities just keep getting better.
Central Tablelands Mountain Bike Club is also set to receive over $30,000 under the NSW Dept of Sport & Recreation facilities program. The money is to go towards the approval and construction of a new mountain bike trail off Hassans Walls into the lease held by Lithgow Pony Club in Sheedies Gully. CTMBC has been working towards this project for a couple of years now, and this funding allows them to ensure responsible, sustainable trail building which will hopefully set precedents that pave the way for trails in other areas.
Any Clubs or individuals interested in hearing more about CTMBC’s experiences with the application process for this funding, please see this Rotorburn thread.
Central West Off Road Bicycle Club is running regular race days on the 3rd Sunday of the month, and the 18 July race will be a 3hr with a twist – a change of track at the 1.5hour mark! See the info on the website www.cworbc.org.au and anyone wanting a ride at any other time should contact the club on
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The next Western Sydney MTB XC round will be held at the superb Blue Gum Lodge track on 25 July. This track is on private property and can only be ridden on race days, so it’s definitely not to be missed! See www.wsmtb.com for all the info.
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That’s it for the 5th edition of Footprint, don't forget you can also keep up to date with Chocolate Foot on Facebook!
Cheers
Joe & Fi
Singletrack Mind Series news ...
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