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Footprint: Chocolate Foot News, June 2010
Dear All
Mention the words "Central West NSW" and it hardly conjures up visions of a mountain biking nirvana but with the great efforts of the Central West Off Road Bicycle Club, councils, and hundreds of hours spent on the shovels, things are shaping up to be best out west!
We've just come back from a 5 day mission to check out what's been happening in the areas of Orange, Parkes and Geurie, and can report that the locals have been busy! Within a few years there will be more than enough to fill a long weekend with non-stop action, add to that the vineyards and gorgeous scenery - we can't wait to get back! The Councils of the region are embracing MTB and there could be even more riding areas opening up along the Mitchell Hwy - all up, a very positive vibe. For more details look out for an upcoming article in Mountain Biking Australia magazine.
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2010 SRAM Singletrack Mind Series – Protected by Brave Soldier
Round 2 – 16 May, Coondoo Road, Nowra
We're very pleased to say that Round 2 at Nowra was hailed a raging success, with over 300 riders providing a great vibe on and off the fantastic track provided by hosting club SCUM.
What we love most about these events is the variety of riders they attract - at Round 2 we saw 11 singlespeed solo nutters, 28 hard men & women of the Australian Defence Forces (the event doubled as their annual Enduro Championship), Joe's two cousins competing in their first ever MTB race (they loved it, despite the pain!), and at least two mums returning to the race scene showing with their lap times that chasing rug rats must keep you fit!
Check out our event report, the Chocolate Wrapper, and if you’re keen to read a couple of riders’ perspectives on their day out on the bike, see Garry Milburn’s blog and Jamie Bailey’s event report on Enduro Pulse.
Full results can be found here, and the video showing the race action can be found in our Gallery along with the hundreds of great photos shot by SCUM's Kel Hockey - if you were there it's almost guaranteed that there will be a great action shot and they're free to download and cherish! Thanks Kel!
 Round 3 – 13 June, Yellomundee Regional Park, Yarramundi
It feels like we only packed up from Round 2 a few days ago, and already Round 3 is bearing down like Josh Carlson on the way to setting another lap record! This time we're off to the home of MTB racing in Sydney - Yellomundee Regional Park at the foot of the Blue Mountains on 12/13 June.
This round is a winter-friendly 7 hours in duration and promises to be tonnes o' fun! If you need a reminder of why the 'Mundee has been rated for so long check out the video we shot at the recent WSMTB club round. The draft course map and profile can be found here.
Solo Special Category Championship: Clydesdales! AKA: He ain't heavy, he's my race leader! AKA: The Biggest Winner!
Whatever you call it, it's going to be tops as the "big units" kiss goodbye to the whippets and have their own category, at least for one day. To qualify for for the Clydesdale special category you'll need to enter in a solo category, and at the same time nominate yourself for the special category. When you register at the event we'll have a weigh-in, all riders will need to be dressed ready to ride with their bike but without a camelback or bidons - no sandbagging! Boys need to weigh in excess of 100kg (incl. bike and riding attire) and the ladies need to crack 85kg (incl. bike and riding attire). The winner will be determined by their weight multiplied by the amount of laps they cover, so the result will be a nail biter right to the end!
 Enter early and win an Adventure Medic 2-day First Aid Course worth $350!
The crew from Adventure Medic will be in attendance at Yellomundee to look after your First Aid needs. They’ve very generously offered up a free 2-day course worth $350 which we will draw from all entries for Round 3 received by midnight on Friday 4 June! Joe just completed this course with them and can highly recommend it.
By way of introduction, here are a few words from the Adventure Medic crew:
Adventure Medic aims to up skill the first aid knowledge of our adventuring community. Our team comprises of a group of highly skilled educators with both outdoor and medical backgrounds and a passion for teaching students to manage risk effectively in their outdoor adventures and in remote environments. Our vision is to help all adventurers learn the skills to be able to self manage first aid situations when there is a very real possibility that help is not just around the corner. Check out our website for more info.
Limited Parking at Yellomundee!
Due to the Endangered Ecological Community vegetation at Yellomundee, NPWS have set out a parking plan for Yellomundee and it's going to be a little bit tight! We strongly suggest that competitors carpool where possible or you could be in for a loooong walk! Needless to say, carpooling is also good for the environment and more fun than trudging out there by yourself!
 Alternatively, we are pleased to announce that mtnbike.com.au are offering their return transport service to Sydney riders for this event. Their bus will depart from Bike Bug bike shop in North Sydney on Sunday 13 June (5.30am) and the cost for return transport is $35. Their trailer is set up to carry 15 lucky riders so act fast and get your spot sorted. Click here for more info and how to book.
Yellomundee Trail Maintenance Day - Saturday 5 June
Western Sydney MTB Club are holding a track maintenance day at Yellomundee this Saturday 5 June, followed by a free BBQ lunch. So, if you're keen to get rid of that pent-up energy brought on by the recent wet weather, then a spot of rake weilding or mattock swinging is just the ticket, not to mention the added bonus of knowing you've put back into the trails you love to ride! See the WSMTB website for more info.
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Volunteers
If you have a friend or partner who's sick of just handing out bottles and the risk of losing fingers as they feed you, we'd love them to give us a bit of a hand and they might just have a more interesting day out than you and your smelly mates can provide. We mostly need people at the start and the end of the day, so they may still be free to fill your bottles and tell you that “You look strong, go get 'em”, even when you look like you've been rolling in cow pies and “go get 'em” means “go away, you stink!” Just fill out the form here and become part of the race.
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Special Sponsor Offers
As well as having these great products for prizes, as a newsletter subscriber you also have the opportunity to take advantage of some great deals:
 Look out for the black Mountain Biking Australia RAV4 at Round 4 of the Singletrack Mind Series at Yellomundee for free mags and details of their latest promo—“Pimp My Ride”.
MBA has teamed up with the guys at SRAM to give you the chance to get some serious bling onto your current frame. How does a FULL SRAM XX 2010 GROUPSET INCLUDING XX BRAKES AND YOUR CHOICE OF XX SPEC REBA, SID OR REVELATION FORK sound? Total value is over $4,900! One lucky subscriber (i.e. your odds are very good) will win this super hot prize. See more details at the race or check it out here!
Nzo are very excited to offer a limited number of their fabulous Nzo BaseJumpers, 100% Merino goodness you can dress up for a night on the town or use to roll around in the mud. They don't have an endless supply of these things, so get 'em now or wait until next winter. They come in a nice long cut T shirt with short sleeves, or the same cut with long sleeves. Australian adventurer Roger Chao just completed a huge and interesting trip across the central Asian steppe side-by-side with fellow adventurer Megan Kerr (www.steppebysteppe.com.au) and said this: "the long-sleeved merino tops were a personal favourite. I wore mine every single day throughout January and February (Kazakhstan winter), underneath a T-shirt or the other thermal. It was nice against the skin." The BaseJumpers will be on www.nzoactive.com/au on Monday 7 June, short sleeve at $69 and long sleeve $89.
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
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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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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MTBA Entry System
Online entry systems have copped a bad rap lately but the MTBA system that we use has been ticking along smoothly like a brand new SRAM XX derailleur. The only hiccup for members with a log-in, and thus a profile, is that you'll need to update your contact email address on this profile so that you receive your entry confirmation and event details. We're getting a few bounce backs, so check it next time you enter.
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Clubby Corner
Central Tablelands Mountain Bike Club’s winter series kicked off on 23 May with a tough little race on the new trail at Mt Lambie. Situated on private property and only open on race days the new track, despite being short, put the mountain back into mountain biking with a tight, off camber and very technical first 3/4s and a big open climb to finish. Cillian Kennedy took the win over property owner/course builder Dan Blowes with Phil Stapleton in 3rd.
CTMBC are offering free entries to women and U15s in all of their races this series (except round #2) so it was pleasing to see some new faces in the womens race with Darleen Cheney taking the win over Shannon Chugg and Kelly Mapleston.
With one round left in the Tuesday Night Darkness series the club is now gearing up to host the State Down Hill championships on the popular Gun Club Track on Hassans Walls and regular weekend dig days are being planned to get the trail in fine form. For more information see www.ctmbc.net.
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That’s it for the 4th 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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