Chocolate Foot

Footprint: Chocolate Foot News, August 2010

Dear All

Bonjour from exotic ... Nowra. After a hectic month on the road at the Tour de France it's very enjoyable to see my loved ones again - I really missed my dear ol' bikes, their deflated tyres look so forlorn ... indeed they seemed to be giving me the silent treatment as someone must have told them I'd been “unfaithful” by renting a bike at the beautiful resort town of Les Gets in the French Alps. It was fast, exciting and just a little dirty but my dalliance with the rented DH bike was more than worth it and like any good scandal there's incriminating video footage. Now that the ski season has finally kicked in Fiona's mountain bike is starting to look a little forlorn as well as she has been getting out early in search of fresh tracks in between her duties on the Thredbo race courses. If you're a ski racer or boarder you'll probably see Fi so don't be a stranger and say g'day!

But there's no rest for the wicked as they say, so we've been busy putting the final touches on the last two rounds of the Singletrack Mind Series. We rode the proposed course for Round 4 at Stromlo last weekend and it's gonna be challenging and a good equaliser for those with the handling skills but you'll be well rewarded with some epic descending!

2010 SRAM Singletrack Mind Series – Protected by Brave Soldier 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 will host round 4 of the SRAM Singletrack Mind Series - Protected by Brave Soldier and it will be the last chance to race enduro format on the same trails as the Scott24/Solo Worlds! By the look of the entries we have already received, it's gonna be huge! Our course setter has been creative using very little of the trunk trail and you'll be very happy to hear trail names like Skyline, Berm track, Blackberry climb and Slant 6. The cyclocross 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. Also, if 7 hours in the saddle isn't enough, Kerry from our light sponsor K-Lite will be hosting a night ride on Saturday, kicking off from 7pm and going for about an hour. Bring your own lights or demo a set of brilliant K-lites! You'll need to be registered for the event (and thus insured!) and see Kerry early to bags a demo set of K-lites as they've proven to be very popular. K-Lite will of course have their products on display throughout the weekend, as will Cannondale who are bringing a number of 2011 model bikes for you to ogle! All the info for the weekend, including a video of the Stromlo trails and a GPS trace of the proposed race track is now available here. It's a big week for MTB racing in Canberra as the 2010 ACT Schools MTB Championships are taking place just before our event on 26-27 August and we're looking forward to seeing lots of young riders staying on to form Junior 4's teams at the SRAM Singletrack Mind Series! Entry is just 20 bucks per rider, see the entries page for details. Round 5 - Appin XC Track, Appin Round 5 on 25 September at Appin is also the Series Grand Finale! As is now customary for a Chocolate Foot event we'll have a themed special category. Usually it's just for the soloists but as Round 5 is a party, everyone's invited so get funky and dress up 80's stylee! So dust off that hideous fluro lycra, sweat bands and pack in the hair gel because we're gonna party like it's 1989! Just a reminder that it's a day/night format race, kicking off at midday and finishing in the dark at 8pm. With it being the conclusion of 38 hours of great and gripping racing, we'll be all letting our hair down straight after the race with dinner, a few drinkies and good times. Sound like fun? If so, get entered here.

Wine, Women and Wheels

You might have seen the Chocolate Foot team in the pages of Mountain Bike Australia magazine this month as we checked out the extensive trails of the Central West (download the story here - 2.4MB) and the great work being done there by the Central West Off Road Bicycle Club (CWORBC). Our recent visit further confirmed to us how much the Orange region has to offer to the avid rider. We're happy to announce that entries are now open for the inaugural Wine, Women & Wheels weekend!

The weekend will kick off with a women-only skills clinic on the famed trails of Kinross State Forest, then Sunday will be an opportunity to sample some of the region's highly regarded cold climate wines as we pedal around the base of Mt Conobolas and visit numerous cellar doors. In addition the weekend coincides with Orange Wine Week so the town will be humming with gourmands and events for those who love good wine and food.

While the weekend is essentially for women, the boys and friends will be kept entertained with a social ride at Kinross on Saturday and there's plenty of riding in the region to keep even the most enthusiastic rider stoked!

Registration is now open and you have the choice to take part in both days or just the one. Naturally there's discounted entry for the full weekend package. Find all the info here and registration is here.

Welcome to The Body Mechanic

A big welcome to Blair Martin - The Body Mechanic - who is now on board as a sponsor of the SRAM Singletrack Mind Series as well as our skills clinics. In addition to being a very successful cyclist he's a fantastic Physiotherapist and should be any rider's go to guy when your body needs a tweak or starts misbehaving! Here's a few words from Blair on the importance of correct bike setup:

Priority number one when positioning yourself on a bike is minimising injury risk. This applies whether you are riding Cape Epic, or delivering newspapers on your bike - you can’t cheat the laws of physics, especially when it comes to considering the traumatic forces being applied to the knee every single pedal stroke. However you must bear in mind that correct positioning is not a ‘treatment’ - the bike does not pedal itself. There will always be self-management strategies which you can apply off the bike, in order to improve the way your body interacts with your rig. Despite what the bloggers tell you, it IS possible to fit you to the bike, as well as the bike to you! A bikefit by a qualified, experienced health professional should allow you to ride for as long as you like, as often as you can, over whatever terrain you choose, with as little risk of traumatising the body as possible. www.thebodymechanic.com.au

Mountain Biking Australia - more bang for your bucks

Whether you like to read, or just like to look, Mountain Biking Australia - the down to earth MTB magazine - is your best choice. Now with twice the pages devoted to rating the latest bikes, and more detailed photos, deciding on your next bike is even easier.

A recent comparison of the top mags showed MBA's extra pages and larger page size means you get 55% more words and images. And with only 28% of pages given to ads compared with the competition’s 43%, you’re really getting good bang for your bucks. Filled with absorbing news, reviews, expert analysis and real-world training articles, Mountain Biking Australia is clearly the thinking rider’s choice!

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 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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.

Clubby Corner 

Illawarra Cycle Club might be a road club but they are re-introducing Cyclocross racing to the Gong. On Sunday 22 August they are putting on a 40 minute cross race around the outdoor velodrome in Unanderra just south of Wollongong. With a short course of about 2km riders will be taking on many obstacles, natural and man made, including grass trails, log jumps, sand traps and part of the velodrome itself. See www.illawarracycleclub.org.au for the details.

Kempsey McLeay Off Road Cyclists are holding the Phat Wallaby 3hr/6hr enduro on Saturday 11 September. With the trailhead located at the Kempsey Golf Club, riders can enjoy the full facilities of the golf club with trails passing right by the club house (timing is literally in the beer garden). See their website or the event flyer for more info.

South Coast United Mountainbikers are holding the Coolendel Classic on 18 & 19 September, an annual MTB event hosted by the Coolendel camping reserve. Coolendel is located on the banks of the Shoalhaven River approximately 20 kilometres west of the township of Nowra. It is a beautiful location, iconic of every great thing that the native Australian bush has to offer with the advantages of a few creature comforts such as toilets, shower facilities, a well stocked canteen and open level grasslands for camping. Three races are held during the weekend; an XC race for the under 16s and a 2hr night XC race on the Saturday, and a 4hr enduro on the Sunday. See the SCUM website for more info.

That’s it for the August 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 ...