We just wanted to give a shout out to Bushranger member Paul Vandeleur who has commenced the Terra Australia Bike Epic 2018.
They started in Cape York on Saturday and they’ll ride across the continent and finish at Wilsons Promontory (so mainland Australia’s northernmost tip to it’s southernmost tip – 6500km!!) Paul has done over 400km already, so if you want him to grab you something from inland Queensland then you better hit him up soon e.g. coal, gemstones, cattle – I’m sure he’ll have space in his pannier bags.
Cheryl from QPWS just let us know that they’ll be doing some much needed trail-care at Ferny Forest next Wednesday (19/09/2018) and they’d appreciate help from volunteers.
If you can help please email Cheryl at [email protected] by Monday so they can organise everything and let you know the times.
During September we’ve organised Geoff from HitBikes to provide some professional skills training for our beginner and intermediate riders (or any member who wants to go back to the basics and scrub out some bad habits).
These will be small 5-person classes about 90min long and will teach you the importance of body positioning on a bike such as the “attack position”. There are Green level clinics and Blue level clinics which teach the same things but are contextualise to the different level of rider and trail. If demand is there we will do further clinics on other fundamentals such as braking and cornering etc.
The classes are $10 and the money goes back to trail-care and organising future training clinics.
It’s been awhile since we’ve done a written ride summary as we’ve been doing those little videos instead and quite frankly I’m too lazy to do both. But last week’s ride was particularly eventful for one of our riders so I should immortalise it in text.
Terry’s glowing halo was so bloody annoying!
It all started on a crisp Sunday morning, the birds were singing, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the early morning sunbeams filtered through the trees and gently warmed our faces. The mood was jovial with people laughing and chit-chatting about their week, their bikes and how you can delay washing socks by switching feet and turning them inside-out. Little did we know that this ride was to be an exercise in CARNAGE!!!
Today I thought I’d lead the ride (as I’m a charismatic yet modest natural leader etc). We stayed as a group up Indy then over to the top of Secrets. Here we split up with Luke “Go hard or go home” Bouckaert taking a faster group away then I took the intermediate group down Secrets.
Advanced ride map and elevation
Intermediate ride map and elevation
Jenny was unaware of what this ride had in store for her.
After Secrets we rode up the road and then went down Turn 10. The last time I did Turn 10 I wrote off my back wheel landing like a cement truck onto a root (no that’s not a sex thing) so I was bit apprehensive. But today Turn 10 only claimed Jenny’s tyre which looked like it was pinched flat, but the tube was quickly changed out and we were on our way again. Little did we know that this was only the beginning of Jenny’s cascade of woe.
We rode back up the road and then across to Snake which, like Mickey Rourke, had quite a bit of work done since I last saw it. We regrouped at the top, had a quick breather and then down we went – I tried to get everyone to yell out “VALHALLA CALLS!” but no one seemed to get it (mental note – dial back the norse mythology jokes). I went down last so if anyone died I could loot their bikes, clear the trails etc. Snake trail must of been hungry for blood today and the unlucky victim was Jenny again. She had a small prang first but was unharmed and she quickly jumped back on the bike. However Snake wasn’t yet satisfied and demanded more. So towards the bottom Jenny (again) had a much bigger accident and came down onto a jagged log just off the trail. I screeched to a halt when I heard the crash and turned around to a terrible scene – she was bleeding, tangled up in her bike, clutching her leg and screaming naughty words. I moved the bike off her and checked to see if I should finish her off with my multi-tool but luckily the leg wasn’t broken. We washed and bandaged her arm, checked the bike and got rolling again. I hope you are feeling better Jenny and everything is starting to heal up nicely.
So once we joined back with the group Jenny was escorted back to the carpark while the rest of us had a quick run up Cross-cut and then down Milkmaid before calling it quits for the day and went for coffee at Cafe Doonan.
Thanks for the ride everyone!
Michael “I’m fine too by the way” Johns Club Secretary
We are a supportive group of ladies that like to ride and socialise together. We usually ride on the 3rd Saturday of the month. Some rides are specifically targeted for women to improve their skills and most are for the pure enjoyment of this awesome sport. All rides have clearly stated levels and you can check our calendar for more details. Every rider requires MTBA insurance to ride with us (MTBA has a free 8 week insurance offer for new members – we can help you with this).
It has been a busy year to date with over 30 ladies taking advantage of coaching funded by grants obtained by the Bushrangers. The ladies were very happy with the personalised coaching from Geoff Foxx from HitBikes. We are looking forward to rolling out stage 2 beginning soon.
Bushrangers also funded some members to complete their level one MTBA coaching certificates as well as a first aid and resuscitation course. I was able to put these new skills to use in the recent G.O.G.A. (Get Out Get Active) beginners mountain biking skills course, which was at Caloundra council initiative and ran for 6 weeks.
Obligatory photo in front of the old Dularcha railway tunnel
To support the new GOGA graduates we began a #adoptanewbie program that was very successful. Experienced mentors organised regular get together rides to reinforce essential skills and build fitness. These ladies are now ready to join us on our longer rides.
At the moment many of us are training together to ride in Chicks in the Sticks, a fun race suited to all levels that is held annually in August and run by the RATS MTB Club.
Our Facebook page is where we keep connected so join us today. You’ll be able to find other like minded ladies to ride with and sometimes we get together socially too. You may like to join us on September 4 when we are heading to Nambour for the Wild Women’s Film Festival.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.
Hope to see you on the trails!
Susie Hume
Women’s Advocate
Bushrangers MTB Club Sunshine Coast
Queensland, Australia
E: [email protected]
M: 0421847305
