for the ride of your life

It was the race that no one thought would happen, after being originally scheduled for April then rescheduled for November. Both dates had to be canned after near biblical weather events. But third time proved to be a charm as the Hunter region put on perfect weather last weekend for the final round of the SRAM Singletrack Mind Series.

The Bernard Rocky Trail Racing team is ready for the Crocodile Trophy 2011! I will keep you updated over the next few days about our adventures in the Far North of Queensland – the start will be tomorrow, Tuesday at 9.30am and Ondrej, Michal and Martin are very excited. Their brand-new Merida bikes are shiny and all set up.

Amidst some atrocious smoggy conditions, the last stage of the inaugural Tour of Beijing was played out, with Germany's Tony Martin taking the win overall.

Spring sizzles and new trails triumph at Mount Annan

Adelaide rider's time good enough for silver in elite competition
2010 world junior downhill champion

"Winning in the wet at Wingello"
With wet weather looming all week, Round 4 of the SRAM Singletrack Mind Series was looking to be another washed-out event with the clouds disobeying the weather forecast and continuing to drop their cargo well into the night before the race. The rain finally stopped just hours before the start, and with the fast draining trails and a change of event centre the race was cleared to go ahead.

For the third year in a row current World 24 hour Mountain Bike
Champion, Jason English, has won the JetBlack Western Sydney
MTB 12 hour race. The 12 hour race was held last weekend for
the second time at an exclusive MTB venue at Dargle Farm near
Windsor west of Sydney. The 30 year old PE teacher from Port
Macquarie completed 24 laps of the 10 km long track in just 11
hours 39 minutes.
English lead early in the solo men’s race with challenger Andrew Hall sitting in second place. With plans

August 14, Elite men cross country:

The international cycling star who has become the toast of Australian sport just wants a hug from his mum.
"It's always nice to get a hug from my mum," Evans told a media pack at Melbourne airport this morning.
"I usually go away 10 months at a time so just to be back in Melbourne is always special."

The 34-year-old and his wife, Chiara Passerini, were met by Premier Ted Baillieu after they walked off a Qantas A380 just after 7am.

UCI World Ranking Update
Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, 3 August 2011
World Rankings
The UCI have released the latest world rankings current as August 1. Below are the Overall Mens and Womens and Individual Rankings.
MENS
Rank Nation Points
1 (2) FRANCE 2781
2 (1) AUSTRALIA 2706
3 (3) UNITED STATES 2470
4 (6) LATVIA 2081
5 (4) COLOMBIA 2070
6 (5) NETHERLANDS 2029
7 (7) NEW ZEALAND 1739
8 (8) ARGENTINA 1149
9 (9) CANADA 961
10 (10) SWITZERLAND 949
WOMENS
Rank Nation Points
1 (1) AUSTRALIA 2868
2 (2) UNITED STATES 2621
3 (3) FRANCE 2379

A misty morning unveils a stunning day and great racing at Stromlo Forest Park

27.06.2011

After clearing a thick layer of ice from cars and mountain bikes as well as applying as many layers of clothing as was feasible, Round 3 of the SRAM Singletrack Mind Series hit the trails of Stromlo Forest Park in Canberra for a 7 hour test of team work and endurance. The hosting club CORC serving up an 11km course that unusually for Stromlo didn't feature many substantial climbs but riders finding it to be still challenging but most of all enjoyable.

Blokes Top Fiddy:

Rank Name UCI Code Team Result
1 GWIN Aaron USA19871224 TREK WORLD RACING 3:44.181
2 ATHERTON Gee GBR19850226 COMMENCAL +02.113
3 MINNAAR Greg RSA19811113 SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE +05.721
4 SMITH Steve CAN19891125 DEVINCI GLOBAL RACING +07.942
5 HILL Samuel AUS19850721 MONSTER ENERGY / SPECIALIZED / MAD CATZ +09.225
6 HART Danny GBR19910920 GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM +09.253
7 GRACIA Cédric FRA19780323 CG RACING BRIGADE +09.357
8 LEOV Justin NZL19841020 TREK WORLD RACING +09.984

Blokes Top Fiddy:

Rank Name UCI Code Team Result
1 GWIN Aaron USA19871224 TREK WORLD RACING 3:44.181
2 ATHERTON Gee GBR19850226 COMMENCAL +02.113
3 MINNAAR Greg RSA19811113 SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE +05.721
4 SMITH Steve CAN19891125 DEVINCI GLOBAL RACING +07.942
5 HILL Samuel AUS19850721 MONSTER ENERGY / SPECIALIZED / MAD CATZ +09.225
6 HART Danny GBR19910920 GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM +09.253
7 GRACIA Cédric FRA19780323 CG RACING BRIGADE +09.357
8 LEOV Justin NZL19841020 TREK WORLD RACING +09.984

It didn't come as a huge surprise, yet I must confess the news was still tinged with slight disappointment when RadioShack announced its Tour de France roster.

Missing from the strong list of mountain and time-trial specialists was Robbie McEwen, so I guess at 39 years of age, father-time has finally caught up with Australia's finest ever sprinter - and arguably our greatest ever rider.

But rather than express my disappointment I'd rather use this post to reflect on a magnificent career, especially at Tour de France level.

Lusty Industries PTY LTD is a fast growing National Distribution Company that supplies
the Action Sports Markets Australia Wide.

Minnaar holds off the young guns, in one of the toughest DH tracks on Earth. But what about the Kiwis! Well done.

1 MINNAAR Greg RSA19811113 SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE 4:43.854
2 HART Danny GBR19910920 GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM +01.299
3 MACDONALD Brook NZL19911125 MS EVIL RACING +01.934
4 ATHERTON Gee GBR19850226 COMMENCAL +03.004
5 GWIN Aaron USA19871224 TREK WORLD RACING +03.193
6 COLE Cameron NZL19880203 LAPIERRE INTERNATIONAL +03.748
7 BLENKINSOP Samuel NZL19881028 LAPIERRE INTERNATIONAL +04.269
8 LEOV Justin NZL19841020 TREK WORLD RACING +04.331

A quick test of the awesome Go Pro HERO camera with the new Chesty Strap.

You really get a great cockpit view!

Tight racing to the end in 8 hour endurance test....

Currambene State Forest south of Nowra played host to Round Two of the SRAM Singletrack Mind endurance series for mountain biking. A big field of over 300 riders lined up for an early start in the cool but perfect conditions. South Coast United Mountain Bikers prepared a fun but demanding 9km circuit that solo riders and teams of 2 or 3 would attempt to lap as many times as possible during the 8 hour race period.

Leopard-Trek's Wouter Weylandt was fatally injured today in a crash on the third stage of the Giro d'Italia. The 26-year-old went down on the Passo del Bocco and was unconscious at the scene.
Paramedics worked to revive the Belgian, doing CPR for an extended period of time before airlifting him to a nearby hospital. Doctors were unable to revive Weylandt.

Schurter takes off with a bang in opening World Cup
Absalon, Kulhavy round out top three
The first round of the cross country UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, held in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, served notice that riders are entering the season in top form, with the elite men averaging over 20 kilometre per hour for their 31.8-kilometre race.