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Monthly Archives: October 2010
Anthony Connell – Well chaffed!
ANTHONY Connell is a mountaineer on a push bike. He thrives on the challenges of solo 24-hour mountain bike endurance racing -Â the extreme sport of riding a mountain bike for 24-hours non stop around a set course over rocky and hilly terrain.
He loves bikes and has grown up with them since getting his first bike when he was just a little tacker.
Today, at 31, after exploring many different types of riding -Â BMX, road racing, downhill mountain bike racing -Â he’s facing his biggest mental and physical test.
Solo 24-hour mountain bike enduro racing is the ultimate for off-road cycling enthusiasts.
It’s a long way from where Anthony started when he got his first, real bike.
He remembers his father walking across Fifteenth Street from Target wheeling a shiny metallic blue bike with gold brake levers in the early 1980s.
“We lived across the road from Target back then and when I looked through the front window and saw dad with the BMX -I knew as a five-year-old I was stepping up to the same bikes as the big boys – it was very exciting,â€Â he said.
Fast forward 26 years and Anthony has qualified for the 24-hour Solo World championships to be staged at Mt Stromlo, outside Canberra, next month.
More than 400 mountain bike riders competed, including about 200 from Australia, with the remainder coming from the United States, Great Britain, Europe, Asia and South America.
To qualify, Anthony raced in his third solo 24-hour enduro in Adelaide in May this year and finished without incident, riding consistently over the 24-hour endurance ride.
Unfortunately, injuries sustained during the 24-hour enduro in Adelaide have put a question mark on his plans to compete in this world class event.
“The 24-hour enduro is a time-based race where riders complete as many laps of the set course over the 24-hour period - most laps wins.
“The courses are set in well established mountain biking areas - in Adelaide it was staged in the Mt Crawford forest in the Adelaide Hills.
“It was very hilly, but less rocky than the Mt Stromlo trails in Canberra where the world championships will be held.
“The Mt Crawford forest course held up really well, which was lucky for me, considering my suspension forks blew a seal and locked up solid in the first lap.
“My wrists took a fair pounding for the duration of the race.
“If it had happened in the rockier, drier and post-bushfired forest in Canberra, my wrists wouldn’t have lasted the distance.
“Riding bikes for me is all about personal inquiry - it’s not so much the competition, it’s the intense focus and freedom it creates.
“As a kid, I had heaps of energy like most kids do - riding bikes let me blow off a heap of steam and gave me independence to go round to friends’ places or hang out in the bush with mates without having to get a lift from the parents.
“Bikes have always meant freedom,â€he said.
But that freedom comes at a price and almost cost Anthony his life.
“My downhill mountain bike riding came to an abrupt end after three years of competing and riding in the Dandenongs and Wodonga while living in those areas.
“I lost my focus in a practice run for the National Downhill Mountain Bike Championships, crashed off a seven foot drop, landed on my head and was fully paralysed when I came to.
“I was winched into a chopper, falling in and out of consciousness on my way to hospital.
“I remember one nurse very gravely suggesting I should make what could be my last call.
“I walked out of hospital that evening with just one bruise and a massive headache, but it took me a couple of weeks to regain my short-term memory and a couple of months longer to be back to -normal’.
“The real end of my downhill racing was when I returned to Mildura to live and work and found it very difficult to find a decent hill,†he joked.
“I heard about the Coomealla-Mildura Mountainless Bike Club and joined up to get involved in the mountain biking community.
“For three years I’ve been an active member of the club in both racing and helping organise club events.
“A few months before a 24-hour race I do heaps of kilometres on my road bike exploring the area and closer to the event, I’m on the mountain bike doing intense training and sharpening my handling skills.
“The Adelaide 24-hour enduro in May took a fair toll on my body, the wrists didn’t recover as well as the rest of my body and while having rehabilitation on them it revealed an underlying neck problem.
“I’m only just getting on top of it now - you hurt so much during and after a 24-hour race even when you’re super fit, so it’s really a lot to commit to one knowing your body’s not in peak condition.â€
Away from the sport he loves, Anthony relaxes by … going for a ride.
“I’m really keen to get on my new mountain bike and explore further afield - it’s not all about racing,†he said.
“I just love getting out on my bike in the bush getting some exercise and seeing things - if there’s a sign to read or a view to be had, I’ll stop and take it in,†the bike riding enthusiast said.
“It was very hilly, but less rocky than the Mt Stromlo trails in Canberra where the world championships will be held.
“The Mt Crawford forest course held up really well, which was lucky for me, considering my suspension forks blew a seal and locked up solid in the first lap.
“My wrists took a fair pounding for the duration of the race.
“If it had happened in the rockier, drier and post-bushfired forest in Canberra, my wrists wouldn’t have lasted the distance.
“Riding bikes for me is all about personal inquiry - it’s not so much the competition, it’s the intense focus and freedom it creates.
“As a kid, I had heaps of energy like most kids do - riding bikes let me blow off a heap of steam and gave me independence to go round to friends’ places or hang out in the bush with mates without having to get a lift from the parents.
“Bikes have always meant freedom,†he said.
But that freedom comes at a price and almost cost Anthony his life.
“My downhill mountain bike riding came to an abrupt end after three years of competing and riding in the Dandenongs and Wodonga while living in those areas.
“I lost my focus in a practice run for the National Downhill Mountain Bike Championships, crashed off a seven foot drop, landed on my head and was fully paralysed when I came to.
“I was winched into a chopper, falling in and out of consciousness on my way to hospital.
“I remember one nurse very gravely suggesting I should make what could be my last call.
“I walked out of hospital that evening with just one bruise and a massive headache, but it took me a couple of weeks to regain my short-term memory and a couple of months longer to be back to -normal’.
“The real end of my downhill racing was when I returned to Mildura to live and work and found it very difficult to find a decent hill,†he joked.
“I heard about the Coomealla-Mildura Mountainless Bike Club and joined up to get involved in the mountain biking community.
“For three years I’ve been an active member of the club in both racing and helping organise club events.
“A few months before a 24-hour race I do heaps of kilometres on my road bike exploring the area and closer to the event, I’m on the mountain bike doing intense training and sharpening my handling skills.
“The Adelaide 24-hour enduro in May took a fair toll on my body, the wrists didn’t recover as well as the rest of my body and while having rehabilitation on them it revealed an underlying neck problem.
“I’m only just getting on top of it now - you hurt so much during and after a 24-hour race even when you’re super fit, so it’s really a lot to commit to one knowing your body’s not in peak condition.â€
Away from the sport he loves, Anthony relaxes by … going for a ride.
“I’m really keen to get on my new mountain bike and explore further afield - it’s not all about racing†he said.
“I just love getting out on my bike in the bush getting some exercise and seeing things - if there’s a sign to read or a view to be had, I’ll stop and take it in,†the bike riding enthusiast said.
This story appeared in Saturday’s Sunraysia Daily 18-9-2010.
www.sunraysiadaily.com.au – The ride of his life
2010 Commonwealth Games
Australia 14 3 4 21
New Zealand 1 7 3 11
Malaysia 1 1 1 3
Scotland 1 1 1 3
Canada 1 0 4 5
England 0 4 2 6
Australia smashed the ‘competition’ to bits. I’m hoping they will bring this level of domination to the Olympics in 2012. The hamburger is mine, Rob!
Arthur Anderson – MCCC Lifer
WHEN he was 41, Mildura anaesthetist Arthur Anderson was concerned about his health ? so he took up cycling to get fit.
After 19 years as a member of the Mildura Coomealla Cycling Club (MCCC), Arthur has just been awarded a life membership for his long ?services to the club and the sport of cycling?.
?I was putting on weight and having a stressful job, I decided to do something about it.
?My work includes anaesthetics, intensive care, helping ladies having babies with pain management, occasional trauma and the inevitable after-hours emergency commitments.
?I was always interested in cycling as an activity and tried it in my first year at university in Sydney.
?I had to give it up due to my commitment to do medicine and the risks of cycling in Sydney traffic were too great.
?A student colleague of mine at the time was having trouble assembling his bicycle wheels, so he sold the parts to me.
?I put them together and started cycling in Sydney, that only lasted six months, but it put the desire there, which stayed with me for the next 20 years.
?Once I joined the MCCC, I found I was getting fitter, losing weight and enjoying the camaraderie of the members as well as the cycle racing.
?I?ve been in Mildura for 29 years and cycling for 19 ? before cycling I managed to play A Grade squash for a few years before I did my shoulder in and had to give it away.
?The friendships I have made here in Mildura, especially through the cycling club have helped me cope with the daily stresses at work and have helped keep me here in Mildura longer than I would have been otherwise.
?Presenting me with this life membership award has touched me and I appreciate it deeply,? he said.
?I feel it is because I?ve been helpful and motivating and hopefully, setting a good example to young and old cyclists alike.
?The club runs a summer and winter program ? the winter is predominately road racing (40km plus to 100km distances) either handicap or scratch racing.
The summer competition comprises mainly criteriums or time trials? which we stage at the Aust-Link site next door to the airport, which makes it very safe for the juniors and the time trials are generally conducted around the riverside circuit.
?Cycling in Mildura is a lot safer than cycling in a major city, once you’re five minutes out of the city centre there’s very little traffic and far less road rage.
?Our biggest worry on the roads here are the occasional magpies, but we get to know where they are.
?I?ve won a few races over the years, far fewer in the last 10 years, but have, and still do, enjoy the spirit of competition.
?Once you reach a certain level of fitness, it becomes enjoyable to ride hard and fast.
?There is a lot to learn in cycling ? it’s not just a matter of jumping on a bike and going for a ride.
?You?ve got to learn about how your body reacts, how to train, how to position yourself on the bicycle ? if these things are done correctly, you avoid minor injuries.
?I particularly like is the technical aspect of cycling.
?I?ve designed and built many pairs of wheels and now I’m making bicycle lights ? I make a brighter rear red flashing LED (light-emitting diode) light ? it’s another interesting hobby.
?My other hobbies include building hi-fi speakers ? it’s like furniture with a practical purpose ? beautiful timber veneers finely sanded, stained and oiled to a smooth satin finish.
?Photography and fiddling with computers is another pleasant way to enjoy some free time.
?We no longer have immediate family in Mildura, our three children, Nicholas, 33, James, 31, and Stephanie, 25, are busy working from Sydney, Montreal, and Mackay in Queensland.
?We plan to retire to Newcastle in the first half of 2011 to be close to family members,?? Arthur said.
?My reservations there will be finding a cycling club offering the same degree of camaraderie as here in Mildura.
?When I get there I?ll do a few races and find out which club I want to join and hopefully find the safety of training is not too much of an issue.
?I hope the MCCC continues to grow as it has (many juniors are now participating) as it is a healthy and enjoyable activity.
?Even if you?ve got bad knees you can still cycle because it’s not an impact sport as is running,? the medical man said.
?I hope in the future, Mildura authorities will improve safety for bicycles by providing ?bicycle-only? lanes with a more ?Amsterdam type? atmosphere.
?It would work well in Mildura, given our flat terrain and grid road/street layout.
?The ideal environment for Mildura cyclists would be an outdoor velodrome which would encourage kids to progress from BMX to cycling in a generally safe environment ? which Mildura did have in the old days,? the ?pedalantic? cyclist said.
This story appeared in Saturday?s Sunraysia Daily 09/10/2010.
www.sunraysiadaily.com.au – Arthur Anderson’s cycle of life
Congratulations Arthur!
(Say g’day to James for me)
MDCC Hill Climb Champs
I rode these today for CS Grupetto in the hope that it would help me defend my own club hill climb trophy. ‘Training’ I believe it’s called?
The MDCC champs are trickier though in that you ride over 3 different hills and it’s the total time that decides the winner. I found it quite difficult to pace, going to easy on the first hill, not being able to breath on the second hill and not doing too bad on my old favourite Windsor Hill.
The first hill – Quarry Wood Hill, Marlow – HHC024
Site of a broken collarbone on a LFGSS ride to Oxford (I think) I’d never ridden up this, only down. It’s a long flat and then mild climb with a kicker left and then drags on. I knew I couldn’t go all out after since that would require me to sit down for 30min before vowing never to climb again. Unfortunately I took it too easy, as I turned around almost straight away and was cheering riders coming up after me (I was rider #1). I could even hold a conversation back at the start line. Waaay too easy. 🙁
The second hill – Burroughs Grove Hill, Marlow – HHC025
I’d never ridden this before and didn’t get a practise ride either so I was going in blind. All I knew was everyone saying it’s LONG but not too steep. It did go on for ages and I thought I was pushing pretty hard, certainly harder than the first climb, but still didn’t feel like I’d done it properly at the top.
The third hill – Windsor Hill, Wooburn Green – HHC011
I’ve won at Windsor Hill before (and come in second winning my club’s HC trophy, last year) so I knew the climb. I think because I’ve not been doing any riding other than commuting I just can’t handle long bouts out of the saddle like I could after having come back from the Pyrenees last year. So, I would get out of the saddle, dig in but quickly blow up so I’d have to sit and grind. This hill is shorter and more suited to brief powerful efforts so sitting down and grinding isn’t going to help. I was still happy that with a cold, with no food and next to no training AND having done two hills already, I was only 15 seconds off my time from last year. So, mixed messages really. One thing I know.. I need to start riding again!
Thanks to MDCC for letting me ride (EOL FTW!)