The feeling of winning is very short lived.

For the past 2 years (since I first started road racing) I have been racing Masters B grade. One DNF, mostly I just finished with the main peloton.

One week ago saw this change. I used the little bit of experience I have gained in the past 2 years & made it to the top step of the podium of an Open B Grade 84km road race.

The feeling of winning is very short lived.

Racing with integrity against/with good people, maintaining & forging new friendships lasts a lot longer. Then, at the end of every race, regardless of the result that winning feeling lasts a lot longer.

Ay Up Lights (Customer Complaint?)

I get to process anywhere upwards of 80 emails a day. This customer complaint arrived from New Zealand this afternoon. I felt it necessary to share it.

Quote from some crazy Kiwi...

Hi to the Ay Up Team.

I wish to complain about the light system I have just received.

Firstly: when the courier bloke arrived and I signed for the delivery I thought there was some kind of mistake. The package was so small and light that it must have been the first of 4 or 5 packages, so after 20 minutes of nagging the courier … I was wrong.... You Aussies need to stop this king of practical joke and make a decent 5kg light system like your competitors.

Secondly: Us Kiwis are used to carrying around 8kg lead acid motorbike batteries while riding. The Ay Up batteries weigh less than the light cables on my old system. This is ridiculous. How am I expected to do weight training while riding? Mate- I don't know how you did it but I’m the laughing stock of the Wednesday night ride bunch – with my small bulge in my bike top.

Thirdly: These lights need a warning. They are way too bright, it’s downright dangerous. I know that Kiwis go around in the dark with their heads in the ground, but you need to make a special Kiwi version with one tenth the light output. I have been wearing welding goggles while night riding just to make things tolerable. When riding on the road I have caused 3 car crashes by blinding oncoming traffic, and that was 5km away. I’m thinking of using the lights as laser cutters to burn through steel they are so bright. Half our nocturnal wildlife has become extinct through starvation as it never gets dark enough at night with these lights being used. The local conservation core is outraged. I’ve lost my job and my girlfriend has left me because I have developed a sleeping disorder due to confusion over what is night and what is day. I will be sending the bill to you once my eyesight has returned to normal.

Lastly: Then there is the lights themselves. When I undid the packaging the light was so small that the wind blew it onto the ground and it became lost through the cracks in the deck. I had to rent an electron microscope to find it again. This has caused significant cost and embarrassment. The light is so small it actually fell through the vent in my bike helmet and became lost in my hair, requiring a knit comb to recover it. The light on my handle bar is smaller than my bike computer. Please rectify this problem. I suggest using some of those XXXX beer cans as the light body would be better.

I hope this valuable feedback will enable you to produce a New Zealand version of the Ay Up light system.

I would be more than happy providing feedback on your future designs.

Yours

Max R.

p.s Great Lights.

It made my day, week, month...

GAR 6 Hour Enduro

Saturday saw enough time in the afternoon to drive out to the course to do a pre-ride. Sunday morning was 'Race Day!'


I popped upto the front of the start group. I started out a little fast. Not nearly as fast as Jeff Toohey! He smashed out the fasted lap of the day!


The first lap was a little muddy. After a couple of hundred bikes had been over some areas it quickly got better in some areas & a lot worse in others. There were 3 sections on the course that ended up being quicker to walk/jog as the race went on.


I had some help in the pits from Kal. He gave my bike a couple of 'de-mud' sessions that allowed my Scott Scale to continue on. Chain & cassette were thown out after this race. They were chewed to pieces.


I don't race with any speedo numbers I can see during timed races like this one. I occassionally check out the time. I have no idea how many laps, kms... This really works for me. I just pedal as best I can until they closed the course.


I saw many, many riders giving this race their all. It was very inspiring. At the end of the day I managed 14 laps & 3rd place.

On a slightly different subject. Rock Star racing rocked the Mont 24hour in Canberra. After a very hard fought battle, these rockers stood a top of the podium.

24 hours in Rotorua

Although the 'on-the-board' results are a little poor. They are not a reflection on how good my 9 hours of racing was. I achieved most of my goals for the race. I tried to only use Infinite Nutrition in my biddons & nothing else. This was not successful. It's just too boring. So I will back the calories off in the mix to allow for some real food to go in.

Road Trip! This 6 berth camper gave the 3 of us a double bed each.



A huge thank you to lovely Robin for feeding/caring for all 4 of us.

Beautiful place to ride. It got down to 4 or 5 degrees on Sunday morning.

Andrew Bell, 3rd in Solo mens.


Mark (makes & tests your Ay Up lights here in Brisbane) got 3rd in the Single Speed category.



Who brought this dude along?!