LATEST NEW June-July

                                                                                                                                                                        

Some photographic memories of a recent paddle to Harry’s Hut….

GOLD COAST ANACONDA TRAINING & COURSE MAINTENANCE…

We Aunties spent a few days in the holidays out slashing and marking the famous run course on the Gold Coast Anaconda…..you know we love this sort of thing….. Armed with an array or garden implement supplied by Aunty Jan’s Mum we took on the course with gusto, slashing our way though a whole year’s growth of lantana, wait-a-while, fallen trees and washed out sections on the creek crossings. Satisfied we now had a track we were confident everyone would find their way on the training days ahead.

We had the lovely Kev as our guinea pig for the run section – and he was suitably impressed and thought it a ‘true John Jacoby style’ course…..and he hadn’t seen the bike course yet!!! Meeting us at the Double D ranch were George, Al and Thomas….so 6 of us set off on the famous course which takes us up to the track along the Qld/NSW border….Our legs were certainly warmed up after the climb up the tar on Bains Rd….Al’s comments were…”Hmmmm, how do they put tar on a cliff?....” It was pretty steep but we all stayed in the saddle….Bikes over the fence and we commenced the lovely undulating trail which gave us plenty of highs and lows – and some incredible views we were about to make an awesome descent into the valley…. With no dramas to report, but plenty of energy burned – who needs gyms – we rolled back into Palm Beach Parklands around 4.30pm….and Duncan took this lovely shot of us at the water’s edge….

It was fantastic to see Thomas – who escaped Brisbane for the day – and our Victorian visitors Kev and Al – up for a taste of the Anaconda style of Multisport racing….and hope we see many more of you there on race day – September 5th! Let us know if you would like to join a team and we can put you in touch with others…
TRI ADVENTURE NOOSA ENDURO
On the eve of the cancelled Noosa Enduro 100km mtb event, we decided to do it anyway. Why? Cos it’s such amazing course – and a great day out in the hinterland! We also decided to use it as a small (but every little bit helps) fundraiser for our friend Sam Naudin who is battling liver cancer…..

Well, what an amazing turn-out! Twenty-four riders rocked up for the day to ride either the 50k or continue on to do the entire 100km. And what a line-up of legends….John Jacoby, Russell Prince, Kev Piercy and the amazing Sharon from Christchurch – to name a few…and Kenny was there too!! Thank you to everyone who came along and made it such a great day – we literally finished the 100km just before sunset…. We didn’t open the white envelope of donations till we got home and it came to $455!! We have rounded it up to $500 and will present a cheque to Sam in the next week……A thousand thank-you’s to all you generous friends!!!


With the overnight rain easing that morning, we knew it was still going to be a muddy ride as we set off together just after 6.30am. Aunty Kim, at the helm, gave everyone a little bit extra before we got on the right track out to Porters Rd – thanks Aunty Kim!....we always love to go extra, don’t we….????...and no, Alan, we won’t charge you any more for it….ok!.... Our groups ended up riding together till we got to Ringtail forest and then we split into 3. Eventually groups 2 & 3 merged before the Sideburn single track….and Alan, you wanted to pay more after that ride, I know….Terry led us down ‘his’ track – woo-hoo, what a ride! We wove through the Ringtail Forest trails and then up the ‘Rock & Roll’ which took us back towards Forest Acres. Riding along the road, and about to get onto the trail we spied the first group coming out of the Lake Macdonald loop…..and then decided to join up and ride back together. Our second group probably missed a loop of about 5km – but as we had done extra at the start, we didn’t mind at all. On the way back we got a few showers and just nicely mud splattered before the finish….well, for some anyway….

Five of us – including the very determined Hayley – set off towards Cooran for the next part of the day. It was 12noon when we left Pomona. There were so many hills before we reached the ‘Mother’ that Hayley was wondering if her legs were still part of her….and it didn’t help that we took the long way there as well…up a little winding trail on the Network – when the actual Enduro went straight up a tar road….. oh well, we saw a very pretty creek along the way…. See pic of one of those early hills – and look at the view already!....I guess you could say it was just onwards and upwards from here. We had a great time discussing Geoquest antics with Shaun to take away the pain of the uphills….and our experiences climbing the very unforgiving Mt Pinbarren which we passed by at the top of the Mother….and found out we had a 10 x Coast to Coast legend riding with us in the lovely Sharon……and kept eating and drinking….and kept going up and up and up some more…….Finally we were atop the western ridge the skirts the Kin Kin Valley and ready for the ride of our life down the beautiful single track that takes us through to Ewarts Rd…..The surface was perfect – not too wet and not too dry…..in fact, probably the best texture we have ever ridden on down this great-fun track…..so all that uphill slog was momentarily forgotten as we turned into 12 year-olds hooting down the hill….. A few more ups and some nice downs and we were at Johnston’s Lookout with a big downhill ride through paddocks through to the ride. This was great fun too – except Aunty Jan baulked at the very steep bit and nearly found herself making friends with the barbed wire fence….but got back on and enjoyed most of it too….. Then we kept on riding, roads and paddocks and eventually got on the tar and made it into Kin Kin. Mmmm… a little stop at our favourite shop where Shaun did the boy thing and had a pie and we sat down to discuss our plan from here as we had less than 2 hrs of daylight left….even though we Aunties were carrying our Ay-ups….. So, the plan from here changed and we took the road out of Kin Kin and through our new Moffats Rd discovery from a couple of weeks earlier….onto Black Pinch Rd and a big downhill to the main road. 4 kms and we were back in Pomona….just before dark and with time to get home and watch the Tour! Phew….what a day…..Even with the few deviations, we all clocked over 100kms…and there you go Hayley, that’s what it’s all about! Hope you have recovered just a little bit by today…..a great effort for someone who has only been on the bike for about 6 months!!

Lots more to come this year so stay tuned....See you out there!
Jan & Kim