Future of mountain biking in my part of the world

Forming - a new mountain bike club in north west Tasmania. We have a website at www.nwtassiemtb.blogspot.com and an email: nwtassiemtb@gmail.com

First - time I have ever been on a club committee.

Future - we are planning to get a world class mountain bike park in the Dial Ranges

Fun in the dirt - there is going to be lots of this

Friends - a great opportunity to make new riding buddies

FAN THE FLAMES!

In 2 Tim 1, Paul tells young Timothy to "fan into flames the gift of God that is in you" which can be roughly translated as 'use it or lose it'. 'Use it or lose it' used to be the slogan for an arthritus campaign to keep people exercising to keep joints moving and slow down the progress of arthritis. How appropriate, then, that at the ''oldish' age of 45 I started mountain biking, and after some prayer, at the age of 46, decided to give downhill mountainbike racing a serious go. Most people my age are slowing down, but I'm speeding up!! One of the reasons I do it is because I am so grateful to the Lord for giving me the good fit healthy body that I have and I think it would be a sin not to use it to its fullest - ie. "fan into flames the gift of God". The mountain bike season has started and I am already having lots of fun riding my local tracks especially the Paloona Playground. I am so looking forward to the first race in 2 weeks time. This year I've decided to race the Tassie state series again, and the National Championships in Adelaide in January (gotta defend my title, ay?), and I will also do as many National Series races as I can afford to get to. This year I will have at least one sponsor to help me out - Anaconda Adventure Stores have come on board which is very cool because if they hadn't opened their first store around the corner from where I was living in Melbourne at the time in 2004, Joel and I never would have found out about mountain biking - true. I'd never heard of it until then. So, I'm going to fan the flames of riding fast - it's so much fun! Faith+fast=fun!! Yippee!

FAST FRENCH FEMALES

The World Mountainbike Championships have just finished in Canberra. French females won both the Junior and elite Womens titles. I've met Emmiline Ragot, the winner of the womens title and she is very nice and really deserved her win. Freecaster.tv showed all the elite females runs, and Emmiline was just so frigging fast and flowing and full-on. It was very special to watch. FANTASTICLY FAST!!! For a really good coverage of all the female action at the worlds go to http://www.marthahucker.com/

FREE time when not riding...

Furry friends and favourite fiction

Fun walking in God's fine creation with great friends at Wineglass Bay at Freycinet National Park on Tassie's east coast

F WORDS - GOOD AND BAD

Good f words - Friends, having fun, riding fast! Had a great time on Saturday riding with friends at our local trail, until...

Bad f words - flat tyres. I'm fed up with flat tyres. In my two years of downhilling I've only ever had one flat tyre until this weekend when I had two!! First one was on the trail. Something knocked the valve clean out of my front tube! Second one was the front trye again after I'd fixed the first one. And all I'd done was ride around the backyard a couple of times! Aaaagghhh!

FACES

"The Changing Face of Downhill"

Revolution, issue 17, p44-45

The latest issue of the Aussie mtb mag, Revolution, has a fantastic 2 page spread of 3 pretty teenage females who raced the Aussie downhill series and championships last year. I watched these girls at 3 of these races. They were pretty and cool! Off track they are just like any other teenage girls. On the track they are pure downhillers. I might be at the opposite end of life to these girls but I'd like to think we are part of the changing face of downhill. The more female faces seen on the tracks and in the mags (riding bikes not draped over them wearing almost nothing), the better. Come on girls! Just get on a bike and do it! It's fun!

The above pics were taken by my son Joel Brady.

Top: Em Hockey at Mt Buller

Bottom: Jaz Rosa at Genorchy, Hobart

FUN FUTURE

Australian Mountain Bike mag., July 2009, page 10.

There is a photo of a rider dropping off a 2m high ramp. Nothing special about that, except that the rider is female and 65!! Wow! Ursula Berchtold has a job guiding people down Thredbo's downhill run and she holidays in Whistler - lucky lady. And she sure doesn't look 65.

Being fairly new to downhilling, I have often wondered how long I can keep doing it - "at my age". Well, if Ursula can do it at 65, that gives me at least another 17 years - fabulous! That will make me one very grateful gravity granny! What a fun future retirement to look forward to. Go Ursula!