Night Grinder is next week!

Well, Night Grinder 2 is only a week away. Next week, on Friday 13th, you should be charging your lights, filling your bidons and maybe having a quick nap after dinner before making your way out to Hurstbridge for an all night dirt road ride. Crazy? No! It's the most sensible thing in the world and I personally can't think of a better use of time than going for a spin at night and trying to see wombats.

Check out the event details here, and also have a read of the report from the first Night Grinder here.

See ya there!

Night Grinder 2 is approaching!

Stay tuned for more details...

MGG #9 Report

 Well that turned out pretty good I thought.

49 riders took off from Hurstbridge Station on a cloudy but mostly rain-free day - great riding weather, not too hot, not too cold. The send-off speech heavily emphasised the 50km option and I was glad to hear that many riders chose the 50km and enjoyed the hell out of it. At rego time, 28 riders said they'd try the 100km, 18 said they'd try the 50km and a couple were undecided. There were a few DNFs and a few shortcuts taken by those who knew the area but, as long as everyone had fun, no rules were broken.

Let's talk options

Ok, recon ride is complete and cue sheets are being finalised. There's only one week to go so let's talk options.

We're offering this ride in two flavours :

100km - for people with a whole day to spend
50km  - for people with less time up their sleeves

For reference, we took about 7 hours to do the full 100km on our recon ride. That includes a bit of faffing around and a sit-down lunch at Toolangi Tavern. 6-7 hours would be a fair estimate of how long it might take you to do the full 100km.

If you plan on riding hard and aren't scared of a bit of climbing, revise that estimate down. If you're planning to take it a bit easier or if you've got commitments straight after the ride, I'd seriously consider the 50km option.

The 50km is still a great route, it's got some solid climbs and screaming descents, it's got some incredible views of the Yarra Valley and visits some awesome roads but it will have you back in Hurstbridge a good few hours before the 100km option. Both options are solid rides in and of themselves but the longer option may have you in the middle of the bush by yourself after dark if you discover, too late, that you're over-committed.

No need to decide right now - you can leave it 'til about kilometre 30 on the route before you have to decide which way to go - so see how you're feeling on the day, be honest with yourself and make sure you ride within your limits. That way we'll all have fun!



Remember to watch out for friendly goats, curious alpacas and, my favourite, goofy lyrebirds. We saw two lyrebirds on our recon ride - that's some good juju right there!


Oh, and remember, it's on the Saturday this time. Saturday 26th, 9:00am, Hurstbridge Station.

See ya there!

MGG #9 details up

Details are up for the next MGG ride. Check out the page here :

#9 Scooter's Century - Sat 26 Oct

It's going to be a ripper. Don't miss out!

MGG #9 is approaching

 

Stay tuned for more details...

MGG is alive

Mark these two dates in your calendar :

Saturday 26th October - MGG #9  Scooter's Century

Friday 13th December - MGG #10  Night Grinder 2

We're back.

More details to follow but, for now, the hint is in the names!

Scooter's Century is about 100km of hills and views around Kinglake/Dixons Creek/Toolangi. Some solid climbs, some screaming descents and some ripper views of the Yarra Valley. There'll be a shortcut option for the time-poor and one checkpoint is at a pub. There is nothing not to like about this ride.

Night Grinder 2 is exactly what it sounds like - another night-riding mission around the hills of Kinglake/Hurstbridge/Christmas Hills. We'll use a modified version of the first course with a few special treats thrown in. Start around midnight, finish in time for breakfast. Oh, and we'll definitely be going up Bowden Spur again - best and most surreal climb at night - you won't forget it in a hurry.

Stay tuned...

Local riders tackle the Tour Divide

It's that time of year again! Time to follow the race, catch the highlights every day, follow the ups and downs of your favourite riders and see the dramas unfold over a grueling three weeks of intense riding. What?! No, not that race in France! I'm talking about the Tour Divide - a solo, self-supported bikepacking event that travels about 4400km from Canada, all the way down to Mexico following the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.

Semi-Supported Overnighter

Things are quiet at MGG HQ as we tackle other rides, but Rolly over at fixed.org.au is putting together a semi supported overnight camping trip that looks like a good time, whether you have a sweet fixie, a beared randonneur or a Tour Divide style MTB. Details below:

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TICKETS HERE
FOA is proud to announce it’s first ever sleepover!!!
Join us for a supported overnight camping trip to the Upper Yarra Reservoir Park on Saturday April 27th.
Just bring all your gear to the roundabout at the rear of Fed Square at 8am (SHARP) on the 27th of April and we’ll take it for you, allowing you to enjoy the cruisy ride to the park. The ride is approximately 65km (sealed) or 85km (unsealed) from Lilydale and there will be a sealed and unsealed option for those attending. The unsealed option would ideally require tyres of 30mm+ and involves approximately 900m of climbing.
The 8:30am train to Lilydale will be overrun as we head out en-masse, Reefton bound!
Your campsite, BBQ, transport of all your gear and route map is all provided in the ticket cost. Please BYO alcohol to Fed Square for transportation. Please note riders are required to bring their own breakfast supplies.
The campsite has the following amenities!!
BBQ’s
Hot Showers (!!!!!!)
Toilets
Camp Kitchen (this includes fridge/freezer/ice/boiling water/tables)
All participants will be given a route map and a cue sheet prior to the event.
PLEASE NOTE – THIS EVENT WILL OBVIOUSLY BE AFFECTED BY THE WEATHER, IT IS CAMPING AFTER ALL! PLEASE PACK WARM CLOTHING FOR TRANSPORTATION IF NECESSARY. IN THE EVENT OF RAIN, PARTIAL REFUNDS WILL BE GIVEN, BUT CAMPSITE COSTS ARE NON REFUNDABLE AS WELL AS SOME BOOKING FEES ETC. But you should totally just come anyway.

Please let me know at rolly@fixed.org.au if you have any questions or if i’ve missed something obvious!

Rides you should do

The next MGG ride is still in the planning stages but here's some other rides you might like to check out :

Gippsland Gold - Saturday 16th march

This is a 200km mixed-terrain ride starting out of Yarragon and traversing the Strzelecki ranges to Foster and back. This is an Audax ride run by mixed-terrain meister Gareth Evans - his rides are basically MGG rides but bigger. How can you go wrong? Here's some more pics and some more pics from a previous edition and here's Gareth's site which has more info and lots of eye-candy for gravel grinders.

Contact Gareth at gareth.d.evans@gmail.com for details and rego instructions.




Dirty Gran Fondo - Sunday 19th may

Another MGG-esque event. I've said it before and I'll say it again - make sure it's in your calendar! 90km of dirt roads and fire roads and hills and probably mud and sandwiches and mud. Last year's edition was a ripper and this year's will be too. Check out all the details on the official website.


See ya out there!

Dirty New Year

We're still in holiday mode at MGG HQ but that doesn't mean you're off the hook! Here are some things to stick in your calendar and get excited about :

The Audax Melbourne Dirty Weekend is happening from the 8th to the 10th of February. Three mixed terrain rides of varying lengths, difficulties and locations. Can't go wrong. And it's an Audax event so you know it'll be done right and probably have awesome catering to boot! More details here.


The second thing to stick in your calendar is... Dirty Gran Fondo 2013!
Last year's Dirty Gran Fondo was a cracker and I'm sure this year's will be no different. Check out Fyxo's post about the 2012 event. An incredible ride bringing together MTB, CX and roadies in the Disappointment State Forest. Lock in the date : Sunday 19th May. More details here.


Got both those things in your calendar? Good, now go ride!