To coincide with stage 13 of this year’s tour, this Saturday’s ride will be an unserious time trial. From Federation Square to Federation Square, via some of our favourite Saturday ride elements. The course is approximately 15km long. Start will be the pedestrian crossing at Flinders St. station.

Starting at the normal time: 7:30am, come along and enjoy a fun individual time trial, where luck and street skills will count as much toward your final time as raw power or speed.

Regroup and casual ride afterward.

For more info, email nathan at undershorts dot org, or check the forums.

Update 18/07: Course Map now available.

This coming Saturday, the Melbourne every Saturday ride will be replaced by an informal track session and gear swap meet. We will be at the Coburg Velodrome ([map], [directions]) from about 8:30am.

The track riding session will include some getting familair with the banks, riding in a paceline, taking turns, then a few short events to get a taste of racing:

• Flying 200m time trials
• Matched pursuits
• 3-up sprints

Then if time permits, we will run some scratch or elimination races. Please see the forum for more details. This session is aimed mostly at those who maybe ride track bikes on the street but would like to try them out racing without having to get a full race license.

Parts swapping will happen in the infield - bring anything you have to sell, swap or giveaway. We will also have tools and (limited) expertise on hand to help out with any un-finished business or tricky fixed problems.

As with any Saturday ride - everyone is welcome to come on down. Hope to see you there!

ndf 2007-06-12

For all those who haven’t ridden the Melburn Saturday ride, here’s a potted account of yesterday’s roll round…

For some, myself included, the 7:30 meet time has always been a bit of a challenge. I inevitably leave lateish, and this morning it meant I had to do a TT-style run down St Kilda Road.

The ’style’ of the ride has changed in the past few weeks, as our sergeant-major ndf has been picking backstreet routes in training for the forthcoming Melburn-Roobaix torture-test.* This morning it was the backstreets of Prahran, Balaclava and Brighton, before we jumped onto Beach Road to have a play with the Saturday morning pelotons.

(*Not really)

Some took it easy, others gave it some stick: the general idea was to regroup at the Black Rock clocktower for coffee and rubbish-talk before punting it back up the beach. We met a guy at the café who was rolling around on a 39-year-old road bike, with full old-skool Campy gear, all original, even the drivetrain! And of course his Brooks saddle was also original.

The run down to Black Rock was quick but as we rolled out of the café to head back, full of croissants and coffee, it became clear why… our tailwind friend was now our headwind foe! Heads down, we slogged back up to St Kilda. A large pack eventually caught us and a female Drapac-Porsche team rider riding with them asked about the ‘baseball cards’ in our rear wheels, which was more than a whole ride worth of male roadies had said to us…

A quick stop in St Kilda to regroup, then we rolled down St Kilda Road into the city, where the ride broke up and a few people headed off to start preparations for the Drags scheduled for the afternoon. A number of us ended up at the GPO cafe for a leisurely coffee/breakfast/lunch stop before riding down though Birrarung Marr to Abbotsford Cycles to tend to some mechanical needs. Abbotsford is one of those wonderful cycle shops that time has forgotten. They have great service and carry all kinds of gear for the more idiosyncratic bicycles of Melbourne – the perfect place for those riding vintage track bikes!

From Abbotsford Cycles, we rode back into the city, through Docklands to the Moonee Ponds creek Drain under Citylink, for the Drags.

...mj

Straight line - 1/8th Mile - Elimination

When

1pm Saturday 19th May 2007

Where

Citylink bike route, Mt. Alexander Rd & Citylink - in the Moonee Ponds creek storm-water overflow. Follow path under citylink into the drain, and along to finish line.

What

A re-run of the washout in March: Elimination by random selection in two categories: Male & Female. All entrants will get at least one run. Turn up, pay your $5 and wait to be called up. Costumes optional.

Shifterbikes 16" minibike drags over a shorter distance.

Prizes from Shifterbikes, Fyxomatosis, and fixed org au will be awarded to participants after racing - all participants will be in the running.

Who

If you ride a bike, you qualify. Come along, bring your friends, talk some crap, meet some other bike nerds, and ride as fast as you can, Whatever speed that may be - and on whatever bike you have.

ndf 20070513

Everyone’s favourite cvnt Fyxomatosis is doing it again: The Melburn Roobaix! There is no excuse to miss this event, and anyone who gives even the faintest toss about cycling should attend. So, clear your calendar, lock this in and, as the flyer suggests:

Bring your bike, helmet, musette, and friends.

And wear a smile damnit!

If you’re not sure what this is all about, have a look at what happened last year:

• Fyxomatosis official report ‘06
• Post-ride musings on fixed forums
• Last year’s course map

ndf 20070511

There’s something fascinating about the bicycling hour record. While riding in circles for an hour sounds like a simple and pointless activity, when you set out to answer for yourself the crucial question:

How long a distance can you ride in exactly an hour?

It makes sense in some sort of way. It is not just like riding for an hour, it is not like riding a long distance, it’s not like any other ride you’ll do. It is a remarkably difficult and rewarding challenge, that requires both physical and mental exertion. 16 riders took up the challenge this last Saturday and made a fantastic morning out of it.

In the spirit of the typical fixed.org.au rides, there were no hard rules. Just ride what you have for an hour. To save time we ran the event in two groups, those not riding would count laps for those riding. Des split us approximately according to gearing, and at about 8:30am the first group kicked off.

Traffic was inevitable, but passing while maintaining a sustainable rhythm enhanced the challenge, and helped to break the monotony.

Part of the fun of the split group was the constant encouragement being yelled out by counters, egging each rider on to stay out the hour, and then the benefit of being able to reverse roles for the running of the second group which set off just before 10am.

There were some temporary bunchings of similar paced riders, but most were able to find their own pace for the majority of the hour.

Thanks to everyone for coming along and for making this such a fun event! Here are a few links to photos taken on the day:

• Corey’s Pics
• JP’s pics
• Photos from Omar, Steve and Horatio

The results…

	Blakey	Corey	Cress	Damo
Distance:	32.69 km	35.10 km	34.16 km	35.83 km
Gear:	70 "	65 "	81 "	85 "
	Des	Horatio	John	Jules
Distance:	31.49 km	37.16 km	34.43 km	33.49 km
Gear:	69 "	88 "	77 "	63 "
	Lats	Mike	Nath	NickR
Distance:	38.20 km	37.16 km	38.87 km	34.06 km
Gear:	76 "	76 "	81 "	75 "
	NickT	Pete	Steve	Tristan
Distance:	37.20 km	34.46 km	35.92 km	40.00 km
Gear:	75 "	80 "	80 "	93 "

Again? Are you crazy?! Interestingly, almost everyone said, at some point following their ride, something along the lines of: "Next time, I’ll [blah blah]". Maybe, in about six months, they’ll all get their chance.

ndf 23/04/2007

"The hour record is the most distinguished, and most difficult record in bicycling. It is different from all other records in that it is measured in metres, and not in minutes and seconds. How long a distance can you ride in exactly an hour? That is a question many famous riders, over the years, have tried to answer precisely." [The Impossible Hour]

On Saturday the 21st of April, join the fixed.org.au regular Saturday ride and try to answer for yourself "How long a distance can you ride in exactly an hour?" This is a fun personal challenge, which will be run over two sessions from 8am to midday. Unlike the strict UCI rulings on bicycles and positions, there will be no rules; ride what you have, or add any aero advantage you can think of… like Boardman’s Superman or Moser’s Funny bike:

Chris Superman Boardman


Francesco Moser’s Funny Bike

Everyone is welcome, and welcome to take it as seriously or not as they desire.

Program of Events

• 7:30am Federation Square : Warmup ride to Brunswick
• 8:30am Brunswick Velodrome : 1st group hour
• 10:00am Brunswick Velodrome : 2nd group hour
• 11:30am : Post-ride picnic and bloody mary(s) at CERES

More information on the hour record

• Wikipedia - Hour Record
• Wolfgang Menn’s Hour Record Pages

Or join the discussion on the forums.

ndf 13/04/2007

Aussie courier champs, April 6-9. Visit MELBURNMASSIVE for more information. Words from the horses mouth: ‘All Welcome’ -> So get on yer bikes!

n.

Get your Stuey TT machine ready and see if you can beat Melbourne’s fastest(ests)! Or just rock up and have a go

ndf 23/02/2007

Not only does Matt at Melbourne based Kookiebikes carry my favourite ‘IZUMU Super Toughness’ 1/8th chain, he also makes beautiful bikes. And his latest piece of work is no exception. Handmade fillet-brazed frame with a mix of Kaisei and Columbus Max tubing. 100% NJS Components.