There's a clean out a-coming for Ash. Complete bikes, parts and all sorts of stuff are going to be up for sale, for some craaazy prices!

Keep an eye out, you might find something you need for that project you just want to finish for summer!

Ascend News

Degani Kinglake Ride 2009

On the cold and rainy morning of September 13th, a record 3000 riders braved difficult conditions to take part in the second annual Degani Kinglake Ride. This year’s event saw riders and organisers come together to raise much needed funds for the local communities and CFA affected by the devastating February bushfires.

With an improved course, featuring a smoother descent into Whittlesea, participants battled it out as they wound their way through the fire-ravaged townships of the Kinglake area, taking in some of the best riding country in Victoria.

ASCEND sponsored riders for the event, Jason Jackson, Ash Thomas, Joel Pearson (Savings) and Shaun McCarthy (Savings) were there on the day to lend their support, having a great day out despite the inclement weather. ‘It practically snowed for 120 km!’ says Jason. ‘At one point all I could do was laugh. The rain was so heavy I couldn’t see 10 metres in front of me.’

The highlight of the event was undoubtedly ‘The Will Walker Challenge’ where riders pitted themselves against the champ’s time on the gruelling 7.2km climb into Kinglake. ‘It turned out to be a solid hit out’ recalls Jason.

The boys helped to supply the field with ASCEND Elite Recovery Bars, ensuring all involved had the strength and stamina to take on the 70km and 120km recreational rides. ‘Over the course of the day all I ate was two Recovery Bars’ says Jason. ‘My energy levels didn’t fluctuate as much as with other bars and regular food. I recovered well’.

Even with reduced visibility from the driving rain, Jason Jackson belted out a strong finish to come in first across the line with an impressive time of 3 hours 17 minutes, and even managed to have a bit of fun along the way. ‘The bunch may have been wet and cold but everyone loved it’ he says. ‘Big thanks to Ascend, Supersprint and Degani for putting on a great day for all to enjoy.’

Check out the photos below for all the action from the Degani Kinglake Ride 2009…

See you there next year!

We're everywhere!

Sighted in Queensland, the royalty cheques are starting to flow out Jason's letterbox.

King of the Flat Hill?

Could it be??

With the 'end of days' type weather looming, it was truely the dedicated/sensless that made their way to the Yarra Flats to contest the Flat hill Crit, with our own Jason Jackson looking to make it 3 from 3!



Talk was that teh race organiserer had slipped some ringers in the field, so when Jason lined up against Paulie, AJ, Rohin, and the rest of the Total Rush freight train, it was going to be on. With hail just before the start line, the end of days looked nigh.



But with some good fortune for him, bad fortune for others, and some good hard racing, Jason took home the prize, and in the same breath talked of moving to queensland and retiring...!







When Jason returns, he's laid open the challenge to knock him from the top spot ;) Mouthy little chap, can you beat him??!

Epic....

THE GATHERING.

THE OBSTACLES.

THE NERVES MOMENTS.
THE MECHANICALS.

THE SEARCH...THE REWARD!

THE CLEAN UP :)

Tee Pee Epix

Check out Cams Epix video here.

St Andrews ambling...

Anther Epix is safely in the books, and as usual it was not without its adventures! A who's who of victorian bloggers took to the trails in the areas connecting Ringwood and St Andrews. With riders such as Troy, Bellie, Cam, Randall, Matt, Nat, Brian, Jeff, and Christian making up just part of the crew, it looked like a heap of fun. (most of these blogs will have a take on the day - click on by and check 'em out) I was benched with what Bellie called a 'softness', slipping somewhat freudianly when he meant to say sickness, and sunsequently took on the EXTREMELY important roll of drinks boy...

So whilst I sat and sipped the drinks..., watching the rain fall sidways through the windscreen, listening to Jason talk on the radio whilst they huddled beneath some low trees, just as the rain turned to painful hail, I figured that it was better him out there this time :)

Meeting the crew beneath the fun that is Ridge road, we handed out some much appreciated refreshments and they then took off to hit the trails. Whilst I can't quite find one of the camera cords I need, there should be some more pics out there to come, but in the meantime, this is what I captured between showers...












Having just checked the other camera, there is still more to come including video, so fear not. And I'm sure Jason will have his take on it shortly too(given he actually did the riding, or at least some if it) , so just talk quietly amongst yourselves whilst we get organised...

Flat Hill Dirt Crit.

Nat, Cam and I ventured out to the dirt crit tonight. The course is amazing! Fast and flat with two small pinches.

The boys are doing a great job running the event for all to enjoy. With Cam on the camera the pictures taken always look great. Check here for the happy snaps over the next few days.

Tonight I was the lucky one to take out the win over James Dickey (Team Specialized) and Nat to come across the line in third place. The next event will be held on the 6^th of October so come down and get dirty on a school night. I will have a set of Nightlightning lights for all to demo and some Ascend samples to be given away.

Dirty bike, happy life!

Weather watch!!!

This weekends adventure will be run no matter what weather is forecasted!!

Forecast for Saturday

Cloudy. Scattered showers and the chance of thunderstorms with hail. Winds west to northwesterly averaging up to 40 km/h.

City

Few showers. Windy.

Min

9

Max

15

Remember...Epic!!!

Tuesday Night Dirt Crits

Spring Racing is here!

They want to run a Crit Every first and Third Tuesday of the month

Starting with the 22nd of September

6.30pm Ivanhoe crit course (see map)

$5 entry

Current MTBA License is essential

Check here for details.

Degani Kinglake Ride 2009

Sorry no pictures were taken as it was too wet.

With Ascend being sponsors of the Degani Kinglake Ride, Ash and myself got an invite to join in as Ascends' riding ambassadors, whereby we get amongst it out on the road with the other participants, and hand out some of the sensational Recovery bars during the ride. John, Nat, Matt and Rohin also attended.

We all set out to complete the 120km leg, but for some, this was not the final outcome. The morning started off with record high overnight temperatures for this time of year. So most, including me didn’t pack the appropriate kit for the weather we were about to ride into.

Just as it was time to get to the start line the rain hit us. John arrived in the nick of time and once he sorted out his wardrobe malfunction (broken wind vest zip), stuck in the middle while being worn, we were off. To justify John's situation his wife Kate cooks great scones!

Heading out of Whittlesea the rain smashed us from all sides and this set the mood for the next 2hrs. John’s ride with the lead group ended about 15 minutes in, he suffered a PSI issue and was forced to change his tube. He also managed to get another 3 flats and had to cut his ride back to the 70km loop as he ran out of Ascend bars to swap for tubes.

Then it was Ash’s turn. 40 minutes in he also had a flat…, tube that is. He was just as unlucky as JC and suffered 4 flats in total but was happy to complete the 120km loop with 3000 of his friends.

As for the rest of us, we were very lucky and had no flats throughout the day. The “Will Walker timed climb”, up the Kinglake road to Kinglake turned out to be a solid hit out. Rohin, myself and one other rider rolled turns until we hit the roundabout at the top averaging around 24.5kms per hr.

For the next 80kms we smashed ourselves silly in the pelting rain. At one point all I could do was laugh. The rain was so heavy I couldn’t see 10 metres if front of me. We were sitting on 60km per hr and no one was backing off. The bunch may have been wet and cold but everyone loved it.

Nat made the mistake of taking a short mental brake at Castella and found himself 300m off the back and was unable to make it back into the group. He had a very long ride by himself until he was able to mingle with the 70km riders.

Matt turned himself inside out all day long and was always keen to roll a turn. He had had a fantastic day and I do think he rolled across the line as the fourth rider to finish the 120k loop.

At around the 90k mark the group had splintered down to 7 riders and we had one more climb to go. With one of the boys having itchy feet, he felt the need to attack and put 200m into us. As we reached the top I was dropped and Rohin bridged the gap.

The boys sat between 2-300m up the road for the next 10kms. I chased like a mad man with the hope of bridging the gap on the descent and flat section before the finish. As we hit the bottom of the hill, the gap had closed and itchy new I was coming back. Rohin as a true ‘mate’, didn’t look back once and kept the power on.

400m from the finish I bridged the gap and Rohin still didn’t know I was there.

100m out I rolled past Rohin and his surprised yell of, “JASE”.

We turned left and rolled across the line in 3hrs17min.

Big thanks to Ascend, Supersprint and Degani for putting on a great day for all to enjoy.

Riding that long road back...

Turns out you've gotta be quick even on the keyboard.

After emails and texts, and even some photos, I have everything ready to go, only to find that Jack's beaten me to it.

So all the good oil on the U23 race today is over at Felt Racing, so clickety click over there!

Worlds mania

With the MTB Worlds running in Canberra, and every mad mountain biker making the pilgrimage to see the best in the world fight it out, it seems only fair that we should up the post rate here at Epix. Deluded logic, but its early so bear with us...

With the Vandy's ripping it up all over the place (Neil capturing one of the largest prize purses I've heard of, and Paul taking the eraser the AIS record book and entering his own name), you know that there is some serious form getting around. Whilst there are plenty of riders deserving of your support, including the Norris, J-blood, and a bunch more awesome Aussies.

If you can't be there, you know that Freecaster has got you covered!!



6.30pm TONIGHT - Thats friday! This should be the link to watch the 4Cross. Watch Gravey get out there and *hopefully* get up on the box!

http://freecaster.tv/live/mtb/1007130/uci-mountain-bike-world-championship-dh-4x


And so thats it for this morning. Next weekend is Degani Bakery Kinglake ride, proudly supported by the awesome folk at Ascend and we'll be there, and following that the first Epix will be gettting underway. The planning and logistics are just awesome, involving a pub, shuttles, the grand final and the most amount of new outer metro singletrack that I've seen in years! Its going to be awesome! (there's that word again.. ) I'm going to work...

Out...

Can we connect the dots....?