Rarefied mountain air sucks past my dried out epiglottis, tunneling down into every available alveoli in my lungs as I struggle for breath up yet another sharp crest of the fire trail. I gush out the expired oh-two and feel the surging beat of my heart’s every straining moment through the back of my eyeballs. When is this bastard of a climb ever going to finish? Read the rest of this entry »

Background

The Anderson’s and Oaks fire trails are both classic Blue Mountains rides, and the Oaks is a particularly popular ride for beginners and experienced riders alike. Both rides involve catching a train up into the mountains and then taking advantage of the 400m difference in altitude between the start and finish of each ride. Anderson’s runs from Wentworth Falls to Woodford, and the Oaks from Woodford to Glenbrook. For this reason, the two rides are sometimes strung together to form a reasonably long day ride of about 61km, Anderson’s being 33km and the Oaks 28km. Anderson’s includes a very steep descent to Bedford Creek of around 200m, and an equally steep climb up the other side. Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, I know what you’re thinking, why would anyone bother with a 2×9 set up on a mountain bike, after all, aren’t they supposed to have a granny ring? Well yeah, but there are some subtle advantages with ditching the granny ring. And besides, this is simply to help out those who may be interested in setting up a 2×9, if you don’t wanna try it, don’t read it! Read the rest of this entry »

Since the weather’s turned nasty, maintenance on bikes has become somethingmother than blowing dust off them. One of the ways to improve shifting/braking [1] performance is to keep your cables clean. While cleaning and lubing is possible, eventually the cables will need replacing. Read the rest of this entry »