Oi,

I'm back!...don't swoon, I know ya missed me!...well i reckon the 'Alpine Classic' gets harder every year. I had the secret plan happening this year....don't get P!ssed the night before!. Alas, whilst i stuck to this pre ride plan, I still suffered like (insert appropriate suffering adjective!). Forecast, 33 deg & sunshine...Oh great, so by the time we add on the reflected heat from the road & mountain side rock, my S720I said max temperature got to 42!....Hitchy doesn't go well in the heat!. The first part was ok (6.20am start), & was back to Bright at the 130km in a tad over 5hrs. 70km & Mt. buffalo to go....I'm thinking a sub 9 hrs is in the bag!....But the sun gets higher in the sky, Mt buffalo seems steeper than in the past, no shade whatsoever.....1/2 way up pushing the 25 I'm getting the message from my thighs WARNING, WARNING WILL ROBINSON, WARNING CRAMP IMMINENT!......usually I suffer with calf cramps in these situations, but not today, thigh cramps instead, which I've never had before. Can't manage a single pedal strke without cramping. 1/2 hours rest & massage & off again.......9 hrs is out the window now....try for 10. Arrive at the top in just under 9 hrs...woo hoo...35 km to go & its mostly down hill!....grab a drink, some tucker & off down the mountain at breakneck pace....the roads as rough as guts in the braking areas making smooth descending difficult.....arrive back in Bright & check in 10 hrs 13 mins....a whopping 2 1/2 hrs quicker than last years 'p!ssed ride'......a mate hands me a 'crownie'...I swear as I neck it that steam is coming from my mouth....never, ever again am I doing this.......mind you, I said that last year too....& the year before & the year before!.......so some observations & questions

1/ I've been gone 6 days & you blokes can only manage 3 pages?...& half the posts are from 'seppo's'?...waddya doing!

2/ For those that don't subscribe, 'Ride' is out...mine was in the letterbox when i got home, presumably in the newsagents now

3/ anyone know how to get blue dye out of a white saddle?. It appears the dye in the blue knicks I had on during the Alpine (hey its the club colours alright!) decided to part company with the 4 trillion gallons of sweat running down me @rse & has tinted my White Arione a sort of yucky light blue colour!....I thought about scrubbing it with 'nifty' or sumphing, but don't wanna make it worse....any clues?

4/ Tiger has been sending me 'porn' thru the internet!....hubba, hubba!

cheers,

hitchy

Oi back.

Glad to hear you suffered enormously on you ridiculous endeavours. And well done on your new world record

Sounds like fun. I might even give it a burl next year.



Niffink, apparently

Don't you work no more?

Cool. Let me know.

Hitchy, what do you want from me? I did my part by contributing, but do I count as a sep? I guess you're just the life of the party.

Can we get ProLink or something similar down here?

https://www.progoldmfr.com/products/prolink.html

It claims to have no Teflon, wax, moly (?) or graphite.


EDIT: Yes, I think.

The distributor is Smooth Ride, but I can't find them

From the prolink website:

International Distributors:
AUSTRALIA: Smooth Ride

I searched for them in whitepages in every state except ACT and NT: nada.
Tried google, but you can guess how many entries relate to "smooth ride"

[EDIT] ASIC search reports

Number Status Name
VIC B1677259H REGD SMOOTH RIDE



[EDIT] they're in South Melbourne

Business Name Business Number
SMOOTH RIDE B1677259H

Nature of Business
SALE OF LUBRICANTS AND CYCLING ACCESSORIES

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date Registered Date Deregistered Renewal Date
27/02/2003 - 27/02/2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trading Suburb Trading Postcode
SOUTH MELBOURNE 3205

thanks

... and out of the fog they appeared

https://www.yellowpages.com.au/online...77a0dfc346b8c9

Oh, I just realized that you want to do it for each frame you sell.

Kennedy isn't scientific for me.

Cycling Central game me the idea that it's probably cheaper to get set up with all the scientific gizmos at the AIS

Bewdy

Ph: 0418 173 681

My LBS is lookin after me sooo well it's starting to get creepy.

He's assembling my racer right this very minute (just so I can ogle it as I cruise past his shop). He even rang me to let me know ROFLMAO. Good deal though. Last years Mach 2200 (Ultegra 9s, Shimano 540's, and a frame that I know and like), and yes Thylacine, it's Al. Dunno about those 540's tho....

Any ideas on how I can smuggle it throught the door without getting found out by the missus?

you guys haven't been made aware of the oil/mineral spirits homebrew chain lube??? It's cheap and works great, some say even better than ProGold. I use it myself, have for years and no problems with it. I think I still have an unused tube of ProGold in my toolbox somewhere.

Do you drink it, or use it on your pushy?

So give the unused batch of ProGold to 531, and give the hombrew recipe to us other mushrooms!

ROFLMAO! Google is helping to celebrate Australia Day. Shame they run on West Coast time and celebrate it a day late.

Does it keep your chain nice and shiny?

*happily humming "I'm your pusherman" as he types*

Welcome back Hitchy. You've only missed a couple of New South Welshmen talk about cricket. *tries to stay awake* Fortunately, all the action has been happeneing off the forums.

Mwuhuhuhuhuhaa!

There was an Adventure Travel stand at the Belgian Beer Cafe's Music and Cycling Festival yesterday. I was going to drop your name but then thought the better of it.

I know I'm a noob, but I really quite like mine. True as the day I've got them even though I ride on the worst roads in creation. Don't flex to much, and roll alright. I'm thinking good wheels must be incredible if these ones are ****e.

Did you by another Gitane?

Hello from sunny Melbourne.

I usually hang out in the SS/Fixie forum. But I'm an ex-roadie, does that count? =)

You mean "sunny, hot, humid and oppressive" Melbourne

*****, if they let me in, they'll let anyone in.

[QUOTE=Thylacine
There was an Adventure Travel stand at the Belgian Beer Cafe's Music and Cycling Festival yesterday. I was going to drop your name but then thought the better of it. [/QUOTE]

shoulda!......Phil mighta given you a discount on next years TDF tours....but knowin' Phil....probably not!....the belgian beer mob & The adventure travel co are co-sponsors of the Stkilda cycling club.....bloody marvellous ain't it.......Hitchy introduces T.A.T.Co to the idea of sponsorship as a door opener to the cyclists with disposable incomes & some other b@stard pinches them!......I'd be annoyed but my contract don't say 'exclusive'

Hitchy

yeah, that's why I use it, I look my bike to look good !!!

3 parts mineral turps (odorless if you can get it) and 1 part motor oil. That's it, that's the trick to chain lube, mix it heavier or lighter as you experiment but it works. Shake it up in a spray can, spray it on to clean the whole chain, then layer it on again to cover the links, wipe off the excess with a rag and ride. I top up maybe once a week or two at the most depending on how much you ride.

I'll look for my ProGold leftovers this weekend.

I did indeed.

The training bike (Mach1800) has proven to be such good value for money, and I couldn't be happier. So when the LBS rang and sed he had a Mach2200 in-store at such a ridiculous price I just had to lay my testicles on the line. I'm sure the missus won't mind too much when I explain how much I saved No really! I did save heaps... honey... put the axe down... now... please...

And thanks for the werd on the 540's sacman.