2004 Gravity 12 Hour

or The mud fest that was.

Sam and Ben were on my team last year, so in the interests of continuity I wanted at least Ben to be there again this year. Sam was unavailable to race so I asked Mikey if he was interested, as he and his partner both love Victoria it did not take much convincing.

Our team "Invent, Scheme, Able" (yet another team name based on an anagram) 3 person mens, consisted of

• Steven Hanley - Riding a Giant Alloy HT
• Ben Crabb - Riding a 2002 Marin Bear Valley Steel HT
• Michael Carden - Riding a 2003 Kona Kikapu

Still I had fun and am looking forward to the event next year, lets just hope it stays dry.

1600x1200 Cadell has a fascination with cars, if there are open car doors around you can be sure that is where Cadell has gone. 1600x1200 Maxine pulling faces. 1600x1200 One of my team mates, Ben. 1600x1200 My other team mate, Michael with his children Madeliene and Cadell in the background. 1600x1200 Richard after a practice lap, with Tim, Michael, Michael and Cadell. 1600x1200 Ben, Sam and Maxine. 1600x1200 Maxine smiling for the photo (with urging from Sam) 1600x1200 Ben, Sam and Maxine holding Ben's bike as he prepares for the start lap. 1600x1200 Dan Smith running past for his first lap. 1600x1200 Ben running off on his first lap. 1600x1200 Quite a crowd trying to start their first lap. 1600x1200 First rider through. 1600x1200 Second rider. 1600x1200 Third, none of these guys are muddy yet, that changed soon. 1600x1200 Dan Smith leading Ben through on lap one. 1600x1200 Morgs followed closely by James Gardner. 1600x1200 Richard Palmer. 1600x1200 Richard Bontjer from the front. 1600x1200 and behind.

1600x1200 Michael preparing to head out for a lap. 1600x1200 A very muddy Ben handing the baton to a rather clean Mikey. 1600x1200 Ben showing off his mud collection. 1600x1200 Sam and Maxine doing some cooking. 1600x1200 Here I am about to head out for the final lap (I voluunteered to do the last lap) 1600x1200 After the lap, I also had a rather impressive mud collection on the bike and legs. 1600x1200 Still smiling so it must have been fun, or maybe it was simply good to be finished. 1600x1200 On friday arvo I felt th need to ride on the rather easy see saw, Mikey took photos hoping I would fall off. 1600x1200 I did not even to fall on Mikey, oh well. 1600x1200 Cadell giving Mikey's bike a once over. 1600x1200 Tyres are pumped up. 1600x1200 Cranks rotate, all must be ready to race. 1600x1200 Holding Cadell until Jo could find footwear. 1600x1200 Looking at the expressions on our faces I wonder if Mikey and Jo should be worried. 1600x1200 The Carden Gazebo, much appreciated during the wet weekend. 1600x1200 Looking over the cars up to the pinnacles. 1600x1200 Cadell and Madeleine's guardian Amanda came to visit. 1600x1200 The Reinhardt/Crabb family preparing for a game of soccer, or a mtb race. 1600x1200 Heavy clouds over the racers preparing for the start. Interestingly yet another highschool friend is getting into mtb riding, Daniel Gleeson can be seen here next to Penny Burrell. 1600x1200 Panning accross to see more people holding bikes for the start. 1600x1200 And more.

1600x1200 Cadell once sure Dad's bike was serviced went and found random stranger's bikes to fix up. 1600x1200 Waiting for the runners. 1600x1200 Quite a traffic jam formed at the start of the lap, last year was better IMO, arrnaging everyone around the transition area facing inwards stopped the congestion better than this year. 1600x1200 Madeleine in the Gazebo. 1600x1200 Amanda and Cadell on walkabout. 1600x1200 Mikey wanted to show off his mud collection. 1600x1200 From different angles. 1600x1200 Muddy 'Pu. 1600x1200 Muddy Ben. 1600x1200 What the heck are we doing riding our bikes in this. 1600x1200 Everyone except Madeleine looking tired/bored. 1600x1200 Richard and Cadell both keen for sleep I imagine. A car being towed out of the event on Sunday morning, until they cleared another path with some gravel laid down the land owner was busy towing many cars out. Someone enjoying the mud. Julie Day, second place in solo female with 9 laps as night approaches. On this track up to the finish it was probably more effective to walk/run as you would otherwise have one wheel spin per revolution in contact with the ground all the way up. Paula Sutton's team mate Kath Bicknell before a lap. A rider after a lap. The same rider before the lap, a lot less mud evident. Paula Sutton running into transition. Handing over the baton. Riding her bike with a big grin. Wayne Bradbury also covered in mud.