sjh - mountain biking running linux vegan geek spice - mtb / vegan / running / linux / canberra / cycling / etc

Steven Hanley hackergotchi picture Steven
Hanley
About

email: sjh@svana.org

web: https://svana.org/sjh
twitter: https://twitter.com/sjhmtb
instagram: https://instagram.com/sjhmtb

Other online diaries:

Aaron Broughton,
Andrew Pollock,
Anthony Towns,
Chris Yeoh,
Martijn van Oosterhout,
Michael Davies,
Michael Still,
Tony Breeds,

Links:

Linux Weekly News,
XKCD,
Girl Genius,
Planet Linux Australia,
Bilbys,
CORC,

Canberra Weather: forecast, radar.

Subscribe: rss, rss2.0, atom

←November→
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
            1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30            

←2015→
Months
Jan Feb Mar
Apr May Jun
Jul Aug Sep
Oct NovDec

Categories:

Archive by month:

Sat, 21 Nov 2015

Brinzio loop and Summit Fiore ride - 12:11

Looking over from the observatory to the Fiore summit (fullsize)
 Though I had headed out solo to ride Basso Binda on the first Sunday I was there this ride I got to do with some company until the last climb and get shown one of the classic loops in the region.

My first views of Lago Maggiore and then back through Brinzio, then when we got back to Varese I decided to solo climb up to the summit past the Campo di Fiore and into the snow that was still around from the falls on the weekend. A rather pretty area for sure.

Images in my gallery from the ride ETC, Varese, Brinzio, Lago Maggiore, Brinzio, Summit Fiore ride.

[/mtb] link

Fri, 20 Nov 2015

Alpe di Neggia ride in Italy/Switzerland - 12:28

Looking toward Switzerland from the top of the climb (fullsize)
 I had a work trip to the European Training centre in Gavirate Italy in April 2012, while there I managed to get out for three rides and one solid run. On the rides I took my camera and was able to get some great shots. Definitely an awesome area to train in for many sports.

Recommended to me by Luke Durbridge who was at the ETC while I was there, this ride was from Gavirate over to Lago di Maggiore and then along the shores until I hit the climb and down the other side in to Switzerland than back through the valley past Lago di Lugano toward the border at Ponte Tresa above Varese. A great ride for sure and a nice climb, though I probably left it an hour too late as coming back it was dark by the time I got to Varese and I had not taken lights.

Images in my gallery from the ride Alpe di Neggia ride in Italy/Switzerland.

[/mtb] link

Thu, 19 Nov 2015

Triple Triathlon 2015 - Where's Our Swimmer - Mixed Pairs - 21:17

Tagging Milly for the Mt Taylor run (fullsize)
 As I mention in the words I ended up in pairs this year again, racing with Milly after our swimmer for the event injured himself. Our goal was to have a fun day out in Canberra looking forward to the finish line and beers there. I think we managed that and enjoyed hanging out with all the others transcending the hills and lakes of Canberra.

Great to see Rowan have so much fun on course again, also Cam had an amazing day out with 12h15m solo and finishing third. Ben Crabb got to race again with his normal team before disappearing to the UK for three years. So many others were having fun and so were Milly and I (though the early shot of her before the swim start she does not appear so sure), looking through the event gallery on the Sri Chinmoy events site there are some good photos of everyone around too.

My words and photos are online in my Triple Triathlon 2015 - Wheres Our Swimmer - Mixed Pairs gallery. Good day out bring on 2016.

[/mtb/events] link

Wed, 18 Nov 2015

Geoquest 2012 - Out Of Range - 22:31

Heading into the water with our tubes (fullsize)
 When I looked at this album I realised I still have not published or added comments to my 2011 geoquest album. I guess that will be next. For now this was 2012 with Seb, Lee and Eliza up at Forster again. Before Eliza was quite so hooked on MTB near the end of her doing Triathlon we were trying to convince her long silly AR stuff is the best thing ever, I hope we did not scar her too much with the longest event she had ever done.

KV, Ben and Matt were our rather awesome support crew engaging in a bit of speed camping around the region and seeing us come past once in a while, thanks to them for the effort. It was a remarkably hard (well long at least) course this year and though there was no ocean paddling there was a bit of time in the kayaks. The event was a lot of fun as always, though I still need to sort out some of my insulin type and timing issues (as I was reminded this year when I had some lows).

My 2012 Geoquest - Out of Range gallery is online for anyone to have a look, I almost was worried I managed to get a photo of Eliza not smiling, however it appears not to have happened so all is right with the world.

[/mtb/events] link

Tue, 17 Nov 2015

Hume and Hovell Ride Albury to Canberra 2012 - 21:38

A creek crossing on day 1 (fullsize)
 This was a really fun ride, 3 days riding from Albury to Canberra on the Hume and Hovell track, a bunch of ARNuts and others, stopping overnight in Tumbarumba and then Tumut.

It was also not long after the Greenedge Call Me Maybe video came out so many of us spent a fair proportion of the ride posing for photos and some videos miming the actions. I have never tried to edit the videos into anything together however you can see the poses in many of the photos.

The ride itself has a good variety of terrain, great views in places, confusing areas where it is difficult to follow the track and we all had fun. Photos and some words are online on my Hume and Hovell track ride 2012 page.

[/mtb] link

Mon, 16 Nov 2015

Australian Single Speed Nationals 2012 - Beechworth, Bushranger themed (sort of) - 20:33

Posing with Jeebus (fullsize)
 Wow right now I am finding it surprising I have not been to the single speed nationals since 2012, (un) organised every year by a group of locals somewhere, sort of overseen by Australian Recreational Singlespeed Enthusiasts (ARSE). The 2010 Canberra SSNATS event in Majura Pines was heaps of fun, organised by Canberra One Gear Society (COGS).

In 2013 the event was in Cairns and though it sounded fun I decided it was just a bit too far to head up there for the event, in 2014 I tried and tried to talk friends into heading up for the weekend in Dungog NSW, however few of my Canberra friends were keen and I did something else that weekend (softie that I am).

I am still hoping the road trip to Wombat State Forest in Victoria will go ahead for the 2015 event. There was a ANZAC event in Rotortua over easter however I skipped that. This however is all getting off the topic of 2012.

I made it down to 2012, camping with McCook and having a fantastic weekend of mtb riding with the crew in Beechworth. The rather important aspect of beer was sorted that weekend and Bridge Road Brewerers in that town and they are possibly my favourite brewer in Australia.

The Beechworth mtb park is a great mix of interesting technical stuff and fun all in native bush, there were other ride options as can be seen in my gallery also. Photos and words from the 2012 Australian Single Speed Nationals are online in the link.

[/mtb/events] link

Sun, 15 Nov 2015

Around the K 2013 - Cold morning and night lap of Kosci - 11:21

The awesome open views heading toward Kiandra (fullsize)
 Like the other Round the K galleries, another great day out on road bikes, this was the first time I had made it all the way around the loop too. The photo I am using to the left here is a great example of the open alpine regions neat Kiandra, those who have only done the Jindabyne - Cabramurra section have missed out on this bit of riding.

Gallery from the day is online Around The K 2012 gallery and as I said in the last few links to Round the K, bring on the next one in a few weeks. I am as this appears out competing in Triple Tri in pairs though so wrote the post ahead of time and am letting it appear during the day, unlikely that it matters as I doubt I have many readers.

And I have just noticed as I went to do an entry for Monday 2015-11-16 that I had in fact already posted the link and a photo for the post today. Oh well laziness is an artform so it is staying here.

[/mtb] link

Sat, 14 Nov 2015

Blue Mountains Six foot/TNF100 scouting trip Feb 2014 - 21:52

Jane loving the trail run down to Coxs river (fullsize)
 Oops I realised I forgot to link to this one in my reverse posting of all these adventures, this was a weekend Jane and I headed up to the Blue Mountains for some running and to scout out the Six Foot course (made Jane more comfortable on the course (and as she finished 2nd in the race it probably helped)) and for me we were able to do the climb up Furber Steps (and a nice run along Federal pass including the giant stair case descent).

Though I did get to climb the steps in the Mt Solitary Ultra I had not at that time planned to do that race so I was happy to see them for TNF100 prep. We had a good weekend up there and it was nice to have a relaxed run to the river and back, we managed to see a number of people out for a Fat Arse run on the course too. My gallery from my Blue Mountains weekend in Feb 2014 is online here, thanks for the company Jane, hope to see you back on the trails soon.

[/mtb] link

Fri, 13 Nov 2015

Happy Jacks and Jagungal wilderness ride on NYE 2012 - 13:35

David, Julie and Alex with Jagungal in the background (fullsize)
 Alex and I had been thinking we should head up to near Jagungal and check out some of the trails through the wilderness there to ensure bikes could get through. This to ensure our planned route through for the next Canberra to Kosci Ride would work better than the previous one.

We decided to do a new years eve mtb ride on our single speeds in the wilderness around Mt Jagungal (the northern most mountain in Australia over 2000 metres). David and Julie came along for the fun, though I did not have my camera I was able to get my phone out easily through the day and get some good photos. They are all online in my Happy Jacks Jagungal Ride Album. Nice day out and and awesome way to finish off the year even though we arrived back in canberra tired and ready for sleep around midnight.

[/mtb] link

Thu, 12 Nov 2015

ARNuts Victorian Cycling Holiday 2013 - 11:59

The boys on the trip overlooking Halls Gap (fullsize)
 As I say i the write up, late in 2012 Alex, Lib and I started plotting a week of cycling in Victoria. Inspired to some extent by a cycling tips article, we added in mtb riding to the plan and decided to ask Bleeksie, Brooke and Aaron along for the fun.

We klicked it off with the Otway Odyssey mtb race and then did a bunch of awwesome mtb and road rides aorund the state. I was rather impressed with the grampians having never been there. Such a great week on bikes.

Photos and a few words from the trip are online in the gallery Victorian Epic Cycling Holiday February 2013. Now we just need to work out the next such trip. I suspect a south east Queensland cycling trip could be the go for some time in the future. I know there is a bunch of great riding up there.

[/mtb] link

Wed, 11 Nov 2015

Whungee Wheengee Canyoning - 13:08

A more open section later in the canyoning day (fullsize)
 The previous ARNuts canyoning trip had been based on Mark's birthday, this time we all got up there to celebrate Alex's birthday. Another fun day out in the Blue Mountains with the ARNuts.

My photos from the day are on my Whungee Wheengee Canyoning page. I should not find it so amusing but I do that when the guides end up with a group of people who have fun in long AR events or 100KM runs and similar it seems to be a bit of a shock to them as they are used to clients that struggle with the hikes and harder bits rather than clients who are fitter than most people and simply get on with the harder bits having more fun the harder it gets.

[/mtb] link

Tue, 10 Nov 2015

Sri Chinmoy Trail Ultra 2013 - 100 KM (first year) - 15:36

At the start line (fullsize)
 This was the first year Sri Chinmoy had run this Ultra, an event now in the third year (and I again ran it this year in a team and once more doing 2 legs). In 2013 they had not yet decided on the increase by 1km every year plan, however the course already showed off Canberra really well.

Alex and I decided to Alternate legs, in retrospect probably harder than doing 2 in a row each, however we had a good day out, and this year I got to do 2 in a row to compare. Of course I had my camera out there and took a bunch of photos which are online in my Sri Chinmoy 100 2013 gallery.

[/mtb/events] link

Mon, 09 Nov 2015

Around the K 2013 - Cold morning and night lap of Kosci - 11:21

Shadow selfie on the climb to Dead Horse Gap (fullsize)
 As I so often say, this is one of the best days of road riding you can have, an awesome ride through varied terrain with lots of climbing and mountains. It had been snowing at Dead Horse a few days earlier and was cold in the morning and again in the evening. I left some of my warm clothing at the cars at Cabramurra and ended up regretting it as I had cooled down at Dead Horse Gap too much to keep going by the time Cam got to the top of the climb.

So I hopped in the car for the descent to Jindabyne while Cam finished off the ride. The others had all kept going earlier to finish off the ride. Still As I mention looking forward (though somewhat scared) to this year's day out. The photos and a few words from 2013 are on my Around The K 2013 gallery.

[/mtb] link

Sun, 08 Nov 2015

Six Foot Track Marathon 2014 - 11:49

At the start line (fullsize)
 I lined up for my first run at the Six Foot track Marathon in 2014. Many ACTRun friends have been doing it for years, this year I managed to get in and was lining up with them and other friends new to the race to have a run along the track to Jenolan Caves.

Jane and I had spent a weekend in the Blue Mountains ini the lead up to the race to get an idea about the run down to Coxs river and also for me to scope out the finishing stairs in the new TNF100 course. It was useful to scope out the first 15km of Six Foot, however come race day things were different (a lot more runners out for one).

As is so often the case I went out too fast and paid the price on the climb from the river and along the range. However it was still a great day out and I will be back for more (I did it in 2015, knocking half an hour off my time and plan to line up again in 2016). My gallery and a few words from the day are here in my Six Foot Track Marathon 2014 gallery.

[/mtb/events] link

Sat, 07 Nov 2015

Mt Yarahapinni Run - Solo November 2014 - 23:58

Massive tree remains from logging operations (fullsize)
 I was up near Macksville for a family trip and had some time spare one morning. I decided it would be good to head out for a run in the Yarriabini national park area. In 2006 Geoquest we had done a hike a bike up the side of Mt Yarahapinni and then a ride and split rogaine through the park. I wanted to head in and check out some of the region again.

The most obvious run to do was an out and back along Way Way Creek to the summit and back. With more time it would be fun to explore more. However it was a nice morning out and as I mention would be a pretty awesome half marathon course if it could be organised. Photos from my Mt Yarahapinni Run are online here.

[/mtb] link

Fri, 06 Nov 2015

Kepler Challenge 2014 - Running in Fiordland NZ - 21:54

A ridgeline during the race, amazing views (fullsize)
 As I mention in the write up a few friends and I had decided to head to Kepler Challenge in 2014. Marty heading back to defend his title, David, Julie, Bec and I heading over for our first attempts, Chris rocking up for the Luxmore Grunt.

Fiordland is an amazing part of New Zealand, this in a country chock full of amazing outdoor places really was something special. I understand why this event is so popular also why the walk itself it so popular. We all had a great time there and though the trip was short it is definitely one to go back for some time.

Of course I had my camera with me and took photos so have some words with them in my 2014 Kepler Challenge write up. Thanks to Dave, Julie, Marty, Bec, Pete and Chris for the company. I hope to head back and do it faster in the future, fun indeed.

[/mtb/events] link

Thu, 05 Nov 2015

Around the K 2014 - Another long ride in the NSW Alpine Region - 10:56

Brooke and Cam at the Scammels lookout (fullsize)
 This has become an annual ride to get out on. With two options, the full loop which is 320km including 6500 metres of climbing or some variation we sort out so people can do a shorter ride and be part of the day out. (This year was 180 km either Cabramurra to Jindabyne or Jindabyne to Cabramurra)

We had a pretty solid group doing the whole loop Jindabyne to Jindabyne anti clockwise. The others we split into two groups of around 6 or so each and managed a car swap as we crossed paths (at lunch at Khancoban).

Due to doing too much running and not enough cycling, and my trip to NZ for Kepler the previous week, I decided to do the shorter ride this year. Photos and words from Around the K 2014 are online. Fun was had, now it is just over a month until the 2015 one so I need to get on my bike and get ready for it.

[/mtb] link

Wed, 04 Nov 2015

Buffalo Stampede 2015 - 78km in the Victorian Alpine region - 10:19

Julie running back toward me at the top of Buffalo (fullsize)
 This event was not in my original plan for 2015, though nursing a bit of a problem with my right aductor and glute I was feeling alright after six foot to do some big stuff. This turned out to be a tough day out, the incredible steep gradients on the first two climbs (and also on the way back the last two climbs and thus the descents on the other side) were something to behold.

That we did over 1000m of climbing in the first 10km of running, including 4km of flat at the start and a descent to the bottom of a 500m valley in the middle says something. This event lived up to the SkyRace tag really well. Also the victorian alpine region is amazingly pretty and Bright is a great town to hang around in.

Photos and a few words from my day out are here on my Buffalo Stampede 2015 page. Thanks to Paul for his entry and to Dave, Julie and Alex for the company. It was fun to catch up with Hanny and Graham down there too.

[/mtb/events] link

Tue, 03 Nov 2015

Geoquest 2015 - Thats Cray - 14:38

Dane crossing a log in the dark for fun (fullsize)
 I had a break from doing Geo for 2 years, I guess I got a bit hooked on running and was not keen to try to get a team happening for the event. It almost happened again, however some of the team members in Thats Cray were injured so Cam and I both got an invite to join in the fun.

Geo s always a good event and this year I really enjoyed just joining in for the fun and letting the others worry about Nav and a bunch of other stuff. I have to admit the lack of paddling in the last 2 years made that bit hard, however the event was a lot of fun as always and surprisingly felt pretty good all the way through. Maybe my running fitness helped me get through comfortably.

Photos and some words from the race are online on my Geoquest 2015 album. Thanks to Dane, Lee and Cam for the company, thanks to the awesome support crew and it was good to be back.

[/mtb/events] link

Mon, 02 Nov 2015

The Sri Chinmoy Canberra Ultra 2015 - 102 KM with Wild Bill Bo Jangles and Crew - 20:22

The Wild Bill crew at the finish, KV, Gangles and Bender (fullsize)
 I really enjoy Sri Chinmoy events, their attitude and encouragement for people to be healthy and active to have a better life and world through peace and those goals. Given a choice I try to do most of the long or multi sport Sri Chinmoy events. I had run in this event in pairs with Alex in the first year, alternating legs that year.

As I was planning to do another 100 not long after I was not overly keen on a solo entry, however at Gangles's birthday KV and I managed to convince him to compete in the event with us in a team of 3. This would be his first long run (over 20 km, doing the last leg) and KV was stepping up for the first leg (I had the middle two to get done). I got some celebratory t-shirts made up as Gangles' (Adam) middle name is William KV and I decided to call the team Wild Bill Bo Jangles and crew. (I promise it made sense to us)

So we got to join in the fun and run with many of our friends and other people on the day. I took some photos and they are online in my Sri Chinmoy Trail Ultra 2015 album.

[/mtb/events] link

Sun, 01 Nov 2015

The Heysen 105 in 2015 - 10:25

A cool rock feature in the Myponga Conservation Area (fullsize)
 I really have been taking a huge break from putting stuff online here. I have still been taking many photos while out doing fun stuff so even if I am not writing much else (I have been sucked into social media I guess) I can still upload the links to the various adventures I have photos and reports from.

The main advantage I find is I at least can easily find the links to refer to without needing to see a directory listing on the website. In this case I headed down to Adelaide to hang out with friends there and also run in the Heysen 105 run. Feeling the need to do another 100km ultra this year and the short holiday in Adelaide helped attract me to this one. Report and photos for my Heysen 105 2015 run are online.

Nice part of the world and I had fun both in the event and hanging out with friends in Adelaide. The coopers brewery tour is also rather excellent.

[/mtb/events] link

home, email, rss, rss2.0, atom