Pushy Women’s Tuesday

Meet up at Over the Edge at 3:30pm and head out on the rail trail or road – go your own distance.

Girl Friday

Girls take on the Single track – meet at OTE at 9am – this is a great introduction to those girls wanting to ride the beginner’s trails and / or maybe something abit more challenging!)

Ride at your own pace -great for your heart and soul!

These rides are non-guided and informal – for anyone wanting to keep fit and ride on a regular but social basis.

Contact Kerri for more info – 0412 038 994

There are sounds of “ohs and arhs” coming from OTE!

Some may think it is the sounds of riders drooling over the new “BLING” we have in store but in actual fact it is coming from the MASSAGE room!

Naomi Henwood – massage therapist, will be renting a room at Over the Edge and will be starting up her own massage business.

She has over 13 yrs experience and has her Certificate in Therapeutic massage and Remedial Massage.

Bookings are by appointment only and you can contact her direct –

E-mail: naomihenwood@live.com.au

Phone:0447 504 855

Recent comment from a lady who had just finished getting a massage from Naomi was “I wish I could put her on my bike!”

http://www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=22938

 Keep these dates FREE

Trail Building – every Saturday morning 7.30-8am – get the local trails ready for Fat Tyre! Confirm with Rich on Friday – Meet at Shop.

28 APRIL – Rich is off to Capital Punishment in Canberra to compete and promote Squirt and Melrose – Good luck rich! if anyone else going over let us know!!!

3 MAY – Paul Greene playing live at Melrose Institute tickets on sale at OTE $12 cash / $14 at the door – opens 5.30pm

5-6 MAY – Bike SA’s Kona Dirty Weekend – give us a call if you want to be put in a team – we are all heading down for the weekend.

9 – 11 JUNE – Melrose Fat Tyre Festival!

14 – 15 SEPTEMBER – 6/18 hours of Melrose – registrations open soon!

25 -29 OCTOBER – Cape to Cape in WA! – Rich will heading over – and hopefully dragging his Dad along to compete as well – Let Rich know if you are keen to ride as well!

25 NOVEMBER – MOVEMBER Road Ride ! Always a fun day raising money for Men’s Health.

OTE have seen more interest in ROAD riding lately – so we are currently putting together an awesome weekend in Melrose around the “Tour Down Under” dates ( January ) which will include criterions/long and short rides and time trials.  Let us know if your interested / any ideas and we will make it happen!

Race #1 18^th March 2012

Eagle mountain bike park

The first race for me this year was the last of the Adelaide Mountain Bike Club’s Summer Series. With my alarm sounding at 5am it was time to rise, get some food in my belly and hit the road for the three hour journey from Melrose to the Adelaide Hills. I chucked some gear in the car, the bike on the roof racks and I was ready to go. I had driven a mere 40 meters down the road when I heard something rattle and clunk then fall off the back of the car. Not that easy trying to find a black 15mm through axle on the black bitumen road in the pitch black of the early morning! Ten minutes later I was back on track.

I arrived at 9am with a good hour to get things sorted. It was a beautiful sunny morning and I was feeling great and ready to get racing! Number plate and transponder mounted, body stretched and limber, a few warm up pedals and we were on the start line in no time.

It wasn’t a bad turn out, with around twenty riders in A grade and quite a few throughout the other grades. We were to complete 6 laps and were informed it should take around an hour. The A Graders were the first to start. The race begun with a 50 metre sprint up a bitumen road, then entered the single track via a sharp left hand turn. I positioned myself in the second row (being my first race I didn’t want to be pushy and jump right up the front!) and to the far left to give me a good jump into the first corner.

4,3,2,1 GO!! We were off and around the left hander then shooting down the first rocky section before I knew it. I managed to get around the firstcorner in fourth, but with limited passing opportunities till around the half way point it was time to settle in and get a feel for the track conditions. It was a rather fun course with some technical rocky downhill sections at the start followed by some smoother faster sections in the middle then climbing slightly towards the end to get you back up to the start line.

Following the wheel in front me quite closely, I noticed the back end of his bike start to drift and it soon became apparent that he was rapidly loosing air out the rear tyre. With the sealent in his tubless set up clearly not sealing the slash in his tyre, he soon retreated to the side of the track leaving me in third. , After a short chase i managed to get myself into 2nd place just before the end of the first lap. With the rider in 1^st place having already entered the single track for his second lap as I was still 50m from the start line, I knew it would require a fair effort to catch him. But he must have been flying because that was the last I saw of him all race! Eventually the rider in 3^rd caught me up mid way through the second lap and we fought it out for the rest of the race, but with my legs giving out slightly on the last lap I crossed the line in 3^rd. I was pretty happy  with the result and the race in general. The vertex felt awesome in the first race experience I’ve had on it, and my fitness is coming along nicely for this early in the season. I look forward to stepping the training up a few notches in the coming months in preparation for the start of the winter xc series. The next race in the calendar is the 24hour dirty week end which I’ll be entering in a four man team. I’ll keep ya posted!

I was looking forward to getting amongst the action in this year’s XC season, so when Rich announced over the edge were keen to support me it was perfect!

There was some discussion on which bike would be my weapon of choice. I had had my eye on a Rocky Mountain Vertex 29er for a while and was keen to give the whole 29er thing ago after all the favourable   press. Everyone was keen to get the ball rolling (or bike in this case!) so an 18’’ Rocky Mountain Vertex RSL  970 was ordered and the anxious wait for it to arrive begun.

I was working in Melrose mid week when I received the txt “ITS IN J”.  A one hour lunch break later and it was built! ‘Wow, that is a sweet looking bike’ I thought. I’ve found a lot of 29ers look slightly out of proportion or just a little odd, but the Vertex just looked right. I had to drag myself back to the rest of my days work with the vision of the rocky infused in my mind. I was chomping at the bit to get the Vertex out on the twisting, flowing Melrose single track.

The first ride! From the moment I rode out the shop and down the street it just felt right. I wasn’t feeling any of the quirks often associated with 29ers but I thought this might well change once I turned onto the trail head. After an hour or so of fangin around the trails I was conjuring up plans to sell my much loved 26’’ XC dually as I couldn’t see any need for it anymore. This bike is awesome! It flies up the hills and descends like a demon! The carbon frame, skinny 27.2 seat post, thin seat stays and 29’’ wheels all add up to an amazingly compliant ride. I am stoked, this is the perfect bike for the season ahead.

Across the Hay plane we went to the tune of Maccas’ youth in England. Over a full Murray River and then further down the track until 2 lanes became 1 and the Murrumbidgee threatened!

In all truth we probably wouldn’t have slept in Hay if it was light when we arrived or maybe if either one of us was a little more media savvy!? But there we were, mouth agape on Friday morning as the Murrumbidgee lapped just inches away from the tops of the levee, the whole town had been advised to evacuate by the SES and there’s Macca and I having breaky on the banks of the Murrumbidgee. I mean talk about piss in the eye of the tiger!

On arrival to Canberra it was windy and fine, perfect for drying out the track, Macca and I turned in our slowest lap for the weekend, a very cruisie 2hrs on the 18+km track, 80% of which was single track, noice. Carbo loading and then an early ish night.

Race day dawned another beautifully fine day with more wind, more drying wind! So in the end we started in dusty conditions. I drew the short straw and was forced to do the run in the traditional le mons start; 500m later I was blown! Forget the 21km extended ride lap I was about to stumble around!! 1hr and 9mins later it was all over and Stu was on track for what was to be the fastest lap of our little group; 54mins which was never repeated in the proceeding 22 hours.

The familiar patterns of your traditional 24hr race started to slowly unravel, each rider trying to out do the last, finish the lap, sit down, refuel, recover and do it all again! Discussions of what is the best food, pizza vs baked spud? Where are we situated in our category, now we know this what do we want achieve? Top 20 finish, is that realistic?….so it goes on.

Night laps are the most crucial in a 24hr race, there is always a performance drop but if you can keep churning out top draw laps you can really make up some time. This is at least true when it comes to the bottom end of the table. So now the night laps begin and slowly but surely the track gets clearer and clearer, congestion is no longer an issue! But those that are still racing are in the top of the table and just happen to be our main rivals!

Conversation has almost ceased now, there is just the look, perhaps even dread. This is the Douglas Mawson moment. Enthusiasm has left the track, there is only grit and determination here now, where is Wayne Bennett when you need him?! Cometh the man cometh the hour. Everyone is still putting in and there is only a small percentage drop from everyone which is as expected. I put in a half lap in the dark after my light dies mid lap! Right on dawn, there I am stranded in the dark; I quietly stalk an innocent rider and jump on his wheel. I push him all the way home; a full 10km and only lose a couple of minutes compared to my previous night lap.

Dawn is cold and cloudy, after a 4 degree night the day is struggling to get past lukewarm and so is our team, but in true Douglas Mawson style we battle on epitomised by the diving finish Stu performs on the final sub 60minute lap, all for 18^th place! A true team of battlers, not a rockstar amongst ‘em

Traffic mayhem begins, can you imagine 2800 plus riders trying to leave via 1 gate all suffering from major exhaustion??! Some time later we are winging our way back across the sodden Hay plane, no trophies, no bling just a couple of quietly satisfied blokes who had given there all and finished inside the top 20.

If you are staying in Melrose over the school holidays and want to go for a ride –  pop into OTE and ask about our shop rides. They will be suited for all ages and abilities. Pick up a map and have a chat to Jos our new bike manager, about the trails in Melrose or Barts.  He can also help you get back on your bike if you have a mechanical issue. For the kids we have a “scavenger hunt on ya bike”  leaves from OTE – (Gold coin donation – money goes towards maintaining our bike trails)

If you are looking at getting your kids a new bike, we have just got in some more awesome BYK kids bikes and balance bikes.

Our rental bikes have landed and ready to get dirty!  These are also up for sale so if you hire it and like it – buy it!

Plenty of beautiful merino wool and our latest indulgence are the new “Otto and Spike” scarves and beanies to keep you warm – don’t forget to grab an OTE tshirt as a souvenir!!

Friday night fun at the Pump track – join the locals and meet down at the pump track after 6pm.  (weather permitting)

Also ask Pip if any women rides are going out  -  I am sure she will be up for a ride on her new Cube Peleton.

Melrose will have live music at the pubs on the weekends also serving great coffee/wine and food, we have a fantastic rail trail great for families, and if winter comes early come into OTE – we will have our fire going, coffee brewing, few board games and the latest mountain bike DVD to keep you entertained.

See you in Melrose!

Come ride with us in Melrose over Easter 

Some options to plan your weekend around – All subject to whim, weather and want, so come in and confirm with us!

Donations are welcome – all money raised goes towards trail maintenance

 Good Friday

Early Morning Road Ride – 7am

Ride Melrose – TBA Very Casual 1 hr Melrose trails pending who is around….

Ongoing Time Trials on set route – Come into OTE we have a whiteboard and details of the routes – all you need is a mate and a stopwatch.

Pump Track Session. Challenge the locals on their fast times – 4.30pm – 6.30pm Weather permitting

Easter Saturday

Girls Road Ride – 9am

Bike ride to Bartagunyah afternoon – 2pm

Live Bands at the North Star and Mount Remarkable Hotel

Easter Sunday

Early Morning Road Ride – 7am

Family Scavenger Hunt – ALL DAY – come to OTE and pick up a map

Girls paced Dodging Bullets for everyone – 11am

Track Building afternoon – 2pm – working on local trails

OTE Night at the back of the Shop. Fires, food and fun – 7:30pm

( ALL donations go to trail maintenance )

Easter Monday

Early Morning Last Blast – 7am

Awesome footage of Melrose – these guys live and work in adelaide now but are looking forward to coming back to play in their home town for the Fat Tyre Festival