DSCN1896, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

————-PRESS RELEASE———-

Woodstock Thor Honda and Thomasrdotorg are pleased (some might say “fully stoked”) to announce a one year deal for Melbourne motoring journalist Tom Reynolds to race in the factory Woodstock Thor Honda team aboard a special one off Japanese prepared CRF450X.

Team owner Yarrive Konsky: “After Tom’s startling performances in last year’s Dirt Bike Master’s we were ready to look at a full year deal. His performances showed us we had found a rider for the over 50′s. Of course he’s ‘only’ 37, so that did make things a little difficult- but we’ll sort that out in due course. All jokes aside, we were pleased with the races he competed in where he didn’t crash- and that was a special one. The race where he crashed and broke two ribs showed us that he was a special rider. Very special. Of course at the time, we didn’t know the full extent of the damage and we were very, very worried. It was only later we discovered that it was a triple clamp setup, a set of handle bars, a full set of plastics, an exhaust and two marshals.”

Yarrive continues:
“After looking at the team members for 2009, it was clear we were going for a youth policy, so bringing Tom into the team will help to raise not only our spirits, but also the average age. We’ve gone from an average of 18 to 29 by adding just one rider.”

Tom Reynolds:
“There will naturally be some people who see this as a decision that is not based around talent, but more around whether I can get Yarrive a drive in an Aston Martin for the weekend. The answer is yes; anytime Yarrive wants a drive in an Aston I can organise it for an hour or two.”

While the deal has only just been finalised, Reynolds rejects any suggestions that he will not be fit enough for this weekend’s opening round at Albury Wodonga. “I won’t lie, at 37 it’s a struggle to get to a racing weight and Honda have been very supportive by providing a rear suspension setup straight off a Gold Wing. Meanwhile I’ve been hard at it for months. I’m on a semi strict diet of hops, barley and wheat delivered by liquid infusion. In time I’ve been on said diet I’ve gone from 72kgs to a race ready 97kgs.”

At time of writing, the final hurdle is an ASDA supervised drug test, due to be completed this afternoon 1 April 2009…

——————ENDS—————-

11:59am STOP PRESS UPDATE:
Woodstock Thor Honda regret to announce that Tom Reynolds has been released from his racing contract for 2009 effective immediately after failing a drugs test. Details at this time are sketchy, but it is understood that an excessive amount of oestrogen was found in his system, rendering him not only unable to compete in the men’s division, but a threat to other team members safety.

——-ENDS——

Adrian and I had a run through the hills just a couple of weeks before the horrible fires that have destroyed so many houses and lives. It’s perfect country for motorcycle riding- well made, curvy roads, beautiful scenery and people who welcome us everytime . We respond by respecting the speed limits and spending money in the towns (Especially the Kinglake bakery!)

We’ll be back just as soon as the people in these towns can shake the ash off the welcome mat. Looking forward to it…

The rise and rise of the GPS data logger has brought back speed windsurfing in a huge way in recent years.

Going back 15-20 years, speed sailing was an incredible pain. You had to lay out a 500 metre course, with timing gates set for a certain tide and then hope it all panned out. Having a GPS means you can hit the water when you want.

And it’s ratified:

The following applies when using GPS survey equipment:
a. Receiver logging rates shall be set at 10 Hertz, which results in a GPS position every 1/10th of a second.
The GPS system shall provide time stamp with each position that are accurate to within .001 second.

More on the rules here.

The Navi BT-11 brought an SD equipped GPS data logger to everyone. For about US$80 you had a device that was incredibly accurate, water resisitant (a waterproof camera style bag sorted that out) and made analysis, top speed and even integration with Google maps incredibly easy. Here’s an example.

So we come to Macquarie Innovation. The first time I saw it’s predecessor Yellow Pages Endeavor I did not know what to make of it. I sailed behind it on my windsurfer in 1993 when it was doing its test runs and at the time I thought it was not super fast, but had weirdly blistering acceleration.

I recall reading about designer Lindsay Cunningham and thinking he was actually full of crap; of course that opinion turned out to be full of crap. He designed the “boat” to be an assymetrical speed machine, designed only to beat the record with efficiency, not be the blunt instrument we windsurfers were and still are. In that year they took the outright and boat class record, pushing the record to 46 knots (52mp/h or 85km/h) over the 500 metre course. Several things about this record blew me away. First Cunningham predicted it- the speed they would achieve and the wind they would need to do it in- just 20 knots. This record stood for 11 years until the blunt instrument of windsurfing inched its way past.

After that, I thought a smaller craft for one crew might be e better option and it could be made stronger and therefore go out in more wind. Once again; blinded by the theory that you need lots of wind (30-40knots) to go fast. The new craft had a different wing/sail but was still about the same on-water dimensions.

This latest record of 48.14 is up by 2 knots, around 4%. Thats huge in my view. If the world record for 100m dropped by 4%, that would represent a drop of .4 seconds- about 4 metres! The peak speeds were over 51 knots. Really all the team needed was a steady 22 knots (instead of the 18 they got) and we would be looking at a 50+ knot world record- and probably another 11 years of holding it.

The efficiency of this new craft is astounding:

This performance represents not only the fastest speed ever recorded by a sailing boat, but also the most efficient use of wind energy by any craft competing for the World Sailing Speed Record.
Capable of sustaining speeds in excess of three times that of the wind powering it, Macquarie Innovation showcases an Australian project that is leading the world in sail powered performance, efficiency and design technology.

Dr Tom Chalko- sustainability early adopter and speed sailing fan was there:

MI speed sailing craft on course in Sandy Point on 8 March 2007. It reached 48 knots in 16-18 knots of wind. I must have been the only spectator – there is not a single footprint on the beach..

Well done to the Macquarie Innovation team. Long may your record reign.

That’s the Macquarie Innovation container filled with gear to attempt to take back the speed record from windsurfers , originally uploaded by Tüshar.

The container as used by the team for their gear.

Licensed under Creative Commons.

Image used courtesy of Yachting Victoria/Macquarie Innovation Team.

It’s been a few weeks, and I am a bad blogger of late due to a new job, new baby and other things being more important (apologies!)

The 2008 Dirt Bike Masters- I competed in two of three rounds- was fantastic.

I swore to Mum (and to a lesser extent Rachel) that this would be my last gasp, my lap of honour on a dirt bike. But as I considered the fitness I gained in the lead up and the pure hard core physicality of racing a dirt bike for just 10 minutes three times in a day- I’m well and truly hooked and I am very keen (Honda willing) to go round again next season.

The first round was appalling. I was left a physical wreck. Terribly unfit and totally unsuited to the requirements of even low level competative dirt bike racing.

I skipped over round 2 due to both Bathurst and… this is going to sound insane… I had not recovered from the first round some 6 weeks earlier. Yes people. It’s that difficult.

In the lead up to round three I actually managed to get some worthy fitness sessions under my belt. Rachel oh-so-conveniently found a gym with personal trainer and then I aided and abeted this conspiragcy by telling David the personal trainer that I was going to be racing the damn thin in a matter of weeks. He selected a program that I thought was ok, but it turned out to be brilliant come race day.

Race Day
Round Three at Lardner Park looked on paper to be a likely disaster for me. It was a grass track cut onto the side of a hill and then rotary hoed. Then a water truck.

I watched the first warm up session (women) with a mixture of admiration and horror. Some sections looked like potential youtube worthy disasters.

This was proved a worthy thought when I was out – determined to just circulate and get to know the track. The top turn was so wet that my idiotic decision to “experiment”with a few racing lines resulted in a slow front end tuck, slide and embarassing clean up back in the pits.

Race one was not great. I arrived late to the start (being cool n all) and was left on the far left side of the track. About 10 feet from the start I would have to cross the last turn berm and then realy try to get going. I got a terrible start, found a rythmn and even passed a few guys- as shown below.

Race two I was offered That Bike- the bosses factory fiddled CRF450X. I felt great insofar as my health and fitness was concerned (despite a slight fade out at the end of race one) so I was very keen to give the beast a go.

On the start line- again on the non favoured side, I decided that 60 odd horsepower would be enough to drag me down the straight in second gear. It was more than enough. She sat up like an as yet unbroken horse and I headed to turn one on the rear wheel, desperately clawing my 100 kilos of glory towards the handlebars to settle the stallion. Futile.

After about half a lap I realised this bike needed a different style. Where on the softer 250cc I needed to keep corner speed, keep the engine reasonably revved up, the 450 just wanted me to turn hard, stand it up, and shoot it to the next corner. It worked like fury. I passed many riders this way. I can act all “Jeez I was good” but it was a simple combination of more horsepower + fat guy + reasonable technique= fast.

This came unstuck twice- once when I tried a block pass in too high a gear with too much back brake. I got in front alright, but I stalled it and sat there for a lap trying to get her restarted. I was just about buggered when she came to life. I gave up a crowd pleasing wheelie of anger and rejoined my the same guys I had passed.

Fitness meant nothing. I was blowing like a steamtrain. The much loved horsepower was now straining my arms. I could barely stand for the whoop sections. I wanted the chequered flag.

Passing the last lap board, I decided to have crack anyway and was lining up a guy to pass in the exact manner you see in the video above and a perfect storm/bad planet alignment occured.

Yarrive Konsky- Woodstock Honda team boss and the owner of the bike I was racing- has small hands. He has the front brake lever very close to the bars. Me? I have huge hands. Everytime I pulled the front brake on with two fingers it hit my knuckles and meant the brakes weren’t on hard enough. So I used all my fingers.

This meant I had lots of front brake, but bugger all control. The bike is bucking and weaving and I need to be stable to brake “just so”.

…and so I am brought undone. I go in late, grab a man sized fist of brakes, hit a few bumps and lock the front wheel. This time I have a fast and violent front end tuck but I try to ride it out. I do not succeed in gathering it up and when it finally all goes to hell I hit my chest on the right handle bar hard and go up and over the bike like a rag doll. This breaks two ribs. I land on my back and feel ok. I go back to the bike and try to lift it and I feel significantly less ok. I cannot lift it. A track marshall lifts it for me. I remount, decide not to finish and roll down the grassy hill, bump start the bike and ride slowly to the pits. The bike is not happy. Check the handlebars in this shot (ignore Harry in his sling!):

I’m sore, but not in trouble. The talented and likeable Peter Boyle offers me his enduro championship winning CRF250 for race 3 and I reluctantly agree. (well, part of me is “oh I will crash ANOTHER factory bike” but part of me says “hell yeah”)

So, I mount up, get to the start line early. I ace the start, I pass guys, I ride hard, I feel great. I’m in the top half and I feel ten feet tall and as stoked with my performance as legally allowed.

Here are some more pics:

www.flickr.com thomasrdotorg’s Dirt Bike Master Round 3 photoset

So thanks must go to: Yarrive Konsky and Sean Wisneske from Woodstock Honda. Super special thanks also to event organiser Adam Bailey and PR guru Marscelle Tully for getting me a ride and treating me so well across the various rounds.

God, wife and mother willing I’d love to go round again in 2008. Racing is back in my blood, and I’m better physically and mentally for it.