Where is Alex......???

I am traveling around Australia since July and spending very little time on my bike.
Instead I am exploring this beautiful country by 4WD, feet, water and sometimes on my bike.

You could say I am resting from training and racing for a couple of months, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t miss the adrenalin and excitement of Mountainbike racing. I do miss it a lot!

I miss the regular training and riding with friends and especially the social atmosphere of Endurance racing.
But it is important to get away from a routine for a while to re-energize and look back at youself from a different perspective.

I do love my 'Ay up' Bikeriding lights that -thanks to a recently developed headband- are the best travel-lights ever, though they do cause some surprised faces on the campsites because they are so bright...

By the looks of it, I will be back in Melbourne early next year.
Meanwhile if you are keen on following my trace around Australia, have a look here - http://www.ozoffwego.blogspot.com/

BYE BYE to the King

I have to farewell my Kona bikes now... the 'King' goes back to one of my sponsors(bikeshop BSC Cycles) where it will be for sale for the next lucky person.
The 'King' has helped me twice to be the Australian Champion in my age group, win the Kona 24hr race and several other 6-,12- hour and other be successfull in shorter XC races.
I called it my fun bike with the overall comfortable set up!

one last hug








By the way the Hei Hei is for sale too, please check out here: http://alexkiendl.blogspot.com/2008/06/mtb-hei-hei-for-sale.html

Farewell ride in the You Yangs

I was impressed by the amount of people that showed up for my very last ride in the You Yangs this Sunday. I very much enjoyed the ride in such a great company!!! Riding single track with such a big group is a bit of a stop and go in order not to lose each other and some of us(including me) got a bit cold due to heavy winds. But we were lucky with the weather and didn't get wet.Finished of with some moist 'Redwine-cake' (unfortunately it didn't rise in the oven, damn!) .

Thanks to you guys for coming along: Jacqui, Duncan, Vinca,Ewen, Katie, Russ,Ugly(not on the photo anymore), Dion, Dave, Sharon, Billy the dog, Rowan, Kelly, Ali, Marc, Scott, Turi, Tex, Pete and some others(which name I don't really know...sorry).

MTB 'Hei Hei' for sale

Trustworthy and well loved Kona 'Hei Hei' - tested in several XC and Endurance races











a few details:
Frame size 17"
Travel - 2.5"
Fork(see small pic) SID
Rear Shock - Fox Float RP2
Crankarms - Race Face
Brakes - Hayes
Stem Raceface Evolve XC
Headset- FSA Orbit DL
B/B - Race Face ??
Wheels(almost new):
- Front/Rear Hub FSA XC-300 Wheelset
- Rims FSA XC-300
- Tires Maxxis Ignitor
F/D - Shifters- Shimano XT
R/D - Shifters- Shimano XT
Color - silver
Price - $2000 ono NOW 1800

Please feel free to come around and check it out

Green

I am in Germany until June and enjoying some endless MTB trails around Heidelberg and Siegen - it's beautiful spring time.
Everything is green up here and everthing is in blossom and just really beautiful...
Noice........one early morning ride!!!

One early morning run in the forest around my home, with the family dog Tell - the day I left to fly back to Australia.

Chase the sun 1

The 'Snotrockets' revived (alias Duncan Murray and myself) came first in the mixed pair(husband and wife) category. We had an awesome race with good riding, fun tracks and lots of people to catch up with and talk to.
A good event, even with the computer system breakdown.

Time up!

This is it....my Mountainbike race time in Australia is over!
This month(may) is the last month you will see me at a race in Australia, hopefully in a team and having fun.
After tossing up and down weather to go or not to go to the 24hr Worldchampionships in Canada, I had to realize that my mind an d body need a break from it. Therefore I have to anounce my semi-retirement - at least from solo Endurance racing in Australia(still planning to race overseas).
It's about time to move on and to get closer to our families and friends in Europe.
But before we leave, Andy and I are planning to go on a trip around Australia, aiming to leave 1st of June, traveling for as long as we need. Once we come back we will have to say 'Good buy' to everyone and leave Australia for good. It's sad but very exciting!
Check our travel blog where you can follow our trip : http://www.ozoffwego.blogspot.com

Love you all!

Training in Winter

Rollers Session at Vigor Studio every Tuesday night from 6.15pm and Thursday morning from 6.15 am . I love the sessions because it is very effective training and a good excuse to socialize with the others over a dark hot chocolate at Cafe 'ici' afterwards.

The pictures show me riding on a e-motion roller for the first time...still concentrating not to fall off...and my coach Simon Knowles trying to make me pedal harder...

Melburn-Roobaix

SEE YOU SATURDAY ......

Six Hours In The Sattle S.H.I.T.S.

...it felt like riding in high Altitute with a hangover ... only two weeks after the 24hr race I didn't expect anything from my poor legs and lungs and managed to place 3rd in the woman race after Erica Gurner and Kim Mc Cormack.
Well done Erica coming first in her first 6hr solo Endurance race and kicking our butts!
Great atmosphere, I was very happy to see so many familiar faces. Always fantastic to race the tracks in the Beechworth Mountain bike park.

24 hr National Champs...

It was a tough race and the biggest battle against me that I ever had to go through during a race.It didn't look like I was going to finish this race after falling back to 4th place during the first quarter of the race and feeling very, very weak - almost hunger flatted. The cold and cough from the last weeks took its toll and I had no strength to push.
But thanks to my absolute fantastic support team Justine, Evan and Andy(Andy even jogged behind me to encourage me not to pull out, telling me that I will get better), I started feeling better at night, rode constant lap time and fought back and was able to hold 2nd place until the finish.I can tell you it was a huge mental struggle, my body showed signs of fatigue after only 3 hrs into the race, I crashed and there were tears (yes, I do regret those now). Because all those signs are very unusual for me, I knew I wouldn’t be able to perform at my best and therefore I was begging my support team to please let me pull out of the race. I just couldn’t imagine to race for another 19, 18,17,16,15…hours. Some time after about 10 hours into the race Andy gave me the information that surprised me ‘first is only 4 minutes ahead’….and I started chasing and chasing and chasing.

I realized that Andy must have given me a wrong information when Kathrin past me and was just about to lap me for the first time. I was a bit confused and thought she might have had a longer break and just tries to catch me again, but she looked far too strong to be on the same number of laps as I.
During several short stops to grab food or a bottle I insured my support team and everybody around who had to listen to my whinging that this would be my last 24hr solo race!!!
Nothing ran after schedule during this race. I had my short, warm fuzzy break and a change of clothes after only 6 hours(usual after 10 hours). The never ending night time forced me to ride with an I-pod during the entire dark period (usual I take it only for about 3 hours). I had to take 3 ‘no doze’ tablets not to fall asleep on the bike and 2 painkillers for the lower back pain….usual I avoid to take any medicine. At least it wasn’t as cold as usual during a 24hr race in Canberra and I didn’t have to stop to put on layer after layer. The longed after sunrise was most beautiful but reminded me that there were still 6 hours to go and that the almost 100% singletrack had it’s impact on my lower back so that I had to stop twice for a quick ‘deep heat’ back rub, which mad the pain go away for a short time. My support team was in a good mood, everybody out there was cheering us on and the atmosphere was fantastic. I was very, very happy that I didn’t quit, which would have made all the work that my support team had put in, worthless. On my last and 35th lap I could see a happily smiling Andy waiting for me to run the rest of the track to the finish. I refused to go out for another lap and just waited for the 24hr mark to pass to that I could roll through the finish line with all the other 24hr solo nutters, that couldn’t think of doing their last lap anymore either.
Special mentions goes to Melinda Behrens, who rides one sighted and has to turn her head constantly so that her good eye faces the track. I feel embarrassed about my winching when I try to imagine what she must go through during those gruelling 24 hours, where she finished 4th with 29 laps. What a great achievement!! Thanks again to Justine, Evan and Andy, the best support team ever. After all it is a big surprise to me that I still came second with my bad form of that day. I wish I would have been able to show everybody my current good form, when not being run down by some stupid virus.A well deserved win for Kathrin, she is -without doubt- the strongest 24hr MTB Endurance rider in this country!

female
1. Katrin Van Der Spiegel

2. Alexandra Kiendl

3. Claire Graydon

male

1. Jason English

2. John Claxton

3. Daniel Mackay

Back on track...

...more or less. The cold is gone, coughing attacks still come and go as they are pleased, but I am sure I will be fine for the race...
Bikes are ready to roll(thanks to BSC bikes), 'Ay-up' lights are charged,
the car gets packed tomorrow and we are off to Canberra by Thursday night.
Aiming to get organised on race site on Friday as quickly as posssible in order to spend Andy's Birthday(my lovely partner and support person for the race) somewhere nice and trying to relax with a glass of a good local wine.

I hope things are going well and that doing my best will be good enough for a great result!

And yet a cold again...

Only 9 days to go until the start of the 24hr National Champs and I do have another cold.
Same pattern as before the Kona 24hr race 2007 and my first 24hr race in 2006.
What the....
Since the 'Dusk till Dawn 12hr race' race in Queensland more than a week ago, I do my best to rest up, sleep and eat well. It doesn't seem to help, my coughing attacks keep at least my stomach muscles in action...
Fingers crossed that it will soon be over and I will be better in time.

Juzzy - the star!!

Justine Leahy, a Mountainbike Endurance racer in her own right, just offered me her help to support me at the 24hr MTB Nationalchamps ...how good is that!!!!!!!!!
Her and her partner Evan(who is better known as a MTB event photographer), will be there and facing the cold night and taking shifts with Andy to look after me.
Currently, Justine is recovering from knee surgery, which doesn't make her very happy, but it is to my benefit because she can't race...! Thumbs up for Juzzy!
Have a look at her blog: http://justineleahy.blogspot.com/

Know, I got to love her and Evan forever!!! Thanks so much, guys.

Support needed!!!

"Australia's most gruelling solo mountain bike race takes off this Easter weekend, bringing together the nation's best endurance riders. This is one of the Australian qualifying events for the 24hr Worldchampionships 2008. "

The 24 hr National Championships will be held again at Easter(22nd-23rd march - yeah, great date!....) and again in Canberra.

Currently I do have one person(Andy, my man) looking after me, but I do need someone looking after my bikes and just to share the load would be great.

Why not spending the easter weekend up all night and watching people riding around in circles...

Help would be very much appreciated. We will either drive or fly up(and I would pay for your flight and accommodation).

Please drop me an e-mail if you would love to help out(just click on letter symbol below)...I most certainly would love you forever.....

Cheers, Alex

'Ay up Dusk till Dawn' 12 hr MTB race

photo:

solo winners Bellie and myself with sponsor Andrew Patten 'Ay up'

Just one week after the Otway Odyssey, I saw myself packing up again. Race no 5 for this year, which is a bit crazy really.
This time I had to fly to Queensland, lucky I wasn’t on my own. Andrew Bell(Bellie) picked me up Friday afternoon and together we started our mission to race 12 hours from dusk till dawn. Ay up lights, our sponsor was so generous to invite the two of us up to race. Thanks so much!!
I finally met Andrew Patten, the brain behind the lights, for the first time and it was good to see the man behind the best mtb lights on the marked! Riders were able to borrow lights for the race; all afternoon he and his team were busy attaching light mounts on helmets and handlebars and giving instructions.
The race wasn’t going to start before 7pm, so we had a couple of hours to kill…..
Bellie had this great idea of doing a practice lap, while they haven't finished to mark the track yet. We ended up going through thick lush bush, water and riding through spider webs, which made me freak out a little bit and letting Bellie ride ahead. There they were, colourful spiders of the size of my hand, sitting in their webs across the track. This is Queensland! I even saw my first Cane toad, apparently there was a snake and a Lizzard too(riding behind Andrew ‘disadvantaged’ me in seeing those creatures).
As most of the times before a race, I get quiet and would prefer to hide under a blanket.
I, myself can never believe that I am going to ride for 12 hours and would rather be somewhere else... As soon as the race has started, those thoughts are gone, luckily! It helps to have a good support team and to not worry about this part. Matt, the ‘Kona’ Queensland representative, was down to take over this part and to look after Andrew and me. All sorted!!!
After a few laps into the race, I knew this track was going to be fun and that I could ride a fast, but still comfortable pace.
Unfortunately I could never quiet figure out how far the second girl, local favorite

Prue Oswin was behind me; so every time I came through Transition, I got different information… “you are 18 min up, after another lap it was actually 8 minutes, a few laps after it was 10 minutes, then 15 min and before my last lap it was down to 5 minutes.” ohhh, I could feel my grey hair growing. I just couldn’t get rid of Prue Oswin, a girl from the Gold Coast, which competes ins Ironmans.

I finished 7 minutes ahead of her, I could have done one more lap but rolled into the finish actually before the 12 hour mark…ooops….I thought the race was over. Luckily the race organizer didn’t mind. But to be honest I would have liked to do one more lap and to be one lap up to the second place…

Bellie won his solo race in style, with 24 laps one lap ahead of second place and 8th place overall in the race(and he could have done one more lap)...he is a machine!

People in QLD are a very friendly bunch of people and the race was very well organized. Comparing to Endurance races in Victoria, there weren’t as many serious Elite Teams chasing each other around the track. Over all I had another fantastic race and feel very good about my form in the moment and I am curious how this will translate into my goal race for the year - the upcoming 24hr Nationals at Easter…. Fingers crossed!

Read another Race report by 'Ay up' rider Andrew Fellow

Lowan Otway Odyssey 100km Marathon

What a hype around this race, every rider I met within the last three weeks asked me “And, are you going to the Otway Odyssey?”, “Yep, sure I’ll do”…knowing that it will hurt and that I didn’t want to get constantly reminded. But after having done the ‘Trans Germany’ last year I was confident that I was prepared for it all!
The weather forecast promised some good rain for the area and it didn’t disappoint us – it rained almost all afternoon and the night before race start. Everybody was looking worried on arrival Friday night, whereas I was actually thinking that a mud fest could be to my advantage and that I don’t want to worry about the rain…
Being more of an Endurance racer, I do have that lack of sprint strength and I can’t really explode from the start; my race plan was to ignore this fact and to smash myself from start to finish. Get the heart rate up quickly and let the adrenaline kicking in early and keep going on a wave of endorphins (natural!) through the single track …
After the start in Apollo bay, the first long climb up Wild dog road was so much gentler than the climb last year; I managed to pass many girls that usually do leave me behind… I passed Jaci Low, Jenni King and Kathrin Van der Spiegel. I was a bit worried that I was pushing too hard, but my legs just kept going and I was comfortable. As soon as we hit the dirt, I was in my element and passed many people that seemed to be very scared of riding in mud.
Soon after there was no riding anymore, the track had become slippery and not rideable anymore after all the rain. For the next 30-45 min, it was more of a hike than a ride…on the bike…off the bike …
I guess that demoralized a lot of riders and added to the suffering of cramps and early fatigue.
The only thing, that I was worried about, was who of those fast girls behind me, were going to hunt me down soon…
Norm Douglas informed me that I was on 7th position, which made me very happy, because I thought that anything top 10 would be a big achievement in this race.
But that made me be on the run, convinced that I will get run down soon…

During the race I only had minor cramps and felt strong, was hydrated and ate enough to stay on my bike. Coming through the oval in Forrest after the first 65km loop, I refueled with the help of my lovely support team (Thanks to Katie, Ali and Juliette – unfortunately none of them able to ride this time - next year, girls!!). And for the first time I thought it looks like I might stay in top ten!!
I could hear my name through the loudspeaker and that I was doing well. YAY!
The tracks around Forrest are absolutely fantastic and I had a ball, I almost got dizzy from all the cornering, burms, jumps – those track building guys up there have done a great job!
Before I got onto the last 13km loop, I got passed by Kathrin Van der Spiegel….”oh no, you can’t pass me now’, I hear myself saying, thinking that I was never able to beat hear....
As she told me later, she didn’t have much left either anymore and just wanted to break me on those last long fire road climbs….and she did.
I was very happy coming 8th in a field of some very good female riders(although there is a bit of a time gap….).
I had an awesome race and can recommend to anyone out there to do it if you feel comfy on your MTB and don’t mind the pain and lots of climbing uphill...

Results – 100km Women’s Open
1st – Jennifer Smith (USA) – 6:24:56
2nd – Emma Colson (VIC) – 6:34:36
3rd – Jaci Low (VIC) – 6:44:18
4th – Tory Thomas (VIC) – 6:49:09
5th – Naomi Hansen (QLD) – 7:03:24
6th – Katrin van der Spiegel – 7:05:40
7th – Rebecca Locke (VIC) – 7:07:04
8th - Alexandra Kiendl (VIC) – 7:08:58
9th – Jenni King (VIC) – 7:23:19
10th – Deanna Blegg (VIC) – 7:29:17

The Otway Gang: Ali, Turi, Katie, Russell, Erica and I

Tinker in Australia - meeting a legend!

Tinker Juarez was in Australia last weekend to race the "Otway Odyssey". A 100km Mountainbike race, held in the beautiful Otway ranges near the Great Ocean Road.
We started Saturday morning at 7am in Apollo Bay and finished in Forrest some 7 hours later.

Tinker is a three-time U.S. National Champion, a two-time U.S. Olympian, a Pan Am Games Gold Medalist, and a World Championships Silver Medallist. He was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2001.
And I was hugged by him....
More about the hard and cruelling, but fantastic race:
http://www.rapidascent.com.au/asp/Main.asp

I had an awesome day and finished 8th in a very competitive field of Australias best female riders, I am very happy!
Race report to follow soon...

Hard Day At The Office 8 hr Enduro

The first Enduro race of the year and one that I didn't missed out on doing during the last 3 or 4 years. Unfortunately the number of participants a bit cut down due to the busy race calendar and the Otway Odyssey coming up the weekend after.
On Saturday night everybody went up to the pub in town to register for the race and to have the much needed pre-race meal. Thumbs down for the pub not being able to care for the number of people and for the worst Raviolis I had for a long time after waiting for 1.5 hours....!
Ahead of us 8 hours of combination of heat, dust and challenging race tracks. Unfortunately I saw myself more or less without competition, as only one other female rider entered the female solo category. Hard to keep motivated when there is really no point, but I my goal was to race for 7 hours and to use the race as a race preparation for the 24hr National race coming up in Easter. Admittedly my mind was more challenged than my body. I felt a bit bored by the lack of race excitement in my category and even sat down for 'afternoon tea'.
After 12 laps and 7.5 hours, I decided to call it a day and to leave work earlier. I could have pushed it harder and spent less time in transition cooling down under a so longed for ice-water shower. But racing in extreme heat and facing the technical, switch back single tracks and sometimes demoralizing climbs and fast descents was a fair demand on the rider’s concentration and energy. And I was never really challenged which was little bit boring.
Well done to everybody out there!
The best was still to come that afternoon - jumping into the cold river afterwards with Katie, Tom, Ali and Vinca ........ ah, I forgot to mention that I won the race.

YOU YANGS VSS#3 XC RACE

I shouldn't have raced....I should have stayed in bed instead and have crunchy, yummy bacon and eggs for breaky........as easy as that!
But what do you do if social events clash with the race calendar, I refuse to become a social retarded bike nerd!
I am not 19 anymore, which I had to realize that day feeling a little bit sick with my Extraordinary race preparation(see picture).









My body and mind didn't want to wake up until late afternoon, when -after the race- we rode some additionally 2hrs of sweet single track with a few 'race left overs', as there were Tory Thomas, Rohin Adams, Jack Lamshed, Ben Rendall and his girl Mel....I am sure there were more of us, but can't remember.

Looks like I had a pretty good night and a pretty cool and long day!

But next time, I stay in bed..........Prost!

Four days, 140km of competition and 60km of cruising at Tasmania's Wilde Westcoast

I raced in the women veterans class, here is a shortlist of what happened to me during the 4days:

Stage 1 Cradle Mountain: the weather is good giving that there are only 10 days of sunshine a year in this area. - 2nd place Stage 2 Que River: flat tyre, which goes down to 18psi again, after 'fixing' the puncher...In my distress I forgot to check the tyre for thorns....yep! - 3rd place

Stage 3 Stirling Valley: great downhill!! I forget to unlock my fork and riding down with 50psi in my tyres(still pumped up from last cruise stage on bitumen) - 2nd place

Stage 4 Montezuma Falls: 1 flat tyre + 1 tyre that went down to 18psi + 1 lost cleat of shoe on top of best single track(Montezuma Falls), I wasn't very happy to see my podium place going after losing so much time to mechanical. - 6th place...bugger! That day my teammate Craig finished the last 15km on a bare rim

Stage 5 Spray Tunnel: 5km Time trail, due to my lost time from the last stage, my start is within a group of people that are significantly slower than myself. Therefore I am constantly passing at the tide single track, the guy that didn't let me pass, crashes right in front of me and I do have to walk around him at the downhill section. But still - 1st place! YAY!... and no mechanics!

Stage 6 Granville Harbour: absolute fantastic tracks and riding, I have a blast and race head on head with Naomi Hanson, which eventually wins having the better climbing legs. Awesome, fun riding! YAY - 2nd place

Stage 7 Hell's Gate: mostly flat, fast and furious. Exciting drafting if you manage to catch a group of riders. The beach section offers some great view if you have the time to look. Finish here! 2nd place Even that misfortune, I still managed to come 4th place over all in Vets and gained some new experiences in my old days.... in how to change tryres or better maybe using reall tubeless tyres, fixing cleats to shoes and checking your equipment more often.

I had lots of fun with my team Sam Maffett, Craig Findlow, Chris and our Team suppot Justin Riedy, those guys made my days really enjoyable!

Justin Riedy from 'bike beyond' took care of us and did an awesome job...I didn't even need to clean my bike...very much like a princess...

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008

I hope you all had a nice and relaxing break over Christmas and new year.
I am looking forward to an exciting season with lots of riding and some hard racing!

I still have to work on my climbing an overall strength to face the growing group of very talented and fit female endurane racers.

See you out there!