Deddington to Storeys Creek MTB Loop (Sat, May 21st)

Our day began with a leisurely drive from our respective parts of the state through to Evandale which is 30 mins east of Launceston.  Emma had travelled from Hobart straight off a night shift so we were hopeful of some good sleepmonsters later in the day.  After fuelling up at the local bakery we headed out as a team to our ride start point at Deddington. 

The aim of the day was to ride to Storeys Creek, trek up Stacks Bluff (Ben Lomond N.P.) and then ride home in the wee morning hours.  We managed to get away by about 2pm on Saturday and started heading east from Deddington.  The first 10km was along a great dirt road with a strong westerly wind pushing us along.  We then stumbled across our first hurdle of the day.  We discovered the trail we wanted to take was in fact on private property so we headed off to negotiate with the owner.  After finally getting permission to travel across his land we then hit the single track which lasted for the next 50km.

The country side and steep terrain was spectacular and when we reached Emu Plains we were completely surrounded by spectacular peaks.  After approximately 800m of climbing, numerous creek and fence crossings we approached our midpoint near Storeys Creek after about 4.5 hours of riding.  The nature of the technical terrain had meant we were travelling a bit slower than planned, so it was at this point we decided to leave climbing Stacks Bluff for another day.  We then headed west for the last 35km’s of riding back to the cars.

As the sun went down we were rewarded with some great downhill fun.  It was also time for the wildlife to come out to play.  We had numerous near misses with wallabies, wombats, herds of deer and then finally a paddock full of cows.   We arrived back at the car at about 11pm after 8.5 hours of very, very, very solid riding.  We had an awesome day out and even though none of us were probably feeling 100% we managed to get through the day unscathed.  Well nearly........  Highlight of the day for some muppets was to see myself (AB) attempt a creek crossing and fail dismally resulting in a full over the handle bars submergence and a head full of icy cold Ben Lomond water.  The things some of us do to entertain our team mates.  Bring on the next adventure.

Bicheno to Swanick Trek

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Steve, Mick and AB spent some time down at Coles Bay on the east coast over Easter.  On Easter Saturday we shuffled from Biceno to Swanick on Tasmania' beautiful East Coast.  We started and Bicheno and then headed south along Friendly Beaches coastal section before heading up over the Coles Bay range and home to Swanick.  The 32km trek took close to 6 hours with terrain varying from dirt road to soft sand to button grass and finally onto a short section of road.  Highlight of the afternoon/evening was definitely Steve's attempt at base jumping (without a parachute) into one of the many creeks we encountered.  Trek gave us a chance to experiment with a trek towing system and it worked a treat. An Awesome day out with a very enjoyable "Miller Chill" or two to finish the day off. 

Mt Duncan (Dial Range - South of Penguin) - 15/5/2011

AB and Mick headed out for lazy Sunday morning run through the spectacular Dial Range (home of the famous Penguin/Cradle trail south of Penguin).  We started at end of lobster creek road, climbed to 600m ish over 9 km to top of Mt Duncan for awesome views, then 4/5 km down the S.E. side of Mt Duncan on a track we have never taken and don't think anyone else had for a very long time either ! Overgrown and quite difficult to nav, but got down to valley floor OK.  What should have been a 1 hour descent took closer to 2 hours. Then the last hour was along the tram track next to Leven River.  The tram track has been cleared superbly after floods earlier this year by forestry boys and is now in best condition we have ever seen.  Super fun morning out (Check out Muppets Adventure Racing on facebook for more photos).
Lesson of the day - Muppets need to drink more in cold weather.

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Emma new bike(s)

Emma muppet has a new MTB - check it out..... No stopping her now !  more pics to come.

AB in Fernie - Jan 2011

Earlier this year AB Muppet (Adrian) travelled to Canada with the family for 8 weeks of visiting friends and family.  Had the pleasure of training in -30's wearing the same training clothes I wear here in Tassie during winter - go figure !   Had an awesome time in Winnipeg (Winterpeg), Travelling through Alberta and BC.  Great to catch up with friends and family, but a highlight is always getting into the mountains.  Finished trip with awesome week of boarding in Fernie with the Davidson clan.


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XPD Tassie here we come

XPD Tassie here we come

Welcome to Muppets Adventure Racing.  We are a group of Tasmanian amateur athletes that have managed to score a gig at the Adventure Racing World Championships to be held in Tasmania later this year ( www.xpd.com.au  ). We are currently about 6 months away from race day and we hope that through this blog we will be able to share our journey and hopefully give you a bit of a laugh along the way.  Today’s post is just to introduce you briefly to the team
1).  Michael Phillips (Captain) – From Somerset
2).  Emma Weitnauer (our import from Hobart) 
3).  Steve Phillips -  From Somerset
4).  Adrian Beard – From Turners Beach

We are the only all Tasmanian team racing in the event and extremely proud of the fact.  Through this blog we also hope to share a little about ourselves and our home state with our fellow A.R. racers, friends and family
Hope you enjoy our journey and will be in touch again soon.