Bikes

BMX, Mountain Bikes, Dirt Jumping

Dec

2012

Lens Testing at Oxford Falls Downhill Track

Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

A couple of months ago I handed in my 28-300mm L lens to my local repair centre. It had been a long time since it had been serviced and it certainly gets enough abuse. It had a broken roller and wasn’t moving through the focus range smoothly. They were quick and prompt with the service getting it back to me before the week ended. I was quite happy with the service until I actually came to use it. From what was a broken roller I now had issues with my aperture, my image stabiliser and the lock that let me keep the lens shut. After jumping up and down in frustration at the camera repair man who more or less told me it was all in my imagination I took my lens directly to Canon. Almost 4 weeks later and nearly $1000 out of pocket I got it back so this weekend was spent putting it through its paces to make sure that it was all running smoothly again.

I spent a few hours on Saturday and a few on Sunday up at Oxford Falls downhill trails just shooting with a few friends and a couple of random riders. Quite happy with the shots. It’s great to have my old faithful back again and Canon, despite taking a silly amount of time to repair the lens, have done a great job at fixing, it. Thanks to all who were there and let me shoot them.

Enjoy.

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

: Downhill, Oxford Falls, Australia

Nov

2012

Single Track Mind – Awaba

Sram’s Single-track Mind Enduro

Last Sunday saw me up at Awaba to the north of Sydney. Chocolate Foot were hosting their final event for the Sram Single Track Mind series. An 8 hour enduro and an enduro it was with temperatures pushing up around 35C. Toasty to say the least. There was around 360 competitors who braved the heat. The track led through some beautiful Eucalypt forests and down into a great section of rainforest. Note to self: When shooting in rainforests be sure to use insect repellent. 2 days later and more and more mosquito bites keep showing up.

: Sram’s Single-track Mind Enduro

: Sram’s Single-track Mind Enduro

: Sram’s Single-track Mind Enduro

: Sram’s Single-track Mind Enduro

: Sram’s Single-track Mind Enduro

: Sram’s Single-track Mind Enduro

: Sram’s Single-track Mind Enduro

: Sram’s Single-track Mind Enduro

: Sram’s Single-track Mind Enduro

Nov

2012

Shorty Gilyeat – Mountain Bike Freerider

Shorty Gilyeat, Backflip, Greenvalleys, Australia

Shorty Gilyeat likes to ride his bike…. a lot. His enthusiasm shows on all levels, whether it is pushing those he is riding with to go a bit harder and a bit bigger to helping organise Australia’s upcoming freeride festival Xup. If he is not on his bike he will quite often be on the end of a shovel building up new jumps to hit.

Nationality: Australian Mate !!

Home jumps: Greenvalleys Freeride Park

Sponsors: NSbikesCo, EnemyOne, Rhythm Imports, Push Bike Factory

Facebook page: Shorty

Shorty Gilyeat, Mountain Bike Freerider

Favourite bike: My very first little blue 12” BMX bike when I got when I was 3 and I owned till I was about 12 before my mum threw in the dump truck before I could fix it. My favourite bike these days though is definitely my NSbikes Majesty, set up with all NS parts its my choice of bike for sure.

Favourite spot: Greenvalleys Freeride Park because I have the freedom to do what i want there.

How did you first get involved with bikes? My dad raced motorcycles, my older brother always rode motocross bikes and they have been my major influences in my life so riding two wheels has always been in the blood for me. After growing up racing go-karts at a high level I felt it just wasn’t enough so I ended up grabbing my old rusted up BMX bike. Luckily enough for me my good mates at that point in my life were the Scar brothers who were heavily into racing BMX so I just tagged along with them where they went. After their influence I’m pretty much at the level I’m at right now with MTB freeride, so yeah good times.

What’s your plans for the future? My plans for the future are all bike related, I’d love to do well in the 2013 FMB tour and keep that going if its possible. At this moment I’m heavily involved with creating events here in Australia alongside a good mate of mine. Our intentions with these events are to not only progress the sport but to show off all Aussie riders and get them international exposure. Many Aussies unfortunately can’t afford to do that for themselves, so for me my main focus now is to give any possibilities to my fellow Aussie riders the dream that I really wished I could live.

Shorty Gilyeat, Greenvalleys, Australia

Who or what influences your riding? Ok, I have 3 people that have a major influence on me. Although we don’t see too much of him these days on a bike, my main influence will always have to be Carey Hart. For those that don’t know what Carey did, he pulled the first backflip in contest on a motocross bike. After I saw that I was convinced that the possibilities in whatever you’re into really are endless. Andreu Lacondeguy is another major influence, this guy has also shown the endless possibilities in progression by creating massive jumps in his backyard and has pulling some ridiculous stuff off on them. And last but never forgotten the late Dane Searls, Dane will always be a massive influence towards my riding, Dane was a big hitter who had a dream to just go big and then bigger and bigger again while pulling the usual insane tricks on those big jumps. I met Dane once and his personality was as awesome as his his riding, So when I grow up I want a piece of those 3 guys in my style.

Shorty Gilyeat, Double Seat Grab Superman, Greenvalleys, Australia

Who or what motivates you to keep riding? The people around me definitely. I’m stoked because I’ve got a young up and coming rider as a good mate and who I always ride with, the crazy kid himself Jack Baker. I met this kid after he begged me to come ride his jumps because I was someone he looked up too, now every time we ride together I’m in awe and I truly do look up to him and his ability to ride a bike, so his progression is definitely my motivation.

Best Moment: My first bike related flight interstate, booking my flight at midnight knowing I had a family BBQ with my girlfriend the next day, and completely not telling her i was in a totally different state till just before my very first run at the demo I went to.

Worst Moment: Having my foot explode out of the ankle socket and completely face the opposite way where the sole of my foot was facing my upwards but to have no physical breaks nor ligament damage show in any x-ray or MRI scan till 5 weeks after it happened.

Tell me something quickly about Xup, Australia’s new freeride festival: Xup festival is going to be one hell of a sick time. We have created something for everyone, so even if your just turning up to watch bring your bike as there will definitely be something you can ride at our event. At the top end there’s big name riders already signed up and with our huge jumps, the level of riding will be insane……Check it out here www.xupfestival.com.au

Any last Words: Seriously, no matter what you choose to do in life, follow that dream and get it done. Life can be cruel at times but if you live it right you will be stoked on the memories that you can sit back and enjoy when your old

Oct

2012

Single Track Mind – Rydal

Rydal is a small town on the western side of the Blue Mountains. This last weekend it played host to the single-track mind endure race. Gil Romane and I travelled out there under the guise of the Outer Image Collective, our new business initiative, in order to meet the organisers and check out the race.

The trail itself is only a couple of years old and is maintained by the Central Tablelands Mountain Bike Club. Although not hugely technical it is a beautiful trail, running circular laps through a beautiful forest of gum trees. It seemed that pretty much everyone had a great day out, I noticed most people had huge grins on their faces in my photos throughout the day. If easy cruising through beautiful forests is your thing then I definitely recommend checking this track out.

Oct

2012

Red Ass State Champs – Ourimbah

Last weekend it was the turn of downhill to come under scrutiny of the lens. I travelled with Gil Romane up to Ourimbah on the New South Wales Central Coast this time to shoot the Red Ass ACT/NSW State Downhill Championships. The aim of the shoot was to get some ideas for new angles, locations from Ourimbah downhill track and just to have a bit of fun while we were at it. I shot only in the first 200m of the downhill track this time, there is more than enough features there to keep me happy shooting for the day. The shots below are a small sample from the day.

Oct

2012

Shimano GP, Ourimbah

So another weekend over and this last weekend I was up shooting at Ourimbah on the Central Coast near Sydney. I was shooting again with Gil Romane and the next and final instalment of the Shimano GP put on by Rocky Trail Entertainment. Despite the threat of rain the weather turned out great. There was 2 events being run simultaneously on the day with around 190 competitors entered. Both races were run on the same track of around 8.5kms per lap. One race lasted 4 hour whilst the other went for 7 hours. There was a bit of carnage too, I think I saw about 5 people go down in front of me, though there was no serious injuries.

I enjoy shooting with Gil. We have a different style and its always great to compare our images at the end of the day. The images will be going on Girophoto so be sure to swing over to and check them out. Gil and I are starting a new co-op called the Outer Image Collective so be sure to keep an eye out for that coming soon. I’ll be sure and let you know when it happens.