Castlemaine Rocky Riders Mountain Bike Club

Put the 9th February in your diary. Another 8 race dirt crit series begins. 6:30pm every Thursday to the end of March. More info: Dirt Crits

The second order of Rocky Riders kits has arrived and is available to collect from Cycle Concepts Castlemaine.

Payment is required on collection by either cash, cheque or direct deposit.

Extra stock has also been ordered so if you missed out on placing your order, a selection of men’s and women’s knicks and jerseys across most sizes are available to purchase at the shop.

• Jerseys – $60
• Knicks – $110

Please note, the clothing is subsidized by the club to help keep costs down for our members.

So make your way into Cycle Concepts Castlemaine and pick up your new club kit today!

Name – Aaron Davies

Profession – Storyboard Artist, Home Renovator, Stay at home Dad

Uphill or Downhill? – Uphill. I’m a chugger. I’m not fast but enjoy the challenge and don’t have to crash my brains out to get better at it.

Most epic day on a bike? – 14 hours in the Japan Alps on a fully loaded touring bike. Hung over form a night out on the town with a friendly dude from California I met in a bath house the previous day, I vastly underestimated the distance I needed to cover to get where I needed to go. I climbed two alpine passes and made it to my hostell just before nightfall. This was in the days before I discovered chamois cream. It was 3 days before I could sit on my bike again.

I’m currently riding… Good points and bad points. – A retro Orange sub 5. I like single pivot bikes for reasons many find difficult to comprehend. Sure it’s a little dated (the frame is at least 9 years old) and may not track as well as modern “super, magic, imaginary, god partical, pivot ” designs but I like how it rides and I love its blocky war machine aesthetics.

Favourite trails (other than Castlemaine) – Hmmm. Since having children I don’t get out much. Woodend is nice and I love Sparrow hill in Canberra with the single speed.

If I wasn’t mountain biking I’d be… Miserable most of the time. Possibly divorced with my fingers stained yellow from chetos, breath stinking of redbull and spending 25 hours a day playing video games that provide little in the way of entertainment or satisfaction for the sole purpose of passing the time. Then dead before the age of 40 from a marsh mellow and cheese overdose. My children would be raised fatherless and would spend their lives with their heads bowed in shame from the knowledge that that carried 50% of my genome. Where before they would have gone on to become great humanitarians and leaders of men they would now only aspire to be the guys making tea for the annoying Indian tellemarketers who try to scam you with fake tech support. It’s a bleak picture that my wife is, by now, painfully aware of.

One day I’ll ride… The north shore in Vancouver and Moab.

When I head out for a ride I never leave without… Shoes , Helmet , Gloves. Shoes , Helmet , Gloves! Shoes , Helmet , Gloves.!! Shoes , Helmet , Gloves.!!!…..My mantra.

My race highligh – Racing singlespeeds with my little brother at the MTB XC nationals at Eildon. Our closest race ever with lots of passing and neither of us letting the other out of our sight it was shaping up to be an awesome battle to the finish. Sadly my little bro flatted through transition going into the final lap. Although it was a huge disappointment that the contest ended that way, that close competition with my best friend and brother was the most fun I’ve ever had racing mountain bikes.

My race lowlight – Crashing on a straight clear down hill and breaking my collarbone with 2km to go at the 2005 Hiddenvale 100km Epic.

Aaron's in race mode

Corey Nichol recently joined the Rocky Riders and is also a road/track cyclist with Castlemaine Cycling Club. He was recently featured in the Castlemaine Mail as Junior Sports Star of the Week.

Congratulations to Corey. Keep an eye out for him on the trails, track, road and just about anywhere else you can ride a bike.