Win for our sponsored female riders at Scott 24hr

Scott 24 hr - Mt Stromlo, Canberra 8-9 October 2011

Weekend Run Down

Friday 7am: Packing the bikes into the car to start our journey to Canberra. Lot of driving to come, but excited about taking Kylie's new Era and Rachael's faithful Safire to one of our favourite riding destinations.

Friday 4pm: Arrived at Mt Stromlo. Raining. Waited in the car for rain to stop before heading out for a quick practice lap. We encountered something we'd never seen at Stromlo before - Mud! Luckily, most of the tracks are fast and grippy, and the course is awesome.

Friday 11pm: Raining again and there are noisy frogs croaking away right next to our tent. We eventually forget our excitement about the race and get some sleep.

Saturday 11.45am: Sunshine! Our team of 6 females (Faster Pussycat) have assembled for the start of the race. Ace to see so many female competitors at a 24 hour event. Kylie lined up for the Le Mans start. Fortunately the new S-Works shoes that Paul fitted us out with are up for the challenge of the starting sprint on bitumen!

Saturday 5pm: Holding 1st place! Kylie's first lap was a bit of a parking lot, as first laps usually are, and Rach came a cropper on a slippery bridge after a mid-afternoon thunderstorm but otherwise pulled off a very quick lap. Smiles all round.

Sunday 2am: Night laps have been going pretty well, thankfully no more rain. A slight technical hiccup with some lights, one flat tyre, and some dense fog, but the mood is good and we're comfortably still in first place.



Sunday 9am: After an awesome dawn lap watching the sunrise, Kylie's gone back to bed. Rach has headed out for another speedy lap in glorious sunshine. Trails in perfect condition and all team members still smiling.

Sunday 12pm: Race is over. Kylie's Era performed faultlessly, and Rach's Safire helped her speed through the team's second last lap to victory! Total 26 laps in 24 hours. Thanks to Erica, Jasmine and Jess (from Canberra), and Kim (from Mt Beauty) for such a great race!

Many thanks to Paul and Nicola for getting our bikes tuned up and ready to race and also for fitting us out with some great Specialized gear.

Meet Bike n Bean Female MTB Sponsored Riders- Kylie & Rachael

Kylie & Rachael initially applied for the Bike n Bean Female Cycling Ambassador but were not succesful. However we were very impressed with their team and individual race results over the last few years that we wanted to help the young ladies achieve at a higher level.

Kylie writes:
I love my hard-tail cross-country mountain bike, but after a couple of years of participating in cross-country enduros, I found myself with a severe case of 'dually' envy.

Enter Paul and Nicola from Bike'n'Bean, who've set me up with a Specialized Era Comp (Carbon!). It weighs a tiny 11.3 kilos, the geometry and set-up are female-specific and best of all it's black - stealth warrior black! I couldn't wait to try it out.

Conveniently, I was heading to Canberra for a weekend of riding just after the bike arrived, so its first outing was to Bruce Ridge. It took me a little while to get used to the rear suspension, the 2 x 10 gears and the wider handlebars, but by the time we arrived at Mt Stromlo for the afternoon, I couldn't stop smiling. The bike is in its element on rocky climbs and descents, and its so easy to ride that I felt a little bit like I was cheating! On Sunday we headed out to East Kowen Forest, where the fun continued. After two days and almost 60km on the bike, everything was still running silently and smoothly, and I grinned all the way back to Melbourne.


Rachael writes:
I walked into Bike n Bean as a mountain biker but somehow managed to walk out with a shiny new Specialized Amira roadbike. Hmmm...still not sure how that happened! Anyway I was keen to take it for a spin as soon as I got home.

The initial pedal strokes felt a little bit wobbly - trying to get used to the new forward position and super skinny tyres - but once I got going it felt great. The carbon frame made for a smooth ride and I felt like I was flying along the boulevard.

Last weekend I headed to Forrest and rode my Amira to Colac. Apart from the headwinds it was a lovely ride. We had lunch at a nice cafe before returning to Forrest via quiet country roads. I think this is when I finally began to start understanding the attraction of road cycling. I was really quite enjoying it. Although, having said that, my Specialized Safire is still my #1 bike - nothing beats the adrenalin rush of steep descents, weaving through trees and negotiating obstacles at high speed!