School holidays

School holidays suck.
They all get to sleep in,
and I gotta still go to work.

THE NEW ADDITION

Last week one of my nieces, Sarah, and her hubby, Chris, had their very first baby. His name is Thomas Lewis Kristian. Saw the little tacker the other day and he looked a little yellow, but what the heck, didnt we all at one time. All are doing really well, and I pray the Lords blessing upon them.
It truely is a wonder of our gloryious God to see His creation. But why did He make babies so small and fragile?
Anyho, good one Sarah and Chris, try and get some sleep.
Bless all Dave W.

ALWAYS THE SAME

Does it annoy anyone else that I wear the same clothes all the time. One day I will wash them. Till then, stand clear. DW.

The other day.

Had a hard ride at the park last saturday. Thanks to Joel for the pictures. One day I will figure out how to put comments next to them. Wont I Cathy?
Praise the Lord, it was a great day, even though by the end I was getting fairly tired of pushing that big yellow thing around. So on the Sunday, I rode the red Ironhorse.
That rock roll I came down is realy scary. I am blessed with the ability to switch my brain of, and just do dumb things, so thats the only reason I could ride down it.
The car was pretty well stuffed full of bikes, packs, and people.
If you look carefuly, you may notice that most photos of Graham have him drinking. Just an observation. Thats all.
Well GOD BLESS YOU ALL , yes even you. Im off to bed cause Im tired. Had a big day yesterday.....did I tell you it was my birthday then...well it was. So there. Ok. Fine.
By. Dave W.

The other day. You know...then.

More photos from sat.26th. Enjoy.

19/08/06

Not much of a heading, but what are you going to do?
Headed out to Maroonda dam today with Joel. Thought I would introduce him to some bigish hills. So after the climb up over the dam wall, and cruise down to Donnelly's weir, we dragged, crawled, pushed our way up to the water tank part way up Mt. StLeonards. Rested there for a bit, then it was time to head DOWNHILL. Ow yeah baby.
It was a bit cool, so I did the dorky thing and put a plastic shopping bag on my chest.
Ok, I know you are all thinking. Why does that hairy chested, stud of a man (me) need the extra warmth for? Im a whimp thats why. So there.
Anyway it was one heck of a quick run down, and I could tell by the smile on Joels face that he likes to cruise at 60kms+. Just dont tell his mom, she will freakout.
Up over Henderson' hill, and back to the car for the end of a fairly hard days riding.
Check out the pics. Thanks to Joel.
God bless all , Dave W. Me .
Did you see the pic of the Do not drink watertank, and the Norco Fluid. Ow the irony.

Photos from last week

I haven't posted here for awhile, although I am a very active blogger elsewhere. Thought I might put up some of the photos the boys had taken last week at their 6 hour enduro. As mentioned, Dave hasn't been well, but he made a very capable bike mechanic and looked after the team very well. They came back very muddy, wet, and happy. KMT

Below left 1st & 2nd photos: Graham on different parts of the track - in sun and in rain.
Bottom 3rd & 4th photos: Others participating in the 6 hour endurance ride at Officer.

Saturday and sick

Well its sat. morning and its raining and cold, and im scared.
What the heck, im not scared, just a bit sick from a flu and cold that decided to get together and have a party in my head for the past 10days. cough cough.....sneeze.
Havent riden for 2 weeks, so im a little pent up with energy that hopefuly wont turn to pent up blubber. Last weekend there was a 6hr mtb race at Officer that Graham raced in with team Sally. Dont know if they have a web site ill ask Graham if he knows.
I didnt race for some reason cough cough, but it was still a great day. There was lots of mud and a shower now and then, and a couple of thunder storms.
All in all a great day to spin the cranks.
Man i sure want to get out there, so hopefully tomorrow after Church.
Been building up old bikes at home to help fill the void of not actually being out there in the saddle. Dug out my old Kajemma (hang on wait till i go out and see how to spell that), ow heck i just got side tracked..........Kojima...thats better. Anyway where was i? ow yeah boring you with my empty life. Hey i should look at it this way, at least even if my life seems fairly dull at the moment, i know some one who is worse of....yes you because your wasting your life reading this empty void depressing misspelt nondiresctional blog, full of nonsuccinct parady, and obvious (cough cough) (please remember im sick) midlife crisis undertones.
Time to regroup and take stock of life.....man that didnt take long.....
You know its times like this that i sure am glad ive got Christ in my corner, or is it that i am in His corner? Anyway i wouldnt give Him up or forget HIS LOVE FOR ME . So you know the day is looking up all ready, even with a cough. (cough splutter cough)
Well i really hope you all have a fantastic day, yes even you. God bless you all, and i will blog tomorrow nite to help you have something to talk about around the tearoom at work tomorrow. Plus if you are very good i will strive to capitalise my i, but its not about i but about you and Him; Bless all David W. (in one of my weirder moments).

Last saturdays ride

Had a great ride last sat. Went to the usual haunt, at the lake. Was a top day, well mostly. Graham and I started about 9am and met up with these other guys at 10. Took them to a few new tracks, and it was grouse. The only prob for me was I hit the wall at about the 25km mark, and the rest of the ride was a pain in the backside. It actualy was a pain there, and my legs went to jelly. I was starting to loose my peripheral vision, but kept my sense of humor. I think someone didnt have there wetbix for breakfast.
Fell in a heap on sunday, and just veged out. Didnt get to church at all, and I feel a bit down about that.
Anyway, GOD still loves me, and you too, so thats pretty cool.
Bless you all, in His mighty name. C ya Dave W.

Im a Great Uncle again

Congrats to Megan & Paul on the birth of Noah. Cool . You guys rock. May the Lord richly bless you three with health and smiles and most of all,,,,,some sleep. Love you Uncle Dave.

Recent trip to Thomson river & Walhalla

Man it seems like a month since I last blogged. Ow it was. Well Graham and I spent a day riding around Walhalla, and some of the Thomson river tracks. Top day, with lots of hills. Headed up Mormontown tk. (to steep to ride), and rode to the sleepy little town of Walhalla. Cool place with ancient gold mines everywhere. Back tracked to this grouse bridge. Povertypoint bridge. Rode this narrow trail back to the car. Man I hate leaches.
Um I didnt really spit. Or did I?
Graham climbing out of one of creek crossings. Leach city. Beautiful waterfall here.
Looking out over some of Walhalla. And dont throw stones. See you all soon. God bless.

MOTHERS DAY, ow, and I went for a ride

Well last sunday was Mothers day, and I did remember to see me mom. The prob was I dropped in after a ride at the lake, and the old shorts looked a bit like Id had an accident.
You know the effect of mud on mtb tyres, on bike, back, and bum. So I didnt want to go to a shop to get mom a card or stuff. (To embarassed).
But gave her a card on the monday, and all is forgiven. (Back in the will).
Im glad M&D dont have a computer, or else they would see this blog and take to me with the feather duster. Ouch.
In the mean time lets talk bike riding.
Lysterfield was muddy, and wet. Which makes for a great ride, but very slippery. Dropped the bike once, and ended up in the wet bush, which is ok if your a leech. As for me I was laughin while untanglin from the bike and bracken.
Man Ive got to wash the bikes sometime before next weekend.
It was Graham, me, and Joel pounding the hills that day.
On a totaly unrelated topic, the West Coast Eagles won, so my wonderful wife is happy bout this.
I think football runs a close second to golf when it comes to sport that dosent excite me.
Cause if it aint on a bike, it aint something I like.
Do you think Im a little narrow minded?
Anyhow Im going to surf the web for a bit, get in some prayer time, and hit the hay.
GOD bless all, and have a great week. Dave W.
Ps. I did go to church on sunday, so please dont all start to panic screaming.....backslider backslider..... phew.

Dave Going Gooey?

Did I read that right? Sounds like it was a great thing to do - sorry Gray was home baby-sitting (or should I say nursing) his sick wife - me, otherwise I'm sure he would have joined you! I must come along one weekend, armed with camera, so I can get some great shots of you guys, and Mirri, doing your thing, and of the beautiful countryside too. Better make it soon before winter sets in, I reckon! KMT

The weekend that was

Donnells weir
Hi all. How was everybodies weekend?
Had a great ride on sat. with Graham and Miriam. Lysterfield was beautiful as ever. A few grezzy tracks though.
Put a reconditioned bottom bracket on the Norco Buzz. Man it made a world of difference to the ease of pedeling, which at the end of the day left me with more reserve than im used to. COOL.

On the sunday, well,I um sort of wagged church. Before you all shoot me down in flames, call me a blasphemer, and look for a few yonnies to stone me with, please hear me, I just needed some time out from the world.
So I loaded up the car and headed to Healesville, and Maroondah dam. It was a wet old day at home, but only a bit of drizzle at the dam.
Climbed up to the top of Hendersons hill, and flew down this sweet little single trk. back to the dam wall. So off I head again and ended up a Donnellys weir. This was a fantastic place. It was sort of misty, and beautiful. Sat under a pergola eating a bread roll, and feeding this Kookaburra that just dropped in to see what I was doing.
Praise God for His grace and kindness. Had a idea to have communion, but all I had was a bread roll, and Gatorade in the camelback. Good enough I thought. So to God I gave the glory, and celebrated the life and death and life again of my saviour Jesus Christ.
Tell you what its times like this that stand out in ones life, and can be looked back on with warmth and all that gooey sort of stuff.
Time to head back to the car, but not before I went back to the top of the hill, and helped gravity do its thing. Yahoo, what a blast.
Thats about it. See you all later. Bless all, Dave W.

I rode the Rucus

How is everyone today? I spose if everyone was to respond to that question then this would be a blog of astronomical proportions. So maybe only a few of you, hey?
Well Graham and yours truly cruised the park today, and it was fantastic weather. Full on beautiful day. 30ks+ of fairly good track. Not as much mud as last sunday, (after church that is).
I decided to ride the GT rucus two point zero. Man this bike can realy move it out. It is very different to the Norco Buzz, and is heaps easier to ride. I still love the Buzz.
There is a track we do which has a lot of branches and sticks on it, and the idea is to clean the track without tapping out. Well I got to within 3m of the finish, when I, sort of went left instead of right. Pain in the pannier, so close yet so far. Sort of ironic that life is somewhat like this.
You know that God sees our striving and straining, and the times when we dont quite make it. And yet He also looks at our hearts, and sees the motive and dreams we have there. He loves us anyway. Man only God could do that.
Hay do you know what happens when you leave potatoes in an open container for a month or so? They stink. And thats why my laundry was weird. I didnt know they where there and they only started to smell a few days ago, but in that time I had left my bike gear in that room to dry, and air off. Well todays ride was punctuated with periods off, THIS HELMET STINKS, AND MY GLOVES ARE MORE PUTRID THAN EVER. Horible stuff.
Lots of people out today, and as I was in the air from a jump I saw this guy coming round a corner in my direction. Praise God he went right and I went bush. Hee hee that was fun. NOT
Well Ill be going now, so be good, ride hard, and check for rotten potatoes.
Bless all Dave W.

ANZAC DAY

Hi all. Well today is Anzac day, where diggers all over this country remember those who fell in war, to keep this beautiful nation of ours free. My dad marched with his mates from the 10th field Ambulance, and every year there seems to be fewer and fewer by his side.
To me my dad is a hero, who risked his life for the freedom of others, for those he knew, and those he didnt. He served for the family he didnt yet have, for hope and love, not for glory or power.
Good one dad, I love you. You son David

ITS FRIDAY NITE, NOW SAT MORN

Well how is the world going from your point of view?
News flash from the dentist on wed. is that after an xray and close inspection, nothing of major dental disaster was discovered. So praise the Lord, no drillin', fillin', or expensive billin'.
Gray n' I went out on thurs for a spin after I had finished work, he had the day off. Man alive Im in the wrong game.
Lysterfield was at its very best. It was a beautiful day, and the lake was like glass. The roos were everywhere (which is a bit annoying when they jump in front of you), and after rain the night b4 the tracks were pretty cool. Its still a lot of hard work, but thats the way this game is.
Had just one crash, and that was fairly lame. Doing an easy left hander and slid out. Trying to see how far I could go without braking.
You know what its like, falling and seeing this log coming up at you at a rate of knots. Praise God for leg/knee guards and gloves. Think I only bruised my ego.
Its a bit of a dog of a day, so we voted not to venture out. Do you recon that is woosy or what. Always tomorrow after church.
Think I will kiss my beautiful wife, do my daily bible readings, and start to rebuild my old Ironhorse 'G out'.
Its a good old scowl just got to get the swing arm welded up. See wed.15/3rd.

Last nite at church the youth went through the 14 stations of the cross. It was a realy impacting time for a lot of them to see and understand the pain and suffering that Jesus went through for them and all of us. I had been down at church the whole day building a huge cross,( big enough to have its own gravity field, well you would think that the way it atracted attention), and we set up mood lighting on all the stations. Very long day but worth every minute.

Well its out into the cold to go get some grease on me.
May GOD bless you richly this Easter. And may you discover more about His love for you.
From us all at MTB4Thee, have a beautiful and safe holiday. Till next time, see you on the trails. Dave W.

Just filling in time

Hi all, and it seems like forever since my last blogthingmebob.
Nothing MTB at the moment, thought I need to tell about last weekends rides, and nothing about God either, even though Im talking with Him lots during the day.
Its just that Im off to the dentist for a 2pm appointment, and I thought the world would like to know this.
Actualy I will be chatting away to the allmighty at about the time the needle gets surgicaly placed into my mouth, like a jackhammer on a bungee cord. You see I think I will need a filling. Yes there is that sort of feeling out the back, you know up where the molars reside. The type of place that tries to hide, but you just know its there.
So its time to lie back, relax, and think happy thoughts.
Psalm 4:1 is pretty cool. Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress, be merciful to me and hear my prayer. NIV.
Well its nearly that time, so bless you all, and Ill be back soon. Dave W.

Sundays La Sainte Terre

Sundays what? Well I was going to write,'Sundays saunter', but I dont figure that too many of you would know what that means. Hey come to think of it how many of you know what La Sainte Terre means? Go look it up on Wikipedia.
Anyho, the ride yesterday was, how shall I put it....PAINFUL...cause some fool (me), said lets ride some hills. So at our beloved Lysterfield, Graham and I did Buckle track, then went to the north side of the park over Wellington rd. and spent the next while climbing hill and ripping dale.
It seems like I spent hrs climbing these Everest like gargantuan monstrosities, and trifle milliseconds coming down. (Um, this maybe a slight exageration of the truth. Somewhat).
So needless to say my legs are sort of tired today.
Thats bout it for the moment, so bless you all, and see you on the trails. Dave W.

Just a note of prayer

Just got home from a funeral service at my church for a young man whose life was tragicly cut short.
Morgan Harris Morgan was killed on the 25 of March, and now is in the arms of our blessed saviour the Lord Jesus Christ.
We at MTB4Thee, send our love and prayers to the Morgan family, and may the comfort of the Holy Spirit surround all of you at this painful time.
With all the love of Christ Jesus, in whose name all hope rests, Amen.
God bless, Dave W.

THE ART OF THE UPPER HAND

Well howdy all. Hows the world been treating you? Graham and I went out for a ride last sat the 25th, and now I dont want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I think Ive figured out why he gave me this new rear tyre for my bike. Please dont get me wrong, its a full on serious mtb piece of rubber, BUT it weighs a ton. Or is that a tonne?
I think the plan was to weight me down like Phar lap, and then to let me sit in his dust. I spose it was my fault cause I did take out the Norco Buzz, which glides like the space shuttle, and he took out his precious Giant NRS air. I think the name says it all...AIR... His whole bike and my rear tyre, would balance evenly on the scales.
Anyway the ride was pretty good eh. Still a lot of activety at the CG site.
Maybe this will help me....2Cor 4:17....For the lightness of our present affliction works out for us a far more excellent eternal weight of glory....

Saturdays ride

Well g'day all and how's it going? Headed out to our beloved Lysterfield today, for a ride.
After the usual bakery binge, hit the park for a journey of epic proportions. Well maybe not so epic.
After an hour or so of hill and dale, came across two riders on Buckle tk. One was literally 'on the track', as he had come round a sandy left hander, slid out, and decided to part company with his bike,(a hybrid mongoose with road tyres). The tree he was lying at the base of, I think, was what had stopped his forward momentum. Thus his nose was looking like 10 rounds with Tyson, and the piece of tree( twig) in his right thigh, was only slightly blocking the flow of blood oozing out.

Oozing, what a great word.

It was the guys first mtb ride. What a way to start. Graham knew the rider who didnt crash, and the guy on the track was his father in law. If your going to get rid of your father in law, I dont think this is the way to do it. Too public.
Followed em back to their car, stopping every now and then for a rest.
Straight to casualty.
Rest of the ride was great, and Ive found out why Graham lets me ride the tracks first.

spiderwebs

Yep those webs got all over me today. Not to mention their not so little inhabitants. Ow I spose I just did mentioned them.

But all in all, it was a great day out. I will keep our wounded fellow rider in my prayers.

Bless all, Dave W.

Sore Ironhorse swingarm

Shocking photos, but who cares.
Didnt know it was totaly broke. Glad I hadnt rode on it. Dave W

Mondays epic adventure

Well,went out after work for a nice meander at the park, (some of us had to work this holiday), and after getting all prepped up, dressed up, psyched up, and fed up, (love that bakery), discovered a crack in the swing arm of the old Ironhorse.
Damm, (sorry am I alowed to write that).
Thought I'll just get on the old mobile and give old Gray a call to bring out one of his many steeds for me to ride. Cool it's early enough, he wouldn't have left home yet to get here.
One problem just compounded another as I recalled the fact that if you do not pay your phone bill, they tend to cut your service off. Damm, (opps once again sorry).
So there I sat, looking at all those non weld broken mtbs rolling past me. Man was I ever annoyed.
Felt like I was at an 'all you can eat', without a napkin. It's just not right.
Well Graham turns up, and it appears he's lost a bolt on his granny ring, and it's not looking like a good day.
We vote for a miscarriage of Monday, and decide to head off to our homes.
I s'pose I should have suspected the weld would break some day. I've had it welded up twice before. DOH.
Think I will get my father in law's camera and get some shots of the offending join.
Check this out. Proverbs 16:9. A man's heart plans his way, but Jehovah directs his steps.
Any how, bless you all. Dave W.
Ps. try again on sat. With a diff. bike. See ya.

WHAT ME BLOG?

Well I spose this is the way all great things begin......with a blog.
G'day to everyone out there in that cyberspace sort of place. I reacon this is the first time Ive sort of put my washing out there for all to see....it aint all that exciting. Hang on a sec, got to turn the music down. Rammstein at 120dbs is a little disruptive to my train of thought. Not to mention the blood dripping from my ears. Only kidding.
So youve found you way to our little web site. My name is David, and besides my wife and boys, the main love in my life would have to be God,( and no He didnt tell me to write that or He would throtle me), and I also love to ride mountain bikes.
Me mate Graham and I ride mostly at Lysterfield lake. Well no so much in the lake as around it. And as you can tell by now I have no real sense of humour.
I grow bonsais also, which probably comes from being a control freak on a small scale.
If anyone out there would like to know about MTBs (mountain bikes), or stuff about being a christian, then hey drop us a message, or what ever these things are called.
We intend to get some photos happening and stuff.
But for the time being, im out of here cause this is really hurting my I dont type alot fingers.
God bless you all, and see you on the trails. Dave W.

Welcome to MTB4Thee!

We are a couple of guys that enjoy moutain bike riding, being in the open and sharing a good message with others. Our favourite place is Lysterfield Park, in Victoria Australia but we do have other places we visit too. Please check back for updates on our rides plus photos and videos.

Dave & Gray