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SEQ MTB Racing

There has been three rounds of the series so far, the tracks and competition just get better and better.

The first round at Mt Crosby had some tricky and technical hill climbs with some snarly descents. Though it seemed everyone had fun.

Round 2 was at Mt Cotton, where the track is known to be lots of fun, it did not let us down. The weather was fine and the track was dry.... it was an awesome day of racing.

Round 3, was in June and we had to travel to Gatton, south west of Brisbane but again the track did not let us down, you could almost say this was the best track so far. There was some technical parts, especially the rocky descent, though we were given a B line just in case. The track had some great berms so you fly through the corners it was so much fun!

Below is the evidence of some fine racing.

Round 1 Mt Crosby 

Jono, Our sponsored Rider

Greg Long, Racing hard

 

Keely, Under 11's

Round 2 Mt Cotton

Tara, Under 11's

Jono, Under 19's

Greg racing Masters

Round 3 Adare, Gatton

Mel, racing Sport Women

Christmas just isn't for Kids

Here is story told to us by a happy customer.....

He came in to the store the another day to pick up his son's Christmas present, a new bike and told Greg that it needed to be boxed because they were travelling interstate for Christmas to see family. So as Greg was packing the bike he started to chat...

His son asked how Greg and Greg knew Santa and why the elves did not build the bikes. So dad started to explain, that a combination of layoffs with the global economy and the expertise needed to build bikes, Santa and the Gregs were working together. But as you know children have a craving to know more... and dad was starting to feel he was slipping into a hole which could be very difficult to get out. So dad tried to cut it off with, "I can't say to much about Greg "(Red Greg) and his son looked confused. 

"What do you mean dad?" Dad just repeated " I can't say to much" and gave him a look. 

The son replied incredulously " Dad, do you mean that Greg is an elf?"

The dad repeated again " I can't say to much, but maybe next time check out his ears"

So couple days later when they were in the shop, the boy stood and stared and stared at Greg's ears for a very long time. The dad had a chuckle to himself. Later the son said "Hey dad, I didn't see any pointed ears on Greg". "Well son, you can't be to obvious can you" replied dad.

At the end of the story, our customer said " I love surprising my kids at Christmas and keeping Santa alive". This customer like many others got joy and laughter from making his children happy and having the spirit of Christmas. 

We love to hear these stories and are glad to be apart of making Christmas wishes come true.

Long Sunday Ride with the Trailblazers

I adventured out on one of the Trailblazers (our local Mountain Bike Club) long Sunday Ride yesterday, and had a great time. The group of thirteen who consisted of young guns, some sporty gals, father and son dudes and just some keen guys out for a mountain bike ride, rode about 50kms in Noosa's bush terrain. Lester, our leader warned us it was going to to be long, we went all the way around Lake Weyba from Tewantin National Park to Peregian Beach (stopping for refreshments) and back through Lake Weyba and Doonan to Tewantin again. We had some challenging climbs through sand on the east side with the blazing sun bearing down on us, but there was always encouraging words from our fearless leader and friendly companions. 

Once we arrived at Peregian Beach, we all refueled with cold drinks or coffee, then set off again. Richard Poyner showed us some wicked trails (some of which were single tracks- we love s/tracks) with some low lying seed pods that became missiles when hit hard (Paula and her fat lip will vouch for that).

I really enjoyed getting out on my Specialized Carbon 29 Fate, we rode well together, mixing it up with the front fast crew. It's great for speed, rolling and having a blast and even handled whatever the sand threw at it!

The Whole Gang

 

 

 

Thanks to the leaders, Lester and Richard and thanks to everyone else for coming along, the atmosphere was casual, fun and friendly.

The Noosa Tri is here and so is Specialized's TEST THE BEST

Specialized's Test the Best have arrived in town and Cognition is here to support them. You can find both Test the Best and Cognition's mobile Store and workshop at Laguna Park, Noosa Heads on  Tuesday 25th, Wednesday 26th, Thursday 27th October and then we all move to the Expo village on Friday 28th, Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th.

Test the Best have brought some of their top bikes for everyone who is keen. Cognition has a fully equipped workshop with professional mechanics to service your bikes before the race on Sunday. For more information on Test the Best or to book your bike in for assembly or service call our friendly staff at Cognition Shop on 07 5474 0677. 

Cognition is proud to be the official Bike Mechanic and cycling support of a world class event, our mechanics will be at all the cycling events over the weekend, ensuring you can race hard and enjoy yourself. We will be located in the Expo tent beside Specialized with a team of professional mechanics on hand all weekend. There will also be a mechanic at transition for any last minute problems you may have. Our professional mechanics are friendly and knowledgeable and are always keen and willing to get you back on your bike. 

Come on down the weather is beautiful and the atmosphere is great.

Done and Dusted for another year....

Start of the race

The Noosa 000 was held on Saturday 2nd October at Pomona State School and the riders and supporters were lucky to have clear skies and a fast and dry track. At times the wind was a challenge but that did not damper the mood, everyone had  a great time. It was an 8 hour event on a 14km circuit covering fire road and single track.

Cognition, a proud sponsor was happy to be part of a great cycling community event, with local and non local riders coming to take part to raise valuable funds for such a great charity, the Royal Children's Hospital Foundation. 

Congratulations to all the Noosa Trailblazers and local Sunshine Coast riders, there was some great results and achievements made. Chris Pearson finished in 2nd place in the Solo division with 13 laps and 2 person team, Team Cognition consisting of Justin Thompson and Greg Long fought hard for 3rd position against a very strong team, Ausmar Homes. After 8 hours and 15 laps, the two teams were side by side with 500 metres to go, with a final burst of energy, Greg edged ahead and crossed the line first. It was great to see the two teams shake hands and congratulate each other on a hard fought race which both teams really enjoyed.

Justin ready to head out

It seems only fitting to mention Lester Manning and Garth Kellett who rode solo for the 8 hours and finished with 11 laps each. Both kept challenging themselves to keep going out for another lap. Lester said about the challenge, "This is nothing compared to what the children in the hospital go through everyday".

Lester coming through for yet another lap

Glorious sunset after a great day of riding

With the support of the Pomona State School P and C for catering it was a great day out, bring on 2012. 

Sunshine Series Round 2 XCE at Adare, Gatton

The Noosa Crew, photo courtesy of Tash Kelly

It was hot, very hot and dusty but the riders from the Sunshine Coast came and conquered. The Noosa crew rode hard and pushed through the heat and terrain to get some awesome results.
In the 2 person division, Jack Jude and Dean Madden (Team Specialized) came 2nd, Zack Agius and Sean Bekkers (Team Ay-Up Racing Elite) 3rd, Ethan Kelly and Garth Kellet (Team Ay-Up Racing) 4th and Greg Long and Dylan Teakle (Team Cognition) came in 6th.
The solo efforts of Jono Noble and Dave Whisker, "The Captain" were amazing with both completing 8 laps each, they were able to feed of each other and kept on going. 

A big thank you goes to the parents and family members who traveled the distance and handled the heat to help support the teams, it was greatly appreciated. 

Well Done crew.........

Noosa Triple 000, Mountain Bike Challenge

Are you up for the challenge? 

Have you already registered and training hard, remember you can be sponsored for the event or make a direct donation and raised money for the great charity, The Royal Children's Hospital Fund. 

Last year this event attracted over 200 riders, supporters and sponsors who raised over $20,000.00 which goes to improving and helping the lives of some very sick Queensland kids and their families.

The event starts at 8am and finishes at 4pm with options to ride solo or in teams of 2,3,or 4. Each rider will complete a 14km loop through the state Forest. The loop consists of sweeping fire roads and single tracks.

Date: Saturday 1st October, 2011, 8am-4pm

Venue: Pomona State School (camping): route through Yurol Forest. Pomona is located in the beautiful hinterland of the Sunshine Coast off the Bruce Highway.

Cost: $70.00 per rider

Accommodation: Free camping with registration price. The school is within walking distance of the historic town of Pomona with a country pub, restaurants, kids playground and supermarket.

Cognition are proud to be a major sponsor of this event having a fully equipped and expert mechanic based at the oval during the race.

This a great event to try mountain biking, whether you are local or from near by Brisbane come up for the day or spent the night, the atmosphere is great, it will be fun whether you're there to give it a go or race hard!

Wrap up of the Noosa Winter Festival 2011- Century Ride

What a great event, USM did a awesome job putting this years Winter Festival together and with Cognition as mechanical support, the Century Ride was another success. With over 1200 riders in both the 100km and 160 km ride it was always going to be a mammoth event, but with only a few crashes and a small amount of mechanicals, the ride was a success. 

The ride was very competitive with many of our customers trying to produce a personal best.

Jack Jude, 1st under 19's

Here are a few examples: Jack Jude, our sponsored rider, and local  has just turned 15. He went in the 100km ride and stayed with the lead brunch, leading out on all the hill climbs (if only there was a "king of the Mountain" jersey) and staying with them the whole way. Jack rode extremely well it was in the final attack, a kilometre or 2 from the finish line that he was dropped, but with maturity and strength he rode the last kilometre on his own to finish 7th overall and 1st in the under 19's division, with a time of 2hr:30mins:23sec. He was only 11 seconds behind the winning group but was 18 minutes ahead of the 2nd place of the under 19's. Jack is continuing to improve and impress! Good work Jack.

Garth Kellet, another customer and rider in the 100km ride showed his training and the purchase of a great bike, Specialized Roubaix can give him a personal best. Garth finished 14th overall and 4th in his division (40-49) with a time of 2:39:26. With his aim to come top 20, he certainily smashed that. He commented after the race, how smooth his ride was and how good the bike felt, it was a great result- well done Garth!

Garth Kellet, 14th overall

In the 160km ride, there was 632 entrants with 524 finishing, it was a good ride with some tough hill climbs which made for a very competitive ride. The lead group keep a constant pace, increasing the speed till the end. The end was fast and exciting with the bunch going over line together with only 1 second separating first and second, Coiln Dick (4:21:57), local fireman coming in second. There was only 1 or 2 seconds separating the next 9 riders. 

Soren, after the race, quite relaxed.

Our customers, Phil Tillotson came amazing top 10 finish (9th overall with a time of 4:21:59 and 7th in his division) and Soren Vejby came 19th overall and 4th in his division (40-49) with a time of 4:22:02. Congratulations guys!

Phil, looking great in the white cognition Kit!

With having mechanics at the 3 aid stations (Cooroy, Eumundi and Marcoola) and at the expo at the finish we were able to see and experience a great ride between local and visitors, where everyone enjoyed the views and the atmosphere. We loved being apart of such a great event and was glad o be able to show cyclists and visitors from a far, how great it is to cycle and holiday in NOOSA.

Australian Marathon Championships 2011 at Mt Joyce

Jack Jude's Podium finish at 14 years old

The Australian Marathon Championships were held at Mt Joyce on April 17th, and it was a great race. Jason English took out the full marathon (80kms) and was crowned the 2011 Australian Marathon Champion followed by Andrew Blair and Shaun Lewis. Anna Beck, a QLD rider crossed the line in third behind Jenny Fay (NSW) and Jenni King (VIC) after a great race.Two local riders and members of the Trailblazers MTB Club also took up the 80km marathon challenge with fantastic results. Howard McCann came 1st in the Sport Male division, Richard Poyner came 3rd in the Ultra Master Male division and Garth Kellet came 26th in Master Male division.

Garth Kellet after his race

We had a hand full of Cognition customers and Trailblazers who entered the half marathon (43km) with some extraordinary results.

Jack Jude, 14 years old, the youngest competitor, crossed the line first and came away as the half marathon champion. Some other great results include Zack Agius (8th) and Ethan Kelly (13th) in the open half male.
Justin Thompson came 29th in veteran Male half.

The Cognition guys, Ethan,  Jack and Zack

Justin in the race.

It always great to see the commitment and joy of our local riders competing and having fun and coming up with new personal bests.
Congratulations everyone from Cognition

Congratulations To Matt Goss- Winning the Milan- San Remo

The frantic Sprint

What a result for the 24 year old Australian rider, racing for the first time on his new S-works + McLaren Venge.
The sprint at the end was exciting with 8 elite riders all riding for the top podium finish, with Goss winning over Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek) and Phillippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto). " I really didn't expect to win an emotional Goss said afterwards. "I just what I needed to do. I managed to stay in front and even though I was without teammates, I managed myself well".

Goss taking the win from Fabian Cancellara

His only real competitor at the end was Fabian Cancellara on the other side of the road, but Goss had him covered to take a surprising but well deserved victory. " I was here to win, the team rode really well and I tried to finish that off, but didn't succeed", Cancellara said " I even tried to go alone but everyone was on my wheel. In the end I did one of the best sprints of my life but Goss was unbeatable"  (Milan-San Remo 2011, Cyclingnews.com)
Congratulations to Matt Goss for giving his all and to Specialized for yet another awesome product and for the commitment to their people.

For more information on the race, go to the links below:
cycling news
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCWhatsNewDetail.jsp?article=9118

Bike Week 12th March- 20th March

Bike week 2011 has started... This is great time to get anyone you know who has mentioned or is keen to get out on a bike to encourage them now. There is lots happening on the Sunshine Coast during this week. The Travelsmart department of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council has developed a fanastic schedule to promote and encourage cycling in our community. We are extremely lucky to live in a beautiful place that has many cycling paths and trails to help you explore your backyard, from the coastal paths through to the Noosa Network trails in the hinterland. 

For a detailed schedule go to Travelsmart Bike week page.

Here at Cognition, cycling is our passion and one of our aims is  to encourage and support more cycling in our community, whether its mountain biking in the forest, punching out the kms on a road bike, enjoying a family ride or assisting the economical and healthy commuter, we are here to help. 

We believe its important to get children on bikes early, it builds confidence and ability. There is alot to offer children in the cycling community whether its bike to jump, trick, race through the mud or just get them to school in a fun and healthly way.
During Bike week, the council has it covered.

Front foyer, Cooroy Library

Greg Long has donated his time, expertise and knowlege to educating our community on cycling. There was a great turn out at the two seminars he gave last Saturday ( Getting started in Cycling and Basic Bike Maintenance Workshop) at the Cooroy Library. The feedback has been great, everyone loved it. Thank you to Cooroy library for a great venue. The library staff have done a fanastic job with their cycling display.

Cognition's workshop, Cooroy Library

Have a look at the list below for some cycling activities offered by Cognition, you may be interested in.

Cognition's workshop

• Tuesday 15th March - 3.30pm-5.00pm Scooter Workshop with Greg, Cooroy Libary (no booking necessary)
• Wednesday 16th March, Pomona State School- National Ride to School day with Cognition Team (Mel and Greg, Tara and Keely Long)
• Saturday 19th March 7-9.00am, Come and Try Mountain biking, with the Noosa Trailblazers, starts at Cognition.
• Saturday 19th March Women's Workshop 9am-12.00 noon with Mel Tong, Mel and Greg Long- includes morning tea and a ride. Bike hire is available (bookings are necessary through the library)
• Saturday 19th March BMX Demo Session at Cooroy Skate Park with Vaughn Royer, Cognition’s sponsored BMX rider. Bring your BMX and learn a trick or two. (no booking necessary) 

For more information on the above activities or cycling in general, just contact the team at Cognition, we will be glad to assist.

Jack Jude, Our Sponsored Rider teams up with Specialized

Jack Jude has his first race of the year this weekend, the MTB National series round 3 at Mt Buller and he will be racing on his new Specialized Epic Marathon Carbon for Cognition/Specialized. With Jack's racing ambitions increasing it was a natural progression to move onto a Specialized, the brand that always thrives to be the best.
The Epic Marathon is a FACT IS carbon frame with M5 alloy rear triangle combined with the sealed cartiage pivot points, this bike delivers on strength, rigidity and suppleness to create an uncomprising 100mm travel competitive XC bike. This is Jack's first full suspension bike, coming from a Scott Scale hardtail, after developing and mastering technical skills he has now moved onto the Epic, an awesome full suspension bike.
The technology and research that Specialized put into their bikes and equipment makes for a very competitive ride for Jack. With Specialized and fox have blending their brains to develop the flow control mini brain shock with brain fade inertia valve and air sprung and adjustable rebound enables Jack to rip through the trails and his competition.
Jack has been training hard and is committed to winning.
GO JACK

Goss Gives Specialized first win of the Year

Australian sprinter Matt Goss gave Specialized its first win of the year on Sunday in Geelong, he won the first stage of the Jayco Bay Classic. Allan Davis, another specialized rider, placed third behind Goss and Chris Sutton in the sprint finish. Though supported by HTC's and Specialized's equipment, Goss travelled to Victoria with an all-Tasmanian team E3/Pure.Last year, he won a stage at the Giro d''Italia and the one day classic GP Plouay. Prior to racing the World Chamionships, he led Cavendish to three sprint wins at the Vuelta a Espana For more information, photos and videos of Team HTC-Highroad visit www.iamspecialized.com

Another exciting news from Specialized is their new partnership with HTC- Highroad team. For the 2011 season, the HTC-High Road will ride our S-Works Tarmac SL3 frames and forks for most road races, switching to the Roubaix SL3 for the cobbled classics while the women will ride the S-Works Amira.
All riders enjoyed BG FIT sessions on their road and TT bikes. Specialized's comprehensive fit system makes riders "one with their bikes" and the HTC-HighRoad pros including their premiere sprinter- saw results.
For the full story follow this link.

Cognition's Holiday Hours

      Wednesday 29th Dec            9.00 - 5.00pm

       Thursday 30th Dec               9.00 - 5.00pm

            Friday 31st Dec               9.00 - 3.00pm 

        Saturday 1st Jan                   Closed      

"We wish you a Happy and safe New Year"

 

The Cognition Team

This Weekend, our Pre Christmas Sale will be HUGE!!!!

Great savings this Christmas on Bikes, tyres, shimano and time shoes, clothing, helmets and parts
Plus a sausage Sizzle and Raffle for the Local MTB club, Noosa Trailblazers

Come and See our huge range of BMX bikes now in store

We are now stocking a great range of BMX bikes with brands such as Subrosa, We the People, Mirraco, Mongoose and Redline. Whether you are after dirt or street, racing or for your 5 year old to bash about on, there is something for everyone. If you live on the Sunshine Coast and your in need of a BMX come and check out the No 1 shop on the coast for knowledge and passion.

Here are just a few on offer....
                             
Subrosa Salvador

                                                                                         Redline Roam

Mirraco Velle





                                              





                                                                                                             Redline  Raid 16

Noosa Trail Blazers; A Long Ride

This Sunday gone the Noosa Trail Blazers Mtb club headed out to explore the Sunshine coast Hinter Land on a long ride. It was good to see a roll up of 18 at Woori and to hear that some had already been out since 5:30 getting in just a few extra kilometres.
Richard P. was our leader today and with his knowledge of the Noosa trail network second to none we all knew we were in for a treat! It was great to see that  John and Sue had parked the road bikes and were keen for an MTB ride. We also had Martin and his partner from Germany looking very Euro and very Pro! His enthusiasm for hills and our trails made us all realize how lucky we are to be living on the Sunshine Coast.
Martin's attack on the 'Mother' was great to see and while he did not clear it he impressed us with his bike handling skills on the climb!
All up we had 8 riders depart at Pomona and 10 continue on to Kin Kin.
Jack did a massive Day on the MTB after a Massive day on the road bike the day before!
Ethan was stoked to find a new and harder way to Kin Kin, look out Zack!
I got to have a soak in the Pomona pool to ease my sore muscles and to help my recovery.
The next scheduled Long Club Ride is for 12th December again meeting at Woori day use area.

See You Then!

First Round of the National MTB Series, You Yangs Victoria

This weekend Andy, Jack and Rodger headed down to the You-Yangs just outside of Melbourne for the 1st round of the National series for 2010-2011.

With a track that Jack has described as "hard" all three Sunshine Coast riders performed well.

With Andy's goal for 2011 being Marathon races, he shook off a bad start to punch out 5 extremely consistent laps to find himself in 16th place among the top quality cross country field.

Rodger showed us that consistent laps can be beneficial, pulling off a top 10 finish, after being 15th on the first lap.

Jack Jude racing his first race in under 17's and a poor starting position made his last lap his fastest and finished 8th overall.

The podium for the elite male was Ben Henderson (1st) Aiden Lefmann (2nd) and Joshua Carlson (3rd) and for the Elite female it was Jenni King, Jodie Willett and reigning national champion Rowena Fry coming in third.

The 2nd round will be in Tasmania at Glenorchy MTB Park on December 10-12.

For full results and description of the race go to MTBA.

Well done Andy, Rodger and Jack, awesome effort!!

Dirtworks Classic Victorian MTB Race

Garth hooking a corner

On Sunday the 7th November, Garth Kellet, a Noosa Trailblazer and great customer raced in the Dirtworks Classic. Here is his account:

I entered the 59km masters event and took the line with 99 other riders. The race was run in the Wombat State Forest which is the home trails of the Wombat MTB club.

WOW what awesome trails. Lots of flowing single track that ducked and weaved through tall stands of forest that wanted to catch your handle bars at the slightest loss of concentration.

Lots of log rollovers (some being up to 4 feet high) and some of the longest gully crossing's over log bridges I have ever ridden. The drop off these were up to 20 feet high and really tested your nerve.....

The 50km course ended up being 57km and  I finished 11th with a time of 3hr 9 mins. I finished exhausted with a very big grin on my face as the event organisers handed me a cold beer as I crossed the line.

Spare a thought for the 110km racers, the last 30 or so riders rode home in a massive hailstorm and were pelted with golf ball sized hail!. They all look liked they had been in a paint ball fight without any protective equipment.

Check out the hail stones!

Great result Garth, you did us proud!!!!!