Blog Posts - skike australia

win a pair of skikes

17/6/2013

Want to win a pair of skikes?

Once again skike australia are proud sponsors of the Victorian Ski Chase 2013

Now that the Ski Season has begun, check out the Victorian Ski Chase page that we've added to our website. We will post updates and pictures after each event so get involved and enter any or all the events of the season for a chance to win.

Donvale to Camberwell (the long way)

5/6/2013

Merv and Paul on the Pipe Bridge near Fairfield Boathouse

Merv, Paul and Len had another long skike through Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs on Wednesday 5th June 2013, again linking up the river and creek trails.

This time they covered 40.4Km which started along the trail beside the Eastern freeway, commencing at Park Road Donvale, heading towards the City of Melbourne. This route followed the Koonung Creek trail until it met the Yarra trail through Fairfield and Abbotsford and then and followed the Yarra trail until it met the Gardiners Creek trail in Toorak near Scotch and St Kevin’s Colleges. They then followed the Gardiners Creek trial to where it joins the Anniversary trail and then followed that to their chosen end in Camberwell. Exhausted, they then caught a train back to Mitcham.

Increasing their level of training for the Skiing season, they skiked more continuously than the previous trip and at times worked fairly hard, achieving 17kmh for periods and lifting the average speed to 14.2 kmh over the whole trip. There were a couple of “skikes off” stair climb sections on the Yarra trail after Dight’s Falls . There were also quite a lot of muddy trail sections to negotiate which were residue from the flooded creeks and rivers, a result of the very heavy rainfall last Friday night that caused the Yarra river to rise over 5metres in places.

Here are the stats extracted from Paul's Garmin:
Distance 40.4km
Time 2:50
Total Ascent 825m
Total Descent 875m
Average speed 14.2kph
My max. speed 41kph
Height at start 138metres
Height at finish 85metres

upper ferntree gully to flinders street

23/5/2013

On Thursday May 23rd 2013, a small group of skiking diehards, Paul, Merv, Niina and Len, skiked all the way from Upper Ferntree Gully to Flinders Street Station. A long distance session like this had been on the minds of some of the group for a while as part of training for the coming XC ski season. A crisp morning turned into a lovely day with the group thoroughly enjoying themselves as the route took them along Blind Creek Trail, Scotchmans Creek Trail, Gardiners Creek Trail and the Main Yarra Trail.

Of particular note, Niina had only skiked a couple of times prior and this was only her second time on her new vX TWIN skikes. Well done Niina – an inspiring effort!

Here are some statistics of the session: Starting time 9.19am. Finishing time 1.34pm. The total distance was 46.1 kilometres. Paul's total active time was 3 hours 22 minutes and average active time speed was 13.7km/hour. Elevation varied from 129 metres at Upper Ferntree Gully down to 58 metres at the start of Jells Park. At the end of Jells Park the altitude was 116 metres. The highest point on the trip was recorded at 150 metres. Elevation at the finish point at Flinders Street Station was 15 metres. All in all there was a total ascent of 830 metres and total descent of 950 metres.

Through this journey the group stopped a number of times for water and snacks, a couple of wheel changes and a few photos. Check out all the photos on the Gallery page.

Do you have any stories and pictures of skiking adventures like this? If so, let us know and we would be happy to share them here with likeminded skikers.

skikes at the lake mountain roller-ski challenge

15/5/2013

Skikes were at the recent Lake Mountain Rolller-Ski Challenge on 5th May 2013 and it was pleasing to see almost a quarter of the entries on skikes.

It was a cool crisp morning with strong winds blowing and the finish line was fogged in at the commencement of the race. At the conclusion, the sun was poking through the cloud cover and the wind did begin to subside somewhat.

Congratulations to Andrew Walker on being the first to cross the finish line on a pair of skikes.

We commend Andrew Paul and the organisers for a great little event with a good turnout of entrants participating on the day, especially considering the short notice and quick planning only few weeks earlier. If it does become a regular event, with interest like this, it will only get bigger and better. We can't wait for the next one!

Check out The Lake Mountain Roller-Ski Challenge video of the event that Erwin from Walker Street Productions put together.

lake mountain roller-ski challenge

23/4/2013

For those looking for a fun time with their skikes, Lake Mountain Roller-Ski Challenge is being held on Sunday 5th May.

The event is open to all skikers, roller-skiiers and roller-bladers. There is a 4km & 10 km challenge to test your stamina and skill so why not enter, meet other skikers and enjoy what should be a great event. Entry details are on the attached flyer.

So what are you waiting for! We'll see you there!

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ivanhoe girls' grammar school open day - 23 March 2013

28/3/2013

On Saturday 23 March we set up the skike tent on the synthetic surface of the main sports field at Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School as part of the activities for the school's Open Day. From the start we had a steady stream of girls and family members trying skikes for the first time and we were impressed with the skills of a number of the junior skikers. Some grandparents were included to admire everyone gliding around the sports field.

Our thanks to past student Ashleigh Spittle a National Cross Country ski team member who was there and gave freely of her time and expertise to assist first-timers. Also guiding new starters all day were other team coaches including Andrew Lees (and son Chris for a while) as well as current student ski team members. Another ski team father David Pescod was also there for the whole session with his own set of skikes, adding them to the demo sets available on the day. We also thank Ivanhoe Girls’ staff Lyndy Stagg and Sue Lees (Careers Teacher and Ski Team Manager). Sue arranged the event and apart from making sure we had a steady stream of participants, Sue kept us and the people helping out supplied with coffees, drinks and food from the sausage sizzle.

scody 3 peaks challenge

17/3/2013

On Sunday March 10 the Scody 3 Peaks Challenge was held and Skike Australia was set up with our tent in an ideal position overlooking the event area in the Falls Creek village. During the day we had a steady stream of visitors to the tent and many people were able to have a go on a skike demo set.

We were lucky with the weather which was warm and sunny but without the heat that the competitors had to endure on the road. We did get a little rain towards the end of the day when we were packing up but we were fortunate that the grass and paved areas around the tent were dry for those wanting to try their skills at skiking.

We enjoyed the event very much and have already expressed our interest in returning for next year's 3 Peaks Challenge to do it all again.

Our thanks and appreciation go to Jo Prothero and in particular, Sarah Prime, Events & Visitor Experience Coordinator at Falls Creek for their assistance and organisation over the weekend.

skike award for the 2012 victorian junior cross country ski squad

20/2/2013

The Skike Australia Award for the 2012 Victorian Junior Cross Country Ski Squad 2012 junior Athlete Who Has been Most Enthusiastic About Training was awarded to Katerina Paul from Taggerty, Victoria.

Congratulations to Kat who among other achievements in 2012 was 7th overall and 2nd female in the Joey Hoppet. Here is a photo of Kat competing in the Interschools competition.

Skike Australia congratulates Katerina and is supporting the award because we want to encourage junior XC athletes to enjoy training and train to achieve their best. Skike equipment is excellent for ski training, fun to use and, highly versatile in when and where it can be used by teams and individuals.

Katerina already has a set of V07-120 model skikes that she enjoys training on near her home.

During the 2012-13 summer school holiday break Kat travelled with a junior development team to the USA to train and compete. She was so well placed in regional results that she qualified to compete in the US National Junior championships. She had to return back home to start the school year so she was unable to stay to compete in the nationals.

We wish Katerina all the best in her sporting endeavours and imagine that we will hear much more about this aspiring young athlete in the future.

Life's a Bitumen

28/11/2012

We received an email from fellow skiker Jonathan Spring following his experience “tearing up the road” with his skikes last Sunday at Lake Mountain.

“I skiked from Marysville to Lake Mountain on Sunday afternoon and experienced a very soft road. There was a car rally in morning from the ticket office up to the top of the mountain and so the road had lots of liquid bitumen on its surface. I stopped at the timber yard about 2km from the top as my wheels had bitumen and stones stuck to them and rubbing against the frame.

I started cleaning my skikes last night and there are sharp stones embedded in 2 - 5 mm of bitumen and also stuck between the back wheels and the frame. I used a screw driver to chip away at the thick pieces and tonight I will be taking the wheels off to clean them properly and get to all sections of the frame. Turpentine was a good solvent to get the bitumen off my shoes and it didn't seem to damage the rubber.

I intend to use Turpentine to clean the wheels after I have already removed the thicker sections of bitumen. Unfortunately the bitumen has remained quite soft and sticky rather than hardening as I had expected.”

We think that turps, eucalyptus oil or a citrus based degreaser, liberal amounts of elbow grease and some old rags would probably be the way to do the job safely. Allowing the bitumen to go hard and using a screwdriver or a metal scraper may mark the powdercoat finish or score the wheels. Other commercially available products such as Tar & Bug Off may also work. Do not use things like acetone or WD-40 as they may work but will also attack rubber.

Other comments both helpful and humorous have also been received:

Kerosene would probably work, similar to turpentine. Its a thinner for the bitumen sprayed onto the road for sealing. It slowly evaporates and the bitumen hardens up, but on hot days the bitumen gets very tacky if there has not been much time for the kero to evaporate, as seems was the case.

Of course, you can just "wear" the bitumen off the tyres. It might be a bit slow and bumpy at first... :-)

Have you ever needed to clean bitumen, an incrustation of filth, or any other crud from your skikes? If so, what did you use? Add a comment to this blog and help another fellow skiker.

Victorian XC Ski Chase - skike prize winner

21/11/2012

The winner of the Victorian XC Ski Chase grand prize of the new model V07-PLUS skikes is Lou Sanderson. Lou’s numbers came up in the prize draw at the SXCV meeting in Melbourne recently. The prize was presented by Vic Ski Chase organiser and fellow skiker Andrew Walker at a beginner skike session at Westerfolds Park Templestowe on Sunday 18th November. We are sure that Lou will get plenty of use from her new skikes and we hope to see her at more of our skiking sessions in Westerfolds Park.

Before winning the prize Lou had already paid a deposit for a set of skikes and poles and she has decided to still go ahead with that purchase to enable family and friends to join her skiking. Lou is a member of University Ski Club which has a number of members who are skikers and their enthusiasm for skiking convinced Lou to join Skike Force. Why not come along yourself to a beginner session and have a try of skikes. We have sessions on most weekends and Wednesday mornings. Email us at enquiries@skike.com.au or phone Len at 03 9467 8039 and we will let you know times. Bookings are nessesary.

Where to go and what to bring: Westerfolds Park Templestowe – 1st car park off the Porter St entrance. Bring a helmet and gloves. Also wear socks that come up to your calves or pants that come down to them. Also bring (if you have them) a water bottle in a water bottle holder and knee and elbow protectors.

Read about one girl’s beginner skiking experience from Westerfolds Park at http://herebedragons-melbourne.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/ski-bike-skike-lots-of-fun.html

Authors

Len - Well known in the Australian XC skiing community as a competitor, coach, race organiser and instructor who is also passionate about skikes.

Marshall - The first to introduce and import skikes to Australia. Enjoys outdoor pursuits and has a strong attraction to anything with wheels.

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