Important Note:
Due to a complete server failure, that took out the RAID5 array and the backup drive, photos will be missing in action for a while until I get time to re-upload them all. Might even get the recent ones done too
After taking a hiatus from running their own team
for the last few years the ExPats Team are back with a vengance in 2016! The boys had spread
far and wide... Kel was back playing footy and has now retired to building houses
in his spare time, Ty has his fingers in too many pies to count, Aaron is now
running his own highly successful team at Aurora Racing with many of
his riders have at one point raced with ExPats. Henry is a gym junkie/trainer,
Matt, Brock and Wade had been racing with TruBlu, Jordy is running the Wattle
Racing team, Kyle has been a "rider-for-hire" for anyone needing a spare set
of legs, and as we all know Steele is off overseas following his dream!
But now... They're back, and with a point to prove. Not sure what that point is
yet, or who they're looking to prove it to other than themselves - that they're
still got what it takes to build and race at the point end.
Photos of the 2011 Bendigo Madison Criterium from the Friday night are online now, as are the photos from the Bendigo Madison HPV Challenge event as well. Expats rider Jordy Lucas took out the Community section again for the second year in a row.
With the boys & girls at Highview Christian Community College having decided on running Open all boys and girls teams for this years RACV Energy breakthrough at Maryborough it was always going to be pushing the preverbial up hill to compete for line honours given the small number of students interested in riding. Undaunted, plans were formulated after Wonthaggi earlier in the year to get the most out of what we had, the rest, as they say in the classics, is history... Read on for the details, or check out the RACV Energy Breakthrough 2010 Picture Gallery.
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Herald Sun World Cycling Classic 2010 @ Ballarat, September 24th 2010.
Check out the pictures from the Cycling Road World Championships 2010 Prelude Event, the Herald Sun World Cycling Classic at Ballarat/Bunninyong on September 24th 2010 featuring many of the big names in world cycling. Despite Philippe Gilbert, of Belgium, and Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd pulling out at the last minute, they were made up for by Fabian Cancellara's decision to contest the race after having only arrived in the country a day and a bit before. We were aslo treated the 18 man Italian squad, headed Philippo Pozzato which included their U23 squad as well as their Elite teams for the World Championships in Geelong next week. Other well known riders included Sylvain Chavanel and the French team, Simon Gerrans, the Belgian, and the German teams. A great day of racing saw 4 riders pull out to 1:40 gap from the peleton with 2 laps to go, this was cut to ~48 seconds on the last, and shorter lap. With ~5 km to Pozzato made a break up the second climb and got away from Cancellara and 2 others, but was reeled back in again before they reached the home straight where Pozzato manage to out sprint Maciej Bodnar and Chile's Carlos Guinez (who'd been riding the Master Games the previous week) with Cancellara sitting up 100m from home and deciding not to contest the sprint.
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Murray Bridge Pedal Prix, Round 3 HPV Super Series, 2010
Porpy, Brock, Kyle, Jordy, Ty, Henry, Kel
With less than a full compliment of riders and a mixed bag of results from the year including more than the usual amount of "issues" - some minor, some major - we were hoping for a better run at Murrday Bridge this year, unfortunately, in the quest to further improve vehicle performance, a few too many changes were made all at once for this race and our plans came started to come unstuck before the race even began... Read on for the details, or check out the Pedal Prix Picture Gallery.
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Maroondah Grand Prix 2010
Riders: Jordy, Azza, Clancy, Kel, Lachy, Matt
Whilst we had hoped to have the new rig for Murray Bridge ready for a test run around Maroondah we didn't get it finished on Saturday so we were a no show for this race as a team, although Kel and Jordy had already told Azza they'd ride for him - after they'd also said they'd ride an ExPats trike on their own! With the weather a bit kinder than last year the boys had a bit of fun (and some sore bums) riding in Azza's Auroa Racing machine and just managed to sneak home for a win from the Nankervis Racing team who with 4 younger riders pushed hard all day. Race pictures from Maroondah Grand Prix.
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Australian HPV Super Series 2010, Round 2, Adelaide - 4th
With slightly higher hopes for round 2, although only founded on theory as the rebuilt steering hadn't actually been trialed in the week before the race, we headed off interstate to S.A. again to see if we could climb up the leader board a little more. Race day arrived and all looked set to go... checkout what happened here in the race report, or view the race pictures from Round 2 Pedal Prix HPV Super Series.
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Australian HPV Super Series 2010, Round 1, Adelaide - 5th
With the diasappointment of Wonthaggi all but behind us, Ty & Kel set about further development work on our ever evolving chassis. Feeling confident that at last they had the missing ingredients to improve cornering and overall handling, with some thanks to Jordy's dad, John, confidence was high that things would improve soon. Race day arrived and all looked set to go... checkout what happened here in the race report, or view the race pictures from Round 1 Pedal Prix HPV Super Series.
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Salamanca RACT Insurance Challenge, May 2nd, 2010 - 1st.
With a little over a week to go the boys made the decision that a trip back down to Tassie (for the night life?) was warranted, the only problem was that after the Wonthaggi race we didn't have much left to race. So dear old (morning) Glory was pulled out of the back shed, checked over and refitted with running gear on the weekend before the race. Tim did some quick fixes to the CumBak fairing to make it mountable again, and with some help from Kel on Wednesday night finished the trike off - with Kel taking the time to add a little something in the way of some sign writing. With Gareth due early Thursday morning to load up Ty's ute for the trip to Tassie, all looked set to go. Read more about the adventurous weekend, or checkout the race photos from Tasmania.
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Wonthaggi 24 Hour Human Powered Grand Prix, March 19-21, 2010 - 8th.
Dicko, Azza, Brock, Henry, Jordy, Kyle, Kel, Ty & Mick
With more than 10 weeks spent on the development of the new chassis, there were high hopes as the ExPats boys headed off for another tilt at the Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix 24 hour event. Whilst not everything went to plan, there were enough signs to know that some of the new ideas worked, and some needed a rethink. For the second time in 2 years had it been a 12 hour race they'd have walked away with a win... but as we all know, that "if" and $3.50 will get you a coffee... Read more about how the weekend unfolded, or check out the pictures from the 2010 Wonthaggi HPV race.
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Bendigo Madison Cycling & HPV Pursuit Racing, March 6-7, 2010, 1st, 3rd, 4th, 1st & 2nd.
A multitude of vehicles lined, with lots of Weeroona stylred fairings on display
Casey Cardinia Cycling Festival , February 27th, 2010, 2nd place (again!)
Kyle, Henry, Troy, Brock, Ty, Kel, Aaron, Jordy
Arriving in a vehicle largely unsighted by most of the team, with zero expectations, and treating the day as more of training exercise than an all out attempt to win the race was an unual approach to things for the ExPats boys. It didn't change much with the overall result still a second place to TruBlu who just had too much horse power in a couple of sets of legs for us to match across all our riders. Still, it did show the guys where they were at with their fitness, and that the new rig should help even things up a bit for Wonthaggi. Casey 2010 HPV Race Pictures and just to show that the TruBlu boys didn't have it all their own way, check out this video...
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2010 Update...
With the bitter taste in the mouth of how 2009 ended left far behind them the ExPats boys have embarked on a new year of trike racing with a renewed vigour, fresh attitude, and a dedication to the task at hand not before seen at this time of year (or any year for that matter) from the Northern based part of the team - not sure what those boys down South around Frankston way have been up to though. With Porpy off overseas for the the first 2 races of the season a young Bendigo lad in Troy Hutchings was kind enough to offer to fill the vacant seat - looking good so far too - those Sale Yards have been copping a fair hiding of late!
What will the year hold for the ExPats? With some new (and some older ones too!) ideas to trial, the first event of the year at Casey will be treated as a training run to see how some of these new ideas work. We're not too fussed about how the race itself pans out (which in itself feels a little odd) but are more interested in what works and what doesn't so that we can get a vehicle setup to tackle Wonthaggi where we have some unfinished business
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Maryborough, RACV Energy Breakthrough, November 19-22, 2009.
Padua's Savaloy Jenkins & Highview's Evie at the front of the grid
The ExPats team was out in force over the wild, wet and windy weekend that was EBT09 in Maryborough. Kyle & MattL were riding with the Padua Open Team, whilst MattE, Clancy & Jeremy were riding in the Highview Class-C team. Most of the rest of the team were in the pits for either or both these schools during the race, with Jordy helping his old school Bendigo Catholic College and the rest of us in the pits at Highview & Padua. See the Race Report, or check out the 2009 Breakthrough pictures.
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Adelaide, Australian HPV Super Series Round 3, September 19-20, 2009.
After an even more hectic, and problem-filled, lead-in than normal a total abomination of a weekend ensued, which no doubt made certain people somewhat perversely happy.
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Adelaide, Australian HPV Super Series Round 2, July 26th, 2009, 6th Place.
With Round 2 of the Super Series being a 9 hour event for the first time, it could be an interesting weekend given at this time of year our riders don't have much time for training, and with the demands of building trikes for other teams we've had no time to experiement with any changes to better deal with the expected wet weather. Still, the ExPats boys always find a way to be competitive come what may, so bring on the race... Race, run and done, read the race report, or check out the Round 2, 2009 HPV Super Series Photos.
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Adelaide, Australian HPV Super Series Round 1, May 17th, 2009, 2nd Place.
Another case of always the bridesmaid and never the bride... What we'd hoped would be the breaking of our run of second places turned into another one on the weekend as a derailuer failure put paid to our chances just as we took the lead with under 2 hours to go. Read the race report, or check out the Round 1, 2009 HPV Super Series Photos.
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Wonthaggi 24 Hour Human Powered Grand Prix, March 20-22, 2009, 2nd Place.
With hopes high, some new ideas implemented and boys fitter than they've ever been at this time of year - keen to make amends for previous visits - the ExPats headed off to do battle over 24 hours of the technical & testing track at Wonthaggi. Read about the race happenings, or check out the Wonthaggi HPV Race Photos.
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Bendigo Madison Cycling & HPV Pursuit Racing, March 7th, 2009
32 riders lined up for the 2nd running of the Bendigo Madison HPV Pursuit day in an assortment of vehicles. ExPats had both OohLaLa and XIA running as per their Casey configurations from the previous week, and Gareth brought Boris over from Ararat as well. A fun & successful day was had by all - read more about the day here: Bendigo Madison Race Report or check out the 2009 Bendigo Madison Cycling Weekend Photos and some Happy Snaps as well.
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Casey - Cardinia Cycling Festival , February 28th, 2009, 1st, 2nd & 4th
Fri, Feb, 27th: Some minor dramas on the way to Melbourne...
Sun, Feb 22nd: Most of the crew again ventured off to Casey Fields again this weekend to try out some changes to the new race trike, and to give all the boys a decent hit out around the track for the HPV race next weekend.
Sun, Feb 1st: Most of the boys ventured off down to Melbourne Saturday afternoon for some practice with the rest of the team (now Melbourne based) at the Casey track with a view to a longer session on the Sunday to follow. Some interesting times followed .
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Round 3, Australian HPV Super Series, Murray Bridge, September 18-21, 2008 - 5th Place
Hit by illness, work commitments, and football finals finding enough riders to make a team is turning into a struggle. The last minute push is on to have a semi-decent team available for the 24 hour race. Our flash new aerodynamic trailer (courtesy of Daryl Stewart) is ready to roll, and the race trike is fitted out and ready for painting.
Wed, Sept 10: We're officially worried.
Sun, Sept 14: Time poor so "shortcuts looming warning" ahead...
Tue, Sept 16: Final trike preparations almost done.
Wed, Sept 17: Paint job done, the new look is on show!
Courtesy of Aaron Stewart we've included his HPV Race Videos in the Photo & Video Gallery section, and where available they'll also be included with race reports. Check them out here 2007 Videos, 2008 Videos.
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EPIP Maroondah GP, August 17th, 2008, 1st & 2nd
With apologies to the TriSled team who were DQ'd after the race, we took out 1st and 2nd at our first, and possibly last, visit to this event. Not much of a race report to speak of, and sorry, but no photos as our photographer was too ill to attend the race.
Round 2, Australian HPV Super Series, Adelaide, July 26-27, 2008 - 4th Place
Saturday, Aug 2nd: Happy Snaps and Start of Photo Gallery added.
Update 2, Saturday PM: Nearly ready to race...
Update 1, Saturday AM: Not too many dramas on the road trip over to Adelaide on Friday night - made a nice change! Details in the Race Report.
With the production of a new frame, new fairing, reworked mechanicals, and a couple of new faces... could this bring the change of luck we've been needing this year? Time will tell as we approach Round 2. Read more in the Race Update & Report.
Round 1, Australian HPV Super Series, Adelaide, 2008 - 16th Place
Whilst the first round of the Australian HPV Super Series was fast approaching the ExPats boys were busy building a new fairing, although not for themselves, which has meant preparations for the upcoming race were behind where they ideally should have been. Not to worry though, in true ExPats fashion we were there on the starting grid come race day, even if we did have a few more trials and tribulations than could ever be thought possible! Read more in our race report , or check out the photos of Round 1, Adelaide, HPV Super Series 2008 .
The ExPats boys returned to Tasmania for some more HPV Racing on the weekend of April 25th-28th, to defend their title at the RACT 6 hour challenge. After some minor mishaps (such as riding with only one crank) the boys eventually brought home the victory. Read our race report, or view our HPV photos gallery of the race.
Tasmania-Salamanca Winners April 2008 Aaron, Ty, Kel, Matt, and Pit Chief Mick
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Casey CCHPVCC Festival 2008 Update - 3rd Place
"My Kingdom for a spare back wheel..."
What a close race it turned out to be HPV Racing at its best! We always enjoy coming to the Casey track as it really suits our trikes, and the ExPats guys love to race there. The race was fought out between ExPats, TruBlu and TriSled's Easy Tiger. Whilst a 15+ minute off-track delay after a flat rear tyre, and no spare wheel of the correct size, virtually put paid to our race chances, the ExPats boys fought it out to the finish. Reducing a 5 lap deficit to only 2 laps at the finish. With 63 laps under the 3 minute bench mark, compared to 54 for TruBlu and only 45 for Easy Tiger, we proved we were consistently the fastest trike on the track. The lack of that spare rear wheel really cost us dearly. Read our full race report, or view our extensive photo gallery of the race.
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Wonthaggi 2008 Update - 8th Place
Wellll... What a race! With the ExPats boys, as per usual, doing yet another nothing-to-almost-race-ready HPV Race Trike in 3 weeks, and this time having to organise all the building themselves a few problems were to be expected. Read more about the story that unfolded during the race in the 2008 Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix Report or just view the race pictures.
The boys getting Nug-Nug ready to do battle at Wonthaggi 2008 Matt, Henry, Ty, Potta (out sick), Azza, Lachy, Shane, Tom, (MIA - Kel).
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Energy Breakthrough @ Maryborough 2007 - 1st Place!
ExPats riders and support crew were there in force. 6 Riders competing in 3 different teams, with many of the support crew helping out 5 different schools over the weekend and the weeks leading up to the race. Congratulations to the Highview Open teams (Delilia) progression to a new distance record, race win, and overall win, and to their Class-C Team (Conrete Donkey) that won their section of the Trial, Design & Construction, and their Overall as well! Read the race report, or see the event pictures.
Highview College's victorious Delila from EBT 2007
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Murray Bridge 2007 - 8th Place
We've been, seen, and didn't quite conquer, but we did fight back from last after an hour to 6th in the open category, and 8th overall in a field of 225+. We'll hopefully return with lessons learnt for a stronger showing in 2008! Check out the race report and race pictures for full details.
Murray Bridge 2007 Team Aaron, Ty, Kel, Mark, Ryan, Kyle, Dom, James
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Casey CCHPVCC Festival 2007, Update - 1st Place
It was cold, its was very windy, and with some trikes just picked and tipped up by gusts of wind there was always something happening. After a slow start the ExPats boys worked their way back into the race, andonce in the leaded were never headed again. Read the race report or check out the HPV Race Photos.
Casey Cardinia Winners May 2007 Ryan, Ty, Kel, Aaron
On their first visit to the Apple Isle, the ExPats boys battled a touch of sea sickness, the lads from HPRacing, and eventually came away with a hard fought win in the 6 hour HPV Race. Read the race report or check out the HPV Happy Snaps.
Tasmania-Salamanca Winners April 2007 Kel, Aaron, Henry, Ty
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2007's most time consuming project - the plug/mold redevelopment
With barely 3 weeks to go before the running of the Murray Bridge 24 hour race in 2007, a decision was made to redevelop the existing fairing/canopy design to allow a wider track and keep the wheels fully enclosed with no removable spats required. Sounded like an almost doable kind of thing. It is, if you give up 3 weeks of your life and oodles of cash, you can read all about the trials and tribulations of the building of the X1.
Race Results, Reports & Pictures
Hit by illness, work commitments, and football finals finding enough riders to make a team is turning into a struggle. The last minute push is on to have a semi-decent team available for the 24 hour race. Our flash new aerodynamic trailer (courtesy of Daryl Stewart) is ready to roll, and the race trike is fitted out and ready for painting.
