The Weekly Rider - Sam Gartner

Super Sam Speilberg is the Weekly Rider! At 42 and with two ridiculously good looking kids Sam is an Engineer working for the world’s largest construction materials company, he does so in order to fill in the time between what’s most important... riding and drinking coffee!

With the motto, “Remember, we are going to Hell and back so you better bring your sunscreen” it's clear he loves to ride.

Sam Gartner a.k.a Super Sam Speilberg

Lives - Brighton (must be pronounced with a posh accent)

Dream Bike

Nothing made from Kryptonite. Factor One or Trek Madone 9.9. Both have full cable integration with super sleek fast looks. Naturally it wouldn’t be complete without a Superman themed custom paint job tagged with my nickname Super Sam Speilberg.

What is your favourite local ride

A Fatboy Slim (as I call it) ride on the sand as the foreshore is down the end of my street. I originally moved to Brighton (again, must be pronounced with a posh accent) to be able to sleep in but still join either the SKCC (St Kilda Cycling Club) or NRR (North Road Ride) smash fests along Beach Road as it’s relatively flat and fast paced.

What is your current cycling goal

Recently I’ve just been focusing on smashing out some more kms and mixing things up a bit. I aim to ride with different social groups and to cover different routes. At least once a week I throw in some hills for thrills.

When I am on the bike I...

Enjoy the attention! People can’t help but stare at the Fat Bike when I’m cruising along the St Kilda foreshore or down along Southbank. Just the look of “WTF” on people faces and the way they drool over the unusual tyres is simply priceless. I like the variety of riding different bikes and remembering that it’s not always about going fast.

How did your love of bikes come about?

Riding was a mode of transport growing up, especially when our family moved away from my friends. I’d ride to my mates’ homes, not wanting to miss a moment hanging out I’d then have to time trial to catch the last train home.

Unfortunately when I was at University someone felt that my bike was fair game and they stole it from the safe confines of Monash Campus. I went without a bike for 7 years but I still have a recurring dream of that bikes safe return. About 10 years ago I started paying more attention to my health, and I jumped back on board the cycling bandwagon to lose 10kgs and to get fit.

Share a cycling memory

Many may not know, but I was originally nicknamed Super Sam back in 1991 on the Great Vic Bike Ride when I single-handedly led out a strong peloton of over sixty riders for 45 minutes doing 40-45 km/h. Fast forward 23 years and that nickname was coincidently rebirthed after I completed Around The Bay (230kms) with only 2 gears, 53/39 whilst stuck on the 14 tooth cog, as my right shifter broke at 10pm the night before with no way to get it fixed in time.

I produced my first ever bike video of that event, and afterwards my cycling companions started calling me Super Sam Speilberg (that video and others are available on my Super Sam Speilberg Facebook page).

One year ago I completed the 210kms Sorrento return on my 18kg Fat Bike. Man of Steel or bike-made-of-steel, whichever you’d like. Those two ATB’s were difficult to say the least!

I love to ride because...

I feel the need, the need for speed. Overall I enjoy the exhilarating feeling of sprinting past my opponents with the wind in my hair, oh wait I have none... I mean the wind in my face. An armoured tank accident and a charity Fun Run (actually it wasn’t fun at all) left me with back and knee injuries, meaning running isn’t ever going to be suitable for fitness, but cycling is. It has allowed me to break out of my introverted shell as I get to meet new people and forge new friendships whilst enjoying that much needed post ride caffeine hit.

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LA VELOCITA. OPINION.