The past few months have been heavy with Marathons and Stage Races. If you set yourself the goal of doing all of them – it could easily take a decade, given the cross over of timing and managing the constraints of regular life. And although October is a time where a lot of the cycling world is finishing up, or turning to the micro-knobbies of cyclocross, the Marathon and Stage Race season always kicks on somewhere. Here are some of the best events coming up in October.
Run in Ornans, France, the Extreme Sur Loue is also the site of the UCI XCM World Champiosnhips for 2012. For this reason alone, it should be well attended by the European contingent. It’s a weekend event, with a range of family activities and shows on Saturday 1st October, with the UCI Elite races on the Sunday. Courses are separate for men and women, as are the race times. For non-Elites, there are 84, 62, 45, 35 and 15km options.
If ever there were a mountain bike event with something for everyone – this is it. Long running and well respected, the Roc d’azur starts on 5th October and runs through to the 9th. But it isn’t a Stage Race. There are shorter events, randonee’s, Enduro’s, the UCI Marathon and tradeshows. All along the French Riviera. Adrian Jackson (Flight Centre – Merida) attended in 2010, and was pleasantly surprised with the rockiness and technical nature of some of the trails used. This isn’t always a given for a European Marathon. This event will be well attended by professionals and amateurs alike – make it part of your calender in the future.
Langkawi International Mountain Bike Challenge
Now in the second year, the Langkawi International Mountain Bike Challenge (LIMBC) knows how to draw a crowd, and this year runs from 17-23rd October. Much like the wisdom given in Waynes World, “If you book the bands, they will come”, there is a variant for bike racing. If you put good cash on, the top level athletes will come. The LIMBC is a five day Mountain Bike Stage Race not only offers great prize money, but UCI ranking points as well. With the Olympics in 2012, more points are always useful. Last years race winner, Lachie Norris, will be joined by most of Australia’s Elite MTB crowd, plus numerous International riders. It should be a quality five days of tropical racing – hopefully with enough time by the pool to even out the tanlines.
Running for 10 days from 18-27th October, the ‘Croc’ is known as the hardest, longest and most adventurous mountain bike race in the world. Those are some big, dusty shoes to fill. Thankfully, the Subaru/MarathonMTB.com team of Graeme Arnott, Justin Morris and Mike Blewitt will be there to tell you what it is really like, on a day to day basis. However, with days of close to 190km, it is likely that their claim is true. The Croc draws a small but dedicated field. Urs Huber (Stockli-Craft) will be returning to defend his previous two wins. The talented Swiss rider will no doubt have a few challengers to keep him honest. Stay tuned to MarathonMTB.com for your daily updates from the 18th October.
Singletrack Mind Series Rnd 6: Lidsdale State Forest
The SRAM Singletrack Mind Series is perhaps NSW’s Premier enduro series. With their events all being within a day trip of Sydney, they are well attended. With such generous support from the series sponsors, racers are well rewarded. And by choosing great trails, everyone has a great time. While not strictly being a Marathon, this style of event offers a great racing opportunity for top racers and beginners alike – without the chance of blowing up in the middle of nowhere. Round 6 is on 23rd October, just three weeks before the Briars Highland Fling. As the last round of the Real Insurance XCM Series, contenders for the overall in the series should be out in force in Lidsdale.
As always, there are many more events than those listed above. MarathonMTB.com will keep you up to date with as much as we can from the world of Marathon Mountain Bike Racing.