The past 12 months or more have been pretty hectic, to say the least. Trying to report on the best Marathon Mountain Bike races and Stage Races from around the globe is a bit of a task – especially if you aim to have a team member or yourself in the event. There have been countless great moments out on the road (trail), and compared to the past five years, the bulk of travelling and racing out of a bike bag and backpack this year had a little bit more purpose. There were clearly some highlights of the year.
Best show of team mate aggression: Justin Maddog Morris
“He’d gone up the road, so I chased him down because I heard he was a c%*#. But I blew up after that.” First KOM, Otway Odyssey, Apollo Bay, Australia.
Most Professionally run event: ABSA Cape Epic
This is the big one. Nothing compares to the ABSA Cape Epic in terms of logisitics, Media coverage – and difficulty. Thanks again for the opportunity to race and cover it!
Best ‘Zero’ to Hero Effort: Graeme Arnott
Two weeks out from the Crocodile Trophy, ‘Biscuit’ was trying to find someone to fill his spot on the Subaru-MarathonMTB.com Team. By Stage 7 of the 10 day race, he was in the Masters Leaders Jersey, and rode into 4th Overall on General Classification.
Most humerous thing heard in Switzerland: From a UCI Commissaire, Grand Raid Cristalp
“Do you have permission from your team to race here?”
“Um… I am my team.”
Coolest crew to hang out with at a Stage Race: Justin’s Nutbutter Big Nuts, Thomas Dooley and Mike Hogan.
This was suspected after the 2008 TransAlp, and confirmed at the 2011 ABSA Cape Epic. Dooley and Hogan are animals in the Masters category, and a whole lot of fun to hang out with. Be it Garda, Boulder, Scuol, Cape Town, Lourensford… it’s entertaining.
Best Dream Living Moment: Driving from Nice (FRA) to Gryon (SUI).
Picking up a little 206 hire car, after 8 days of guiding and training on the Cote d’Azur, including the Madone that morning, it was time to head to Switzerland. Duelling with other small cars on the way over to the Italian border, eating chocolate covered waffles as maps and clothes flew around the car, Radio Plus provided the Euro Beat. Three countries, countless passes and tunnels later and I was in a small Swiss town – preparing for a UCI Marathon round. Having navigated from one mates spare room to another without a map, and rarely below the Australian maximum speed limit.
There were a lot of golden moments this year, but none of them would be possible without help. So thanks to:
Team mates Graeme Arnott, Sam Moorehouse, Justin Maddog Morris, Josh Keep, Will Hayter AND Werner van der Merwe. Super Swanny’s Pete Figg, Laurene, and the whole Binder family. Companies such as Science in Sport, LineBreak Clothing, Fox Suspension, Scott Bikes, Crank Bikestore, SMP, Salice, Kask, Mule Bar, Repack Clothing, Mt Zoom, Maxxis, Camelbak, and of course Subaru Australia.
Thanks to all the race promoters for putting on great events that create a reason to travel around with a bike – the tireless efforts of race organisers, their employees and masses of volunteers has allowed our sport to grow. A special mention to Real Insurance for creating and backing a Mountain Bike Marathon Series in Australia. This is a great initiative and a great sign of things to come.
There are countless individuals who have helped myself or team mates this year, and I don’t think I could name them all. But all help was appreciated, and I hope we can all repay it in the future. With 2012 around the corner, it is an exciting time to finish off your season planning and lock your target events in. It’s set to be a cracker.