Australian XCM Championships: Talking to the Course Setter

The Cross Country Marathon (XCM) format is growing and changing around the world. The past two years have seen a big boost to the XCM scene in Australia, with the Real Insurance XCM Series tying many of the popular East Coast events together. While it can’t yet be considered our National XCM Series, it isn’t too far off. The Australian Marathon Championships are only four weeks away, taking place at Mt Stromlo. I spoke to top XCM racer (and current Real Insurance Series leader) Andy Blair (Swell-Redshift) who has been responsible for setting the course.

“When the UCI changed the rules about being able to have a multi-lap Marathon, I thought of the possibility of having one at Mt Stromlo. Last year, being the first National Champs where we had three laps, up at Mt Joyce, I think that was really successful for a Championship race. It was quite exciting, it made it a lot easier for people traveling from all over the country as it was less important to have local knowledge, and helped to feed in remote locations.” So Blair figured there would be an opportunity to put on a great race at Mt Stromlo for the Championships, as it could offer what was required.

“I thought it would be good for Canberra to get another National Champs, and I approached CORC (Canberra Off Road Cyclists) about it. I helped them put a course together for the proposal.” Andrew Blair is currently one of Australia’s most experienced Cross Country and Marathon Mountain Bike Racers. He has raced at home and abroad extensively, representing either Australia or his own team. As such, he knows what makes for a good race, and what makes a good course.

“I’ve certainly tried to make it hard, but I don’t want it to be just attrition or like an Enduro, I want it to be a Marathon. So there is a lot of fire road in it as well – but it will definitely be tough so that there is a deserving National Champion. I wanted to open peoples eyes to the lesser known trails at Stromlo that no one rides, and the whole Western area where no one really goes is used extensively. As well as using heaps of the single track that everybody knows, it also uses stuff that probably no one knew existed.”

Australia is geographically large, and our population is quite widespread – although very much based in the South East. Regardless, the distances to travel to races can take a big commitment of time and finances. The Cross Country National Series typically visits a broad spectrum of the states, and requires significant investment. Canberra is relatively central for many of Australia’s riders.

“In terms of the sport, it’s really good to have races close to the riding population. Not only is it accessible for a large amount of riders that live in Canberra, but it’s easy for people who live in Sydney or Melbourne to get there, to either fly or drive. It’s another hub with an airport, so it’s fairly accessible.” That does bring up a concern – will a course that has been set by a rider who now lives and trains in Canberra, on trails that are heavily ridden by the local riders, favour those who live in Canberra? Conversely, the course at Mt Joyce last year had not been ridden by the field until we took to it on the first lap. Blair is sensitive to this.

“I certainly didn’t want to set a course that favoured me. The more I thought about it, the more I realised it would be impossible anyway. It’s such a confined space that you are trying to put a 90km race in that you’re putting so many of the tracks together in an order, rather than choosing what the track is. I tried to think about what kind of track would suit me, and what wouldn’t. I’ve won races that are flat, and I have won races that are hilly… It will be who has the good legs on the day. Any rider who lives in Canberra will be at a bit of an advantage, knowing the trails a bit.” More often than not, there will always be some form of local knowledge at any race. Although we all have some secret trails, National level races are unlikely to use them. Our races mostly occur on used, developed and maintained trails. Someone will always have an advantage..

“Somewhere like Stromlo, everyone who is a contender has done numerous Scott 24hrs, and World Champs, the National Champs, National Rounds, a World Cup – we all know Stromlo pretty well. It’s probably good for the locals, but it’s a good leveller as everyone knows the area. If we were to make a Marathon Champs in Queanbeyan, I’d be backing myself, as I don’t think anyone else rides those trails.” Regardless, having the Marathon National Champs at Mt Stromlo will be a great opportunity for a lot of our elite racers to showcase their talent. With a well organised club like CORC behind the event, racers can be confident that the event will be well prepared, allowing for a quality race to earn the title.

Entries for the race are on the MTBA website.

You can view a map and profile of the route on Strava.