I remember chatting to a mate a number of years ago, who at the time was racing for a continental team in Europe. Our conversation fell to the topic of what happened to riders who got dropped from the peloton, especially in big races where team resources would be dedicated to those who remained in […]
Archives for March 2013
Old dog, new tricks?
It has often struck me as odd that for a sport that is as technical as mountain biking, a lot of us never get any instruction in how to do it. We learn from our mistakes, we make it up as we go along, we pick up snippets from mates and we maybe see the […]
Day 3: Bike Buller MTB Festival
The final stage of the 2013 Bike Buller MTB Festival confirmed the supremacy of both Paul Van der Ploeg in the Open Male and Jenni King in the Open Female categories. Stage 3, the Corn Hill Crankfest, was a 20km XC with some killer climbs and technical descents. One of those killer climbs is named […]
Bike Buller: King and Van der Ploeg reign supreme
On the second day of the Bike Buller MTB Festival, it were once again Jenni King and Paul Van der Ploeg who dominated the race on the amazing single tracks of MtBuller. In stage 2, the Brakeburner Enduro, riders had the choice to ride as many laps on the downhill circuit as they could to […]
Taberlay and Fay win James Williamson Memorial Enduro
The 3rd James Williamson Enduro Challenge was raced in the Southern Highlands on Sunday 10th March. Now in it’s third year – the race celebrates the life of the late James Williamson. ‘Willo’ passed away in his sleep while at the Cape Epic mountain bike stage race, on 23rd March 2010. The event is not […]
Paul Van der Ploeg takes out Bike Buller Stage 1
On the first day of the 2013 Bike Buller MTB Festival, it was Paul Van der Ploeg who took the win in the 50km XC race. After a very fast start where young gun Michael Crosbie immediately put the pressure down on rest of the field, a lead group of four riders formed including Van […]
How to train, realistically.
So here we are only a few weeks into the start of the 2013 season, and you’re still trying to work off the Christmas turkey and NYE beers from your bulging waistline. Starting a training program can be daunting. It takes time and there’s so many different approaches out there – how do you choose? Well […]
The season’s upon us!
How is it that the period from November to March can at the same time drag so slowly, yet whistle by so fast? Once racing has finished in October-ish, and you’ve had a break to recover from racing week in week out for six months, you then start off again on winter training. And at […]
XTERRA Philippines: Thriller in Manilla (or Cebu)
After just missing out on a podium spot at XTERRA Worlds last year, I was in the hunt again for a qualification slot to have another attempt at it. XTERRA Philippines was chosen as the target race for the reason that it was early in the season enough to have a backup plan in case […]
Mount Buller’s Battle of the Mountain Bikes
700-plus mountain bike riders of all disciplines will go head to head at the unique Bike Buller MTB Festival this weekend, 9 to 11 March at Mount Buller, Victoria. The battle will be headlined by Paul Van der Ploeg, a short course specialist and recent Australian Elite Men’s Cross-Country Eliminator 2013 Champion; Adrian Jackson, 2012 […]