In late August you could often be forgiven for thinking summer was well and truly over in the Swiss Alps. Last weekend, the Grand Raid was raced in clear but very cold conditions, and this weekend, the 13th National Park Bike Marathon, in the Graubunden region of Switzerland. The race gets it’s name as it […]
Archives for August 2014
Marathon Racing Bling from Eurobike – Part 1
The 2014 Eurobike show had certain highlights – new colours, e-bikes and fatbikes. There has been a lot of refinement in the ranges and offerings from many manufacturers, but overall, it’s general improvements more than ground breaking new technology for Marathon and Stage Race mountain bikers. Here are a few of our favourite items that […]
Hellfire’s a Coming – 2014 Hellfire Cup Entries close soon
The Hellfire Cup made quite a stir in 2013, being first postponed by fire, and then ravaged by floods on the new date! The organisers were ruffled, but not ruined. And for 2014 the Mountain Bike Stage Race with the festival atmoosphere is heading back to Tasmania for another four days of racing and entertainment. […]
XCM Championships to Derby
Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) has announced that the Australian Cross Country Marathon Mountain Bike Championships (XCM Champs) will be heading to Derby in Tasmania for the next two years. MTBA will partner with Dorset Council and Launceston Mountain Bike Club as a joint venture to deliver the premiere Marathon MTB event in Australia. It is […]
Shimano XTR Di2 Looking Refined
Earlier this year we saw photos of the new XTR M9000 adorning the BMC of Julien Absalon. The 1×11 setup with close ratios looked sweet, perfect for XCO racing, and Absalon has clearly showed that as he wrapped up yet another World Cup title. At Euro Bike, Shimano had the BMC that Absalon rode at […]
SRAM launch XX1 Quarq Power Meter
You rarely see a Pro road bike without a power meter, and it looks like Quarq and SRAM have taken a step to make it the same in the mountain bike market. At the 2014 Euro Bike trade show, the new XX1 compatible Quarq unit was fitted to the SRAM XX1 crankset. Although Quarq units […]
Grand Raid: The Pas de Lona
Every race has a crux, and in the Grand Raid, which runs from Verbier to Grimentz along the Swiss Alps in the Valais region – it is the Pas de Lona. A vicious hike up a scree slope to well over 2700m, it comes on the penultimate climb, when you have just climbed up about […]
Not racing, gambling. The 2014 Eiger Bike Challenge
After racing Sudety MTB Challenge as a mixed pair, Mike and I had spent some time training in Livigno (pasta, altitude, trails, bikewash. Oh, and freezing rain), then travelled to Grindewald in Switzerland to write about MTB tourism in the area for Australian Mountain Bike magazine and race the Eiger Bike Challenge, a famous Swiss marathon […]
Enduro Training for Marathon Racing
How often are you the rider in a group who claims that they would ride something gnarly “but not on this bike.” Is there a point where the distance based mountain bike racing that many of us love so much becomes a hinderance to the riding and racing we do – and we don’t end […]
Flinders Ranges Epic – Return of the big kilometres
Race organisers Event Strategies have announced that they are running the Flinders Ranges Epic on November 1st of 2014. The Ranges have a history of distance racing events, but this race will have three options for competitors: 64, 109 and 205km. Riders will have a maximum of 16 hours to finish the event. There are options […]