A few years ago, New Zealand’s (then) Prime Minister John Key was faced with an interesting dilemma: how to promote cycle tourism in a country with roads that barely fit two vehicles, let alone cyclists. The solution was a novel one: Te Ara Ahi, the Great New Zealand Cycle Trail. A network of off-road pathways, […]
Archives for November 2017
BC Bike Ride entries are about to open for 2018!!
If there is a mountain bike stage race that is on just about every mountain biker’s bucket list, it’s the BC Bike Race. Known for the most sensational, technical trails, event services that are second to none, and just being a damn good bike race, this seems to be the one event just about every […]
Sudety MTB Challenge 2018 course is revealed
Related Event: Sudety MTB Challenge
The route for the 2018 Sudety MTB Challenge has been revealed. The event team have been working tirelessly to combine three major changes for the race in 2018. Firstly they wanted to decrease the number of race towns that the race visited, but without compromising the quality of trails in each stage. Secondly the organisation […]
The Camelbak Fourteener – a traveller’s best friend
One thing that always accompanies me on a stage race is a good backpack. The convenience of being able to carry all of my essential equipment on planes, trains and automobiles while still having full use of my hands is often an absolute necessity. Or even around camp at a race travelling between dinner and […]
Cory Wallace relives the Glacier 360 in Iceland
Iceland “the land of fire and ice” is a small island nation lying just south of the Arctic circle in the North Atlantic ocean. It has become a tourist hotbed as people come in droves to see its extraordinary landscape full of Volcanic activity, geothermal energy, glaciers, waterfalls and vast expanses of moon like rock fields. […]
A season on Shimano XTR Di2
Since 2012, the MarathonMTB.com Team riders have predominantly run Shimano group sets. Usually a mix of XT and XTR parts, mixed for the best combination of price, weight, performance and durability. Favour fell to parts from Shimano due in part to their parts availability when away from home, especially in Europe. Personally, I’ve aimed to […]
WEMBO 2019 heads to Brasil!
Breaking the mould, WEMBO has partnered with Roma Sports to hold the WEMBO World Solo 24 Hour Championships in Costa Rica MS in July 2019. Roma Sports is best known for their 24 Hour and Brasil Ride events, and Mario Roma is also well known throughout mountain biking as a competitor in stage races all over the world […]
Race Report – The Final Highland Fling
Related Event: Highland Fling
The Highland Fling has, over the past 13 years, become a staple and a classic event on the Australian MTB calendar. The 120km jaunt through the singletrack, forestry roads and farm tracks of NSW’s Southern Highlands has attracted tens of thousands of competitors from around the country and the globe over its existence. Due to […]
How to service Shimano SPD clipless pedals
There are very few items on a mountain bike which you can just set and forget. And if something was to come pretty close, it would be the higher range Shimano SPD clipless pedals, notably from the M540 up to the Shimano XT and XTR models. Save for a bit of a clean up and […]
The Trans Taurus 3-day stage race
This report from the Trans Taurus has been provided by Mark Songhurst. Photos by actiongraphers.com and Mahmut Cinci. I’m in the attractive holiday resort of Kemer, which nestles between the turquoise Mediterranean sea and the Taurus mountain range, from which the cable car station atop the Olympos (Tahtalı) mountain stares down at us from 2,365 […]