I may not be an XCO racer most of the time, and on paper my result was nothing to write home about, but unless I suddenly become a rockstar, nothing I do in my life will come close to the exhilaration of racing XCO World Championships in Lenzerheide. So what’s it like racing XCO World […]
Livigno Training Camp: Day Six
The rain, which Accuweather tauntingly promised us would clear up today, stuck around so resolutely that by 9am it was clear to me that I was going to need something special. I marched Mike up the road, in the freezing drizzle, to a pasticceria and forced him to order me a filled croissant, then, when […]
Livigno Training Camp: Day Four
As Mike and I have been watching the weather forecast like the vital signs of a dying man, we knew today would be a great day to have off. But imagine my disappointment when, after the jubilant excesses of yesterday’s climb to the top of Livigno’s mountains, I woke up again with a painfully sore, […]
Livigno Training Camp: Day Two
Mike and I were always going to go our separate ways in Livigno. For Mike, this is a special place overlaid with memories of gypsyish Euro-tripping bikefests of day-long, epic rides over high passes and into wild valleys, all of which he wants to relive. For me, this is the last chance to get in […]
Finding balance – Stage 4 of the Rothaus Bike Giro
Related Event: Rothaus Bike Giro Hochschwarzwald
Back in start block D this morning at the final stage of the Rothaus Bike Giro I settled on a different strategy from the day before. Yesterday I’d gone out hard on a secret mission to escape from start block D, and that hadn’t worked out at all. Today I was going to embrace it […]
Testing the legs on day 3 of the Rothaus Bike Giro
Related Event: Rothaus Bike Giro Hochschwarzwald
You know it’s a bike race when you hear a drone buzzing overhead and a dirt bike kick starts behind you. Standing on a sharp upward slope beneath an enormous Rothaus beer inflatable arch, in start block D is where my Rothaus Bike Giro finally got underway, after a start to our 2018 European trip […]
Reef to Reef: The fourth and final stage
And just like that, it’s over! Reef to Reef today finished with a sweet 50-kilometre stage that took in some icons of tropical north Queensland riding: Wetherby Station, The Bump Track, and Port Douglas’s Four Mile Beach. Logistically, this was a tricky one to manage: everyone corralled in the dark at 6am to load bikes […]
Reef to Reef stage three
Stage three of Reef to Reef and we’re back. After all the challenges of the last fortnight or so (so sick!), Mike and I finally woke up feeling good. And excited. And not sick! Want to catch up? Check out our reports from Stage 1 and Stage 2 Today was the Queen Stage of the […]
Reef to Reef Stage Two
After having such a great time yesterday, Mike and I had a pretty average recovery and a revival of dodgy sick symptoms (me especially) and decided (excruciatingly) that it would be wise to sit the second day of Reef to Reef out. This nearly broke our hearts, especially when people started returning from the stage […]
Reef to Reef 2018 stage 1
Reef to Reef is finally here! There’s been a fair bit of excitement about this event and it’s understandable. Not often do you get the chance to 1. Race in Cairns in the dead of winter, and 2. Race in a pair in Australia, or even 3. Attend an event in its inaugural year. The […]