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 […]
Imogen Smith: The ultimate comeback
It’s been quite some time since I’ve written a blog for MarathonMTB.com. Far too long, in fact, if you read the fine-print on my contract. But it’s not by accident. The last time I wrote just after National XCM Champs I managed to compose a cheery-ish, superficial post that sufficiently, I thought, masked the utter […]
Marathon reflections and XCM dreams
The National XCM Champs in Townsville, held last weekend on 29 April, was a race that had started out a huge goal for me when I planned my season months and months ago but which, as the event approached, ended up being something I was quite relaxed about on the day. The last few months […]
Australian XCM National Champs course check
MarathonMTB.com flew into Townsville early this year to get the low-down on the new course at Mt Douglas MTB park. National Champs had been planned to take place at the Pallarenda trails closer to town, but A LOT of summer rain left the course in need of considerable maintenance, so the Rockwheelers MTB club made […]
Report: Imogen Smith at the 2018 Oceania Championships
I headed off to Oceania Champs on my own this year, a week after my 37th birthday. Last year was meant to be my last year racing XCO, but I had an accident and couldn’t, so this year I’m doing all the stuff I’d planned to before I hit the deck, making up for lost […]
XCO National Series Round 3 and 4 – inferno on the Commonwealth Games Course
I arrived early for Round Three of the Australian XCO National Series at the Commonwealth Games course at Nerang and watched the junior men race. By 8:30am it was already over 32 degrees and very, very humid. The field was completely devastated by the heat, many youths ending up in the first aid tent. I […]
All Orange no lemon
It’s always exciting to see a National Series kick off. It signals the beginning of summer, and a time when riders can start to measure their form against the best and work out their goals and plans for the rest of the season. It’s a time to get some payback for all the pre-season training […]