Variety is the key of life. Especially, variety packs of chocolates. But mid-year racing variety is always good to keep things fresh and interesting. Preparation for the Kowalski Classic and races later in the year is going well, with races and rides both on the road and, thankfully, on the dirt. Last weekend was the […]
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 […]
Sella Ronda… Zero
This blog was supposed to be a preview of the Sella Ronda Hero: the 2015 UCI World MTB Marathon Champs. On a perfect day, in perfect weather, I failed to ride around the course. So, here’s the story of what went wrong, and what’s right about that. When people find out that Mike and I […]
Justin Morris’ Blog: Searching through pain for joy
G’day mates, it has been a busy past few months traversing continents, road bike miles, MTB miles, moments of joy also episodes of intense anger and disappointment. Such is life on the road as an athlete. You take the highs with the lows. In April I lined up for my first ever race in the Middle […]
Sudety MTB Challenge 2014 Stage 5: The final to Kudowa-Zdroj
Stage 5 – Walim to Kudowa-Zdroj: 80 kilometres What happened? After a whole day of rain yesterday, a bit more overnight, and a cloudy, foggy morning, riders could have been forgiven for wishing that organisers would take pity on them and shorten the 80km Queen Stage of Sudety MTB Challenge 2014 just a little. Yesterday’s 44km […]
Sudety MTB Challenge 2014: Stage 4, Wallowing in mud to Warim
Stage 4 Bardo to Walim, 44.2 kilometres What happened? With plenty of rain from the award ceremony onwards, Stage 4 would be wet. And it wasn’t a case of the water just coming up from the ground, it was falling from the sky as well. This race has a jovial vibe, people are having fun. […]
Sudety MTB Challenge 2014 Stage 3 – Battling the border to Bardo
Stage 3 Stronie Slaskie to Bardo, 67 kilometres What happened? The race left Stronie Slaskie in beautiful weather and after a ‘neutral’ lap of this beautiful town, headed up, and up, and up, on a 13 km gravel climb, and into border country. The race then turned technical, inching through muddy singletrack made of roots […]
Sudety MTB Challenge 2014 Stage 2: Vuelta a Stronie Slaskie
Stage 2: Vuelta a Stronie Slaskie: What happened? After what felt like a brutal stage yesterday on Stage 1, today was a little friendlier, earning a ‘3’ for difficulty rather than the ‘4’ of yesterday (from a scale of 1-6). What this meant was that the climbs were a little less steep, the descents a […]
Sudety MTB Challenge 2014 Stage 1 – Touring Stronie Slaskie
Stage 1 – Tour de Stronie Slaskie What happened? After yesterday’s short, 15 km prologue, the real Sudety MTB Challenge started today, with a 65 km course that included 2423 metres of climbing. Starting in the beautiful park in central Stronie Slaskie, the course quickly turned off the main road and onto a steep climb […]
Sudety MTB Challenge: Prologue and ‘Pure MTB’
The Sudety MTB Challenge has begun, and for a race that promises to be ‘Pure MTB’ and an “Unusual event” plus being “an above average race” I’m surprised more people don’t know about it. Today the Prologue began in the afternoon, one that was forecast to be plagued with rain but in reality just had an […]