The Crocodile Trophy is one of the longest running mountain bike events in the World. I only know of one other stage race that claims to be older and beats it by a single year. In 2013 the “Croc” celebrated its 19th year and has become one of the biggest and hardest races in the […]
Bike Fit – How does yours stack up?
If you read my previous blog, you would remember that I have been battling a chronic knee injury in Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) – essentially caused by a muscular imbalance and an IT band you could strum to a tune. Dormant glutes and a weak VMO wreaked havoc on the muscoskeletal strucuters of my right […]
Kowalski, A Singlespeeder’s Tale…
You know, after Tour Divide its kind of hard to get worked up about 90km. After all, when you’ve ridden more than 230km a day for 20+ days… well, 90km just doesn’t seem that hard. At least that’s what I was telling myself as I was getting organised to drive down to Canberra for the […]
I remember now… Stu Spies at the O-Tour 2013
Funny thing this marathon racing, you spend a lot of time staring at your front wheel don’t you? Or the dirt in front of it, or your fork crown or your lock-out latch or someone else’s rear tyre, rear end, rear something. It can be a little, zombie, right? Basically you are putting out just […]
Ben Thomas’ Blog: Manx End 2 End
It’s been a busy few weeks for Mountain Trax – Vauxhall Motors Cycling Team as preparations continue for our expansion in 2014. The email inbox is a hive of activity and important meetings are being organised. However there are still a few big races remaining this year including the two final European Marathon World Cups […]
Mongolia Bike Challenge: Handling the remote
It’s almost impossible to compare remote races against those in highly populated regions, or a cross country stage race which runs out of one town. It’s in the name; remote races aren’t near the regular amenities and services we would expect, which is part of what makes them such a unique experience. There are a […]
First race back – keeping calm at the Garmin Bike Marathon
My 2013 marathon season was supposed to be great – the http://marathonm.wpengine.com/2013/04/08/reviewing-the-2013-absa-cape-epic/ followed by the http://marathonm.wpengine.com/2011/06/18/the-absa-cape-epic-vs-the-craft-bike-transalp-powered-by-nissan/ plus a whole lot of European marathon races, with no doubt some UK road racing thrown in for good measure. As it was, that all came grinding to a halt in the final kilometer of the Epic, with a broken hip, thanks to […]
Mongolia Bike Challenge: Losing Control
Part of the joy of stage racing is the focus it gives you each day. Compared to the environment you’re stepping away from, life becomes highly simplified. You eat, race, eat and sleep. Sometimes there’s more eating. So although I know that I like to plan – to know, to prepare – and to an […]
Mongolia Bike Challenge Diary – Stage 1: The King Stage
Part of chasing mountain bike marathons and stage races around the globe is stepping into the unknown, being fully aware that you are about to do something that you can’t know everything about, and that you might not fully be prepared for. In the age of readily accessed information, you still yearn to know what […]
Racing the Tour Divide: You must climb.
Arran Pearson has just returned from the Tour Divide. This is the third part of his story. You should read part one and part two to catch up. Although there is a lot of climbing in the first 1/2 of the route, it’s in Colorado where you hit serious altitude with several passes over 10,000 […]