In 2012, South African born, London-based bike racer Stuart Spies made UCI Marathon Mountain Bike World Championship qualification a top priority – as long as life allowed it. Starting in South Africa, and ending in Switzerland, he raced many of the UCI Marathon Series to attempt to qualify. He fell short, but is now looking […]

I started this year planning to make the Kielder 100 one of my big targets. It’s a great event, with a fab atmosphere and gorgeous setting in the wilds of Northumberland. But with my qualification for the World Championships confirmed I decided I couldn’t do a 100 mile race 3 weeks before, and just after […]

… master of none? A very nicely calculated saying, that. And I suspect sums up quite neatly how 2012 has been for me on the racing front. My targets for the year were: win a road race, top 30 at the ABSA Cape Epic, podium at Mayhem 24hr solo, and qualify for the marathon worlds. […]

In 3 weeks I am racing the Marathon World Championships through the UCI qualification process (long may it continue). I’ve been racing for 5 years, starting in Sport (the beginner XCO category in the UK) in 2007. Riding a bike seriously-ish for 8. I’m feeling like a duck out of water but I do like […]

The past weekend saw the last round of the CRC MTB Marathon series for 2012 at Ruthin, North Wales and in my opinion the best one of the series. The weekend was packed with the Vitus road sportive and Exposure Lights Big Night Out (ELBO) MTB night event on the Saturday. Sunday followed with the […]

The Flight Centre Cycle Epic has long appealed to me as a bike racer. This was a pioneer event when it first appeared on the radar whilst I was still racing in the Juniour MTB ranks in NSW. A long distance MTB event! As the years have passed, my calendar finally aligned to grant me […]

Cycling is an expensive pastime, especially when you are just starting out as there are certain items of equipment that are mandatory (bike, helmet, shoes, pedals, lights) and then there are the luxury items like the appropriate attire. In the early days the price tag attached to good quality cycling attire seems horrendous, but as […]

With the explosion of 29″ wheeled mountain bikes over the past two years, more mountain bikers who may not have been sure on the change have made the switch. Some like it, some love it, other riders aren’t too fussed on the difference. At the recent JetBlack WSMTB 12hr in August, Gary Harwood had the […]

Ulaan Bataar I think the best word for this city is dysfunctional.  20 years of rapid population growth since the fall of communism, combined with a ballooning middle class (who all buy cars) and no road construction means that traffic is a parking lot.  No road rules are obeyed or enforced and crossing the street […]

‘Remember to pack our wellies as it might be a bit muddy.’ How glad was I that Nadene (my wife) registered what I was saying at 4:30am as we were packing for the TrailMasters this past weekend. The Ritchey TrailMasters was a MTB race based in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales, run over 3 days which consisted […]