It’s been a while since I put a number on at one of the Rocky Trail Entertainment Shimano MTB GP events. But even since moving to Brisbane two years ago, it’s always great to get to one of the events run by the Martin and Juliane Wisata, who make up the husband and wife event […]
Cory Wallace catches up on the Singletrack 6
Related Event: SIngletrack 6
The Singletrack 6 was born when the legendary TransRockies went dormant a few years back and is turning into one of North America’s premier races. Each year the host communities change as the organisation seeks out new riding areas to showcase 6 days of the best of what Western Canadian singletrack has to offer. The […]
Emotions of a National Marathon Champs Weekend
Related Event: Manx 100
Over the past 2 years it’s been a privilege to have worn the National Champion’s stripes at the front of some of the biggest marathon races in the world. I remember the first international race I went to in the jersey, I was parked up at the hotel pulling the bike out of the Vauxhall […]
Getting Volcanic at the Craters Classic
Taupo is located on the verge of the gorgeous 80km Lake Taupo. While serene and beautiful, it hides a secret: the lake is actually the caldera of a supermassive volcano. Sitting astride the Taupo volcanic zone, the area is a volcanic hot-spot. The Craters Classic is a race adjacent the Carters of the Moon – […]
Digging Holes at the Ashburton 6 Hour
Philosophical Introduction There’s been a salient and sombre overtone in a few articles on this site and others recently about the death of mountain bike racing. Falling numbers, lower participation, and the diminution of the excitement and the vibe. In the midst of these tails, I’ve noticed a bit of an aberration in the strength […]
Mixing it Up at the Port Hills Classic
The Port Hills Classic was scheduled for March 2017 as a 30th anniversary of mountain bike racing on Christchurch’s Port Hills. Then, in February, this happened: Rescheduled to April, the event went charging ahead at the trails of Halswell Quarry. While the original Port Hills Classics had, in various forms, consisted of riding various forms […]
Sometimes, it’s all about the Scenery: the Contact Lake Hawea Epic
On moving to NZ, one of the first races I looked at was the Contact Energy Lake Hawea Epic. Promising a lap of a moraine lake in a glacial tarn, stunning alpine South Island scenery, multiple river crossings and access to normally inaccessible trails, it proved a tempting proposition. In its tenth year, the race […]
Crash course: Imogen Smith on her season-ending accident
Related Event: Australian XCM Championships
Seven weeks ago, I had a big crash in a women’s criterium that ended my racing season before it really began. Early in the final 200m sprint, where I was sitting in the top 10 (I thought I’d be safe there), there was a surge from behind and riders moved sideways. It took the girl […]
Lomas Wefing: Firsts are not always podiums
It’s been a winter like no other. For the first time ever, I have been riding to power zones and heart-rate zones. For the first time ever, I’ve been training full-time and working part-time. For the first time ever, I’ve been riding carbon as well as steel. All this as my first year at U23/Elite […]
Two Wheel Drifting at 4 and 8 Hours of Hanmer Springs
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the best possible post-ride activity is soaking in a thermal spring. Well, actually, that’s a highly contested and controversial statement, and dependent on the weather. But if there is any cold or wet present, then the thermal spring comes into its own. This has perhaps been crucial to […]