Most mountain bikers will participate in a marathon event, or at the very least a challenging marathon ride, at least once. Marathons usually take four or more hours to complete, and the physical test of pushing the body for that long is surpassed only by the mental challenge of staying focused, positive, and coping with […]
Bike Buller for XC demons
Related Event: Bike Buller
Bike Buller has been growing and evolving over the past years, and it would be easy to look at the line up and think there isn’t as much to offer the cross-country or marathon racer as there used to be. But that would be wrong. While many of the newer events are gravity focused, the […]
The marathon journey that is the Highland Fling
Related Event: Camelbak Highland Fling
When marathon races started developing in Australia about 15 years ago, they were very different to how they are today. The majority were point-to-point events, through farmland, country dirt roads, singletrack, quad bike trails and undeveloped animal trails. The mountain biking experience was raw, and riders often had to negotiate gates, creek crossings, and long […]
How to prepare for Cape to Cape
Related Event: Cape to Cape
Since its inception, the Cape to Cape MTB race in Western Australia has continued to grow in size and importance. From a humble beginning, the Cape to Cape MTB Race is now one of the biggest mountain bike stage races in the world, attracting over 1000 keen mountain bikers to the Margaret River region for […]
Why race the Simpson Desert Bike Challenge?
The Simpson Desert Bike Challenge is unofficially the world’s oldest mountain bike stage race. It has been running annually since 1987 when a group of hardy cyclists attempted to race from one end of Australia’s largest desert to the other on rather rudimentary 26inch mountain bikes. Today the race takes on a slightly different appearance […]
Who can win the Swiss Epic?
Related Event: Perskindol Swiss Epic
The 2016 Swiss Epic is barely one week away, and come 11th September, Zermatt will be flooded by a mix of lycra, whizzing freehubs, bright all-mountain clothes and some highly excitable mountain bikers. The 3rd Perskindol Swiss Epic will begin the very next morning. Based in the Valais, the Swiss Epic is 6 days of […]
Buying the right bike for marathon and stage racing
What bike should I buy for marathon racing? Or, what bike should I buy for… *enter a massive stage race here*? These are not uncommon questions for bike shop staff, and one that we get sent via email or social media quite frequently. The range of bikes continues to expand, as does the type and […]
Power analysis in marathon racing
For this past weekend, I decided to book in a double header with an XCO race on Saturday and the Saarschleifen Half Marathon on Sunday. The XCO was my main focus but with the Vaude Trans Schwarzwald stage race fast approaching, I wanted to see how my body would react to hard racing days back […]
The Swiss Epic as a ready-made holiday
Related Event: Perskindol Swiss Epic
Imogen Smith explores the Swiss Epic and finds the mountain bike stage race and package holiday together at last. Stage racing is the perfect way to combine a massive mountain bike hit with an overseas experience but, until recently, roughing it and complex logistics have held many of us back from what might otherwise be the perfect […]
Marathon World Championships course check
The UCI Cross-Country Marathon (XCM) Mountain Bike World Championships has been stuck into the last weekend of June. This makes planning a little easier from a long way out, but it also makes the race fairly Euro-centric. But the sport is too – so that is ok. A couple of days ago we took a […]