In a matter of days, Australia’s marathon mountain bike racing elite, along with many more enthusiastic amateur racers, will travel to Derby, in North East Tasmania. A small town previously ravaged by mining and forestry, mountain biking is set to be the saviour of this town and its region. 100km of trails built by World […]
Training in Winter: Bikes or skis?
Living in Australia we are thankfully not constrained by the weather in winter. Extremely uncomfortable, maybe, but usually the worst is some driving rain or a freezing headwind. But for those living in less forgiving climates, wintertime can make riding outside near impossible. With heavy snow covering the ground, the only way to get some […]
Explore Tropical North Queensland via the Crocodile Trophy
Related Event: Crocodile Trophy
The Crocodile Trophy is one of the most demanding mountain bike stage races in the world. As much as it has changed a lot in the past five years, it is still a testing 9 days of mountain biking in Tropical North Queensland. The variety of the race no longer suits European road professionals at […]
2015: A Giant Odyssey
“I like the town of Forrest, and I really like what the Forrest trails do for the sport of Mountain Biking. This event is also the best yardstick out there for running a great event. I hear that next year is the 10th year as well, so I think it could really be harder than […]
Our favourite moments from the 2015 Absa Cape Epic
Related Event: ABSA Cape Epic
The Cape Epic is the stand out event on the mountain bike calendar. Depending who you ask, it’s bigger than the World Championships. The event showcases the beautiful Western Cape of South Africa to the world. with 1200 riders racing across such a varied landscape, starting at dawn, the photographers and videographers do an amazing […]
2 Oceans MTB Race – Explore the great Southern Forests
Related Event: Two Oceans MTB Race
Earlier this year I was lucky enough to visit south Western Australia. Living in Sydney, it’s not somewhere that is close by. After a 4 hour flight there’s then about a 3hr drive to get there. Round 2 and 3 of the Subaru MTBA National Series was on in Pemberton, so it was a great […]
The MTBA XCM Series: The first half awaits
The MTBA XCM National Series started on Sunday 22nd March with the 5th James Williamson Memorial Enduro. It’s a great event, held in memory of the late James Williamson, and was a late addition to the series, making for seven races around the country. With that race won, and points awarded, we can look to […]
MBC: More Than A Bike Race, A Journey of Discovery
Related Event: Mongolia Bike Challenge
A bewildering number of mountain bike stage races exist across six continents. Some claim to be the toughest, others the most scenic, while a few boast of being the greatest. Nevertheless, one race which appears to stand alone, in extraordinary ways, is the Mongolian Bike Challenge. Having raced the event in 2013, Phil Welch explains some […]
Chamois Cream Shoot Out
If you read MarathonMTB.com, the chances are that you like riding long distances, and pushing yourself in endurance races. While just about any committed endurance cyclist will be used to wearing bike shorts, and probably bibshorts, sometimes that’s not quite enough for complete comfort. Most of us here at MarathonMTB are fans of chamois cream. The […]
Getting the most out of Indoor Cycle Training
Phil Welch is a well known masters athlete in Australia, with great results across events as far reaching as stage races in Poland, solo 24hr races, and the Crocodile Trophy. A recent broken wrist hasn’t really slowed him down – here’s Phil’s take on how to get the most out of training indoors, due to […]