Once you have been doing the one thing for a week you well and truly settle into a routine. Ride, eat, sleep, repeat. Ok, there’s more eating than that. But one of the beautiful things about stage racing is how normal it ends up feeling when you’re racing your bike. Everyone likes routine. Today was […]
Catching up on the Croc – Irvinebank to Skybury Coffee Plantation
So far the 20th Crocodile Trophy has been a little different to years past. Firstly, it’s a UCI sanctioned race, which means guaranteed prize money for elite riders – and a lot of ranking points on offer too. This has also brought a slight change to how the race is run – starts are prompt, […]
Croc Trophy Diary: Taking stock in Irvinebank
It’s not often in a stage race that you find yourself with nothing to do. But here I am, sitting in a shady spot with the sound of the wind in the trees, birds, and hammering in my ears. Camping has its advantages. After enjoying myself far too much yesterday, I decided that today, the […]
Cory Wallace snares a Boomerang in Atherton
The 4th Stage of a stage race usually has some fatigue starting to show. And maybe that’s exactly what Cory Wallace needed to snare his stage win today on the out and back loop from Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park. Wallace had been training for The Munga, which he was set to race with Australian […]
Croc Trophy Diary: Railing the Atherton Trails
Sitting down, in clean clothes, using free wifi. As the Croc gets into swing, scenes like these are getting rarer. It’s day three and we cruised from Lake Tinaroo to race at Atherton, another MTB mecca, this morning, where we’ll have a brief reprieve from the daily pack-up for two nights. Mike and I were […]
Rybarik and Smith take leaders jerseys at Smithfield
The 20th Crocodile Trophy has begun! The iconic trails of Smithfield mountain bike park, just north of Cairns, held the first stage of the Crocodile Trophy today. The mud from the World Cup in April has dried, and the course was twisty, flowing, dry, dusty – and pretty long considering it was a short stage. […]
Questing the Croc
A few weeks ago, when I was wondering out loud why the hell I torture myself with so much mountain bike racing, a friend looked me straight in the face and said ‘I think you just thrive on the drama.’ She’s undeniably right, and it got me thinking that what really gets a lot of […]
Yuki Ikeda – The Croc Trophy Warrior
The 20th Crocodile Trophy is now less than a week away. As is typical for an internationally renowned stage race, quality riders are flooding in from around the world. One of those is Yuki Ikeda, visiting Australia for the first time, just to race his bike. The Basics Name: YUKI IKEDA Age: 34 Home Town: […]
Cory Wallace – Future Crocodile Trophy King?
Many of you will be familiar with Cory Wallace – the Canadian woodsman who fells trees in the Yukon in winter, and races his bikes in the summer. The Kona factory rider has been on the up for a long time, increasing the calibre of his wins from year to year. In 2014 alone, Wallace […]
Athlete of the Month: James Downing
In a new series of feature interviews, we caught up with fast man James Downing, from Canberra, to talk food, riding, going sideways, and how he managed to score the biggest win of his career at the Flight Centre Epic. Name: James Downing Age: 40 Team: Cannondale-Sugoi Factory Racing Team (athlete and manager) Started Racing: […]