The final stage Humans are great at forgetting pain. When we sign up for a stage race, we aren’t remembering the aching muscles, the stomach problems and nausea, the legs so swollen they barely fit into your jeans for the pasta party. We aren’t remembering that it’s not just the legs that hurt, but the […]
Appenninica MTB Stage Race 2023 – Stage Five
I think it’s probably time I admitted publicly that I completely underestimated how tough Appenninica MTB would be, but after 5 stages and an average elevation gain of 2500m per day so far, this ranks among the toughest stage races I’ve done. It also has some of the best trails. Let’s pause a moment to […]
Appenninica MTB Stage Race 2023 – Stage Four
Everything I have heard about the Appenninica MTB Stage Race over the past years has been positive. From the food, to the hospitality of the towns, the event crew, the event vibe and of course – the trails. Today’s stage from Fiumalbo to Fanano has probably been the best example so far for the trails. […]
Appenninica MTB Stage Race 2023 – Stage Three
Until just a few short hours ago, I believed that getting through the Queen stage of Appenninica MTB yesterday would leave me with smooth seas to sail right up until the end of the event. Imagine my surprise when I took a closer look at the profile for today’s stage 3 and saw that it […]
Appenninica MTB Stage Race 2023 – Stage Two
Stage Two of the Appenninica MTB Stage Race dawned with some cloud cover, but a very upbeat and friendly vibe in race HQ. No doubt after the heat of stage one, everyone was happy for less intense sun as we took on the Queen stage, riding 90km and ascending 3200m from Castelnovo ne’ Monti to […]
Appenninica MTB Stage Race 2023 – Stage One
The Appenninica MTB Stage Race launched in 2019 and is celebrating its 5th year now in 2023. This year rthe race lines up with 6 challenging stages in the Emilia Romagna region. After Scott Cornish raced abnd reported in 2020 and Gordon Wadsworth did the same in 2021 – it was time for Imogen Smith […]
Pauliena Rooijakkers and Wout van Aert win Houffa Gravel
The latest round of the UCI Gravel World Series took place this weekend in Houffalize, Belgium. Houffa Gravel would be the second last qualifier of the season and attracted one of the biggest stars in cycling, the vice world champion in road and cross, Wout van Aert who choose this to be his first UCI […]
The Rift Iceland- a racing adventure
Nothing can prepare you for the spectacular nature that greets you in Iceland, to race through this landscape is a dream come true. Raylyn Nuss perfectly summed up the route, “it was definitely the prettiest, most scenic, beautiful race I’ve done in my life.” The race course starts out of a small town along the […]
BC Bike Race 2023 – Back to the Future
The BC Bike Race has it all. End of story. Except obviously not because there are continual tweaks, adjustments, and a relentless pursuit of the perfect week on trails that thrill, please, and surprise taking place behind the scenes. Started in 2007 to showcase perhaps the rowdiest and toughest region of trail in North America […]
Ekoi Stone Circle by Hotchillee – Big kilometers means big adventure
Fun is fast but slow can also be fun. Who rides fast anyway for 215 kilometres? Ok so our friends over the pond in the US show it is possible to race fast for that long and there are plenty of gravel races in Europe of that distance or longer but sometimes it fun to […]