For an Australian XCO racer, the National Championships is the biggest race of the year, I have been trying to take the green and gold for 8 years, and have had nothing else on my mind for the last 12 months. This might seem obsessive, and it probably is, but everyone gets into sport for […]
Great Otway Gravel Grind wraps up the Otway weekend
The Great Otway Gravel Grind is, in my opinion, what makes the Oddysey weekend such a worthwhile event, and sets it apart from any other racing in Australia. After a hard day on Saturday racing the 100km MTB marathon, most riders returned to Apollo Bay, and enjoyed celebratory beers and chat to their mates, with […]
McConnells conquer Otway Odyssey
A huge field of riders took to thr trails that make up one of Australia’s most respected (and toughest!) mountain bike races at the Otway Odyssey MTB Marathon on Saturday 20 February, 2021. Olympic representatives’ Dan McConnell and Bec McConnell were the first male and female to conquer the 100km, branding themselves in the history […]
Day Three at the Snowies MTB Festival
Riders woke today to a perfect Snowy Mountain dawn – still mountains, pink glowing eucalypts, and bright sunshine. Much of the water that came down from the enormous ranges had washed away overnight, as had the wind, leaving the mountains brightly-scrubbed and the trails in mint condition. After an early shuttle to Friday Flat at […]
Day Two at the Snowies MTB Festival
Rain delays and flooded trails The adventures of today actually started at about 5pm yesterday when the rain started to fall. A sprinkle at first became a howling mountain gale that raged through the night. The stiff wind blew the clouds eastward by morning, but the system had dropped over 100mm of water on the […]
Day One at the Snowies MTB Festival
Thanks to a lot of hard work from a lot of people, the 2021 Snowies MTB Festival is ON. It is tempting – so tempting – to draw some inspo from that poem (all the tried and noted riders… loved hard riding… hidden ground full of wombat holes…etc. etc.) but someone’s probably done that already […]
Rocky Trail Shimano MTB GP in Queensland
In a tumultuous year for mountain bike racing and alas everything else in life, organising and executing events has been more difficult than ever. Constantly evolving regulations and travel restrictions have placed unseen challenges on event promoters. With over 10 years of mountain bike event hosting, Rocky Trail Entertainment tested the waters in Queensland in […]
Turkish delight at World Marathon Championships
In a year where bike racing fell off the calendar due to a global pandemic it was amazing that the MTB circus was travelling to Turkey for the UCI MTB World Marathon Championships. It was only three weeks before that I finally committed to attend as I waited to see what travel restrictions would be […]
BeMC Marathon – A yearly pilgrimage
My love affair with the Belgian Ardennes continues, it hasn’t always been a kind relationship, so many times this place has inspired and then demolished dreams. Each May we make our pilgrimage to the area to battle around these beautiful hills, it’s a trip I’ve been making for around six years for marathon races and […]
Snow Challenges Velo Vert Festival
The weather forecasters were right, the snow falls Friday night and as we stand on the start line of the latest UCI World Marathon Series race it’s a high probability that heavy snow will restart soon after the gun fires. We launch over the timing belt before slowing as our tyres crunch through the snowy […]