The hub for marathon mountain-biking
Today the real racing started with a climb up to the iconic Croix de Coeur pass from Verbier, similar to the first ascent of the famous Grand Raid marathon race, but taken on some smaller and steeper roads. Mike and I enjoyed a call up to the front row, although we had to be beckoned […]
Stage races come and stage races go. Each promises something different: the Croc Trophy takes you to the wildest Australian outback. Transalp over the most magnificent passes. The Cape Epic offers the ultimate physical challenge. The Perskindol Swiss Epic has a lot going for it, but its point of difference, I’ve quickly realised, is quality. Everything, […]
Circumnavigating the beautiful Swiss National Park is the National Park Bike Marathon. Part of the hugely popular Swiss Bike Marathon Series, the NP marathon draws the best Swiss and international marathon stars to battle over the 137km course. The 4000m of climbing over the full course is made up of four main climbs that all […]
There isn’t much that hasn’t been written or said about the altitude training haven of Livigno. Sitting high in the Italian Alps, Livigno has become one of the most desired high altitude training locations in Europe. A desire built upon high alpine passes, flowing backcountry and bike park singletrack and, of course, Italian coffee! After […]
Do you need data just to get you out of bed? Do you lose count of how many times a day you check Strava? Do you think about power, training load, and ramp rate more than most people would find ‘normal’? If you answered yes to any of these, but need a bit more convincing, […]
Progression: the process of developing gradually towards a more advanced state. That key word, gradually. A sometimes-frustrating time construct for me to endure. But that ‘more advanced state’ ideal does have a certain ring to it. And if I have to endure something, it might as well be on a bike! The German Bundasliga race, […]
The small alpine community of Courmayeur is situated beneath the monolithic Monte Bianco peak on the Italian side of the French-Italian border. Towering at some 4810m Monte Bianco, or otherwise known by its less melodic name Mont Blanc, is Europe’s tallest mountain. A suitable location to hold a mountain bike race! Being a ski town, […]
After five weeks, Chapter 1 of my European racing trip has come to an end. And just like a good book it went exceedingly fast. From Germany to Austria to the Czech Republic and back to Germany, each country and race has thrown up its fair share of challenges. Four back-to-back top level XC races […]
The time between the national championships and now has seemed to fly by. As soon as I crossed the finish line in Bright it was time to get the maps out and finish planning my European season. For this year I wanted to switch things up and focus on doing well at races as opposed […]
Form can be a complex maze to negotiate. A left turn instead of a right can have you on the start line feeling like you’re dragging bricks. But are your legs the only ones to fault? Since making the change to training myself for this season, I’ve done a lot of digging around on the […]
