The hub for marathon mountain biking
A few tired legs on the start line in downtown Alice Springs for the final and arguably hardest stage of this year’s Redback MTB stage race. Rider’s today faced 45km of predominantly the rocky, well cambered singletrack that typifies the riding in central Australia. Chatting among the riders there was more or less complete agreement […]
Day 3 of The Redback MTB stage race is the first single stage day of the race. A longer and more challenging 42km course from the race hotel to the lush ‘Telegraph Station’ just north of Alice Springs took riders onto some of the finest trails of the region. A perfect mix of singletrack, fire […]
Day 2 of racing in the red centre of Australia for the Redback stage race involved two 22km races one a TT and one a mass start race both competed on the same course but with one BIG differentiating factor. One competed under the warmth of the sun and the other under the stars and […]
The increasingly famed mountain bike trails of Central Australia again are playing host to quality racing at a high quality event. ‘The Redback’ MTB stage race run by event organiser Rapid Ascent is now in it’s 11th edition and with an honour roll including names like Andrew Blair, Jason English, Rowena Fry, Holly Harris and […]
Mountain bikers from across Australia will race along kilometres of hand built single-track in Alice Springs next week as part of The Redback, a four-day, six-stage bike race held around Alice Springs, NT. All the action begins Thursday 23rd August with a 39km stage and continues with racing each day, finishing on Sunday 26th August. […]
In Australia, there is more than just a chill in the air in some parts of the country. With early snow falls in the Alps, and even snow on the ground on the Tablelands last week, it’s clear winter is making its mark for 2018. And while some of the racing is winding up for […]
Yesterday The Redback’s sixth and final stage took in 45 kilometres of desert trails, sand traps, and rock features. We lined up just south of the Telegraph Station, the town’s trail hub, and rolled up the bike path, at a neutral pace. I hoped to catch sight of the dingo munching on a dead kangaroo […]
If you think of all the sports in all the world, from archery to zorb football, then divide all these sports into their different disciplines, so that gymnastics becomes parallel bars, pommel horse, the rings, beam, and so on, you’d have what – a couple thousand? I can lay these sports end to end on […]
I woke this morning on day two of The Redback in Alice Springs to what I thought was a truck reversing into my hotel room. Turns out the wind had blown up overnight and was roaring through the courtyard of the Mercure, shaking the ghost gums and kicking up sand. It brought cooler weather, with […]
What’s my favourite thing about mountain bike stage racing, you ask. The camaraderie? Wrong! The epic scenery? Wrong! Visiting new places and experiencing new cultures? That’s great, but wrong! Nope, it’s the buffet breakfasts. So. The Redback got off to a good start for me when I hit the buffet at the Mercure Alice Springs […]
