With the enforced hiatus from racing upon us, many including myself are reminiscing of race days gone by. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunities and support to make racing across most corners of the world happen. It’s given me a pretty broad appreciation for how the world works and more specifically how […]
Snow Bike Festival and a winter wonderland
Related Event: Snow Bike Festival
There are few days where everything that needs to fall into place, falls into place. It can happen on race days, it can happen on social rides, but even with the best preparation it doesn’t always happen. Having the the right mix of motivation, conditions, equipment and experiences does not always happen. I’m lucky that […]
Snow Bike Festival confirms UCI S1 status
The Snow Bike Festival has announced that it has once again received Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) accreditation and has been upgraded to a “Stage Race Class 1”, making it one of only 13 stage races worldwide to be classified this highly. This results in an increased prize purse and additional UCI points. The event will […]
Challenging climbs and big views at Gstaad Snow Bike Festival
Freezing cold met the riders at the start of the Snow Bike Festival in the middle of the picturesque Promenade in Gstaad. After the opening prologue, the first stage of the race took riders down the valley towards Saanen. Temperatures headed downwards as well, as riders had to endure -18°C in the shade, before embarking […]
Bike Check: Justin Morris’ Norco Sasquatch
On 27th February, Justin Morris is starting the Simpson Desert Bike Challenge – it’s an epic route across the Simpson Desert, where riders are sponsored to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. This isn’t just an event you choose to do on a whim, it takes some calculated planning, fundraising, and getting the right […]
Why race the Simpson Desert Bike Challenge?
The Simpson Desert Bike Challenge is unofficially the world’s oldest mountain bike stage race. It has been running annually since 1987 when a group of hardy cyclists attempted to race from one end of Australia’s largest desert to the other on rather rudimentary 26inch mountain bikes. Today the race takes on a slightly different appearance […]
Snow Bike Festival starts in Gstaad
With the veritable explosion of fatbikes, it was only a matter of time until ski resorts adopted fatbikes, and the Snow Bike Festival in Gstaad is an excellent example. Why not cater for another user group? There’s no need for it to feel like a snowboard invasion all over again. The first edition of the […]
The Rise of the Fat Bike Fraternity
‘Fat bikes’, have long been relatively unheard of in my home country of Australia. However, this year I have found myself living in the truly arctic conditions of a town named Traverse City, Michigan. For 5 months of the year here the temperature struggles to rise above 0C! One would imagine this would be no destination […]
Tomi Misser and Esther Süss win the inaugural Snow Epic.
After Friday’s gruelling climbs and rapid descents, the riders faced their final challenge, a 300m ascent to Gerschnialp. Spain’s Ibon Zugasti again proved his strength on the climb, as he moved up the rankings and secured the final race victory of the first Snow Epic. Following closely was Switzerland’s Silvio Büsser, who beat Tomi Misser […]
GALLERY: Final day of the Snow Epic
The final day of the Snow Epic! We have some photos first up, results, video and a report to follow.