Earlier this year Australian event promoters Rapid Ascent announced a new race in an ancient place; the Shimano Gravel Muster. As long-time hosts of the popular mountain bike stage race in Alice Springs known as The Redback, the event crew decided to bring their expertise in events to something new for Australia – a multi-day […]
Appenninica MTB Stage Race 2023 – stage 6
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 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 […]
Goosebumps and Gravel – The Sunday Creek Classic
On Wednesday I picked up my first ever gravel bike, a sweet little Trek Checkpoint SL 5. On Thursday I rode it up and down Mt Coot-tha. It seemed fine. So on Saturday I raced it for the first time, driving it up to the cute town of Kenilworth for The Sunday Creek Classic. The […]
Reef to Reef Day Four – just tempo
Words: Imogen Smith Firstly, a clarification. The suggestion that Mike ride the last 17 kilometres to the finish of Stage 3 on our only back wheel after sitting at the feedzone for a couple of hours was mine – not the other mixed racers’, not the R2R people, and definitely, definitely not Mike’s. Also, we […]
Reef to Reef Stage 3 – another banger of a ride
By Imogen Smith Ahhhh good old stage race mass starts. I’ll never learn to love them. Today we rolled out in two big waves on super fast gravel roads around Wetherby Station, host of many Croc Trophy stages (oh the trauma). While I wouldn’t describe the start as hectic, strictly speaking, it was definitely intense. […]
Reef to Reef Stage 2 – mixed racing
Words: Imogen Smith | Photos: Tim Bardsley-Smith It was an early start today, getting up at five am so I had enough time to remove the ‘murder plastic’ from the hotel windows (my DIY blackout solution, which BTW is amazing) and pack two bikes, two bike bags, two gear bags, and somehow, about fourteen other […]
How to succeed at the Convict 100 MTB Marathon
The Convict 100 is probably the most distinctive mountain bike race in Australia. Despite having no singletrack, it manages to be technically challenging. Despite having no built features like gap jumps or north shore the trails are as badass as they come, being hand carved by thieves, bolters and lifers. It’s got zero pretension, not […]
Bike Check: Imogen Smith’s XTR equipped Norco Revolver for the 2022 Cape Epic
In March 2020, MarathonMTB.com Team rider Imogen Smith was making the final preparations to race the Cape Epic with Briony Mattocks. Her Norco Revolver was prepped, she was fit, they were there in Cape Town – and of course the race was cancelled hours before the start. Countless teams were left wondering what to do, […]
#protips for the Otway Odyssey
Don’t miss these #protips for success at the 2022 Otway Odyssey.