As a former road racer I have always been a fan of big miles on the bike for training. As a cycling coach now (Mind Matters Athlete Coaching) I still endorse the benefits of a solid endurance base that can only be strengthened through extended duration in the saddle. But how far is too far […]
Tour de Timor stage 2: Riders get wet on tour’s shortest stage.
Related Event: Tour de Timor 2018
Tour de Timor stage 2 greeted riders with another early morning wake up call. Early starts are a trend in this race predominantly to allow riders to complete the bulk of racing before the brutal heat of the afternoon sun here. So the 7am start had some riders reaching for the arm warmers and undershirts […]
The Redback day 4: Final stage again finishes in sprint. De Rooze and Thomson take GC crowns
Related Event: The Redback
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 […]
Redback MTB day 3: A sprint finish after riders rewarded with Alice Spring’s best trails!
Related Event: The Redback
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 […]
The Redback Day 2: Sun and Moon stage’s
Related Event: The Redback
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 […]
100 miles of lumberjack singletrack at Michigan’s X100
Related Event: X100
On August 20 this the year the X100 will be running its 4th edition through some iconic and some lesser known ‘unmarked trails’ through the mountain bike mecca that is the Traverse City region in the state of Michigan, USA. The area has been made famous in MTB circles through the ‘largest MTB race in […]
Who could win the Giant Odyssey?
Related Event: Giant Odyssey
The Giant Odyssey (formerly Otway Odyssey) will be celebrating 10 years of running one of the premier XCM races in Australia next Saturday (February 20). As one of the pioneer events of marathon mountain biking in Australia the event has earned a reputation as a difficult, epic, hard man/woman yet enjoyable marathon event. The race […]
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 […]
Justin Morris: Hooroo Racing
The time has come for my final blog as a bike racer. After 15 years racing, the clock has run out on my career, the racing wheels have been hung up and racked. It is time to shift my focus, dedication and time to other domains of my life. I have loved the ride, with […]
Iceman Cometh 2014 – Slip’n’Slide in North America
The ‘Iceman’ MTB race in the USA carries a somewhat mythical status among the North American MTB community. The annual 31 mile point-to-point race from Kalksaka to Traverse City in Northern Michigan has grown to become largest point to point race in North America with nearly 6000 competitors attempting the trail through sweeping singletrack, dirt […]