At the first Australian Mountain Bike Summit, held at Mt Buller, MTBA CEO Shane Coppin announced many new initiatives that the governing body are working towards for Australian mountain bikers. From making sure we have UCI C1 ranking events to better prepare and equip elite racers for World Cup competition, to increasing the flexibility of […]
Protective Bike Four Peaks in 2015
With a race organisation motto of ‘four days of concentrated mountain bike passion in a unique scenery’, the Protective BIKE Four Peaks recipe is off to a pretty enticing start. For 2015, the finished product is set to be an enthralling display of true European stage racing. Next year will see a re-invention of the […]
Who to watch at the 2014 Camelbak Highland Fling
The race that captures the attention of the endurance crowd in the south east corner of Australia is fast approaching – in fact it is just days away! Once the fuss about the Melbourne Cup has settled, the talk of favourites about the real race that counts begins. On November 9th, the 10th Highland Fling […]
Carl Jones wins Nzo Whaka 100 in Rotorua
Carl Jones has just won the Whaka 100, but that is only half the story as he also smashed his own race record for the toughest mountain bike race in New Zealand by 13 minutes to finish in a sensational 4 hours 31 minutes. And the local hero was nursing a bad dose of ‘flu. […]
Goal-Setting for Marathon MTB Racing
Many of us compete in the same marathons again and again, trying to improve our performance each year (or maybe just beat our mates). That’s where some systematic goal setting comes in handy, if you’re looking for motivation to succeed. Most of us don’t bother setting goals properly because, as marathon racers, we’re already intrinsically-motivated, […]
Ucka UCI marathon – the sales pitch
Sometimes a report is all about the racing action – the struggle for the lead, the sprint finish, the mechanical and human dramas. But on this occasion I find myself wanting to write something of a sales pitch. This is a race that has it all – amazing scenery, post-race swimming in the sea, superb […]
What a Marathon racer learnt from the Cairns World Cup
I didn’t expect to come away from watching the Cairns UCI MTB World Cup with anything other than a feeling of inadequacy. I was there with a green media pass around my neck to report for Australian Mountain Bike magazine on how XC racers are dealing with the increasing ‘gnarliness’ of World Cup tracks – […]
AMB 100: Singletrack surfing at Mt Stromlo
When Rocky Trail Entertainment organisers Martin and Juliane announced that the AMB100 Marathon was going to be shortened by 25km for the 100km-ers and 35km for the 100-milers, some might have said this was going to be an ‘easy race’. But when temperatures that day hit 39 degrees on the unforgiving and shade-less singletrack of […]
AMB 100 on this weekend, Ed McDonald set to defend 100 miler title
With just a few days to go to register for the AMB100 Marathon on 9 February at Stromlo Forest Park Ed McDonald the 100-miler Champion from 2012 and 2013 has just confirmed that he will be at the start to defend his titles against some of the strongest endurance riders in the country, including SingleSpeed […]
Maintain Momentum through the Maverick Marathon Series
The Maverick Marathon Series was launched in late 2013, as a response by four key Australian race organisers to provide a coherent Marathon Series in accessible venues for a large portion of Australian mountain bikers. None of the events are new, all are well proven and have their fans. Get points and compare and race your […]