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 […]
Appenninica MTB Stage Race 2023 – Stage Two
Stage Two of the Appenninica MTB Stage Race dawned with some cloud cover, but a very upbeat and friendly vibe in race HQ. No doubt after the heat of stage one, everyone was happy for less intense sun as we took on the Queen stage, riding 90km and ascending 3200m from Castelnovo ne’ Monti to […]
Appenninica MTB Stage Race 2023 – Stage One
The Appenninica MTB Stage Race launched in 2019 and is celebrating its 5th year now in 2023. This year rthe race lines up with 6 challenging stages in the Emilia Romagna region. After Scott Cornish raced abnd reported in 2020 and Gordon Wadsworth did the same in 2021 – it was time for Imogen Smith […]
Selle Repente Artax GL mountain bike saddle – trail tested
Earlier this year I reached out to Selle Repente about testing one of their saddles. I wasn’t very aware of the entire range, but had seen a few athletes (Italian riders specifically) using them, and their designs looked intriguing. While I have moved to the flat, wide, short style of saddles over the past few […]
Top 5 mountain bike races that no longer exist
What race do you miss the most? Team rider and contributor Justin Morris reflects on some of the races we longer get to pin a number on for.
Bikepacking the Swiss Alpine Bike #1 MTB Route
Last week I set off to ride the Swiss Alpine Bike #1 MTB route, which runs across Switzerland from Scuol to Aigle (or Aigle to Scuol), covering 670km and 24700m of climbing. It is suggested to cover the route in 16 days, but I planned around 8, booked my accommodation on Booking.com and arrived in […]
Alpine Bike #1 route in Switzerland – the preparation
I’m sitting on a train, travelling backwards on the way to Zurich. Every now and then I take a cursory glance at my bike bag near the train’s entry. My final destination today is Scuol, right in the east of Switzerland in the canton of Graubuenden. But this is far from my final destination on […]
Bike Check: Imogen Smith’s Factor Lando XC
For 2023, our team riders made the move to the recently released Factor Lando XC full-suspension frames. The bikes were released in 2022, one of two mountain bikes that Factor have designed and built. Given their place in the high end road, gravel and triathlon markets, it is no surprise that both the Factor Lando […]
6 reasons to ride The Redback this August
Mountain bike stage races and Alice Springs go together like red wine and cheese. The city in the centre of Australia has hosted mountain bike stage races for two decades, with riders visiting from the edges of the continent to ride the sweet singletrack in the red centre. In 2023 The Redback runs from 18-21 […]
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 […]