The hub for marathon mountain biking
This past weekend the UCI category 2 Algarve Bike Challenge took place. The event is a marathon stage race taking place over 3 days. You can read my preview for the event here https://marathonmtbcom.wpengine.com/2016/03/03/algarve-bike-challenge-preview-and-stage-race-catch-up/ The event was a pair’s race so I teamed up with Austrian Uwe Hochenwarter who rides for the Craft Rocky Mountain […]
It’s winter time in Europe, and many European and North American professionals will be undertaking training camps in Mallorca, or Tenerife, or South Africa. Some will even choose to be skiing before getting start on their specific fitness. Nino Schurter has just released his latest video that showcases his training and racing on his path […]
Today was the last day of the first Pioneer mountain bike stage race. Final stages are different beasts in every stage race I’ve done. In shorter stage races, there’s no need for a parade, or gifted wins. In some longer stage races, the race leaders might grace a stage win to other teams, if they […]
Golden beaches and warm blue skies, the start of Costa Blanca Bike Race stage 1 could have been a dream of any cyclist. After a short dash through the streets of Benidorm the international field of athletes were treated to a fantastic route with some truly amazing singletrack. Sadly after 30km of the route course […]
With offices in Germany, and an uber-strong mountain bike race team starring riders like Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå and José Hermida, you’d be forgiven for assuming that Merida was as Euro as Nutella and headbands. Not so. Merida was founded in the early 70s by Taiwanese engineer Ike Tseng who, it is rumoured, was so incensed […]
Anyone who rides knows that racing isn’t just about competition: It’s about packing your bike up, getting on a plane or hitting the road. It’s an excuse to have a bit of an adventure and travel somewhere new. Of all the places to race in Australia, Alice Springs is the most distinctive. With cobalt skies, […]
Racing bikes is fun, and chances are that if you’re visiting MarathonMTB.com to read this, you’d likely agree with me there. ‘Fun’ may be an interesting way of putting it though, because we go through quite the emotional rollercoaster during our racing exploits. I don’t know about you, but on race day I always feel […]
Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) announced that Derby, Tasmania, would hold the 2015 and 2016 XCM Champs. It was big news! Visiting in February, the trails were clearly another World Trail masterpiece. With about 30km of singletrack finished at the Blue Derby trails, there was the makings of a very different marathon course. Lots of flowing singletrack, […]
In the first part of this series I talked about using online training tools to coach yourself. This time I’m going to discuss training yourself from scratch. This year I’ve thrown myself in the deep end, but not without a lot of preparation. Here’s what I found most useful. Know the Basics Before you start […]
Updated August 2017! “What are the best stage races to do?” It’s a question that is often asked, and can be broken down many different ways. What makes a race ‘the best’ anyway? It’s a very personal criteria. While one may rate the quality of accommodation available, others might go purely on the amount of […]
