The hub for marathon mountain biking
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 […]
If you’re an antipodean coming to Europe to race for the first time like Imogen Smith, you’re probably prepared for big hills, dramatic landscapes, and hard racing. But here’s a few things Imo picked up that you can’t prepare for… 1. Eurobombing The way Euros descend on gravel is so distinctive there’s actually a special […]
Kristian Hynek and Sally Bigham have won the Südtirol Dolomiti Superbike – the first race after the UCI Marathon World Championships. This year the long-distance race in the Dolomites forms part of the “UCI Marathon World Series”. The elite men had to race 113, 8 km (3,357 m); the elite women’s 80 km (2,307 m). Second […]
