The first edition of the three day Vietnam Mountain Bike Marathon is set to take place from November 4 – 6 2016 in the remote mountainous region surrounding Sapa. Registration for the bike race is now open. With a backdrop of the highest peaks in Indochina and the Hoang Lien National Park deep in the far north, […]
The Swiss Epic as a ready-made holiday
Imogen Smith explores the Swiss Epic and finds the mountain bike stage race and package holiday together at last. Stage racing is the perfect way to combine a massive mountain bike hit with an overseas experience but, until recently, roughing it and complex logistics have held many of us back from what might otherwise be the perfect […]
100 miles of lumberjack singletrack at Michigan’s 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 […]
Shimano MTB GP wraps up at Awaba
The final round of the Shimano Mountain Bike Grand Prix Series was held on the weekend at Awaba MTB Park near Newcastle and riders were awarded their series titles. Andrew Lloyd from Newcastle took out the overall four-hour solo men’s title and Natalie Anderson from Sydney’s South won the women’s series division. In the seven-hour series […]
Explore: Thuringian Forest
Some see the rolling hills of the Thuringian forest a nuisance to their transport routes but to many others the expanse of green in summer and white in winter is a playground of exploration waiting to be uncovered. I had little idea of what awaited me prior to arriving as to find it I searched […]
Transalp 2016: The final push to Arco
Transalp Stage 7: Trento to Arco – 53.6km and 2042m climbing The Transalp 2016 ends today, and with it almost a thousand people go from facing the simple struggles of pushing bikes and bodies over the mountains back to the complexity of every day life. We will all take away different memories from the final […]
Transalp 2016: Mezzana to Trento
Transalp Stage 6: Mezzano to Treno – 88.24 with 2364m climbing Day 6. It’s when you can start to smell the finish. You know that, barring unmitigated disaster, there’s a very good chance you’ll make it to the end of the race, but everyone’s tired and tempers are a little frayed. Back when I was […]
Transalp 2016: Bormio to Mezzana
Transalp Stage 5: Bormio to Mezzana – 86.32km with 3073m climbing. Stage 5 is the queen stage of the 2016 Bike Transalp and we were suitably scared about how we would find it. Our first question this morning was whether we would even be able to start today after Chris had a bout of tummy […]
Transalp 2016: Livigno to Bormio
Transalp Stage 4: Livigno to Bormio. 73.55km with 2573m climbing Today’s transalp stage made a little bit of history, as despite starting many times in Livigno, and crossing the Umbrail pass, Bormio has never before featured as a stage town. Perhaps the fearsome ascent of the Gavia necessary to leave Bormio and head towards Lake […]
Transalp 2016: Scuol to Livigno
Transalp Stage 3: 72.30km and 2598m of climbing Stage 3 takes us to familiar territory. Both times Chris has done the Transalp he has ridden from Scuol to Livigno and we have returned here for training camps/holidays for the last 3 years. We have come to know and love the trails around this beautiful part […]