Big news came out overnight, that has little immediate impact on the races we enjoy, but might change the size and scale of events in the future. Ironman announced that they have reached an agreement to acquire the Cape Epic mountain bike race. In addition to operating The Motatapu and The Pioneer multiple stage mountain bike races in […]
Day one at Iceland’s Glacier360
Related Event: Glacier 360
Competitors started the Glacier 360 in Iceland on the morning of Wednesday 17th of August, from Geysir, the original Geyser in the South of Iceland. In teams of two the group raced through the modest birch forrest above the hot springs and into the black volcanic outback on the south side of the Langjökull Glacier. Today’s route traced 95 kilometers […]
Buying the right bike for marathon and stage racing
What bike should I buy for marathon racing? Or, what bike should I buy for… *enter a massive stage race here*? These are not uncommon questions for bike shop staff, and one that we get sent via email or social media quite frequently. The range of bikes continues to expand, as does the type and […]
Trans Schwarzwald begins
Let the Trans Schwarzwald begin! 3km at 14% with 1km at 18% … And that was the first 3km of Stage 2! That was a hard start, so let’s take a little break … Nope After a small downhill it’s straight into climb number two, another 2.5km at close to 10%! Alright, surely that’s it, […]
The Swiss Epic as a ready-made holiday
Related Event: Perskindol Swiss Epic
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 […]
Transalp 2016: The final push to Arco
Related Event: Craft BIKE Transalp
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
Related Event: Craft BIKE Transalp
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
Related Event: Craft BIKE Transalp
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
Related Event: Craft BIKE Transalp
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
Related Event: Craft BIKE Transalp
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 […]