A stage race can takes you on a multiday adventure to some of the most spectacular places in the world, places you’re unlikely to visit as a tourist. A race like this creates lifetime memories and stories you can tell all your friends and family. Why not experience this fantastic journey with a friend in […]
The Pioneer Stage five – Final stage brings a few surprises
Tired legs roll out of Bannockburn This morning we got up before dawn and munched through breakfast in the dark. It’s always unbelievable to me that, given my usual appetite, when we get into the depths of a stage race I find myself completely without interest in food, so that eating is stripped of any […]
The Pioneer Stage 4 – Mt Difficulty and other difficult climbs
Click. Beep. Click. Beep. Click. Beep. Ok I’m definitely in my smallest gear, but how is that possible? I’ll just check again. Beep. Yep. Shit. Getting going again Today Mike and I started Stage four of The Pioneer with the goal of making it to the first feed zone, then reassessing things after our nightmare […]
Pioneer hits the Alex trails for the Queen Stage
Why is it that we only crash when things are great? All those awful, cold, wet grovels where you’d pay good money for a legitimate Out, nothing. Nothing goes wrong. Except maybe a flat tyre, but that’s fixable. Now when you’re ripping through trails, performing well, loving it – that’s when life deals you a […]
Pioneer Prologue-2018 event kicks off in challenging conditions
Cold. It was cold. We got up at 5:10am, which if you’ve just arrived from Australia feels a lot like 2:10am, and bolted some breakfast before heading for the first shuttle up to Coronet Peak, the ski station that towers above Queenstown and just happened to be under a whole lot of snow just a […]
Hellfire Cup Sprint Stage Race Wraps up in Tasmania
The final two days of the Hellfire Cup have wrapped up on the stunning Tasman Peninsula outside Hobart, Tasmania. Friday evening brought with it a rather catastrophic forecast with sever weather warnings given to the race area of catastrophic winds of over 110km/h. Subsequently the race organisers ‘Storm Bay Productions’ headed by Tasmanian MTB personality […]
Huber and White take Crocodile Trophy
Urs Huber crossed the line as overall victor for the 5th time of the Crocodile Trophy in Port Douglas over the weekend in one of the closest ever margins in the race’s 24 year history. Australia’s Sarah White took the Women’s title the 2nd ever overall Croc victory for the ultra endurance athlete from Cairns. […]
Croc Trophy Update; Switch of Swiss in GC lead!
Stages 4 and 5 of the 2018 Crocodile Trophy brought with it a shake up in the General Classification lead for Men and Women. The first 3 stages took riders over the great dividing range to the small town of Herberton which was the starting point for the stage 4 Individual Time Trial, a 38km […]
Stage set for 24th Crocodile Trophy in Cairns
The iconic Crocodile Trophy has long established itself as one of the most difficult and spectacular MTB stage races on the calendar. Somewhat of a pioneer in this format of MTB racing The Crocodile Trophy has seen many adaptations since it’s first edition in 1995 that ran from Darwin to Cairns. The race now takes […]
Equipment choices for MTB stage races
After finishing the recent Tour de Timor I have been giving my bike a post stage race overhaul. Going through my bike and all my personal equipment after many of these ‘adventure style’ stage races over the years has given me a deeper insight into appropriate equipment selection than I had before. By ‘adventure style’ […]