This Thursday the Dragon Trail MTB Stage Race begins in Branxholm, in north-east Tasmania. The three day mountain bike stage race has been a long time coming. After a lot of excitement for the inaugural edition in 2020, the event was postponed to 2021. And to be honest, some may not have been sure everything […]
National XCO titles
For an Australian XCO racer, the National Championships is the biggest race of the year, I have been trying to take the green and gold for 8 years, and have had nothing else on my mind for the last 12 months. This might seem obsessive, and it probably is, but everyone gets into sport for […]
MarathonMTB Team Camp 2020 – down in Tasmania
With restrictions of movement and cancellation of events in 2020 race days for our team have been few and far between. Myself and Mike Blewitt were able to race and report from the Arabian Epic- Jordan in February. Following that the classic Otway Odyssey weekend in Victoria and MTBA XCO national championship were the last […]
Goal-setting and motivation during COVID
With no foreseeable racing at a high level, it can be hard to find the motivation for training. I myself find training harder, but the usual OCD attitude towards training is slipping. Occasionally I have been taking the easy way out of intervals, or finding excuses not to complete a program, and let’s be honest, […]
Dragon Trail MTB
Anyone can see that around Australia, the marathon scene is shrinking. Some of the classics keep fighting on, but the demand for single day 100km races is not what it used to be. And given the costs involved for a one day event it is understandable. Time off work, entry, accommodation, maybe airfares as well […]
What bike should you take to the Dragon Trail?
In March 2020, the first Dragon Trail MTB stage race will take place in Tasmania’s north-east. With 3 days of mountain biking on world-class trails, there is a fair bit of excitement about the event. Starting in Branxholm and finishing at St Helens, the mountain bike stage race will traverse some of the most talked-about […]
Can I take my XC bike to Maydena Bike Park?
If you live in Australia you would have heard about the launch of Maydena Bike Park in early 2018. About 90 minutes north west of Hobart, Tasmania, the town of Maydena sits on the doorstep of the wild west of the island state. This is where the vast expanse of protected wilderness starts. This is […]
What to expect at the Dragon Trail MTB stage race
In 2020 Australia gets an all-new mountain bike stage race, as the Dragon Trail hits the north-east of Tasmania running from March 26-28. This region is arguably becoming the biggest mountain bike hot spot in the country. Having hosted two Enduro World Series races, plus smaller enduro events, two XCM National Championships and countless weekend […]
Why you should do a multi-lap race.
Multi-lap endurance MTB events were somewhat of a revolution in the mid 2000s as the advent of 24 hour racing, 12 hour and many 8 hour events popped up on the calendar and quickly became very popular. In the years following the marathon discipline grew offering a more invigorating experience for multiple hours on the […]
5 takeaways from a 500km day in the saddle
As a former road racer I have always been a fan of big miles on the bike for training. As a cycling coach now (Mind Matters Athlete Coaching) I still endorse the benefits of a solid endurance base that can only be strengthened through extended duration in the saddle. But how far is too far […]