Words: Amy Henchoz Half measures aren’t so much a thing in my book. Either it’s fun and relaxed, or I’m all in. Back when I was still fairly new on a bike (I first rode a trail centre in 2019) people used to ask me if I raced, I’d laugh and say that was for […]
Australian XCM Championships to Dwellingup, Western Australia for 2020
After the 2019 Cross-Country Marathon (XCM) Australian National Championships were postponed and moved from Townsville to Redlands and the Bayview Blast, many questions were left hanging over the 2020 venue and date. While The RATS MTB Club did a fantastic job hosting the Championships at Redlands, they did so without too much notice and there […]
XCM World Champs- Back of the Pack race report
Team rider Justin Morris whom also lives with Type 1 diabetes reports on racing the UCI XCM World Championship from the perspective of last place on the starting grid.
Johnston and Harris win 2019 Australian XCM titles
On a glorious winter’s day in Brisbane, Brendan Johnston won his 4th cross-country marathon (XCM) title and Holly Harris won her first. After the 2019 National Championships were moved from Townsville to Redland Bay, there was a chance that the fields of the elite marathons would be a little deeper than otherwise. And that rang […]
Have you met Ben May?
Words: Andrew Handyside. Photos: Melissa May The XCM World Championships are nearly upon us and, as any responsible national governing body would do, MTBA have named their athletes who will pull on the green and gold to represent us against the finest the world has to offer. As you know, kitting up for the lads […]
The Australian XCM championship – Toil rewarded!
The recent Australian XCM Championship was my first ever National Championship in this discipline of cycling. Despite having raced numerous elite national and state titles in road racing and XCO racing I was perhaps more intimidated by the challenge ahead of me at the XCM nationals. Being amongst only 2 riders who opted to take […]
Australian XCM National Champs course check
MarathonMTB.com flew into Townsville early this year to get the low-down on the new course at Mt Douglas MTB park. National Champs had been planned to take place at the Pallarenda trails closer to town, but A LOT of summer rain left the course in need of considerable maintenance, so the Rockwheelers MTB club made […]
3Epic – 2018 Marathon MTB World Championships preview
In 2018 the World Cross-country Mountain Bike Marathon Championships head back to Italy, to a mountainous course in the Dolomites – running alongside the 3Epic event. The 2017 edition has proven to be an excellent preview for the organisers, racers and fans. Italian Samuele Porro (Team Trek Selle San Marco) just won the 2017 edition of the […]
Course preview: Australian XCM Championships in Townsville
Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to visit Townsville to take a look at the proposed course for the 2017 and 2018 Mountain Bike Cross-Country Marathon (XCM) Championship, which is to be held on the last weekend of April this year in conjunction with the Townsville Mtb Festival. When the venue was announced, I […]
XCM Champs: What does it cost to wear green and gold?
Marathon mountain biking isn’t a glamorous sport. In the past year I’ve got nude in a rainy paddock surrounded by blokes because there was nowhere else to get changed, slept in the boot of a car, smuggled a $7.50 toaster into a hotel room to avoid having to pay for breakfast, and washed filthy kit […]