Blogs

The cloud cover stayed all day and the forecast 29 degrees never arrived.

Well done to everyone who raced. It was quite a pedally course and the promised dusty and loose conditions were accurately predicted.

Round 2 of the Rocky Trail Shimano MTB GP was held for the first time just outside of Singleton on a club track which rewarded those who could hold corner speed on loose, dusty, and at times, off camber corners. Relatively flat which a few small pinch climbs it meant there were few opportunities to freewheel - a totally different course than that at Glenrock last month.

Did this ride with Infinity (Infinitymountainbiking.com) while in Bali last week. A full day out with transport from and to my hotel in Seminyak, full suspension bike hire (+ helmet), water, electrolyte drinks, balinese snacks and a buffet lunch at a crater-rim restaurant for 1.25 million rupees (about A$125). Two customers and a guide, plus a driver. My bike was a 26" Specialised FSR. A little disappointing because I had specifically gone with these guys when they said they could supply an XL sized 29er. The 26er was XL, but was a little cramped.

How do you begin to talk about a stage race without things just getting boring? In normal single day race, a typical marathon, there are hundreds of little moments that all contribute towards the final outcome.
The Otway300 has had me scratching my head since finishing, and wondering “How can I possibly share what went down out there, so that people understand how good it was, and what tight racing we had”.

The numbers are a good way of starting.

I was lucky enough to get an entry to the Cape Epic for the 2nd year in a row. Having family over there it is a good excuse to go over to SA for a visit and I can fit in a small bike race

My preparation was good this year, perhaps more road miles than I would have liked due to all the summer rain in Sydney. I was riding in the mixed category this year with a friend.

An interesting and thought provoking piece on singletracks.com.

Lots of long-term access is being lost in the US, arguably because of dominant trail user groups such as horse-riders and hikers simply not liking mountain bikes because they're "not like us" rather than because of any evidence-based reasoning. And our experience here has been much the same.

After a last minute call (Tuesday afternoon, with the race on Saturday am) to race Elite Nationals XC Champs, I was feeling a little nervous. My old age, allied with the fact that I have been training solely for marathon racing, meant that any ‘raw’ speed might be lacking.
The one thing you know about XCO Nationals – its all about raw speed.
The other thought that you have is about the course. World Cup courses are becoming increasingly technical, and the National Champs aspire to be as close to a World Cup XC course as possible.
Oh great….

I tried to walk this track years ago, but it was closed due to flooding. So this week, I took the trusty Niner and an adventurous mate out to see what it was like.

Pretty good race track overall, with the first half featuring some very nice single track, followed by a fire trail downhill plunge, a bit of traverse fire trail, then the unrelenting Snakes and Ladders sniggle climb. After a bit more sniggle, including a couple of multiple line option sections through some old quarries, there then seemed to be a lot of uphill fire trail slogging, broken up with a few water crossings.

I've never done an 'easy' Rockytrail event and, despite entering as a team for the first round of the 2016 series, this race was no different.

A beautiful autumn day greeted nearly 300 riders at Glenrock, Newcastle for the inaugural Shimano MTB GP at this venue. I'd done two reco laps a few weeks prior and was impressed by what I had seen, however a late course change by the organisers meant that half the course was sight-unseen for me and, according to a few in the know, 'had a few hill climbs'.