Set against the East Macdonnell Ranges near Alice Springs, Gravel Muster is a little different from your standard gravel race or stage race, for that matter, with a number of timed segments for each stage. A bit like Grinduro — or an actual enduro — you can smash out your race run and regroup and enjoy yourself when the clock isn’t running.

“This is a race, not a Gran Fondo; and whilst there are a lot of people who love to pin a number on to race and challenge themselves in that way – the majority here were looking for that experience to push themselves in a new direction and that’s something we’ll continue to support in years to come,” says Toby Shingleton from Shimano AU, who was on the ground for the event.

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• Sunsets, red dirt and singletrack | What’s happening in Alice Springs?

Part of the allure of Gravel Muster is a big adventure in the Northern Territory through terrain where not many folks — outside the locals — will have ridden their bikes. Rapid Ascent has organised this big adventure, so there are no big transfers or tricky logistical problems to solve because you stay at the remote cattle stations you’re riding to.

“This event may well have broken a number of riders down, to only rebuild them stronger and wilder,” said Event Director Sam Maffett. “We are completely blown away to see each and every one of our participants finish with a sparkle in their eye and the knowledge that they’ve just experienced something truly magical!”

“Our final day in particular felt more like we were a band of life-long friends – hardened by the desert and bonded by memories that are impossible to describe in words,” he continued.

Stage 1 | Simpsons Gap loop

Kicking off from the Alice Springs BMX track, the first stage saw 78 riders set out on a 47km loop, following popular gravel tracks outside of town to the top of Flagon Hill.

The racing for today features one timed 17km segment, and the folks from Rapid Ascent had a social pop-up bar waiting for everyone with cold brewskis and other beverages at the finish.

Michelin-Beard and Shauna Frey posted the fastest times in their respective fields, but today was just a taster of what the long weekend had in store.

Stage 2 | The Garden Road

Day two of racing was a big’un with 153km and two racing segments on the agenda, with a total of 94km against the clock.

Leaving Alice Springs, the group set a course for its first evening in the outback at the Hale River Cattle Station. Arrow-straight country roads made for fast, furious riding over the long timed sections, though it no doubt would have been difficult to focus while marvelling at the quintessential outback landscape.

Former World Tour Pro Richie Porte and Ella Bloor would be the fastest on the day.

“For me at the moment, it’s been hard to get a little bit of my fitness back; so to come up to the NT and have a good crack on each stage, I really enjoyed it,” said Porte. “We had a really good crew who pushed pretty hard… and that’s what it’s all about at the Gravel Muster — pushing hard when it’s timed and chilling out in the other segments!” said Porte.

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Stage 3 | Arltunga

With riders waking up at Hale River, today’s stage headed for Ross River Station, where they would again spend a night under the stars in the outback.

Taking in the Arltunga Plateau and Trephina Gorge in the heart of the East MacDonnell Ranges, the course was a bit shorter at 90km, with 47km of racing across a pair of segments.

“The event format is not something I’ve done before, so I’ve had to learn pretty quick how to switch on and off out of race mode, and it was quite tactical at times, too,” said Imogen Smith, who rode into second through the timed stages today.

“But honestly, this whole experience is like going to another planet! It’s not something you’ll get anywhere else in the World — and this race really does take you places you would never, ever go otherwise!” continued Smith.

In the end, Bloor and Michelin-Beard would both add a second-stage win to their Muster trophy cabinet coming into Hale River.

Stage 4 | The Numery

The crescendo of the 2024 Shimano Gravel Muster saw riders jump on the infamous Numery Road en route back to Alice Springs from the Station. The final stage was 95km in total, with 55km of that with the throttle wide open, dubbed as a “Roubaix-esque rattler.”

Bloor would make a hat trick, taking out her third stage of the event. Since retiring from the World Tour, Porte has been tip-toeing into the dirt and taking out a second state win; it’s clear there’s still some fire in those legs.

With that trio of stage wins, Bloor also won the general classification, which was all the more impressive given the week before she finished a ride from Perth to Sydney in 15 days. Frey and Smith would round out the top three.

Michelin-Beard would hang on to take the overall win ahead of Porte and Mitch Lorkin, even with the misfortune of breaking his handlebars mid-way through the Muster.

“It’s been a very fun four days on some very unique terrain up here, especially with the long flat gravel roads, which are a rare find back home,” said Michelin-Beard.

Photos: Forktail/ Rapid Ascent

The post Timed stages, red dirt and cold beer | Shimano Gravel Muster brings new life to stage racing in Alice Springs appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

The Crown steamed through the Wild Penguin of Tasmania and the Sunny 80 of the Sunshine Coast, placing us at the doorstep of The Orca. It also has a very nice doorstep—located on the Sapphire Coast. The destination is known for the trail networks of Gravity Eden and Tathra MTB Park, its picturesque ocean views, and its warm and welcoming community.

Last year, the Sapphire Coast added to these charming traits with a whole bunch of new trails in Eden. The Orca event marked the opening of these trails, and it was a massive success. Since then, refinements have been made to the course, setting the hopes high for another great ride in 2024.

The team behind the Quad Crown have been hard at work to prepare for this round. To find out what is in store for riders, we got in touch with Race Director, Jason Dover, and Course Designer, Liam McGuire, who gave us the ins and outs of this year’s race. 

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Quad Crown The Orca | Course Preview

‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. This saying has been circulating The Orca event since last year, because the 2023 race was anything but ‘broke’.

Jason Dover says that without a doubt, McGuire, the Quad Crown Course Manager, put together damn near a perfect course last year.

With such a solid foundation, the Quad Crown team was able to focus on refinements rather than completely rebuilding the event from the ground up. 

The new trails of Eden were a major hit in 2023; Contour Works delivered some fantastic new loops, which riders just couldn’t get enough of.

Unfortunately, a few of the Eden trails were closed off last year. Nature wasn’t playing ball and delivered a lot of rain and not enough sun, meaning that many of the trails were still too soft to ride. But that was almost a year ago now, and the ribbon is ready to be cut on trails that didn’t make it into the program last time. 

Heading to Tathra and Eden again, the basic schedule of the Quad Crown Series will still stand. The Prelude will be held on Friday for riders to secure their handicap for the weekend, followed by the main stage events on Saturday and Sunday.

The Prelude | 9km, 280m Vert

As per usual, the Prelude will be held before the Welcome Function on Friday. Riding this swift loop will set each racer up with their handicap for the weekend, putting them in the running for the Weekend Warrior Award.

McGuire says that the Prelude will be very similar to last year, with only a few refinements to the course. One change which has been made is the addition of a new trail, Straight 6, which riders will finish with this year.  

The loop may be short, but it will be sweet. The Prelude will offer a carefully picked selection of trails from Gravity Eden, including some of the newbies from the park. Folks will be in for a great time on Friday, but it will only be a taster of the flowy Eden trails before they get a bigger bite of them on Sunday.

After riders have kickstarted the weekend with the Prelude, all eyes will be set on the Friday Welcome Function. 

Last year, riders congregated at Hotel Australasia on the main street. This year, however, there is talk of moving venues to the Great Southern pub in the centre of Eden. This is not fully confirmed yet, but both sites are sure to provide the usual Quad Crown energy, atmosphere and drinks! 

Saturday Stage 1 | 35km, 700m Vert

Saturday is Tathra’s day. All set for the first stage of the weekend, riders will head 45 minutes up the coast from Eden to the Tathra Mountain Bike Park and surrounds. 

McGuire says that Saturday’s course will be very much the same to what folks saw in 2023. The loop will have a similar distance and elevation gain to last year, and the stage will begin with dreamy ocean views to the south 

From here, the coastal trails out of town will work to quash those race-day nerves before folks cross over into the rustic trails of Bundadung. 

Bundadung will test riders against some old-school cross country loops, very different to the smooth, hard packed dirt of Eden.

McGuire says the trails at Tathra create a great variety to the riding over the weekend, also alluding to the possibility of some new sections finding their way into the course. 

“There are some trails on the southern side called the Fire Shed Trails that are private property….we haven’t been able to use them as yet, so we’re hoping we can get to include them this year,” says McGuire.

Even if these trails don’t present themselves on the Saturday, McGuire says that the trails which are already planned are fun and super fast, taking riders through extensive stretches of coastal forest. 

After a big morning of riding, the stage will finish directly outside the Tathra Hotel, where the presentations (and beer kegs) will be held. 

“(The Tathra Hotel) overlooks all the water… it’s the best place that you could ever want to start and finish your bike race, let alone do the presentations and have lunch there after,” Dover says.

After parking their bikes down the laneway to the rear of the pub, riders can sit back and relax until the presentations begin. 

Sunday Stage 2 | 40-50km, 900m Vert

Sunday will dawn with riders lining up in Eden for the final stage of The Orca. If this year will be anything to what it was last time, Stage 2 will leave riders clamouring for more.

This stage was a crowd favourite last year. It is also the part of the race, however, which has seen the most change. High on the list of differences will be the removal of the brutal start climb, plus the addition of more of the new Eden trails.

“Last year we started and finished at the golf course, which was basically a construction site…we sent everyone up a horrendous climb, which we kind of had to do to get them (to the top) so they could come down Around the Outside (one of the new Eden trails) for the first time,” says McGuire. 

This year, the morning will present a flowy, fun and fast singletrack replacement for the initial start climb. No need to fret — the stage will still have plenty of climbs in store; they just won’t appear in the form of one massive hill.  

“It’s just going to be a much more fun stage… easily doable for the average rider,” says Dover. 

Among the different trails included in this year’s stage, an especially exciting addition will be an Eden original: Salt Lizard. When the new trails were built last year, Salt Lizard was done up by the build crew and it is now one of McGuire’s favourite trails in Eden. He says you can’t visit the area without giving it a go. 

After a full plate of Gravity Eden has been served, the next plate to fill will be provided by the generous kitchen and bar at Hotel Australasia. Riders will finish the last Stage, then file into the pub for the final celebrations and award ceremony.

The Handicapping System and Weekend Warrior

Similar to each of the Quad Crown rounds, The Orca will use a unique handicapping system during the event. In this way, riders will not only be racing against the clock, but also against themselves. 

From the handicap that folks will receive after completing Friday’s Prelude, the rider who is the closest to this time over the two days of racing will be crowned Weekend Warrior. 

This means that you do not need to be in the elite ranks, or even to have raced in a Quad Crown event in the past to be acknowledged for your efforts. 

Dover wants to emphasise here that you do not have to be at every race to be eligible for the Warrior Award.

“We are presenting (the Weekend Warrior) at each event on a standalone… there’s only carryover of points from Elite, which is about 10% of our field, whereas 90% of the field are on the Weekend Warrior Award,” says Dover.

With so many races of experience with the handicap system and Weekend Warrior Award, the Quad Crown team have now got the format down to a tee. 

Why head to Sapphire Coast?

Each of the Quad Crown destinations is a new adventure. The Sapphire Coast has the luxury of having a homely country-town feel, along with an unmatched riding scene that you can’t get at big-city events. 

“The two towns (Tathra and Eden) are the journey of going to the Sapphire Coast…there are breweries and wineries in between, there are oyster farms, there are cafes… I think that’s part of the adventure of getting away to a new destination over a long weekend,” says Dover. 

Dover also admits that the Sapphire Coast is one of the events which reflects the nature of the Quad Crown the most.

“I think the location suits our event model (of the Quad Crown Series) really well… it’s a tourism destination that a lot of people may not have been to before, and it’s a great excuse for a long weekend away to be able to go to an awesome spot, but also take your bike.”

How to Enter

The countdown to the event has started, and before you know it, wheels will be directed to the New South Wales coastline.

So, why not? Get on to the event website and put your name down for an epic weekend away. 

The post The Orca 2024 | The Quad Crown’s Return to the Sapphire Coast appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Last year, something big happened: Ironman sold the event to EventMatrix Pty Ltd, which is delivering the 2024 edition. The new team has really pulled out the stops for their debut. 2024 will see an already all-inclusive event made even more so, with revisions to race categories and course layout being only a few of the changes in store. 

Rest assured, Cape to Cape will not be made unrecognisable. The foundations of the event will still stand strong at its heart; a pumping race village, social events, beverages and bikes will still set this race apart. 

Without further ado, let’s get into what’s in store for folks in this new and improved tour of Southwest WA.

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The New Face of Cape to Cape

A new year, a new Cape to Cape, and a new company pulling the strings. EventMatrix has come into the picture with a bang, led by the business owners and event professionals Bill Hayes and Megan Grygorecewicz.

Although EventMatrix is fresh to the mountain biking scene, the company is no amateur when it comes to organising sporting events. Triathlons… fun runs… cycling? You name it, and EventMatrix has delivered an event for it. Channelling all of this experience into one, the hopes are high for the race this year.

Straight out of the gate, EventMatrix has elevated the ease of registering for Cape to Cape. In previous years, once you were in, you were in, and deferring registrations was a difficulty. The event now includes a flexible deferral and transfer policy, making bookings much more tangible in the future. Forgot about an important dentist appointment you have to go to on the 18th of October? No problem, you will be able to defer your registration and secure yourself a spot for 2025, instead.

“We want to see you riding Cape to Cape and realise sometimes things happen and plans change. If something happens and it’s not this year, then we would love to see you back next year,” says Director Megan Grygorcewicz.

On top of this change, Cape to Cape has made entering simpler still. Striking up a partnership with TravelManagers, EventMatrix has made it possible for bikes to be all you need to think about for the week. A ‘think less, ride more’ mentality is what we are looking at here, with the problem of accommodation and car hire all covered for you. (Find out more about what packages are on offer on the event website.)

EventMatrix wants to make getting to the race as smooth as possible, moving the focus toward the great riding and atmosphere of the event instead.

Cape to Cape Course Preview

With people coming from all over the globe to be part of this iconic race, I’d say the 4 stage race has got some things right. This year, most of the Cape to Cape stages will reflect those of previous years, with some tweaks here and there to accommodate rider feedback from past events. 

There is one big change which will create an exciting twist to this year’s course layout: Stage 2 has been completely reworked for the race in 2024.

Instead of being led through the open arena of Boranup Forest, folks will head to Nannup Forest for a fresh taste of Southwestern Australia riding.

The mountain bike course team, made up of Michael “Brookesy” Brookes, Tony Tucknott and Graham Clarke, have been hard at work on the course layout. Working their way around the Capes, the final line-up includes Cape Leeuwin, Margaret River, the (brand new) Nannup Forest loop, and Cape Naturaliste.

The exact course details are yet to be published, but overall, the race will round up to a total of 200km of riding and 2,500m of climbing, with each stage coming in at around 34-59km each.

Stage 1 | Cape Leeuwin

Stage 1 will naturally begin and end at the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. It has reached a point where if the lighthouse wasn’t on the course map for the week, Cape to Cape would have to permanently change its name—the race just wouldn’t be the same without it. 

Similar to last year, riders will push off from the lighthouse and almost instantly come face-to-face with the dreaded Skippy Rock Road. This uphill just keeps on going and will be a definite leg burner to start off the day. Once at the top, however, it will be remembered as a welcome warm-up for the rest of the course as folks get into a great stage of fire road, singletrack, and gravel. 

In light of the variable weather conditions around the lighthouse, presentations will be held back at Settlers Tavern at the end of Stage 1. Once inside the vibrant pub, riders will be able to enjoy a well-earned drink at the bar, safe in the knowledge that the presentation tent won’t suddenly fly toward them in an unexpected gust of wind.

Stage 2 | Nannup

We hope you are on the edge of your seat, because we definitely are: Cape to Cape is headed to Nannup for the first time this year!

This stage is set to kick off at Foreshore Park, located a bit further inland than the start of last year’s Stage 2. Folks will begin the pedal in the Tank 7 Mountain Bike Park, characterised by its rocky, fast and flowy trails. The dense pine forests of this stage will be very different to the wide open sections of Boranup Forest (but it will possibly mean a little less dust to what riders were confronted with in 2023).

The course team say that Nannup will present riders with a very diverse terrain, offering something for all riders to enjoy.

Stage 3 | Margaret River

Termed as the ‘fan favourite’, Cape to Cape would, once again, not be the same event without this ripper of a stage. 

The day around Margaret River will be a flowy, machine-packed loop of fun. Reflecting on what racers saw last year, a singletrack gala will ensue as the course explores Compartment 10 and The Pines. A fast first section will work to quickly seed riders based on speed. Then it’s onto sections of beefy, machine-built berms and turns through the dense bush. 

Colonial Brewing Co. (CBCo) is yet again the start and finish of the Margaret River stage. Parking up next to the picturesque lake at the end of the day, CBCo will be more than happy to supply the refreshments to mark the end of another great day on the bike.

Cape to Cape will be sure to make beer and wine connoisseurs of us all after all this drinking! Unfortunately, you will have to hold off on the celebrations for just one more day — Stage 4 still remains.

Stage 4 | Cape Naturaliste

Finishing off with a bang is finishing off with Cape Naturaliste. If you haven’t noticed a pattern yet, Cape to Cape loves its fine wine and craft beer. It would just be rude to skew the trend this far in, so Wise Wines will present the start and finish point of Stage 4.

Before indulging in the vast selection of wines on offer, however, there is still the final stage to think about.

With no shortage of incredible views, the final day’s course will take riders up to the coast at Eagle Bay. After some spectacular ocean scenes, folks will dive into the extensive trail network of Zone 6 to get a generous dose of some top-tier single track.

As is true of all of Cape to Cape’s stages, riders anywhere from beginner to expert will all be able to have a great time on the final stage. Zig-zagging through Zone 6, riders will exit the park to be taken around the Golf Course in Dunsborough. All that’s left from here will be the finishing stretch!

Rolling through the arch at the end of the stage, each Cape to Cape rider will receive their finisher medal; a memorandum of what is sure to be a great race. 

The Race Village

Cape to Cape is not only known for it’s incredible racing scene, but it also for what is available when the riding part is over.

The race village will again be a blast of social functions and pop-up stalls. Imagine food, cold beers and good vibes, and you will be halfway to what the real atmosphere of a Cape to Cape Race Village is like.

This rider ‘hub’ will also present a self-service bike wash and bike mechanic service to ensure that everyone’s wheels are rolling and suspension bouncing throughout the whole event.

Racer Categories

The race categories of Cape to Cape is one feature which has been under a lot of revision from previous years. Some aspects of the race will remain the same: There will be a minimum racer age of 15, and riders below 18 must have their registration signed by a parent or guardian. Lots of new developments, however, have been worked into the race around this.

One of the big changes to the race categories is to the pairs racing groups. In this category, riders are able to enter as a pair and become Cape to Cape finishers together, and as of 2024, the combined age of the pair will determine the group they are racing against. There is also a new ‘family pairs’ category, where one parent and one child can work together to complete the race.

In addition, pair racers will also be starting on the line together this year and will be eligible for the same awards and prizes as solo riders. 

EventMatrix has also taken the step forward to add an e-Bike category to the race! E-MTB riders will race in a stand-alone category, following the same course as other riders in the event.

The event directors want to see a “sense of community and shared adventure” in future Cape to Cape races. With e-MTB categories coming into the mix, the race will be accessible to an even wider mountain biking audience than ever before.

Handcyclists will also be able to compete in all four stages of the event in 2024. Log rollovers and similar technical features have been removed from each stage to ensure that anyone and everyone can get the best out of the event. The course team do say that there are some water crossings that could not be avoided, but support riders will always be there to assist in these situations.

Prizes and Awards

Each and every racer will be in the running for an array of awards and prizes throughout the week. Racers who are fastest overall will be acknowledged for their effort, and presentations will be held after each stage. A new stream of awards — the Line Honours Awards — will be introduced this year and presented at the end of each day to the rider who crosses the line first. 

There are also two very special awards that Cape to Cape offers at the end of the week. These include the Beacon Award and the James “Willo” Williamson Award.

The Beacon Award is presented to the ‘shining light of the event’. It is based on rider Johnny Waddel, who managed to overcome a serious injury and is still back ripping around the trails to this day. Anyone can be nominated for this award, and fellow riders can put down another’s name who is seen to consistently step out of their comfort zone to finish the race.

The James “willo” Williamson Award is dedicated to the rider with the fastest overall time. It is named after James Williamson, who was a big part of the race when it first began. The award comes from the heart of the event, introduced after Williamson tragically passed away in the 2010 Cape Epic.

What Type of Rider is this Race for?

Cape to Cape is not only a race for the best of the best. Anyone who is willing to give the course a crack is urged to join in.

This race is not meant to be a slog fest, nor an event filled with teeth-chattering rock gardens which will keep you up at night. Instead, Cape to Cape is something that is accessible for anyone who is ready to work for it.

Cape to Cape stands by the motto ‘it’s a ride, not a race’. Of course, even the event directors know that in the face of a timed event, some folks will be pushing off in the morning to lay it all out on the hill come race day. The point still stands that for those who are there for the good trails and great riding atmosphere, everyone is welcome to come along for the ride.

How to Enter

If the Cape to Cape has sparked your interest, you can head over to the Cape to Cape website to sign yourself up now! 

Photos: Daniela Tommasi / Cape to Cape and Tim Bardsley-Smith / Cape to Cape

The post Cape to Cape 2024 | The New Face Behind the Four Day Stage Race appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

This is the second year I’ve packed up and headed for Beechworth, and before I even pulled on bibs for the day, it was already going better than last year.

Once again I had put my name down for the full 115km course and rolling into the starting corral with over 500 riders signed up to take on the same challenge as me.

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The Granite Classic is not a race by any means. It attracts everyone from elite roadies and mountain bikers to people who just commute on their bikes every day and want to try something different. I’m not exactly sure where I fit into that hierarchy, but I set myself the goal of finishing in under five hours for the 115km, and that was it.

I recognised quite a few faces from last year, and just about everyone I spoke to mentioned it was their second or third year riding — maybe there is something to this whole gravel riding experience, hey?

The gram strikes back

Rolling out of Main Street, it was a balmy 5ºC, amplified by the speed of the initial tarmac descent out of town.

That infamous Beechworth gravel came in no time, and I unclipped my phone from the QuadLock on my bars to film some clips for the ‘Gram. When trying to re-attach it, I fumbled it.

In slow motion, my phone hit the ground and began to cartwheel down the road, narrowly missing many a death blow from an unsuspecting rider’s tyres.

Worse, trying to retrieve it was like a real-life game of Frogger. Trying to find a gap with riders whizzing by

I finally got to it, and it was thankfully undamaged but dusty, so I was able to continue—and keep my Strava file. Phew!

A mighty crack and light at the end of the tunnel

The gravel was noticeably drier than last year, with many loose spots causing some drifty moments. Thankfully the event team was onto this and had all of them well sign-posted to approach with caution.

For the most part, the course is buttery smooth and fast-rolling gravel, but a rough section that also featured on last year’s course was back. It earned a bit of notoriety for claiming a number of the lead riders. I remembered this section, and was on the brakes hard.

I saw the rain ruts running perpendicular to the road and heard a mighty crack after hitting the first one.

Is that the bright light they always talk about? Funny, only part of my life flashed before my eyes. I didn’t feel the impact, it must have happened quick. Wait a minute, that bright light is the sun, I’M ALIVE!

That mighty crack was not my head impacting the inside of my helmet but my bars slipping in the clamp. With my hoods now pointing straight down, I spent a few moments on the business end of a multi-tool putting them back into place. Recommended torque be dammed. There was definitely an extra quarter turn on all of the bolts for fear of having a repeat.

Finding Friends in the Gravel Pit

The group I had started with continued up the road, and I tapped out the next 30km solo, but the thing about events like the Granite Classic is that everyone comes out of the woodwork to ride them, and low and behold I bumped into friend of Flow, Paul van der Ploeg. We chatted at a comfortable pace and made our way to the Gravel Pit rest stop that hosted a DJ, peanut butter quesadillas, drink refills and fresh fruit.

Here, we also found another friend of Flow, Lewis Ciddor.

We formed a quartet with Paul and another rider. Lewis, who took third place in the 1,300km Tour Te Waipounamu bikepacking race back in February, looked over his shoulder and asked if I was ready for “Party Pace” before he began to turn the screws. It wasn’t long before our group of four became two as Lewis and I pushed on ahead up one of the largest climbs for the day.

Ninety kilometres in, we were greeted by another rest stop, this time featuring DJ Andras and the hallowed cinnamon doughnuts from Beechworth Bakery.

As delicious as the Cinnamon doughnuts were, they didn’t quite give me what I needed to sustain Lewis’ sadistic pace. No amount of deep-fried delicacies was going to save me so I waved goodbye to Lewis as he rode off into the sunset on one of the final hills coming back into Beechworth.

The final rest stop on the hill is a beautiful one. Big boulders perch on the hilltop, where you can fill up your bottle and begin the final few kilometres to town.

The rough descent rattled our teeth, particularly the final section to the farmhouse. This well-trodden cow paddock would have garnered at least a three-star rating if it featured in one of Cobbled Spring Classics. Thankfully, this bucking bronco ride was only 300m, but it was quite the rush on 38mm tyres.

Rolling into town, you’re greeted with an ice-cold beer as you cross the line, and the event village is pumping with activity. After a lie-down and a stretch on the grass, our crew watched the track-stand comp and skid comp hosted by Vandy for those riders still with energy to burn.

The dates for 2025 haven’t been announced just yet, but you can bet I’ll be back!

Photos: Andy Rogers – @fameandspear / Beechworth Granite Classic

The post Human Frogger, Party Pace and Cinnamon Doughnuts | Jono rides the Beechworth Granite Classic appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Grab some sunscreen and your best party shirt because Crankworx is returning to Cairns May 22-26, 2024. Yes, that means it’s only a few days after the UCI Masters World Championships, which also descends on Cairns from May 16-19.

Oh, and did we mention that Crankworx is also hosting the Oceania Champs Downhill? Talk about an action-packed couple of weeks in Cairns.

With so much bubbling away, we caught up with Crankworx Cairns Event Director Nathan Bassett to see what they have been cooking up in Tropical North Queensland.

Jam-packed schedule for Crankworx Cairns

For 2024, Crankworx Cairns will have the whole gamut of headline events you’ve come to expect from the festival; however, the event team has tweaked the order to maximise viewing potential.

“This year, the event will culminate with Slopestyle on Sunday, which means super Saturday is now a doubleheader with Speed and Style and then Pump Track under lights which won’t disappoint in bringing the party vibes,” Bassett Says.

Before the festival even gets started, Crankworx is hosting a Jam Session at the Cairns Skate Park under the lights. There will be a DJ and some of the best riders in the world throwing down to set the bar for what’s to come.

With the deck shuffled, the Specialized Dual Slalom will be the first official event off the rank with Pro finals on Thursday evening.

Then it’s into the RockShox Downhill on Friday, which will double as the Oceania Champs this year. Illinbah near the Gold Coast was pegged to host the Continental Champs, however with the constant wet weather SEQ has had since before Christmas has caused quite a lot of damage and the course won’t be ready in time.

Then, on Saturday, when we have the Speed and Style, Australian Whip-Off Championships and Pump Track tripleheader, which will be a massive day for folks on the ground. With the strong showing from local shredders like Caroline Buchanan, Ryan Gilchrist, Mike Ross, and Haz Burbidge-Smith in these events in 2023, it’s a safe bet there will be some fireworks from the home team on display.

Finally, the crescendo will hit its maximum intensity with the Slopestyle finishing out the weekend on Sunday.

Tropical Cyclone Jasper put quite a whalloping on the beautifully shaped orange dirt features. However, with some areas needing a rebuild, it gives World Trail, Elevate Trail Building, Flux Trail Building more creative license to reimagine the course.

“The dirt halfpipe on the Slopestyle course has been heavily impacted, so this is a real opportunity to rethink this section and innovate on a new exciting feature,” says Bassett.

With the build to kick off soon, Bassett wasn’t able to provide any hints as to what things will look like, as the designs are still in the mind of the trail builders, but he did tell Flow there will be some cool new innovations and an evolution of the features.

Slopestyle WILL go ahead

The question that has been looming over Crankworx Cairns in the leadup has been what’s happening with slopestyle.

The Men’s Slopestyle riders pulled out of the Crankworx FMBA Slopestyle World Championship Rotorua after negotiations around remuneration and support infrastructure broke down.

The competitors released a statement the day before the Slopestyle at Crankworx Rotorua was scheduled to go ahead.

“Unfortunately, after years of negotiations, countless meetings, and many letters today we have finally decided to take a stand for the benefits of all Slopestyle riders and the sport. This timeline is not what we hoped for. At this stage we won’t be discussing the specifics of the conditions we requested from Crankworx as an organisation, as we don’t believe this is the right place or time to do so,” the initial rider statement said.

However, since Rotorua, both parties have come back to the table and, on April 12, announced in no uncertain terms that both male and female riders WILL be participating in Crankworx Cairns.

“These discussions facilitated the identification of underlying issues and concerns on both sides which have been addressed in a collaborative and productive manner. As a result, a consensus was reached that not only addresses the immediate needs of the athletes but also places a strong emphasis on the long-term viability and sustainability of Slopestyle as a sport,”  the FMBA and Crankworx joint statement said.

The Male Slopestyle Athletes also released a joint statement saying, “It’s a step in the right direction, and now with (sic) having amplified representation in the FMBA, we are looking forward to the rest of the 2024 season. The issues the riders had, have been solved or are being looked at to find a solution. We look forward to seeing everyone in Cairns and we can’t wait to have (a) full season of events approaching. Together we plan to create a better sport now & for the future.”

This is great news for everyone as the flagship event will run for spectators to enjoy, and the riders will not only compete, but their voices have been heard, and progress is being made.

Crankworx is not just for the pros

While the pro competition and the race for King and Queen of Crankworx dominate the coverage of the festival, there are amateur categories in the Dual Slalom, Downhill and Pumptrack.

The Master’s World Champs are only a few days prior to Crankworx, so there is the opportunity to squeeze in a boatload of racing in not a lot of time, with Smithfield hosting both the XC and DH events. A new XC course is currently being constructed, and portions of the Worlds DH course are being reimagined for the event.

Related:

• Bike Check | Michael Ronning’s 2024 Giant Glory Masters Worlds Race Bike

Inside the event itself, Bassett tells us there will also be side events specifically for spectators like the Brapp-Off which will kick off on Sunday morning at the bottom of the Dual Slalom Course.

There’s also ways for groms to get involved with Kidsworx.

“We’ll be doing the Cairns Esplanade activation on the weekend prior to Crankworx in central Cairns with the balance bike course and jump lines, and at the event there will be free come-and-try activities and participatory events that kids can enter,” says Bassett.

He also tells Flow Crankworx Cairns will continue its push to provide events for adaptive riders. Last year the Push Mobility and Bowhead team were on the ground, and they are working on plans to get those riders on course again.

“Our goal is to continue building further opportunities to get adaptive riders on course at Crankworx. Last year we had Grant (Allen) and Renee (Junga) at the event and had them sample a lot of the local trails,” he says. “Both did exhibition laps on the Dual Slalom course, and Grant actually completed the first-ever Adaptive top-to-bottom run of the Worlds downhill track prior to the Pro Finals. We are excited to keep working with the athletes to build on this in May.”

Bassett also says they’re pushing to include more adaptive riders and aiming to have the Push Mobility team there with a couple of Bowhead bikes and adaptive demos down the line.

Bring your bike and try some new gear

A big part of Crankworx is, of course, the gear expo. Exhibitor entries are currently open, but based on the last two years, it is set to be a star-studded affair.

“The first two years of Crankworx Cairns has seen the best in the MTB industry descend on Cairns with nearly 50 brands represented onsite. We will release the exhibitor list closer to the event, but you can expect another world-class bike expo,” he says.

There are always demo bikes available from all the big brands, but these do tend to book out fast — so the protip is to plan ahead and if you’d like to try the latest newly released bike, book ahead.

Party time in TNQ

Beyond the racing, Crankworx is one big party, so don’t forget your dancing shoes. With the event now in its third year, and the foundation solid, now the event team are working on a number of exciting concepts to maximise the party vibes.

“Cairns is world-renowned for its nightlife and our first few events has seen some cracking parties. We are working with our partners to build on this and ensure we deliver the best MTB party in the country,” says Bassett.

There will be live music on site every day from Thursday to Sunday with local DJ’s, and Brisbane acts the Worm Girlz and Beddy Rays will take the stage. Headlining the festival, Spiderbait will be giving the riders a run for the money on who can shred harder, with a set that starts directly after Slopestyle.

Thursday night will also see Sunset Cinema: a Movie Night in Paradise. This mini-film festival will showcase a selection of mountain bike movies produced by Red Bull and other top MTB filmmakers.

Bassett also tells Flow there will be a heap of poster signings and meet-and-greets where folks will have the opportunity to interact with the athletes.

Explore new trails and hit the Reef

Cairns is already an established holiday destination attracting droves of tourists from around the world to the reef and the rainforest — there is some pretty good riding to boot. Since you’re already coming all that way, you’d be silly not to stay for a bit and check out everything that Far North Queensland has to offer on and off the bike.

Related:

• Flow’s Ride Guide | Up high in Atherton
• Flow’s Ride Guide | Smithfield, Home of Crankworx Cairns

Bassett tells us that Smithfield will be open to ride around the Crankworx event, but there is also a metric tonne of great riding nearby. Take an afternoon and hit the legendary Kuranda Downhill, or take a day trip up to Davies Creek or Atherton.

Right next door to the Crankworx venue is AJ Hacket’s Skypark, where you can go bungee jumping, and let’s not forget that Cairns is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. There is diving, hiking, waterfalls, swimming — you name the adventure, and Cairns has a spectacular landscape to show you.

Festival passes are on sale now

Crankworx Festival passes are on sale now and selling fast. For more info and to get your spot, head over to the Crankworx website.

Photos: Clint Trahan / Crankworx, Con Chronis/ Crankworx

The post Slopestyle will go ahead at Crankworx Cairns | Here’s what you need to know about the festival this May appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Here, the thermometer reads a delightful 26 degrees, the sun reigns supreme, and the trails await, dry and ready for adventure. Picture yourself with a cold beer in hand, soaking up the warmth after a hard day’s riding.

Looking for an excuse to escape winter? Look no further than the iconic Reef to Reef stage race, now in its fifth year of glory. From July 25th to 28th, 2024, the lush hills of Cairns in Northern Queensland will play host to an unforgettable four-day racing spectacle. Clear your schedules and prepare for an experience like no other!

Updates for Reef to Reef 2024

Following the 2023 Reef to Reef some large news dropped. Ironman — the previous owner of the Reef to Reef, Port to Port and Cape to Cape, had sold the first two events to Event Management Solutions Australia.

The team at EMS, which organised the 2019 UCI World Championship and Enduro World Series events in Tasmania, are the experts when it comes to large-scale mountain bike events and delivering an event like no other.

With the Reef to Reef and Port to Port going seperate ways from their sister race, the Cape to Cape, the Triple-Crown trifecta series is no longer in an official sense.

According to Ian Harwood from EMS, this also means the races will no longer be qualifiers for the Cape Epic, at least for this year anyway, so riders looking to qualify will have to head abroad. Another great excuse for a holiday? We think so!

Harwood tells Flow the Reef to Reef for 2024 will feature a number changes, including a brand new eMTB category, a returning venue, new food and beverage options at the finish line, and a new Day 1 prologue/hot-seat racing format.

Fear not, the event will maintain the classic features of the Reef to Reef we know and love such as the flowing singletrack at Smithfield MTB park and the final stage finishing on the beach in Port Douglas. The full four day stage race can be completed either solo or in pairs, requiring pairs to remain within 2 minutes of each other through the entire race, a format which is becoming increasingly popular in stage racing. 

The eMTB community have been asking and the team at EMS have been listening, which is why they are introducing an eMTB specific category for 2024. Racers will compete alongside the rest of the field and will likely lead out the race, but it certainly won’t be a cruise in the park even with a motor assisting on the climbs. 

Their other acquisition, the Port to Port, based in Newcastle, NSW, has unfortunately suffered from a rough few years, with the pandemic and consecutive years of flooding forcing cancellation after cancellation. With this in mind, the team at EMS is planning a huge return for the event but needs a little extra time to get things together. Hence, it will not be running for 2024 but will return for 2025 — stay tuned folks!

Reef to Reef Prologue| Smithfield MTB Park | 6km, 150m vert

To kick things off for 2024, there will be a prologue-style race based in Smithfield MTB Park. The course will be short and punchy, 6km long with approximately 150m of climbing, and is largely based on the UCI Master World Championships course set to take place on the 19th of May 2024 — including the infamous Jacobs Ladder. 

The race will be run in a hot-seat style format, with racers tackling the course in ascending order, with EMS seeding riders within their category based on past race results and order of expected pace. This format is most similar to what we typically see in DH racing or time trials, albeit with a few tweaks for the format, and will be sure to provide some exciting racing! Harwood says the prologue is set to run in the afternoon, giving riders the opportunity to travel up to Cairns in the morning to make the journey a little easier logistically. 

Reef to Reef Stage One | Smithfield MTB Park | 30km, 700m vert

Day two of the 2024 edition of the Reef to Reef will see racers tackle the remainder of the Smithfield MTB Park, with 30kms of singletrack and around 700m of climbing.

Having hosted UCI World Cups, UCI World Champs, and the home to Crankworx Cairns, the pedigree of the terrain and trails at Smithfield Mountain Bike Park is undeniable. Racers can expect a healthy mix of tech and flow and will keep everyone on their toes. The dirt is primarily hard-pack with a sprinkling of rock, with locals suggesting the redder the dirt the slipperier it gets, especially after a touch of rain. 

Reef to Reef Stage Two Atherton MTB Park | 60km, 1000m vert

A returning classic of the Reef to Reef, for 2024, the race will head back out to the Atherton MTB Park situated 1.5hrs southwest of Cairns, with over 55kms of primary hand-cut singletrack.

The stage is a big one, covering 60km and ~1000m of climbing, with a mixture of singletrack and fire roads zig-zagging in and out of the bike park.

The hills bordering the Silvia Valley rise approximately 300 meters, offering extended descents that traverse through three or four distinct topographic zones. We checked out Atherton MTB Park and caught up with the club President back in 2022, a worthy read if you’re chasing a sneak preview of what is to come. 

Reef to Reef Stage Three, Triple-R | Mount Molloy to Port Douglas | 51km, 600m

The finale of the Reef to Reef is a true classic and a highlight for all racers. After an early start in Mount Molloy riders descend down to Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas via the infamous Bump Track where the party awaits. The day will consist of around 51kms of riding and despite starting up in the range and finishing on the beach, will still consist of around 600m of climbing. 

The final day of the Reef to Reef also doubles as the Triple-R single-day race (formerly known as RRR, or Rural Rainforest Reef), which has become a staple event in Australia’s mountain bike calendar. 2024 marks the 32nd edition. Racers can choose from the classic 36km course or the longer 51km course, both of which include the Bump Track and spectacular beach finish in Port Douglas. 

Reef to Reef Race Logistics & FAQ’s

Logistically, there is a bit to consider when tackling the Reef to Reef as the locations are a short drive apart.

The team at EMS recommend staying in Cairns for the first two days of racing, and relocating to Port Douglas for the remainder of the race. There are a huge range of accommodation options available from budget motels to fancy apartments, rest assured there will be something to suit any preference. Alternatively, camping or renting a motorhome has proven very popular in previous years, and there are plenty of caravan parks with a full suite of facilities in both locations. 

While this is technically an XC marathon race, you can totally ride it on your trail bike or enduro bike — we’ve even seen one fellow ride it on rigid fat bike. Most however typically most people bring XC (100-120mm) hardtails or dual-suspension mountain bikes.

The race village will have all of the typical inclusions such as registration, information, first-aid, along with bike mechanics and some tasty food and beverage options to choose from.

There will be aid stations at around the halfway mark on each day, but we do not recommend relying on these. Each rider should carry around 2-3L of water in a hydration pack. 

Things to do that don’t involve riding?

One of the best things about stage racing is that once the day’s racing is all said and done, there is still plenty of daylight left to explore the area, even if your legs have turned to jelly. Tropical Northern Queensland is packed full of things to see and do, whether it’s relaxing on the beach after a hard day’s riding or snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef; you’ll have zero issues filling in the downtime between races. 

Acting as the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns offers activities ranging from snorkelling and scuba diving tours to white water rafting and stand-up paddle boarding.

North Queensland might not be on everyone’s wine radar, but it’s a hidden gem among Australia’s many wine regions. Instead of the usual suspects on the wine rack, winemakers in this tropical paradise are turning to exotic fruits to craft their wines, ports, and liqueurs. Picture lush orchards brimming with mangoes, bananas, lychees, pineapples and passionfruit.

It’s a departure from traditional vineyards, yet rest assured, sipping these creations won’t feel like you’re diving into a fruit bowl.

Cairns also boasts a dynamic brewery scene that’s as diverse as it is exciting, with prime locations peppered throughout this tropical paradise. From waterfront spots to hidden gems nestled in laneways, you’ll be sure to find a spot for a cold drink following a hard days racing. 

With the race wrapping up in tropical Port Douglas, you’ll be surrounded by a range of activities and some of the sleepiest beaches in the country. Take a refreshing dip in the crystal-clear waters of Mossman Gorge, surrounded by ancient rainforest, and embark on guided walks to learn about indigenous culture and history, or explore one of the world’s most incredible natural wonders with snorkelling or diving tours to the Great Barrier Reef, departing from Port Douglas.

Related:

• Riding and Exploring Tropical North Queensland

Entering the 2024 Reef to Reef

With the race just a few months away, the team at EMS are busy finalising all the details for what is set to be an epic fifth edition of the Reef to Reef. Event entries are open, so get planing your winter escape and head over to the Reef to Reef event website for event details and pricing. 

The post Flee Winter’s Chill | Get prepared for the 2024 Reef to Reef 4-day Stage Race appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

We caught up with Race Director Jason Dover and Course Designer Liam McGuire to get the lowdown on what’s new for 2024 and a sneak peek of this year’s race courses.

Related:

• The Wild Penguin kicks off the 2024 Quad Crown series in Tassie
• Stage Racing For Everyone | The Quad Crown series is back for 2024

What’s new for The Sunny 80 in 2024?

Having already run an event on the Sunshine Coast, the Quad Crown team have better footing going into this year’s race, and also won’t have to make mass changes to a stage because of a last-minute traffic management approval issue.

With that experience under their belts, Dover explains they can fully focus on improving the rider experience. The Quad Crown is designed to be a mini-stage race, giving folks who aren’t at the pointy end of the elite field an achievable entry into stage racing.

And with that in mind, Dover says they are ratcheting back the overall difficulty of the course, and cutting down on the total metres climbed.

“It’s designed to be a sample — a snackable format — to get into stage racing without committing four days or a whole week away. Based on some of the feedback we got last year, we’re also making the stages a little bit easier,” he says.

Beyond removing some of the nasty fire road climbs, at The Wild Penguin they implemented a shortcut for folks towards the back of the field who were struggling in the twilight of each stage.

“We had a really good response in Tassie to that idea,” he says. “It gave people the confidence that they couldn’t bite off more than they could chew. We’re conscious that this might be your first stage race or multi-day event, and we want everyone to have an enjoyable ride. The stages are a challenge, but it’s going to be doable. And we’ll even help to make sure it’s doable.”

Queensland’s wet autumn

If you’re not aware, it’s been pretty darn wet here in Queensland since before Christmas, and things are as lush as they’ve ever been. However, that also means that the trails in the region have been closed, some for an extended period. One reason for that is to protect them, in part for this event.

“We have been talking to the locals and stakeholders, and they’re all confident they always get rain at this time of year. It’s been more than normal, but they’re confident things will dry out,” says McGuire.

Dover did have a request to locals, as there have been reports of people at Sugarbag pulling down bunting and riding trails that are closed because they are wet.

“The reason that councils and trail authorities close parks is to protect the trails so that when they dry out, they’re not all cut up. That short-term mentality of some people who are going in and taking down bunting even though it’s been really wet, the long-term damage that does to the trails is a greater risk to our event than bad weather on the day,” he says.

Quad Crown The Sunny 80 course preview

Prelude | Sugarbag | 8km, 100m Vert

The Prelude takes place on Friday afternoon and serves two purposes: seeding the start waves for the following day and setting your baseline handicap, which is used to award the Warrior Crown.

This handicap is based on your average speed through the course, and the Warrior Crown is awarded to the rider who matches or exceeds their handicap by the most over the two stages. So, even if you’re not at the pointy end of the field, you still have something to compete for.

The Prelude course will be similar to last year’s, hitting trails like Party Mix, Syrup, and Honeycomb.

“Last year, when we got to the bottom of the main flow line and then climbed back up to just under the pump track and went down the dual slalom. We cleaned up an existing climbing trail that wasn’t often used and people kept riding it — it’s become pretty popular. Since then, the council has said they’ve come in and rejigged some of it and added in some new rock armouring,” says McGuire.

One difference in this year’s course will be that what was the dual slalom course is now a new jump line. This will be included in the course provided it’s ready in time.

Mcquire believes the crux of the course will be the final climb back up to the finish.

“You’ve just had a heap of fun and go through all those tracks, and it’s about a 300m climb back up on asphalt to get back to the pump track area and then into the finish,” says McGuire.

Dover did note, Sugarbag is arguably best known for the wooden features on a trail called Bees Knees which look a bit intimidating. For folks who may be nervous about that, he wanted to make clear that this trail is not a part of the course.

Once the racing has wrapped up, it’s over to Moffat Brewing for the presentation and social function. Dover notes that Moffat was named the Grand Champion of the RNA Royal Queensland Beer Awards.

Stage One | Parklands | 30km, 700m vert

Stage one of Parklands last year was a doozy at 32km with about 1,300m of climbing, but Dover says folks came up to him afterwards and said, despite the difficulty, it was one of the best stages they had ever ridden.

With that, for 2024, McGuire has cut the fat and maximised the fun of lopping 500m of climbing off the course. Last year, there was a bit of a start loop, and they were trying to filter riders through a trail called Lush as quickly as possible.

As a result, we ended up on fire trails that went around the whole perimeter of the area to make it work. That included a couple of creek crossings and some really steep fire trails that most people walked,” he says.

All that is gone for this year.

McGuire says the start/finish will be at the same spot, and instead of going on a tour of the fire roads, the course heads straight into the singletrack on a trail called Blue Tongue.

From above the map looks complicated, but it will hit the best trails from last year, including Hoe Chi Ho, Upper and Lower New Zealand, Cancer Tree and Road Rage. According to McGuire that last one is going to be the crux of the day.

“It’s right in the middle of the course, and towards the end, it’s just constant technical riding — on and off the power all the time. There are some really rooty sections to get over some switchback climbs — it’s a real XC challenge.

McGuire also notes they’ve built in a shortcut that will cut a few kilometres off the end of the course for those who are really struggling.

After the racing is done, the show will head for Your Mates Brewing for the evening’s festivities.

The Special Stage | Ferny Forest | 10km, with 90m vert

The Ferny Forest special came about because a last-minute approval didn’t come through last year, and so to run stage two, it had to be split into mini-stages. This last-minute curve ball made for the Ferny Forest Special Stage which people loved, so it’s back for 2024.

Starting at the Mooloolah Country Club, there will be a rollout to the trailhead, where there is about a 300m drag into and back out of the trail. Dover and McGuire say there will be a drag race for the hole shot and then at the other end to the finish.

“Ferny Forest is pretty much just all singletrack out and around — constant turning, tons of corners. I’ll probably be won and lost in the sprint back to the finish. It’s a really wide open forest road,” says McGuire

This twisty and turny stage is only 10km with 90m of climbing, so it’ll be a fast one too.

Stage Two | Ewen Maddock Dam | 24km, 320m vert

Part two of stage two also rolls out from the Mooloolah Country Club and heads for Dularcha National Park.

“There is a climb up to go through the old railway tunnel to start with, and then its back over the tunnel to get up to Tunnel Ridge Road. From there, you go down to all the trails that are on the southwestern side of Ewen Maddock Dam,” says McGuire.

With 24km of riding on the agenda and 320m of vert, Dover and McGuire say the stage is bookended by climbs that will make or break the racing.

“I think that first climb after you’ve gone through the tunnels will be a key part of the course. It’s very technical. It’s at about 9km and comes after the tunnel, which is obviously pretty flat; you’ll climb up to Tunnel Ridge Road,” says Dover

McGuires pick for the crux of the day comes one kilometre from the finish.

“Right towards the finish, at about the 23km mark, there is a little pinchy climb that’s really steep and really loose. It’s the final climb after you come across the Dam wall,” he says.

Then, it’s back to the Country Club for presentations and farewells.

How do you enter The Sunny 80

Entries for The Sunny 80 are open now!

Dover wanted to reiterate that although the Quad Crown is a series, each of the events stands on its own, and you don’t have to commit to racing all four events when you sign up.

In fact, you don’t even have to do the whole two and half days if you’re not quite ready for it, and you can choose to sign up just for one stage if that’s the challenge you’re looking for.

For more info or to book your spot, head over to the Quad Crown website.

The post Don’t forget your sunscreen | The Quad Crown is headed back to the QLD for The Sunny 80 in June appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

And as Will Levy from goodnessgravel informed me, it’s also the year, “Mongol forces invade(d) the Khmer Empire (modern Cambodia). King Jayavarman VIII decides to pay tribute rather than fight the invasion, buying peace and preserving the empire.”

Why are we talking about this seemingly random number? goodnessgravel assigns a number for life to every person who signs up. For me, 1283 is my number.

Headed to its northernmost stop in Glen Innes, I packed up the Flowmobile to see what goodnessgravel was all about.

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• The Shimano Gravel Muster | Gravel stage racing in the Red Centre
• 2024 Scott Addict Gravel Tuned | A gravel bike all about hot, nasty, badass speed
• Explore rural NSW with the goodnessgravel event series

Undercooked and totally unprepared

Sitting a smidge over 1,000m above sea level, Glen Innes is about 4.5 hours from Flow’s Gold Coast HQ and about eight hours on the road from Sydney. It’s a lovely little country town, this time of year the trees that line the streets are vibrant with colour as they change for autumn.

While it’s not a race and there’s no running clock, the long 125km course sees 1700m of climbing (there’s also a 75km and 35km version that runs on the same day). It’s not the longest, hardest event out there, but it’s not exactly a walk in the park, either. Since my son was born two years ago, I can count on two hands the number of times I’ve ridden more than 100km—because #dadlife.

With that in mind, I was expecting a challenge, but so long as I didn’t chase on with the fast group and kept my intake of sugar-packed sweets up the whole day, I thought I could carb my way through. I mean, who doesn’t love an excuse to eat candy and doughnuts all morning?

This was the third edition of goodnessgravel Glen Innes, and over 230 riders registered for the gravel fondo. Levy tells us that about a third of that were women, and there were 100 riders from Queensland, one from Victoria, two from Western Australia, and the rest from NSW.

Only a few minutes after rolling out of the Showground — including the obligatory lap around the pony arena — we hit the first section of gravel. The world around us was shrouded in a thick fog. It was spooky cruising through unknown countryside with the road ahead shrouded under an impenetrable fog.

Cows and a farm truck seemingly materialised out of thin air on either side of the road as we pedalled on, and stronger riders would vanish into the great white abyss as they pushed more watts than I was willing to at this early stage in the day.

The beauty of goodnessgravel is that you find your people. With undulating terrain, the groups sort of self-seed, and you end up among the folks who are riding at your pace, whether you’re in the first hour or the fifth.

While the majority of riders — 200 in total — tackled the event on gravel bikes, there were 25 mountain bikes entered across the three distances and nine e-Gravel bikes, which Levy says is more than they’ve ever had.

“There were a few that did the 75km, but quite a few of the e-Gravel bikes did the 35km loop. Generally, their partner was off doing the bigger loop, and they came along to ride it on their e-Bike. It just becomes so much more inclusive when you have that option,” he says.

Party mix and the climb up Mount Mitchell

There are about 7g of carbs in one piece of Party Mix — obviously varying slightly based whether you choose a milk bottle or a snake. Most people can process between 60-90g of carbs per hour without getting any gut distress, so I knew this was the fuel target needed to keep my little underpowered lawnmower engine running. The drink mix I had in my bottles provided about 30g of carbohydrates. But with the temperature hovering in the low 20s, taking on too much drink mix would mean a lot of time spent looking for trees to water.

So I was going to need 6-8 lollies an hour, plus drink mix and anything else I could get down — we had a plan. This wasn’t an exacting nutrition plan, but it’s also not a race either. This was about making sure I didn’t bonk — a fate worse than death.

Mount Mitchell Road was the biggest climb of the day with extended sections over 12%. Fortunately, it came in the first 30km and was backed by an aid station with water, bananas, and drink mix. By the time we got here, I’d already put down a set of teeth, three frogs, a snake what I think was supposed to be a gummy strawberry and a third of a bottle.

The route for the day would traverse Ngarabal country, and their name for the area around Glen Innes is Gindaaydjin, meaning “plenty of big round stones on clear plains.” Rolling through open farmland, trees were sparse, but massive slabs of granite were plentiful. It’s not hard to see why the Traditional Owners named it such.

Meet goodnessDave

After the aid station you’re on a section of gravel that was officially named Mt. Slow Road, but it was anything but. The surface was sandy over hardpack, and it was fast, twisty, bendy, and grippy. I felt like a f**** hero and was flying along, ripping through corners. Gravel magic in the truest sense of the word.

This is where I linked up with Dave.

I caught Dave on the way down to the lowest point of the course. He lives in Freshwater on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and works in commercial real estate. Over the next few hours we tapped out the kilometres, and became fast friends along the outer reaches of the course — even though I didn’t actually learn his name until the aid station at 79km. We chatted kids, bikes, the Reserve Bank and everything in between.

The sun was shining, the scenery was beautiful, this was quite an adventure.

Rolling into the final aid station at 79km, I’d stuck to my plan to keep the carbs coming — mixing it up with a Clifbar, worth 40g of carbs and a banana, worth~25g of carbs. There was some fatigue, but all in all, I was feeling pretty good.

This aid station was fully stocked with water, drink mix, fruit, race nutrition, and a load of happy volunteers from the Westpac Rescue Helicopter crew. There was supposed to be live music, but unfortunately, a blown amp stymied the tunes. But not to fear, for there were cinnamon doughnuts.

If you have not already worked out, I am a child inside and love a good, sweet treat. So, of course, I was going to have a doughnut.

There was now a breath of wind on the course — or perhaps we’d been riding thus far with a tailwind, who can say — and it appeared we’d be pushing into it head-on for the remainder of the day.

Leaving the sugary oasis at the Red Range Community Hall, there was a pair of riders with about a 30-40-second gap up the road. Feeling the breeze coming straight towards Dave and I, we pushed on to catch the pair. The plan was to sit in for a bit and then carry on as a quartet so that if the wind picks up more, as the saying goes, more hands make light work.

While it was delicious, the doughnut was not sitting so well when we caught them. When the next gravel sector got a bit rough, our foursome became just a twosome, and Dave and I pushed onward.

Implosion imminent

As the kilometers wore on, I struggled to keep pace with Dave. The rubber band broke on a tarmac climb somewhere around the 100km mark. I kept churning and played leapfrog with a fellow who I’d chatted briefly with at the pub the night prior — I would later learn he was the publisher of Cyclingnews.com in its early days, a publication that I contributed to for years, and played a significant role in where I am today.

Over the last 30 km or so, the course dipped and weaved through sections of gravel, traversing its way back to the Showground.

I eventually caught up to Dave. I saw him walking up a hill, gingerly attempting to jump back on his bike at the top.

“Cramps,” he winced as I pedalled up.

I offered him a gel and waited for him, but he sent me on my way. A few minutes later, the gel clearly kicked in as he came rumbling past. A new man, albeit short-lived, as those rogue fibres in Dave’s hamstring weren’t quite finished with him yet.

I waited for Dave this time; we were in this together. We crested the final climb side by side and it was all downhill from there — literally.

Finish with a beer, a chocolate and a sausage

Bell ringing, live music playing, another lap around the area at the Glen Innes Showground and that was it. Challenge complete, Heaps Normal, Lindt ball and a Sausage with extra onion in hand, finisher pin in my number plate — pull me off the BBQ because I am well cooked.

I knew goodnessgravel was going to be a challenge based on my preparation, but I’ll absolutely be back next year. It was an adventure of the best kind — the scenery was spectacular, and so was the route. It was a test, but squarely in the arena of type 2 fun—never dipping into the, these-corrugations-are-so-big-I’m-going-to-nose-dive-over-the-handlebars, type 3 fun.

The event has also built a fantastic community of riders who keep coming back. Levy tells us 15 folks have done all three editions of the Glen Innes, and rider number nine — remember, you get your number for life — was among the crowd.

My last-minute decision to sign up for goodnessgravel Glen Innes also meant that I was flying solo, but I never felt alone. From other riders who also camped at the Showground stopping by for a chat and a beer to everyone out on course joking around, and the super friendly volunteers, Levy and his crew are onto something special with goodnessgravel.

The next goodnessgravel event heads for Mogo on 20 July 2024.

Photos: Outer Image Collective, Joshua Waugh, Flow MTB

The post A great day in Glen Innes | Can you carb your way through goodnessgravel? appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Taking the place of The Redback mountain bike stage race, Rapid Ascent’s Shimano Gravel Muster is keeping all of the best features of its predecessor. Competitive spirit, camaraderie between racers, and incredible scenery (and probable leg cramps) will see riders through four-days of pure outback riding.  

With stops at secluded cattle stations along the way, the course will make use of 380km of gravel roads around Alice Springs, covering the more isolated areas of the Northern Territory and East MacDonnell Ranges.  

With the new event in sight, Flow got in touch with Event Manager, Sam Maffet, to find out exactly how bikes will meet Central Australian gravel in August.

Related:

• Explore rural NSW with the goodnessgravel event series
• New Shimano GRX 820 12-Speed Review | Boring but brilliant
• Stage Racing For Everyone | The Quad Crown series is back for 2024

Mapping out the new course

The Shimano Gravel Muster came to replace the historic mountain bike stage race, The Redback, after Sam Maffet and his colleagues realised the network of gravel roads around Central Australia. Spreading from Alice Springs to the East MacDonnell Ranges, this complex presented quite the canvas to host a brand-new event.

The decision to make the switch from mountain to gravel was a no-brainer. In the face of such an extensive spread of unpaved roads just waiting to be explored, the team behind the Gravel Muster were excited to merge into something new. 

“More and more bike parks are turning to more flow-style bike trails (and the style of The Redback) is a bit old-school these days,” Maffet says, “… this is an opportunity to roll all of that together, do something different and expand into another gravel event (to) showcase this amazing landscape out East.”

It is no understatement to say this area of Australia is very secluded. Lacking signposts and reception to direct a lost traveler, it is an impressive feat to have mapped such a vast course in the area. 

But Maffet brushed it off as a slight obstacle to contend with in the making of the race. He says they were familiar with the landscape around Central Australia, but had just never explored all the gravel roads it had to offer. 

“We spoke to some locals…who said that they’d be smooth enough to ride on,” Maffet says. “We explored it ourselves and plotted the route.”

And just like that, the course was set for a brand new event.

What sets the Shimano Gravel Muster apart?

The Gravel Muster wears the title of the first gravel stage race in Australia, but its list of wild and wonderful qualities doesn’t stop there. 

Maffet says one of the best things about the race is the strong relationships people will make with others along the way.

“Being in a unique landscape that brings people together, it just becomes a massive shared experience,” Maffet says. “People make a whole bunch of new friends, they compare notes from one day to the next and it just builds a whole other level of camaraderie between competitors.”

The Muster is not just a race, but also a reflection of the amazing environment which thrives in this part of the world. Staying at cattle stations along the way, riders will get an all round idea of both the riding and lifestyle of the outback.

On top of this, The Gravel Muster is an all-inclusive event, where a combination of meals, food, race support and accommodation throughout the week are included in the entry fee (see full accommodation and inclusion plan here). Camping equipment and all other baggage will be transported to the final destination of each day, saving riders from lugging both bags and bikes across the desert. 

All in all, the Gravel Muster is an event for adventurers, by adventurers, and the most you will need to remember to bring is yourself, your bike, and a sturdy pair of legs.

Format of each day

So, how will each day pan out in Aussie Central? Pardon the pun, but racers will be in for a ride.

Each stage will be a progression on the last, incorporating racing and non-racing segments with up to two timed sections included in each day. 

Maffet says the riding is very flat. There are some long, straight sections, riding into a shimmering horizon, and other stages winding around the base of some of the ridgelines, gorges and peaks of the MacDonnell Ranges.”

Rest assured that the ride will not be affected by weather at all. It’s blue-bell skies all week long in the Northern Territory! In August, when the event is held, temperatures will maintain a steady 23º Celsius with the promise of little to no rain.

After each stage of immaculate weather and views, riders will have the chance to set up camp for the night. Presentations will be held, and dinner next to a bonfire will mark the end of a good day in the saddle.

Day 1 | 45km, Simpsons Gap Loop

Day one will include the shortest riding stage, easing competitors into the flow of the race.  

Riders will tackle a loop of 45 km in total, including a racing segment of 17 km, before returning to Alice Springs for the night.

A treat of free beer and snacks will be provided at a pop-up bar to celebrate completing the first hurdle of the event.

Day 2 | 150km, The Gardens Road

Leaving Alice Springs for good this time, The Hale River Cattle Station at Old Ambalindum will be the final destination of day two. The station is by no means a small one and, located at the the centre of the East MacDonnell Ranges, the scenery throughout the ride will be a stunning show of Red Centre’s landscape. 

The course to the station covers a total of 150 km. To break up the stage, there will be two race segments, making up 94 km. 

After dinner at the homestead, it will be time to rest up the legs for the next morning.

Day 3 | 90km, Artlunga Stage

Saying goodbye to the Hale River Homestead, riders will set their sights 90 km away to the Ross River Cattle Station. The station grew out of the original 1890s Loves Creek Homestead and is located at the base of the Ross River Gorge. 

Day three will include another two racing segments, making up 47 km of the 90 km stage.

Day 4 | 95km, The Ringwood Stage

Day 4 is the last hurrah of the 380km-long course. With 285km already completed, only 95km remain. The day will include one racing segment of a whopping 55 km before riders arrive back at Alice Springs. 

After completing a spectacular course, presentations will be held, followed by some much-needed R&R and bed.

What type of rider is The Shimano Gravel Muster for?

The Shimano Gravel Muster is an event for any rider who sets their mind to it. Presenting terrain, which is mostly fast and flat, with some hills around the base of the MacDonnell Ranges, the riding of each stage is achievable for all. 

“It certainly should be approachable for recreational riders who just want a really amazing experience riding and spending time out in Central Australia”, Maffet says. 

E-Bikes are also very welcome and will have their own category in the event. So, if you are nervous about the distance, but still want the experience, there will definitely be room for you.

If fitness is the only thing holding you back, the Rapid Ascent team has even provided training plans to help you prepare for such long days on the bike. Find the training plan here to be ready come August!

Big names at the Shimano Gravel Muster! 

If you have ever wanted to test yourself against the best of the best, this is your chance. Former World Tour pro roadie and all-around legend Richie Porte will be continuing his exploration off-road and is a confirmed rider for the Gravel Muster in August. From racing the World Tour to getting a podium at the Tour de France, Porte will be a great person to ride and chat with over the four-day course.

How to enter the Shimano Gravel Muster

Entries are now open! Head over to the Shimano Gravel Muster website for more info and to put your name down for a gravel race like no other.

The post The Shimano Gravel Muster | Gravel stage racing in the Red Centre appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Designed to be a mini version of large-scale events like Cape to Cape or Port to Port, the Quad Crown will spread its wings around Australia, touching down for four massive events in Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

But with a new year, there are new questions; How will the series remain a stand-out from the average mountain bike competition? What changes have taken place from last year? What new destinations will be in the 2024 schedule?

To answer these, Quad Crown Race Director, Jason Dover, filled Flow in on the layout for a bigger and better series on its way.

What Sets the Quad Crown Apart?

Still touching on the roots of a timed mountain bike race, the Quad Crown has formatted its events so that the race is not so heavily weighted on competing against other riders. Visiting some amazing destinations in Tassie and mainland Australia, the series puts the most emphasis on the destination and a good social atmosphere.

Dover says the places where the events are held are always a great destination to travel to, maybe even uncovering areas people haven’t traditionally gone to to go riding.

“(People will) “be able to ride and have fun,” Dover says. “But also see a beautiful part of the world…and you (don’t) have to take a week off work to go and take part.”

The weekend is riddled with social events to cool down and relax from the rush of long days on the bike. After each stage, a new venue will be on the agenda for an afternoon function, allowing riders to sit back and soak in mountain bike culture at its finest.

Handicap system, Weekend Warriors and the Overall Crown

Entering a race with friends is always good fun and games, but at the end of the day, they are still the people you are competing against for the top step. The Quad Crown team have taken it upon themselves to provide riders with an event in which they don’t have to race against friends, but purely against themselves.

With the addition of prelude stages, Weekend Warriors and a neat handicap system, The Quad Crown has uniquely designed a whole other genre of mountain bike racing into the series.

Introduced last year, the handicap system of the Quad Crown series was a huge success. The general structure of the system is reliant on the Prelude stage on the Friday afternoon; riders will receive a handicap score based on their results from the prelude and their performance over the rest of the weekend will be compared to this score. The rider who has improved the most on, or has maintained a time closest to their initial handicap, will be awarded the position of the Weekend Warrior.

“When we say it’s a race, all they’re doing is really racing against themselves,” Dover says. “Off the prelude they are given a handicap and then the riders that can ride to the best of their ability and closest to their handicap over the next two stages — they’re riding to the Weekend Warrior crown.”

This means that even though a rider may not be the fastest in their field, they will still always be in the running for a podium finish at the end of the day.

“We experimented with (the handicap system) over the first event (of 2024) and refined that system to the point that we’ve got it down-pat now,” says Dover. “It’s a great feature of the event moving forward.”

As the Weekend Warrior is more catered toward the average rider and is up for grabs to anyone in the event, recognition is also given to the riders who have crosed the line in the fastest time, overall.

These hardcore mountain bikers at the pointy end of the field accumulate points from each success, stepping closer to receiving the Overall Crown at the end of the series. A coronation will see successful riders being presented with a physical crown.

Quad Crown racing format

Here we get into the nitty-gritty of the Quad Crown series and how each weekend will run. The format of the 2023 series was a huge triumph. In keeping what has worked best in the past, each race will see a similar layout to last year, with a few tweaks popping up here and there.

Each event in the Quad Series will involve a shorter Prelude stage on the Friday afternoon, and two larger scale stages spread over the Saturday and the Sunday.

“The races all have the same format with the Prelude — which is somewhere between 8 and 10 km — on the Friday afternoon as a bit of a warm up ride,” Dover says. “Riders can get into the town, get (their) bike set up, give it a run, test the local trails and conditions and then go and have a welcome drink after it and meet everyone.”

Stage 1 and Stage 2 are held on Saturday and Sunday morning. Each stage will include a 30-50 km pedal with around 900m worth of climbing. The stages will present riders with a mixture of singletrack and fireroad terrain, but this year, the course designers have made singletrack a much larger part of each circuit.

“We have taken a lot of the long gravel-grind-type-chewing-the-handlebars riding out of it, and put more fun stuff,” says Dover. “I think most of our stages would have over 75% of singletrack in there, (with) a real focus on the fun, flowy, enjoyable side of riding your bike.”

After the stage is finished then it’s onto the social functions, which take riders to a new venue each day for some beers, burgers, and good times.

The Four Quad Crown Destinations for 2024

Now we know the format, let’s talk about the destinations. Venues for the Quad Crown will take riders far and wide, stopping off at some of the most scenic and well-designed mountain biking hubs around mainland Australia and Tasmania.

Let’s get into it, so you can plan the trip while there is still time:

Wild Penguin | Devonport, Tasmania | 8-10 March

When people head to Tassie for riding, usually they will straight line to the likes of Blue Derby, Maydena or St. Helens. But little do many people know, just off Devonport are a pair of mountain bike trail networks like no other, located in Penguin and flowing along the Mersey River.

To kick off the weekend, the Friday afternoon prelude will see riders around a 10km loop of the Penguin Mountain Bike park. After some good old-school singletrack, the stage will finish at the Penguin Brewery for the very necessary welcome function of the event.

Stage 1 on Saturday — a 53 km long wind around the northern end of The Wild Mersey trail network. This stage will include 1060m of elevation, the renowned 10km Raptor Ridge Descent dropped in the middle to provide professionally-built flow to the course.

Sunday’s Stage 2 will then hit the remainder of the Wild Mersey trail network, starting and finishing at the Seven Sheds Brewery in the town of Railton.

Presentations will be held at the brewery, celebrations will ensue, and riders will be looking ahead to the next event on the way.

Related:

• The Wild Penguin kicks off the 2024 Quad Crown series in Tassie
• What’s new at Wild Mersey | The tri-town trail network is finally complete

The Sunny 80 | Sunshine coast, Queensland | 7-9 June

The Sunshine Coast is an amazing tourist attraction for avid beach-goers, but it is made all the better when you can head to the coast with bikes in tow.

The Sunny 80 will be an event to behold, as the Sunshine Coast is set to co-host the Olympic and Paralympic games in 2032. While the construction of the venue for the races is still a little ways off, with the amount trail building and maintenance going on in the area, racers will be in for some Olympic-standard riding over the course of the weekend.

Related:

• Your Order Of Warm Weather Has Been Delivered | The Quad Crown Sunny 80 crowns two new royals on the Sunshine Coast

The event will kick off like the rest — with the Prelude. An 8 km loop is set for the afternoon, featuring trails from the Sugarbag Trail Network on the coast of Caloundra. Closing off the first day with stunning sea views just around the corner, the Prelude will end at the Moffat Beach Brewing Co. for the welcome function.

Stage 1 will see a 35 km loop of the Parklands Trail Complex. Starting and finishing in the Hidden Valley at Nambour, the course cuts between singletrack and fireroad for an exciting mixture of both.

The Sunny 80 will then bring a twist into the usual style of the Quad Crown events. Taking place 20 minutes east of the Sunshine Coast at Ewen Maddock Dam, Stage 2 will be split into two. The first part will be a 10 km special stage about Ferney Forest, which Dover claims is one of the more beautiful places you could ride.

Stage 2 will then restart from the Country Club up to Dularcha National Park, flowing into Ewen Maddock trail complex to finish at the banks of the Dam.

The Orca | Eden, New South Wales | 6-8 September

Located on the Sapphire Coast in New South Wales, The Orca will take riders around the trails at Gravity Eden and Tathra. With trails designed and built by the people responsible for producing the amazing mountain biking found at Derby, Smithfield and Mount Buller, Eden was built by some of the best.

On Friday, the Prelude will start at the main Eden Trail Hub, leading riders into 10-12 km of trails, new as of 2023, finishing off with the welcome function at Hotel Australasia.

Stage 1 on Saturday involves a 35 km pedal with 900 m of elevation around Tathra. Starting and finishing at the Tathra Hotel, amazing views of Australia’s eastern coastline will prove an irresistible distraction throughout the day.

Related:

• Welcome to Eden | Quad Crown The Orca gives riders an exclusive first ride of new Eden trails
• Welcome to Paradise | Exploring Gravity Eden

Sunday’s Stage 2 presents a different route from last year, following some comments on the brutal start climb in 2023. Course designers have been hard at work to make improvements, and the initial uphill slog has been removed. The stage will now start and finish at Hotel Australasia on the main street of Eden and will still be a challenging one, presenting racers with a 40-50 km ride with 900 m of elevation in total.

The Big O | Omeo, Victoria | 8-10 November

A new addition to the series in 2024, Omeo will provide a race along the renowned Great Alpine Road in Victoria. Nestled in the mountains, there is no shortage of elevation to provide for some exciting coursework.

Omeo was meant to come into the Quad Crown picture in 2023, but due to delays in trail building, it was forced to step down. This year, however, it is back, presenting a completed network of flowy and rugged trails to explore.

The Friday will begin the event with the Prelude stage, kicking off in Dinner Plain. The course is set for a 10 km circuit of the surrounding trails, finishing with a welcome function at a to-be-announced venue.

When Stage 1 rolls around, riders will warm the legs with an initial climb up Mount Sam. A 500m descent between Mount Sam to Mount Mesley will then lead folks back to Livingstone Park for the afternoon social event.

Stage 2 will take place at Mount Mesley, beginning with a climb out of Livingstone Park towards the brand-new trails in the area. Stage 2 will be a day of mountain biking at its finest, with the vast majority of the course trailing through freshly laid single track.

The Black Pearl | Newcastle & Lake MacQuarie | 7-9 March, 2025

The Black Pearl was called up to the big leagues last year when Omeo was forced to back out of the series. The event, pieced together in record-breaking time, was such a hit that if it was taken off the schedule, there would be uproar.

To avoid a lot of disappointment and a hoard of emails, The Black Pearl has been released at the same time as this year’s schedule, but as the first event of the Quad Series in 2025.

“It was such a good event… so many people in the Australian mountain biking scene were glad to see us back in Newcastle (that) we wanted to commit to the fact that the event wasn’t just disappearing 12 months later,” Dover says. “So that’s why we have included (Newcastle) as the first event for 2025, just so people still know it’s coming.”

Related:

• The Black Pearl finds treasure in Newcastle for the Quad Crown finale

The Black Pearl 2025 will be similar to its 2023 predecessor, beginning with a 10 km Prelude Loop around the Glenrock trails. Following its way around the classics, trails like Twisties, Double Barrel, Seismic and Snakes and Ladders will all be on the agenda for Friday afternoon.

Stage 1 will then start and finish at the Awaba Mountain Bike Park on Saturday. The course will take riders along Polly Waffle, Skids for Kids, Tunnel of Love and The Faulk Line.

A range of different trail networks around Newcastle will then be explored in Stage 2. The course will flow from Whitebridge, to Red Head, to Fernleigh, then Glenrock, starting and finishing at the Royal Crown Hotel in Dudley.

Even though the event in Newcastle has already been confirmed for 2025, the full Quad Crown schedule for next year has not been released yet. Dover did, however, hint that some new destinations may be coming into the picture next season.

“We have had a couple of tourism regions and new trail building happening around Australia where people have been in contact and suggested going to their destination next,” Dover says. “So we’ll keep all that in mind as we develop the 2o25 schedule.”

With an exciting schedule set for 2024 and the lineup of destinations and trails, this year’s series is looking just as sparkly as the crowns will at the end of the four events.

What type of Rider is the Quad Crown for?

The Quad Crown is a race styled to present a challenge, and a good time. The designs of the handicapping system and the Weekend Warrior mean the event is not focused so much on how quickly you (or elite riders) can complete the event, but on personal improvement on the bike and having fun while doing it. Meaning you do not have to be the ‘best of the best’ to register.

“The way that we are designing the courses and the fact that it’s two stages over the weekend with a Prelude stage on Friday… it’s meant to be accessible for the average rider,” Dover says. “We try to maximise singletrack and the fun side of riding rather than making them long slogs like the XC stages you see at the Cape to Cape and that type of event.”

The Quad Crown also allows for riders to register for only one day of the event, so if two big days on the bike sounds like too much, there is the option to do a little less riding, but still be part of the great race environment.

For more info or to grab your spot, head over to the Quad Crown website.

The post Stage Racing For Everyone | The Quad Crown series is back for 2024 appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

But Nationals isn’t just for elites, and there are race categories for us mere mortals ranging from U17 all the way up to Masters. Don’t get us wrong, this is still racing, and the folks signed up for the amateur categories are still out there to give it their all, but you don’t have to be competing for a pro contract to front up for a race with a Nationals Jersey on the line.

Here are a handful of folks who have signed on to compete in the 2024 GWM MTB Mountain Bike National Champs, courtesy of the Hunter Mountain Bike Association.

Related:

• National champs in Awaba is nearly here | Here’s what you can expect
• Flow Destination Hub | Awaba, NSW
• New trails at Awaba, NSW have received the tick of approval ahead of AusCycling National Champs

Paul Verkuylen

Stats:

• Age: 45
• Discipline: XC – Master 4

It’s been a few years since Paul lined up at Nationals, with his last birth at Majura Pines, back when 26in was THE wheel size, disc brakes were just for downhillers. Being a local, it was the fact that the big show was headed for Awaba that gave him the motivation to sign up and get fighting fit.

As a member of the Hunter Mountain Bike Association, he’s excited to see the legacy Nationals will leave, helping to grow the Club and the difference it will make for the local riding and racing scene.

His picks for riders to watch are Olivia Hicks — more on her below — who will be tearing up the U17 DH. On the XC side, Paul says he’s excited to see Archie Gibson and Amaya Shaw chase some green and gold stripes and thinks Chris Aitken is in for a shot in the elites.

Harper Nelmes

Stats:

• Age: 14
• Discipline: DH JM17

Another local shredder, Harper, tells the Hunter Mountain Bike Association that he’s most excited to race in his hometown and in front of the family and friends who support him.

Having a few laps down Monkey already under his belt doesn’t hurt either. He says it’s quite a buzz for the locals to have this venue they ride every weekend that can challenge some of the world’s best — and a strong cohort in the area who want to test themselves against these high-calibre riders.

Harper expects the racing will be fast, and he says local knowledge will likely be a deciding factor. If he were a betting man, his money would be on Jack Moir, Luke Meier-Smith or Josh Arcus in Elite Men’s and Ellie Smith in Elite Women’s downhill.

Hank Duchateau

Stats:

• Age: 75 years young
• Discipline: Adaptive

Hank is flying the flag for the adaptive riders. He says he’s most excited to promote Adaptive MTB on the national stage, and this part of the event as part of the main national run sheet.

He is stoked to see the Hunter Mountain Bike Association put its hand up to running the event, knowing all the work that goes into it. The adaptive riders will be getting their own XC and Downhill courses for 2024, and Hank says with the right build, there could be some proper black diamond singletrack.

He’s also aiming for his fourth nationals jersey but says there are some speedy younger adaptive riders hot on his tail, along with Glen Clark from the Maclay Valley Mountain Bikers in Kempsey.

Olivia Hicks

Stats:

• Age: 14
• Discipline: Downhill

Young shredder Liv Hicks will be lighting up Monkey come March 16 and says she is most looking forward to being at the same event as the top riders in the nation and in her U17 age group. Lining up for her first National Champs event, it’s a bit more special that it’s on her home trails and put on by the local mountain bike club.

Knowing her way around Monkey, she’s expecting a fun, speedy and techy course, and says to have Katarina Carlsson and Beccy Sams on your radar for podiums, as they are particularly swift.

Amaya Shaw

Stats:

• Age: 14
• Discipline: XC

Just like Liv, Amaya will be racing her first Nationals at Awaba. She tells the Hunter Mountain Bike Association that it feels like home, and she’s most looking forward to showing riders from around Australia what they have in the Hunter.

With a strong contingent from the area, she expects that local riders will be competitive in the Elite and Junior categories, and her hot tip for folks coming to Awaba is to “Send it and enjoy the ride.”

Caleb Agostino-Morrow

Stats:

• Age: 24
• Discipline: XC

You may recognise Caleb from our recent adventure in Kempsey, but come March 17, he’ll be donning his stretchiest pants and a much smaller bike to mix it up in the XC.

Having put in a solid training block ahead of the big show, he is excited to test himself against the best riders Australia has to offer, and it will also be a relief after all of the build-up. With the race being local, he says it will be a real treat to not travel far and wide to the start line and for friends and family to be able to come in support.

Not knowing what the Club has cooked up for a course — despite his best efforts — he says that folks should be well practised riding skatey flat corners.

Tim Cox

Stats:

• Age: 44
• Discipline: Downhill – Masters 4

Tim wanted to let the out-of-town riders know that the Monkey does, in fact, bite if you’re not aggressive, and also mused that a bit of rain for race day would be the spice of life.

He tells the Hunter Mountain Bike Association he’s looking forward to seeing riders old and new having a crack at the infamous DH at Awaba. He’s also looking forward to showing off the top-notch venue they have here in the Hunter and the local talent that has developed because of it. As a knock-on of the spotlight being shone on Awaba, it will help to grow the park and continue to improve the infrastructure to help younger riders grow.

The 2024 GWM MTB Mountain Bike National Championships are set to run at Awaba from March 12-17. Entries are open now and selling fast. Head over to the AusCycling website for more info and to grab your spot. 

Photos: Hunter Mountain Bike Association, Flow MTB

The post Who to look out for at Mountain Bike Nationals | 7 local riders who will be tearing it up at Awaba appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Yes, this is the chance for you to relive your glory days and fight for a rainbow jersey at the same venue where Nino Schurter, Loic Bruni, Jolanda Neff and Miranda Miller earned a fancy multi-colour jumper, along with Thomas Frischknecht (after Jérôme Chiotti was popped for EPO) Nicolas Vouilloz, Alison Sydor and Anne-Caroline Chausson earned their rainbow bands.

Set to run May 16-19, riders from representing ten countries have already signed up. Local legends like Michael Ronning, Mal Dalton, and Miles Davis will be donning a number plate. AusCycling Mountain Bike Events Operation Manager Ian Harwood says USA’s Lee McCormack is signed up for the DH, and Spain’s Tomi Misser is signed up for both XC and Downhill.

Related:

• National champs in Awaba is nearly here | Here’s what you can expect
• Sunshine and massive orange jumps | Crankworx lands in Cairns this May
• Flow’s Ride Guide | Smithfield, Home of Crankworx Cairns

Who can enter the UCI Masters MTB World Champs?

Just like US Presidents, you must be at least 35 years old to compete in the Master’s World Champs, with the age categories split into five-year increments.

But this isn’t just for those spry chickens on the edges of middle age. Harwood tells us there is one rider in the 80-84 XC, and three in the 70-74 year old downhill — what legends!

Worlds Downhill in all of its glory

Cairns has had a difficult wet season, and Smithfield has received quite a beat down. The Cairns Mountain Bike Club and local trail-building outfits have been hard at work getting the network back up and running where needed.

“After the flooding events, there was significant damage to the shuttle road, but the actual (Worlds Downhill) course itself was fine. Glen Jacobs and Ryan De La Rue and those boys hike a biked up the shuttle road to get up there over these landslides and down trees and whatnot. But then they could do a top-to-bottom run of the Downhill,” Harwood tells Flow.

Following the exact alignment as it always has, it will no doubt offer some nostalgia for the select riders who have raced Worlds here in their younger days. That said, they are giving it a bit of a freshen-up — it is going to be hit pretty hard over the space of a fortnight — and, being a Masters event, will be reinstating some of the B-Lines.

The main event takes place on Saturday, with seeding through midday and finals in the afternoon.

For training and seeding, riders will be split into A and B groups so that everyone isn’t all trying to get on the bus at once. Harwood also notes that riders planning to race both disciplines will be put in practice slots that allow them to take advantage of time on both courses.

Classic Cairns course for XC

The XC course is also getting a bit of a touch-up and will be reminiscent of the 2017 Worlds Course. Harwood tells us they will hit the quintessential Cairns elements that remain in the network.

“The main difference is that first initial climb up Cadel’s which takes you up to the water tank. In the 2017 Worlds course, there was another pinchy climb that takes you up along the ridge where you can see the eastern seaboard and the islands — we’ve taken that bit out,” says Harwood.

From the water tank, the course drops back down to Centipede — where Jacob’s Ladder used to be, which has now been taken over by slopestyle — and back towards the village.

“Then you’ll do a section which wasn’t part of the ‘17 course, but it was in the 2014 World Cup and ’96 World Champs, with some of the fingers — the Wobbegong fingers that go back up the hill after crossing underneath the downhill,” says Harwood.

The course then heads for a loop of Greenfields and back to the traditional start finish.

According to Harwood, there are lots of previous Masters World Champs coming in from Europe and South America, particularly on the XC side. They’re not exceptionally well-known riders but have come to defend their title and will likely have some firepower to boot.

The atmosphere

While the crux of the weekend is of course the racing, it will be great spectating as you will be able to see riders you grew up watching putting on a masterclass in their craft.

Masters World Champs will also have a full gear expo, with some of the exhibitors setting up shop for both this event and Crankworx.

“We’ve also got a few groups like NS Dynamics that are coming up just for the masses as a (suspension) service technician,” Harwood says. “There will be merch being sold, bar and food outlets and a bunch of other things happening,” he says

How do you enter the UCI Masters MTB World Champs?

This is your chance for glory! Just picture it, standing on the podium with a rainbow-striped jumper — a real one, not that cheapo you bought on eBay. Entries are open now over on the UCI MTB Masters Worlds site, and will close the week of the event.

The post A Chance For Glory | UCI Masters MTB World Champs is headed for Cairns appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Coming in hot, this event is set to take place on the 8-10 of March in one of the hidden treasures of Tasmanian mountain bike destinations; the Wild Mersey and Penguin trail network.

With stages only 30 minutes west of Davenport, the event is full of courses to take racers far and wide, and social events to keep the atmosphere lively, on and off the trails.

To get some insight into the first event of the series, Flow caught up with Course Director, Quad Crown Designer and Stage Creator, Liam McGuire, to get an overview of the stages and how the Wild Penguin event will set the sights high for the remaining destinations in the series.

Check out last year’s Wild Pengiun below

• Smiles all around | The Quad Crown Series kicks off with The Wild Penguin

The Prelude | A fast beginning to the weekend

Beginning the event, the course directors have riders’ best interests at heart — expecting racers to travel long distances with packed bikes and bags, only to be thrown headlong into massive stages over the weekend, is not how the Wild Penguin event rolls. So, to kickstart a big weekend of riding and racing, the Friday afternoon Prelude will be held in the seaside town of Penguin, just a 20-minute drive from Davenport West.

“It’s designed to be a half-an-hour head-out where people who have travelled (get the) chance to stretch their legs a little, but also check if there are any bike issues which need attending to”, says McGuire.

From a self-seeded start, riders will roll out into a swift 9.8km loop of singletrack at the Penguin Mountain Bike Park. The course includes flat and fast sections of trail, also sampling some of the descent from the Iron Tor loop — a trail which McGuire praises as being on the same level as descents found at St. Helens or Derby.

“The Iron Tor loop was built by Next Level Mountain Bike who are the same people who are building the new Mogo trails (in New South Wales)”, McGuire says. “It is one of the best descents I have ever ridden.”

Littered with fast sections of trail and countless, spectacular berms, the descent will spill out onto the Montgomery Loop to lead riders back to the finish line.

While riders can take the prelude as a warm-up lap before the weekend, times will be used to seed folks for the next day and will be added onto the racer’s overall result. The prelude also sets your handicap in the competition to take the overall position of Wild Penguin Weekend Warrior — more on this later.

Stage 1 | Riding Raptor Ridge | 53km

Saturday houses the biggest stage of the event; a 53km pedal through the Wild Mersey trail network. Similar to last year’s course, the stage will begin just 10 minutes from Davenport in a place called Warrawee in Latrobe.

From a quaint country town, Latrobe turns into a bustling mountain bike haven as riders push off at 9am to tackle the first stage of the weekend. Racers are led through the town of Railton, feeding their way into the Wild Mersey wilderness, then onto the highlight of the stage — the 10km Raptor course.

This trail leads its way up and over Raptor Ridge, where stunning views and even better mountain biking will be on the cards. Tackling a 5km climb through switchbacks up Raptor Ridge, this section of the stage will get the blood pumping. Thankfully, what goes up must come down, and folks will definitely have earned their turns as they begin the descent from Raptor Ridge.

“(The way down is) via a track called the Railton Express which is about 15 km of really flowy, nice singletrack which basically takes you back to the finish,” McGuire says.

With a heap of singletrack to offer, along with flat, steep and fast sections, Stage 1 provides riders with a blast of adrenaline and speed to start the weekend on a high.

Stage 2 | A totally different side of Wild Mersey | 37km

On Sunday, Stage 2 will see competitors tackle 37km of singletrack and trails through Wild Mersey bushland.

The first section of Stage 2 has changed from last year — instead of beginning with a technical climb, riders will kick-off the stage in the epicentre of Railton, on a road just off the main street. Then it’s onto a track called the Railton Rattler, traversing through a range of picturesque countryside, following a nice gradient through the hills.

“We changed Stage 2 a little bit responding to feedback about the start being too difficult,” McGuire says. “Last year it had a big climb at the start, so we’ve changed it this year and it’s going to be a lot more fun.”

From the Rattler, the stage leads riders into the Sheffield end of the trail network. Different from the Wild Penguin event in 2023, the trail will drop racers out at about the halfway point of where riders joined it last year. Here, they’ll be presented with a completely new section of the Wild Mersey Mountain Bike Park.

“The tracks we’ve ridden on Saturday aren’t involved in Sunday’s stage,” says McGuire. “It’s a whole different set of tracks.”

McGuire says that it is a great way to truly experience the whole destination where the event is held, as you will be taken far and wide around the region during each stage.

After completing the new loop around the Southern section of the network, racers will ride back along the Railton Rattler for 8km of flat and downhill riding into Railton to finish and celebrate where they began.

The handicapping system and the Weekend Warrior

The Wild Penguin event will have podiums and prizes for each category, but high praise will also be given to the Weekend Warrior. The Weekend Warrior is not necessarily the fastest rider in their category, but is the rider who has shown that they have had a solid performance across the whole weekend.

Through the event’s handicapping system, a racer’s personal improvement and consistency throughout the event can shine through, putting them in the running for the Warrior Crown. A rider’s average speed is calculated from the Prelude as a baseline of their performance and will be compared to how they fare over the next few days of racing.

“We’re trying to reward the rider that typifies the kind of rider we (want) to attract to the event,” says McGuire. “It makes it not all about the elite riders and the fastest in categories. It’s the person who turns up and has a great event. If (someone) has a good event, no mechanicals, no crashes, we can pick someone out of that bunch and reward them for that.”

Social events throughout the weekend

With categories like the Weekend Warrior and the mini-stage race format, the Wild Penguin is not like other races… but it still has more to offer. The Wild Penguin event will not only take riders for a tour on the trails around the area, but also the fantastic breweries and venues to be found there, too.

After Friday’s Prelude, racers will roll down to the Penguin Brewery for the Welcome Function, which is conveniently close to the finish line of the Penguin Prelude Loop. It’s a great way to get to know other riders and have a good time off the bike, as well as on… most likely with a beer in your hand.

Saturday will then house a big afternoon function after Stage 1. Being held later in the afternoon than last year, folks will have time to get some lunch, have a swim in the ocean or do a bit of sight-seeing, and then come back and be part of the festivities at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

Finally, after the race on Sunday, riders will be stepping off their bikes just off the main road of Railton, right next to the Seven Sheds Brewery. This fermentation palace has a great location in the centre of town and is where the presentations will be held. Riders will have time to have a few drinks and lunch at the venue before the presentations begin at 1 o’clock, closing off a great weekend of bikes in the best way possible.

How to enter

Registrations are now live on the Quad Crown website, so head over to learn more and get in the running for Weekend Warrior at the Wild Penguin event!

The post The Wild Penguin kicks off the 2024 Quad Crown series in Tassie appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

The Hunter Mountain Bike Association has been hard at work primping and prepping the trail network for the nation’s best riders, and also have a few new additions up their sleeve. And with junior, masters and expert categories, Nationals at Awaba isn’t just for the elites.

Related:

• New trails at Awaba, NSW have received the tick of approval ahead of AusCycling National Champs

With so much packed into five days of racing, we caught up with AusCycling Mountain Bike Events Operation Manager Ian Harwood to find out what’s in store for this year’s National Championships.

XC whippets assemble

With pretty much every category bar XC Marathon taking place at Awaba, there is plenty of racing on tap for the speedy climbers to get amped about.

Despite our prodding, Harwood told Flow that the course would not be released until practice starts on Wednesday, March 13, in an effort to keep it fair so that nobody can go out and start picking their lines now. The race itself will close out the weekend on Sunday, March 17.

He did share that the lap would be 5.1km, with 107m of climbing. The elevation profile shows there are three significant climbs, with the second being the largest, and a few little pinches to get the lungs burning.

“We’ll also be using some of the new trails the club has been busy cutting,” says Harwood.

“There is also going to be a really interesting start loop, where they’ll go from the start line and actually run straight through the expo space — so it will be like, ‘hello, everyone, stand back.’ It will be great for the spectators,” he says.

Harwood says the entries are still rolling in, but he expects quite a few folks will leave it to the last minute. But of the entries so far, Bec Henderson will be back to try for her eleventh national champs, but it won’t be easy. Zoe Cuthbert stepped up from U23 to elites this year, and Peta Mullens is an ever-present threat in the tape. Jared Graves will throw his hat in the ring on the Men’s side, with Scott Bowden and Chris Aitken vying for the jersey.

Harwood was equally cagey about the route for the XCC, which will run on March 15. He noted that it would be a super punchy loop, complete with the spectator-friendly start loop.

E-Bikes are racing at Awaba too

E-Bike Nationals is an e-XC and is set to run on Thursday, March 14. Harwood says it’s going to be very similar to the XCO course that is still under wraps.

“It may end up with a couple of little power climb additions, but it is basically the same course,” he says.

As for the XCR (XC Relay), it’s not an event that’s really raced outside of National Championships and World Champs. Making this a bit more confusing, even if you’re on the team that wins at Awaba, you aren’t guaranteed a spot in the XCR at Worlds in Andorra — because the relay team will be made of folks who make the selection for the World Champs team.

Harwood says they are still working on the course as he has a personal goal to sharpen this category up and make it more exciting both for the people racing and the spectators.

“Rather than make it the full XC course, I’m pushing to use the XCC route and make it short and sharp. But, (given it’s one of the first events, scheduled for March 14) the commissars really like it as a way of gauging lap times, so there is a practical use for it,” he says.

Leaving a legacy for adaptive riders

The big news for the 2024 National Champs is that adaptive riders will have the chance to earn a green and gold jersey in both the downhill on March 13 and XC on March 14 on their own course.

“Both the XC and Downhill will have their own adaptive track,” says Harwood. “A big part of the legacy of us going there (to Awaba) is we’re contributing to the club to help with their trail building. A lot of that is going towards adaptive trails, and the legacy of this is that there is going to be heaps of adaptive riding at Awaba,” says Harwood.

Pump Track

With the Pump Track National Champs on the calendar for March 13, there is a notable absence of a pump track at Awaba.

Fortunately, the Lake Macquarie Council opened a new pump track, designed and constructed by Velo Solutions, mid-last year.

“It’s literally overlooking Redhead Beach and the surf club. It’s a really tight short track, so the racing is going to be really close,” says Harwood.

By all accounts, since it’s open, the pump track is teaming with bikes, kids on scooters and parents on hybrids enjoying the idyllic spot near the beach. And to capitalise on the fact that it’s pumping every day even when there is not a National Champs jersey up for grabs, AusCycling is putting on a DJ and activations from event partners to keep spectators engaged.

Downhill

Monkey is one of the most storied downhills in the country. It’s where riders like Jack Moir learned their chops and has pushed some of the best gravity riders in Australia to their limit over the years. And on Saturday, March 17, it will be back in all its glory, this time with a green and gold jersey on the line.

“I was talking with the Track Coordinator, and he has some interesting ideas on where the tape will go. So it will be taped a little bit creatively, but it’s effectively the main track. The club has been doing a lot of work on it, and it’s looking really good,” he says.

Harwood tells us that the elite men’s downhill will be a star-studded affair with basically every big-name rider signed up to race, including Troy Brosnan, Luke Meyer-Smith and Connor Fearon. In the women’s field, Sian A’Hern, Ellie Smith and newly signed Scott Factory shredder Sacha Mills will all be fronting up to race.

Getting to Awaba

Situated in the Lake Macquarie Hinterland, Awaba Mountain Bike Park is a 90 minute drive from Sydney and 50 minutes on the road from Newcastle.

Newcastle is the closest airport, with daily flights to and from Adelaide, Ballina/Byron, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Cobar, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Sunshine Coast, Sydney and the Whitsundays Coast and there are rental cars available.

How do you enter?

With the event closing quickly, entries are open and will close on Wednesday, March 7. Entries are filling fast, so if giddy up, head over to the AusCycling website for more info.

Photos: Matt Rousu / AusCycling, Flow MTB

The post National champs in Awaba is nearly here | Here’s what you can expect appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

But the question remained, was it going to work? This was the first time in the decade of Hardline that it had been anywhere except Dyfi Bike Park in Wales. Could the 800m vertical drop of Abbotts Peak live up to the legacy that had been built in the UK? Could the broadcast work in the deep, dark jungle, and would the weather play ball?

Watch Brook Macdonald’s Race Run, Shot On GoPro

As it turned out, the steady hands behind Dirt Art and Maydena pulled together a winner, and the drama of downhill racing rang through — along with some unthinkably big jumps. The women finally got their day at Hardline, with Gracey Hemstreet being the first female rider to complete a race run and making it to the final alongside Louise-Anna Ferguson.

For the men, it seemed like Bernard Kerr had all but locked up a win in Maydena, especially after Jackson Goldstone’s big crash through one of the tech sections. But in the end, it was Ronan Dunne who would earn that top spot on the podium, managing to find two seconds over Kerr by the time he crossed under the final Redbull archway.

There was so much action on and off the course, and fortunately, we had Kristina Vackova on the ground to capture it all.

The post Big air, big crowds and big scenery | Red Bull Hardline Maydena through the lens of Kristina Vackova appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Scheduled for 12-17 February, this year’s Cannonball MTB Festival, presented by Boost Mobile, will double as Round 2 of the AusCycling DH National Series.

With $130,000 AUD in cash and prizes and some of the best gravity trails in the country, there is sure to be a stacked field. International riders Jackson Goldstone, Nina Hoffman, Steve Peat, Amaury Pierrion, Myriam Nicole, Dylan Maples, Vali Hoell and Kasper Wooley will be making appearances alongside local legends like Jack Moir, Troy Brosnan, Connor Fearon, both A’Herns and the Meier-Smith Brothers, Caroline Buchannan and more. This is going to be one star-studded festival!

Cannonball is always a hoot whether you’re racing or spectating, here’s what you can expect from the week.

Related:

• Flow Destination Hub | Thredbo, NSW
• Pinned With Polygon | Getting Loose at Cannonball with the Polygon Crew

Dual Slalom and Nationals DH

In addition to the returning classics, new for 2024 is the Maxxis Dual Slalom. Scheduled to run on Friday, riders will be pit against one another on a brand-new course feeding into Friday Flat.

“We are throwing it back old school for the Maxxis Dual Slalom and like to think of it more of a “grass drift slalom”. Taking a laid-back approach to the course build, the course utilises the Friday Flat natural amphitheatre and will feature off-camber grass turns top to bottom! The event will have a heavy emphasis on “foot out, flat out”. The course will be as far from a descending pump track that you see at Crankworx or Sea Otter as you can get. The course and gates will be designed and installed by our team here in Thredbo and will be about 300m long with around 10-15 turns. We are hoping for some ruts to form with plenty of thrills and spills to be had,” says Thredbo MTB Business & Mountain Events Manager, Tim Windshuttle.

Qualifying will take place on Friday morning, with the fastest folks this side of Cooma to set off in the afternoon for some head-to-head racing action.

Last year, Cannonball hosted the Aus Cycling National Champs — including XC. While the venue for 2024 has been moved to Awaba, Cannonball has still snagged the duties for the second round of the AusCycling National Series.

The festival’s namesake, the Cannonball Downhill, will again be the venue for the Oakley Australian Open Downhill. The course for 2024 will include the upper fire road, meaning riders will have hit warp speed by the time they hit the jumps and the first rock garden.

Windshuttle also tells Flow that a lot of sections of trail used for the event, including the Cannonball DH, will be refurbished prior to the festival.

“Last year we saw some huge changes to the Cannonball DH and 2024 will be no different, with some slight changes making the fastest DH track in Aus even faster,” he says.

The Oakley Australian Open Downhill also boasts the biggest payday in Australian DH history.

Spots are selling quickly, and at the time of writing the U17 Men’s field already has a waitlist. Windshuttle tells us the other categories are also nearly full!

Can’t go wrong with the Cannonball classics

Of course, the accolade that everyone is chasing is to be crowned the King and Queen of Cannonball, where the riders who perform the best across the five open events are coronated as gravity royalty. Points are awarded based on where you finish in each event, and the riders with the highest score at the end of the week will score that sweet new headgear. However, there has been a slight tweak to the format of this overall competition, and it’s no longer mandatory for riders to compete in all the events to be eligible for the titles. Riders can pick and choose the events they want to do, with their results adding up towards their overall points tally.

The festival kicks off with the Osprey All-Mountain Assault, which pits racers against a 6km enduro-style track. Starting at the top of the Gunbarrell Express, the course sends folks down the All-Mountain Trail. While it’s mostly downhill, there are some sneaky pinch climbs that will sap the energy out of your legs if you get stuck in the 10T.

Wednesday and Thursday, the main event up on the hill is the Fox Flow Motion Cup. While it’s a simple race to the bottom of the 5km Kosciuszko Flow Trail, this blue-rated flowy descent is anything but a leisurely cruise through the snow gums. At race pace, trying to extract free speed from the berms and rolling traverses will require an intimate knowledge of kinetic energy and a bit of fitness to boot.

The event will be split into two groups, with Pro Men and Women, U19 Men and Women, and U17, Amatuer, and Masters 30+ Men in Group A racing on Wednesday. The remainder of the racing categories are in Group B and will race on Thursday.

On Thursday evening, the focus will shift down to the Village Green for the RockShox Pump Track Challenge finals under the lights. The dirt pump track is a masterpiece of trail sculpting, and it’s a pearler of a time whether you’re inside the barriers or watching on with a cold beverage.

Friday and Saturday, see the Dual Slalom and Cannonball DH, with the Deity Whip Wars to close out the week.

A crowd favourite, Whip Wars is an invite-only event where the steeziest riders in town get as close to 90º as possible on the super booter in the event village.

It’s not just about the racing; bring on the party vibes

With some of the biggest name riders donning number plates, the spectating (read: heckling) is sure to be top-notch, and there is still a tonne of terrain that is still open to the public each day. So even if you’re not racing bring your bike and send a few laps between the action.

With such a start-studded cast, Cannonball will be hosting a meet and greet and poster signing with the pros on Wednesday, February 14, at 5pm.

There’s also a gear show with Boost Mobile, Oakley, Fox, SRAM, Rockshox, Deity, Crankbrothers, Maxxis, Norco, Osprey, Stans, Krush, Gorpo & Balter showing off new gear, running demos and product giveaways all week. We’ve even heard whispers that there may be some brand-new bikes that will be launching at the event.

The resort hosts live music at The Alpine Bar with a lineup of local DJs spinning sets daily, with The Terrys presented by Balter Brewers on Saturday night. Fresh off a regional Australian Tour, the South Coast quintet will be blasting surf rock tunes to cap off an epic week of racing.

The concert is free and open to all ages.

For those who want to keep the party going and need to unleash some moves that haven’t already graced the dance floor, the good times keep on rolling into Keller Bar for the official after-party.

Registration for Cannonball is open now and entries are limited. Single-event and multi-event entries are available, and spaces are selling quick smart.

Photos: Nick Waygood / Thredbo

The post Cannonball Turns 10 | Thredbo’s iconic MTB Fest has big plans to celebrate a decade appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

For the first time in its decade-long history, Red Bull Hardline is leaving home and heading for Tasmania. The world’s fastest downhillers will land in Maydena Bike Park — or rather fly above — with a purpose-built course under construction as we speak. 

But it’s not just about the elite riders, as the Bike Park is using Hardline as a springboard to relaunch Gravity Fest, a week-long mountain bike festival running from February 20-25, 2024 — this is the week after Cannonball MTB Fest in Thredbo, road trip anyone?

Related:

• Flow Destination Hub | Maydena, Tas
• Best Mountain Bike Trails in Tasmania | Where to Ride on the Apple Isle

What is Red Bull Hardline, and how did Maydena get the hosting gig?

Dyfi Bike Park in Wales has hosted Red Bull Hardline for ten years, and Maydena will be the first time the event has been run anywhere else. It’s been called the hardest downhill for the bravest riders in the world and combines a race against the clock with drops, jumps and gaps that would Humpty Dumpty-fy a mere mortal.

“I love watching something like Rampage or the Crankworx Slopestyle events, but it’s kind of hard to wrap your head around the level of the tricks that the athletes are doing now. It feels so far removed from what us ordinary people do on a mountain bike ride. The cool thing about Hardline is at the end of the day it’s a race, and that’s something that has a lot more relevance to the general mountain bike population — it’s a bit easier to understand,” says Maydena and Dirt Art head Simon French.

Coming off the back of hosting one of two Aussie stops of the Enduro World Cup, French tells Flow that he had been in talks with Red Bull for some time about Hardline. 

“I’m not even sure it was raised by one side specifically. It came up in discussion, and we all agreed it was something worth having a look at, but we didn’t really ever think it would come to fruition. A few months after that, it all started getting a little more serious, and then we had a few different site visits from Red Bull and their broadcast team. And then it was on,” says French. 

In the UK at Dyfi Bike Park, Dan Atherton is the driving force behind the design and construction of the course, however for the Maydena event, Dirt Art has the reigns.

“We’re designing it (the course). Dan isn’t actually coming down, but Gee (Atherton) and some of his construction team will be here to have a bit of a look at the course and see if they have any input,” French tells Flow. 

Tell us about the Hardline Maydena course

According to French, with the topography of Abbotts Peak, the course has to run on the eastern side of the bike park, essentially riders’ right of everything except for the wilderness trail. It will be a completely new trail, though it will interface with a some of the existing singletrack, and jump over the top of others on the way down. 

“There is really only one area on the hill at Maydena that works for that type of course that has the elevation and can sustain the gradient all the way through,” says French. “It’s really just placing those final big features, but it’s very much a Maydena course.”

The course covers 550m of vertical drop and starts up near Zen Master — formerly known as Zen Garden. Up there, the forest is open, and there are dramatic views of Mount Field National Park. 

Hardline gained a fandom not just through the unique format but also the scale of the features the riders need to survive on the way down. According to French one of the key things they need to match is that scale, however they aren’t trying to plonk the Dyfi Hardline course on top of Maydena. 

“It’s quite a bit longer than the National Downhill, for example; it’s (the Hardline course) an additional 150m of elevation. But we’re working to bring the race time into pretty similar to what Nationals were — so mid-three-minutes,” French says. 

“It’s definitely going to look different, but the way a lot of the features flow are actually pretty similar to Hardline UK where you have steep rocky terrain at the top. Then through the middle of the course, it’s quite fast-paced and there are severe jumps and things like that. And then the big big stuff down the bottom is quite similar to the UK like the quintessentially Hardline features, like the stupidly big road gap,” says French. 

As it stands, the current deal is for Hardline to run at Maydena for a minimum of three years — though talks are already underway to extend that — the course will be a permanent fixture at the Bike Park — though it won’t be accessible to the public for obvious reasons. 

Who has been invited to Red Bull Hardline Maydena?

The list of riders invited to Red Bull Hardline Maydena has just been announced. Thirty-two riders in total have been invited, divided two tiers: 26 have riders have been invited to compete in both the UK and Maydena events, while 12 Wild Card riders have been invited just to the Tassie event. 

While only David McMillan has made the cut for both events, the Wild Card list is packed full of local names we recognise — albeit with a few notable omissions like Mike Ross and Caroline Buchanan.

Check out the full list below.

2024 Rider List

Tasmanian Wild Card Riders

How do you spectate Red Bull Hardline?

French tells Flow that Hardline will be a ticketed event as part of Gravity Fest, which will get you in the door. Given that the course is separate from the bike park, the course will be accessible by bike or by foot, and they’ll have maps to get you to the big features and shuttles will be running. 

“We’ll have a big event hub at the road gap — there are a number of features there. It’s the same location as the current downhill road gap, just a whole lot bigger. That entire area is going to be redeveloped, so we’ll have a bar and a DJ at that on-hill event hub,” he says.

French says there will be well-organised and flagged pathways for people to walk or ride around the venue to get to the best parts of the course. 

Hardline Maydena resurrects Gravity Fest

In the before times, you may remember Gravity Fest, there was racing, a King and Queen of the Mountain event, kids events, live music, and good times.

So, with Hardline coming to the Bike Park, Maydena is reviving Gravity Fest with a new and improved format over five days. 

“What we think is so cool about Hardline is that people can come down and not just engage in Hardline but also come down to ride their bikes and have a bit of fun. Some of these big events aren’t particularly participation-friendly for your weekend warrior. We are trying to blur the boundary between a high-level spectator event and something you can come down and get involved with on and off the bike.  

The Natty will be opened for the Maydena Cup DH. The course has been revamped and left to marinate to increase the speed and bring it up to a World Cup standard. This will be a rare chance to actually race this trail, but also to do so alongside some of the best downhillers in the world.

Rather than trotting out yet another whipoff, Gravityfest will have a Jump Jam hosted at the park’s new freeride zone. Competitors will be given a time slot, and judges will pick winners in three categories — Maximum Steeze, Fattest Whip and Best Trick.

Gravity Fest will also bring back King and Queen of the Mountain. This event is a race from the summit back to the bottom. It doesn’t matter how you get there or what trails you ride; whoever can descend all 820m of Abbotts Peak the fastest will be coronated as Maydena royalty. 

There is something for the mini-shredders too. Kids Fest has a full program of racing from the lower mountain trailhead on Sunday — complete with a pair of downhill courses, one focused on flow and the other on technical riding. There is no minimum age, with categories ranging from U5 to U15.

Of course, being a mountain bike festival, there will be live music, a beer garden, and great food — we’re particularly excited about the Mexican and Margs bullet point on the schedule.

French tells us SRAM Technical University will be running sessions, and they are working on a few others with Maydena’s industry partners. 

For more info and to get your tickets, head over to the Maydena website. 

Photos: Ryan Finlay / Maydena, Sam Dugon / Red Bull Content Pool

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Newcastle is also the home of the Flow Mothership, so obviously, Mick was in attendance in his finest party shirt to partake in some of the racing action. The weather gods put together a heater for the weekend with the average temps hovering around 35ºC.

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Prelude: A Gentle Start at Glenrock

The journey began at Glenrock, with a 9km loop that allowed riders to ease into the weekend, complete with scenic waterfront views and climbs.

The ride featured scenic waterfront views, natural singletrack, jumps and meandering climbs, perfect for easing into the event.

However, Quad Crown isn’t your average weekend group ride, and folks were here to send it. In the elites, Kath Hosking and Dom Paolilli put down the fastest times.

This pair was not here to mess around with Hosking tying the Strava QOM on Snakes and Ladders — earning $500 smackeroos in the process — and taking five QOMs through the stage. The girl was flying!

With so many Port to Ports raced here, in the lead-up to the event, Course Designer Liam McGuire wondered aloud if Cam Ivory’s 2014 KOM and the fastest known time on this segment would stand. Turns out ol’ Cam put down a heater on that day, and even he was unable to best it today.

With Hosking laying down the fastest time for the ladies, Kath McInerney was hot on her tail, finishing six seconds back, and Holly Lubcke came third about two minutes later.

Dom Paolilli led out the men’s field, local hero Caleb Agostino was in pursuit, crossing the line two seconds back, followed by Dan McConnel with another seven seconds to make up.

“Post-race, the atmosphere at Modus Brewery was lively and welcoming, where participants shared their excitement and expectations over a range of local beers. We snuck in a dip at the Merewether Baths, ahead of a couple of hot days on the bike,” Mick said.

Stage 1: The Grit and Beauty of Awaba

For Stage 1, Awaba Mountain Bike Park and the Watagans presented a demanding yet rewarding challenge. Known for its diverse terrain, the 40km queen stage included a formidable climb (walk), testing the limits of every rider.

However, the subsequent descent through the Biraban trail was a reward in itself, offering a thrilling ride through the lush rainforest and down a sweet, flowing descent. The park, set to host national titles next year, proved its mettle as a premier racing venue.

Again, the riders were not here for a leisurely jaunt in the woods; it was full revs in the heat. The two Kaths duked it out through the stage, finishing with one second between them, Hosking in front of McInerney, with Caitlyn Brazier moving into third overall ahead of Holly Lubke.

For the men, it would be the Big Mac himself, Dan McConnell, who would take the stage victory; however, big props to David Harris from the e-MTB category, who came second overall in ‘full turbo mode’. Cam Ivory rolled into the finish about 30 seconds behind McConnell, with Caleb Agostino rounding out the elite podium.

With another hot day in the bank, it was off to the local beer haus Grain Store to refuel for the series finale.

Stage 2: Discovering Newcastle’s Mountain Biking Gems

The final stage was a 37km journey through the heart of Newcastle’s mountain biking scene. Starting at the Royal Crown, the course traversed Glenrock, Whitebridge, and Redhead, showcasing the area’s best trails. The clever route design by McGuire hitting the best parts of each riding spot.

McConnell would make it a hat trick for the weekend, with Domenic Paolilli just off his wheel, followed by Caleb Agostino and cementing the overall general classification in the same order.

For the ladies, McInerney would outfox Hosking to take the stage win. Unfortunately, the two-second gap was not enough to steal the leader’s jersey, and Hosking would take out the general classification. Ella Menigoz came third on the day, however, Holly Lubcke had built enough of a gap to secure the last step on the podium in the overall.

What makes the Quad Crown the Quad Crown is that the racing isn’t just about the elites at the pointy end, and the big award is, of course, the Warrior Crown. Every rider is eligible for this accolade, and it’s based on a handicap set from your average speed during the prelude. The rider who outrides their handicap by the most is awarded with the Warrior Crown.

For The Black Pearl, Katrina Skellern and Adrian Azzopardi are the newly coronated Quad Crown royals.

Quad Crown returns to its roots

With such strong roots in Newcastle, it’s a fitting end for the inaugural Quad Crown Series wrap-up on the trails here. After having to call off the first year due to the pandemic and then the weather, the crew behind the race has pulled together a fantastic series.

“This event was as much about the people as it was about the race. Witnessing Blake, my friend and neighbour, a newcomer to the sport, with plastic flat pedals fitted to a loaner bike, a chill $20-ishK Yeti SB120, complete the race was a testament to the event’s inclusive and encouraging atmosphere. It was heartening to see him, along with his beautiful family, celebrate this personal milestone. Go Snake.” Mick said after the race.

The Black Pearl event encapsulated the essence of mountain biking in Newcastle – a blend of challenging trails and a warm, welcoming community. As we anticipate future events, including the exciting Omeo stop, the Quad Crown series continues to be a great event catering for a wide variety of riders. The 2024 dates are going to be announced soon; stay tuned, folks!

Photos – Gilbert from Outer Image Collective & Flow MTB

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With four days of the best trails in the region lined up, quite a few familiar faces were vying for the pointy end of the race. But some young guns had other plans, well and truly leaving their mark on WA’s biggest stage race. 

Here’s how it all shook out. 

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Stage One | Cape Leeuwin 

Is there a more iconic start-finish location than the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse? If there is, we can’t think of it. Riders got underway from the most south-westerly point of Australia for a 35km loop. With no start wave seeding, the first stage had a lot of climbing and proportionally less singletrack compared to the remaining three days. 

Right from the gun, Dan McConnell and Cam Ivory of the Trek Shimano team drove the pace and managed to build a lead of two minutes to their closest chasers by the end of the stage. Connor Wright and Juan-Pierre Van Der Merwe (Melo Velo) would end up in second, with Darby Gaebler and Joel Dodds (Giant Mandurah PCS Racing Team) in third.

This was the first time McConnell and Ivory had teamed up for a pairs race.

“It was a hard day, there’s a lot of climbing in this stage, not a lot of singletrack,” said Ivory. “We had some young guys pushing us for a lot of it, and we only just snuck away on the second last climb and got about a minute at the end, so it’s still nice and close heading into the next couple of days.”

McConnell said it was tough to find a rhythm on the opening stage with the undulating profile of the course. Looking ahead, he thought the remainder of the stages suited the pair well. 

In the mixed pairs, defending champs Peta Mullens and Jarrod Moroni (Rolla RC) were back to their old tricks, not just winning the stage, but building a five-minute gap to second place Tristan Nash and Zoe Davison (Wheely Yellow), with Emma Briggs and Kyle Hamilton (Endurance Explorers) riding into third. 

Even with the sizable time gap, stage one wasn’t smooth sailing for the Rolla RC pair, with Mullens hitting the deck in the final kilometres of the race. Nursing a sore shoulder across the finish, it was yet to be seen how this would affect the remaining three days on the bike. 

It was Mullen’s Roxsolt Liv SRAM riders Caitlyn Brazier and Elizabeth Nuspan who would start their inaugural Cape to Cape campaign with a victory in the Women’s Pairs race, followed by Karis Aplin and Lara Sarson (Double Ds) second and Tamsin Eldridge and Josie Hardwick (The HardRidges) third.

“It’s actually my first time here, it was really good, it was loose, it caught us out a few times today, and we lost traction coming up the hills and we had to walk a bit. But we weren’t the only ones walking which was good,” said Nuspan.

I had an absolute ball, something that I’m not used to doing is mountain biking, it was a really enjoyable day, there were so many happy people out there, it was good fun.

A bit further back in the field, friend of Flow Richie Porte had a successful day, keeping the rubber side down and finishing with a smile.

Since retiring from the World Tour, Porte has been dipping his toe into gravel and mountain bike events, and Cape to Cape was the first outing on his new S-Works Epic.

“I had an absolute ball, something that I’m not used to doing is mountain biking, it was a really enjoyable day, there were so many happy people out there, it was good fun,” said Porte.

We caught up with Porte just before he jumped on a plane to WA to check out his bike and see how he was feeling about the race — click here for more. 

Stage Two | Boranup 

With 53km on the agenda for stage two, the day kicked off at Mr Barval Fine Wines, headed for Boranup Forest.

In the men’s, the finish order and GC are unchanged from yesterday, with McConnell and Ivory taking the stage victory. It was a closer battle today however with Connor Wright and Juan-Pierre Van Der Merwe only 30 seconds behind, and Darby Gaebler and Joel Dodds a further three minutes back.

A good-sized group materialised today, but by the 40km mark, it was down to four: Ivory and McConnell and Wright and Van Der Merwe. This group would stay together until the final 5km. 

“There was a sandy climb, and Dan managed to clear it pretty well and gapped us all. I was watching my teammate just sail away into the distance, I managed to close the gap to him, and the Melo Velo boys I think struggled just a little bit more than us in the sand, and that’s where we got the small gap. I think it was only 30 seconds at the finish,” Ivory said.

Mullens and Moroni managed to win stage two with a commanding five-minute lead over Davison and Nash, with Karli and Johan Beukes (BEUKES). This was despite Mullens’ shoulder, which was worse for wear coming into the second day of the Cape to Cape. 

“It was excruciating actually, I’m glad that most of today the course was in a straight line, but when I had to stop for corners I couldn’t really turn, and I couldn’t really drink. But Jarrod fed me a couple of gels, but otherwise this is our favourite course, and I think the sand really suits us. It adds a technical aspect to it,” said Mullens. “Hopefully the shoulder comes good for the singletrack, I was hoping today that we could finish with them (Davison and Nash) we’d still have a chance for the overall, so to get a gap was pretty exciting.”

In the Women’s race, it was again the Liv-Roxolt SRAM riders Brazier and Nuspan who would take the stage win, but by a staggering 50 minutes. It’s even more impressive when you take into account the misfortunes the pair experienced during the stage. 

“It didn’t start off too well today, Ellie had a crash in the first five minutes of the race, so not a great start and then she popped a tyre so not a great finish either. But besides that it was definitely an adventure, and we got through it, and we finished, which is the main thing. And, we had fun,” said Brazier.

Aplin and Sarson rode into the finish in second, with Eldridge and Hardwick finishing in third position. 

Stage Three | Margaret River

For the penultimate stage of the 2023 Cape to Cape, riders were set loose on Margaret River for 53km of the most famous trails in the area.

The top two steps on the podium were again occupied by familiar faces, with Ivory and McConnell at the top, putting another two minutes into Wright and Van Der Merwe. Cadel Adams and Hayden James (Winging It) were just behind in third.

Today’s stage is a singletrack-heavy tour of Compartment 10 and The Pines. With a big group rolling into the singletrack together, McConnell started pushing the pace with about 20km to go in an attempt to burn a few folks off. 

“We did plan it a little bit. We’ve got years of kms in the legs so we thought we’d push the younger guys when the stage got longer. Pushing that hour 30, hour 40 mark and we just wanted to put the pressure down and hold it down, and hope they cracked, and that’s what happened. That’s years of miles for us, and it worked out pretty well,” Ivory said. 

Battling injury, the defending pairs champs Mullens and Moroni continued their streak, putting another three minutes into Davison and Nash, with Karlie and Johan Beukes rounding out the podium.

“It was actually really close racing today. Zoe was only two corners behind us at one point, and we just had to battle through the singletrack where I could, and pedal hard when we hit the open sections,” said Mullens.

“It’s hard to get used to that pea gravel. When you come from the east coast that pea gravel gets you every time on the corners, every time you put the power down it’s boom and you’re sliding around,” said Moroni. “We looked behind maybe an hour in and Tristan and that were basically with us and the lead girls were right there as well, so it was very close racing.”

Following in the footsteps of their team manager, Brazier and Nuspa also made it a hat trick in impressive form. The Liv-Roxsolt SRAM riders took the 52km stage by another impressive margin, coming into the finish at Colonial Brewing 25 minutes ahead of Aplin and Sarson, with Eldridge and Hardwick in third.

“The stage definitely lived up to the hype, it was nice and flowy. We entered the trails with a good group of people that were well-matched with us, and it was on, we got to battle with them all the way to the finish,” said Nuspan.

“It would be pretty special for both of us to win, we’ve never actually won the leader’s jersey before. We’re really excited, and we really hope we can take it home with us,” she said.

Stage Four | Cape Naturaliste

The finale of the 15th edition of the Cape to Cape once again took riders on a 33km tour around Cape Naturaliste. 

With today’s stage starting and finishing at Wise Wines, damp conditions added a new element for riders to contend with on the pea gravel.

In the men’s pairs, it was once again McConnell and Ivory who came out on top, but they only squeaked it out today, finishing one second ahead of Wright and Van Der Merwe, with Adams and James not far back. 

“It was super fast today, I think some of the WA guys have some local knowledge out there, and they just really pushed the pace, we were just trying to hold on, it was still quite slippery out there on the pea gravel, but a little bit of wet weather made the conditions quite good,” said Ivory. “We got caught out a little coming into the finish, almost took a wrong turn and ended up on the back of the pack so we feel like we were quite lucky to get the win today, we just came back in the final moments.”

Making it a clean sweep, McConnell and Ivory would also take out the GC, followed by Wright and Van Der Merwe and Gaebler and Dodds. 

In the mixed pairs, Nash and Davison outfoxed the reigning champs, beating Mullens and Moroni back to Wise Wines by two minutes, with Johan and Karlie Beukes third.

However, even without the win today, Mullens and Moroni would take the overall win, with Nash and Davidson, and Karlie and Johan Beukes rounding out the podium. 

“It feels really good, I had a rough day. I pretty much wanted Jarrod to push me for the 33km, but it was great, the rain kind of settled the pea gravel, and we stayed safe and had a good race,” said Mullens. “Of all the stages it feels like the raciest race (sic) at the start, because we have that little ditch off the start and then straight along the road. So it kind of feels like a road race into a cross-country race. I think the lead guys must have washed some of the pea gravel away because it wasn’t as bad as last year.”

Nuspan and Brazier capped off a dominant performance on the fourth stage by completing their clean sweep and taking the overall win by nearly TWO HOURS! Aplin and Sarson, and Eldridge and Hardwick finished second and third overall. 

“It’s been pretty special, we’ve never ridden together before so we’ve had a lot to learn throughout the week,” she said. “It was really cool, even from the base of the climb there were people running up, everyone had their phones out and were cheering, it was awesome,” Nuspan said. 

And with that, the 15th edition of the Cape to Cape has come to an end for full results, head over to the Cape to Cape website.

Photos: Tim Bardsley-Smith / @tbsphotography

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Running this past weekend, according to event organiser Will Levy, goodnessgravel Gundy drew 30% more riders than last year. With the 135 km long course sporting a whopping 2,700m of climbing, this is not one for the faint of heart — there’s also a shorter 75km route available.

It’s been pretty dry across NSW this year, and the conditions were dusty.

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“We reconed the course on Wednesday before the event and were just dumbfounded how good the gravel was — to steal a term from New Zealand, the conditions were mint,” says Levy.

When the field rolled out of Gundy bright and early, it was about 8ºC, but according to Levy, you could tell it was going to get hot.

“When the 75km riders came back, there were a few salty dogs, and it was only 11 o’clock,” says Levy.

Chris Visvis was at the reins of the Flow Instagram for the event and said he saw the temp on his Garmin reach as high as 36ºC riding the 135km course.

“It was classic Australian countryside at the beginning — light blue sky, pale greens scrub, and rolling hills over there in Gundy, which is lovely,” says Visvis. “Before the first rest stop (40km in at Timor) was still cool early in the day, the light was awesome, and there weren’t any really big climbs. Everybody was chatting, and it was a really nice time of day.”

goodnessgravel feed zones

With a scorcher on the way, the feed zones were a bit of an oasis for the riders — especially the second one at 80km.

“Goodnessgravel knows how to do good rest stops. There’s live music, they’ve got nutrition you can pack away with you — all the SIS (Science in Sport) stuff — and then all the good stuff like snakes and doughnuts,” he says.

These posts are looked after by locals who donate their time to support the event.

‘It’s not just the riders that come back with smiles, even our volunteers come back and are like, you have the nice people — everyone so thankful, there’s no litter on course.’ We couldn’t run these events without volunteers, and when they come back saying, ‘we had a great day out there,’ that’s a definite perk,” says Levy.

Levy tells us that the Scouts looking after the second rest stop in Ellerston, in between the shifts, were out on the river that runs past catching trout.

“Maybe next year we’ll have smoked trout at the second aid station,” laughs Levy.

So hot hens are laying hard-boiled eggs

According to Visvis, one of the most challenging climbs of the day was at 60km. They hit the base at about 11am — when the first of the salty 75km riders were pulling into the finish.

“The climb is super steep, and you’re just grinding in your bailout gear. There’s no wind and no reprieve — it was just hot,” he says.

But the payoff for this brutal ascent — and the other climbs through the day — was, of course, going down the other side.

“When you’re bombing down the country hills, and you can see all the rolling hills and all the rolling countryside ahead. It’s just dry and dust, and the way that it unfolds in front of you — you can see it all because you’re at elevation — I really like that. And when it’s so hot, the descents are cooling you down. It’s such a big highlight. The countryside out there is beautiful, even if it is brutal at the same time,” says Visvis.

With the heat being so oppressive on the day, Levy tells us that aid stations were well stocked with water and drink mix, and the motos were roaming checking on the riders — even dropping bottles for folks in need. Visvis and the group he was with had many a check-in with the motos, and one even stopped by to help when they were fixing a puncture.

“One thing that I thought was really cool was the event support guys on the motos were just checking that everyone was ok. I liked how they checked in on us regularly, and even though you’re really out in the middle of nowhere, in the heat, you still felt more or less taken care of,” he says.

goodnessgravel is a fondo-style event, meaning there is no prize for finishing first — they don’t even have a clock running. Traditionally when you cross the line, they hand you a chocolate and a beer. But after so many hours out in the sun, Levy swapped the finish line chocolate for icy poles.

“We had like the Zoopa Doopas, but not Zoopa Doopas, the natural ones. They didn’t totally freeze overnight, so they were just like a super cold slushy — I think we went through 200 of those things,” says Levy.

They also had a BBQ, an esky full of cold drinks and live music — good times!

With this event being bigger than last year, Levy tells us the field was 20% women — which is up from last year. The oldest rider was 74 years old and was among the top ten to finish the 75km event. The youngest rider was 14 and was apparently towing his dad all the way on the short course.

goodnessgravel is still a smaller event, and Levy thanked everyone who signed up and kept coming back. When you sign up for goodnessgravel, you get your number for life, and they have made it up to 1,016. He also wanted to thank the volunteers and event sponsors, as they are the lifeblood that helps to keep small events like this running.

Better still, the 2024 dates for the first two goodness gravel events — Mogo and Glen Innes have been announced, with Gundy to follow soon.

For more information, head over to the goodnessgravel website.

Photos: Outer Image / goodnessgravel

The post A Ripper Ride in the Hunter | goodnessgravel Gundy goes off appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Initially, the final stop on the Series was headed for the brand new trails in Omeo, Victoria. However, unforeseen delays in construction meant the volume of singletrack needed to run a stage race wasn’t going to be ready. So, the event team pivoted and set their sights on Newcastle.

This is a homecoming of sorts, given the folks behind the Quad Crown started the Port to Port, and a good portion of the event team lives in Newcastle.

Course designer Liam McGuire tells us he never expected to be piecing together a stage race in his backyard again and still has quite a few tricks up his sleeve.

“There was a lot of work I put into Port to Port over the years that never saw the light of day, and there were tracks that I uncovered that were never used. There was also some private property that we’d secured passage through that never got used, and it will be really cool to get to use some of those tracks, ” he says.

While it may go some of the same places as Port to Port traditionally has, as Jason Dover explained to Flow after The Orca, with a different focus the Quad Crown course won’t just be a copypasta.

“Previously, when we’ve done XC stage races in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, you tend to put in a lot of fire roads because you need to create a 50-60km course. We’ve got the luxury of creating smaller stages now that should feature all the best parts of an area, rather than worrying about kilometres,” he says.

With that, it’s also been since 2019 that the Port to Port ran, and there is quite a bit of new trail across the networks in the area for the race to explore. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the Quad Crown Black Pearl.

• Want to know more about the Quad Crown series, click here for our full explainer

Quad Crown Black Pearl Race Preview

Prelude | Glenrock | 9km

To kick off the Black Pearl, the race rolls into Glenrock for the Prelude. This 9km sprint is used to determine start seeding but also to set your handicap that will be used to coronate the Warrior King and Queen.

Average speed is calculated based on your finishing time and is used a bit like a handicap in golf to compare your performance across the stages. Whoever outperforms their handicap by the most over the weekend will be crowned — yes, there are actual crowns — Warrior King and Queen.

Starting and finishing just inside the gate on Gun Club Road, McGuire tells Flow the 9km route through Glenrock is a bit like a highlights reel of the network — and any notable omissions from this course will be run on Sunday.

“I don’t want to give too much away because we have a couple of surprises up our sleeve, but it will be a clockwise loop that will take people past the table so they can enjoy the views (of Burwood Beach),” he says. “It takes in a lot of the recently spruced-up trails and finishes with Double Barrel into Twisties as the last singletrack and is a section everyone will know well because it’s a lot of fun.”

McGuire says the part he’s looking forward to the most on the Prelude is when folks hit the Snakes and Ladders climb.

“It was revamped earlier in the year, so it’s riding really well. When all the guys and girls are racing for sheep stations at the bottom of that, it will be interesting to see what happens. Cam Ivory holds the KOM on that climb and has had it for maybe ten years, we’re excited to see if anyone can challenge it,” he says.

Stage 1 | Awaba | 40km

The show hits the road to Awaba on Saturday morning, with the 40km stage starting and finishing at the bike park.

The stage heads out on Mount Nellinda Road into the Olney State Forest.

“There’s a lot of secret singletrack in there and some overgrown moto tracks that we’ve spruced up and linked together. It will be a lot of fun, but there are some fairly rugged bits as well,” he says.

Riders will enter the actual MTB park via Bangalow Road and descend the Biraban gravity trail into the XC loop.

“We’ve managed to link up the XC parts of Awaba, back up to Mount Faulk Road to climb back up to Faulk Line. This is a new feature of the course in that we’ve designed it to include both gravity trails that feed into Awaba — these tracks have been used in enduro events over the previous years, like the Rocky Trail Superflow,” says McGuire. “Faulk Line and Wild Polly will probably be the highlight as they’re both new trails since the last time a lot of people will have come through.”

As to where the stage will be decided, McGuire predicts the Camelbak Climb, which is in the last third of the race, will be where the day is won and lost.

“Whoever hits the top of that first, it (the course) goes into Wild Polly, and then the little XC loop back to the car park, which is pretty much the finish. Camelbak Climb is always a decisive section in Awaba,” says McGuire.

Stage 2 | Newcastle | 37km

“You know that song Dizzy (by Tommy Roe)? That’s the first thing that comes to mind with this stage — you’re making me dizzy,” says McGuire.

With the event being called Quad Crown, there is a pub next to the Whitebrige Trails called the Royal Crown Hotel, with a publican who loves mountain bikers. McGuire tells Flow designed the stage around starting and finishing here.

“It’s a bit of a complicated course. You’re riding through back streets and disused railway corridors, some virgin trails that basically only get cleared (in the past) for Port to Port,” he says. “If I was going out for a two-hour ride from my place in Redhead and wanted to include all the local stuff. This is it.”

Hitting Whitebridge, Fernleigh, Redhead and Glenrock, this stage is a who’s who of singletrack in Newcastle.

From the Royal Crown, it’s straight over to the Fernleigh Track onto an alignment that’s featured in Port to Port to get to Glenrock.

“We’ll do a loop of Glenrock that will incorporate a few of the trails that we missed out on on Friday — like Kenny’s, BJ’s, and It Happens,” says McGuire.

Then, the course backtracks to take riders to Redhead and then on to Whitebridge.

McGuire tells Flow he thinks the splits that will turn out to be race-winning moves will happen on the climb up Dudley Beach Road, on the way back from Glenrock. He also says he is most excited for folks to ride the flowy section towards the end of the Redhead part of the stage.

What else do I need to know?

Just before COVID hit and effectively killed Port to Port as we know it, the Newcastle/Hunter Valley Stage race was approaching 1,000 entries and was approaching the status that Cape to Cape had achieved.

“What excites me the most and the point that I really want to drive at is that, hopefully, we get a lot of locals, all the people that have done Port to Port before. We want to show all the people watching that there is a lot of interest for an event like this in Newcastle,” says McGuire.

With nationals headed for Awaba in March 2024, The Black Pearl also gives folks an opportunity to get a feel for the event venue.

“We’re hoping to include a few things they’re building out there for Nationals. For anyone looking to come down to Nationals, this is a good opportunity for them to familiarise themselves a bit with the changes that have gone on at Awaba so far,” he says.

Who can race The Black Pearl and how do I enter?

With elite and open racing categories and even an e-MTB class, you can sign up for the entire weekend or just ride on Saturday or Sunday alone.

Entries are open now, head over to the Quad Crown website for more information.

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While the elites will be vying for a spot at next year’s Gravel World Champs in Belgium, there are courses ranging from 120km down to 10k, and Gravelista isn’t an event reserved for those vying for rainbow stripes.

There’s actually two Gravel World Series qualifiers in Australia, one in WA called SEVEN, which was an existing event, while Gravelista was created specifically to host the qualifier. From those two races, more than 30 Aussies qualified and competed at the Gravel World Champs in Italy at the start of October — where Aussie Tiff Cromwell placed 10th.

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• 5 Reasons Why We’re Excited About The New Shimano GRX Gravel Groupset | First Ride Review

A familiar course for Gravelista 2023

Race Director Nathan Lorkin tells us the course — which folks raved about — will look very similar to last year, with the only difference being the start and finish location and the neutral rollout of town.

“The course we put together last year working with locals and the gravel mob was such a kickass route. You know when you get really excited about something and feel like a little kid and want to jump up and down — that’s how we felt when we checked out this route,” says Lorkin.

For its inaugural running, 310 riders took to the gravel roads around Beechworth. When we spoke to Lorkin, they’d already surpassed that number and are on track to double the size of the event.

“Last year, I think because of the rainbow colours of the UCI, it was a little bit intimidating, and we ended up with a very skinsuit-clad, very fast and fit lineup of athletes,” he says.

“Beyond the 120km course (and 80km course for masters 60+ athletes), we’ve opened up to the recreational categories. So, outside of the UCI race, we have recreational options doing 45km, 80km, or 120km. And bang for buck, the 45km loop is brilliant,” he says.

The dirt around Beechworth varies a bit, but Lorkin tells us Gravelista sticks primarily to what he calls clean gravel.

“Even when it’s wet, you come back looking pretty clean. Some dirt is more like mud and you come back and you can’t tell what kit you’re wearing — (around Beechworth) it’s not like that at all. It runs smooth and fast. There are a couple of spots that have heavy ruts, but we’ll have those fixed up in time for the event,” says Lorkin.

The majority of folks sign up for the 120km course, and once riders are set free from the neutral rollout, the crux of the day will be the two significant climbs.

“If you burn too many matches on that first climb, you’re going to shoot your day on the second one,” he says. The second climb goes up Lady Newton Drive, and good ol’ Lady Newton, she bites a lot of people,” says Lorkin.

He tells us that for the folks chasing a jersey, the climb of Lady Newton is where the splits happened. It was here the savvy riders either gapped their companions or caught riders who’d overdrawn their bank account on the first climb.

“It’s not quite walking territory, but there will definitely be some people walking for sure,” he says.

How do you qualify for UCI Gravel Worlds?

Gravelista is actually the second 2024 Gravel Worlds qualifier of the year, with the Euro Gravel Champs in Belgium pulling double duty.

For those hoping to punch their ticket to race in Vlaams Brabant, Belgium next year, the qualification process is a bit like making the cut for Cape Epic.

“So if you land yourself on the podium in an age group category, you’re guaranteed, and beyond that, it’s the top 25%. And the reason we say podium is because some of the older age groups are very small — I think the oldest we have signed up is 77,” says Lorkin.

Being a full-on UCI-level event, Lorkin tells us traffic management will be in place — from the first rider to the last — so you can let the engine run hot and not have to worry about slowing down for crossings.

There will be feedzones sprinkled throughout each course, which will be stocked with doughnuts, fresh local produce and tunes playing. Riders can have bottles delivered to the aid stations, and they’ll also have tools at each stop should you need them.

The start and finish will be on the cricket pitch at the top of Mayday Hill. Lorkin tells us there will be a full race village with food, a Bridge Road pop-up bar, a pump track and the like.

Outside of the event, they are hosting a kids and family ride on Friday for folks to get out and spin their legs around on the gravel. The morning after the race, they’re also hosting a shakedown recovery ride, leaving from the centre of town. Coffee will be provided, and the ride will be about an hour, just to get out and spin your legs with friends, new and old.

Lorkin tells Flow that while there is the elite racing element to Gravelista, the main goal of the event is to foster that friendly vibe, and to get people out exploring around Beechworth on their bikes.

Gravelista is fast approaching, and entries are open now, head over to the event website to grab your spot. Who knows, it might be your ticket to race in Belgium next year.

Photos: Lee Omond (@shotbyleealexand3r) / Gravelista

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And riders from all over the country flocked to the Sapphire Coast for the mini-stage race.

“It’s definitely the best Quad Crown Series event we’ve done so far — and I thought the other two went really. Everyone came in with super high expectations about Eden, and it went super well — it’s such a great place,” says Race Director Jason Dover.

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• South Coast NSW, Eden’s New Gravity Trails Opening Soon

What is the Quad Crown?

Quad Crown is a brand-new MTB stage racing series run by the same team who originally pioneered the Cape to Cape and Port to Port.

While these races follow a multi-day format, there are mini-stage races. Each stage is shorter, and the whole thing is run and won in two-and-a-half days.

‘Every one of the courses we’ve designed so far has been challenging but really fun. When we’ve done traditional stage races previously, you tend to put in a lot of fire roads and climbs because you need to create a 50-60km course. We’ve got the luxury of running smaller stages now, that feature all the best parts of the area, rather than worrying about total kilometres,” says Dover.

foRather than focusing on racking up kms, the idea of a mini-stage race is to maximise the time spent on the fun singletrack.The first stop was Devonport, and the second was on the Sunshine Coast, with this third event running on the Sapphire Coast across Tathra and Eden. After a slight adjustment to the schedule, the Quad Crown finale will return to familiar stomping grounds for the race team in Newcastle.

While winners are crowned at the end of each event, points are up for grabs and there will be an overall champion for both the race standings and the handicap-based Warrior Crown.

Want to know more about the Quad Crown and the other events in the series? Check out our full explainer article here.

Prelude | Eden | The taster

Friday afternoon saw riders take to a 9km loop starting from the trailhead at Eden. The dusty and windy course provided a challenge for folk

s aiming to put down a quick time for seeding into the start waves the following day and to set their handicap for the Warrior Crown.

“Everyone kept saying how lucky they felt to be the first to ride these trails properly and how beautiful the trails and the build were — flowy was the buzzword of the day,” says Dover.

Dan McConnell would lay down the fastest time in the Prelude, riding the 9km course in 28:25 with Tali Lane-Welsh and Jon Odams hot on his heels.

Katherine Hosking laid down an absolute ripper of a ride on the Prelude, finishing in 33:34, pipping Samara Sheppard by about one second. Em Viotto and Peta Mullens were a bit further back, but only a hair off this blistering pace.

Stand 1 | Tathra | The interlude

Having wet their whistles at Gravity Eden riding a short preview of the course, the race headed 45 min north to Tathra.

“After getting their first ride at Eden, everyone was talking about how they can’t wait to get back on Sunday,” says Dover. “Saturday (Stage 1) sort of became the interlude, because I don’t think a lot of people had been to the Sapphire Coast. They’d heard about Tathra and the trails there, but they hadn’t necessarily ridden them. Without a doubt, Liam (McGuire, the Quad Crown Course Manager) put together damn near a perfect course.”

Starting and finishing on the front doorstep of the Tathra Hotel with the ocean as the backdrop, the 35 km course headed south for a 14 km loop of fire trails and old-school singletrack. There was a good bit of climbing in this loop as it was designed to break up the field before crossing into the singletrack at Bundadung.

“I was standing at the road crossing at 14km, and a lot of people were coming through blowing pretty hard,” laughs Dover. “Everyone had gone out really fast and excited, thinking it was only 35km, and then crossed the road to 15-20km of non-stop singletrack to smash into the finish.”

The course in Tathra offered quite a contrast to the fresh machine-built trails in Eden. The handmade, old-school trails in Bundadung are well bedded in with classic XC style.

Dover says by the time riders got back to the Tathra Hotel at the finish, they were absolutely cooked, but they had massive smiles on their faces.

“The local club had done the best job helping us prepare the trails and the course in general. It was a brilliant stage,” he says.

In the men’s field, Jon Odams, Tali Lane-Welsh, Kyle Ward and Dan McConnell got away. McConnell suffered a puncture and would come into the finish about 2 minutes behind the leading three. Odams managed to win the stage, but thanks to a few seconds in the bag from the Prelude, Lane-Welsh would take the overall leader’s jersey.

In the Women’s Race, Samara Sheppard was the strongest on the day and would win, building a one-minute gap over Katherine Hosking and Peta Mullens, who would finish two seconds apart. After stage one, the Women’s GC matched the stage podium.

Stage 2 | Eden | The main course

Coming into stage two, nobody knew what to expect. Dover and McGuire had spent months trying to design a course to introduce Eden to the world, but only McGuire had been on the ground to ride it and make sure it would live up to the hype — talk about pressure!

“It’s bloody hard to put together a course that isn’t open yet, there are so many logistical challenges. But the reality was that on Sunday morning, everyone is going to go out there and have a crack,” says Dover.

Kicking off with a brutal 10km climb to break up the field, riders were rewarded with an 8km descent on a wilderness trail.

“That 10km was such a challenge, all on fire road; really rocky pinch climbs, some really sketchy descents, gravelly sandy. We made that first 10km such an epic challenge, but the payoff was just crazy. Once they turned into that singletrack, they had the best of Eden Mountain Bike Park in front of them for the remaining 30-odd-km,” says Dover.

The course had some changes about a month out as Contour Works and the Eden Mountain Bike Club weren’t comfortable with the race heading down a few trails that needed more time to cure. This meant the race would hit the 8km adventure trail, tentatively named “Around the Outside” twice.

“That became the highlight that people got to ride it twice. The first time I rode it marking the course, I was thinking that I’d love to ride it again. And when the riders got back around, Peta Mullens summed it up best when they got back there, you knew it was 10km all downhill to the finish line, and people were really able to enjoy it the second time,” he says.

With all the climbing today, it was actually an e-Biker, Ryan Dixon, who would cross the line first, nearly 30 seconds ahead of Dan McConnell, who won the stage, followed by Kyle Ward and Jon Odams.

Samara Sheppard, Katherine Hosking and Peta Mullens went one, two, and three again for the second stage in Eden, locking in the GC.

Tali Lane-Welsh came into the final stage wearing the leader’s jersey with a target on his back, and Ward, McConnell and Odams did everything they could to pop him — and succeeded in that goal. With that, he fell down the GC ranking to sixth, with Ward winning the overall and McConnell and Odams rounding out the podium.

The Warrior Crown

However, The Quad Crown isn’t just about the elites. The Warrior Crown is awarded to folks who outride the handicap set in the Prelude based on average speed over the course of the two stages. At The Orca, Grahame Smith and Jordyn Hassett were the latest Quad Crown royals to be coronated.

“Incredibly, Jordyn rode to her handicap within like a minute across all three stages,” says Dover.

She’s in a team, but I’m not sure she’s the top rider. When she won, the whole team just went nuts. It was really lovely, and I suppose it’s a good example that the Warrior Crown gives everyone something to ride for no matter where they are at,” says Dover.

Finishing the event on a high, Dover gave high praise to the Eden Mountain Bike Club, the Tathra Mountain Bike Club, Contour Works and the management company that’s looking after the trails for their support in making this event what it was.

And with that, the Quad Crown team now have their sights set on Newcastle for the finale to the series, The Black Pearl. Dover didn’t give too many hints as to what the course would look like, however, it’s safe to say they know how to put on a stage race here.

Stay tuned for a full course preview.

Photos: Murray Farrell / Creek Run Media

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Riders started the final day at Mount Molloy, making their way through the stunning Tropical North Queensland scenery before hitting the famous Bump Track for a fast and furious descent to the beach. The 46km stage finished with a blast up Four Mile Beach to the finish line.

Leanna Ali, Regional Director of The IRONMAN Group Oceania, organisers of Reef to Reef, said that the team was looking forward to welcoming riders back to the event this week.

“Our team is looking forward to bringing hundreds of mountain bike riders back to the region this week,” she said. “Reef to Reef is a great riding and social event, with it providing a chance for riders to relax at the end of the stage and enjoy the company of those joining them on the trails.

“It’s set to be a great four days of riding and we look forward to seeing plenty of smiling faces coming across the finish line at the end of each stage,” said Ali.

What’s Reef to Reef?

Reef to Reef provides a number of ways for riders to be involved, with both four day and single day Triple-R options. A highlight of Reef to Reef is pairs racing, where teams of two take on the event together, with there also the option of entering the event as a solo rider.

The event begins at the iconic Smithfield Mountain Bike Park, with riders taking on 18km of world class single track, steep climbs and fast, flowing descents.

On the second day the action heads onto the Tablelands and Davies Creek Mountain Bike Park, with almost 40km of riding and some of the best single track around. The third day of racing will see the event head to Mount Molloy, with riders taking in some incredible rainforest trails.

The final day of the event also features the famous Triple-R with riders starting in Mount Molloy before heading down the Bump Track before finishing on Four Mile Beach in front of the Port Douglas Surf Club.

How it all went down

Joel Green and Tali Lane Welsh continued to lead the way in the men’s pairs, with the duo claiming overall victory in their first visit to Reef to Reef.

Green and Lane Welsh crossed the finish line in Port Douglas almost five minutes clear of Cameron Wright and Aden De Jager, with Lachlan Allison and Benjamin Iles third.

The top three finishers today were mirrored on the overall podium, with Green and Lane Welsh almost 17 minutes ahead of second, with third a further five minutes behind.

Lane Welsh said that the overall victory was special for the pair.

“It’s pretty big for us, it’s the second event of the Epic Series that we’ve done, we raced Cape to Cape last year, as soon as we did that we knew how awesome they were and we were pretty committed to do as many as we could,” he said. “We booked in for this one and coming into it we didn’t have any crazy expectations, we just wanted to do as good as we could, we have some good form at the moment so we’re pretty happy to take the win.”

Green said they enjoyed the challenges of the final stage after spending a lot of time on the bike this week.

“Stage four was really fun, coming down the bump track was cool, even just coming down on the beach and finishing on the beach, I don’t think there’s a finish line like this in any other event in Australia, it was a super cool experience,” said Green. “We kind of thought we’d just see how we were going because as the week has gone on we’ve got more and more tired because we’ve travelled a lot in the last two weeks, we felt surprisingly good and then we got a gap and thought we would try and finish on a high and race as well as we could.”

Defending mixed pairs champions Emma Viotto and Karl Michelin-Beard made it back-to-back Reef to Reef titles, with the duo leading the event from start to finish.

Viotto and Michelin-Beard took the title by more than 10 minutes from Kirsty McCallum and Max Williams, with Michael Denton and Emily Hill rounding out the podium.

Not only was it a second straight win for Viotto but the Canberran is also a Reef to Reef founding rider, having taken part in the event every year since its inception.

“It’s always nice to have the win, to race our bikes, but to win is a bonus,” she said. “Today we wanted to see if we could stay with the front guys and we managed to stay with the Masters, we had a pretty smooth run, we just wanted to take it easy down the Bump Track, trying to not get any flats but we got a flat anyway, it was beautiful, it’s always nice to finish in Port Douglas on the beach and now it’s time for some drinks and to celebrate.

Michelin-Beard said they enjoyed the descent back to the coast from the Mount Molloy start line.

“It always feels good to win, these races are always good for us, a nice holiday away but it feels good to win, I think we’ve both naturally competitive people so winnings feels good,” he said. “It was really good out there today, it was dusty, there were a couple of bits that were in the course last year that we avoided this year that were bogged out, it was nice to not have to ride through the bog, it was really good. The Bump Track was a bit blown out at the bottom, but it was pretty fun, I think that’s where I got the flat, conditions were really fast.”

Mother and daughter duo Meaghan Stanton and Zoe Binder dominated the women’s pairs, claiming the title by almost an hour from Karis Aplin and Sarah Dunnage. Alex Hall and Kathryn Deed finished third overall 10 minutes further behind.

“It meant a lot just riding with my daughter Zoe, it was great to have four days just riding together and riding on new trails we really enjoyed it,” said Stanton. “Day four was good, it was a bit of just get there, destination syndrome wanting to get to the beach, it was good when we got to the bump track because we knew it was all downhill and nice and easy so that was a good mental hurdle to get over, and then the bump track itself was so fun at the top but then it was pretty steep towards the bottom so by the end we were pretty happy when it flattened out because our hands were sore from braking, it was a new experience to go down it and experience it.”

Binder said that the experience of racing together was something that they both enjoyed.

“It was cool, we haven’t done pairs racing together, it was nice to be able to share it, we each had our different strengths and took it in turns going at the front but it was good, a great four days with different riding, we got a bit of everything,” she said.

The final day of Reef to Reef also included the 31st running of the famous Triple-R, with hundreds of riders taking part in the iconic single-day event.

Reef to Reef comment – The IRONMAN Group Oceania Spokesperson

“During the third stage of this year’s Reef to Reef, a significant number of riders took a wrong turn which led them onto another trail off the marked course. These riders followed conflicting signage that had been installed that morning for an upcoming running event that crossed the Reef to Reef course, which caused confusion. Following this, a mixture of riders doing the correct and incorrect courses crossed the finish line. As a result of this, the Commissaire, in consultation with event organisers, decided that results for the stage would be neutralised, with results from stage three not counting towards the overall General Classification for any riders.”

Reef to Reef – General Classification

Men’s Pairs
Commtel Coast Off Road – Joel Green & Tali Lane Welsh – 4:06:48
Insert Team Name Here – Cameron Wright & Aden De Jager – 4:23:40
LaBiles – Lachlan Allison & Benjamin Iles- 4:28:14

Mixed Pairs
Shimano MyRide – Emma Viotto & Karl Michelin-Beard – 4:57:13
#SparkThatChat – Kirsty McCallum & Max Williams – 5:09:06
Salt Shakes – Emily Hill & Michael Denton – 5:14:59

Women’s Pairs
Trek Shimano Australia – Meaghan Stanton & Zoe Binder – 5:25:22
Western Reefers – Karis Aplin & Sarah Dunnage – 6:24:19
Kath and Al – Kathryn Deed & Alex Hall – 6:34:26

For more on Reef to Reef visit: https://reeftoreefmtb.com/

Reef to Reef is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar.

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Folks who sign up for this race will be some of the first in the country to ride the trails at Gravity Eden because the network is opening just for the race — literally. Initially, Gravity Eden was supposed to open in July, but they’ve had basically no rain, and the trails need some moisture to cure before the public can be let loose on them.

“They were a bit concerned the event would come in and damage everything, so we went back down last week and revisited the course I put together back in March, and tried to redesign things around the trails they were concerned about,” says McGuire. “What we’ve ended up with is a pretty similar course; it’s going to be amazing.”

They were talking about delaying opening till November, but they’ve agreed to open for us that weekend,” he says.

• We scored a sneak peek of Gravity Eden back in April. Click here to see what’s waiting for you on the trails

Wait, isn’t there some other big Quad Crown news?

Before we dive into The Orca course preview, the event team has just announced a major change of venue for the fourth and final event in the 2023 series. Due to unforeseen delays in the construction of the Omeo MTB Park, the final stop on the Quad Crown calendar, nicknamed The Black Pearl, will set sail for Newcastle, NSW, from November 10-12, 2023.

“People that have done Port to Port before will have a general idea of what to expect, but we are changing everything up about the courses,” says McGuire.

This is a spiritual homecoming for the Quad Crown crew, who were the original team behind the Port to Port. It’s safe to say they know the area pretty well, but as McGuire explains, establishing a fifth event venue is a handy thing to have in your back pocket.

“We’ll have an event structure with the format and the way we run things established so in future years, say, for instance, on the Sunshine Coast, there is major construction at Parklands for the Olympics, we’ve got that fifth event that we can place in and out at different times of the year,” he says.

As this change has only just been announced, lots of things are still to be confirmed. What we do know is that the course will hit Glenrock, Whitebridge, Redhead, Fernleigh, and Awaba. As the event comes a little closer, we’ll have a detailed preview. Stay tuned!

Quad Crown 2023 | The Orca

Following on from The Sunny 80, The Orca will utilise the same two-stage and a prelude format spanning Friday to Sunday.

Prelude | Eden | 10km

Friday afternoon will kick off at the Gravity Eden trailhead for the prelude. This sets not only the start waves to be used the following day but also the baseline for the Warrior Crown. For this competition, your average speed is calculated based on your time through the course, which is then used like a handicap in golf to compare your performance across the stages. The rider who outperformed their handicap by the most wins the Warrior Crown.

The course itself is a figure-eight loop. The trail names in Eden haven’t been revealed as of yet, so we can’t tell you too much, but the course will head north first on what McGuire tells us is the only trail that runs in a counterclockwise direction, which will make a loop and bring you back to the trailhead.

After that, the bottom half of the figure-eight takes in a loop south of the trailhead. These trails all existed before work started on the new trail network, but Contour Works has given them a once over, and McGuire says they are looking spectacular.

The stage is undulating for the entire 10km, and the climbs are brand new, perfectly built up trails — think uphill berms, McGuire even goes as far as to say they are fun — and there is a creek crossing you’ll navigate twice.

McGuire wasn’t able to target a specific crux, where folks will either lose or gain time, but he did say the final 300m uphill drag to the finish is a time you’ll want to chew stem.

Stage 1 | Tathra | 35km

Stage One is a 45-min road trip north to Tathra. This is one of the old guards of riding spots on the South Coast, and some of the trails have been here for well over a decade.

“The trails have been here for many, many years, but they go to a lot of trouble to keep them in good nick. There are some new flow trails, but we’re using a lot of tracks that people will be familiar with, that have been there for a long time,” says McGuire.

The stage will start and finish at the Tathra Hotel — literally outside the front door — located just below the headland.

“They have a beer garden outback that overlooks the ocean, so the plan is to have the start and finish right there. We will roll up Bega Street in a controlled rollout and then turn left and plunge down to the southern side of the trail network, heading towards Wallagoot Lake,” he says.

McGuire tells us this section is mostly fire trails, ducking in and out of singletrack for about the first 13km. On the way back, the course takes in some old-fashioned XC tracks en route to Bundadung.

“Once we’ve done the 17km loop of the Bundadung trails, we come back over Bega Street, and blast along behind all the properties. Just on the edge of town, there is a fire break on the edge of the bush, and we make our way back to the Tathra Hotel. We pop out on the main road about 300m above the hotel, turn right and fly down through the finish line, then around the back of the hotel, where you’ll grab a beer, sit down and look at the ocean,” he says.

McGuire tells us there aren’t any major climbs that stick out that will obliterate the field, but he says the key to success on this stage will be keeping it upright through Bundadung, and keeping something in the tank for the last kilometre before you cross back over Bega street into the finish.

Stage 2 | Eden | 46.5km

The Orca finale completes the crescendo of the event. With about 1100m of climbing over 45.6km, it will be hard-fought, but it’s well worth the effort.

“You go north of the network on a fire trail loop. In the first 5km, you’re basically going up about 300m of elevation, and then it’s up and down for the next five kilometres, all on fire trails. It’ll spread the field out and basically give everyone the opportunity to ride the singletrack on their own,” says McGuire

That space will be much appreciated when you first dip into the singletrack, an unnamed at the time of writing, 8km wilderness trail, which will filter riders back into the event centre at the trailhead after about 18km.

Then it’s over to the northern side of the network to ride a loop in the existing trails where the Prelude was held.

“But this time, when you’re on that side, you keep climbing up trails that run parallel to Nethercote Road to the high point of the park. After probably 20 min of climbing, you come back down a descent that took me six minutes when I rode it — it was epic and just kept going and going,” he says.

From there, it’s back up to the top of the park. McGuire tells us at this point in the stage, on this climb, there is about a 2-3km section of fire trail at about 21km. Whoever reaches the top first will likely be the stage winner.

On the way back down, the course will take folks through the 8km wilderness trail again, which will be the last bit of singletrack into the finish.

“We think it’s great that at this stage in the race, you’ve got this climb up on the road that will give everyone a chance to position themselves and empty the tank before heading back into a singletrack climb up to the top. You’ve already done the wilderness trail before, so you know what to expect — where to brake and where you don’t need to — so everyone gets a second go at it in the race. It will be fantastic,” he says.

“I don’t want to overstate it, but mate, people need to be at this one. It’s going to be epic. Especially with the crescendo to Sunday — a lot of people will know what to expect with Tathra, which will still be a great day riding. But this Sunday stage is absolutely awesome,” he says.

How do I sign up for Quad Crown The Orca?

Entries for Quad Crown, The Orca are open now. Head over to the Quad Crown website for more information or details.

The post Quad Crown goes gravity | The Orca stage race headed for Gravity Eden appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Starting in Smithfield, the race runs up to Davies Creek, goes exploring around Mount Molloy and then returns to the coast via the infamous Bump Track. This year, the race will run from August 17-20, so clear your calendars folks, because it’s time for a tropical riding vacation.

Related:

• Flow Destination Hub: Cairns
• Flow Destination Hub: Atherton

Wait, what happened to the Port to Port?

Before the pandemic, the Australian leg of the Epic series went Port to Port, Reef to Reef, and Cape to Cape, forming what became known as the Triple Crown. With Covid and then a La Nina cycle that brought multiple one-in-a-hundred-year rain events and floods, it’s not been easy for events to find their feet after being forced to press pause.

Ironman had to make the difficult call back in January to press pause on Port to Port once again. This comes the year after the same event was called off the week of because of adverse weather and landslides.

“We did what we could last year to get that event away, and then to have to cancel it the week of was hard. The trails were unrideable, and roads were disappearing down hillsides — it wasn’t safe or doable to run an event (in those conditions),” says Devon Beckman from Ironman.

Unfortunately, it takes a while to recover from this kind of unprecedented wet weather. For example, Mount Faulk Road (the access road to Awaba) was closed above a trail called Faulk Line due to a significant landslide in July 2022 and did not reopen until May 2023 — a month after the event was supposed to run. With the queen stage of the Port to Port going from The Watagans into Awaba via the road that’s slid, this created quite an issue for the course team.

“It took a long time for things to recover, and it got to a point where we would have had to find two new stages, which wasn’t really doable in the area. The race had lost some local support, and combined with difficult trail conditions, we had to make another difficult call. It’s super gutting because it’s an important part of the series, but also, Port to Port has some history — I think it was coming up to its seventh or eighth edition. It was really disappointing,” says Beckman.

Beckman tells us that Reef to Reef and Cape to Cape are running strong, and they are committed to making the four-day stage race work in Australia, and getting those events across the line.

Ok, tell me about Reef to Reef 2023

With all that out of the way, the Reef to Reef is rumbling ahead, and Beckman tells Flow that the event will look similar to last year — which was a ball! If you don’t believe us, check out Mick’s recap from the 2023 race.

“All four states will have the same start and finish venues and similar course layouts — we’re just tweaking things here and there. Both Smithfield and Davies Creek have new trails that have been added in, but the overall feel of the stages will be the same,” says Beckman.

Beckman tells Flow the vast majority of the race will feel familiar to those who’ve raced one of the previous editions, and the event team will be making minor tweaks based on what they learned from last year to help things run even more smoothly.

“It’s things like the time we put between the wave starts to help with congestion, or with (start) timing because some of the stages are quite far — how can we move that around to make it easier on riders,” he says.

It’s still a few weeks before the final course maps will be announced, Beckman predicts they’ll be ready early in July, but here’s what we can tell you about the stage routes.

Reef to Reef Stage 1 | Smithfield

Last year’s stage at Smithfield was 18.5km with 720m of climbing. There are a few new trails close to the trailhead, so we expect those may make the 2023 course. With that said, we’re willing to guarantee Black Snake, Red Belly, and Pipeline will be on the agenda and, of course, Jacob’s Ladder.

Reef to Reef Stage 2 | Davies Creek

Heading up into the tablelands for stage two, Davies Creek subs in scrubby bushland, granite-lined gullies and termite mounds for the lush rainforest.

With a labyrinth of windy trails, 50% of last year’s 39.5km stage was on singletrack. Beckman tells us that a brand new trail replaces a section of farm Ttrack, so that number should be even higher for 2023.

Beckman tells us the stage presentation and rehydration station won’t be at the start-finish area, as the trails here are on Aboriginal land, and alcohol is not permitted. So the food trucks and bar will await you back in town.

“Last year, a lot of riders actually went to Davies Creek after the stage for a swim, and there’s also a waterfall nearby. There’s certainly a lot of watering holes and spots to go for a dip to after the stage,” says Beckman.

Reef to Reef Stage 3 | Mount Molloy

Stage three at Mount Molloy is the longest of the three, coming in at 59km. Starting on the main street of town, you roll onto Wetherby Road, taking in cattle farms and cane fields and then into the lush green rainforest. A stage of contrasts, from dry, dusty farm tracks to the deep dark rainforest, this one is definitely an adventure, so expect plenty of creek crossings and spectacular views.

“We were hoping to add in the two bridge sections that had been on this course in the past. But it’s currently under work and won’t be finished in time for the event, so the stage will be the same as last year,” Beckman tells us.

Reef to Reef Stage 4 | The Triple R

The final stage of the Reef to Reef starts in Mount Molloy and descends the infamous Bump Track to Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas, where a party is waiting.

Serving as the crescendo to wrap up four days of racing in Tropical North Queensland, the last stage can also be raced on its own as the Triple R. Standing for Rural Rainforest Reef 2023 will be the 31st edition, and it’s the longest-running point-to-point mountain bike race in Australia.

Pioneered by Glen Jacobs and Peter Blakey, the race follows more or less the same route it always has, with a few tweaks every year.

“It’s a pretty historic race for Australian mountain biking, and it’s a pretty big one for that local mountain biking community too. We definitely saw a few folks come out of the woodwork last year for the 30th and a couple of guys racing on their old bikes and in the old kit. It was pretty cool, and we’re keen to keep the momentum going,” says Beckman.

What else is there to do when the race is over?

The wonderful thing about stage racing is that when you cross the finish line and head over to the presentation, there is still plenty of daylight to check out the area. Even better, Tropical North Queensland is chock full of things to keep you busy — trust us, you’ll have no trouble filling the rest of your day.

Related:

• Riding and Exploring Tropical North Queensland

Smithfield is just ouside the heart of Cairns, and while you’ll have missed the boat — literally — on a charter out to the Great Barrier Reef, it’s worth building in a day before or after the race to go snorkeling. It’s one of the world’s seven wonders, after all.

In the meantime, AJ Hackett’s Skypark is next door to the trail network and boasts 16 different styles of Bungy Jumping. Stoney Creek is a little more than a 10km drive from the trailhead at Smithfield to wash off all the orange dust from the stage.

For some carbo-loading L’Unico Trattoria Italiano at Trinity Beach does not disappoint, or some brewskies by the water at Hemingway’s will go down a treat.

From Davies Creek, there is a swimming hole maybe five minutes from the start and finish area and Davies Creek Falls and Emerald Creek Falls are also close by. Be sure to stop at Emerald Creek Ice Creamery on your way back from the trails — trust us. Mareeba is home to one of the few remaining drive-in movie theatres and a double feature is not a bad way to unwind after a day on the bike.

Mount Molloy is a pretty quiet little town, but there is a great country pub and the Mount Molloy Cafe has won several awards for its MONSTER-sized burgers — they also serve Mexican food, what an eclectic mix!

Once you’ve conquered The Bump Track and Rinsed off at Four Mile Beach, there’s also a Hemingway’s taproom in Port Douglas to wet your whistle. If you’re staying on a few days, you can also jump on reef charters from here or head to the Low Isles, which are a bit more affordable, and the tours are only half a day. There’s also Hartleys Croc farm halfway between Cairns and Port Douglas.

How do you enter the 2023 Reef to Reef?

With the race just over a month away, Beckman tells us there is already a decent-sized field, and entries are tracking at a similar level to last year — though he notes they are noticing more people are leaving events until the last minute.

Entries for the 20223 Reef to Reef are open now, head over to the event website for more information or to enter.

The post Escaping Winter | Get ready for the 2023 Reef to Reef appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

About four hours south of Sydney, Mogo will soon be home to one of the biggest MTB developments in mainland Australia. Still, as the man behind goodnessgravel, Will Levy, says, it’s also a mecca for gravel riding.

With a chilly morning turning into a beautiful winter day on the NSW South Coast, there was a field of 230 riders, and Levy tells us they only had a handful of folks pull out and a couple of mechanicals, but still managed about a 99% finisher rate.

“It couldn’t have gone any more perfect. You put your heart and soul into these things, and people finish the event, and they are beaming — they are just like that was the best, and that’s kind of why you do it,” says Levy.

One such rider was the first to finish on the 75km course and managed to stay with the lead moto for the whole ride.

“He was like, I had a motorbike guide for the whole time, that’s never happened to me before. He guided me around everywhere, and I didn’t have to look at my Garmin. I felt like a pro,” he says. “It’s those little stories that make it all worth it.”

Small field and morning magic

Goodnessgravel is not one of your mega-huge events where you’re just a number plate in a sea of people. Levy, who ran these massive events with thousands of riders in a previous life, keeps goodnessgravel small and intimate.

“Because of the size of the event, you don’t have to get set off in waves or anything like that, you just go with the guys and gals doing your same distance, and then everyone settles into their own groups,” says Chris Visvis who rode the 130km course.

The Mogo event is the hardest of the series, and three course distances are available — 40km, 70km and 130km.

“Mogo is pretty hilly, so you get sorted out pretty quickly. There is a big hill in the first 10km. If you don’t have what it takes to keep up with the lead group, you find your people pretty fast,” says Visvis.

In that first 10km, the hectic climb also came with a pretty gnarly descent that was rutted and bumpy. It was not a surprise, and the event team warned the riders about it, however it was still one that folks had to make their way through.

“If you took your fingers off the brakes, you’d be going 70kph, and it’s got huge ruts. It’s probably the worst part of the course, and it’s in the first 11km,” laughs Levy. “We didn’t have any crashes, but a few people lost water bottles. The tail-end guy in the car picked them up and took them to the first rest stop,” Levy says.

Once the descent scaries had worn off, the area’s beauty began to shine through — literally. From water crossing to gravel switchbacks that showed off the grandeur of the place, Mogo turned on the scenery.

In the morning, there is light coming through the trees, and it’s cold, and there is a bit of dew and dust coming off the road. The morning gravel sections, even if they were a climb, whatever — it was absolute magic,” says Visvis

The aid stations

Goodnessgravel does a lot of things well, but one of the things they do extraordinarily well is aid stations.

With the figure-eight format of the course, the aid station is placed in the middle at a small town called Nelligen, where you cross twice, at about 40km the first time and 100km the second time on the long course. There is live music, good vibes and all of the food.

“The doughnuts were so welcomed,” laughs Visvis. “No other event I’ve been to has had fresh, really nice cinnamon doughnuts ready to go. They had all the race nutrition and stuff like that, but also tonnes of good food that everyone was into as well.”

The second stint

There are two distinct groups of riders at goodnessgravel, the folks who are there to compete — even though there is no podium or even a running clock — and the folks who are there to just enjoy themselves and everything in between.

“For the next 60km, I rode with my mates. It (the pace) was prompt, but it wasn’t ridiculously quick. We just had some banter, and regrouped at the top of every hill and just had a good time riding the course,” says Visvis.

This section goes up for a loop through Boyne State Forest and South Brooman State Forest before tracing the Clyde River back to Nelligen and the aid station. Visvis tells us the view of the river was one of his favourite parts.

“You never get a clear shot of the river, and you can only see it through the trees, but it’s so picturesque and so beautiful,” he says.

Once you get through that first rough and tumble descent, the gravel roads included in the course are pretty smooth and fast flowing. After the second trip to the rest stop, it’s all undulating gravel until the final boss, the last climb at about 120km. Lovingly called the Will We Walk Climb (WWW for short), this 4km ascent is the final challenge of the day. Once you hit the top, it’s smooth sailing to the finish.

“It’s undulating gravel until you hit that last major climb. With 100km in your legs or four or five hours, that last climb is really tough. Me and a buddy went for it on that last climb and sent it, trying to beat each other for the last 30km. Even though it wasn’t a race, you can still have some fun and be competitive if you want,” Visvis says.

And then it’s onto the finish, where they ring the bell as you cross the line, and hand you a non-alcoholic beer from one of their sponsors Heaps Normal and a chocolate — regardless of whether you finish first or are the last one across.

“The atmosphere is so good at the finish. This being a smaller event, it’s organised as well as any of the big ones, but it feels more personal. Will, the event organiser, is just coming and talking to people — that’s a really nice feeling.

With two stops of the 2023 goodnessgravel series in the books, that means only Gundy remains. Taking in the best gravel roads in the Upper Hunter region, the event runs on October 15. Get more info or signup over on the goodnessgravel website — we’ll see you there.

Photos: Outer Image Collective / @outerimage.au

The post Good times and even better doughnuts at goodnessgravel Mogo appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

With a stacked field of elites and some very excited folks in the masters and e-MTB categories, folks came from long and far looking to escape the first few weeks of winter.

“We gave it the nickname The Sunny 80, with the Sunshine Coast and what we were hoping for in terms of weather — we certainly had our fingers crossed. Everybody was commenting they’d left their hometowns freezing and raining. We probably had the most beautiful weather in Australia that weekend I reckon,” says Race Director Jason Dover.

What is the Quad Crown?

From the same crew that brought us the Cape to Cape and Port to Port back in the late 2000s, the Quad Crown is new series of mini-stage races.

Taking riders to places that they have never raced, and many never have ridden at all, each stop consists of a prelude and two XCM stages. The first stop was in Devonport, and this race on the Sunshine Coast was the second. Eden and Omeo still on the agenda.

It is a series, points are up for grabs at each event, and there will be an overall winner, both in the overall standings and for the Warrior Crown at the end.

Want to know more about the Quad Crown and the other events in the series? Check out our full explainer article here.

Prelude | Sugarbag | Sweeter than honey

Friday afternoon saw folks take to Sugarbag Road, a small feature rich trail network initially constructed by a local firefighter on a disused piece of land. This little pocket park is home to handbuilt flow trails and plenty of man-made wooden features.

The 7.5km course allowed folks to get their legs ticking over, set the seeding for the rest of the race, and the baseline for the Warrior Crown.

“We had to make a last-minute change and take out one track that had deteriorated a bit,” says Dover. “The trail we replaced it with was more challenging and had a couple of pinchy climbs, but the riders were loving it. It was an absolute blast for the top end of the field and a good challenge for everyone in the middle and towards the back.”

In the Elite category, Cameron Ivory set the fastest pace, but Dan McConnell and Cameron Wright were in hot pursuit, with only 17 seconds separating the top three.

For Peta Mullens, winner of The Wild Penguin, pre-riding the trails at Sugar Bag paid off as she finished the prelude 45 seconds quicker than Katherine Hosking, Holly Lubke and Jessica Manchester.

Then it was off to Moffat Brewing Co, for the welcome event and some rehydration.

Stage 1 | Parklands | 30km that felt like 50km

Kicking off the first official stage, the course team had laid out a challenge at Parklands; set to host the 2023 Brisbane Olympics, the riders were in for 32km with over 1,100m of climbing. While on paper this may not sound out of hand, Course Designer Liam Dover told us it would feel like a 50km stage.

“It probably lived up to that, and because it was stage one, it probably created the hype for everyone to chew down on the handlebars and get into it,” he says.

“The technical singletrack and the flowing sections rode really, really well, and it just made it a cracking stage,” he continues.

Parklands is known for its narrow trails and chunky tech that will zap your speed and energy, with a bit of flowing fast singletrack sprinkled in for good measure. Even with the difficulty of the stage, they had almost a 100% finishing rate in the field.

The pace off the front of the race was blistering, with McConnell, Ivory and Wright breaking away from the start. McConnell was putting in some serious watts trying to make up time and finished the course in just under two hours. He ended up four seconds ahead of Ivory — not enough to take the overall lead. Wright would ride in 26 seconds back for third.

Peta Mullens continued her winning streak with a 2-minute gap back to second-placed Hosking. Manchester would round out the podium, riding in about 9-minutes back.

The social event was at Black Flag Brewing, which is only a short distance from the beach. We hear there weren’t any waves left on the beach, because Paul van der Ploeg caught them all.

Stage 2 | Ferny Forest | The short one

The Quad Crown Team had a last-minute curveball. An approval issue in the week leading up to the event meant the final stage had to be split into two.

“It came through last minute, and the team were able to put our heads together to come up with a really good solution. After the race, heaps of people were really happy about the format, which was really positive.  It wasn’t how we set out to do it, but it turned out to work really well,” he says.

The morning took riders on a 10km romp through Ferny Forest on the southern end of Ewen Maddock Dam. The new shortened course started with a 750m fire road drag race into the singletrack.

“There was real racing into the start of the singletrack, and not just in the Elite waves. There was a lot of good racing in the waves further down the field, which was fun,” he says.

With fresh temps in the forest and not all that much elevation to conquer, the motors were running hot, and the riders were absolutely flying through the lush green surrounds.

Racing on familiar trails, Brisbane local Wright made a big move early in the stage and gap race leader Ivory by five seconds, and McConnell by a minute. The top four in the Women’s Elite,  Mullens, Hosking, Lubcke and Manchester, were unable to create any gaps and sprinted into the finish as a group. With that, Mullens would retain her lead in the General Classification.

Stage 2.5 | Mooloolah Valley | Extra credit racing that changed everything

With a short break to refuel between stages, riders then made their way to the Mooloolah Valley to start stage 2.5. Riding the remaining 20km of what had been initially planned out, the race blazed along the old rail easement through the tunnel Dularcha Railway Tunnel and into the National Park, which is known for its steep climbs. Then it was back to Ewen Maddock for a lap around the Dam.

“We thought the Railway tunnel would be the highlight, but we put it in so early, everybody sort of forgot about it. A lot of the comments were around Dularcha (National Park) and how hard the start was in terms of technical climbing,” he says.

Dover says the tough start was intended to string out the field so that when they got over to Ewen Maddock, they had a clean run through and could enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

Wright and McConnell were putting in attack after attack to try and break Ivory, but he had the legs and maintained his overall lead. Wright leapfrogged McConnell into second place, with the Olympian rounding out the podium.

With a comfortable lead coming into the final stage, a missed turn by Mullens would shake up the race. Hosking would put three minutes into the Bendigo local, taking the overall win, with Manchester riding into third place in the GC.

In the Masters Race, Jacqui Allen and Gary Purtell would take their respective categories, and Matthew Lineham-Blair won the e-MTB race.

The Sunny 80 also saw new faces coronated King and Queen. The Warrior Crown is awarded to riders who perform the handicap set during the prelude, based on average speed. The new royalty coordinated on the Sunshine Coast are King Rusty Mark, and Queen Jayne Rutter.

“The weather was amazing, and so was the attitude of everyone that came, it was just fun,” Dover says. Even the elite racing had just a nice vibe to it, they were all having a laugh.

Dover told us the story of an e-MTBer who was in the top 20 after the prelude. “He was quick to say I’d love to ride up there with those guys, but I’m going to make sure I’m not in the way so I don’t stuff up the race”.

“On stage two, he was sitting on the back of the second group chasing the leaders, I’ve never seen a smile on a punter’s face quite like it. He came through a point and was like, “This is unreal, these blokes are machines.” He was having the best time,” says Dover.

Taking a short break for winter, The Quad Crown headed south to Eden to race the soon-to-open trails in Nullica State Forest. The Orca, named for the Killer Whales known to frequent this region of the NSW Sapphire Coast, will run from 8-10 September 2023. Head to the Quad Crown website for more info or to register.

The post Your Order Of Warm Weather Has Been Delivered | The Quad Crown Sunny 80 crowns two new royals on the Sunshine Coast appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

First running in the late 2000s as the Red Centre MTB Enduro, The Redback has come a long way. With a smaller, more intimate field, easy race logistics and a course like nowhere else in Australia, The Redback is a four-day stage race that should definitely be on your calendar this year.

We caught up with Adele Worner from Rapid Ascent to discover what’s new for the 2023 Redback MTB stage race.

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• Flow Destination Hub: Alice Springs, NT
• Sunsets, red dirt and singletrack | What’s happening in Alice Springs?

A and B-line options and the Central Australian Rough Riders

The basic format of The Redback remains unchanged, with the tried and true six stages in four days making a return for 2023. However, for this year, there are what Rapid Ascent are calling A and B-line options

“The A-line are the original distances we’ve always done, but they could be seen as quite challenging. So putting in a shorter B-line option opens the door to more riders, folks looking for a more social experience and also juniors,” says Worner.

Now every stage except for the ANZAC Hill Climb gets a B-Line option — that stage is only 300m long — with the longest being Stage 6, which is 25km (compared to the 52km A-line), and the shortest being Stages 4 and 5 which are 18km long (compared to 22km).

The idea to offer shorter stages came out of Rapid Ascent officially partnering with the Central Australian Rough Riders MTB club to facilitate the race. This means volunteers but also playing a role in the course design.

“They do a lot of upkeep out there and know the good bits and what’s running well. They are working with our directors John (Jacoby) and Sam (Maffett), to come up with the best combination of trails for each day,” she says.

The Redback Course Preview

The event will still follow the same format, with multiple stages on the first and third days. But along with the shorter options, Worner tells Flow they’ve aimed to incorporate fresh areas of the trails around Alice Springs.

“I guess it’s about people getting bang for their buck with big long stages — seeing more and experiencing all the different terrain Alice Springs offers. Including some of the newer areas,” she says.

Stage 1

The Redback kicks off on the Araluen trails west of town. Both the courses stay together for the first 12km taking in some of the highlights on this side of the network before they diverge. The A-Line will then hit The Hell Line in a clockwise direction, while the B-Line shortcuts up Tunnel Rats to rejoin the course on the lower half of Road Train. Then it’s onto the Larapinta track, running onto Arrwe into the Old Telegraph Station.

Stage 2

Don’t crack a beer yet because you’re not done for day one of The Redback. Kicking off at 4:30pm is the infamous ANZAC Hill climb. It may only be 300m and is often wrapped up in a little over one minute, this is arguably the most electric stage.

“It’s always a spectacle, like at the Tour de France when people cheer on both sides of the road. You have to sprint past them, and everyone gets into it — over the years, we’ve had people dress up. At the top, there is a popup bar, and that’s where the celebration is,” says Worner.

Stage 3

Stage 3 is a more traditional XCM race at Telegraph Station for the halfway mark of The Redback. Kicking off with some 4WD track, the race quickly jumps onto singletrack and stays there for more or less the remainder of the stage.

The A-Line course hits Stimsons, Perente, Carl’s, Sink Track, Eagle and many more. The B-Line takes a shortcut at 9km to cut out the big loop around the northern end of the network and the loop back through town to rejoin the course for the finale on Arrwe.

Stage 4 and 5

Day three sees riders hit more or less the same loop twice. Once during the day as an individual time trial and again after dark as a mass start race.

Starting and finishing at the Alice Springs Golf Club, the course follows a 4WD track that swaps from hard-packed and rocky to sandy in an instant before kitting Kim’s Track for rocky technical singletrack, so be on your toes. Then it’s Station Boundary Track before turning onto Emily’s Track for a descent. Try and recover on the way down because then it’s up Sunset Hill and a loooong descent back to the Golf Course, completing the 22km loop.

The B-Line course shortcuts straight to the 12 Hour track towards Sunset Hill for an 18km loop.

For the fifth stage, folks will hit the same loop, so the terrain will be familiar, but this time, you’ll need to bring your own illumination and ride with all your friends. Rapid Ascent makes it a party with tunes blasting as riders take off into the darkness.

Stage 6

According to Rapid Ascent, stage six is designed to end the race on a high note and hit only Alice Springs’s best trails.

And the route reads like an Alice Springs best hits album; Thunderbox, Stimsons, Horse/Eagle DH and more for a 52km masterpiece.

The B-line has two shortcuts that cut out the big loop around the northern end of the network and to the east, rejoining for the final 16 km of the loop course, totalling 24.9km.

What sets The Redback apart?

Alice Springs is like no other mountain biking destination in Australia, and it’s just about purpose-built for an event like The Redback.

With nearly 200km of singletrack surrounding the town on all sides, it makes the whole racing experience easy.

“With most of the other stage races, you have to move around. This one (The Redback), you’re in one spot, you can roll to the start lines from your accommodation, we take care of transfers for you, and there is a social program. You don’t need a car, and everything is within riding distance. Everything is easy,” says Worner.

On course, you’ll find fully stocked aid stations, and they’ll even do clothing drops to the finish so you can ditch the sweaty bibs for the presentation.

The Redback is also a smaller event than some other stage races, but that is by design.

“It’s a niche event, and you wouldn’t want to be out there with 1,000s of other people. Enjoying the trails is a big factor for us, and people come away from the event with lifelong friendships because it’s a smaller group and there is space on the trails,” she says.

Then there is the weather. Outside of the rainy season, the climate in Alice Springs is extraordinarily stable. And while the rest of us are freezing our buns off wrapped in layer after layer of blankets, the Red Centre is a balmy 20C with blue skies, every day.

Worner also stressed there is a major misconception that Alice Springs is flat and dull. This could not be any more wrong. There are hills, lots of ’em, and the trails take in everything from tight, rocky and tech to wide open, fast and flowy — with no mud to be seen anywhere.

Entries to the 2023 Redback are open now, head over the Rapid Ascent website for more info or to book your spot!

The post Pack your sunscreen, The Redback is headed to Alice Springs this August appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Taking to the trails on the Sunshine Coast, the Quad Crown is looking to build on the success of its first event, course guru Liam McGuire gave us a sneak peek at what he’s cooked up in the land of XXXX and beautiful beaches.

See what you missed at the first stop of the Quad Crown, The Wild Penguin

Related

• Smiles all around | The Quad Crown Series kicks off with The Wild Penguin
• Quad Crown re-launches four stop stage racing series for 2023

Prelude | Sugarbag Road | 10km

The first stop of The Sunny 80 will be a 10km rip around the trails at Sugarbag Road near Caloundra.

The prelude is the rider versus the clock and is used to seed the starting waves for the next day. It also creates the baseline for the Warrior Crown. Here a rider’s average speed is tracked, and the individuals who show the most improvement through the race are crowned King and Queen.

McGuire tells Flow that for the locals who are familiar with Sugarbag, the prelude course will be familiar, as it takes in an extremely popular route that links just about every trail together without hitting anything twice.

“We’ve aimed to hit all the best tracks there. There’s one called Syrup that’s really good, then there’s Willy Wonka, Party Mix and Sweet Sugar, to name a few,” he says. “Syrup will definitely be the highlight. The rest (of the course) is old-fashioned singletrack. Whereas Syrup, you come into that, and it’s machine built, big berms and flow track right in the middle of the stage — it’ll be pretty nice.”

Sugarbag is arguably best known for its wooden features. Some are a bit much to expect folks to hit completely blind and at race pace, however, McGuire says some of the more XC-appropriate wooden features do make an appearance.

They expect the elite riders to set times below the 30 min mark on the 10km loop, while it could take as long as 35min for the punters.

Once you’ve had time to de-dust your shins and ditch your bib shorts, The Sunny 80 welcome event is at Moffat Beach Brewing Co, conveniently located about a kilometre as the crow flies from the trailhead.

Stage 1 | Parklands | 32km

Set to host the 2032 Olympics, Parklands is best known for its narrow, rough and technical riding. And while this first stage is only 32km, McGuire tells us it’s going to feel more like 50km.

Starting and finishing on the north side of the park at Hidden Valley @ Gro Mad Plantations, the stage kicks off with 400-500m climbing before sending folks into the trail network.

“Then it’s straight into one of the best singletrack sections in the park called Lush. It’s a green-level trail and is really popular with local families. But for good riders, it’s really fast and fun,” says McGuire.

Then it’s back out onto fire trails for about 4km to allow for passing and alleviate any traffic jams on the way to the far side of the park.

“When we get back into the singletrack, it’s onto a section called Hoe Chi Ho, and from there, it’s onto Road Rage,” says McGuire. “Hoe Chi Ho is a really fun trail, but Road Rage, particularly when you can carry speed over roots and rock gardens; it’s really challenging but really rewarding.”

The second half of the course is almost entirely on singletrack, and McGuire tells Flow it takes in an interesting mix of rugged, loose and challenging trail, mated to fast machine-built singletrack.

This will be an extremely physical stage, and is likely to be won or lost on the climb out of Road Rage.

“Especially when you come to the end of Road Rage, and you climb back up before crossing (onto a trail called) Cancer Tree, when fatigue starts to set in, there are some really techy, sharp climbs and tight switchbacks,” McGuire says.

The last 2km of the course on is back on fire roads, complete with some nasty pinch climbs. So if there are any groups together, you can expect fireworks.

McGuire expects the stage through Parklands to take the elites about two hours, and close to three hours for the remainder of the field.

For the rehydration and recovery session after stage one, the event will head down to Black Flag Brewing, which is only a few hundred metres from Mooloolaba Beach, so don’t forget to bring your togs and go for a dip.

Stage 2 | Ewen Maddock Dam and Ferny Forest, 37km

For the final stage, riders will head south from Parklands, for 37km around Ewen Maddock Dam and Ferny Forest.

Kicking off from the western side of the Dam at the Mooloolah Country Club, the stage rolls out with a neutral start along Connection Road, through the central business area of Mooloolah and into Dularcha National Park.

“Within about the first 1.5km, we let them go (and the racing starts) through an old (94m long) disused railway tunnel,” says McGuire.

The course then sends riders for a loop through Dularcha National Park before coming back over the top of the tunnel. It’s a solid climb designed to break up the field before bombing down the other side into Maddock Park.

“That whole next section is flat, fast double track. It will be hectic with people flying around there, through blind corners, sticks flying everywhere — it will be really fast,” he says.

After a short liaison on Steve Irwin Way, it’s into the Ferny Forest Loop. McGuire tells us they’ve had to modify the loop slightly, slotting in bits of fire trail not to backtrack and exit on the far side of the park towards the Country Club.

“Ferny Forest has great views of the dam, and there are some really fun fast sections. It’s mostly a green trail, but for strong riders, it’s still challenging to ride fast and maintain your speed,” he says. “We exit on the fire trail and then onto Connection Road — we’ve actually got one lane closed so that we can ride along that back to the Start/Finish area,” he says.

McGuire expects the leaders to be back at the Country Club in about 90min with the remainder of the field coming in well under the three-hour mark.

Like The Wild Penguin, the presentations and post-event refreshments will take place at the Start/Finish at the Mooloolah Country Club. It’s a full-on sporting complex, so there are facilities for showers and bike washing, in addition to food, drinks and good times and the coronation of the latest Quad Crown Warrior King and Queen.

Tim Eagling, the King of The Wild Penguin, tells Flow he’s balancing full-time work and a young family along with racing, but is hoping a few things slot into place so he can defend his post.

“I’ve never actually been to Queensland before, so what better way to see the place under race conditions, defending the crown,” he says.

The Sunny 80 lands on the Sunshine Coast June 9-11. Registration is open now. Head over to the Quad Crown website to book your spot.

The post Sunshine Incoming | The Quad Crown is Coming to the Sunshine Coast for The Sunny 80 appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

“When you get back on Sunday afternoon, everybody is pretty tired but happy. Usually, there are a few grumbles about the size of the hills or the weather or whatever, but this time everything just fell into place,” says Graveleur head honcho Mike Israel

“We had the highest finisher rate ever this year,” he says. “We actually had quite a few people who pulled out after day one last year, come back this year and absolutely crush it.”

Related:

• 2023 Avanti Gran Durance Review | An impressive adventure bike on a budget
• On Test | 2023 Focus Atlas adventure bike goes carbon
• Mint Conditions, Gravel for All | goodnessgravel, Glen Innes

This event isn’t a race, and there is no podium, but it’s no walk in the park either. Friend of Flow Laura Renshaw headed out to ride Thunderbolts Adventure seeking a challenge, and it delivered that in spades but with a healthy heaping of scenery.

“(I) Loved the course, and each day was completely different, (with) different climbs and descents. The scenery was next level, just awesome. Fun factor rates very high,” she says.

Day One | To the dingo fence we go!

The first 50km of day one are through scenic rolling farmland, but the climb over Barrington Tops looms large, becoming bigger and bigger as your roll closer. From the start, the ascent spans about 20km, but the first 7km are the hardest.

“Everybody sort of knows it’s coming and are mostly prepared for it, and we also make the bottom our point of no return,” says Israel.

He tells us only one pair of riders took advantage of the turnaround this year, but that wasn’t the last they saw of them.

“We had one guy pull up (at that water station) and say look, I had Covid a few weeks ago. I’m really not feeling great. What are my options,” says Israel. “ We said, well this is the point of no return. You’re probably better off turning around here, we’ll get you food and water, and since you have a car, drive out to Moonan Flat, and we’ll see you at dinner.”

“One of his mates rode back with him, and sure enough, they turned up for dinner and were having a great time. I think he even got out on his bike and rode some of the course on Sunday,” says Israel.

For those who brave the 20km slog to the top of the range, the feed station at the dingo gate at the top was the day’s highlight.

“The view from the dingo gate, beer in hand, overlooking the valley is a core memory, just stunning,” says Renshaw.

Camp | Bonfire, beers and a LOT of brownies

Thunderbolts had a stick jammed into its spokes at the last minute, with the pub pulling out of catering dinner for the event in the final sprint.

“It was a curveball. I got in touch with the caterer who did it last year, and we only had just under two weeks to pull it together. And it worked out better than we could have hoped,” said Israel.

With a full three course meal on offer, including a dessert buffet that would have broken the willpower of even the most dedicated clean eater, with the pub no longer serving dinner, it also changed the whole setup of the night at the campsite.

They were able to get a big bonfire going, there was a bar, and folks just hung out and were merry.

“My favourite part was the location and the people, a huge communal dinner by a fire pit in a beautiful part of the world! New and old friends,” says Renshaw, who had her first night ever sleeping in a swag at Thunderbolts.

Day two | Here comes the rains!

Bright and early the next morning, folks set off from Moonan Flat back towards Gloucester. The riders still have to go back over Barrington Tops, but the course doesn’t backtrack over the same roads.

Either way, folks had to climb back over the range, but it’s worth it. As with yesterday, once you hit the summit of Barrington Tops, your reward is an extended net descent all the way back to the finish. Renshaw tells us that it was another challenging day on the bike, especially backing up 100km rides, and by the end, even the little uphills were taxing on the legs.

“On the big climb, there is a 2-3km ramp that’s about 15% — bitumen, straight up. And people are sort of laughing/cursing their way up. But once you’re at the top, there is this beautiful sort of net downhill, gravel descent to the finish,” Israel says.

On the first day, the weather was nothing short of spectacular. But on day two, something nasty was on the horizon. With a weather system moving late in the day, Israel and his team jumped in a support vehicle to see who was still out there to either turn them around or provide support.

“We went back, and it was freezing — 2°, icy cold rain, blowing a gale. We found this group of four or five guys, and they just had these massive grins on their faces — they were like, how awesome is this? They were fully prepared and just embraced it,” says Israel. They rolled in at about seven o’clock on Sunday night and were just so stoked that they finished and got through the weather.”

Even with the weather at the end, Israel tells us this is the best Thunderbolts Adventure they’ve run so far, and a big part of that was the team of 20 volunteers that came together to ensure things ran smoothly.

Israel tells us at the finish, everyone was already asking when the event is coming back next year, and we have some exciting news. The 2024 Thunderbolts Adventure will run May 18-19 — registration will open in a few weeks.

Renshaw tells Flow she is definitely coming back next year and has sage advice for anyone wanting to give Thunderbolts Adventure a shake.

“I have to stress that training for the event is a must, they give you a bit of a training program to follow. Make sure you’re getting some big rides in, back-to-back days, leading up to the event,” she says. “To see more women would be awesome! It’s a super friendly event.”

For more info on Thunderbolts Adventure or the other events Graveleur runs, head over to their website.

Photos: Josh Stephenson | Ready Aim Media/@ReadyAimMedia

The post A Quest Over Barrington Tops | Two days at Thunderbolts Adventure appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Now in its third year, the Beechworth Granite Classic is a gravel event that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Leave your power meter and your race suit at home, because the Granite Classic is about slowing down and enjoying yourself on some of the best gravel roads in the country, and it’s hard not to with everything the team from Bridge Road sprinkled along the route.

Jono took on the 115km course this year and hasn’t stopped talking about how rad his weekend was ever since.

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• Gravel Roos | The trio of Aussies taking on the Life Time Grand Prix

Rumbles in the tummy

The week before the Granite Classic, I had been battling a stomach bug. In a decision that would make Alone Australia fans start yelling at their televisions, I’ve been caught out drinking river water on a few recent rides, and it seems I’d pushed my luck a little too far. Curled up and worshipping the porcelain deity in the days leading up to the event, I worried I’d come down with giardia.

Even on the morning of, it was a bit iffy as to whether I’d survive the 115km course, and I decided to pedal at least the first 40km and then reevaluate.

This was not helped by a bit of mechanical faffing the day before making the trip from the Big Smoke to Beechworth which left me a day late and a gear short.

In the pursuit of fitting wider tyres on my Bombtrack Arise, I needed to slide my wheel back in the dropouts. By the time I realised that I’d made my chain too short to get into the 36t sprocket in the process, I was already committed. So I’d be riding the event without my easiest gear — idiot!

Fortunately, I not only survived, but even thrived during the event.

Bring on the scenery

The route was extraordinary and well-planned out. It was mega scenic as soon as you popped out of town. I thought I was going to be screwed without my smallest gear, but even with just shy of 2000m climbing over 115km, I managed to grind my way through without the use of my granny gear.

But that didn’t matter, because as soon as you were out of town, it was classic Australiana as far as the eye could see. Rolling hills, sprawling vistas over the Victorian High Country and tangled forests — it was a full-course meal for the eyes to devour.

The bush is alive with music

Part of what makes the Granite Classic the Granite Classic are the surprises the crew from Bridge Road sprinkled along the course. This is what makes the event so special because it takes the seriousness out of it.

Even lined up at the start, everyone was gabbing and bantering, but the chat never trailed off to nervous silence like it does at a race. The jokes kept rolling as we pedalled out of town and didn’t stop until we arrived back many hours later. Now that I think about it, there wasn’t anything serious that I saw all weekend.

It wasn’t all easy, and some suffering was involved — this is an event with bikes, after all — but just as things should have gotten grim, something was always dropped on the side of the road to lift your spirits.

First up, was the guitar shredder with a bright orange amp, doing his best Eddie Van Halen impression on the side of the road and the PB&J quesadillas. Then it was the axeman wielding a double-necked guitar picking out a filthy solo to keep spirits high a few kilometres later.

Who could forget the gauntlet of half-a-dozen drum kits way out in the bush set lining either side of the road playing in unison.

Doughnut nirvana awaits

But the entire day, we’d heard about the doughnut stop. Nirvana in the bush was deep-fried, cinnamon-covered goodness, waiting to be washed down by Bilson’s Lemonade. From well away, you could hear it, with DJ Andras blasting tunes out into the bush. It’s the one day a year Andras gets to combine his love of bikes and music, and he turned the vibes up to 11, beckoning riders in to indulge in some sweet and sour treats. Skip to 9:30 on the track below for a taste of what was ringing out through the gum trees at 90km in. Pretty hard not to get fired up.

By the time we arrived, the lemonade had run dry, but fortunately, a few kilometres up the road one of the local gin distilleries was out with black Russians and spiced apple crumble nips to keep our motors well lubricated.

Maybe it was the gin talking, or perhaps it was the fact that I’d made it to the final push on a bum gut, but the last 15-or-so kilometres were the most fun. There was a wicker couch with a photographer where everyone stopped to commemorate their ride with goofy poses and shenanigans, leading to a sweeping flowy descent. It was one of the day’s steeper and more technical features, rolling down these sweeping hills and onto the Beechworth to Yack Rail Trail.

With all of the rough stuff behind me, the surface of the Rail Trail was a bit like a magic carpet ride. Fast and smooth rolling before the final kick, up to Beechworth. Day Done, time for some skids, slalom, a parma and some lovely Bridge Road refreshments.

Lessons from the day

I rode with my partner Lily, who you would call more of a recreational and utility rider. She commutes to work on her flat bar gravel bike and has never done a proper event before. Going in she was a bit stressed and unsure, but Lily had so much fun that she’s already looking for the next one.

Two of my other mates that came along — who shall remain nameless to protect them from embarrassment — between the pair, one decided not to wear knicks, and the other didn’t pump his tyres up before the start or have his pedals sorted out. Each learned a hard lesson on the day, but both finished with sore cheeks from grinning.

All of this is to say that even though the Beechworth Granite Classic has distances to push experienced riders, it’s approachable and fun. If you make a few mistakes, or aren’t prepared, there will be a group of riders there pedalling at your pace to help you laugh through your hardship and give you a high five and a cheers at the end.

And a word to the wise, if you fit wider tyres to your bike in the lead-up, double-check that your chain is long enough.

We’ll definitely be back next year, hopefully with the rest of the Flow Team in tow. Bridge Road has just released the 2024 dates, and the Beechworth Granite Classic will be back April 19-21. See you there folks!

Photos: Georgina von Marburg, Kristina Vackova/Shimano Australia and Erin Davis Hartwig

The post Good times in Granite | Jono’s reportage from the Beechworth Granite Classic appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

“The decision to postpone the race was not an easy one, and we definitely had all those little voices in our head,” says Event Director Sally Hill. “Smiles were definitely the constant. It was everything that we wanted it to be, and the roll on to the Sunshine Coast is really positive.”

“We’re beside ourselves with the turnout, and the vibe, and the enjoyment level,” she says.

See what you missed at Quad Crown round one, The Wild Penguin

Hitting trails that hadn’t previously been part of a big stage race, including the brand new Raptor Ridge, the Quaddy started with a bang.

It was good times all around, from the elite riders who tested one another across the weekend, we also saw the first test of the Quad Crown’s unique handicapping system to award the Warrior Crowns.

What is the Quad Crown?

Run by the same folks who originally brought us the Cape to Cape and Port to Port back in the late 2000s, the Quad Crown is new series of mini-stage races.

Taking folks to fresh destinations that they have never raced, and many never have ridden at all, each stop consists of a prelude and and two XCM stages. The Wild Penguin in Devonport is the first stop in the series, with Sunshine Coast, Eden and Omeo still on the agenda.

Given that it is a series, points are up for grabs at each event and there will be an overall winner, both in the overall standings and for the Warrior Crown at the end.

• Want to know more about the Quad Crown and the other events in the series? Check out our full explainer article here.

The Wild Penguin

Penguin Prelude

Friday afternoon kicked off with the Prelude, a 10km romp through the Penguin MTB park, using a loop known as the Full Monty, hitting the main loop of the trail network and the Montgomery Loop trail.

Today was key for both the elites and the punters, not only serving as seeding for the start waves but it also set the standard for the handicap used to determine the Warrior Crown standings.

For this, each rider’s average speed was calculated, and then they are ranked based on how they improve through each stage. The riders with the biggest improvement over the entire race are coronated King and Queen.

However for the Prelude itself, it was all about the being the fastest overall, and Jess Manchester and Sam Fox put down the quickest times on course.

Stage 1 | Wild Mersey

With the five starting waves set, the first stage of The Wild Penguin had a last-minute course reroute to include the brand-spankin’ new Raptor Ridge trail at Wild Mersey.

Now covering 59km, the course took in a quick loop on the Warrawee side of the river to hit the bermy goodness of High Voltage before making a beeline for Sheffield via the Railton Express — across the newly rebuilt suspension bridge — to hit the Raptor Ridge wilderness trail, before heading back.

The new stage featured over 1200m of climbing, making it a pretty darn big day on the bike.

For the elites, Peta Mullens was the fastest of the Women’s race, while Tassie local Sam Fox nosed ahead of the Men’s field.

Stage 2 | Wild Mersey

The grand finale of The Wild Penguin jetted to the middle of the Wild Mersey network in Railton for the start.

The day kicked off with a neutral rollout on Crokers Street behind a bright red Tonka Truck before heading into the Sheffield side of the network.

“I don’t think Railton has seen that many people in one place before. Between the riders and the locals who came out, everyone was so stoked with it,” says Hill.

For today the field went for a clockwise loop of southern end of the network, taking in basically everything available without riding the same trail twice, including Ewoks, Gnarvana and Green Mile. Then it was a drag race back to the Seven Sheds brewery for the finish and celebratory beverages.

Again it was Peta Mullens and Sam Fox who crossed the line first today in the elite field.

The first crowns awarded

The Wild Penguin is the first of four events on the Quad Crown calendar. While there are winners in each category on the day, there’s also the Warrior Crown centred around a riders improvement on their handicap. Points are also awarded towards the overall series win, which will be presented at The Big O, in Omeo later this year.

Peta Mullens and Sam Fox would hang on take out the Women’s and Men’s elite races, while Melissa Britt and Timothy Eagling were awarded the Warrior Crown for out-riding their handicap across the weekend.

Yes, they won actual crowns and currently sit atop the Quad Crown thrown, but each also received entries into the next three events to defend their post. As Hill explained to Flow, it’s now theirs to defend.

Next up is The Sunny 80 on the Sunshine Coast. Stay tuned for an event preview. For more on the Quad Crown series, click here.

For full results from the event or to register for the other stops head over to the Quad Crown website, and be sure to follow their Instagram and Facebook for the latest updates.

Photos – Grant Viney and Sam Newton / Magnier Media

The post Smiles all around | The Quad Crown Series kicks off with The Wild Penguin appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Well, it’s basically a cycling event that takes place on unpaved or gravel roads in rural or remote areas. It’s not really a race unless you want it to be. It’s more about the experience of riding together in a safe and social way, with a mix of terrain that provides a unique and challenging adventure.

This was the second edition of goodnessgravel Glen Innes and the sixth in the series of gravel fondos in Gundy, Mogo and Glen Innes.

See the previous edition in Gundy, through the lens of Beardy Mc Beard; click here.

How did it go?

The event started with registration at the Grand Central Hotel on Friday, where the majority of riders signed up. This meant that they all stayed overnight in Glen Innes, supporting local restaurants and contributing to the local economy. Kudos to Will and the team behind goodnessgravel for organizing such an inclusive event that brings together people of all ages and a diverse range of bikes. Big wide streets, and beautiful old buildings set the scene, and vast country roads awaited riders.

On the main day, the weather couldn’t have been better, with crisp autumn weather and clear skies making for perfect riding conditions. It was a day to remember as riders tackled the undulating gravel roads around Glen Innes, enjoying the scenic countryside and the camaraderie of fellow riders, all to the soundtrack of crunchy gravel beneath their tyres.

There were three courses on offer:

• 125km with 1,700m of climbing
• 75km with 1,000m of climbing
• 35km with 450m of climbing, dubbed the ‘Piccolo’

Out of the 161 riders who joined the event, eight were from the local Glen Innes region, while 54 hailed from Queensland, and a whopping 99 riders came from outside the region. The laid-back atmosphere and inclusivity of the event were evident as riders of different abilities and backgrounds came together to hang out and ride.

The roads for the event were undulating, with few nasty climbs, allowing the pace to roll along smoothly. The team did a great job in planning the route, ensuring that it provided a challenging yet enjoyable experience for the riders, and not a turn-off for newcomers.

It’s worth mentioning that the event not only attracted participants from different regions but also created a sense of community among the riders. The inclusive nature of the event brought people of different backgrounds and bike types together, fostering a positive and welcoming atmosphere.  There were mountain bikes, gravel bikes and a handful of e-MTBs which were more than welcome.

Overall, Will and the team deserve recognition for their outstanding efforts in organising a successful event in Glen Innes. Their attention to detail, diverse route planning, and inclusive approach made the event a memorable experience for all.

If you’re curious about gravel fondos, give one a try. It’s not just about the race but about the experience of riding together, exploring new routes, and enjoying the unique challenges of mixed terrain. It’s a chance to connect with fellow cyclists, immerse yourself in the beauty of nature, and have a blast on two wheels.

Cheers to goodnessgravel for putting together an event that brings people together.

Next up is goodnessgravel, Mogo, June 17. We hope to see you there!

Read more about the series here – https://flowmountainbike.com/post-all/goodness-gravel-nsw-2023/

Official website here – https://goodnessgravel.com/

All photos by – https://www.instagram.com/catherine_stephen_photography/

The post Mint Conditions, Gravel for All | goodnessgravel, Glen Innes appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Stretching from Branxholm to St Helens, the Trail of the Tin Dragon also happens to run through some of the best trail networks in Australia.

Running for the third time in 2023, this year saw a significant change to the route and some new faces mixing it up in the general classification.

Day 1 | Derby Flow

Riders from all over Australia and abroad arrived in Branxholm on Wednesday to bright sun, blue skies, and dusty trails for shake-down rides. Come Thursday Morning, the Tasmanian weather reared its head and brought showers for the start of the race.

Setting off from the campground in Branxholm, the field pedalled up to Derby along the Valley Ponds trail. The first half of the 10km route was used as the prologue to seed the actual race start at the Blue Derby trailhead.

The Dragon Trail was already one of the most singletrack heavy stage races in Australia. Now, with day one staying within the Blue Derby trail network instead of climbing up to Weldbourugh, the singletrack to anything else ratio has been sent through the roof.

To avoid traffic jams, riders were divided into groups of 20 based on their prologue finish time. The course starts with a hot lap of Chain Gang and then onto Axehead. This trail was partially destroyed by the landslide that hit Derby back in October, and by all accounts, World Trail has done a fantastic job of breathing new life into the rubble.

Then it was up Long Shadows and into the newly revamped Upper Flickety Sticks for the first descent of the day, before heading back up to the Mount Paris Dam.

Utilising a mix of singletrack and fire roads, this was the foremost passing opportunity of the day. This route was utilised as a part of the XCM National Champs circa ~2014-15. With the rain continuing throughout the day, it saw some greasy conditions and caused a few riders to become well acquainted with the ground.

After scrambling across the wet rocks next to the Dam Wall, it was onto the piece de resistance, Atlas. This 10km descent is one of the trails folks travel to Derby specifically to ride. Winding through mossy myrtle beach forest, it’s quite an adventure, much less at race pace. Atlas spits out onto Dam Busters, which is a fantastic ride in itself, and then riders work their way back to back to the trailhead, coming down Dam Busters, Sawtooth, Turbo Chook, the Derby Tunnel and Rusty Crust. All up, folks covered 35km of riding and about 1000m of climbing.

It was a familiar scene at the top of the podium with last year’s winners Karen Hill and Jon Odams winning the stage, flanked by Eve Conyers and Imogen Smith and Daniel Aurik and Ben Mather.

Day 2 | The Bay of Fires

It’s not easy to top the course from day one, hitting some of the best trails in Blue Derby, including Atlas, but we think Stage 2 of the Dragon Trail does exactly that.

Covering 55km, it’s the longest day on the bike and takes riders down The Bay of Fires trail. This 42km adventure ride starts at the top of the Blue Tier and runs down to the white sand on Swimcart Beach, kicking off with a 13km descent that is nothing short of spectacular — it’s worth it for that section alone.

But the riders had to get there first. The stage starts in Weldborough, and folks have to climb up to Poimena at the top of the Blue Tier after pedalling Little Chook, gaining 400 vertical metres in the process. This route takes in some 4WD track and old-school singletrack that predates the trail networks. It’s a rough and rowdy route, traditionally ridden in the opposite direction — in previous years, when the weather has been fowl this has made for some pretty intense creek crossings.

Fortunately, the weather gods smiled on the Dragon Trail this year, and the sun was shining.

In the men’s field, Odams, former Olympian Scott Bowden and Ben Mather crested the top together. Bowden, who lost time the day prior after a crash, came out hard on The Bay of Fires trail to make up time and was the first rider to roll out his towel on the beach. This effort saw him jump to second in the GC, with Ben Mather moving into third. Odams still maintained his lead in the GC.

Karen Hill continued her dominance in the Women’s field, riding to her eighth consecutive stage win. The remainder of the podium saw a pair of new faces, with Melissa Britt and Hannah Miller riding into second and third.

Day 3 | St Helens Dreaming

The Dragon Trail finale heads just up the road from Swimcart Beach to the Flagstaff trail network for a 42km loop. The day kicks off with a 4km transfer stage from the campsite to the trailhead, and then they are set loose on the Flagstaff stacked loops.

The entire stage is built around the Dreaming Pools adventure trail, a 27km loop that skirts around the edge of Mount Eco and out to the trail’s namesake. To get to this backcountry loop, riders have to climb up to Liola Tier — most folks shuttle here. Running through ironbark forest, the Dreaming Pool loop is undulating, with 744m ascending and nearly 1k descending. The trail hits Constable Creek and the natural rock pools at the bottom of a 5km downhill — it’s a speedy section but well worth stopping for a dip.

Re-entering the trail network, there is a short section of fire trail and an opportunity for passing before climbing back up to the finish.

Bowden once again put the pressure on Odams and would beat him to the line with Daniel Aurik hot on their heels. Even with only one stage win two his name this year, Odams still managed to eke out the GC win, maintaining a four-minute lead, with Ben Mather rounding out the podium.

Karen Hill made it a perfect sweep, winning her ninth stage in a row, and taking the overall win in the process. Having won every Dragon Trail stage to date, it will take someone four years to tie her current record — and we have the feeling she is not done. Imogen Smith would jump onto the second step, followed by Eve Conyers. These two would swap places in the overall, with Conyers taking silver in the GC and Smith with Bronze.

Photos: Murilo Mattos/@murilomattoss, Saxen Young/@saxen18, Angel Cross/@_angeliquecr

The post Sights and sounds of the 2023 Dragon Trail, Blue Derby & St Helens appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Hitting Wild Mersey, Penguin and Dial Ranges, the course details are yet to be officially released, but we caught up with Liam McGuire, who meticulously designed each stage to get a sneak peek of what folks can expect at the Quaddy kick-off event.

For more on how the series will run, the handicapping system, and the other stops, click here to read our full explainer.

Related:

• Quad Crown re-launches four stop stage racing series for 2023
• Wild Mersey Mountain Bike Trails nearing completion
• Must Ride | Wild Mersey MTB Trails, Tasmania

The Wild Penguin Prelude | Warrawee Forest | 9.8km

Kicking off with a short and sharp loop of Warrawee Forest, the northernmost section of the Wild Mersey trail network, the 9.8km prelude will take a route that’s extremely popular with the locals.

Starting at the trailhead, the course will roll down Shale Road along the Mersey River to the far end of the network.

“After like a kilometre, there’s a section where three descending trails and a climbing trail meet. We’ll go up the climbing trail (Session Sauce) toward the trailhead, then turn right for a loop up around the top trails,” says McGuire.

After taking in the top of the network, it’s back to that same cluster of trails and down the blue High Voltage descent.

“It’s berms and jumps the whole way down — it’s an excellent flow trail,” he says.

The prelude will determine a rider’s seeding for stage one the following day, so that final kilometre TT back up the fire road to the finish could be a place to make up a bit of time and play a crucial role in where a rider starts.

The Wild Penguin Stage One | Dial Range | 36km, 1,100m vertical

About 20 min west of Devonport, stage one kicks off at the home of The Big Penguin — Penguin.

The Start/Finish area is set for Mount Gnomon Farm, a paddock-to-plate agri-tourism spot known for its French-style cuisine and cider made onsite.

Starting on the western side of Dial Ranges mountain bike park, the course works its way into the bush and onto Dial Road.

“This takes you along the cliff face, and you look at the escarpment. When I was trying to find a way to link it all together, you look, and it’s like, ‘crikey, how are we going to get up there,’” says McGuire.

Fortunately, Marcelo Cardona, from Next Level MTB — the outfit who built stage one of the Wild Mersey trails, Silver City, and is currently working in Mogo — lives here and has a suite of private trails built on his property.

“There’s a descending trail — a flow trail — and an up track that we’re using to get up the escarpment, which brings us to the Montgomery Loop and heading up the Iron Tor line.

This Iron Tor descent just keeps going in a straight line, and you just keep going down, and down, and down

Together the Montgomery Loop and Iron Tor climb and descent make for a roughly ~12km loop, but McGuire thinks the final descent of this loop will be the highlight of the day.

“The climb up (Iron Tor) feels like a wilderness climb. There’s views off to the left, it’s a narrow trail, and it’s got switchbacks in it, but it’s really pretty,” he says.

“Most descents, you’ll have a few hundred metres of doubles and berms or jumps or whatever, and then a big catch berm, and you’ll come back across the ridge line as you’re heading down. This Iron Tor descent just keeps going in a straight line, and you just keep going down, and down, and down,” says McGuire.

Still travelling Mach-5 riders will be deposited back into the Penguin Mountain Bike park for a loop, before backtracking to Mount Gnomon Farm.

“We’ll go back into the property and descend Marcelo’s flow trail onto Dial Road, and climb back up to the final 2km descent into the Farm,” he says.

McGuire thinks the final climb up Dial Road before the last 2km descent will be decisive for riders at the pointy end of the race.

“When I was down there, it was pretty rutted, and I was thinking, ‘brilliant, there’s going to be a nice challenging climb at the end.’ Apparently, the council has since done some road work and fixed it up. But the steepness of it, and it’s wide enough for attacks to happen,” says McGuire. That’s where the stage will be won or lost.”

The Wild Penguin Stage Two | Railton/Sheffield | 36km, 750m vertical

The Wild Penguin finale heads to the middle of the Wild Mersey trail network, kicking off in Railton. The start is still being confirmed, as the local council has proposed a loop around town, which means road closures, to kick off the stage. The feasibility of this is still being confirmed. However, the course won’t change the route once riders enter the trails.

Starting from the trailhead in Railton, it’s straight onto the Teleport climbing trail, and then onto  Newbed Road into the Sheffield side of the network. Here you’ll do a clockwise loop, taking in basically everything available without riding the same trail twice.

All the trails south of Railton are relatively new, and McGuire thinks folks will be pleasantly surprised at how much fun they are, based on his own experience when scouting out the route.

“It surprised me the amount of quality descents that are involved,” he says. “All the climbs are machine built and technical in spots, but easy in others, and it’s a really challenging day out. But the way it links up together, it’s awesome.

According to McGuire, the section of Stage Two that will stick in folks’ memories will be the Gnarvana descent.

“It’s a big wide trail with some big jumps, it’s a bit loose, but it’s just awesome,” he says. “(From here), there’s still a bit of single trail before you get back to Railton and there’s probably six great descents through the day, but that one will live in the memory.”

For the fast folks, Mgquire thinks the crux of the day will come shortly after the Gnarvana descent when the course backtracks Caroline Quarry Road and Newnes Road towards Railton.

“Going along that road, whoever gets into the singletrack section (Green Hornet descent) will be the winner, because it’s a downhill straight into the finish,” he says.

To cap off the weekend, the Quad Crown will head to Seven Sheds Brewery for presentations — conveniently located about a block from the trailhead along the Railton Town Link.

How do you enter?

Registration is open now for The Wild Penguin, with options for the whole weekend or just to ride the Saturday or Sunday. Head over to the Quad Crown website for more details.

The post The Wild Penguin Preview | What to expect at the first Quad Crown MTB Stage Race appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

We caught up with Louise Foulkes from Geocentric Outdoor to get the lowdown on what you can expect from this year’s race.

New camp layout and a run-down Atlas

The most significant change for this year’s race is that riders will stay in Derby on day one. This not only means the course will stay mainly within the confines of the trail network, but it also eliminates the need for the campsite in Weldborough.

“Originally, you would start in Branxholm, ride to Weldborough on day one, and move to Weldborough. Then we’d ride to St Helens on day two and move to St Helens. Now we can actually spend more time in Derby, keep the camp in Branxholm for two nights, and ride a circular loop around Derby, and take in some of the iconic trails in that area. It also eases up on the logistics a little bit,” says Foulkes.

When Foulkes says iconic trails around Derby, she’s not kidding. The course map for stage one hasn’t been published yet, but she gave us an overview of what folks can expect.

“We’re going to do the big climbing route up Axehead and Long Shadows up to Black Stump. Then they’ll do Upper Flickity and Great Race. Then they’re going to head to some of the Dam Busters route and up some fire trails out the back to visit the Mount Paris Dam,” she says.

“And then the big thing is they’re going to come back down Atlas,” Foulkes says.

That’s right, stage one of the Dragon Trail this year will include Atlas, which has just had a touch-up and will be absolutely mint!

What about stage two and three?

The remaining stages are primarily unchanged from previous years. Stage two starts in Weldborough, heads up the original rough and tumble climb to the Blue Tier and back down The Bay of Fires Trail. This includes the new 5km of singletrack that cuts out a significant portion of the fire road liaison, which follows the initial 14km descent. We rode this new section back in November, and it’s primo!

The final day heads to the Flagstaff trail network in St Helens, taking in trails like Rock Lobster, Wedged In, Garnup and the Dreaming Pools wilderness trail.

Accommodation

With the change from three camps to two, it makes the logistics for both riders and organisers significantly easier. The race team will even set up your tent for you. That said, roughing it is not everyone’s jam, and Foulkes says about half the riders opt for fixed accommodation.

“The point-to-point aspect still creates a logistical challenge, so we’ve put additional transfers at the end of the stage, or if you don’t have a transfer, you can get a bus to the start of stage two,” says Foulkes.

So if you don’t want to touch a sleeping bag and air mattress with a ten-foot tent pole, it would be possible to stay in private accommodation in Derby or Branxholm, and another in St Helens and grab a bus to the start line. Or if you have a car, the race team will shuttle you from the finish area back to where you have parked.

Wave starts are back

The singletrack to fire road/doubletrack/paved road ratio of the Dragon Trail Stage race skews significantly in favour of singletrack like no other event in Australia. Which is fantastic, until you need to pass someone, which gets tricky.

To alleviate traffic jams, the first-year riders were set off at 10-second intervals, effectively turning the entire race into an ITT. This caught a few folks off guard, and some felt it took away from the ‘racing’ aspect of the race.

Last year they changed up the system, and by all accounts, it was well received by both the elites and the weekend warrior field.

“In Derby, because there is so much singletrack, we started everybody at five-second intervals — so they did the prologue and then started (the stage) five-seconds apart. Then for stage two and three, there’s a wave start of 20 people,” she says.

The eats and entertainment

The knock-on from the swap to two campsites in Branxholm and St Helens is that it also means there are more food options. Both towns have a grocery store and several places to eat, in addition to the food trucks Geocentric Outdoor at the race village.

“Now we’re less reliant on the food we put on. If you don’t like the food at the campsite, you can jump on your bike and find an amazing range of other food,” says Foulkes.

With so much of the field essentially staying in the camp, Geocentric Outdoor also puts on events and entertainment once the stage has ended and into the evening. From 4-9pm each day Foulkes tells us there will be a combination of bands and speakers to keep you entertained at the camp. There is also group activities like yoga to keep you busy and help to stay limber for the following day.

How do you get there?

According to Foulkes, most of the field is not from Tassie, and this year 10% of the riders are coming in from overseas.

“Because it is a holiday destination and it is harder to get to, we try to make it as easy as possible. It’s hard travelling with a bike, so we’ll meet you at the airport. Launceston is the primary one that has the most options (for flights and transfers), but we have a shuttle from Hobart as well,” says Foulkes.

How do you enter?

Entries for the 2023 Dragon Trail are open now through the Dragon Trail website. The entries are already streaming in, and Foulkes tells us the elite field is looking pretty strong this year, with Karen Hill and Jon Odams back to defend their titles. Sam Fox is also on the bill after his Euro racing campaign last year, as well as Scott Bowden — who raced on the Road and XC MTB at the Rio Olympics.

The post Atlas, The Bay Of Fires and The Dreaming Pools | Dragon Trail 2023 is playing Northeast Tassies greatest hits appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Gravel Fond0 – Recce day

After setting up camp a stone’s through from the local pub, the Linga Longa, Beardy and Chris Visvis went out for a bit of recon. Beardy tells us he was already impressed, and the event was still 12-hours away.

Gravelling through Gundy

Being the intrepid pedaller that he is, Beardy signed up for the 135km long course event. Covering 2,700m of climbing, it’s a large day on skinny tyres and curly bars.

Beardy tells us the long climbs over Sergeants Gap, at 965m above sea level, was a test of the legs. But the superb views over the distant mountain ranges provided ample distraction of the burning in your legs and lungs.

The highlight of the long course was the storied grass tree forest. Shortly after the first refuelling station and a short tarmac liaison, the course guides riders into a wonder of the region. With thousands of grass trees waving in the wind, we’ve heard some may be more than 600 years old. It’s truly an unbelievable scene to pedal through.

The idea with goodnessgravel is to create a big ride that runs the gamut. Well-graded country roads, scenic tarmac, zero traffic, and shallow river crossings keep the adventure rolling.

Beardy tells us the deepest crossing through the Isis River made for a satisfying wave of spray, making quick work of many kilometres worth of grit and grime.

What is Goodnessgravel?

If you’re experiencing FOMO because you missed out on Gundy, not to worry, the next goodnessgravel event will be in Glen Innes on Saturday, 15 April 2023 and then in Mogo on Saturday, 17 June 2023 — both offer short and long courses. For more info or to book your spot, head over to the goodnessgravel website. 

The post Photo Epic | Beardy McBeard does goodnessgravel Gundy appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Cape to Cape took place in 2021, but WA’s border restrictions were still in place, meaning the race was essentially only open to folks living in the state. For 2022, riders from all over the country and beyond descended on the Margaret River region and pedalled with enthusiasm from the gun, for four days of racing on some of the best trails in the state.

With a stacked field, here’s how it all played out.

Related:

• Flow Destination Hub: Margaret River
• Flow’s Fabulous Adventure | The Colourful Reef to Reef 2022

Stage 1 | Cape Leeuwin | Ominous with the threat of mud

With so many riders from the east coast heading west for a reprieve from the never-ending cycle of La Nina, early in the day, it appeared the weather had followed them across the country.

Fortunately, the precipitation was only short-lived, and was just enough to pat down the top layer of dust — there was a collective sigh of relief that stage one wouldn’t be a repeat of the 2018 mud bog.

A small group of the usual suspects went off the front early, on Skippy Rock Road. Brendan Johnston and Jon Odams of Team Giant Shimano would then gap the breakaway group and ride off into the sunset for the stage win.

“It was good out there, the weather was a little ominous on the way down, but it turned out to be perfect. The little bit of rain that we had settled the dust, and we had really good dirt. Stage one is always really hard, and it’s got the most climbing, so we were happy to kind of get away, and then just manage our effort from there,” said Johnston

Jarrod Moroni and Peta Mullens of Roxsolt Rolla led into the singletrack in the mixed pairs. But Karl Michelin-Beard and Emma Viotto of Shimano MyRide picked up where they left off after Reef to Reef and crossed the line first for the mixed pairs, with Holly Harris and Mitch Docker of Team RCC coming in third.

Team DBBM, with Ella Bloor and Lucie van der Schalk, would take the victory for the Women’s pairs, making it back to the lighthouse nearly four minutes clear of Total Rush Off-Road pair Verita Stewart and Purdie Long, and Last Minuters Izzy Flint and Alexandra Durr rounding out the podium.

Cape to Cape is Bloor and van der Schalk’s first stage race together, and the pair was working well throughout the day.

“I’m pretty comfortable in a bunch coming from a road background, whereas Lucy is fresh from the EWS, and it’s her first time in lycra,” said Bloor. “So it’s a bit different, but we complement each other’s strengths, and we had a really good day out there.”

Stage Two | Boranup | The Highway to Hell

Stage 2 of the 2022 Cape to Cape took riders to Boranup for a 54km course, the longest of the four days.

Starting and finishing at Mr Barval Wines, the Boranup course is always a rider favourite, however, it looks a bit different to the last time the Cape to Cape came through. Boranup experienced a bushfire in late 2021, and the regrowth has kicked into overdrive around the trails.

There was plenty of drama out on the course, with the attacks coming hard and fast in the men’s pairs race, and the day would ultimately come down to a bunch sprint.

“It sort of unfolded how we were thinking it would. There was a big bunch onto the climb, we got a gap which became a selection after that — always after the Highway to Hell section where you turn onto the fire road, there’s always attacks there,” said Giant Shimano’s Odams. “We just marked the boys and made sure we had a little bit left in the tank. It was a nice little sprint at the end there.”

“It’s going well, that’s for sure. After three years, it’s great to be back, and it’s great to have a proper race. We’re loving it,” he said.

In the end, Giant Shimano would nose in ahead of Joel Green and Tali Lane Welsh (Trek Commtel) by just four seconds, with Reece Tucknott and Adam Blazevic (Giant Australia Off-Road) a minute behind in third.

The mixed pairs saw a shuffle in the GC, with Roxsolt Rolla finishing two minutes clear of Shimano MyRide, taking the overall lead. Team RCC would again take third place on the day.

“…We were with the elite men for 20km and then kind of started to separate around Highway to Hell. We sort of attacked on the descent, but Karl is so strong he’s able to pace Emma back and give her a bit of push. Then we went on the limestone over the top, I wasn’t that keen to, but Jarrod was like a dog with a bone,” said Mullins. “We wanted the stage win today, I think the next two stages really suit us, and I think we’ve put enough time in today for the green jersey, which is really nice.”

In the women’s pairs, it was one of those days where everything seems to go wrong. Third-place pair Team Last Minuters Durr experienced a broken derailleur and a slashed tyre, while Bloor and van der Schalk maintained their lead, despite an early crash in the bunch.

“It was all good, I just did a bit of tuck and roll,” said van der Schalk. “I’m pretty proud that Ella didn’t come off as well, I was more worried about her behind me. We were just in the pack at the start, and someone tried to go around the outside and slid out. There wasn’t much I could do at that stage, it was so tight, (I) just went for the jump and roll.”

After a hard day of chasing back on, Bloor said she was looking forward to some singletrack time.

“We’re really looking forward to the single trail, I think that’s where Lucie is going to shine and I can’t wait to follow her wheels and her lines,”

Stage Three | Margaret River | Singletrack heaven

The penultimate stage of the Cape to Cape took riders to singletrack heaven. Hitting just about every trail in The Pines and Compartment 10 trail network over 42km; riders at the pointy end and the back of the pack all finished the day with smiles on their faces.

“It was more fun for me on the single trail, not just chewing stem and led probably a good half of it today, which was good. (We) had a ball out there,” Odams said.

Giant Shimano made it a hat trick, going off the front early, extending their lead an additional three minutes. A sprint finish for second and third shuffled the podium from yesterday, with Trek Commtel nosing ahead of Giant Australia Off-Road, but it wasn’t enough to overtake in the GC.

In the mixed pairs, Roxsolt Rolla went back to back, putting another four minutes into their lead over Shimano MyRide.

“We were distanced on the early climb today. I didn’t feel good off the start, and we had to work really hard to get back Emma and Karl, who were with a couple of the men’s teams and I didn’t feel that comfortable following her on the single track. She had the pressure on, but then I thought, well, we’ve got to try something, so we went around and boosted on one of the a-lines and gassed it to the finish,” said Mullens.

“Coming down the last descent, Jarrod had a crash, and then I had a crash. I was like, slow down. We’ve got a gap. I think you can never rest on your laurels, there’s a prize for every stage win, and we’ll be going for another,” she said. ”

The penultimate day also saw team DBBM make it a trifecta, winning the stage by more than six minutes, despite a stop-start day marred by mechanical issues and a wrong turn on course.

“It was super fun out there, hats off to the trail builders and volunteers out there for keeping the trails in good nick. There were super fun shapes in there, and we just had a really fun race,” she said. “I felt for Ella stuck in her easiest gears on some of those (sections), but it was a good mission of pumping down there.”

Stage three was also SuperSox Saturday, where the events charity partners Bike DR and Dismantle raise money for its flagship youth program.

“…Something like today allows us to fundraise something like $60,000 to $70,000 that we put directly into a youth program called Bike Rescue, where we travel around regional and remote WA helping out young people that are having a tough time, and basically pairing young people with youth workers and using bike mechanics as a vehicle for that,” says Dismantle CEO Pat Ryan.

“It’s a complete game changer, for a young person that doesn’t function well in a classroom, they will function extremely well when they’ve got a bike and tools, and bike mechanics to tear apart bikes and put them back together,” he said.

Stage Four | Cape Naturaliste | The Epic Series season finale

The fourth and final stage of the 2022 Cape to Cape took riders for a 34km rip to Cape Natralisted.

The Giant Shimano and Team DBBM would both make it a perfect race, taking their fourth respective stage wins and the General Classification for the Men’s and Women’s Pairs.

“We just gelled so well this week. We’ve just got so much experience year on year, we just play that every day, we take our turn during the race, and it’s been the perfect week for us,” he said. “Last year it was a shame not to be over here because I’ve done it so many times, it’s special for me, to be back and win some more stages and another overall is great.”

Bloor continues, “It was so much fun, I felt like we battled for the last few days, and we couldn’t have had a more perfect day today. We just had so much fun, we rode as hard as we could, and the trails were awesome.

It’s pretty special, Lucie has ridden out of her skin all week. It’s her first time in lycra, (and) her first time racing an XCO race, let alone a stage race. I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

Roxsolt Rolla would win the stage for the mixed teams and with that, their first Cape to Cape as a pair.

“The first day was the toughest, but today was the toughest as a duo. I didn’t have very good legs, and Jarrod was even trying to push me on the singletrack to keep me in touch. We just chased all day, and we didn’t get back (on) until about 20 minutes to go, and even on the road back in, we couldn’t see anyone because there were cars behind us, and then we had cows in the last paddock,” said Mullens. “It was pretty exciting, really; it was a great stage,” Mullens said.

While the elite racers often get much of the focus through multi-day stage races, there are unbelievable folks further back from the pointy end of the race too. From Katherine Ross and Sarah Gardner, who have just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and are racing as a team, to Leon Wilken, who is recovering from a spinal injury caused by a motorbike crash 12 months ago. And then there is Bruno Wicki, who has raced every Cape to Cape back to the beginning!

And with the end of Cape to Cape also comes the finale of the 2022 Epic series in Australia. While the start of the series succumbed to wet weather, the remaining stops were home runs. We can wait for next year, the dates are to be announced, but watch the Cape to Cape website for more.

The post Welcome To The West Coast | Cape to Cape 2022 goes off with a bang appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Following on from a slightly truncated WA-only edition in 2021, Cape to Cape is full steam ahead for 2022, set to run October 20-23. After the Reef to Reef went ham in Tropical North Queensland in August, it seems folks missed their old mate Margaret because the field is looking sizable, with riders from all over Australia, New Zealand and Singapore headed for Western Australia.

Related:

• Flow’s Fabulous Adventure | The Colourful Reef to Reef 2022
• 30 years of the Triple R | Australia’s oldest point to point mountain bike race
• Spoilt for choice | The 2022 XC stage racing calendar is busier than ever
• Flow Destination Hub: Margaret River

What’s new for 2022?

The vast majority of this year’s Cape to Cape will look familiar to race veterans, but a few stages that haven’t made appearances for a number of years are coming out of hibernation for 2022.

Stage one | Cape Leeuwin | 39km, 949m vert

As they say in our favourite sitcom about rural Canada, “you don’t f*&$ with tradition,” and so the starting gun of the 2022 Cape to Cape will once again fire at the iconic Cape Leeuwin lighthouse.

Rolling out from the most south-western point in Australia, stage one covers 39km, with 949m of climbing and is basically a carbon copy of previous years. The bunch will thunder up Skippy Rock Road before diving into a mix of singletrack and gravel roads eventually looping back to the lighthouse. We’ve seen this stage sunny and dusty and we’ve seen it turn into an absolute mud fest, but the common thread is smiles at the end of the day.

This is the only stage that doesn’t have a wave start, but there is quite a climb early on which serves essentially the same purpose. There is a fair amount of gravel road and fire trail on this kick-off stage, so expect it to be fast, but don’t go too deep as there are still three days of racing to go!

Stage two | Boranup | 54km, 720m vert

Boranup is always a fan favourite and has not featured in the Cape to Cape since 2019. The longest of the four days, Boranup was severely damaged by the fires in late 2021 and so the route will look a little different to the last time C2C rolled through. Covering 54km with 720m of climbing, stage two starts from Mr Barval Fine Wines wines for a start and finish among the vines.

Making its way through the towering trees of Boranup Forest, the stage features plenty of old school trails and the Highway to Hell section, which ironically makes for heavenly views of the coast at Conto’s Beach, is also making an appearance.

Stage three | Margaret River | 42km, 763m vert

The third day of the Cape to Cape, heads for Margaret River, and the flowy goodness on offer at Compartment 10 and The Pines.

Rolling out from the  GinIversity at Margaret River Distillery covering 42km with 763m of vert, stage three will hit basically every trail in both of these networks.

With a mix of the machine-built trails with gargantuan orange berms of Compartment 10, contrasted against the rougher and rooty singletrack in The Pines, this is a varied stage, and if the 2021 race is anything to go off of, it should be a ball of fun.

Stage four | Cape Naturaliste | 34km, 705m vert

Forming the second Cape, of the Cape to Cape, the finale of the 2022 event is once again headed for Cape Naturaliste.

Overlooking Eagle Bay, Meelup Beach and Castle Bay, Wise Winery will host the event village and the star/finish area. The 34km course with 705m of elevation is similar to last year, but a section near the start has been removed, which in combination with the wave start should alleviate the congestion that’s happened in the past.

The stage kicks off with a loop past Meelup Beach, and then takes riders over to the trails at Zone 6 and the Golf Course in Dunsborough. Keep your wits about you as there is a healthy heaping of rocks and pea gravel strewn about the course to keep you honest.

What to expect

Each stage will have a fully furnished race village where the daily awards and leader’s jerseys will be handed out. There will also be food trucks and cold beverages waiting to get you fueled up for the next day, as well as massage tents to ensure you’re legs are primed and ready.

Bike Dr will be at the event village every day providing mechanical support, and free race checks at its CBD workshop — you’ll need to book in for that second one.

For a $20 donation (or $60 for all four days), you can leave your bike in the capable hands of the Bike Dr crew, and they will give your steed a wash and lube and make sure everything is running smoothly for the next stage. If you’re more of the hands-on type, there’s also DIY bike washing facilities in the event village.

Super Sox Saturday

You may see a boatload of folks getting around in fluro socks at Cape to Cape. That’s because Bike Dr is raising money for its flagship community program, Bike Rescue. The donations from the bike cleaning service and the sock sales go towards this youth development program sees participants strip and fully rebuild two bikes — the first is donated to charity, while the second is for the budding mechanic to keep.

These same BikeRescue participants have been offered paid work to help with cleaning and lubing bikes at the race.

Who can race?

As per each Epic series race, there are solo men’s and women’s categories for riders from 15 to 60+ in both open and elite fields. There are also men’s pairs, women’s pairs and mixed pairs categories for the same age groups, again both open and elite.

We hear the elite categories are looking very strong, with almost all the podium sitters from Reef to Reef headed for Margaret River, as well as a few strong folks who were unable to make it to Queensland.

Cape to Cape also has a category for hand cycle and adaptive riders. Each stage is designed with diversions around trails too narrow for adaptive bikes and features like log rollovers to keep the good times rolling.

The overall winner of the Cape to Cape will receive the James Williamson Medal, in honour of its namesake, the biggest advocate for the race, who sadly passed away at the 2010 Cape Epic.

The race team will also present the Beacon Award to an individual who exemplifies the culture and spirit of the Cape to Cape. This award is in honour of friend of the race Johnny Waddell, who overcame a series injury, and is now back on the bike against all odds.

How to enter?

Entries are open now, so giddy up and head over to the Cape to Cape website to secure your spot!

The post Fine Wines and Singletrack | Cape to Cape 2022 race preview appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

“It’s always great to come up here because the single track is better than you would expect!” said Adams. “To be able to race on these trails, in this land, in this environment, is really really enjoyable!”

The 13th edition of the race certainly lived up to its reputation with the quality of the courses, flowing lines and plenty of sunshine enthralling the 200 riders from across Australia who made the trek to the Red Centre.

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, Race Director John Jacoby from Rapid Ascent said he was extremely happy with the event and the camaraderie amongst the riders.

“We’ve had some really good racing the past four days with some good depth in the field, especially the men’s,” said Jacoby. “The riders have been frothing over the trails and the variety it offered – from long, fast, straight-aways ridden at maximum speed, to technical switch-back climbs.”

Russell was equally as impressed despite once being a local.

“I grew up in Alice Springs but moved away in 2018, so I don’t normally ride many of these trails.” said Russell. “This event is really good because you get to get out on these awesome trails you wouldn’t normally ride!”

Day 1 on Thursday 18 August began with Stage 1 in the morning, a 36km XC race that gave riders their first taste of the Alice Springs trails with continuous sections of flowing single track. Riders then returned for Stage 2 in the afternoon for the infamous 300m ANZAC Hill Climb which was won by super-fast junior Tom Stockwell, and Madi Russell in 43.7 seconds and 74.4 seconds, respectively.

A 46km XC race for Stage 3 saw some hard racing at the pointy end of the field with Stockwell taking pole position by just 6 seconds ahead of Adams. The course saw riders dive deep into the Eastside trail network around Alice Springs that included some of the most popular local trails – Stimsons, Helmet, Perente, Carl’s, and Sink Track Eagle – before finishing at the Old Telegraph Station.

Day 3 on Saturday was a highlight for the eager riders who each raced a 22km individual time trial in the morning; followed by a night race over the same course in the evening.

“Starting to the pumping tune of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck and the red glow of the Outback sunset, this stage gave riders the most incredible thrills and racing – all done under the star-filled desert night sky!” said Jacoby.

Stockwell again won the Stage with a 22 second gap over Adams; however Adams retained the overall GC going into Stage 6 with a lead of 5 minutes 40 seconds due to his strong performance on Stage 1.

The final day of racing proved a favourite amongst the riders as they took to Stage 6’s 49km XC course with even greater enthusiasm knowing the best of the best flowing single track was saved for the finale. The stage saw Adams of Victoria cement his Redback crown ahead of Stockwell; and Russell secure her spot at the top of the overall female GC podium.

“3 years ago I came second to Paul van der Ploeg so to come back this year and take victory, I’m super happy!” said Adams.

“We are all equals on the trails – it’s literally everyone against the trails here but it’s been great to share those experiences especially as an older rider; I look forward to seeing Tom (Stockwell) mature through more racing too.” Added Adams.

Each stage certainly had riders smiling and sweating on the infinite single track, especially the red desert landscapes and sweeping views that encapsulate the Red Centre.

“Congratulations to this year’s Redback participants – it’s been great to finally get back here and see riders experienced seriously the best trails,” said Jacoby.
The easy race logistics saw competitors roll to the start lines (no car or support crew needed); and then had them sitting back by the pool in the afternoon and sharing stories with newfound friends.

The event would not be possible without the support from the NT Government which has helped event organisers Rapid Ascent market the event at a national level and cement its’ place as Australia’s longest running mountain bike stage race.

For more information about The Redback MTB Stage Race, please visit www.TheRedback.com.au.

Photos – Forktail & Rapid Ascent |

The post Alice Springs at its Best | The Redback MTB Stage Race appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Following a pair of postponements due to Covid and unrelenting wet weather, the Quaddy team are forging ahead to bring a rad event to southern NSW. Race Director Jason Dover tells Flow it was heartbreaking to postpone twice, but it’s also been a blessing in disguise.

“We’ve had a bit of extra time to iron out the issues that often come up with first-time events,” says Dover. “At the start, we were planning the Sunshine Coast (QLD) event and Lakes Entrance (VIC) events in isolation, thinking, ‘let’s get this event designed first, and then we’ll roll out the others.’ But with all the shuffling, we’ve had the chance to bring some continuity — by accident almost — across the way we’ve been able to design each stop.”

Quad Crown goes to the Sapphire Coast

Named for the intense blue colour of the water, the Sapphire Coast is about 2.5hours on the road from Canberra and a six to seven-hour drive from Sydney or Melbourne — or there is an airport in Merimbula, with regular flights from both capital cities.

Southern NSW is a hot spot for trail development, with significant projects happening in Eden, and just beyond the northern edge of the Sapphire Coast in Narooma and Mogo. All of this is in addition to Tathra, which is already a well-established riding destination.

These developments have been spearheaded by locals who want to bring mountain bikers to the region, so it should be no surprise that those same folks are chomping at the bit to attract big events.

“The locals put out a petition early in the piece to try and get the event in town. We’d always planned to do an event in New South Wales as part of the Quad Crown Series, and the local council and the guys down there are so behind it and supportive — they’re pumped,” Dover tells Flow.

Designing the course, however, has been somewhat of a challenge, with several established trail networks in the area like the Fire Shed Trails in Tathra, and Mandini and Manna Park in Merimbula on private land. Unfortunately, the landowners weren’t able to grant permission for the race to come through, so Dover and his team got creative.

“It’s such a beautiful area, and we probably found three or four other areas where we could hold stages that ran all the way up the coast to get from Eden to Tathra, but we ran into complications around private land,” he says

This all comes as the major trail development in Eden is getting underway. Dover tells us those trails will feature heavily in next year’s edition of the race, and the goal for the inaugural Quad Crown Sapphire Coast is to introduce riders to the region.

Quad Crown Sapphire Coast Race Preview

Prelude | Eden | 10km

The Prelude will start and finish at the Eden Country Club, and take to the existing trails in the state forest. These were initially community-built unsanctioned singletrack, however, thanks to the new trail development, they have been formalised, and by all accounts, they are pretty rad.

“It’s a bit longer than the other events we have planned, but it will be a nice chance for everyone to get in, have a warmup ride on Friday, and get it all started,” says Dover.

This will be a quick hit to determine the seeding for the remainder of the stages, and set the elite field.

Stage one | Tathra | 29km, 657m vertical

The next morning, the race convoy will head about 40min up the Princess Highway to Tathra, where the Tathra Beach Country Club will host both the morning and afternoon stages. Dover tells us they will have a big festival area with food, drinks and more.

“Being able to base the morning and afternoon stages at the one location is going to make it easy for the riders and should be a lot of fun,” says Dover.

Before heading into the singletrack, stage one heads north of town across the Bega River into Mogoreeka.

“We’ll do a loop out near Moon Bay and come back, so that will be a really scenic way to start the race. And then we’re back into what we’d call the ‘full locals lap’ the Bundadung trail network,” says Dover.

We asked Dover to explain what he meant by a full locals lap of Bundadung, and he said it would entail not just the best trails in the network, but assembled into the most fun order to ride them — hitting Evil Tom, Soft Sally, Kingys, Nizentite, and Anchors Away to name a few.

As we mentioned at the start, both the Saturday stages keep to the Bundadung network because most of the Fire Shed Trails traverse private land, and the race team and land owner were unable to reach an agreement for access. Maybe next year.

Stage two | Tathra | 32km, 541m of vertical

After you’ve downed a burger and maybe had a sneaky lunch beer, the afternoon stage will head south from Tathra and hit White Rock Road.

“We’re using White Rock Road in a loop with the Games Bay Fire Trail, which has some nice technical singletrack on the way out,” says Dover.

This journey south of town is where the stage gets a lot of its distance, but Dover says what’s waiting for the riders on the way back is the most fun.

“Often, when you go in and try to design a course, sometimes there are certain trails that you may need to use backwards. Often we find when you talk to locals, the clubs or the trail builders, they are horrified when you’re going the wrong way on a trail,” says Dover.

“But Chris Pittolo and the group from the Tathra Mountain Bike Club have been really supportive of riding some of their trails in different directions, and they reckon that some of them can flow really well, and be quite unique and challenging ridden backwards,” he says.

So when the course hits Bundadong for the second time, it uses many of the same trails, but riders may not even recognise bits of singletrack they’ve already ridden because they’re coming at it from the opposite direction.

Dover tells us that the singletrack at Tathra is fantastic and the ideal venue for an XC race because it’s approachable for riders across a range of skill levels. He thinks the singletrack will be the highlight of Saturday.

At the same time, Dover doesn’t discount the loops north in the morning and south in the afternoon.

“Going out to Mogoreeka and crossing the bridge will be a highlight; it’s such a beautiful area.

And then, in the afternoon heading south and getting into that coastal area is a great ride, which will break the course up. White Rock (Road) is quite rocky and technical, so that will be a challenging part of the course before they get back into Tathra for the singletrack,” Dover says.

All up for stages one and two, the total ride for the day will be 61km with 1,198m of climbing, and the predicted ride time for each stage is about 90-minutes for the elites and between two and three and a half hours for the rest.

“They’ll hit the end of Saturday and know they’ve had a decent ride,” laughs Dover.

Stage three | Eden | 28km, 953m of vertical

After a big day in the saddle on Saturday, you’ll want to spend a bit of extra time on the foam roller and hit the carbs, because stage three is anything but a leisurely stroll along the beach. The Quad Crown Sapphire Coast finale is the shortest stage of the weekend, but for what it lacks in distance, it more than makes up for in climbing.

Starting again from the Eden Gardens Country Club, riders will tackle 900m of ascending over 28km. It’s uphill, and straight into some pretty technical climbing right off the bat and then back into the singletrack south of the start/finish, ending through the same trail network that features in the Prelude.

“The singletrack that we are able to use to get in and out of Eden is really, really good. It’s beautiful trail, in a beautiful area with good bits of elevation,” says Dover.

“The local singletrack will be memorable, and there will be an element of the fact that you just conquered over 900m of elevation in 28km. But I reckon part of the fun is it’s a bit of a preview because that area is going to hold 50km of singletrack next year.”

For the third and final stage, Dover again expects it will be about 1.5-hours for the elites to bang out a lap of the course and between two and three hours for the rest.

What is the Quad Crown MTB series?

The Quad Crown is unique because it’s not just a one-off race in a faraway place. It’s a series of four events spread across NSW, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria. Being that it’s a series, points will be awarded at each race that will go towards the overall Quad Crown victory. And yes, we’ve confirmed there will be actual crowns up for grabs in addition to cash prizes and schwag packs.

Head over to our explainer for a full rundown on how the Quad Crown works.

When can you enter the Quad Crown Sunshine Coast?

Entries for the Quad Crown Sunshine Coast are open now!

There are race categories for singles, pairs, juniors, masters and e-MTBs. Riders can also sign up for the whole weekend or just the Saturday or Sunday stages.

For more info, pricing, and to register, head over to the Quad Crown MTB Series website for more.

Photos: Destination NSW, Ryan De La Rue / Contour Works, Flow MTB, Damian Breach, David Rogers / Sapphire Coast Destination Marketing

The post Quad Crown Sapphire Coast | Stage racing series kicks off in Tathra and Eden, NSW appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

The Quad Crown MTB Stage Racing Series kicks off with an escape from winter, rolling into the Sunshine Coast from June 10-12.

This brand new four-stop stage racing series is taking riders to new destinations in Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria for three days of racing.

What happened to East Gippsland?

The opener of the four-stop series initially saw the stage race roll into East Gippsland in March, but was ultimately pushed back to September. Race Directors Jason Dover and Sally Hill explained there were a number of compounding factors that led them to make this call. According to Dover, when they initially launched the series back in January, the NSW event hadn’t been totally finalised. When the event was finally confirmed, it left the calendar a bit lopsided.

“The way we were able to re-juggle the dates into the second half of the year, pushing the Victorian event back just made more sense, because it meant we could hold each event 6-8 weeks apart,” he says.

Dover went on to note that the course design for the Sapphire Coast event will be targeted around Eden.

With the original dates for East Gippsland in March, there were also lingering Covid travel restrictions, and being based in WA, Dover wouldn’t have been able to attend the first event in the Quad Crown series.

“We didn’t want to go into the event blind, not having Jason on the ground beforehand, particularly with this being the opening event,” continues Hill.

So the Victorian stop was pushed back to September, and the warm weather, white sand beaches and stunning rainforests of Southeast Queensland now form the launchpad for this exciting new race series.

For a rundown of the Quad Crown, the other stops and how the series works, click here for our full explainer article.

Quad Crown Sunshine Coast race preview

Dover tells us there have been some teething issues in finalising the courses on the Sunshine Coast. There are quite a few boxes that need to be ticked between several stakeholders, and getting everyone on the same page has taken some time and required changes from the initial plans.

They are still going through the last approvals for alignments, and the final course maps are set to come out very soon. However, Dover has given Flow a detailed overview of what they are planning and the changes that have transpired so far.

Quad Crown Sunshine Coast Prelude | Sugarbag | 5km

The racing begins on Friday afternoon with the Prelude warm-up stage. For most, this will help folks shake the travel out of their legs, but it’s also how the start seeding for the first stage will be determined, with the top 100 places reserved for the elite wave.

Dover has outlined a 5km course, with about 70m of climbing at Sugarbag in Caloundra.

“The concept of the Prelude will be for the general riders to turn up, have a ride around the park and have some fun, test their bike out and make sure everything is working,” says Dover. “It will be ‘race if you want to race’ to get a spot in the top 100.”

Initially, the plan was to allow folks to ride the Prelude as many times as they wanted in pursuit of faster times, but that’s no longer the case. Now you have one shot at making the top 100. That said, the course will be open before the festivities kick-off for riders to take a look around.

The route through Sugarbag reads a bit like a grocery shopping list written by a kid in primary school, taking in trails like Fantails, Milky Way, Party Mix, Sweet Sugar and Bees Knees. Dover expects for the elite riders it will be a short sharp effort lasting about 15min,

Following the stage, there will be a podium ceremony and a function at a nearby brewery.

Quad Crown Sunshine Coast Stage One | Parklands | 25km

Only 15-min outside of town, stage one will take riders on a 25km journey around the Parklands Trail Network with 500m of climbing. Unfortunately, due to the extremely wet weather Southeast Queensland has experienced over the past few months, there was quite a bit of degradation, and this stage has been drastically reworked from the original plan.

“We were also mindful of what we wanted stage two to look like, and not wanting to smash everyone (from the start),” Dover says. “We don’t want to make it too hard for the average rider and the weekend warrior. We’re really making this event for the weekend warrior who wants to go to a location to experience the best trails and not just have it be a physical challenge.”

The start-finish venue will be about 3km outside the park, with riders making their way to Parklands on fire roads. When the course hits singletrack it takes in trails like Lush, Cancer Tree, Road Rage, Rock N Roll, Red Dog and Roo Valley, all set amongst the beautiful local rainforest.

With this stage being particularly singletrack heavy, Dover thinks that the fire road lead-in could be spicy with riders jockeying for position, as overtaking once you’ve hit the singletrack will be difficult.

“I think the fact that we’ve got Road Rage later in the stage will be really challenging, especially for the front lot of riders, because it’s quite technical.

For the general riders, it’s going to be singletrack overload to start the event, in one of the best parks on the Sunshine Coast,” he says.

Dover expects the elites will probably be done and dusted in about 90-min, while the remainder of the riders should be closer to two hours.

The race will finish at the same venue just outside the park, but don’t crack a cold one yet, because your race day is only half done.

Quad Crown Sunshine Coast Stage 2 | Tewantin  | 29km

The second stage of the Quad Crown Sunshine Coast was initially planned to be a 35km jaunt through Mapleton National Park. However, that has since changed too, with the race now headed for Tewantin.

The stage will kick off at a venue about 5km south of the trails, and over 29km and with 574m of climbing, the course will take in every trail at Tewantin.

“There is going to be a heap of single trail at Tewantin, and the race up there will be super interesting because we will go through the back streets to get to the park. There are few climbs, and I think there will be some jockeying for position before we get to the singletrack,” says Dover.

“Once we get to Tewantin, it’s pretty old school, ribbon trail, tight singletrack. I think actually getting around there at race speed and under pressure — it’s also the second stage when you might be carrying some tiredness from stage one — will be the real challenge,” he continues.

Located about a 15-20min drive from Parklands, the start-finish area for stage two is where the festival area will be set up. Everything will be waiting for riders as they arrive after the kickoff stage, with food, recovery and bike servicing available — including e-MTB charging.

Crossing the line with a combined 54km in your legs, it is now that you can pop the top on that frothy post-race brewski.

Quad Crown Sunshine Coast Stage 3 | Ewen Maddock Dam | 30km

The following morning, the ultimate stage of the Quad Crown Sunshine Coast will take in the trails around Ewen Maddock Dam, covering 30km with 260m of elevation.

The start-finish will once again be outside the park, this time at the Mooloolah Valley Country Club, and head for the north side of the dam. Riders will work their way around the lake to the Ferny Forrest loop, which has previously been used in 12 and 24-hour races.

“The first section of trails along the north side of the dam are quite wide, so it’s not necessarily singletrack, but there will be some early climbing. I think it will be a race to get to the Ferny Forrest singletrack,” says Dover

“We’ve used some trails that go out into the edges of the dam, which are pretty cool. I think the elites will be going too fast to notice, but there are some great views for the average riders,” he says.

Even with this stage being the longest of the three, Dover predicts that this will be another 90-min effort for the elites, with the average riders likely taking between 2 and 2.5-hours.

Race for Quaddie Glory

With the Quad Crown being a four-stop series, it’s cumulative, and there will be overall winners in each racing category. We should note that the Elites are an entirely separate field, so for those of us who aren’t contending for the pointy end, of the pointy end of the race, you’re in with a shot at Quaddie glory!

With that, the elite field is filling up fast, and we’ve confirmed that Brendan ‘Trekky’ Johnston, Dan McConnell, Em Viotto, Karl Michelin-Beard, Anna Beck and Briony Mattocks will be donning race plates on the Sunshine Coast.

The Elite field will be chasing cash prizes while the juniors, masters and e-Bike categories will receive prizes from the event sponsors.

Of course, all of this is in pursuit of the overall crown — yes, we have confirmed that physical crowns will be up for grabs. Points will be awarded on each stage, so a poor performance on one stage could tank your chances of becoming the monarch crowned at the end of the series.

Entry is open now for the first round, follow the link to the Quad Crown website for more info and to register.

The post What can you expect from the Quad Crown Sunshine Coast? | Previewing the first round of the new race series appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

The idea to bring Crankworx to Australia has been bubbling away in the background since just after the World Championships rolled through Cairns in 2017.

Matt Hilton from GTR Events — which ran the Cairns World Champs — tells us after the last rainbow jersey had been awarded, they started looking ahead at what was next. With the prospect of bringing another World Champs to Australia a decade or more away, GTR identified two goals. The first was to host a new MTB stage race in Victoria — The GOAT — and the second was to bring another major international event down under.

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“Our chairman was headed over to Canada for a holiday, and Crankworx Whistler was actually on at the time. So we got Darl (Herbert, from GTR) to meet with Darren (Kinnaird, Crankworx World Tour Managing Director) to put Australia on the table,” says Hilton.

After plenty of back and forths, Warburton had emerged as the front runner to host. However, a combination of the EES process and a funding opportunity from Tourism Tropical North Queensland, Kinnaird circled back to GTR Events and asked if they had ever hosted anything in Cairns.

Back to Smithfield

Glen Jacobs from World Trail tells us it was around this time of year nearly 30 years ago when they started discussing bringing the first World Cup to Cairns, and now Smithfield is set to host yet another international level event.

“Crankworx love taking their brand, and their product to beautiful places. Carins certainly ticked those boxes when Darren came to visit,” says Jacobs.

As the fourth stop on the main Crankworx calendar, Cairns brings something totally unique among the stops in the Northern Hemisphere and even against Rotorua.

“Cairns is super hot and super humid, and it’s a more rainforest vibe than any of the other stops. I think it’s a really great opportunity for people from the other side of the world to come out for a bit longer, and experience the riding here for a week or two before heading over to New Zealand for Rotorua,” says Harriet Burbidge-Smith, who took third place overall in the 2021 Queen of Crankworx standings.

“I’m pretty excited to have people come to race in my home country and have a home crowd for the first time,” she continues.

With Carins in October and Rotorua a month later, Burbidge-Smith is also excited about what Crankworx will do for the burgeoning local freeride scene.

“It also opens up opportunities for Australian riders who don’t get the chance to go overseas as easily — especially over to Europe — and they can tag on and do the New Zealand round as well,” she says.

Of course, Crankworx is more than just an elite level event, and there is a whole festival and a massive trade show that comes along with it. But it also provides the opportunity to lay the foundation for the next generation of riders.

“What I like most about a Crankworx event, is its accessibility to all ages and abilities. Kidsworx is such a cracking concept, and CW Next (which is the category for kids under 18) is such an amazing category to really push up-and-coming athletes through the ranks, and be seen on the world scale. There are not too many events that provide that,” says Hilton.

The venue

Smithfield will play host to the entire festival, with Tom Hey from Elevate Trail Building — who is also responsible for the Crankworx Innsbruck and Rotorua courses — coming in to lead the build, supported by World Trail, and Remy Morton will also be on the build.  Jacobs tells us they are just getting started on the design work, with the course to be constructed mid-year.

Smithfield was purpose-built as a venue to hold events, so it has the vital infrastructure to smooth the process out, however, the landscape is pretty unique compared to Whistler, Innsbruck, or even Skyline MTB Park in Rotorua.

“It’s going to be different to those big European grass fields,” he says. “We do have some grass fields, but it’s half grass, and then the rest is jungle, so there is going to be a lot of creative camera work, and it’s going to be a different style course — we can’t wait to see what Tom comes up with,” says Jacobs.

The other aspect of the venue will be what it leaves behind. In the same way, you can ride the World Cup DH runs at Smithfield and Stromlo and the Comm Games XC course at Nerang, the infrastructure that Crankworx leaves behind doesn’t just disappear when the festival move on to the next stop.

“Part of bringing Crankworx to Australia is creating a legacy, and providing more opportunities to ride these courses more often,” says Hilton. “Part of our strategy is to leave behind a world-class pump track and dual slalom course that the local mountain bike club or national sporting body can utilise year-round for events. The layer of infrastructure that an event like Crankworx leaves behind is so valuable.”

Then, of course, there is everything else that Cairns brings to the table.

“The beautiful thing about Cairns is that we have the beaches and The Great Barrier Reef just a stone’s throw away from the course. Everything is along the northern beaches — Palm Cove and Trinity Beach. You can literally ride your bike from your hotel on the beach to the course,” says Jacobs.

Festival passes for Crankworx Cairns are available now, head over to the Crankworx website for more.

The post Rumble in the rainforest | Crankworx is coming to Cairns this October appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

The event hasn’t run since May 2019, with the 2020 and 2021 editions forced into hibernation because of Covid-19 restrictions in NSW. The event team did its best to reschedule the four-day race, but with the restrictions, case numbers and folks not overly keen to gather in big numbers, the decision was made to pull the plug and start fresh when things had calmed down.

Fortunately, we have reached that time, and Port to Port is full steam ahead for 19-22 May.

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What happened to the 2021 event?

It’s been a tumultuous couple of years for event organisers, and while calling off the 2020 edition was a no brainer, many Port to Port devotees wondered aloud why the race was still on hiatus in 2021.

“At that point, with Covid and everything, having three big races on the calendar just wasn’t viable for 2021. But we still wanted to keep an MTB race on the calendar, which is why we went with Cape to Cape last year and put Reef to Reef and Port to Port into hibernation,” Martin Mashford, Regional Director at IRONMAN, tells Flow.

As they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder, and events of all sizes have come roaring back in a big way for 2022. According to Mashford, entries are up over previous years, and they are on track for the biggest Port to Port ever!

The 2022 course

After a long wait, the team at Port to Port has pinned down the exact course alignments, and after three years the 2022 route looks all time.

Port to Port Stage 1

Day one will still serve as the seeding stage, covering 1500m of climbing over 58km. Mixed in with the suffering, Mashford says this stage will still deliver the scenery, with epic views of the Hunter Valley.

“Stage one is still at a winery but (is based at) a new venue called Roche Estate. It gives the stage a slightly different start and finish, and it gives riders a chance to take in the sights of the vineyards the region is famous for before taking on the hills. It’s still ‘starting and finishing between the vines,’ and it’s still that Hunter Valley vibe that people love,” says Mashford.

Rolling out along the roads of Pokolbin, riders will pedal past vineyards galore on their way into the state forest and the first, and biggest climb of the day. It’s a decent amount of vertical to cover, but on a dirt road, not singletrack so riders should be able to find a rhythm and tap their way up. At the top, the course dives into a familiar section of singletrack with a mix of hand-cut MTB and moto trails but riding in reverse to previous years. Then it’s a cannonball run back to Roche Estate for the finish.

Port to Port Stage 2

The second stage will still set riders loose on the old school singletrack of Killingworth and Holmesville, but the course will run in a different order to previous years, thanks to a new start/finish at Kevin Evans Oval, which will change the flow of the stage.     

Covering 42km with only 600m of climbing, the stage kicks off with a short tarmac liaison to the Killingworth Trails, where riders will do a loop before turning towards Holmesville. Harkening back to the days when 26in was the dominant wheel size, Holmesville is tight, and twisty with more corners than you can shake a spoke at. After the side knobs on your tyres have had a full workout, it’s back to the oval for the finish.

Port to Port Stage 3

Stage three has also been thrown in reverse and has a new start/finish area at Cooranbong Equestrian Park. Serving as the queen stage, riders will cover 52km and climb 1200m. The course may look familiar to Port to Port vets, however, it too has been chucked in reverse.

“The Equestrian Park will provide a new venue for us on stage three this year, and instead of going through Awaba and then up over the hill, we’re going over the hill at the beginning of the stage and then to the trails,” says Mashford.

“It’ll give riders the chance to spread out as a field through the first part of the stage, so when they hit the trails, they will have a bit more free space,” he continues.

Port to Port Stage 4

You don’t mess with tradition, and the ultimate stage of the Port to Port is still be a point to point run down the coast to Newcastle, clocking in a 40km with 700m of climbing.

“There’s a bunch of new trails, given we’ve been away for three years, and all the parks have brought in new singletrack and new alignments that riders wouldn’t have done at Port to Port before. There’s a tonne of new things the course team is finding to make each stage better and better,” he says.

Starting at a new spot closer to Barton Field, the Whitebridge trails are up first for some flowy goodness before heading into the Glenrock and then onto Dixon Park for the finishing festivities.

The atmosphere

Big destination events like the Port to Port aren’t just about what’s between the start and finish line. It’s also about the atmosphere and what you can do outside of the event.

“As always, we’ll have beer and food at the finish line, and our partner this year is Rogue Scholar, which is a brewpub up in Newcastle. They’ll be at stages two, three and four, and they will be doing beers and providing the entertainment — there is a band one day and a DJ the next to mix it all up.

Mashford tells us that Roche Estate has a range of different eateries on-site with all kinds of food, wine, and beer for the first stage.

Each stage will also have post-race massage treatments, bike mechanics, and a bike wash.

“You’re out there riding day after day, and you’ll need to make sure your bike and body are prepared for the next day’s stage,” he says.

The price

Since entries for the Port to Port opened in October, we have seen grumblings about the entry fee. The Port to Port is an expensive event, but that race entry fee gets you a top-notch racing experience, four days on the best trails across the region, a swag bag, finisher medals, a bumping race village, and it’s also a qualifier for the Cape Epic. For 2022, the entry fee has gone up, so we asked about the bump in price.

“Since Covid, there has certainly been an increase in the cost of putting on events. A lot of our contractors and suppliers have had to increase their prices so that they can stay alive, and to meet constantly changing Government requirements. From an event organisers perspective, the way we deliver these events has also changed, with elements such as additional hygiene measures and infrastructure for social distancing adding to the operational costs,” says Mashford.

It’s expensive to run an event like the Port to Port; rolling road closures, event permits, private land access, athlete massages, event staff and all the rest — none of that is free, in addition to what Mashford outlined above. However, these luxuries also set the Port to Port and other races in the Epic series apart from other stage races in Australia.

Covid protocol

At the time of writing, borders are mostly open, testing requirements are becoming a thing of the past, and news recently broke that international borders are reopening. That said, with an event the size of Port to Port, it would be silly not to have plans in place should things take a turn.

According to Mashford, if borders close, if you have to enter mandatory isolation over the event dates, or they have to call things off last minute and cannot reschedule, riders will receive a deferral to next year’s event.

“Anything that we can do, we’ll try to put the event on, but if not, riders will always have the option, if it’s Covid related, to defer to next year’s race,” he says.

You can read the full Coivd-19 policy here.

How to enter?

Entries for the 2022 Port to Port are open now, and according to Mashford, it’s on track to be the biggest one yet.

While it’s been three years since the Port to Port brought riders to the Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, the four-day stage race offers a unique opportunity to get away from real life and only worry about riding your mountain bike.

Entries are selling fast, so if you’re eyeing off the 2022 Port to Port, jump in and enter here. 

The post Port to Port is full steam ahead for 2022 appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Enduro Jam takes the pressure out of gravity racing and follows a jam format, meaning riders can take as many runs on each stage as they want, and only their best time counts. There were two main racing categories, Open Jam, which took riders down two stages on the park’s blue and black trails, while the Pro Jam had an additional stage that incorporated the runs planned for the EWS stop. The liaisons were in the shuttle bus, so there was no need to bring your climbing legs. Just three days of gravity fuelled fun. Did we mention there were EWS points up for grabs too?

Maydena’s new base area was set up as a bit of a festival ground, with SRAM providing technical support. Riders could cruise straight off the bottom of their latest run, get a quick tune-up, check live times, and grab a drink or a bite to eat.

“The place was vibrating with excitement thanks to the unique format and layout of the racing and the huge range of people taking part. It felt like the ideal way to send off summer and what’s been an amazing season for the bike park. All very much enhanced by the unreal food the park is renowned for, washed down with a Pina Colada or two,” said Flow correspondent Chris Sansom.

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Watch Dan Booker break the sound barrier on his way to winning the first Maydena Enduro Jam

As competitive or as chilled as you want

An event like Enduro Jam is so fun because it allows riders to tailor their weekend based on how competitive they feel on a given day.

“Riders would shuttle up together, ride to stage starts and drop-in, in big groups to heckle each other or leave a good long gap to try and better their times.

The ability to repeat stages, come down and check live times, and head back up for another crack made for some quietly heated rivalries and healthy smack talk over a beer at the end of each day,” recounts Sansom.

While the east coast of Australia was in the midst of yet another drenching, the weather gods smiled on Maydena and provided rip-roaring conditions.

“Friday morning was a little bit greasy, but we had warm weather and sunshine on Saturday and Sunday, so trail conditions were pretty much as good as they ever get through the weekend,” says  Maydena’s head honcho Simon French. “It’s a really good format, and it suits our park really well, so it’s definitely something we’re going to keep going with.”

The anti-race

Day one took Open Jam riders for a tour of trails like Beach Babe, Waratah, Wicked Styx, Scandinavia, Handi Scandi, and Tyenna, among others, while the Pro Stage hit Gnar Yeah, Marriotts, and Billy Bob.

With unlimited uplifts, we hear folks were putting in as many as six runs on some of the stages throughout the day, but it was Maydena local legends Dan Booker and Laura Craft who would make a clean sweep winning all three stages in the Pro Jam Category.

The second day of racing incorporated King Brown, the National DH course and Maydena’s Wilderness Trail, which was a crowd favourite.

“Middle Earth into Outer Limits was by far my favourite stage,” said Sansom. “It took in two of the best flow trails on the hill, had a bit of pedalling, and was wildly grippy on race day. They’re two of the lesser ridden trails on the hill at Maydena, and it makes them that bit more special to try and put down a fast time on them.”

Craft continued her dominance at the end of day two, taking wins on all three stages, while Ryan Gilchrist stole two stage wins from Booker.

Saturday also saw the start of Enduro Jam’s extracurricular activities after the shuttles stopped running.

Over at the Dirt Jumps, the snags were on the BBQ, and a sizable crowd had gathered to watch some monumental whipping action.

Sansom says there was an epic sunset, the 80s power ballads were blaring over the speakers, and a pair of backflips were attempted. Once the dust had settled, Pete Cornelius took to the stage so folks could boogie the night away.

The final day of Enduro Jam was the most physical of the three, kicking off with a top to bottom run of Abbotts Peak, with the remaining Open Jam and Pro Jam stages covering nearly half the vertical drop the mountain has to offer. The difficulty of the third day may have also been due to the beers from the evening before, and the amount of rug cut on the dance floor — we can only speculate.

Enduro Jam Champions

Laura Craft completed her clean sweep of Enduro Jam, while Booker would put together the quickest runs on day three to take the overall win, each earning a sweet $1000 AUD and a handful of EWS points in the process.

The weekend wrapped up with a World Cup after-party, watching the UCI DH World Cup return to Lourdes, France, after a five-year hiatus.

If it seems like Maydena has found a winner with Enduro Jam, that would be because it has. For a new event to attract a field of this size, and the overall feedback largely being folks throwing up the horns and yelling ‘yewwww,’ is a testament to how much fun was had on the slopes of Abbotts Peak.

And with that, the fun will continue on December 2-4, with Enduro Jam returning for round two.

The post A hoot, a holler and chilled out racing at Maydena Enduro Jam appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

After riding to fourth place in the short track the day before, McConnell earned herself a front row start alongside Pauline Ferrand-Prevo, Laura Stigger, Evie Richards and Loana Lecomte.

Richards, along with Jolanda Neff, wouldn’t start due to illness. PFP started the race, but quickly fell off the pace and pulled out, also sighting illness.

The race kicked off in a familiar fashion with French National champ Loana Lecomte disappearing off the front, opening up an 8-second gap by the time she’d hit the first climb on lap one.

Race deciding rock garden

By the third lap, Lecomte had extended that gap to 30-seconds. However, a bobble in the janky man-made rock garden saw McConnell and Anne Terpstra claw back 10 seconds while the Frenchwoman got going. By the end of the fourth lap, they’d caught Lecomte, and it was Terpstra’s turn to go off the front. A well-timed attack on the same rock garden gave the Dutch rider a ten-second advantage, with McConnell and Lecomte in pursuit.

A lapped rider and a slippery root would unravel Terpstra’s race, and a well-timed attack would put McConnell in the lead with half a lap to go. However, Terpstra could not match the 14x Australian National Champion’s surge, and at the final split, she’d opened a nine-second gap.

After the ultimate descent into the finish area, Terpstra was nowhere to be seen, and McConnell pinned down her first elusive world cup win.

“I’m pretty lost for words; it’s so special, so crazy. Coming down that hill into the finish, I was thinking, “What the fuck is happening?” says McConnel in a post-race interview for the ages.

“Everybody has sort of been like it’s coming, it’s coming. I’ve been super consistent over the last couple of years, on the podium more often than not — but that never means that the win is coming,” she said.

“Every season, you go away for six months to rebuild, and you just don’t know if you’re going to come back in the same shape or better than you had.

Everything can go well, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen on race day,” McConnell said.

With this win, McConnell puts her at the top of the World Cup standings going into Albstadt, Germany, next month.

Photos: Fabio Piva / Red Bull Content Pool, Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

The post Bec McConnell wins her first UCI World Cup in Brazil appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Over 200 riders from all over Australia converged on Tassie for three days of racing on some of the best trails in Australia. The course covered 155km (including prologues and non-timed liaisons) and gained 4300m of elevation — did we mention almost all of that is singletrack?

Follow three riders from different riding backgrounds as they tackle the Dragon Trail MTB Stage Race

Day 1: Blue Derby Flow

The first day of the Dragon Trail MTB stage race was wet, very wet. With rain moving in the day before and continuing through stage one, a muddy adventure was in store for the day.

After a 5km prologue to determine the seeding order and a 5km transfer up the Valley Ponds Trail, the kick-off stage took riders on a 45km tour of Blue Derby and up to Weldborough. The first 17km of the course winds its way through the network on trails like Axehead, Long Shadows, Dam Busters, and Sawtooth before running through the Derby Tunnel for the first aid station.

With sugars topped up, the course left the trail network for some good old-fashioned adventure riding. The middle 12km of the stage saw riders tackle a high-speed gravel descent on Mutual Road before veering onto the Ringarooma River Trail, following the river all the way to the small township of Moorina.

Stage one wraps up with a roughly 11km gravel climb up a forestry road that narrows into a rough 4WD track, ascending nearly 500m in the process. The reward for grinding out this climb was waiting for riders on the other end of the glorious Big Chook descent at the Weldborough Hotel with burgers and beers.

“There is lots of superb single track, but there are old school trails and fire roads too, and the surfaces changed each day. We were crossing deep creeks, riding slippy descents, loose shaley rocks and then grippy granite,” said St Helens local Luke Webster.

Jon Odams and Karen Hill would be the first male and female riders to cross the line on stage one.

With the Dragon Trail running for three days across three separate locations, it’s a fully catered event — you sleep in a tent, eat and be merry with your fellow competitors, and there is even daily entertainment. And while you’re out on the course, the race team transports everything to the next venue, so camp is set up and waiting by the time you arrive.

Day Two: The Bay of Fires

Leaving Weldborough, the riders headed for the Bay of Fires, but they’d have to climb over the Blue Tier first. Today’s weather forecast called for less precipitation. Still, a bulletin from the race organisers informed riders that unpredictable high winds were predicted for the top of the mountain, and they’d need to carry jackets and a thermal top. 

Day two is the longest stage of the Dragon Trail, covering 52km; the first rider across the line covered this distance in just under three hours — holy watt-bomb, Batman! 

Scattered showers and residual moisture for the day prior meant another day playing in the mud and some of the creek crossings that are usually just a trickle were a bit deeper than last the last time we saw them.

With the first stage being almost entirely singletrack — meaning limited passing zones — riders were set off in 8-second intervals to prevent traffic jams. For the second stage, the organisers divided the field into groups of 20 to re-introduce some elbows out racing. 

The day begins with a 3km climb up Little Chook into an old-school goat track, climbing 400-vertical-metres usually ridden in the opposite direction. From there, it’s a short stint on Emu Flat Road before riders head for nearly 8km of rough 4WD track, rock crawling through boulder gardens, creek crossings and narrow singletrack leading to the old mining town of Poimena for the first aid station.

After a quick refuel, it’s on to the Bay of Fires Trail, which kicks off with 13km of gravity-fueled fun. After a short fire road liaison, aid station two marks the transition from the lush sub-alpine rainforest into the coastal Tasmanian dry sclerophyll forest below, and the trail zigs and zags down to the squeaky white sand on Swimcart Beach.

Once again, Jon Odams and Karen Hill would take the stage wins and securing the top places in the general classification.

A bit further back in the field, Tony Zerbst was the only racer in the 70+ category. He’d initially planned to race the Dragon Trail in the ‘Oldies and Offspring’ category after being talked into competing by his son Joe. Unfortunately, Joe came down with the spicy cough and was forced to pull out, but Tony persevered and beat his age in the general classification, riding to an impressive 62nd place. 

According to the Zerbst duo, they’ll be back next year to race together.

Day 3: St Helens Dreaming

For the ultimate stage of the Dragon Trail, the weather gods smiled on St Helens, and the sun decided to join the race. After a 4km transfer from camp, stage three took riders for a 42km rip around St Helens’ Flagstaff trails.

The day kicks off with trails like Rock Lobster, Wedged In and Garnup before jumping onto the 20km Dreaming Pools adventure trail, which took racers up and over the KOM/QOM of the day.

Odams and Hill were again the first to cross the line, completing the Dragon Trail clean sweep and winning the overall race — the second in as many years Hill has come out on top at the end of the third stage.

“This year, I wasn’t in the same form as last year and had no expectations other than to ride and have fun. I came back to race on awesome trails,” she said.

Paralympian Michael Milton also finished the Dragon Trail this year. An amputee since childhood, he’s won six skiing Olympic gold medals, set a world record for the marathon on crutches and raced national track cycling events.

“Today was tough from the start, and I had to use what little reserve I had to finish. (I’ve) never had a better ride than that final rolling descent to the finish line.

I DID IT! What a race! If you MTB, you HAVE to do the Dragon Trail because it is stunning, varied, challenging, fun and amazingly beautiful … all the adjectives!”

And then there is Cangie Wu, the Dragon Trail rider who spent the most time out on course enjoying the trails in northeast Tasmania. After struggling through the first stage, she planned to pull the plug, but after some encouragement finished the second stage.

On the morning of day three, Wu told the race crew she didn’t have the legs for the last day, but was talked into at least riding to the trailhead. Well, a few hours later, she was coming across the finish line and had completed the race — what a legend!

Race director Louise Folks tells Flow that Dragon Trail will be coming back for 2023, and she’ll be announcing the dates soon.

“We’ve had two years perfecting and refining, and we know this is a world-class event, so next year we are looking forward to welcoming riders from all over the world to Tasmania and the Dragon Trail. So come and join us,” she said.

For the full results or more details on the Dragon Trail, head over to the race website.

Photos – @murilomattoss @margareteoti @_angeliquecr

The post Dragon Trail 2022 | Three days racing through the best trails in northeast Tasmania appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

I remember reading a Dirt Magazine article about multi-day enduros at least a decade ago. I liked the idea of a multi-day gravity race. Still, at the time, they were primarily held in galaxies far, far away, in a language I didn’t speak, by riders wearing skin suits with built-in armour and helmets with flip-down visors. Not being the owner of a millennium falcon and with my trusty translator C3P0 still on secondment with the Rebel Alliance, I put that idea on the proverbial back burner, where it stayed for many years.

I never imagined that such an event would appear on my back doorstep, making it possible for me, and all my mates, to go: no two-grand airfare, jetlag, travel insurance or covid restrictions. Just the smell of eucalyptus and long Tassie summer evenings to soak in after a good day’s ride.

Enter the Trans Tas

The Trans Tas is the third event brought to life in the Trans Enduro Series by Megan Rose, an avid mountain biker with formal training in event management. The enduro series came to fruition in 2015 with the Trans NZ, adding the Trans BC in 2016, and as of this year, the Trans Tas finally became a reality to make it three.

In relation to the other two events, the Trans Tas sits between them in terms of difficulty. I like to think of it as the cream in the middle of the TransEnduro lamington sponge.

Spanning across five days, the Trans Tas has 23-stages, incorporating trails from three different locations in Tasmania; Maydena, Queenstown, and Derby. We completed 7000-ish metres of descending with a cumulative “race” time between two and three hours for most participants. 

Put it another way, the event’s vibe is like taking an epic weekend ride with your mates and strapping a timing chip to your wrist for good measure. Take that and multiply it by five days, on the best trails in Tasmania, and add in full catering and transfers — there is also a dirtbag option available for those that want to keep the price down and self-cater food and accommodation.

Go as hard or mellow as you want; the clock doesn’t lie. But, more importantly, it provides a cold measure of your performance for speculation of what could have been, leading to inevitable animated discussions in liaison stages and over your après drink of choice.

Sound good? How do you know if this event is for you?

The primary provision of doing a Trans Series event is being honest about your riding ability and fitness. You’ll need to be comfortable riding black, and double black trails, blind — don’t expect any warm-ups or sighting runs.

Don’t get me wrong, there is ample time (and food) provided each day to get you through the stages, but you need to be confident riding technical trails for hours on end, day after day, regardless of the conditions. We experienced 35-degree heat in Maydena, and my thermometer bottomed out at a chilly six degrees in Queenstown. I don’t imagine it would be much fun for people that are in over their heads.

The skill and fitness required to survive the event create a degree of exclusivity. Combined with dual Covid related postponements and the event only being open to domestic riders, a giggling gaggle of 80 gravity gurus still made the pilgrimage. 

Although those numbers are lower than Megan planned, I predict future iterations of this event will sell out, particularly as borders open to internationals. I also think the ride will become more accessible to domestic riders as rapidly developing mountain bike infrastructure and the sport’s popularity drive up the skill level and experience over the coming years.

Become a volunteer

Confidence is key in approaching an event like Trans Tas, and if you’re not totally sure of your ability to ride EWS level trails at race pace, sight unseen, there is a way for you to participate — be a race volunteer.

The race volunteers are essentially what makes Trans Tas possible; they are your course marshalls, the folks getting you to and from the trails, the smiling faces at the aid stations and the on-course medics — you’ll need a relevant qualification for that last one.

As a race volunteer, you get to ride the courses — as many or as few stages as you fancy —and experience first-hand what a multi-day enduro is like, albeit at a slightly downtempo pace. Of course, you have a job to do each day, but you’re amongst it; you see the stoke on everyone’s faces and hear the war stories at the end of the day — you may even have a few of your own.

It makes an event that has a high bar to entry accessible to a whole new stable of riders and allows them to immerse themselves in the environment the Trans Tas creates.

Plus, everything is comped. So all you have to do is make your way to the event, and your transfers, accommodation, meals, snacks and beers are all covered in exchange for your hard work — not a bad all-expenses-paid holiday if you ask me.

At this year’s Trans Tas, a number of the volunteers were partners of the racers — including my partner Sar — which meant that we could share and enjoy the experience together.

What does it offer over and above regular enduro racing?

With the event spanning the better part of a week, rather than squishing everyone into a more formal race format, Trans Tas is designed to have a casual, inclusive and social vibe. We’re all here for a good time, right?

The casual vibe starts during the registration process, where each entrant nominates with whom they want to ride and share accommodation.

Once on course, riders are loosely divided into waves consisting of groups of friends that self organise at the top of each timed stage. With no prescribed starting order, there is no need to track the time too closely or stress if you need to stop and fix a mechanical. Instead, riders naturally space themselves out and drop into each stage when ready as each day unfolds.

It was a dynamic process where I could jump behind someone faster than me, giving just enough time for the dust to settle. Or I would negotiate a full minute gap with the stage marshal before dropping in behind someone I knew was slower than me to avoid unnecessary passing manoeuvres. 

I would often see riders dropping in pairs, with one inviting the other to follow their line or party trains of five-plus people — usually, friends who had ordered themselves just like they were chasing each other down on their local trails. 

This means maximum fun times with your mates both on and off the course. With only five(ish) hours of riding per day, there is still plenty of time to mingle with everyone and make new friends at the après — especially in the excellent venues that we got to frequent each afternoon across the three locations.

The only difference is you have a race plate in the shape of Tasmania with whatever name you choose.

Riding those places blind? You’re kidding, right?

The race takes on some of the most challenging trails across Tasmania, and I have to admit, I was a little nervous about racing these trails blind. I had been to Maydena and Derby once before, so I knew what the terrain was like, but I hadn’t committed any of the trails to memory. Queenstown was still an unknown entity.

Further to that, at the rider briefing the night before the event, Megan gave us the pep talk about staying safe, which I’ll now paraphrase;

“We find that we get fewer injuries if we don’t tell people to ride within their limits, and instead to just go for it. So, we encourage you all to SEND IT!”

The gauntlet had been laid. Now the challenge was how could I balance the speed with staying upright?

Zen and the art of blind racing

Blind racing creates the opportunity to test oneself on terrain that isn’t committed to memory. The challenge essentially boils down to being able to ride as fast as possible within one’s limits. My mind drifted back to my motorcycle learners, where we had the following drilled into us, “if you can’t stop in the distance you can see ahead, you are going too fast.”

The trails we rode have been designed and built with predictability as a critical principle so riders can have a safe and exhilarating experience right from the first pedal stroke. That anecdote above is a good starting point. However, I modified it to “if I can’t slow down enough not to get hurt in the distance I can see ahead, I am going too fast” — this was my mantra for the week.

The key to blind racing is less about taking risks and more about learning terrain processing at speed, consistent breathing and staying focussed on what’s ahead. It’s a meditation of sorts, a synergy of mindfulness and trust. A relaxed rider can spend most of their time processing the “next” while letting the “now” flow under their wheels, like sand through the hourglass, water off a duck’s back, or any other preferred and appropriate cliché you might favour. 

This is something anyone can practice on their home trails even if they know them well. An increased capacity to trust oneself and look ahead is easier to develop on familiar terrain. In addition, it can significantly decrease physical effort and improve flow, which directly translates to a more satisfying and zen-like experience.

Math-letics: riding as fast as I could, on trails I didn’t know, without crashing

Sam Hill has an infamous quote from back in the day that goes something like, “sometimes you have to slow down to go faster.”

I followed this wisdom while scribbling out some back of the envelope calculations that helped contain my excitement and hold it together. I reasoned with myself the following:

• Any mistake causing me to veer offline, brake excessively or come to a near stop was worth 5 seconds. 
• Any crash where I came off was worth at least 10 seconds. 
• On a long descent where I didn’t know the track and inadvertently crossed into the land of “overfroth,” I knew that two mistakes and a crash could happen on any given run.

Extrapolating this to 23 stages, I figured I had the potential to lose 20 seconds per 5-8min run, that when added together, could cost me seven-and-a-half minutes, or 20 places in the overall standings, or a quarter of the field.

So the philosophy that I took into this was relative restraint rather than reckless abandon. 

This was a chance to ride within my means, get into a flow, conserve momentum and carry speed in unfamiliar terrain. I reminded myself that several World Cup podiums had been achieved with no chain. There is a lot to be said for developing skills beyond late braking into corners and dropping watt bombs, trying to get back up to speed if you overcook it.

At the end of each run, I felt pretty satisfied that I had held it together. I could focus on what I did right, rather than the usual list of excuses — blew that corner, came in too hot to make the section here, ran off track there because I didn’t look far enough ahead, didn’t see the brown snake early enough to do a bunnyhop etc.

Anyway, that was my strategy, and it worked pretty well. I made three mistakes in total and ran off the track once over the whole event. Sure I could have pushed a bit harder, but it was nice to fly home with bike and body in one piece. 

The final thing I have to say about the mental approach to this kind of event is that it doesn’t matter if you can hit a jump or tackle a steep line. Getting into a flow state is a challenge all skill levels of riders can take on to improve their experience.

Trans Tas 2023, we’ll be back

So there you have it. The inaugural Trans Tas race is done and dusted! We did it despite all the Covid setbacks and the fact that it was impossible to source any tire with both a desirable tread pattern and a sidewall suited to the gnarly terrain.

Hats off to Megan and her merry band of volunteers and all the venues and local businesses that enabled the Trans Tas to go ahead.

Trans Tas will only continue to improve, and you can bet they will be heading back next year. The 2023 dates haven’t been announced just yet, but we expect the race will run in a similar period just after the Christmas school holidays have wrapped up.For more information, head over to the Trans Tas website.

Photos: Kristina Vackova /@kiphotomedia, Marcus Enno / @beardmcbeardy, Charlie Rex Edis / @charlierexphoto, Simon Holmes / @bigshedstudios

The post From South West to North East Tassie | Racing the Trans Tas appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Momentum is the brainchild of Harriet “Haz” Burbidge-Smith, and came about from her experience riding in Red Bull Formation and Casey Brown’s Dark Horse Invitational.

Watch highlights from the Trek Momentum women’s progression camp

“The freeride movement for women is massive overseas, and seeing how we’ve progressed as a group together, I was so inspired. Nothing like that was happening in Australia, and there is this big gap to fill,” she says. “A lot of girls never get to experience that and ride high level (slopestyle) courses until they go overseas, so there was a great opportunity to do something like that in Australia.”

With the fire lit, Burbidge-Smith approached her sponsors with an idea for an event.

“When she Haz was trying to make it to that next level, she never really felt like she had that additional support,” says Ashley Longshaw from Trek Australia. “And now that she has become a world-class freeride athlete, she wants to make sure that these girls have something to look up to, and mentors that can have a positive influence on their riding.”

As the home of the Highline MTB festival and the kickoff of the Australian Slopestyle Tour, Mansfield was the obvious choice of venue; Burbidge-Smith assembled a crack team of Caroline Buchanan, Mike Ross, and Zoe Cuthbert to help riders build their skills on the bike.

“It was a great close-knit group of girls that came together to grow their skills. It blew my mind what they achieved over a few short days. It was incredible,” says Ross.

Related:

• Haz of all trades — the journey from BMX racing to Freeride MTB
• Australian Slopestyle Tour is on like Donkey Kong | Four stop freeride tour for 2022
• Highline Mountain Bike Festival brings the FMB World Cup to Australia

It’s not just about the bike

While technical skills and repetition are foundational to becoming a better bike rider, the mental aspect is an oft-overlooked ingredient to progressing as an athlete.

Which is why Burbidge-Smith also brought in Maddi Costanzo, a Performance Coach and Sports Psychologist, to arm the campers with the tools they needed to overcome the mental roadblocks that can arise when you’re staring at a wooden jump for the first time.

“These riders would come to me because they had some sort of fear; it’s only human nature when you’re looking at a big jump or a drop. I was there to help them settle their thoughts and teach them to work through the fear,” Costanzo says.

“It was amazing to have a chat with these girls and then 20-minutes later to see them nailing these jumps they were too scared to hit, and put what we worked into practice right away,” she continues.

Building the momentum with the crew

Only a handful of girls were invited to participate in the inaugural Momentum camp. This wasn’t to create an air of exclusivity; it was out of necessity because there simply aren’t all that many local girls in this space — yet.

Trek Momentum invited riders

• Ellie Smith
• Leyla Sharman
• Sarah Nicki
• Katie Lawlor
• Georgia Henness
• Tilly Henness
• Ruby Jacobson
• Elise Empey
• Lucie van der Schalk
• Sacha Mills

“There is no scene for freeriders. There are no competitions where I could look at results to find the names of riders,” says Burbidge-Smith.

So she put the feelers out over social media and started looking through downhill results, the start list for the Whip Off at the Cannonball MTB Fest, and dipped into the BMX clan, among other places, to find out who might be interested.

And by casting such a wide net, Burbidge-Smith was able to reach a group of young ladies across a range of ages and from a variety of riding backgrounds. The campers ranged from downhillers who’d never hit a wooden jump to BMXers who didn’t have much, if any, experience on a mountain bike.

“We had all these girls who freeride was not their discipline. And to not just go out there and give it a go, but after two days say, ‘oh, now I’m going to try a trick,’ their determination was unbelievable’,” says Longshaw.

Buchanan continues, “I think that’s part of what made them all believe in themselves, and vibe off the different skill sets of one another. To have that diversity of cross country, enduro, downhill, BMX, and basically every category of mountain biking, they were able to talk to each other and not just rely on the coaches and mentors for advice, but also to lean on each other for encouragement.”

This environment created a hotbed for progression, and by the end of the first day, every athlete had ticked off all the features on the mini-slopestyle course, and was ready to move onto the bigger features.

The bigger picture

If nothing else, Momentum and events like it create the opportunity for young riders, especially female riders, in a predominantly male-dominated discipline, the chance to test the waters and see if freeride is for them.

While mountain biking, on the whole, is growing at lightspeed, freeride is still developing, and at last year’s Highline MTB Festival, Burbidge-Smith was the only female rider. The momentum (pun intended) from this progression camp is already serving as a springboard for women’s freeride in Australia.

“They walked away with so much, they all had big smiles on their faces, and great friends and connections. From what I’ve been told, more than half of them have signed up to compete in Highline in a few weeks. If we wouldn’t have held this camp, I bet you it would have been Haz and I, and maybe one other girl,” says Buchanan.

“If we get eight or 10 girls at the first FMB stop in Australia, then for the rest of the stops in Europe and North America, they’re going to see that and go, ‘man Australia had 10, what are we doing?’ This one exercise has already created a movement, and I can’t wait to see the flow-on effect,” she says.

Longshaw tells Flow that the overwhelming feedback from the riders is that, “this is the best thing that’s ever happened.” The goal of Trek Momentum is not just to be a one-off, to generate feel-good stories, but instead to become a legacy event that continues to foster a growing scene in the mountain bike community.

For next year, Burbidge-Smith and Longshaw are hoping to add more features, space for more riders, and possibly open the camp up to international riders and coaches — borders willing.

Photos: Vibe Imagery / @vibe.imagery

The post The inaugural Trek Momentum Progression Camp supporting women to get into freeride appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

The course itself covered a total distance of 136.5km over the four days. Now, this might not sound too tough but with over 3,340m of vertical to be climbed and multiple stages each day, the event proved to be a real test of endurance. The focus for the event was to provide a competitive but social environment to get out on your bike and it did just that.

Each day the courses provided timed descent sections for the Gravity GOATS, while the XC and E-GOAT categories would be timed over their entire course.

Watch video highlights here

Day One: Yack Tracks

Day 1 would kick off in Yackandandah, delivering a smattering of Yack’s very best singletrack. The Yack Tracks provided a great start point for the riders’ longest day of the event, with just over 44km of riding to be done and just shy of 900m vertical.

The Gravity GOATS had 3 timed descents to attack, while the Yack track’s offered XC and E-GOATS riders the perfect opportunity to size up their competitors and come out swinging.

The GOAT ambassador and local legend Paul Van Der Ploeg said “the vibes were high out there, plenty of chat and banter being thrown around but people were leaving it all out on the course.”

Paul added that after chatting to people on the trails, there were folks from Canberra, NSW, and TAS who had never been to or ridden the area before. He said, “it’s awesome to see events like The GOAT bring people into the region, riding these awesome trails and giving them a taste for just how incredible this area is”.

Day one wrapped up with riders returning to The GOAT Village at Bright Brewery. The GOAT Village offered displays of all things mountain biking with a selection of delicious food and beverages to recharge the riders.

Day Two: One for the mountain goats

The second day of four would see riders tearing up some of the region’s best trails at Mystic Mountain Bike Park in Bright. With a similar amount of climbing one over a much shorter distance, day two was set to be a tough one.

Another 3 timed stages awaited the Gravity GOATS, with all riders climbing the entire 886m straight out of the gate without any chance to descend or rest. Once riders reached the peak it was relatively all downhill from there. For those of you who don’t know, the Bright trails take in a mixture of natural bushland and pine forests, offering a delectable selection of chunky rock tech mixed with some of the fastest flow trails around.

With so much climbing to be done, E-GOAT riders were going to have to be very careful about how they conserved their battery throughout the day.

When asked how the stage went, ambassador and pro cyclist Tilly Field said “it was tough out there today, but my god the views made it all worthwhile.  The pain of the climb was long forgotten by the time I’d made it to the bottom of the second descent, Shred Kelly” she then said “Mystic really turned it on for us today, everyone’s stoke levels were sky high”

Riders once again finished up their day at the GOAT Village at Bright Brewery, feeling slightly wearier than the day before as the fatigue started to set in.

Day Three: Hand cut delights of Mount Beauty

Now, onto day three! Day three would see riders take to Big Hill Mountain Bike Park in Mount Beauty. Some riders definitely seemed a little slower to get started than others. We were guessing they were likely feeling the effects of either the two days’ previous trails or the aftermath of a fun night in the GOAT Village, who’s to say?

Lucky for them Stage 3 is the shortest of the 4, with 25.5km being covered, Course Director Justin Lane headed the warning “don’t be fooled, this is by no means an easy stage with 693m of vert and some of the most technical trails of The GOAT ahead”.

The mini shredders and future GOAT champions got a chance to get amongst the action as the Billy GOAT skills clinics took to the Big Hill MTB Park. They had an absolute blast. Day three got the energy pumping with a best-dressed prize on offer and weekend-only riders joining the rest of the field.

The Mount Beauty trails offered riders something quite different from what they may traditionally be accustomed to. Course Designer, Shannon Rademaker said, “these trails are hand-cut gems and don’t follow the standard recipe of modern trails.”

Day Four: Back to Bright

The fourth and final day of The GOAT would take riders back to Mystic Mountain Bike Park for a final, gruelling day. The weather turned up the heat for day four, testing riders as they tackled two 16km loops.

The Gravity GOAT had two chances on each of their three stages to set their fastest time during the two loops.

Course Director Shannon Rakemaker said, “it was a tough slog out there today in the heat but the riders had a lot of fun on the flowy trails of Mystic.”  He said, “we designed today’s stage to be the perfect mix of fun descents with challenging sections weaved throughout.” 

We’re big fans of multi-day stage races and The GOAT certainly didn’t disappoint. There were huge grins from riders across all four days and the GOAT Village offered something for both riders and spectators.

If you’re on the fence about getting involved next year, go for it, grab a goat by the horns, and have a crack.

For all the results and more details on the unique format of the event – check the official page here.

The post The Inaugural GOAT MTB Stage Race | 2022 in the Books! appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Saturday set the scene for both the 100km and 50km events, which also included a separate e-MTB category. While most of those folks raced the 50km course, we’ll note that there were three e-MTB riders who took on the 100km course. That’s some impressive battery management right there!

There was also a shorter 30km race on the Sunday, as well as the Great Otway Gravel Grind race with both 97km and 49km distance options. Many folks made a full weekend of it, racing both the mountain bike and gravel races while soaking up the sights, sounds and smells of the beautiful Otways Ranges.

You can read on for the detailed race report, and if you’re curious to know what’s been happening around the iconic Forrest trail network, be sure to check out our story on Forrest gets a facelift.

The 2022 Otway Odyssey

The Otway Odyssey MTB Marathon presented by FOCUS was dominated by the nation’s top riders on Saturday 26 February in Forrest, Victoria.

The event has continually attracted Australia’s best mountain bike riders over the past 15 years, and 2022 was a showcase of quality riding by Melbourne to Warrnambool winner Brendan ‘Trekky’ Johnston and Australian National MTB Champion Rebecca (Bec) McConnell who took out their 100km races.

Johnston clocked a time of 4:38:39 ahead of National Criterium Champion Cam Ivory in second place (4:40:16) and Sam Fox in third (4:42:27), in a day of challenges on the infamously tough trails of the Otways.

The bets were on for who was going to break away and take the win amongst the top three male riders; with Johnston pulling the win after an explosive attack up the legendary Sledgehammer.

“To be honest I wasn’t sure what I had today, so I sat back initially and let the others do everything,” said Johnston. “I cramped a lot and l thought I’ll just let them go, I’ll be happy with third. But then they started to sit up! So I thought, do I go now? I have one shot here… and I don’t know what happened but I just got away!” continued Johnston.

It was Ivory’s second, second-place at the Odyssey. “We definitely gave it some out there today!” said Ivory. “Foxy (Sam Fox) and I pushed the pace a bit to try shake up the field initially, maybe we should have been a bit more conservative. When Trekky attacked up that final climb I tried to go with him, but I didn’t have the speed so I just sat back down to nurse myself to the finish!” said Ivory.

Head-to-head for the first time at the Odyssey saw the reigning National Champion and Olympic Representative Bec McConnell power through unchallenged to the finish line with a big day up front solo after pulling away at the 10km mark.

“I am really happy with that race!” said McConnell. “Everything went really smoothly and it’s nice to know that the homework is paying off. I had a really good time out there despite being super lonely from about the 10km mark, but it was a good day out. Last year I was surprised just how hard the Odyssey was, so this year my level of expectation on pure suffering was at a maximum!” added McConnell. “Anyone who gets through any of these Odyssey courses is absolutely incredible!”

6-time Otway Odyssey winner Peta Mullens was in second place and once again couldn’t stop raving about the reputable and rewardingly challenging course, and her respect for McConnell. “Bec’s just in a different race!” laughs Mullens. “I think the rest of us were equally pegged. To be fair I think Bec puts minutes into us just cruising through the single track so it’s just nice to be in the same race as Bec and supporting Australian racing whilst at home,” said Mullens. “It’s a hard woman’s race and every year I do it I think it’s just so great to be back on the tracks here.” added Mullens.

McConnell posted the winning time of 5:28:03, ahead of Mullens in 5:34:46, and third-placed Courtney Sherwell in 5:41:17.

The 50km Otway Shorty event held simultaneous with the 100km race, was won by 18-year-old emerging talent Angus Neaves in 2:23:48; with Scott Needham in second place (2:27:15) and Sam Walcher in third (2:28:04).

“I changed to the 50km course from the 100km after some encouragement to keep my speed up; so yeah it feels pretty awesome to win here today!” said Neaves.

2015 Odyssey 100km race winner Jenni King showed her quality MTB skills by winning the female 50km Otway Shorty in a time of 2:57:06; Jules Haddow was second (3:02:18) and Tanya Cunningham placed third (3:05:35).

“Today was great fun. It was tough and I was cramping but I had a ball out there, the mixture of terrain, the single track – it’s a great course and a great event,” said King.

“The Otway’s came alive today as riders experienced the thrills of such a reputable mountain bike event – it really is one of the best weekends you can have on two wheels!” said Rapid Ascent General Manager, Sam Maffett. “Thank you to everyone for continually supporting the Odyssey event as we hit 16 years; and to the locals of Forrest who frequently dedicate their time to helping maintain these epic trails”, added Maffett.

The 2022 Great Otway Gravel Grind

In its 6th year the Great Otway Gravel Grind held on Sunday 27 February 2022 attracted its biggest field to date with over 600 riders experiencing just how great riding in the Otways is!

The 97km and 49km courses followed a magical line along the smooth rolling dirt roads of the Otway Ranges, with riders also being wowed by the spectacular views over the Great Ocean Road region.

Getting to the first time-out zone of the 97km Course seems to be the trick to staying at the pointy end of the field which saw riders Tasman Nankervis for the men, and Courtney Sherwell for the women executing race tactics throughout the course to take the wins.

As the field continued to re-group at each time-out zone, it always seems to come down to a final mass sprint to the finish line in Forrest for the men.

Official results take into account these ‘luxury’ time-out zones seeing Nankervis taking out the win on the 97km course in a collective overall time of 3:46:38, ahead of Griffin Knight (3:47:08) and third Matthew Bird (3:47:08).

“Yeah we used those standard gravel racing tactics and it was that third section of the course where I managed to get up the climb ahead of the boys and hold on for the win,” said Nankervis.

Sherwell proved why she is Queen of the Otways, backing up her third place in the 100km Odyssey MTB by placing first overall in the 97km Big Ring Gravel Grind.

“My climbing legs felt good so I was looking forward to the climbs today,” said Sherwell. “This year it didn’t feel as steep to me, so knowing the course helped a lot. I went out as hard as I could at the start to get a good gap on that first section; then waited at the first time out zone for my team-mate – but she never came so I cruised on for the rest of the ride by myself!” added Sherwell.

Sherwell finished the race in a time of 3:37:52, with Kate Kellett second in 3:46:25, and Liz Taylor in third place overall in 3:54:47.

The day also saw some quality riding in the 49km Gravel Grind Course with Lewis Crofts proving too strong over young rider Alex Holden in 1:39:42 and 1:43:37, respectively.

For the women, it was Annie Millison in an impressive time of 2:12:52. “That was a lot of fun on the mostly smooth roads; a really nice course despite the climb being tough, it’s enjoyable and very scenic,” said Lewis.

As often mentioned by the riders, a unique and popular feature of the Great Otway Gravel Grind are these ‘time-out’ sections on course. Riders can stop for a coffee or wait for their friends without impacting their race time—in the style of true gravel grinding.

Complimenting the Gravel Grind on Sunday was the 30km mountain bike course as part of the Otway Odyssey weekend. More than 300 riders took to the popular Forrest trails on a course that is designed specifically for novice mountain bikers and developing juniors.

First across the line was pocket-rocket Sam Harberts in a time of 1:17:29. Belinda Hadden was first across the line the 30km Odyssey Angels category for female riders, posting a time of 1:26:45. “It was fun, tough and dusty – the highlight was racing down the Red Carpet!” said Sam.

• For more event information head to www.TheGOGG.com.au and www.OtwayOdyssey.com.au
• Event photos by Photos4Sale

The post Ride Forrest, Ride! The 2022 Otway Odyssey a roaring success for 16th year appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

PRESS RELEASE

Australia’s biggest gravity mountain biking event, the Cannonball Mountain Biking Festival has wrapped up in Thredbo after five days of intense competition, with over 600 competitors riding it out for a slice of the $100K prize pool across the five signature events.

The eighth instalment of the event attracted some of the biggest names in the industry, with aspiring young riders competing alongside some absolute legends of the mountain bike world.

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Watch video highlights here

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Oakley Australian Open Downhill

Canberran and all-mountain downhill champion Jackson Frew made the most of the dusty conditions, sliding into the top spot of the headline event, the Oakley Australian Open Downhill on the iconic Cannonball run. He smashed the course in 5 minutes 15 seconds, just a pedal stroke faster than Connor Fearon in second and Kye A’Hern in third.

“I felt really good about the run, only a few little mistakes. They were more mechanical, which I thought would cost me, but I kept it together, kept the bike in one piece, and pumped it to the finish. It has definitely been a long time coming from my end, so I was really pushing hard to get it done,” Mr Frew said.

In the pro women’s, Thredbo ambassador Sian A’Hern won with a killer time of 6 minutes and 5 seconds, with Jindabyne’s Tegan Molloy in second and Ellie Smith rounding out the podium.

“I am super happy. After a really challenging few months of injury, Covid and everything else, I’m really happy to be back winning races again and keeping the momentum going into next weekend’s National Champs. The track was tough, but I was really happy with my run… it’s the hardest race of the year so I am pretty stoked to get through it,” Ms A’Hern said.

Putting on an incredible performance in all events, Luke Meier-Smith was crowned the prestigious King of Cannonball in the men’s division. Ellie Smith was crowned the Queen of Cannonball in the women’s with multiple podiums across the week. Both royals took home a huge cash prize award for the title and bragging rights until next year’s Cannonball.

Thredbo Mountain Bike Manager, Daniel Taliana said he is thrilled the 2022 Cannonball MTB Festival turned out to be such a success.

“I remember our first Cannonball MTB Festival back in 2012 – with a few hundred, mostly locals with the occasional pro, racing more for fun over a few days. In 2022, it is incredible to see Cannonball is now Australia’s biggest and richest mountain bike festival, attracting the biggest names in the business. We are happy to have run a successful, safe event in these challenging times, and it was great to see so many amateurs, families and locals getting involved,” Mr Taliana said.

Osprey All-Mountain Assault

After a solid day of practice on Tuesday 8 February, the first event Osprey All-Mountain Assault kicked off on day two. Ryan Gilchrist smashed out the win in the men’s pro division with an amazing 6:31.664, 5 seconds faster than all other competitors. Luke Meier-Smith came into second with 6:37.146 and Tim Eaton with a time of 6:37.171.

In the pro women’s, Ellie Smith took the win with a time of 7:30.445, 1:80 seconds ahead of Leanna Curtis and Tess Buckley in third.

Fox Flow Motion Cup & Rockshox Pump Track Challenge

Day three was all about flow, with Group B taking on the Fox Flow Motion Cup. The fastest time down the hill was Josh Carlson in the E-Bike men’s category, finishing the course with a time of 8:19.841. Lee Tynan, racing in the 40 to 49 Years Men category, came in with the fastest time of the day on a traditional bike, crossing the finish line with a time of 8:42.208.

Young pinner Daniel Turkovic in under 15’s men was up there with the big boys coming in overall 6th and smashing the course in 8:50. Elleni Turkovic in the U17 women category was the fastest female on the hill, crossing the line with a time of 9:14.

Cannonball MTB Festival has 22 categories ranging from Super Masters 50+ to U13, men and womens. One of the youngest competitors, nine-year-old Noah McCarroll took on the Fox Flow Motion Cup on the festival’s third day and completed it with speed and confidence.

“The first bit was a bit hard because you had to pedal in a low gear so you could get faster,” McCarroll said.

Day four was massive, with the pro’s and Group A taking on the Fox Flow Motion Cup during the day and the Rockshox Pump Track Challenge kicking off in the evening. Luke Meier-Smith took out the win with an incredible time of 8:09.161, 3.332 seconds in front of second-place claimed by Ryan Gilchrist and Connor Fearon in third. Ellie Smith smashed the course with conviction and pace, racing across the finish in a time of 9:06.423, ahead of Zoe Cuthbert in second and Tegan Molloy in third.

As the sun went down, riders took to the pump track in the Rockshox Pump Track Challenge. The pro women were on fire, with legend Caroline Buchanan clocking in the fastest time of 21.780, followed by Danielle Beecroft and Ellie Smith.
The pro men turned up the heat with a nail-biting finish for first. Ryan Gilchrist slipped into first place, only 0.090 seconds ahead of Luke Meier-Smith and Duke Millington coming in third.

Deity Whip Wars

The week wrapped up with a HUGE day five featuring the Oakley Australian Open Downhill and Deity Whip Wars. The final podium for the pro men in the downhill was Jackson Frew with a time of 5:15, Connor Fearon in second with 5:16 and Kye A’Hern in third with 5:17. In the pro women’s, Sian A’Hern took out the win with a time of 6:05, Teagan Molloy in second with 6:14 and Ellie Smith in third with 6:16.

That afternoon hundreds of spectators flocked to the bottom of the mountain to watch the crowd favourite Deity Whip Wars. From the outset, it was all action. There were backflips, front flips, whips, supermans and more, with each rider setting the bar higher and higher. Not only were there podium places up for grabs, but also a stack of prizes and cash up for grabs for crowd-pleasers.

Tim Eaton won the men’s category pulling off the cleanest whips of the day. The girls also took to the air as legend Caroline Buchanan came hot into first for the women’s category. The standout
The performance of the event came from U19’s rider Will Ireland who performed tricks that were off the charts.

The 2022 Cannonball MTB Festival ended with a celebration in the Alpine Bar with Parachute Youth wrapping up a week that saw some of the fastest speeds, biggest names and largest hits…we already cannot wait until next year!

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Find a full list of results here.

For more information please visit thredbo.com.au 

The post Absolutely Going Off! | Cannonball MTB Festival 2022 Highlights appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Oh, and did we mention there is also $10,000 AUD in prizes up for grabs, and the event is an EWS qualifier!

The racing format

Like any enduro, there will be multiple timed descents each rider will need to complete. The difference here is there’s no pressure to lay down a race run first go, and riders can pack in as many laps as their body can handle during the racing window.

“We’ll set three racecourses each day, most of which will include multiple combinations of trails. We’ll use intermediate (blue square) and advanced (black diamond) trails for the Open Jam and an additional double black diamond trail for the Pro Jam,” says Maydena head honcho Simon French.

“It’s more of a social format, and you can basically hang out and ride whichever course you want, as many times as you want, over the day,” he says.

With so much time to dial in your race run, there’s no need to worry about bonking on the liaison back to the top because shuttles will be running all day. Only the fastest time on each stage will count towards your overall time so that you can race at your leisure.

The format isn’t entirely unique and loosely follows a similar modus-operandi to Thredbo’s SuperEnduro. Still, with over 70 trails on the mountain, Enduro Jam can feature more than one course each day.

The final shuttle will head up the mountain at 4 pm sharp, and the awards ceremony and leaders jersey presentation will happen at 5:30 pm.

Despite the cruisy racing atmosphere, the enduro jam is also an EWS qualifier, meaning there are series points up for grabs.

Related

• Maydena Bike Park is buzzing this summer: what’s new, what’s changed and what’s on?

Open and Pro Jam

Maydena can be pretty intimidating and is home to some of the country’s most challenging and technical trails, and with that there are two racing categories — the Open Jam and Pro Jam.

The Open Jam will feature two stages per day and only take riders down the bike park’s blue and black trails. There will undoubtedly be a few challenges along the way — it is a race after all — but we expect confident intermediate riders will be able to handle what’s thrown their way and then have time to dial in their lines throughout the day.

“The idea is there will be a timing system set up on all the courses throughout the day, and riders can just log as many laps as they want, with only the fastest lap progressing through as their time for the day.”

The Pro Jam will happen on the same two stages as the Open Jam, but with an additional course that follows some of Maydena’s properly rowdy trails. French tells us these are be the very trails that EWS riders would have come up against had the event gone ahead this year.

“The Pro Jam allows us to use some of the more advanced trails we have not raced before. In addition, by separating a pro category, we can include some trails that are a little more daunting and stretch the upper end of the field without excluding the rest of the race field,” says French.

With the Open category only having two stages each day and a six-and a half-hour window to put down your fastest time, it also means there will be ample opportunities to take a detour and make your way to the Pro course to watch the best gravity enduro racers in the country do their thing at Maydena.

Both the Open and Pro Jam will have men’s and women’s age group categories from U13 all the way up to 50+.

While this event came to fruition this year because the EWS was postponed, French also tells Flow that it won’t be a one-off, and Maydena will be investing the time and effort to grow the Endro Jam in the coming years.

The course

With the event coming up this weekend, Maydena has revealed what trails will be used for both the Open and Pro Jams.

Friday, March 25

• Stage 1 – Surf and Turf: Beach Babe – Warata – Wicked Styx
• Stage 2 – Melting Pot: Supercross – Evergreen – Funky Cold – Scandinavia – Handi Scandi – Tynnea
• Pro Stage 1 – Yaaaa.. Na: Gnar Yea – Marriotts – Billy Bob

Saturday, March 26

• Stage 3 – The Brown Snake: King Brown – Upper Cut – Creekside
• Stage 4 – Fangorn Forest: Middle Earth – Outer Limits
• Bonus Jam: Lower Outer Limits
• Pro Stage 2 – Ol Mate DH: East Side – Old Made Cobba – Dirt Surfer – Lower DH

Sunday, March 27

• Stage 5 – Nature Walk: Pandani – Waratah – Beef Chief – Spirit Quest
• Stage 5 – Mathematics: Moss Boss – The Local – Moss Def – Fire Road – South Crescent
• Pro Stage 3 – The Beeline – Lower Styx & Stones – Waratah – Wedge Tail – Pamela – Thrashy – Director

Kids and Sample Jam

• Stage 1: Dirt Surfer – Green Mile
• Stage 2: Scandinavia – Tyenn

The whip off

After the rider presentations, the spotlight will move to the dirt jumps for a whip off on Saturday evening. Again, it’s a tried and true format; the rider who gets the closest to 90-degrees wins — there will undoubtedly be some perpendicular bikes and big crashes.

At the same time, the bike park will fire up the BBQ and make sure the cold drinks are flowing, and Tassie artist Pete Cornelius will be playing a live set in the base area.

Entries for Maydena Enduro Jam are open now; pop on over to the Maydena website to register.

Photos: Ryan Finlay/@rfphotographics

The post Maydena Enduro Jam 2022 | Laid back racing and a chance to earn EWS points appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

This should have been the third edition of the race; however, the first event was scheduled for March 2020, and well, you all know what happened.

We caught up with Race Director Louise Foulkes to learn more about this year’s event, what’s changing from last year, and what riders can expect.

What is the Dragon Trail?

Set in Tasmania’s northeast, the course roughly follows the ‘Trail of the Tin Dragon’, a route Chinese settlers travelled in search of tin. As luck would have it, this passage runs through Blue Derby and St Helens.

The race kicks off with a 5km prologue to determine start seeding. Then riders are set loose on Blue Derby to pedal trails like Axehead, Dam Busters, and Sawtooth before heading through the Derby Tunnel and towards the Blue Tier. After that, it’s a grind up to Frome Lake that’s rewarded with a descent of Big Chook to the finish line on the front steps of the Weldborough hotel.

Day two is the longest of the three stages, sending riders over the top of the Blue Tier and down The Bay of Fires Trail to finish on Swimcart beach.

The Dragon Trail finale heads for St Helens Flagstaff Trails, weaving through the stacked loops and the Dreaming Pools Wilderness Trail — the ideal spot for a mid-race dip.

“I feel like it was the closest experience that I’ve had in Australia to the BC Bike Race because it incorporates technical trails that aren’t you’re super smooth cross country style race track,” says Jon Odams, who took third place overall last year.

“I think it’s a great event for the general rider who just wants to ride singletrack, more so than your traditional big stage race. You could just ride the courses and have amazing fun, and it wouldn’t just be a physical challenge like some of the other races are,” Odams continues.

Improvements from last year

An event in its first year will have growing pains because it’s bound to present a unique set of challenges, which are wholly impossible to predict.

“Last year was the first time we’d ever run such a beast of a race. One of the biggest things is the whole race is a huge journey, and we have a big carnival that packs up each day and moves onto the next location where we set up the campsites, and everybody rides between them,” says Foulkes.

“I thought it was a really well-run event, and they did a great job for their first year. The trails were really well marked, and they picked really, really fun tracks,” says Kathryn McInerney, who was third in the Women’s elite.

After receiving plenty of feedback from the inaugural Dragon Trail, Foulkes says they have a better solution for the staging areas and the finish line and will be jazzing everything up with additional flagging and signage to help the process run more smoothly.

The other significant improvement Foulkes says is with the food.

“We certainly had some food teething issues. We’re working in a fairly remote part of the state, and in the middle of the Covid pandemic, all of the operators kept going under, and that led to a lot of last-minute changes on the food,” she says.

“I think we all learned from last time and have worked with a lot of the operators and the locations to have things sorted (for 2022),” Foulkes continues.

For this year, there won’t be any breakfast boxes. Instead, riders can either BYO or the race organisers will host a bacon and egg BBQ each morning. There will also be a breakfast-oriented food truck and more campsite and social hub options.

Part of the emphasis of putting on an event like this is to create employment and bring money into the businesses in the region while also raising funds for the trails themselves. Foulkes tells Flow that many local businesses have bounced back and joined forces to make the event bigger and better than ever.

Racing format

With mass start mountain bike stage races being so widespread throughout Australia, many folks were taken aback by the format of the Dragon Trail, which saw riders set off one at a time.

McInerney was one such rider caught a little bit off guard by the individual format and would have preferred a mass start event. She is also aware that the majority of riders entered in the Dragon Trail may disagree with this stance.

“Then you’re properly racing someone; when they attack, you go with it. When you’re not riding with anyone, it just becomes a time trial.”

According to Foulkes, there was a method behind their madness, and the reason the event ran this way was to prevent traffic jams.

“There is so much singletrack, and it’s not like a lot of other events where there is fire trail where riders can pass. It’s pretty unique in this area, and it is sort of impossible to add that in without ruining the course, so there was always an emphasis on spreading people out,” she says.

While there was a commotion in the elite field about this TT-Esque racing arrangement, Foulkes tells Flow that the feedback they received from the vast majority of the field was pro staggered start because it removed some of the pressure involved with passing.

“I feel like that was something that they had to do because of the singletrack nature of the courses. The courses were awesome, and you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do to make it fun for everyone,” says Odams.

With a field capped at 500, Foulkes says this year; riders will start in waves of 20 people. The prologue will determine the initial start seeding, and it will be based on your finishing position for the remaining two stages.

The race village

Part of the allure of the Dragon Trail is you don’t have to worry about accommodation or transfers; you live in the race village for the duration of the event. The organisers pack everything down while you’re out on the course, and it’s set up and waiting when you arrive at the end of the stage.

“It was really nice to have the event hub that people camped around at night. That atmosphere is something that no other event I’ve been to in Australia really had,” Odams says.

The courses are designed to take the leaders between two and three hours and will stay open for a total of eight hours to ensure all the stragglers can finish. This leaves plenty of daylight for you to kill in the race village after you’re cleaned up, fed and watered. So the team from Dragon Trail organised activities to keep you entertained.

“We’ve got everybody in the campsites, and it’s a unique opportunity to chill out and be together, but we also put on some interesting talks as well as live music,” Foulkes says.

Mountain bike personalities like Justin Morris from Mindmatters Coaching, Mike Blewitt, Editor of Marathon MTB and Australian Mountain Bike Mag, and Michael Milton, Australia’s most awarded Paralympian, will all be telling stories of big riding adventures. There will also be trials riders, performances from local musicians, and group yoga too.

With last year’s event coming just after we’d all been locked away for 12-months, it’s no surprise that folks were excited to see each other, and the festivities carried on. But it seems some were a bit overexcited, so for this year, the social hub will be open earlier post-stage and close down at 9 pm so everyone can get their beauty rest.

Covid-19 protocol

It’s been a tumultuous couple of months with Omicron spreading like wildfire in every state, and Foulkes tells Flow the event team is closely following the guidelines put out by the Tasmanian Government as they evolve.

At the time of writing, there are no testing requirements to enter Tasmanian unless you’re from an extreme hotspot — currently, this only applies to international destinations.

The entire event team will undergo testing before riders arrive and have protocols to monitor folks for symptoms and manage positive cases if they arise.

With this, the cancellation policy is designed to be flexible. For example, suppose you’re diagnosed with Covid-19 within 30-days of the event or forced into mandatory isolation over the event dates. In that case, you’ll receive a credit for a race entry into the 2023 or 2024 events.

You can find the nitty-gritty details here.

How to enter?

Entries are for the Dragon Trail are open now and will close on 3 March. The field will be capped at 500 riders, so if you’re eyeing off the three-day race, we’d recommend you make some moves.

To enter or for more information, head over to the Dragon Trail website.

For more, head to the official website here. Dragon Trail MTB 2022.

The post The Dragon Trail sets off again this March appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

Slopestyle and freeride have lagged behind other disciplines of mountain biking in Australia, due to limited riding venues, and even fewer opportunities to compete. Fortunately that is all changing, with more freeride parks and a spirited group of riders working to advance the sport.

What is the Australian Slopestyle Tour?

According to Australian Slope Style Tour co-founder Dave Leslie, the tour was born out of frustration that there was no track for Aussie riders to work their way up towards the professional ranks of MTB freeride.

“Our mission is to create a pathway to Crankworx for an Australian athlete,” says  Leslie.

Slopestyle events have been running periodically in Australia as far back as 2002 with the Red Bull Ride in Jindabyne. Over a decade later, the X-Up Festival on NSW’s Central Coast hosted a Silver Level FMB World Tour event, but the discipline went quiet for half a dozen years before it was brought back to life by the Highline MTB Festival.

Only a handfull of Aussie’s have made it to Crankworx. One rider who has is Harriet Burbidge-Smith.

“I think having the AST for 2022 will really push a new generation of Australian slopestyle riders. I think Australia needs a series like this, and the stops and locations they have planned are perfect,” she says. Just like women’s freeride, we need these events in order to progress the scene, and until recently these events haven’t existed in Australia, or even close — so no platform has been available for young riders. I can see this series becoming the stepping stone for Australian riders going to compete in Slopestyle competitions around the world.”

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• Ferns, shinny dips and gondolas | What’s new in Rotorua? 

Check out highlights from the 2021 Highline MTB Festival!

With high hopes of running a full event schedule last year, the Highline MTB festival was supposed to be the launchpad of a three-stop tour, seeing riders compete at Queensland’s Kooralbyn Mountain Bike Park in September, before descending on Green Valleys a month later.

Highline went off without a hitch with riders throwing down in the skies above Mansfield, but unfortunately, Covid reared its ugly head and forced the event team to batten down the hatches.

The good news is that there will be four FMB licensed events slated for 2022, which will allow upcoming Aussie riders to gain experience and world tour points on home soil

The 2022 calendar

The first three Australian Slopestyle Tour stops have been announced, with the fourth set for a new top-secret venue in northern NSW.

The Highline Mountain Bike Fest will once again kick off with the Australian Slopestyle Tour from 24-27 March. The event is expanding into a four-day festival for 2022, and will feature slopestyle, speed ‘n style, dual slalom, a whip-off and DH racing.

Leslie tells Flow the course will be similar to 2021, but a shark-fin hip has been added right after the start drop, and the trail crew has been hard at work to improve the flow of the course, and eliminate the need to scrub speed between features.

A month later, riders will head for Green Valleys, from 7-8 May. This will be a stand-alone slopestyle event, and Leslie tells Flow the course has been built and is currently being tested by riders.

“It’s all about the riders,” he says. “We ask what they want, (and) have them involved in the design. We build to that plan and then have them test and tweak to make sure we get it right and they are happy with the final product. Our process is documented as part of AST’s safety management system and procedures for AusCycling.”

The tour goes on hiatus over winter, before heading north to Queensland for the Kooralbyn Valley Mountain Bike Festival on 17-18 September. This stop will be a full-on MTB fest, with DH racing, a whip-off and a stop of the Scenic Rim Gravity Enduro Series.

The fourth and final stop of the Australian Slopestyle Tour was initially slated to be a Queensland doubleheader with riders staying in the southeast to ride at Boomerang Farm. However, a shake-up in park management saw the series wrap-up, moving to a new private venue just across the Tweed River in northern NSW in November — exact dates are to be confirmed.

This fresh venue is double-secret classified, but Leslie did tell Flow the course is being designed and constructed by the best builders in the region.

Who’s competing?

The complete list of athletes is still to be finalised, but riders like Mike Ross, Caroline Buchanan, Samuel Fraser, Ben Phillips, Gaelen Slaney and Harriet Burbidge-Smith will all be competing. Leslie tells Flow he is expecting between 15-30 riders, including a full contingent of lady shredders.

The Australian Slopestyle Tour has received backing from AusCycling to support the success of the events and the athletes, which is a significant leap forward for slopestyle mountain bike events in Australia.

For the latest on events, riders lists and more, check out the Australian Slopestyle Tour website.

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Photos: Markus Kessler / @markus_kessler_photo

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With multiple categories, an expo village and events for the kids, it’s clear the team behind this one aim to include everyone in this inaugural event.

What is The GOAT?

Mix one part XC marathon, three parts timed descents, garnish with some gravity, charge up with e-MTBs, pour into a schooner glass from Bright Brewery, and you have The GOAT.

Thanks to funding from the Victorian Bushfire Relief Effort, GTR Events is launching The GOAT, a multi-day mountain bike race through the Victorian High Country. Stopping at Yackandandah, Mount Beauty and Bright, this isn’t a race about Type 2, bordering on Type 3 fun; there will be a bit of suffering along the way, but from what we can gather, this event looks to maximise the ratio of fun to lactic acid.

Watch the official GOAT video here:

Four race categories; XC, gravity, e-MTB and kids

XC GOAT

For the tight, light and bright riders, the XC GOAT category will be for those fighting with gravity and pushing towards the pointy end on the climbs.  The XC category will follow a tried and tested format— think the Cape to Cape, Port to Port or the Redback — covering a total of 120km with 2000m of elevation over four days. The first person across the line will win each stage, and the rider with the lowest overall time will earn their horns as XC GOAT champ.

Gravity GOAT

For those who prefer to have gravity on their side, the gravity category will follow a similar format to an enduro, with only the descents being timed. Gravity GOATS will ride the same course as the XC riders, so don’t expect the descents to be as aggressive as a full-blown gravity enduro event.

The details of this format are still evolving at this point, so stay tuned to the website for clarity on exactly how this segment plans to carry out.

E-GOAT

The E-GOAT follows the same race format as the XC, for riders on e-MTBs. The first person across the line takes each stage, and the rider with the lowest overall time will be crowned the e-GOAT.

Billy GOAT

For all the groms out there from ages 2-12, while the riders are on course, PMBIA-qualified instructors from Gravity Oz will be running coaching sessions for the mini-shredders.

The Billy GOATS will be learning the skills needed to race with the rest in a few years, taking place at the Mt Beauty trailhead during Saturday’s stage.

The four stages

The local knowledge behind the course design comes from Shannon Rademaker, who owns All Terrain Cycles in Bright and knows the VIC High Country like the back of his hand. Working with Justin Lane from GTR Events, they selected the trails for their fun factor, not necessarily for technical difficulty.

They predict the racers at the pointy end of the field will finish each stage in about 90-min, while the midfield and slower riders will be closer to the three-four hour mark.

Stage one – Yack Tracks, Yackandandah

Ya(c)ks and goats are both members of the Bovidae family, so it’s fitting the first stage of the event should see racers duking it out on the infamous Yack Tracks.

The trails here are the tamest of the three stops with seeming endless kilometres of flowing cross-country singletrack. Many of the Yack Tracks are shaped by the areas mining past, with the trails running through gullies, caves, and water races cut into the clay in search of precious metals.

Riders will roll out of town on 5km of gravel roads and the Creek Path, which was constructed as part of the Indigo Epic Trail project, before diving into the network.

The 43km course sees 939m of climbing, starting and finishing at the Yackandandah Sport Oval. The course maps are still under wraps, and we can’t tell you the names of the timed descents for the Gravity Goats. But, we can give you a few details on what to expect on the inverse climbs.

Gravity GOAT segments:

• Descent 1: 2.1km with 147m vert
• Descent 2: 4.6km with 190m vert
• Descent 3: TBD

Stage two – Mystic Mountain, Bright

Stage two takes riders to Bright for their first day at Mystic Mountain Bike Park. Friday is the Queen Stage, starting at Pioneer Park; riders will pedal a few trails near town before heading up the mountain.

Covering 35km, the vast majority of the 946m of climbing is knocked out in one hit, so settle in, find your tempo and enjoy it. This ascent takes you along the ridge of the pine plantation, past The Clear Spot Lookout, and shoots the gap between Eagle Peak and Lyrebird Peak. It’s a sustained climb, but it’s not steep and takes you up above the bike park for some of the best views the Victorian High Country has to offer.

Once you’ve ticked off the ascent, it’s time to let gravity do its thing. Back in the bike park, you’ll find a mix of sweeping machine-built trails and janky technical riding that will keep you on your toes. Once again, under the penalty of goat stampede, we have been sworn to secrecy with the course maps and names of the three timed descents, but we can summarise the stats.

Gravity GOAT segments:

• Descent 1: 1.4km with 193m vert
• Descent 2: 1.2km with 89m vert
• Descent 3: 0.7km with 77 vert

Stage three – Big Hill MTB Park, Mount Beauty

Day three sees riders tackle the steep, deep, and technical riding at Mount Beauty. The trails have been here for over 30-years now, and in the face of wide, smooth machine-built flow trails, Big Hill Bike Park has maintained its old school flair.

With only 25.6km to ride and 694m of climbing, don’t discount this stage; for what it lacks in distance, the hand-cut trails at Big Hill Bike Park more than make up for in technicality.

Kicking off from the oval at the Mount Beauty Secondary College, stage three sees riders climb and descend the entire mountain twice, taking in some of Big Hill Bike Park’s most beloved trails. Same as stages one and two, the course maps and names of the timed descents are double-secret classified, so we can’t reveal them just yet, but we can give you a few hints.

Gravity GOAT segments:

• Descent 1: 1.2km with 73m vert
• Descent 2: 1.9km with 158m vert
• Descent 3: 0.6km with 70m of gravity.

Stage four – Mystic Mountain, Bright

The final day treats riders to a Mystic doubleheader — two 16km laps with 768m of climbing, meaning two opportunities to ride each descent.

Rademaker explained the idea here is that with live timing, the Gravity GOATS will know where they stand in the field after each descent and how much time they might need to make up on the next lap around. With this being the last day, it’s a shorter stage with less climbing, and the course has been designed to maximise metres ascent to metres of fun.

Kicking off once again from Pioneer Park, the final stage heads straight to the top of the bike park and comes back down some of Mystic’s best-known trails. As with the other three, the courses are still under wraps, but here is what you can expect for the timed descents — they may sound short, but keep in mind that you will ride all three twice.

Gravity GOAT segments:

• Descent 1: 0.8km with 65m vert
• Descent 2: 0.9km with 130m vert
• Descent 3: 0.9km with 46m vert

The GOAT Village

From what we’ve gathered in talking with the GTR Events crew, the beauty of The GOAT is that it combines multiple events into one. The XC whippets and the enduro-bros and enduro-brodettes in your riding group can all take a weekend away together in the Victorian Highcountry to ride bikes.

The XC and Gravity riders will be sent out in waves, so you’ll probably miss each other on course, but at the end of the day, you can meet up in the event village to share war stories over a few beverages and some hard-earned food.

The home base will be in Bright, right next door to the brewery. This is where registration and presentations will take place each day, and there will be beers, food, and hopefully plenty of sunshine.

Who is the GOAT for?

There is no shortage of mountain bike stage races in Australia, with the list getting bigger seemingly every year. So, with the Cape to Cape, Port to Port and the rest of the Epic Series coming back for 2022, in addition to classics like the Redback, where does this new one fit in among all these other races, and who is it for?

The majority of these MTB stage races are long, where mid-pack riders may spend four hours grinding out 50km stages with 2000m of climbing, day, after day. That’s not for the faint of heart, nor is it the experience GTR Events are looking to create.

Compared to most stage races in Australia, the GOAT is shorter in distance overall, looks like a whopping amount of singletrack and all four stages are close in proximity. So we get the feeling this event will be less about testing your fitness and more about maximising trail time, and the goal is to keep each day under three hours of ride time. That way, you can give it a red hot crack during the race but still have enough energy to enjoy the region with less time spent travelling between stages.

We are looking forward to seeing how this inaugural event plays out; as we already have fond memories of riding the trails, it’ll now give us the chance to race them over four days.

For more info, pricing, and to keep up with the latest news, head over to the event website.

Photos: Georgina von Marburg/@gee.phot, Flow MTB

The post New Stage Race for VIC | The GOAT is Headed for Bright, Beauty and Yack in 2022 appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.

This announcement from the EWS comes as both Australia and New Zealand are battling growing outbreaks of the Delta variant of Coivd19.

Chris Ball, Managing Director of the Enduro World Series, said: “We’re obviously disappointed not to be visiting New Zealand and Tasmania in 2022, but it’s the right decision in light of the current situation.

I personally thank the hard work and support of our Nelson and Tasmanian organisers and we look forward to bringing the EWS back to those venues as soon as possible.”

The EWS says it will monitor the situation as it evolves, hoping that things improve and the events can return in 2023, with a decision to be made in January 2022. For the time being, the remainder of the 2022 EWS and EWS-E calendar will go ahead as planned.

Ian Harwood, Race Director for the Derby and Maydena events, said: “The EMS enduro team is looking forward to welcoming the whole EWS family back to Tasmania in 2023.”

Nelson Mountain Bike Club Chair Melanie Schroder says the club is devastated the event cannot be held in 2022.

“Nelson was bursting with excitement at the prospect of the EWS being held here.  New trails have been built, we will have new infrastructure in place for all mountain bikers and the course was going to showcase the best we have to offer, which is unique to anywhere else in the world. We look forward to working with (the) EWS to plan an event in the future where it will be a truly world event, that everyone can attend without restrictions.”

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The updated 2022 Enduro World Series calendar

The 2021 season was revised due to the ongoing pandemic, and the series has been truncated to only include events in Europe. With ongoing uncertainties around travel, quarantine and event restrictions, keeping all the races on one continent allowed teams to set up a home base for the summer to help manage budgets, and account for local Covid19 guidelines. The plan for 2022 was to return to business as usual, but the pandemic has forced the EWS the call an audible.

With the first leg of the EWS cancelled, the tour will now kick off in Scotland’s Tweed Valley, where we will see both naturally aspirated racing and the first round of the EWS-E.

From here, the series kicks off its major European racing block, where riders will border hop between Austria and Slovenia, at the Petzen-Jamnica venue for both EWS and EWS-E racing.

Next racers head for the Dolomites for some Casunziei, a bit of Grappa, and to race at Val Di Fassa. These trails are where Jack Moir and Richie Rude kicked off their 2021 game of musical chairs for the top spot on the men’s podium, and Isabeau Courdurier and Melanie Pugin came out on top in the women’s field.

Closing out the European leg of the calendar, the series drops into Valberg, France, where the EWS has not been since 2016. Here Sam Hill came out on top with Nicolas Vouilloz and Jesse Melamed hot on his tail last time around, while Cecile Ravanel rode to the top step by a 30-second margin in the women’s field. It won’t be Hill or Ravanel racing in France’s Maritime Alps in 2022 because this is an EWS-E only stop.

At the beginning of August, the series will jump across the Atlantic and make a triumphant return to Whistler, taking riders down some of mountain biking’s most famous trails. Then it’s over to the east coast of the United States for a lobster roll and racing in Burke, Vermont and Sugarloaf, Maine, which will be the first time the land of the free has hosted back-to-back events.

Once the riders have had their fill of lighthouses and L.L. Bean, it’s time for fondue and to dust off the French dictionary for the penultimate round of the EWS and EWS-E, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

Leaving Switzerland, the EWS and EWS-E split, with the analogue riders headed for the French Pyrenees to race in Loudenvielle, while the e-MTBers will take on Finale Ligure in Italy.

Once the individual champions have been crowned, there is still one more race; the Trophy of Nations sees riders compete in teams of three for their home nations to earn the rainbow stripes.

The post Updated: 2022 Enduro World Series, Australia and New Zealand cancelled appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.