Author Archives: Kath Bicknell

The Power of Tough

Team Green catching up before the race. L-R: Shane Taylor, Kath Bick, Gaye Camm. Photo: Adam McGrath.

Most riders I talked to about last weekend’s Australian MTB Marathon Champs described it as tough. The full length course took riders up to the top of Mt Stromlo six times, forced them to pedal their legs off on an extended fire road journey around the Western side of the park, demanded good technical skills for the great selection of singeltrack on offer, and threatened contenders with two degree start temps. But if it wasn’t tough, would it have been as fun?Continue reading “The Power of Tough”

Australian Marathon MTB Champs: Pre-race interviews with the quick kids

Queensland rider, Jodie Willett, will have to buy some woolies for the sub-zero Canberra temps.

The Aussie Marathon MTB Champs take place in Canberra this Sunday.  The MarathonMTB.com web crew are understandably excited about the upcoming race and have been providing readers with a timely selection of articles previewing the event and the trails that it will take place on. I enjoyed the chance to interview some of the nations quicker bikers to discover their thoughts heading into the big event. Follow this link for the full article.

Enduro – Issue 21

Having stepped back from working as the sub-editor of Enduro, one of the biggest thrills for me with this new issue is flicking through the pages, soaking up the photos and discovering which stories and writers have filled it up. It’s exciting to see Jenny Fay on the cover too. She’s been dominating the marathon racing scene over the last year with times that make a lot of quick blokes dig deeper out on the course.Continue reading “Enduro – Issue 21”

Rock Volley

If I had to pick one event on the calendar that has all the ingredients of the best clost-to-home race around, the Rock Wallaby would be it.  It’s a techy, mountain biker’s course, it’s longer than an XC race but not as long as a marathon, I can sleep in my own bed the night before, and the Chocolate Foot event crew have race atmospheres dialed. There was only one problem. Having had too much fun in Alice Springs the week before the 2012 Rock Wallaby, I was still a little hammered. Racing tired turns even the nicest of people into whingers, so I stuck my hand up to volunteer instead.Continue reading “Rock Volley”

Sight for Sore Eyes

“Where do you want me to start?” Eye specialist, Dr Ross Fitzsimons, looked over a list of vision difficulties that filled up half a page. If you’re Google searching your own eye specialties words like myopia, astigmatism, strabismus (squint), severe dry eyes and “is Lasik surgery really good idea if I don’t understand why neither my glasses nor contacts work” might bring you here.  The behavioural implications of the above had also become significant. Imagine the things you would modify if you couldn’t read street signs, white boards, train timetables, recognise people from more than a few feet away or just sit up and take in the view. I’m so desensitised to eye drops I can insert them while riding my bike along a dirt road in a race.Continue reading “Sight for Sore Eyes”