Kath Bicknell

X-Fusion/BMC NSWMTB State XCC Champs

This year’s state cross-country champs were held at Blue Gum Lodge in Springwood, with a short course (XCC) race on Saturday and the regular length (XCO) race on Sunday. The tight, twisty trails at Blue Gum make amazing use of the small area. They double back on themselves a lot making for great spectating, but catch you out as a rider if you’re not looking ahead!

The elite women’s short course race went for 20 minutes plus three laps of a fun, sub two-minute course. It was a great way to get your head dialed into to trails and good for getting nerves out of the way before the longer race the following day. I held onto second place, getting a decent lead over Erica O’Brien (third) before slowing down to a more comfortable pace. Vanina Vergoz led from the start, enjoying herself so much she also rode a bonus lap afterward, not realising she had already won the race!

Steve Robinson powered up the long course climb on one of the BMC demo bikes available this weekend.

Photo: Kath Bicknell

Pedal Pushers Online

Pedal Pushers Online is a cycling e-zine based in New York. Their events coverage is photo heavy with written accounts favouring the experience of participants over commentary style reports of results. If you’re keen to know more, follow this link for a story I wrote after the inaugral BMC Mountains-to-Beach which took place last March. There’s also an interesting story on there about the US Cyclocross Champs (“45 Minutes”) if you dig around. Sounds intense(ly fun)!

Vaude Sponsorship

I have been using Vaude products for a while now and am excited to formally welcome them as support.

Vaude offer a practical, award winning, well thought-out range of outdoor gear with a large number of products developed specifically for biking. Their backpacks and hydropacks are perhaps their best known gear in this community – they’re comfortable, versatile and affordable, and demonstrate an attention to detail which has been fine tuned over a growing number of alternate styles.Continue reading “Vaude Sponsorship”

Jet Black NSW Schools Champs + Coaching Clinics

The Jet Black NSW All Schools XC MTB Championship was hosted by the Western Sydney Mountain Bike Club (WSMTB) at Yellomundee this weekend. Two hour skills clinics were held on the Saturday, with several riders from the local racing community coming along to pass on some wisdom and teach about 70 kids of different skill levels new ways of attacking the course.

It’s really exciting to see so much enthusiasm growing for the sport, and to see so many riders keen to improve what are already enviable skills. There were also about 30 females registered to race on the Sunday which also is a super exciting sign of times to come. I’d like to say a big thank you to Dave, Ray and Alex from WSMTB, and all the other volunteers involved for pulling this event together.

Follow this link for photos that do a great job of catching the vibe from both days.

X-Fusion NSWMTB State Series – Round 2

I was so excited about the return of sunny weather early last week, I packed in more training that I would normally do in a week and a half. What I didn’t count on was how long the recovery process can take once you’ve ripped your legs off so badly that even the 8 minute ride to uni hurts!

The second X-Fusion State Round was held at Ourimbah, near Wyong. The track is super fast, and super flowy, and makes for one of those rides where you just hold on to the handlebars, grinning like a madman as you fly down the descents. Sick bodies, or sick kids, kept a few women off the elite start line which was a shame. Kylee Lock dominated the race from beginning to end, I crept along in second and Vanina Vergoz came in third. Vanina’s recovering from a back injury at the moment and was just ‘taking it easy.’ She’s going to be a machine once she’s fighting fit again.

This race had the highest number of riders that the NSW state rounds have seen in six years! Congratulations to everyone who came along, and a massive thanks to the all people who pull these events together. Keep an eye on the NSWMTB , X-Fusion and Rotoburn sites for results and info on the future rounds.

Photos: Dylan Penhale powers up the early climb / Ain’t no way I’m riding through that bunting by accident! Kath Bicknell