Australian Mountain Bike Issue 196

PHOTOGRAPHER MATT ROUSU The Highline MTB Festival in March brought the nation’s best gravity and slopestyle riders together to Mansfield in Victoria’s High Country. While slopestyle is growing here in Australia, it is clear it’s got a great foundation with a really supportive core group of riders. PHOTOGRAPHER MATT ROUSU / RIDER HARRIET BURBIDGE-SMITH With a supportive crew and crowd at the Highline MTB Festival, riders were keen to push themselves. Harriet Burbidge-Smith attempted her first flip to a dirt landing, but unfortunately just over-rotated. A disappointment? Maybe – but the support from other competitors for her was huge! Expect to see her landing these on dirt soon. PHOTOGRAPHER MATT ROUSU / RIDER LUKE PARKER, MATT COOPER, MIKE ROSS The men’s Slopestyle final took place against the bushfire coloured sunset. It was the time for…

Three facts were glaringly obvious during putting this issue together, and each one can be equally celebrated as great things for mountain biking. Firstly, there are more women in mountain biking than ever before. This one can be hard to measure as the easiest way to measure participation is via events. But seeing the increase in women’s riding groups and initiatives like the Trek Momentum Camp, not only are there more women getting into mountain biking, but the support is there as well. Secondly, mountain biking is progressing and evolving at an incredible rate. This has been happening since the sport started, but each image I saw come out of the Highline MTB Festival or Trek Momentum Camp blew me away with what riders are capable of on their bikes. You tend…

Rebecca McConnell won the opening round of the 2022 UCI Cross Country World Cup in Petropolis, Brazil, ahead of Anne Terpstra (Netherlands) and Loana Lecomte (France). This was the first World Cup win by an Australian woman since Mary Grigson won a World Cup in 2000. Multiple men’s Australian National Champion Dan McConnell had a breakthrough ride to a World Cup win in 2013 at Albstadt. After a strong race in the short track event, where McConnell initiated an attack to break up the race on the final lap, she had finished 4th and clearly knew her form was good for the Olympic distance race two days later. While Lecomte lead in a fashion similar to 2021 World Cups, McConnell made sure her gap didn’t balloon out. She closed the gap with…

After Port to Port on 19-22 May, the Australian Epic Series of 4-day mountain bike stage races rides north for winter. And you can forget the pseudo tropics of south east Queensland – as the race series goes all the way to Cairns, one of Australia’s mountain biking hot spots. Tropical North Queensland and Cairns inparticular forged many of Australia’s top downhill racing talent, and they have hosted numerous World Cups and two World Championships at Smithfield Mountain Bike Park. But beyond the steep rainforest and minjin lairs of Smithfield lies a plethora of trails up and over the Great Dividing Range. There’s a lot to explore, and Reef to Reef on 18-21 August is an ideal way to do it. Reef to Reef takes you through the most diverse range…

All new for 2022 is the Quad Crown MTB Series, made up of four weekend stage races spread up and down Australia’s east coast. The first event will land on the Sunshine Coast, kicking off on June 10 – 12. You’ll have plenty time to prepare, and Queensland’s winter has some of Australia’s best riding conditions.New South Wales’ Sapphire Coast is next in early August (5-7), then East Gippsland (VIC, September 9-11) with the series rounding out near Devonport (TAS) across the weekend of November 18-20. The format is the same at all four events, with an optional prologue on the Friday afternoon. While a fast time in this short event will get you a better start position for the first stage on Saturday, it’s not essential to do it. But Friday…

It’s been a long event drought for the 105 women who gathered at Falls Creek for the MTB de Femme 2022 after two years in and out of lockdowns. The two-day fun-packed festival kicked off on Friday 4th March, just ahead of International Women’s Day, with a fizz and nibbles briefing reception. A forecast of high winds and heavy rain didn’t dampen the enthusiasm or spirits among participants, who ranged from teens to women in their sixties. MTB de femme is all about getting out on the bike with like-minded women, having a laugh, learning new skills, building confidence, taking on new challenges and shredding over 40-kilometres of trails through the spectacular ghost-gum covered alpine mountains in a friendly and safe environment. Participants chose from guided social and skills rides – beginner to…