Magellan Adventure Team

More success over the weekend as “Team Magellan Strava-tards” dominated the iconic Moonride 12hr event in Rotorua in what will be remembered as one of the most epic and challenging yet in the event’s long history. Heavy rain prior (and during) the event turned the race into a literal survival of the fittest. So much so that by the race’s midway point, many usually fast and flowing Rotorua trails saw riders struggling for any forward momentum as thousands of wheel tracks churned up the surface leaving thick and sticky mud. Many opted to run uphill sections instead.

Working to the favour of the Magellan crew (with XTERRA triathletes on the team), it was a dominant display from the team (comprised of Mark Leishman, Olly Shaw [pictured above], Graham Norman, Josh Kenyon, and Louis Crosby). Engaged in a close tussle early on with the young hotshots of Team Endura, the lead seesawed through the first few hours before the Magellan crew used their experience and strength to slowly edge away and eventually break the spirit of their rivals. Eventually going a lap up, and stretching out to a final winning margin of around 30min. Full results can be found here.

We’d like to congratulate all riders who participated in the Convict 100 this year. It was a fantastic event and we are proud to have supported one of the best and scenic events in the country.

The Magellan KOM segment was a huge success. Here are some interesting stats about our segment based on GPS logs of the segment:

• In 2013 Kyle Ward was the fastest up the 2.5km climb in a time of 10:26 mins
• The average time was 18:35mins for all competitors
• The slowest was 33:14mins
• The fastest female completed it in 15:26 mins and average time for females  18:50 mins (only 15 sec behind the male competitors!)

Congratulations to Ian Butler, winner of the Magellan Convict 100 KOM, riding away with a new Magellan Cyclo 105 bike GPS computer. Ian was the closest competitor to the average time for that segment and we are hoping his new Cyclo 105 will be his new training companion and help him beat his PB in his next race!

Two of our Team Magellan riders, Ian and Minter, have just finished the Joberg2c, a 911km mountain bike stage race in South Africa that takes place over 9 days. Below is their blog entry from the last day, where they describe tough diets, cuts and scrapes and the relief of finishing their first stage race.

Day 9 – Into Scottburgh…. it is all over!

After spending most the afternoon sleeping after popping an overdose of Imodium and the prescribed Paracetemol, I was feeling a bit better but still struggling to eat much at dinner.

I woke up feeling very much below average. One of the hardest things about the stage races is eating enough volume of calories (primarily carbohydrates of course) to replenish what you are burning each day. Once you get a running stomach, it is impossible and that really does take its toll. I popped 3 Imodium and 2 paracetamol about an hour before the start and tucked a heap of toilet paper into my shirt pocket just in case…..I am a city boy and using leaves in the sugarcane fields was not an appealing option.

The plan was to keep my heart rate below 155 bpm at all times which is what we did, but what had not been factored in was that the mechanics who were supposed to have fixed my gears did not do it so I had another day of stopping repeatedly to fix the chain etc which was very frustrating. At one point I looked down at my gears momentarily to see what was happening but we were near a corner and my front wheel slid out and I went down, cutting up my knee and shin and the left side of my hip. There may have been a few words used which I would not want my kids to hear!!

We arrived at Scottburgh to be met by Lisa and Keith, Minters sister and brother-in-law. We grabbed our luggage, had a quick clean up and jumped into the car as they are off for a well deserved holiday and I needed to head to the airport for the flight back to Joburg.

So….what am I feeling after my first stage race? It is tough, very tough but great fun, a fantastic bonding experience, and a sense of achievement. The downside is that a lot of your overall results depends on luck (avoiding punctures) which is similar in any mountain bike race, but when you have 2 bikes and 9 days, the odds increase. It also depends on other people doing what they should….the team of mechanics we used, were sub-par at best and did not maintain the bikes of fix things they should have. This is very frustrating when you have trained so hard and raced so hard.

I would recommend it anyone who is interested in the personal journey and wants to see parts of a country that they would not otherwise. A great experience!!

Click here to read their blog

Check out the cut that Team Magellan rider Paris Basson endured at the Convict 100 over the weekend. He had to get a few stitches and all! Well done to all the winners, and to our other Magellan riders Carrie Ade, who placed 2nd in Women’s sun vets after snapping her chain, and James Lamb, who came 11th in Elite in the 100km.

Check out all the photos on our Pinterest page here.

Check out this for a feat of endurance! Two of our Team Magellan riders, Ian and Minter are currently in South Africa racing in Joberg2C, a 911km mountain bike stage race that takes place over 9 days. You can follow all their progress, day by day, on their blog here. Hopefully they survive to the end!

Here’s their latest blog post from Day 4 of the Race – which they describe as one of the toughest days on a mountain bike they’ve ever had:

Day 4 of the Race

Today was one of the toughest days I have had on a mountain bike. At 122km the distance was long, and there were some killer hills and bone jarring downhills but the more technical nature of the course suited us over the many riders who may be at the same fitness level but are less confident when the trails get technical. As a result, we came in 18th today vs 27th and 28th the other 2 race days. That said we are absolutely buggered and our bodies took a major hammering.

The race started off fast once again and we managed to stay with the front group for quite a while before they broke off. On the first technical descent, one of my bottles went flying out of the bottle cage and rolling down the mountain…..not a good start on a long, hilly, sunny day.

About 40km into the race, we were crossing a wet rocky river section and the guys in front of us got off to walk across. Minter got the moer in (threw his toys) and tried to charge across in anger…..slipping, falling, and hurting his arm and cutting his thumb. Luckily the nerve endings between his pain centre and his brain are somewhat slow so we carried on as if nothing had happened. Then about 80km into the race my i must have gone over a thorn and my rear tyre went flat, meaning we had to stop and reinflate it. fortunately the sealant worked and it stayed hard.

The single track and the views were amazing coming down from the escarpment, but what has burnt into my mind was the climb up to Spioenkop which had an average gradient of 22 percent, made all the more difficult by the fact that neither of our bikes was changing into granny gear on the rear cassette.

It is difficult to describe how good the trails were today, and the only thing that would have made it better would have been if there were only 80 km of them!!

The race villages and the local communities, food, etc etc are phenomenal and we are really enjoying the overall experience.

Read the original post here

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Magellan tent at the Wombat 100 in Woodend, VIC at the weekend. Our special Magellan segment was a big hit, with 22 riders pushing themselves to make it through faster and all of them beating the time set in 2012 by Ben Mather, last year’s winner.

All the category winners reported back that they’ve been thrilled using the new Magellan Cyclo 105 bike GPS.

From Team Magellan, Paris Basson came in third overall in the 100km. Despite spraining his wrist early on, he battled on and finished the race in second place in his category – blood and all (see below). Elsewhere, our in-house triathlete Nathan (a top 100 Ironman finisher) came in a very respectable 19th in his category in the 50km.

Check out all the pics on our Pinterest page by clicking below: