The Crocodile Trophy

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1400 Kilometres of Mountain Bike Adventure

John-Michael Flynn. Photos; Mark Watson / 13.10.2005

Call it a ‘mountain bike adventure race’, an ‘extreme mountain bike adventure’ or just plain ‘crazy’, Australia’s Crocodile Trophy occupies a unique place in the world of ultra-marathon stage racing.

Take sixty riders, most of whom have emerged from the refrigeration of Northern Europe, place them in the 45 degree heat of Australia’s remote outback, then ask them to ride for two weeks on some of the worst ‘butt busting’ dirt tracks imaginable. This is no place for the mentally weak!

Add to the drama the incredible logistical challenges of taking a race through Australia’s remote outback, and you get the picture of what over time has become an iconic event.

It’s hard to believe the race could have survived into its second decade, but here it is, back again against all odds for the eleventh time, travelling the remote roads of Australia’s Far North.

Race Reporter John Flynn, will team up with photographer Mark Watson to provide coverage of the event for Sleepmonsters, and he starts by giving us an insight into the iconography of the Crocodile Trophy.

But first some 2004 reflections ...

Stage one, Crocodile Trophy 2004 and on the road between Mataranka and Roper Bar in Australia’s Northern Territory, two race defining moments captured the essence of this unique event.

The First was Frenchman Charlie Blanc, in tears and inconsolable, trying to find shade beneath the withered branches of a tree in burnt out scrubland. His dream of finishing the Crocodile Trophy at his third attempt, was effectively blown to bits 40 kilometres into stage one, in the searing 45 degree heat of Australia’s Northern Territory. The photo caption said it all, ‘A Frenchman meets his waterloo’.

Two weeks later, Charlie was airlifted out of the Daintree Rainforest on the final stage of the Croc Trophy after breaking a collarbone ...
Fortunately he survived.See All Event Posts