Anaconda MTB Enduro - Red Centre

Naantali Marshall - Rapid Ascent / 24.05.2009

Entries for the Anaconda MTB Enduro Red Centre have continued to steadily flow in for what promises to be an amazing week in the desert country around Alice Springs and the majestic MacDonnell Ranges today. Numbers are up over 30% from the inaugural 2008 event with over 260 competitors participating this year. This is fantastic for a week long challenging event demonstrating the enthusiasm for mountain biking in uncertain economic conditions.

The event is a 5 day mountain bike event, from May 25th to 29th, and is split into 7 stages. Each stage is quite different and range from a 45 second hill sprint up Anzac Hill in the centre of Alice Springs to a 70km marathon from Owen Springs Plain. On Thursday 28th May there’s a night stage where competitors are led only by the light of their helmet torches as they weave through the Outback single tracks at an amazingly fast pace. Each stage finishes in Alice Springs where competitors will stay each night at the event hotel.

The fascinating part about the competitors is where they hail from. Alice truly is the centre of Australia and has attracted mountain bikers from all over the country. There are riders from the Tiwi Islands, Kunnunurra, Nhulunbuy, Hobart, Taroona (that is south of Hobart!) Darwin, Katherine, all corners of Western Australia and the entire eastern seaboard. It really will be an amazing mix of Australian cultures, all who have a passion for mountain bikes and single track. There are even competitors from Austria and Singapore joining in for one of the best weeks of mountain biking in the country.