Topbike’s Dave Olle recently competed in the UCI Masters Mountain Bike World Championships, Cairns Australia.

Dave managed 5th in Downhill and the following day 3rd in Cross country. The event was a curtain raiser to Crankworks Cairns. The Smithfield Mountain bike Park has just received news of $15M grant from the state government. It’s exciting stuff for MTBers. Fly into Cairns, then 15 minutes from the airport, you will be on world-class trails in the rainforest. When in Cairns, I managed to chat to MTB trail-building legend Glenn Jacobs (World Trails) and he reflected on the sport and the trail-building industry around the world. In the past, trails were being built for a few riders on the weekend. Nowadays in some areas they have to be able to withstand up to 1500 people per day… the sport (MTB) is in its glory days and all levels of government are wanting some of the action.

In 2026 World Masters MTB will be held in Chile. Topbike Tours will be running a road bike tour after the event, south of Santiago.

On a very sad note, a stalwart of the Cairns MTB community and local cop Frank Falappi, died in a training crash the week leading into the event. A reminder that when you come home from a good ride that no one got hurt on, lap it up and enjoy, because those rides are the best rides of your life.

Physiobikefit.com.au

Former Pro – Pat Jonker described riding a bike as being a factory worker, eventually, your body just can’t handle the stress anymore.

Most of us dream to clock up the sort of ks he is talking about but he does have a point about ergonomics. Cyclists are clipped into a machine and hence the fixation points of the feet, bum and hands become interrelated and, like a machine small ‘errors’ in this relationship over time can cause injury/overuse.

The ‘ergonomics’ of bike fitting is an often shared and controversial space. The controversy comes due to the intersection of measurable and accurately quantifiable aspects of the fit (frame geometry/power output) vs qualitative aspects (rider style, comfort, flexibility, stability, ‘feel’ and individual experience/nuances of the human body).

I am personally happy that no matter how hard they try AI / internet will never replace a human interaction when it comes to bike fitting. This is even more-so when it comes to cycling related overuse injuries.

EVENTS – Megavalanche & Megakids

After sleepless Giro nights we are on the downhill run to Europe and so in the interests of getting stuff done the Emma, Dave and Betty calendar is light on. However, Dave has entered the Megavalanche* (riding the back of his Cairns DH performance) and Betty has entered the Megakids**.

*Megavalanche: a world-renowned mountain bike race, famous for its mass start and challenging downhill course, held annually at Alpe d’Huez in the French Alps

Emma Colson (AKA MBW)
June 2025

WILIER Hybrid E-bikes available, so get your non-cycling friends along to join you, so they can share in the fun.