Rapid Ascent

𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐎 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐋 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 2025 | 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐘 | 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝟏] What better way to preview the 2025 Gravel Muster course, than with the one and only @paulvanderplow . Vandy joined us in 2024 and rode every kilometre – so he’s more than qualified to talk about the route. Here are the stats for Day 1: 👉 4km Prologue (Alice Springs) 👉 47km, Simpsons Gap Loop (Alice Springs to Alice Springs) + Sunset Beers 👉 1 racing segment, totaling 17km 👉 280m of climbing Stay tuned for Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4. More details here: 👉 https://bit.ly/3VjaxbV

He’s BACK! 6 time Odyssey champion, Chris “J-Blood” Jongawaard has confirmed he’ll be racing the 100KM event again this Feb. And when you look at his track record, you might wonder “WHY?!”... Surely he’s achieved enough in cycling to sit back, relax and enjoy some less painful pursuits. But, according to Chris: “𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑥𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠: – 𝐶𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 – 𝑅𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑝 – 𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑡 1-𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟 – 𝑉𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑂𝑡𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠” Truth be told… We think he’s not-so-secretly thinking there’s another win left in those experienced legs. And it’s certainly not out of the question... Last year, Chris finished 11th – just 10 mins 55 seconds off the record-breaking pace of Tali Lane-Welsh (not bad over ~5 hours of racing). Could he be poised to teach the young-guns a lesson in 2025? DETAILS AND ENTRIES HERE: ➡️ https://bit.ly/41mTj1o @jbloodadventures

“𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑦…” Kephren Izzard isn’t just a strong athlete (the week before we shot this he was competing in the World Cross Triathlon Championships!) … He’s also got an infectious laugh and positivity that made him an absolute asset at the first-ever Shimano Gravel Muster. If you’re thinking about coming to the Muster 2025, he’s got some great intel (including valuable advice on bikes). Check out the video to learn more…

TRAI RUNNERS - good news: The XTERRA Asia-Pacific Trail Run Championship will be hosted in AUSTRALIA in 2025. BETTER: It’s happening in DUNSBOROUGH – one of the most stunning coastal trail areas in the world (even the locals behind The Margaret River Region page said “this is still our favourite place to spend summer”) EVEN BETTER: There are 3 distances to choose from: 38km, 21km and 10km trail running events (plus off-road triathlons of varying distances) so, there’s something for all ages and level of fitness. BEST: There’s a US $5,200 prize pool for the 38km & 21km trail runs (US $35,000 across the weekend!) – making it the richest trail running race in Australia! So, if you like the idea of challenging yourself surrounded by nature... And need an excuse to visit paradise... This is it! Link in Bio

Ella Bloor… You might have seen her racing at the pointy end of the Lifetime Grand Prix in 2023… Or crossing the line of Unbound in an impressive 28th position this year… Or maybe you saw her riding SOLO across Australia (4,000km from Perth to Sydney) in an impressively small number of days earlier in 2024… But what you might not have seen is that, as soon as Ella finished her trans-continental push... She jumped straight on a plane for Alice Springs for the inaugural Shimano Gravel Muster Stage Race (which she won convincingly). We were honoured to have such a decorated and accomplished two-wheeled adventurer at the Muster. Check out the video to hear about @ella.bloor's experience in the red centre. More info about Gravel Muster here: https://bit.ly/3VjaxbV More info about Ella's trans-Australia trip here: https://flowmountainbike.com/features/ella-bloor-perth-to-sydney/

𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐎 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐋 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 (𝟗𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫)! If you’re an adventurous cyclist looking for something bigger… more wild… and more social than your average bike race… "IT'LL LEAVE YOU TIRED, DUSTY AND BEGGING TO GET OUT THERE AND DO IT AGAIN!" (as one rider from the 2024 event said). Here are 6 "top level" facts to help you prepare: 1) 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟐𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 2) 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 but takes you DEEP into the desert for the middle 2 days (staying on iconic cattle stations)… 3) This year, 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 (we have no idea how quickly they’ll fill, so safest bet is to get in early) 4) There will be some 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 coming (stay tuned to learn who) 5) This is an two-wheeled adventure NOT to be missed… As Richie Porte said after the 2024 event: “𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒘𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 4 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔.. 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆… 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔.𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒘𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆… 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒃𝒂

Richie Porte chats about his Shimano Gravel Muster experience...

“𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑠ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡” – Richie Porte It’s not everyday you get to ride next to one of the GOATS of Aussie cycling for 4-days straight. It’s even rarer to get to dine, chill and share a beer with them beside an outback pool. Yet, that’s exactly what we were treated to at the 2024 Gravel Muster when Richie Porte jumped at the opportunity to ride. Not only did he impress onlookers with a few turns of speed on the front... He's also just an awesome, down to earth bloke who was a heap of fun to hang out with. Check out the video to hear about his experience at the Muster. Once you’ve done that… 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑: 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝟏𝟐𝐩𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩. There are only 100 spots. So, if you want an experience like no other, we highly recommend you get ready to enter asap. ALL DETAILS HERE: https://bit.ly/3VjaxbV The Rapid Ascent Team 𝐏.𝐒. Rumour has it we’ll be greeted with ANOTHER member of Aussie cycling royalty in 2025. Any guesses who?

𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐎 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐋 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 (𝟗𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫)! And, if you’re an adventurous cyclist looking for something bigger… more wild… and more social than your average bike race… “IT’LL LEAVE YOU TIRED, DUSTY AND BEGGING TO GET OUT THERE AND DO IT AGAIN!” (as one rider from the 2024 event said). Here are 6 “top level” facts to help you prepare: 1) 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟐𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 2) 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 but takes you DEEP into the desert for the middle 2 days (staying on iconic cattle stations)… 3) This year, 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 (we have no idea how quickly they’ll fill, so safest bet is to get in early) 4) There will be some 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 coming (stay tuned to learn who) 5) This is an two-wheeled adventure NOT to be missed… As Richie Porte said after the 2024 event: “𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒘𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 4 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔.. 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆… 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔.𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒘𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆… 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂

Most experienced riders don’t think about the Odyssey as one, 100km race… They think about it as THREE separate stages (you just ride them back-to-back without stopping!). Those stages are: 1️⃣ 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝟏: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐚𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐞𝐠 𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫 Distance: 43.60km | Elevation Gain: 1,252m | Lowest Elev: 167m | Highest Elev: 517m | Elev Difference: 350m 2️⃣ 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝟐: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐲𝐩𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫 Distance: 34.01km | Elevation Gain: 674m | Lowest Elev: 154m | Highest Elev: 242m | Elev Difference: 88m 3️⃣ 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝟑: 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐨𝐧 Distance: 22.88km | Elevation Gain: 752m | Lowest Elev: 158m | Highest Elev: 556m | Elev Difference: 398m For a detailed description of each of the 3 “stages” (and links to the Strava segments), check out our article here: 👉https://mailchi.mp/rapidascent/are-you-ready-to-conquer-the-odyssey-1847263?e=[UNIQID] REMINDER: Early Bird Pricing for Odyssey and Great Otway Gravel Grind ends December 1st (less than 2 weeks!). If you’re planning on racing, go here and enter now: https://bit.ly/3CaIe8S The Rapid Ascent Team P.S. If you've been following our series about climb/descent/bump/root of the course, stay tuned. There's more to come.

Noonday Track Climb - Virtual Reccy

[OTWAY ODYSSEY 100KM COURSE NOTES | PART 2 | : NOONDAY TRACK] 🎶 𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑁𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑦…🎶 Wow – even in writing you can hear we’re tone deaf! Good news is, what we lack in musical talent, we make up for in designing leg-tickling MTB courses. And, in the 100km Odyssey course, Noonday Track certainly adds a bit of "tickle". With a 2.33km length and an average gradient of 10.5%, it’s shorter than Kaanglang, but it has teeth… After a 6-10 minute descent from the high point, your pins will be stiff and full of lactic by the time Noonday strikes. And, if you’re in the hurt box at this point in the race, you’ll be looking for excuses to bail entirely by kilometer 50! (PROPER PACING IS YOUR FRIEND). Two riders who paced it to perfection last year were Samara Sheppard and Tali Lane-Welsh. Both took out the Strava KOMs – Tali with a time of 10 min 21 seconds at an average of 406W, and Samara Sheppard with 13 mins 20 seconds at 254W… Both also held on to have impressive overall performances (Tali with the win and Samara with a 4th place). If you’ve got tips or stories about Noonday – we want to hear ‘em. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. Strava segment here: 👉 https://www.strava.com/segments/666345 More info about Odyssey here: 👉 https://bit.ly/3CaIe8S Stay tuned for more course notes to come.

"𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒?!" Watching this "stinger" from the Search4hurt got us excited all over again for XTERRA racing in Dunsborough. The team did a whole episode (Ep 5) during the 2024 event and it's well worth a gander (www.7plus.com.au/search4hurt). Remember: This year, the Dunsborough stop on the XTERRA circuit is going to be bigger and more grand than ever before. That's because – for the first time ever – it's been named as the XTERRA Asia Pacific Championships! So... If you're an adventurous soul, triathlete or trail runner, make sure you get yourself an entry: ➡️ https://www.xterraplanet.com/event/xterra-australia

Can someone PLEASE teleport us to the 15th November already?! Here's what's happening: 1) 𝐑𝐮𝐧 𝐁𝐢𝐛𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐮𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 on 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 (15th-17th November). 2) 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢-𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 (so you can really get immersed in the adventure). 3) 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (Long = ~35km per day, Short = ~20km per day). 4) 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 (along one of Australia's famous, multi-day, walking tracks – The Bubbulmun Track – traversing the ruggedly pristine coastline of Great Southern WA). 5) 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟗𝟓% 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓. (there are a handful of spaces left after some recent withdrawals due to injury) 6) 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐀 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞. Can't wait to spend the weekend with these awesome runners. If you're a "last minute" kinda adventurer looking for a running experience/holiday like no other, there's still time to join us. Get all the details and enter here: https://bit.ly/3NANUeV