"Travelling into new south wales for the first time our “Down Under Tours Coach” took us along some great surf territory and aimed straight for Byron Bay. The Chosen Line crew spent a good half day swimming, filming and relaxing around the beaches and hills. A good search didn’t help us find any worthwhile jump trails at all, so it was decided to boost our way straight through to Armidale at night, just in time for some o week uni parties, much to James, Dylan and the boys delight..."

• Skills assessment
• Work on skills and techniques with experienced Instructors
• A variety of guided rides, mostly downhill
• Trailside Mechanics
• Instruction in the Terrain Park area on drops, jumps and balance sections
• Letting loose on the Cannonball Run in the freeride sessions!

The Dirt Works 100km Classic is an endurance Mountain Bike race through National Parks and private property. The 300-rider limit was reached in under 4 weeks. Maximum Adventure has negotiated an additional 200 riders with National Parks bringing the field up to 500. Race Director Gary Farebrother says “We are excited that there is such a high demand for endurance mtb racing in NSW with so many ready to take up the challenge”.

With this privilege comes responsibility the National Parks and Wildlife service will be monitoring the erosion on the tracks through both the Yengo and Dharug National Parks in St Albans. Riders are requested to adopt a low impact approach throughout the duration of the race. National Parks will be monitoring the tracks to protect the heritage value of the respected reserves. Entrants have a unique opportunity to be riding in what are usually inaccessible areas.

With only 200 places left they are filling up fast, don’t miss out enter online today.

http://www.maxadventure.com.au/dirtworksclassic/

"..To be held over the weekend of 17-20th March in the lakeside township of Eildon, 2hrs North East of Melbourne, competition will be held across the four disciplines of Cross Country, Down Hill, Four-Cross and Trials. With over $20,000 in cash and prizes from the event sponsors, the 4 day cycling festival, with three main days of competition, is Australia's premier mountain bike event. There is a discipline and a category for everyone..."

The wait is almost over.

Race Face Performance Products along with Giant Bicycles and Manitou Suspension is proud to announce the selection process for the 4th annual Ultimate Freeride Challenge is now complete.

Our sixteen competitors have been chosen by a judging panel which included pro riders Andrew Shandro, Tyler Klassen and Corey LeClerc, filmmakers Derek Westerlund and Ambrose Weingart and pro photographer, Sterling Lorence. Along with representatives from Race Face, Giant and Manitou, these industry professionals helped select the 16 riders who’ll compete in this year’s Ultimate Freeride Challenge for a sponsorship contract worth over US$25,000.

“The selection process went really well.” say Race Face’s Marshall Rutman, “The top 16 videos were established very quickly. And now we shift the power into the hands of our online community – for them to go online, view the videos and vote for who they think should win. I’m really looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.”

The 16 videos have been divided into four groups with the first round of voting beginning Friday, March 4th. Over the next six weeks, Race Face’s online community will vote for their favourite videos and the winners will advance to future rounds. We’ll fly the two finalists down to the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey California and on April 16th at the BIKE Magazine Video Awards, we’ll announce the winner and sign them to a sponsorship contract with Race Face, Giant Bicycles and Manitou Suspension worth over US$25,000!

And now, without further a due, Race Face, Giant and Manitou are proud to present the competitors in the fourth annual Ultimate Freeride Challenge:

Round 1 (March 4th – 11th)

Dave McLaughlin – 19
Jesse Meerkerk - 19
Jadyn Welch - 21
Dustin Bryant - 21

Round 2 (March 11th – 18th)

Garett Buehler - 13
Matt Leitch - 22
Derek Peltzer - 26
Kurt Sorge - 16

Round 3 (March 18th – 25th)

Matt Brooks/Jared Gatzka – 19/27
James Doerfling - 18
Ryan Berrecloth - 26
Darrell Knelson - 19

Round 4 (March 25th – April 1st)

Joe Perrizo - 20
Derek Alexander - 18
Jonas Green - 24
Steve Tuchiwksky - 19

Congratulations to all riders and good luck in the competition!

Now, to whet your appetite, we’ve had our good friends at Pist-N-Broke productions put together a teaser video to showcase all 16 competitors. Click on through to the UFC page of our web site to check it out.

".. Bryn Atkinson (DH/4X) is a fresh face on the GT team this year. Bryn finished in 8th place at the NORBA National Series Finals and had more than 10 Top-10 NORBA finishes in 2004. The Aussie likes to go big and has the skills to put him at the forefront of the DH and 4X scene this year..."

New bike tour company Mountain Bike Tours NSW is vying for a National Tourism award, having already taken out two tourism awards in its first year of operation.

The Northern Rivers-based company won a regional award in the adventure category and went on to win a NSW Tourism award for new tourism development last year.

At the National Tourism Awards in Alice Springs on February 11, it will compete in the new tourism development category again.