After a relatively quiet start to 2015, I find myself heading to Europe to compete in Bike Transalp (bike-transalp.de). Transalp is the Euro version of the Cape Epic, with riders challenged with 7 days MTB's across the European alps. Starting in Ruhpolding, Germany, through Austria, the Dolomites and finishing in the beautiful Riva del Garda.

With almost 20,000m of climbing in 625km, this year's route will be a challenging one. I find myself partnering with an old friend from Germany, and together we are looking forward to the challenge, the scenery and the mateship that make these events memorable.
The last 2 mths has been hectic, with work and family commitments, but I have managed to put in a great solid block of training and am super keen to experience some of the Euro Marathon scene. I am lucky to have some great support from Pure Edge, Cyclery Northside, Specialized and Evoc, with some fancy new kit from Cuore making this all possible.
As a warmup race we first head to the Dolomiti Superbike (dolomitisuperbike.com) in Italy. This will help me acclimitise, and get our team bonding, and understand each other's strengths and weaknesses, before jumping into the deep end of a 7 day stage race. The popularity of these events has to be seen to be believed, with over 5000 competitors entered for the Dolomiti Superbike, it is one of the largest races in Europe.

With the hope of some warm weather a Northern hemisphere summer to escape some of the recent Sydney cold weather I am super keen to get over there and get amongst it.
I will keep you all posted over the coming weeks, and you can follow us on twitter @SXC_Racing and instagram @SXC_Racing to a get a sneek preview of the action as it all happens.