Concentration mode: Champion mountain biker Michael Straffon powers down a run in search of another title. Photos: Michael Straffon.
Baie-Saint-Paul and Shimonoseki City simply can’t compete.
Nor can Australia’s premier trails — from Mount Buller to Melrose.
Canberra wins hands down when it comes to any mountain biking discipline. Just ask under-17s national champion Michael Straffon, who’s ridden them all.
The 16-year-old’s been a staple of Australian riding academies to Canada and Japan in the past 12 months, only returning home from two rounds of competition in the Maple Leaf Nation in June.
Twenty-four hours after touching back down in the national capital, Michael carefully collected his thoughts, weighed up recent overseas performances and talked about his favourite place to ride on the planet. Yep, Canberra!
“It’s the range of riding I can do here,” Michael says. “I’m yet to find anywhere around the world where there isn’t very similar riding in Canberra.
“There’s everything here. You can do huge, long rides entirely on single tracks specifically built for cycling and ride every sort of terrain in that loop.”
As for favourite roads, tracks and trails, it depends on where Michael is when you broach the subject.
Whether it’s on Stromlo’s world-famous range, the tighter single tracks of Majura Pines, up Honeysuckle Climb on Apollo Road south of Tharwa or the Cotter-Uriarra loop. It just depends, he says.
“My favourite is the one I’m at whenever someone asks the question, because they’re all incredible.”
Even his earliest memories revolve around riding in Canberra, before progressing to his first “proper” bike — a Trek Superfly 20-incher — and catching the competitive bug.
“I was about five, maybe six, out at Stromlo with my mum on a Thursday afternoon when I saw the local Dirt Crits races and decided it looked like fun.
“That got me into racing.”
He may have outgrown his Trek Superfly, but Michael Straffon keeps it safe in the shed along with his grandfather’s old bikes and his own current riding stock to cover all bases — road, gravel, cross country, trail and enduro.
He says the role of the Canberra Off-Road Cyclists Club (CORC) in Australian biking successes can’t be overstated — from hosting social rides and a round of the national series to developing riders amid the fun of Thursday night Dirt Crits and cut-throat representative races.
“Even the local events are quite a high level and push you to develop your race craft.”
This competition, coupled with structured training and a new-found belief after victory in the 2025 NSW titles, has helped Michael capture each national championship discipline for his age group over the past couple of years.
It means he currently holds under-17s titles in cross-country short course (XCC), cross-country Olympic (XCO) and cross-country marathon (XCM).
His progression will hopefully take him to Europe at under-19s level next year before a feeder team spot pilots him to a professional outfit, World Cup events and the Olympics.
Michael’s the first to admit much dirt must travel under the wheels to earn his shot in mountain biking’s mecca.
That begins with a solid winter training program and lots of hours in the saddle before the next big race in his own backyard on 26-27 September: the 2026 AusCycling Marathon National Championships at the Shimano 100 Marathon.
While the elites hunt for their national jersey over three laps at UC Stromlo Forest Park, the 2026 Shimano 100 offers one-lap and two-lap categories, allowing recreational riders and juniors to share the start line and atmosphere with the country’s best.
“With this calibre of event, we want to host a flagship race for Australian mountain biking,” says a spokesperson for event organiser Rocky Trail Entertainment. “Whether riders are tackling a ‘cheeky’ single lap or the full marathon challenge, every rider is the hero of their own story.”
International competition and tough local opponents have helped harden Michael Straffon’s resolve to put his race pain in the hurt locker.
For Michael, the under-17s national championships will test riders over two laps of the 28.9-kilometre course, climbing 670 metres each time. It’ll take them on familiar trails, including Pork Barrel, Terminal Velocity, Double Dissolution, Skyline and Luge.
“It’s an important race in my season,” he says.
“The Stromlo course is good fun. It’s got a bit of everything. You normally average 18-20 km/h, hitting top speeds of 60 down some of the fast descents.
“There’s also a couple of spicy bits on this course.”
As the Finigan School of Distance Education student weighs up his next race assignment, he knows the sacrifice needed to conquer the course once the gun goes off.
“The first five kilometres are physical, then it slowly progresses into a mental battle.
“I’ll turn my brain off, get into the hurt locker to ignore the pain, and push, push, push.”
As for us weekend warriors and first-timers with designs on just completing a lap, Michael winds back the clock to those first days on Stromlo.
“The number-one thing is having fun on the bike.”
Follow Michael on Instagram and click here to see more details about the 2026 AusCycling Marathon National Championships at the Shimano 100 Marathon.
