Event Report: Merida MTB Enduro - Builth Wells

Source: Mike Wilkens

Report Posted: 11 July 2008

Images: http://www.rightplacerighttime.co.uk/

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This just in from MTB-Marathon's Mike Wilkens, following the latest round of the Merida series:

3 down 2 (3 including the Bad Goisern event) to go. It almost looked like a mountain-bike-Glastonbury experience but luckily the sun decided to be kind to the riders when they started coming over the line. We are back from the 3rd round of the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series 2008 in Builth Wells which hosted once more the Gore Bike Wear Road Sportive Series. The weather made this once more a real challenge for everybody but going by the amount of happy riders we have over the line it did not put anybody off from having a great ride.

Almost 1200 riders joined the MTB-Marathon team at the White House Campsite in Builth Wells to either tackle the rather hill enriched course of Saturday's Gore Bike Wear Road Sportive or to get involved in the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon run on Sunday - some brave souls even did both.

After the road event came to an end on Saturday afternoon the mountain bikers started to descend onto the event village in Builth. More than 1000 riders took up the rather daunting challenge of what looked like a rather rainy MTB marathon when they gathered at the start line at The White House Campsite in Builth Wells. The weather certainly didn't look inviting but luckily that did not impact on the spirit at the start and throughout the event. The recent course changes made the rather difficult conditions out there quite a bit better while keeping the ride interesting and challenging for everybody.

The first rider over the line managed to finish the 30km course in 1hour in 34 minutes while the last one finishing the long course in 8 hours and 11 minutes.

Next round - Selkirk 2-3rd August 2008

Now with Builth being over and done with we are heading up to Scotland to one of the most liked courses of the series - Selkirk. Selkirk was a particular busy location for our events in 2007 with being the start and finish location of the TransScotland event plus having the usual Merida marathon series being based in this lovely Borders town. Their feedback on both events in 2007 was fantastic which fills us once more with great confidence for the upcoming marathon round in Selkirk. With the recent increase in entries and particularly entries on the day we would like to recommend to everybody to enter in advance. The online entry is getting more and more popular and allows you to pay by credit or debit card. If you haven't done it simply go onto our entry page (http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/entry_forms/entry_forms.php) and follow the on screen instructions. You will also find a downloadable form there, which will allow you to go the good old postal way.

And don't forget when you come up to Selkirk that it might be a good idea to make a long weekend of it as there is lots and 1st class riding to be had around Selkirk and on your way there. Check out http://www.7stanes.gov.uk/ for the nearest 7Stanes trail. We managed to incorporate a big number of the trails into the TransScotland in 2007 and they are superb!! In particular Glentress and Innerleithen are just a very short drive away from Selkirk.

To find out more about the upcoming round in Selkirk (2-3rd August) please go to the event pages on our website http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/selkirk.php or go directly to the entry page http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/entry_forms/entry_forms.php to enter the mountain bike and/or road sportive events.

Photos and website updates from the Builth round

At this event we had again 2 photographers out on the course; our regular photographer, Jon Brooke and his colleague Lauris Naglins - the idea being to give you an even greater selection of images to choose from. The guys took pictures on Saturday's road sportive as well as on Sundays' MTB marathon. Jon has a new website this year - http://www.rightplacerighttime.co.uk/ and you can find your photos there to view or buy. We will make some further updates to the www.mtb-marathon.co.uk site so keep an eye on the news in the top left hand corner.

Bad Goisern event

This weekend (12th July) will see the 'Merida Marathon on holiday' round in Bad Goisern, Austria. If you are taking part then we would like to wish you a great trip and a fantastic marathon and if you are the very spontaneous kind then why not pack you stuff and go over. You can still enter on the day and flights are not that difficult to find either. Check out the details on the event on our Bad Goisern page: http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/bad_goisern.php.