Entries are are now being encouraged for the 8th annual Colne Valley Mountain Bike Challenge, taking place this year on Sunday 8th May at 9.00am.

The course is a challenging one (as you’d expect) and consists of approx. 30 miles of local paths, tracks, bridleways and lanes around the picturesque Colne Valley area of Huddersfield – regularly featured on TV as settings for Last Of The Summer Wine and Where The Heart Is.

The cost of entry is £15 pre-booked (entry forms available at http://www.cvmbc.co.uk ) and £20 on the day – although we do encourage pre-booking as it greatly assists the organisation of the event.

All participants will receive a free commemorative T-Shirt and certificate upon completion. The course will be fully marshalled throughout and will have 4 refreshment stops at designated points. There will also be a back-up vehicle available for anyone who wishes to (or is forced to!!) retire early.

Bacon Butties will be on sale beforehand at a nominal £1.00 each, but apart from these EVERYTHING ELSE refreshment wise (soup, bread, bananas, flap-jack, biscuits, coffee, tea etc etc) is FREE. Yes FREE. There is also a brilliant little pub – The Walkers Arms – situated on site, so those that wish to can partake of a pint (or two) if so desired.

So, to sum it up – it’s a 30 mile challenging MTB ride, fully marshalled, fully ‘catered’ and absolutely FANTASTIC VALUE, with a pub on site to finish the day off as well. You won’t find a better day out in this area on the 8th May. Come and give it a go – you’ve nothing to lose and we’re absolutely certain that you’ll be well looked after and have a great time.

Aha! Smashing, I shall sign up immediately.

(By the way, your link is a bit broken, it has some stray gibberish at the end.)

I lost the will to live the last time I did it and said then that I wouldn’t do it again!

I’ll be there!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lovely day here today, trails drying out nicely!

Dusty dry trails, great views and we feed you too! What more could you want from a local event?

Get your entry forms in and come along and join us – all abilities welcome!

Crackin’ event. Recommended.

I’ve added the event to the Pennine Mountain Bike Action calander.

http://www.pmba.org.uk

Click on the Events button 😉

Cheers stumpyjon, much appreciated.

Come on folks, plenty of room for everyone.

How’d everyone get on then?
Good day – not entirely what I’d expected but enjoyable and well organised.
2hr 29mins at the end – last climb hurt a lot!
Some of the cobbled climbs reminded me of Belgium!
Will definitely be back next year.

Yep enjoyed it, well organised too.
Did it in 3hrs 11mins , was aiming for 3 hrs so not too bad I suppose…
The 2 pint in the pub next to the finish went down a treat 😀

A very well organised ride. I came home in 3 hrs 21. The wind made it tough today in places. Anyone know what the winner did it in?

I overheard someone saying the winner did it in 2hrs 6mins…

Yeh the headwind was a killer!

3h25 here; pretty chuffed given that this time last year I probably wouldn’t have made it round the course at all. Had a good time, but could have done without the horrible cramp I got 2/3 of the way round.

I’ve no real previous experience of these sort of things, but overall it seemed well run to me, and everyone was very friendly, there was a great atmosphere all the way round. Will be back to see if I can beat my time next year, I expect.

3H25 for me too. Crossed the line with Mr Imperial. Happy enough with my time, though feel like I really should be doing better! It is a very friendly and well run event. Well done to Mr Brook and his helpers for organising it all. On a slight side note, my Mrs drove past one of the road crossings and was impressed at how well signed and marshalled it was in respect of the cars. I’m geussing that’s not the kind of feedback the organisers normally get, but felt it worth passing on.

2hrs 52mins for me. Was aiming for 2hrs 45mins which I reckon was doable without the wind. As has been said an excellent event.

3hrs 26mins for me.I got a pinch flat half a mile before the finish line and i had to push my bike to the finish, because i thought it would be quicker than fixing a flat.The event was good but i must do more hill training to try and improve on the time.

‘slowest so far award’ goes to me then.

3:56 (including a butty stop) – enjoyed it a lot but that last climb was hard.

The Orange 5 was a bit overkill, might go for a hard tail next year.

I can beat that, Bill, 4.04. I didn’t enjoy it.

The finish times are now on the website for those that are interested.

Many thanks to all the riders, your continued support makes all our efforts worthwhile.

See ya next May – and bring a mate too!!

Deffo doing this next year, as the route passes very near my new house.
I’ve spent the last couple of years looking out of the windows of a self build with envy.