Seen some adverts for this, anyone entered?

Mad69er

I’m really tempted as it is supposed to be using some of the better routes round the Western Cotswolds (Gloucester/Cheltenham/Stroud), so while like HONC it’ll be more trails less tarmac.

You can never have too much knowledge of trails.

🙂

if by better you mean shorter and more expensive then yes 😉

a bit more like HOTS than HONC

Job – True, but it’s not that expensive, I’ve always felt HONC was a bargain and most of HONC is on road or fireroads.

HOTS??

The guy organising it is a founder member of the local Bigfoot Mountain Bike Club and the route is going to be far more technical off-road than HONC

EDIT : Not technical in a ‘World Cup DH track’ sense mind, just great natural woodsy singletrack type stuff

60p a mile is quite a lot really

Heaven Of The South , great little event , in its 3rd year and very well organised . The isotonic cider helps 😀

Wilko – I agree – should be awesome.

just to be clear, this is totally legit and the trails do have landowner permission where applicable don’t they?????

Alot of the best riding is, how to put it, questionable from an access point of view.

Well its been organised with the affiliation of both Bigfoot and Cheltenham Cycling club who were both instrumental in getting the agreement with Natural England about which trails we could legally ride.

Also the main guy organising it owns Slam 69 in Gloucester, and I can’t imagine as a local business owner and active member of the local cycling community that he would risk any of the good work done by incorporating any of the sensitive stuff.

I just have vague memories of KISS and the agro that arose about the course being built up by the pub a few years ago.

Also i do have concerns depending on the trails, about them getting trashed if they are wet. Cranham can get into a mess because of riders not staying off when it is wet.

Mo – It’ll be August – if the weather continues I doubt it’ll damage the trails.

HONC is always over subscribed and we have some amazing riding in this part of the world so seems a shame we don’t have more events like this.

if the weather continues I doubt it’ll damage the trails.

IF….

this is the UK afterall….

True…

Overall I think it’ll be a good event.

Just noticed this, I’ve already entered and had a few chats with the guys running this, its all run on legal routes; not in Cranham as it would jeopardise the routes that the chaps sorted. Its 69k of all types of trail and apparently has 3 stream crossing. There’s talk of a charity involvement now also, think its Winstons Wish but needs confirming.
Can’t wait to find out the route as its under raps.
Must say Mr Mo, you are very negative. Me, i love to ride this sort of event so if someones takes the time to organise one I’m up for backing them, and enjoying the ride. See you on the start line. 😀

650, not being negative, as said have memories of KISS, and when people start mentioning woodsy singletrack and Cranham i get twitchy.

Hope it is fun. will be on the holiday that weekend otherwise i might have been interested, assuming i could get the mtb fixed…

Hi fellow mountain bikers, one half of mean and dirty events here and the organiser of the MaD69er. just wanted to put the record straight although i think 650b has beaten me to it. First of all our aim is to offer a well run and organised mountain bike event to our area. Both myself and my partner are long time mountain bikers and have worked for years to improve mtb riding in Gloucestershire. With this in mind we have spent 6 months making sure the route is legal, and takes into account the weather and any sensitive areas. (I along with Bigfoot and Cheltenham CC spent many an hour working to secure the trails in Cranham so have no desire to put this in jeopardy)
Our plan is to make this an annual event much like the HONC so we need to do things right. The route is more offroad than the HONC and will include a good mix of trails. we’ve ridden plenty of events so have an idea of what we all love so ride. Hopefully you’ll see this when you take part. Lastly i hope this hasn’t broken any forum rules but felt the thread was getting the wrong idea. lots more info on our site. Oh we also have a charity involved now, Winstons Wish, which is great.