Michael from Merida writes…
We have just returned from the 2nd round of the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series 2009 which was hosted at the new location of the Glanusk Estate in Crickhowell giving all that took part four never before used courses. The weather turned the already challenging trails into an extra tough ride but that didn’t stop almost 900 riders entering the event.
2nd round of the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series – Crickhowell on the 17th May 2009
John has been looking at the area surrounding Crickhowell which sits between the softly rounded Black Mountains and the dramatic Brecon Beacons for some time and this year he finally managed to include this fantastic location into the series. With the weather offering everything in between warm sunny spells and rain all day on Saturday and even added hail storms to the line-up on Sunday the riders had a real challenge on their hands.
The 10am start on Sunday morning was as always a mass start affair which took the rider through the beautiful Glanusk estate, followed by promenading through Crickhowell before heading up into the hills. The 1st rider on the 35km long mini marathon came over the line in just over two hours while the last riders on the full (80km) marathon made it back into the event village at 6.14pm after 8 hours and 14 minutes on the trails.
Even with the heavy downpours the courses held up pretty well giving us confidence that Crickhowell is going to stay in the series for years to come.
With the 2nd event now being ‘done and dusted’ our attention goes towards the next new location in the series and the first round of the Gore Bike Wear Powered by Road CC Sportive Series 2009 – Llanwrtyd Wells. So if you enjoyed what John put together in Crickhowell wait till you get to Llanwrtyd Wells…it is amazing!
Watch the action and the scenery on MTB-Marathon.co.uk
For the 1st time we have real ‘moving’ footage from out on the trail. Alan Dupre rode more or less the entire event with a handlebar cam and put a nice 10minute clip together. Check it out on our news pages: http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/home/news1.php#200910.
The next round of the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series – Llanwrtyd Wells 5th July 2009
Llanwrtyd Wells is the place where John Lloyd got introduced to mountain biking and where he spend the first few years of his riding career. The area is littered with natural and purpose built trails and will offer something challenging and enjoyable to riders of all abilities. As always we will have four courses on offer starting with the Mini Marathon (approx. 26km with 950m of climbing), followed by the Half Marathon (approx. 50km with 1950m of climbing) and the Middle Marathon (approx. 70km with 2600m of climbing) all the way to Full Marathon (approx. 80km with 2750m of climbing).
You can find all the details including further course details on the Llanwrtyd Wells mountain bike rides on our event page: http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/llanwrtyd_wells.php. To secure your entry for the mountain bike marathon please go to the entry page: http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/entry_forms/entry_forms.php.
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my first enduro, and i rode the 80k. the gloopiest trails i have ever ridden (due to the rain and number of riders). on any other day i would have short-cutted home but had to see what the full experience was like. a hard day on the bike but i’ll be back next month….
Thats my brothers Vimeo vid he took on the day with a £99 GoPro camera. BAr mounted so its abit wobbly, we reckon the shoulder strap of a camalbak is possibly a better mounting point.