The Big Welsh Weekend

From Joolze Dymond:

On the 29th & 30th of May the British Mountain Bike Demo series underlines what promises to be an excellent weekend of mountain bike fun. This time some of the UK’s biggest bike brands – Specialized, Trek, Giant, Santa Cruz, Genesis, Yeti and Merida – will head to the green, green, grass of South Wales to temporarily set up home in the spacious grounds of Margam Park so head over on Saturday to get your hands on some test bikes.While you’re there you could also watch the country’s finest cross country riders get stuck into the 3rd round of the British cross country Series. Watch home grown talent such as Lee Williams and Lily Matthews clash horns with their rivals as they go for gold.

If you fancy having a go yourself head on over to www.britishxc.co.uk and get yourself entered in the open race, while you’re there have a look at the demo page to see what you fancy test riding from the comprehensive list of bikes that will be available.

Stay around Saturday evening and you could watch as a number of teams ride the explosive Team Relay. A short burst of frenetic racing, which gets the spectators cheering as the riders hurtle round a short course in a giant game of tag! If this sounds appealing then you can pop your name down at registration and have a go yourself, a chance to test your fitness against some of the UK’s best riders. Even the kids can get in on the action with a free under 12’s race on offer. For riders entered in Sunday’s marathon there is even the chance of a warm up as we host some guided rides to warm the legs up.

In the evening you can also soak up some tunes from our live band Amber Avenue and Quaver Catering will be on hand offer refreshments and hot meals ready for you to fuel up for the next day including pasta and garlic bread for £1.

On Sunday you have the chance to ride the Big Welsh Weekend marathon, a veritable romp in the hills surrounding the Margam estate, riding trails not usually available. Choose between 1, 2 or 3 laps of the 25km course.

Specialized will be running a number of rides for women only, led by experienced guide and skills coach Maddie Horton, a top 10 Elite racer and a perfect chance to if you have any questions about riding, racing or training answered. She’ll be taking you ladies out at 10am, 12pm and 2pm. Don’t worry, it certainly wont be at race pace and you will have the chance to learn a few skills along the way!

Giant rider Oli Beckingsale will also be taking out two rides from the Giant stand, one at 11am and the other at 1pm. This is your chance to talk to and ask skills questions to one of the UK’s best pro riders as you take in some of the stunning trails that Margam has to offer.

All in all it’s shaping up to be a weekend to remember, camping is free, the demo’s are free, all you need is two forms of ID and a passion to ride, so what you waiting for? Come on down and join in the fun!

Visit www.britishxc.com for all the details of the weekend and the bikes you could be trying out.