The Scottish Borders will once again host the British Mountain Bike Championships when the races return to Selkirk on May 10th. Held at Selkirk Leisure Centre, the Championships will run concurrently with the Selkirk MTB Marathon.
The British MTB Championships are sure to attract the country’s best racers, but the races are open to any male or female British citizens of at least 19 years of age who hold a full British Cycling or UCI-recognised license. For mountain bikers wishing to not race against the best, the Selkirk MTB Marathon welcomes everyone else to a more festive ride on one of three marked courses with distances of 25km, 50km and 80km.
The Championship course is 80km, and was designed by local trail builder, Pete Laing. Word is out that he’s added some timed enduro sections to keep things interesting. A British Cycling Spokesman said, “The Scottish Borders have some excellent trails, and it’s one of the few areas in Britain that can provide a course over a single loop. We had other applications which were considered but the Selkirk bid was considered to offer the best combination of date, proven course and established event infrastructure.”
“We’re really excited to have been asked to again organise the British Championships alongside the popular Selkirk Mountain Bike Marathon. We believe we have the best trails the Scottish Borders has to offer and the most popular and challenging course in the UK. We aim to provide an achievable challenge for riders of every ability in fantastic surroundings with a lot of fun thrown in as well,” elaborates organizer Paul McGreal of Durty Events.
In addition to including the Championships as part of the overall Selkirk MTB Marathon experience, an effort has been made to create a fun and celebratory atmosphere around the race and marathon for everyone. McGreal tells us there are plans to close High Street in Selkirk on Friday evening to make room for a pump track, bicycle stunt shows, roller racing and some bike films. McGreal also plans to offer a round of the Scottish MTB Orienteering series on Sunday after the race.
More information on the 2014 British MTB Championships can be found here, while you can enlighten yourself with Selkirk MTB Marathon information here.
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It’s the Marathon Champs specifically, rather than the MTB champs – the XC ones being in Hopton.