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NEWS... |
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03.08.10 Selkirk event report HERE>> |
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28.07.10 Selkirk Event News HERE>> |
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06.07.10 Grassington event report HERE>> |
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30.06.10 News update before the Yorkshire round HERE>> |
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24.06.10 IMPORTANT NEWS from the Grassington Round HERE>> |
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25.05.10 News and Photos from the Builth Marathon HERE>> |
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21.05.10 News from the Builth event showground HERE>> |
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19.05.10 Only a couple of days before the Builth event, latest HERE>> |
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26.04.10 Youtube videos and more from the first event HERE>> |
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19.04.10 News report from the first of this years Marathons HERE>> |
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09.04.10 News from the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells...HERE>> |
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06.04.10 Only a couple of days to go before the first event of 2010 - latest event news HERE>> |
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26.03.10 Only a couple of weeks to go before the 1st event of the 2010 season will kick off at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells...HERE>> |
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15.03.10 Temperatures are still low but there is no denying that spring is trying its best to break through. And with spring approaching the 1st round of the Chain Reaction Cycles MTB Marathon Series powered by Mercedes-Benz Vito Sport can’t be far away. In fact we are talking only four weeks from now. HERE>> |
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10.02.10 For 2010 the Chain Reaction Cycles MTB Marathon Series is being supported by Mercedes-Benz and the Mercedes-Benz Vito Sport van. This versatile vehicle delivers on style without compromising practicality. The Vito Sport will be on site at the event, showing off its assets and why it’s got the mountain bikers’ seal of approval.HERE>> |
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2009 News HERE>> |
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2008 News HERE>> |
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2004 |
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Selkirk Event Review
Pure and simple, the first ever Selkirk round of the Merida 100s is
set to go down in history as the event of last year’s series.
Long-standing mountain bike personalities praised it as the best course
they’d ever ridden, magazine’s heaped cult status upon
it, and the feedback from the riders has been overwhelming: “The
riding at Selkirk was truly superb,” enthused Jim. “I’m
grateful you boys had the bollocks to come North...”
Taking the bold move to take the series into pastures new by transplanting
the Merida 100 from its natural home of Wales to Scotland, Mike and
John enlisted the highly qualified help of Scotland’s 7Stanes
maestro, Pete Laing. “We were really excited to have such a
big event in Selkirk and to be able to show off the trails and the
riding we’ve got here,” said Pete, “and for us it
was an ideal opportunity to bring a big event into the area.”
Pete’s been responsible for many of the Tweed Valley’s
most high profile trails: the Helly Hansen V Trail at Glentress chief
among them, and his expertise was central to the success of Selkirk
in 2004.
With 1,700m of leg shredding climbing and the same amount of descending,
the course was a Mother with a capital ‘M’ and showcased
the very reason that Scotland’s trails have been voted by IMBA
(International Mountain Bike Association) members as amongst the very
best trails in the world. Scotland came in at number five in the prestigious
IMBA list, behind such legendary spots as Utah, Idaho, British Columbia
and Colorado. Couple the course with the rock-solid organisation of
the Merida 100 team and you’ve got one of the very best events
going, produced by riders for riders that beats some of the biggest
international events out there: “Your team easily matches the
German efficiency of the Trans Rockies and Trans Alps organisation.,”
said Jim in an e-mail to Merida 100 Towers.
What Mountain Bike said that the event “was one of those ‘races’
that, one day, people will recall and say, ‘I was there.’
Course designer Pete Laing packed all of his Glentress and 7Stanes
experience and a good helping of deviant sadism into the course. It
linked established singletrack with freshly cut technical twisties
and hair pinned alpine drags for over 1,600m of climbing and descending.
Grinding climbs dropped you deeper into the pits of despair with every
downshift, only to be buoyed back up with
seemingly endless sweeping and sliding technical downhills that split
your face wide open with laughter...”
Gary Tompsett, a high profile adventure racer and course designer
of the Rat Race said on finishing that “I have been riding bikes
for more or less 20 years but that was the best course I’ve
ever ridden.” But he’s not alone in his praise: respected
mountain bike journo Guy Kesteven agreed that Selkirk was “one
of the best courses I have ever been on.” And USE’s evergreen
Rory Hitchens said that, “this was one of the best days mountain
biking I had for years!” But for all this praise the Selkirk
course was a damn tough trial, proving that nothing good ever comes
easily but if you persevere and take on the challenge then the rewards
are more than equal to the effort. “I have been to all the other
events,” Andy Hodgson told Mike, “and this is by far the
best, most enjoyable but also the toughest course. The climbs were
monstrous and the downhills were classics.”
For 2005, Selkirk is expected to be the round of the series. Be there
to make sure you get your fix of some of the most hardcore mountain
bike riding in Britain, courtesy of the Merida 100 team.
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2004 |
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