News in from the Kona Mash-Up team:
Now into it’s third season, the first round of the Kona Mash-Up powered by Mercedes Benz Vito Sport is only a couple of weeks away and will open its doors at the Glyncorrwg MTB Centre, Afan Forest on the 12th June.
The Mash-Up concept combines timed and un-timed stages on the best sections of the White’s Level and the July trail, so you only race on the fun bits and just ride at your own leisurely speed in between.
Some of the sections have sophisticated electronic timing while other sections are timed manually but the famous Black Run that starts at the top of the climb will have live fibre optic timing. In summary it’s your accumulated time that determins your position within the overall event as well as within the particular stage.
At the 1st event of the season we will have two categories to chose from – Enduro or Technical.
In the Enduro you will ride around 40km of mixed downhill, trail riding and cross-country. You will be timed on the parts of the climbs, single-track and downhill sections at both locations. You will be timed on a total of 5 sections (not including the live timed DH run).
In the Technical you will ride all sections of the course but your time will only be taken on special single track and the downhill sections. You will still ride (or push!) up the climbs, but that time will not be included in your result, so you can take your time! You will be timed on three sections including the live timed DH run (live through fibre optic cable and wireless connection).
There will be prizes for the over all winner in each category as well as for every timed section – so lots of stuff to be won.
The Kona Bikes guys will be on hand at the event with the new Abra Cadabra Magic Link bikes and they will be available for riders to test from the top event village, so bring your credit card to leave as a deposit if you want a ride.
Entry is now open and all categories are still available. Please go to the entry form page on the Kona Mash-Up website. Entries are limited to a maximum of 300 – to avoid ‘traffic jams’. Day entries will be available but will have a £ 5 day entry surcharge added to the entry. So save yourself some money and enter now!
As at all our events there is camping available and you will find ample facilities plus Skyline Cycles will be on hand to help with any mechanical issues. The details for the event with further explanations, directions to the venue, time tables, course details, FAQ’s, downloadable entry form and our new online entry can be found on the event website http://www.konamashup.co.uk.
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I did this once and wouldn’t waste £30 + parking + camping to do it again.
The manual timing marshals went home half way through the day, so that was two sections out.
The electronic timing is unreliable, so the final results are meaningless.
It’s not just me, check the threads on the forum.
Each to their own – I went last year and had good fun getting over-competitive with my mates and trying to ride sections of trail at race speed rather than cruising them. I reckon the format has loads of potential to divine the best all-round biker, not just the bravest downhill or fastest up.
Yup, I decided to give them a 2nd chance after they mucked up the timing the first time they ran the event.
Only took about two weeks and a few dozen emails for us to work out what my final times were for the second event, so, err, no, I don’t think so.
Agreed that the event has lots of potential but until they can get the timing right it makes the whole format rather redundant…