Mike reports from last weekend’s round of the MTB Marathon Series in Selkirk:
4 down, ONLY 1 to go. The Chain Reaction Cycles MTB Marathon Series powered by Mercedes-Benz Vito Sport 2010 is slowly coming to an end but the events are still going from strength to strength. More than 1200 riders made their way to the surprisingly weather blessed Selkirk event. After rather wet conditions in 2008 the Selkirk courses enjoyed almost perfect conditions giving the Selkirk event a real feeling of summer riding. The weather leading up to the event was mixed but luckily the weather resistant courses put together by Pete Laing weren’t affected at all giving the riders the chance to really enjoy the challenging sections Pete had added to the already much loved Selkirk courses. Luckily, bar some showers during the last 30 minutes of Sunday the weather stayed fair and sunny making the event a real success.
On Saturday afternoon the mountain bikers started to descend onto the event village in Selkirk. More than 800 riders lined up ignoring the less promising weather forecast that a rather wet and unstable day would lie ahead. And luckily for everyone the weather prognosis was wrong with the rain holding off for almost the entire day only with the rain coming in for the last 15-20 
riders. Following feedback from the last couple of years course designer Pete Laing changed a few of the key sections as well as adding some more fantastic singletrack to the menu. The T-shirt crew at the Rugby Club were greeted with a long line of big smiles and grins on people’s faces telling us that Pete had once more done a great job. One of the most impressed riders was marathon regular and multiple national XC and marathon champion Nick Craig who gave the event and the course in particular the thumbs up calling it ‘the best MTB marathon ever’.
The sunshine and the finish line setup encouraged lots of people to stay for a while and to enjoy a cold drink while watching the riders come over the line. The first rider on the Mini Marathon made it over the line in just over an hour while the last rider on the 88km long full marathon took 8hours and 18min to complete the challenging course.
The final round of the MTB Marathon Series will head to Ruthin for the 18-19th September. For further details of the last marathon of the 2010 series please head to the website HERE or go directly to the entry page HERE to secure your entry.
Photos and website updates
Our event photographer Jon Brooke and his colleagues were again on site as well as on course taking pictures of pretty much everybody. So just go onto Jon’s website HERE to find your photos there to view or buy.
