If not, you missed out. It was bloody excellent. Definitely the best event of the year so far. Highlights for me included:

almost endless singletrack
Brilliant variation in the course (had a bit of everything for everyone)
Beautiful setting
SUNSHINE 😀
Dry, dusty trails
excellent, friendly vibe
free energy bars (I came home with 59 – 😯 )
well organised
Digital timing
Some warning from the photographer’s mate about a flash about to go off when it was dark
more singletrack

Our team (Trail Snails) came 13th, so pretty happy with that.
Anyone know where the photos will be?

I can only echo what you have said, superb event, really good course with great singletrack.

http://www.photo-it.com were taking the pix, their site says they’ll have stuff up later today.

Yes it was a fantastic course, really tough event but loads of lovely flowing singletrack descents. And the weather was perfect, some beautiful misty, daybreak views over the plain – breathtaking!

My only criticism would be the chaotic solo pit – they got it right last year but this year the layout was all wrong, with virtually no frontage on the course, and made worse by lack of marshalling of cars before the event. A bit odd as there was plenty of suitable space a hundred metres or so round the course!

Didn’t spoil it though as the Mule Bar guys let me stash my stuff in their enclosure – and well done guys for providing an endless supply of free bars to all competitors – although I won’t be wanting to eat any more energy bars for a good few days :-p

Yep I was there, winner of the Male Pairs with a nice Charge frame to add to my collect

Also did the event last year and again was one of the best events in 2008.

I really can’t work out how come this event is not more popluar. Great venue, great prizes, brilliant singletrack and really friendly atmosphere amongst all the riders.

So come on guys mark this event down in your 2010 calender, trust me you’ll enjoy it.

it was rockin’! The last event of a similar length i did was cheddar, which cost me twice as much (with camping), lasted 2 hours less and was literally 10 times more crowded. 230 riders (many in teams/pairs) spread out over a fast course = bags of room!
And yes it is probably a bit hairy if it is wet but last night it was an absolute hoot. Big respect to the trail pixies there, the singletrack was hilarious.

Oh and the dj played kraftwerk at one point. Ausgezeichnet!

Sponging-Machine, you pipped us to 13th! I was in Bertie Maffoons.

Course was the best xc singletrack riding I’ve done in the UK and that includes trail centres. It was just awesome – so many trails that it was enough to settle into a rhythm and get to enjoy it. At first the long climb out onto the plain on the first lap was a killer, but after a while it became the recovery part of the ride. The hardest part was that little bit of chalky climb above the campsite that climbed out to the road, but it was good to break up the groups of riders coming in off the long flat bit.

Only critism: Mule Bar’s PA pumping music so loud that people 5 miles away were complaining. It might be an all-night race, but a bit of quiet time is appreciated. That said, the music was pretty good!

I thought the fairly small number of racers added to the quality of the event. I’m not sure that doubling it next year is such a good idea. More people = more bottlenecks = slower ride. There was enough space that almost all the way round you could keep up a good pace, and everyone on the course had a really positive approach to moving out the way if you were coming through because it only happened probably one or two times per lap.

So yeah, well done Spam Biking.

It was a great race. Did not like the first lap as I started too fast and was struggling by 4kms in and I had not pre-ridden the course so did not know what to expect. The following three laps were excellent with some outstanding singletrack which just got better as it went along. The other great thing was that it was all rideable although I was asking myself some serious questions on the chalk to wood to tarmac climb!! I will be back next year.

Dogsby

Photo’s are online now!! Photo-it

As part of the Organising team and a rider of the event I would like to thank all involved with this event, it was grrrrrrreat. Stunning weather, stunning course and a really friendly atmosphere on and off the course.

Thanks to all for the positive comments, it will be back next year and hopefully so will the sunshine!!!

everyone on the course had a really positive approach to moving out the way if you were coming through because it only happened probably one or two times per lap.

agreed! I found plenty of places to get off the singletrack in time for faster riders and I found the new-to-me experience of actually overtaking people on downhills equally straightforward. If it is only the second best cours I have ever ridden, it definitely had the best atmosphere on the trails themselves in terms of chat and suport to-from other racers.

I realy look forward to next year’s.

It was an excellent event, almost mini festival feel to it. The course was fantastic, and I will be back next year. The sunset from the very top of the course was fantastic, and I agree about the toughest bit being the wee chalk climb above the camp site.
The singletrack through any of the wooded sections was amazing!

What an amazing event , perfect weather, great course and friendly riders!! The view from the top first thing this morning was stunning.

Well done to all , esp the army team who we had a right ding dong with !!!

After 12 hours of racing, going for a surf this afternoon was a really bad idea. Still, Steak, couscous and salad prepared by my beautiful wife is a perfect end to a bang-on weekend.

Many thanks to Spam Biking. See you next year.

flickr pics

best mtb evemnt ever! I wouldn’t mind more people on the course – it’s always good to chat, as long as the gentlemanly behaviour of moving over for the faster guys remains.

I keep on having happy flashbacks of the last bits of single track – I think the cleverest thing about the course design was to have that awesome, long, fun singletrack section at the end – I came off every single lap looking forward to my next one, which also gives the next guy a bit of a boost when their team mate comes off a lap with a big grin! (as opposed to mayhem when people come off wide eyed with a thousand mile stare, though this might have something to do with the traditional mud bath!)

bloody brilliant, roll on next year – next qweeks bike radar has got a lot to live up to!

also part of the snails team.

the event was easily the best ive taken part in, and even better then last years 24/12 at newnham i thought.

the course was very good indeed and as matey said up there ^^ i finished my laps forgetting the pain and grinning from ear to ear on the final singletrack,

rich you beat me on the mule bar challenge i was around 45ish..!

good vibe also, whereas the cheddar challenge i thought there were far too many people taking it too seriously and not a lot of smiles about, on the trail both overtaking and being overtaken =was a friendly exchange of ‘P’s & Q’s’ not being barked at from 20m away by some turd without manners, this all contributed to the friendly vibe IMO and made the best event so far.

bring on margam park next weekend….

oh and well done spam boys top event.

Hey Jimbo, couldn’t agree more about the last bit of singletrack. Good to meet you and the rest of the Surgery guys. I’ll post pics up later today when I can drag my arse out of bed…

Great event, great riding and great weather even though I was unable to ride, but stayed up and watched all night, Well Done SPAM cheers from the ARMY.

With the ARMY Cycling Union entering 3 teams at this years Set2Rise, it was sure to be a good one for all who took part. The Team event was hotly contested from the off, with Adam Morris getting the whole shot on the start for the ‘A’ team, setting off fast and furious, this was to be the tail to tell for the next 12 Hours.

The racing snakes set off at a furious pace as the Mad Soloists were taking it easy at the back, apart from Charge Bikes, who charged from the off. All eyes where on the Army and Mulebar in the Team event, with both putting in strong teams to try and take the glory.

Lap 1 set the scene for a nail biting tactic changing event through the night, with Army ‘A’ and Mulebar swapping the No 1 spot on every lap, it was exciting stuff at the team change-over pen, with the Mulebar and the Army supporters waiting in anticipation to see who came out on top at each lap. At times neck and neck, elbow to elbow.

With the later laps through the night seeming to be the most competative with riders coming back from a lap shattered, swapping positions throughout the laps, both teams just did not know who would or want to break first. But it was Mule bar who made the break on the pen-ultimate lap, coming in with a massive 6 mins lead!! The Army ‘A’ just could not claw back the time, So Mulebar pipped the ‘A’ Team to the podium No 1 spot.

Also the ‘B’ Team were slogging it out all night with Banjo Cycles, swapping places in the early stages but took control later on, not forgetting ‘C’ Team who were having thier own battle in the middle of the field.

Well done to the Team Captains: ‘A’ Team James Cooper, ‘B’ Team Brendan Kay and ‘C’ Team Jamie Baxter, overall all a great result for the Army with two Podiums places.

We would like to thank our generous sponsors, Generation Sports & Cylcles, Mulebar and For Goodness Shakes.

See you at Are You Tough Enough

Yep, great event as everybody has said. Thanks to Spam and the many marshals, helpers, organizers, sponsors etc. Too many to list and if I missed anybody out it would be an injustice. Well Team Strudel. There were some heroic riders out there.

G

Nice one pauly – great to meet you too, I’ll keep an eye out for those pics! Mine aren’t the greatest but i really didn’t have my photo head on while we were racing!

I had a blast… we came 7th which was nice! Really enjoyed the track, it had some super fast sections of single track, that on 2.0 tires was pretty sketchy 😯 loved the last section after the top field with the tail wind. Dropping into that single track was like a reward for entering 😀 shame its on MOD land, cos i would really like to go back and ride it again and again…. Great work! See you all next year.