Britain’s Toughest MTB Challenge Begins This Weekend

The Gore Bike Wear TransWales, sponsored by Mercerdes-Benz Vito Sport is a world-class seven day point-to-point mountain bike challenge that begins this weekend and runs through a full seven days and 487km (302.6miles) around the wilds of Wales .

Born as a way to create an epic mountain bike bike point-to-point event in Wales - where, as in England, archaic right of way laws prohibit bike racing on public bridlepaths - the TransWales mixes seven daily non-competitive marathon linking stages, together with a selection of special stages on the cream of Wales' purpose built trails for singletrack speed shakes: Cwmrhaedr, the Cli-Machx trail, and Nant y Arian.

Image - Russell Burton

The massed riders will descend on the Penmaenau Farm in Builth Wells, Wales on Saturday in preparation for the big off early on Sunday. The first stage will take the riders 58km and 1810m of climbing and descending to Knighton, including the first special stage of the event. Riders will be competing for the overall honours in mixed or same sex pairs, or soloists in their respective categories: the Schwalbe Tyres Solo, Squirts Lubes Veteran Solo, the Merida Bikes Male Pairs, the Alpina Helmets Veteran Pairs, the Buff Headwear Female Pairs, or the Birzman Mixed Pairs categories. Further support for the event is also being provided by High5 (sports nutrition), Exposure Lights (night stage lighting support), and Saris racks.

Image - Matt Skinner

As in 2009, for this year's TransWales, all the special stages see the racers tackling rally-style time trials in pairs and in relay during the day or at night in the form of the Exposure Lights Diablo night time special stage; these special stages are blended into the linking stages themselves - either at the beginning, during, or at the end. As one rider wrote after last year's event, "The combination of relaxed linking stages and the eyeballs out special stages combine to provide an unforgettable experience."

Image - Jon Brooke

But unlike last year the organisers, Mike Wilkens and John Lloyd - the pairing responsible for Britain's most high profile mountain bike marathon series, the Chain Reaction Cycles MTB Marathon Series, have fine-tuned the format still further.

The TransWales, is all about finding the single best overall rider in each category, so for 2010 there will be specific hill climb, downhill and general trail-riding special stages to truly find the strongest all-round rider.

For the first time ever there is also the option for riders to enter the Mini Trans Wales, three and four day options for time-crunched riders looking to experience the wilds of Wales in the saddle but without dedicating an entire week to the task. Full details and entry details can be found on the http://www.mtbtransuk.co.uk/ website.

Daily reports and pictures of each days' stage will be delivered live for the duration of the event:

On Twitter: (www.twitter.com/TransWales2010)

and Facebook: (www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=45781482362). 

You can also catch up with all the action on:

 http://www.mtbtransuk.co.uk/ and http://www.gorebikewear.com/