Have a look at this vid and word below from the organisers:

‘ARD ROCK ENDURO – THE UK’S PREMIER NATURAL ENDURO AND ALL MOUNTAIN SPORTIVE 

- June 29th & 30th 2013, Swaledale, North Yorkshire

Combined mountain bike Enduro and All-Mountain sportive in the stunning Yorkshire Dales National Park. Our exclusive route takes in 100% natural rocky descents incorporated into a big day out in the Dales. We obtained one-off access to private land, which means ‘Ard Rock Enduro can take in gnarly, rock strewn terrain only rideable in our event. Our chip timing system is provided by industry leaders SportIdent.

Expect plenty of rough and ready terrain – no groomed trails here.

There will also be camping, a BBQ, beer and fantastic spot prizes from event sponsors Santa Cruz, Hope and Mavic. All entries before Monday 10^th June are automatically entered into a prize draw for a £600 set of Mavic Crossmax ST wheels.

www.ardrockenduro.co.uk

@ardrockenduro

Dales Bike Centre – supporting the event along with a host of other sponsors. There will be a BBQ and plenty of beers here.

There are still riders finishing the final stage of the race but at this point none of them will be able to challenge at the top end of the results sheet.

Click over to the Superenduro (organisers of this round of the World Series) website for full results.

Anne-Caroline Chausson unfortunately had a big crash early in the day and is in hospital with one or two broken ribs, get well soon to her. On a lighter crash-related note, Britain’s Josh Bryceland had one of the strangest of the day on the first stage as he crashed over the bars and in the process lost a shoe in the bushes… Don’t you hate it when that happens?

It was exciting stuff watching some of the world’s most talented and proven mountain bikers battle it out with relative unknowns such as Martin Maes (who finished fourth overall and he’s still at school!) and more interestingly to see some of the sport’s big names suffer somewhat in a discipline which is unknown to them. Steve Peat was unfortunately one of those riders as was 10xWorld Champion Nicolas Vouilloz, both finishing outside the top 15.

We’ll have a full report later and a rider’s report coming this week so stay tuned.

Take a ride through the streets with Kona’s Alex Stock from yesterday’s prologue:

Seeing the pedal to the metal style of the full-time enduro racers, particularly Jerome Clementz and Alex Lupato, was not only inspiring but also an insight to their intentions on race day. Nicolas Vouilloz showed his almost scientific approach to downhill racing (which won him 10 world titles) as he was adjusting his forks mid-run. Fabien Barel proved his all-round prowess as he finished in runners-up spot and flamboyant Cedric Gracia scorched the hill to round off the podium, both are likely to be finishing near the top of the results sheet today.

Anne-Caroline Chausson took the women’s prologue and expect to see her at the top of not only her category but also the overall results today.
Photo © Superenduro

As a final note before we go chasing the riders around the four stages today, it’s worth mentioning that Steve Peat and Nicolas Vouilloz will spend the whole day (the race will take around 5 hours) riding together as they are seeded together…

UCI World Cup XC 2013 kicked off last night with the Eliminator race in Albstadt, Germany. Stay tuned for the main race on Sunday over on RedBullBike.
Photo © Sven Martin

Red Bull’s live racing coverage of XC World Cup round 1 starts at precisely 10.18 on Sunday 19 May.

If you want to fast-track to the results, click over to the UCI’s round-up of the racing here.

Map of the trails for the opening Enduro World Series event in Punta Ala, Italy.

Manufacturers, multiple world champions, downhillers, cross country racers – they’ll all be there. The event is part of the Italian Superenduro race series (as each event in the EWS is also part of an existing series), which has helped no end with lifting the stage race discipline into the limelight since the series’ inception only a handful of years ago.

Anne Caloline Chausson with Superenduro organiser Enrico Guala.

This is not going to be an easy event by any means, as 19 time MTB World Champion and Olympic BMX Champion Anne Caroline Chausson puts it, “This race will be particularly demanding, the transfers are long with little time available, this will favour those who are in better shape.”

Read our interview with event host Thomas Daddi here.

The five timed stages will be long and varied and the transfers between them will not leave a huge amount of breathing space for mechanical issues or slacking on the long uphills as we found out when we interviewed the event host Thomas Daddi recently. You can read his thoughts and how he has worked on making this the right level here.

Last year’s Superenduro event from Punta Ala.

The event program consists of one ‘prologue’ stage on Saturday, which is basically a showcase downtown event through the nearby town of Castiglione della Pescaia, and then five stages on Sunday with a total distance of 65km, 1780m of climbing and taking an estimated six hours for the entire day’s racing. Full details and stats can be found on the Superenduro page.

Details of the event timetable.. More can be found on the Superenduro website.

For us, the most interesting aspect of this and the rest of the Enduro World Series is that many of the sport’s top riders from all manner of disciplines are signed up and clearly taking it very seriously (as are their sponsors). Steve Peat is one example and he is signed up to almost the entire series and with his contract at Santa Cruz recently renewed for multiple years we suspect that enduro glory is in his sights. We’ve even heard that he’s stopped boozing!

Have a look at the Teams page on the World Series site to see who’s racing.

Anne Caro testing the water. But how many of the big names racing here have done one of these events before? There could be some surprises coming this weekend.

However, the interesting point is that many of the top pro riders who are taking this very seriously don’t seem to have a great deal of experience of the events or the racing format. The first Superenduro several weeks ago would have been a great testing ground for these riders but the top end of the start list was not hugely different to a regular Superenduro. Olympian and 4X Champ Jared Graves for example has been racing both DH and XC at home in Australia and talking of a full enduro season, but will he be in for a surprise at Punta Ala?

Jerome Clementz talks with organiser Enrico Guala about the coming season for the discipline, the sport and the riders taking part.

Is your money on the ‘regular’ enduro faces of Jerome Clementz, Andrea Bruno and Remy Absalon or will the race be dominated by the undeniable talents of the downhill World Cup stars? We’ve got a funny feeling that Peaty might pull one out the bag…

We’ll be at the event this weekend the 18/19 May with blow-by-blow coverage so stay tuned for more.

www.enduroworldseries.com

So the 29^th  Hell of the North Cotswolds, or HONC, event took place on Sunday 14^th April. Spring had sprung, well sprung a leak, but at least the temperatures were up from the freezing conditions that we have had for most of 2013. A few days of heavy rain preceding the event had done their work to create a major headache for the event organisers. The problem of finding suitable trails for 1000+ riders to actually ride (and not just totally destroy their drive-trains) needed to be addressed, and so with a few last minute diversions, and everybody trusting the signage, people were ready to go. 

Plenty of entrants at the 2013 HONC.

The HONC is a massed start event, and at 9am (or possibly 8.55 as it seemed to take some riders by surprise!) we set off. It made for a nice start to ride through the beautiful Cotswold town of Winchcombe, with police holding traffic and people waving. The pace at the back of the mass was relaxed, with a general acceptance that due to the massive amounts of mud that were expected, this ride was going to be more of an exercise in damage-limitation than vigorous competition.

The extended road section out from town took us along the B4632, then off onto a minor road and past the ruined remains of Hailes Abbey, leading into a good steady climb up a stone topped track. Here there were signs of water damage but no mud yet, although unfortunately the press of riders stopping, starting, walking and general lack of momentum and line choice made this climb pretty slow. Probably the guys at the front easily cleaned it, but for most it was a walk.

The paved sections come as a relief after the deep mud!

Cresting the climb, and with a good amount of altitude gained, we were treated to the additional element of today’s ride, the wind. A particularly exposed section had riders going for the ‘leaning into the wind’ approach, in an effort to stop the side wind blowing them across the road.

Our next section of trail did however live up the mud warnings. Even in the dry 2012 event, this bridleway had muddy sections, so it was now a veritable river of mud.  This was a very deep, black, sticky mud that had the ability to become super-fluid after 100s of riders had been through it. Grip could be found (even my unsuitable small block 8s found grip) but momentum, frame clearance (which luckily I have huge amounts off) and pedalling technique (which I have just enough of) made this section doable for most. Although for CX guys and cantilever brakes, it was perhaps more challenging.

After a 2km section of this, the trail became an armoured farm track with a downhill slope. It was great fun (and sorry to anyone I covered in flying muck) and the first control of the day.

Not a bad place to stage a mountain bike race.

The HONC does feature a lot of road but it is used cleverly, often to slowly gain or maintain height, and so again we were into a minor road section before heading off on another armoured stone track, again with more flying dirt and grit, but little mud.

This lead to the 50/100km split. For me, as I had been given a lift to the event by EMO75 (a Bike Magic lurker who was doing the 50km) the choice was easy, plus as it turned out the right one for me (with my lack of time in the saddle over the winter months). But friends who did the 100km ride tell tales of trails so muddy that people were having problems even walking. I think my small Block 8s may have struggled!

For the 50km ride we were taken along sections of road, straight into a considerable headwind and past the Cotswold Farm Park (a great day out for the kids), owned by Country File presenter Adam Henson, and site of a Medieval Knights Templar farm.

What followed was another armoured double track, with stunning valley views and a great downhill into the stunningly beautiful Hamlet of Barton, replete with stone farmhouses, duck ponds and rivers, all in a secluded valley.

We now had the last road/trail to the halfway food stop, and just a small river crossing of the Windrush to contend with (also one of the chosen sites of the official photographer). To my shame I took the small bridge, while EMO75 rode the river and made it with only wet feet, others I think took a full dunking. My excuse was I did it last year – and the photographer missed me!

HONC 2013. Will you be at the next one?

Another food stop in the Cotswold stone (there is a lot of that round here) village of Guiting Power. Food on the HONC is traditional: bananas, pointy flap-jack, bakewell tart and bread and butter pudding, plus tea or coffee. Yum.

With the wind starting to really make itself known it was off again, climbing out of the valley and once again onto the tops of the hills, where we came into a good headwind. Again the off-road routes were via dry stone double-track that was fine.

The next piece of off-road riding was around a field edge, and it would seem that wet grass does a great job of holding mud together and creating a soft Plastercine style surface, perfect for robbing you of any momentum and draining the energy from your legs.

By now I was starting to suffer from my lack of hours in the saddle prior to the ride, and the climb onto the edge of Cleeve common was slow, and getting slower. A nice off-road descent down a field edge, and the knowledge that we were now getting close to the finish, kept the legs turning. Another good road climb was to come, leading to another extended bridleway section (which luckily was slightly better drained), and then into a more muddy section. The next section of the ride was down a long running tarmac and gravel road, with drainage/speed humps, which were great for popping the front wheel off and whizzing pass CX bikes whilst trying to avoid being blown off line. Then we were onto the last section, an extremely muddy field edge, where the lack of any grip gave me crazy sideways speedway style leg-out moments. Then past the driveway of Sudeley Casle and we were back in Winchcombe, with only a last hill to climb through the town back to the start.

HONC 2013 had been hard work and totally different ride to the ultra-dry trails of 2012.

Yes it has lots of road sections, but these do give you feeling that you have really been out and about and these allow you to see the huge amounts of the beautiful countryside that the North Cotswolds has.

A quick mention to Simon and Olivia (his daughter aged 12), who completed her 2^nd 50km HONC, and to Richard, who lost three stone since Christmas to totally kill the 100km route in under 8 hours. Well Done.

Words: Aidan Bishop
Photos: Barbara Sztyk

New friends, great weather, good riding, good times!

After racing a round of the Big Ride – Cannondale Enduro series in Spain last year and liking it a lot I have planned to do more this season.  This year it is the official Open Enduro series in Spain, backed by it National Cycling Federation, and so should see it step up another level.  With the UK’s springtime still more than resembling winter, a trip to race in Spain was an even more attractive weekend ahead.  Flying out on the Thursday evening, we had the Friday to get our bearings, check out the town and ride a little on the hillside……unfortunately the weather was damp to say the least on the Friday, but the temperature was in double figures so it didn’t seem so bad!?  The opening round was held in the town of Ojen in the southern Spanish region of Andalucia, with lemon and olive trees, white buildings and narrow streets it was as picturesque as you could imagine.

A couple more Brits made it out for the race too, which was good, so Friday we met up with Joe Rafferty and Mark Scott (Pro Ride Guides) for breakfast, a catch up and some riding.  They are friends with the guys at Roost DH, a MTB holiday company down near Malaga which host DH riders from all over for good riding and good times.  Chatting with the guys it turns out Mark has done some work for the guys there and so knows the trails in the surrounding hills pretty well, this would come in handy for the day as we’d have a world cup level DH rider show us some of the terrain.  So myself, Joe, Mark, a local Ojen biker and Spanish elite endure rider Ruben set of into the hills for some riding. As it turned out we rode what was to be the 5^th and final stage for the race, a trail that had been used by national teams for DH training this year already as well as the Atherton’s, so when I try to explain the technical nature of it you’ll understand a little and hopefully the video will give you an idea too.

Saturday morning and we awoke to a perfect blue sky, exactly what I had hoped for!  The event was looking slick and professional as always, with good signage everywhere and the town fully embracing the event.  The centre of town was dominated by the Cannondale starting stage which would be the centre stage for the weekend, I really like the way this involves the local town with the race and adding to the whole atmosphere, it’s a shame the UK doesn’t have so many well placed towns at the base of a quality hill.

Saturday was for practice, riders being seeded from previous results and so no qualifying is needed.  5 timed stages with varying transition time allowances, the timings for the race added up to 4hrs riding and racing time.

Setting off from town at 8:30am, I was first to go followed by Joe, Mark then Tony Perez last year’s Spanish open enduro champion.  A 20 min climb mainly on the road and we’re at stage 1, flowing singletrack to begin before an awkward rocky stream crossing and pedal followed by narrow lane down then climb before firing you into the final section of steep loose rocky trail to finish just above town, sub 4mins was a good effort.

Then a monster transition! 1hr time allowance for this full on road climb (which would be amazing on a road bike) to offroad trail leading you to stage 2 start line.  Normally you wouldn’t set out on your 150mm trail bike up a road climb to get to your riding trails, but I think this is part of the attraction of Enduro racing where the route dictates you are out pedalling your bike for hours all the while chatting with friends and fellow racers, fortunately with the weather the views and the gentle gradient it was a pleasurable ascent (but this is where many would appreciate a double front ring set up?).  The stage itself was 3mins long, the trail snaking down a fire break with some man-made jumps and berms to start then a rocky chute before climbing back out and up the other side, keep on the pedals before a few more good corners and then finish your legs off to the line.

Hit the Powerade feed station (a godsend!) before Stage 3.  Started with a fire road sprint before dropping in right into a nice cut out trail with berms, dusty turns and some fun natural whoops that you could roll, manual or jump through to the spectators delight! A rocky doubletrack pedal was broken up by some long bus stops before a high speed loamy couple of turns to the finish, under 4 mins was good, then refresh again before setting off to the next stage.

A new twist this year at the Big Ride was that stage 4 was kept secret until race day!  Another epic road transition, so switch my Jekyll down to short travel, saddle up and spin up the mountainside and take in the views.  Once at the top there was time to walk the first few corners and get a feel for what may lay ahead. At over  5 mins it was mostly put your head down and turn the pedals as fast as you could hold, in between there were some turns I nearly missed and some nice singletrack sections, before dropping down some natural drops to the finish…knackered!

A short pedal to the top of stage 5 and it was party time!! A whopper of a stage, this is the trail that is used by many for DH training. For this race it turned out to be over 8mins start to finish, the trail itself was fantastic, winding its way down the hillside through natural gulleys with open and switchback turns.  What made it technical was the amount of rocks embedded in it the trail, this meant you had to react quick to the line you were on if you didn’t know every inch of trail, so sometimes it was hang onto the bike and ride them sometimes finding a take off point and clear the pointy ones to lessen the risk of puncturing.  After 4 mins of this the trail flattened a bit and followed a dried stream bed where you had to try and maintain rolling speed which was tricky due to tiredness from hanging on and plenty more extremely rocky sections.  Successfully out of this it was through a long dark tunnel before joining a section of stage 1 along flowing trail before the last little rocky pedal to the line….and breath!!!  Honestly of DH World Cup level terrain it was an amazing trail for different reasons, you said your prayers at the start and hoped you and you enduro bike made it to the bottom in one piece, these bikes really are incredibly versatile to handle everything thrown at them.

Mark Scott, top of stage 5.

To the race then.  Stage 1 and Spain’s Tony Perez was fastest here with Mark Scott and Myself in hot pursuit.  Stage 2 I hurt myself to break the 3min marker and win the stage with Joe Rafferty close behind and Tony in third.  Stage 3 Tony just pipped Joe for the win here with Andres Fernandez in third.  Stage 4 Joe killed it and led the way on the fresh track to be fastest ahead of Tony and Mark Scott.  Stage 5 and young Mark Scott knew what he had to do and went full gas here to win by a full ten seconds (with a crash!) from Tony Perez with Spanish elite rider Santiago Lombo in third.  So after the first 3 stages done it was looking to be a close contest between Myself, Joe, Mark and Tony with all of us having a clean day.  Stage 4 I had a tumble which cost me valuable seconds meaning I lost touch with the other three.  Stage 5 was the decider for the overall result, I rode most of it smoothly and didn’t puncture but with 30-40 seconds of the track left my chain snapped leaving me to roll as fast as I could and the last little section I opted to run as I couldn’t pedal and managed to trip and fall for good measure!  Joe had issues and subsequently lost valuable time to Mark who was charging hard and dropped it on one tight sandy switchback but still went sub 8mins for the stage and overtook Joe on doing so and in the overall standings.  But it was the rally driving Spanish orthodontist Tony Perez that was strong and consistent all day who took the well deserved win.  For the women the talented multi-discipline racer Eva Castro was four mins ahead of Nicola Weaver, with Natalia Gonzalez in third after over 34mins of time racing.

I was really looking forward to riding and racing out in Spain and it lived up to every expectation.  Guti, Monica and the whole Big Ride team put on a great event, the town was busy and friendly as was all the new friends and riders I met there.  With the sun the 30euro entry fee and if you can find cheap flights to then I would highly recommend anyone go and enjoy a race out there, I am now looking forward to the second round in Tui in June.

Full results can be found at www.bigridechamionship.com, along with media and future race info.

Big thanks to Cannondale, Mavic, Crank Brothers, GoPro, MRP, RRP, Maxxis for their support.

We’re only just getting this going for 2013 so if you are a shop owner and have a demo day, send it in and we’ll feature it here.

Event: Dalby Bike Barn Scott demo day

Brands: Scott (including 650b bikes!)

Date: Saturday, April 6th 2013
Venue: Dalby Forest Courtyard, Low Dalby, Thornton Le Dale, North Yorkshire, YO18 7LT
Phone: 01751 460049
Website:  Dalby Bike Barn

Details: 

Scott are masters at breaking new ground with their designs and bluring the lines drawn between one class of bike and another, and this is your invite to come along and try their fantastic range for yourself at Dalby Bike Barns mega SCOTT DEMO DAY, Saturday 6 April. Scott will be bringing along a bunch of 2013 models including the brilliant 29er full sus’ Spark 920: S, M, L, XL & Spark 940; L. Of course no Scott demo would be the same without the mold breaking 150mm travel 27.5in wheeled Genius and we have three versions available; Genius 730: M, Genius 720: M, L, Genius 740; M plus the 135mm travel 29er Genius 920: M, L; Also check out the lightweight Scale 930: S, M, L and the beautiful ladies Spark Contessa 900 RC : S, M. Demos start at 10am and run through to 4pm. We’ll be offering special on the day deals and much more. Don’t forget to bring your I.D and pedals.

See you there.

Event: Dales bike Centre demo day

Brands: Orange, Cotic, Trek

Date: Saturday, April 6th 2013 and Sunday 7th April 2013
Venue: Parks Barn, Fremington, Richmond, North Yorkshire DL11 6AW
Phone: 01748 884908
Website:  Dales Bike Centre

Details:

Three guided rides each day, over 30 bikes fantastic mountain bikes to choose from.
There is no cost but you’ll need to reserve the size/model of bike you want to ride and which time you’d like to ride.
Weekend deals to make it well worth ordering your new bike from Dales Bike Centre
Ride Times: 10am, 12 noon, 2pm

Contact us on: enquiries@dalesbikecentre.co.uk

Words: Stephen Roche
Photos: Various

49 hours 12 minutes and 22.5 seconds, 698km and 15,650m of climbing on a mountain bike.

Those numbers are etched in my memory. I’ve just crossed the finish line of the Absa Cape Epic, a gruelling eight-day mountain bike race that saw me reach new highs and lows on a bike, and forced me to dig to the deepest parts both mentally and physically. It’s also left me with a few bruises and an aversion to sand. But most importantly I have an overwhelming sense that, with my teammate Sven Thiele, we have conquered the world’s toughest mountain bike race.

Stephen Roche and HotChillee’s Sven Thiele celebrate an emotional ride at the finish line of the final stage (stage 7) of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Stellenbosch to Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West, South Africa on the 24 March 2013.
Photo by Karin Schermbrucker/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS

Nine days ago, at the start-line of the prologue, 1,200 other riders from 41 different countries embarked on the event of a lifetime. Unfortunately, around a third of them didn’t manage to reach the finish. They don’t call this the toughest mountain bike race for nothing. I’m relieved that both Sven and I completed the event relatively unscathed.

With Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and World Champion titles, I’d like to think I’m quite skilful on a bike. From day one, I realised there’s a lot less similarities between road and mountain biking than I first thought. For starters, there’s a lot more that can go wrong mechanically. After one too many mechanicals – from broken cleats to overheated back brakes – I know this only too well now. I didn’t really appreciate what I was going to be putting my bike (and me) through. Luckily at the end of each stage, our bikes were taken away by the on-site Bontrager mechanics to fix and tweak overnight.  Now the event is over, the Trek Superfly mountain bike I was riding has been tinkered to perfection.

There’s also the small matter of having to use your upper body a lot more. At the end of most days, it wasn’t my legs that were smashed, it was my arms, my wrists and my hands! Navigating your way down 5km of single-track descent, punctuated by drop-offs is not for the faint hearted. It’s also not for those with poor upper body strength. I certainly haven’t had to use these muscles sets as much in road cycling.

The approach taken to uphill is also completely different on a mountain bike. The only way to get up some of the inclines we encountered was to go as hard as possible. My heart rate would scream at me. It’s definitely not the same on a road bike, unless you’re attacking or chasing, of course.

Wellington – Welvanpas singletrack during stage 5 of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race held from Wellington, South Africa on the 22 March 2013.
Photo by Gary Perkin/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS

Technically, mountain biking requires more. With all the different terrains we faced – sand, rocks, pebbles, stones, fallen trees, gravel – we had to be prepared for all situations. There are times you also have to relinquish control and accept that you will walk some parts (or run if you’re a pro). In fact, with congestion on the single-tracks, at times we were crawling along at a snail’s pace. If it wasn’t for the high spirits of everyone else around you, you might just fall into a hole of despair at these points.

With the technical hurdles, it is of course far easier to take a tumble. On a road bike, you come off every so often and get a bit of road rash. On a mountain bike, it’s part of the routine.  Depending on what’s under-wheel, the consequences can be far more serious. That said, each stage we rode allowed me to understand what I could (and couldn’t – often a more painful lesson) do.

Of course, both cycling disciplines require endurance, which meant getting on the bike day after day wasn’t too much of a shock to the system. And where I struggled on technical descents, I generally had the legs to get up steep ascents. The biggest difference for me was the lack of peloton riding. It’s almost non-existent; single-tracks get in the way, but once we hit gravel roads, we managed to make up a bit of time. I also collected a bunch and led them against a strong headwind at 38km an hour. They were astonished watching their odometers and therein lies a big difference.

The 10^th edition of the Absa Cape Epic started at Meerendal Wine Estate in Durbanville and finished at Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West. Between the two wine estates the scenery was as varied as it was breathtaking. From a mountain bike track, you really do experience views seen by very few people. One minute we were on arid tracks, the next weaving our way through luscious vegetation and vineyards.

Stephen Roche, Sebastian di Pasqua, Vanessa Haywood and Alain Prost during the pre-race events held at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town prior to the start of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race.
Photo by Greg Beadle/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS

The prologue seems like a lifetime ago, but we started that day with the aim of finishing and decided to work well below threshold. Going in full-steam-ahead on such an epic endurance event is not sensible. My experience has taught me this. We finished 31^st in our category and 453 overall after day one. By Wednesday we were starting to make our way up the rankings and by the end we were 19^th in our category and 308 overall. Having a plan of action really helped us get through. That and a good breakfast each morning, 12 to 14 litres of fluid a day, lots of salts, PowerBar recovery drinks, a decent massage each evening and a good night’s sleep.

It was a frenetic, exciting, hot (up to 45 degrees) and draining week. I’ve learned a lot about mountain biking – and South African wine. We met so many interesting and inspiring people. Would I do it again? Ask me in a month’s time.

I rode as part of HotChillee’s Cape Epic MTB Team with Sven Thiele. This is part of a joint celebration of HotChillee’s The London-Paris and the Absa Cape Epic’s ten-year anniversaries. The HotChillee Cape Epic MTB teams’ sponsors include: The Bicycle Company for Trek MTB Bikes and Bontrager components, add-ons and Service Corp; PowerBar for nutrition; Hertz for vehicles; Continental for Tyres and LeMarq for clothing.

Here’s the word from SIP:

BEASTWAY 2013 – THE LEGEND CONTINUES

Words: SIP Events
All photos: Courtesy of Andy Waterman

It is with great pleasure that we can announce SIP Events will be continuing the legendary London based Beastway cross-country mountain bike race series into 2013. We also welcome on board Privateer Magazine as title sponsor of the eight race series taking place every Wednesday evening throughout June and July at Redbridge Cycling Centre.

The legendary Beastway series continues in 2013.
Photo © Andy Waterman

Last year the original organising team decided 19 years was enough for them and asked for parties interested in carrying on the series to get in contact. Having started racing mountain bikes at around the same time as Beastway’s inception, SIP Events decided that a series with as rich and distinguished a history as Beastway, serving an enthusiastic and loyal group of mountain bikers in the south-east, deserved to carry on.

John Mullineux, one of the Structureless Tyranny responsible for the Beastway for so many years said: “The new team of SIP Events and Privateer Magazine seem to be a perfect fit to ensure that the Beastway Mountain Bike Series continues to offer grass roots racing in London and its surrounds. Beastway fans can rest easy that the series is in good hands and that the new team will give the racing a very welcome burst of fresh energy. I look forward to seeing you all at the first evening of the new series.”

There’ll be some interesting new additions to race night with a series ‘top team’ award, skills training sessions for beginners and youths and the odd shake-up to the racing to keep it interesting. Overall the race format will remain relatively unchanged from previous years with the hour long races taking place at Redbridge Cycling Centre in Ilford. There’ll be a range of categories for men and women, race and series prizes, trophies and more. All topped off with an end of season finals and awards night on Friday 26^th July.

Andy Waterman: “The Beastway has meant so much to so many people over the years, including a lot of Privateer’s writers and photographers. The thought of it disappearing for good was quite unsettling, so when the opportunity arose to work with SIP Events to help ensure the series’ survival, we jumped at the chance. Beastway has always exemplified the best elements of cycle sport – friendly competition in an accessible format; the perfect entry point to the sport for new riders and the ideal tune-up for competitive racers. It’s going to be a great summer and a vintage year for Beastway.”

Full details of the series will soon be available on the new website www.beastway-mtb.co.uk or riders can keep up to date via the “Beastway MTB” facebook page and the SIP_Events_uk twitter feed.