More news from the organisers of the Bikemagic/Dialled Bikes Rough Ride (3 June, Kington, Herefordshire).

First up is a new development for 2007 – the introduction of electronic timing. Riders will be issued with a transponder that will record exact starting and finishing times. Obviously as the event is a non-competitive one taking place on bridleways (upon which bike racing is prohibited), finishing times won’t be available in finishing order but you’ll be able to see how long it took you to complete the 75km course.

The other huge benefit of transponder timing is that the system will know exactly when you start. This means that you’ll be able to set off at any time within a half-hour window and you won’t start your own personal clock until you actually cross the line. So it’s farewell to overcrowded trails in the early stages.

There’ll also be the opportunity to win a mountain bike holiday with Spain-based operator Toro Loco Spain (www.torolocospain.com. The tie-up with the Rough Ride is rather neat – not only have several BM readers given good reports of Toro Loco’s operation but the company also uses and endorses frames from event co-sponsor Dialled Bikes (www.dialledbikes.com).

The holiday spot prize will, along with various others on offer, be drawn from a hat (or other suitable receptacle).

75km and 7,000ft of climbing (if we may mix units of measurement for a moment) are the key numbers of the Rough Ride course. But there are a couple of other important stats. The loop will be over 80% off-road moorland trails and it’ll also be 80% different from 2006 so don’t think that because you Rough Rode last year that you’ve got it ticked. Course designer Jeremy Atkinson is continually tweaking, refining and improving the course – latest word is that he’s managed to incorporate a new stretch of singletrack and avoid a climb, a marshalled gate and 2km of road. Which sounds like a fair swap to us.

Entries are up on last year and numbers are limited, so get in quick. Head to www.roughride.co.uk for full event details, the smooth-running online entry system or a good old entry form of the kind that you can print out and post…