The nine-round Midlands Summer Trailquest Series has secured a new title sponsor in the shape of Magellan, manufacturers of a wide range of GPS units. As a result, competitors in what is now to be known as the Magellan Midlands Summer Series stand to win a Magellan eXplorist 500 GPS unit. The eXplorist 500 features unlimited memory expansion using SD cards, a lithium-ion rechargeable battery and is claimed to be accurate to three metres. The winners will also get a bike mount and software to transfer maps to the unit.

Trailquests are mountain bike orienteering events, demanding a blend of fitness, navigation skills and route planning for success. It’s an increasingly popular and increasingly competitive branch of mountain biking, and signing up a big-name series sponsor certainly reflects that. One Magellan GPS unit will be awarded to the overall series winner, while the other will be able to be won by any rider regardless of ability by some mechanism yet to be revealed.

The Magellan Midlands Series will have nine rounds, of which three are also National series events. The dates and venues are:

• Round 1 25 June Atherstone (4 hours)
• Round 2 9 July Lichfield (4 hours)
• Round 3 16 July South Warwickshire (4 hours)
• Round 4 30 July Penistone (5 hours)
• Round 5 6 August Rockingham (4 hours)
• Round 6 3 September Cotswolds (5 hours)
• Round 7 24 September Stourport on Severn (5 hours)
• Round 8 8 October Staffordshire (5 hours)
• Round 9 29 October Cannock Chase (5 hours)

To enter and for full details see the series website at www.midlandtrailquests.co.uk.