Call it a finale, a denouement or just the end. Only it’s not really the end, it’s merely the end of the beginning of our Bikemagic Reader Awards extravaganza. Here’s the last bunch of awards for which we’re seeking nominations through the forum – suggest some candidates for each one and we’ll compile shortlists next week ready for the full-on voting showdown…

Best tea and cake stop

…or coffee and pastry, or beer and pies, or whatever your favoured mid- or post-ride refuelling option is. We’re looking for your favourite rider-friendly eatery. It might be a trail centre caf&eacute, a handily-located pub, a village tea room, whatever. But it’ll definitely have tasty nosh, decent portions, a great atmosphere and, with any luck, agreeable prices.

Retailer of the year

However much you try to resist, sooner or later you’re going to have to buy some stuff for your bike, even if it’s just a cassette or some new brake pads. At the other extreme, you may find that nothing ever gets the chance to wear out because it gets replaced by something newer, lighter, stiffer and shinier. Whatever your shopping habits, tell us who your favourite dealer is. Could be a fast and efficient on-line enterprise, might be a fantastically friendly local bike shop – it’s down to you.

Best trail centre

We thought of having a “best trail” award, but that’d just get out of hand with people nominating “the 400 yard stretch down from the gate on Old Scruttock’s Dirigible” and stuff. Plus trails change all the time anyway. So the trail-related award is for the best purpose-built trail centres and is for the overall experience – great riding, of course, but also variety, facilities, accessibility, all that stuff.

Event of the year

Yes, we know it’s only August and there are lots of events still to come in 2007, but think of it as “event of the last twelve months” and it makes more sense. Lots of big events are almost institutions now and it hardly seems to matter what year you talk about. Again, pretty much anything goes – grass-roots XC racing, 1,000-rider enduros, 24 hours, DH, Trailquest, whatever.

Let’s have ’em, then. The last batch of nominations and then it’s on with the Awards show proper…