117 teams, 63 soloists, 12 hours – and next year’ll be bigger still

If you were one of the 500+ riders who had a splendid time at the Bristol Bikefest Marin 12 hour enduro the other weekend, you’ll no doubt be interested in the big plans that the organisers have for 2006. The provisional date is 10/11 June 2006, which will probably be a fortnight before the Saab Salomon Mountain Mayhem 24hr race again. Also the same will be the course (although it might get a couple of tweaks), the laid-back atmosphere and live music.

The big difference will be the expansion of the 12 hour event over two days. This year’s race had almost twice as many riders as last year, and another big increase is expected next year. To allow for that, and especially to allow for the explosion in solo entries, there’ll be two 12 hour races. Saturday will be the team event, with teams of two to four racing in Competitive, Fun or Singlespeed categories. And then Sunday will be the not-quite-official UK and European 12 Hour Solo Championships – same categories, but you’re on your own.

The organisers have already had a lot of interest from Germany, France, Italy, the Benelux countries, Austria and others. The team event will be limited to 200 teams, the solo one to 200 riders, so you’ll be wanting to get in quick. Entry forms will appear on www.bristolbikefest.com soon – if you want to be notified when they’re up, mail the organisers and they’ll put you on the list.

We’ll see you there…