This weekend sees the final round of the Merida Bike MTB Marathon series (19 September) and its Gore Bike Wear Sportive sidekick (20 September), both from Ruthin Rugby Club, Wales, and there are still spaces available for both events and all distances. The organisers recommend entering online at this stage – entries will be accepted at www.mtb-marathon.co.uk until Friday lunchtime, if you’re later than that you’ll have to enter on the day. Fancy doing both events? There’s a special £45 weekend ticket that gets you a marathon and sportive entry.

The Merida MTB Marathon will have four different courses with approximate lengths of 30, 55, 73 and 92km. Course designer John Lloyd has been out tweaking and marking, and reports that the courses are currently dry and fast – the forecast for the weekend is good, so fingers crossed.

All events run from the Rugby Club in Ruthin, with registration open on Friday evening, from 6am on Saturday and between 7-9am on Sunday. The sportive will start between 8 and 9am on Saturday, the Marathon at 9.30am on Sunday.

Once again Gore Bike Wear will be running its Try B4 U Buy scheme – borrow some Gore kit, ride in it and then either buy it or just give it back. Also CycleActive will be running skills courses over the weekend – they’re free, but places are limited, so email [email protected] to book a slot.

As always, full details and the all-important online entry can be found at www.mtb-marathon.co.uk (or www.gorebikewearsportives.com for the road event).