The Spring Polaris Challenge gets a new sponsor this year thanks to Gary Fisher bikes.

The company had already increased their involvement in the endurance side of the sport by sponsoring top Scottish Polaris/Trailquest/World Cup MTBO rider Gary Thomsett. Gary will be riding both 29” wheeled and conventional bikes this season and hoping to clean up in the new Spring/Autumn Polaris Solo category. They are now taking their involvement a step further by sponsoring the Polaris Challenge.

Not all the prizes for the Polaris will be going to the map-munching fanatics at the front of the field though. Fisher and Polaris decided that it should be the valiant under-achievers scoring the least points over the two-day mountain bike orienteering event who receive brand new bikes for their efforts (or lack of).

Fisher’s new faster rolling big-wheeled bikes are designed for exactly this kind of long multi-day event, and it’s good to see the company getting involved with classic grass roots events like this rather than just concentrating on the upper end of racing.

However, according to Trek, they’re not expecting Mr Fisher and Ms Pezzo to turn up in the Welsh borders with a gold lamé tent just yet.