The Big Welsh Weekend heads to Margam Park on 29/30 May for a packed weekend of riding, racing and demo rides.

Saturday

The action-packed weekend kicks off on Saturday with the demo series, with some of the UK’s biggest bike brands on hand, including Specialized, Trek, Giant, Santa Cruz, Genesis, Yeti and Merida with a large fleet of the newest and most exciting bikes ready to ride.

Also taking place at the same time is the third round of the British XC Series where we expect some tantalising racing from all the usual suspects and home-grown talent such as Lee Williams and Lily Matthews.

Whilst the racing will be impressively fast at the front, there’s still time to enter the open race, which is perfect for first-time racers wanting to dabble their toe in the world of XC racing and see what it is all about.

As a little warm-up, Saturday evening gets going with a Team Relay, expect a short burst of frenetic racing which will have the spectators cheering as the riders basically hurtle around the course at breakneck speed in a giant game of tag. If this sounds appealing then you can pop your name down at registration and have a go yourself, a chance to test your fitness against some of the UK’s best riders.

Even the kids can get in on the action with a free under 12’s race on offer. For riders entered in Sunday’s marathon there is even the chance of a warm-up as we host some guided rides to warm the legs up.

Then settle back watch the sun dip down behind the hills whilst soaking up the tunes from our live band – Amber Avenue. Quaver Catering will be on hand offer refreshments and hot meals ready for you to fuel up for the next day including pasta and garlic bread for £1.

Sunday

On Sunday you have the chance to ride the Big Welsh Weekend marathon, a veritable romp in the hills surrounding the Margam estate, riding trails not usually available. Choose between one, two or three laps of the 25km course.

Or why not spend the day testing bikes or browsing around in the demo area. You’ll also get the chance to take advantage of a number of guided rides.

For the ladies, Specialized will be running a number of led rides for women by experienced guide and skills coach Maddie Horton. Maddie is no slouch in the race scene featuring regularly in the top 10 of the elite field. Led rides will take place at 10am, 12pm and 2pm – don’t worry, it certainly won’t be at race pace, but you will have the chance to learn a few skills along the way.

Also leading some rides will be Giant’s Oli Beckingsale. He’ll be leaving from the Giant stand at 11am and 1pm. This is your chance to talk to and ask skills questions to one of the UK’s best mountain bike pro riders as you take in some of the stunning trails that Margam has to offer.

All in all it’s shaping up to be a weekend to remember, camping is free, the demo’s are free, all you need is two forms of ID and a passion to ride, so what you waiting for, come on down and join in the fun.

Visit www.britishxc.com for all the details of the weekend and what bikes you could be trying out.