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  2007
  > REVIEW
  2006
  > REVIEW
  > ELBNO - SM
  > RHAYADER
  > BUILTH WELLS
  > BAD GOISERN
  > SELKIRK
  > RUTHIN
  2005
  > REVIEW
  > ELBNO - SM
  > RHAYADER
  > BUILTH WELLS
  > BAD GOISERN
  > SELKIRK
  > RUTHIN
  2004
  > REVIEW
  > RHAYADER
  > BUILTH WELLS
  > BAD GOISERN
  > SELKIRK
  > RUTHIN
  2003
  > REVIEW
  > RHAYADER
  > BUILTH WELLS
  > RUTHIN
  NEWS...
  16.05.08 NEWS before the Ruthin Round HERE>>
  25.04.08
Latest News from the first round.
HERE>>
  17.04.08 Report from the first round HERE>>
  10.04.08
Latest News before the first event of 2008.
HERE>>
  29.03.08 Website updated - New Season is HERE>>
  31.01.08
Online Entry now OPEN.
MORE>>
  28.12.07 Website updated - Entry facilities coming soon.
  19.09.07
7 down, NONE to go….at least not this year. MORE>>
  Foot-And-Mouth - Please clean your gear: MORE>>
  04.09.07
Ruthin News. MORE>>
  Merida on holiday 2008 – win a mountain bike trip in Austria MORE>>
  12.08.07
6 down, ONLY 1 to go. MORE>>
  20.07.07
Selkirk here we come
MORE>>
  12.07.07
4 down, 2 to go (3 including the Austria round) MORE>>
  06.07.07
Latest Builth Wells Summer Marathon update
MORE>>
  27.06.07
Latest News... MORE>>
  16.06.07
MERIDA OUTSIDER UPDATES WITH COURSE PROFILES.
MORE>>
  07.06.07
Latest News... MORE>>
  17.05.07
…2 down 5 to go. After last year’s rather muddy May event in Rhayader the first dip into English marathon territory was another one to remember.
MORE>>
  08.05.07
It is only a few days now before the 1st ever English round MORE>>
  01.05.07
It feels that the season is truly here MORE>>
  17.04.07 ELBNO and SPRING MARATHON MORE>>
  10.04.07 ELBNO / Spring Marathon – LAST UPDATE MORE>>
  23.03.07 ELBNO . MORE>>
  23.03.07 Chain Reaction Cycles voucher - make sure you enter early! MORE>>
  23.03.07 Aviemore round – the Outsider. MORE>>
  23.03.07 Penrith round – Cumbria Bikefest MORE>>
  23.03.07 Salzkammergut Trophy 2007. MORE>>
  13.03.07 The Outsider event and line-up ... MORE>>
  22.02.07 Latest NEWS. MORE>>
  19.12.06 NEWS 2007 Entry form available to download….... MORE>>
  'CycleActive price draw - winner revealed!.... MORE>>
  23.10.06 NEWS The Outsider - New Event….... MORE>>
  The 2006 mountain bike season is heading towards its deserved winter break which inevitably means that the 2007 season is creeping up on us. .... MORE>>
  26.09.06 We have just got back from our 2007 planning excursion to Scotland . .... MORE>>
  14.09.06 NEWS Update: Merida Ruthin…only a couple of days to go….... MORE>>
  25.08.06 Well done everybody who took part in the first ever Merida TransWales ’06. What a week! I am sure it will take us all a while to recover from this adventure. .... MORE>>
  09.08.06 NEWS Update:Merida TransWales ’06…only a couple of days to go….... MORE>>
  02.08.06 NEWS Four down one to go! We have just returned from the event in Selkirk and we can only agree with the all comments we have had that it has once again been a superb event for everybody.... MORE>>
  26.07.06 NEWS Update:
It’s the last week before the Scottish round of the Merida 100 MTB Marathon in Selkirk opens its doors.... MORE>>
  11.07.06 NEWS Update:…was it hot or what? This year seams to be the year of extremes... MORE>>
  22.06.06 NEWS Update:
The last weekend before this year’s summer marathon in Builth Wells is upon us.... MORE>>
  News update 15.06.06
Less than three weeks to go before we will welcome everybody at the ‘summer’ event of the Merida 100 Series... MORE>>
  01.06.06
2nd Round Rhayader Event... MORE>>
  1st Round of the Merida 100 MTB Marathon Series 2006 in Builth Wells 8-9th April... MORE>>
  20 Reasons why you... should ride a Mreida 100
1 No faffing with maps: just point and play... MORE>>
  Vertebrate Graphics, MTB Guidebooks...MORE>>
  MTB-Marathon Jersey NOW IN STOCK..MORE>>
 


















  2004
       
  Selkirk Event Review

Pure and simple, the first ever Selkirk round of the Merida 100s is set to go down in history as the event of last year’s series. Long-standing mountain bike personalities praised it as the best course they’d ever ridden, magazine’s heaped cult status upon it, and the feedback from the riders has been overwhelming: “The riding at Selkirk was truly superb,” enthused Jim. “I’m grateful you boys had the bollocks to come North...”

Taking the bold move to take the series into pastures new by transplanting the Merida 100 from its natural home of Wales to Scotland, Mike and John enlisted the highly qualified help of Scotland’s 7Stanes maestro, Pete Laing. “We were really excited to have such a big event in Selkirk and to be able to show off the trails and the riding we’ve got here,” said Pete, “and for us it was an ideal opportunity to bring a big event into the area.” Pete’s been responsible for many of the Tweed Valley’s most high profile trails: the Helly Hansen V Trail at Glentress chief among them, and his expertise was central to the success of Selkirk in 2004.

With 1,700m of leg shredding climbing and the same amount of descending, the course was a Mother with a capital ‘M’ and showcased the very reason that Scotland’s trails have been voted by IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association) members as amongst the very best trails in the world. Scotland came in at number five in the prestigious IMBA list, behind such legendary spots as Utah, Idaho, British Columbia and Colorado. Couple the course with the rock-solid organisation of the Merida 100 team and you’ve got one of the very best events going, produced by riders for riders that beats some of the biggest international events out there: “Your team easily matches the German efficiency of the Trans Rockies and Trans Alps organisation.,” said Jim in an e-mail to Merida 100 Towers.

What Mountain Bike said that the event “was one of those ‘races’ that, one day, people will recall and say, ‘I was there.’ Course designer Pete Laing packed all of his Glentress and 7Stanes experience and a good helping of deviant sadism into the course. It linked established singletrack with freshly cut technical twisties and hair pinned alpine drags for over 1,600m of climbing and descending. Grinding climbs dropped you deeper into the pits of despair with every downshift, only to be buoyed back up with
seemingly endless sweeping and sliding technical downhills that split your face wide open with laughter...”

Gary Tompsett, a high profile adventure racer and course designer of the Rat Race said on finishing that “I have been riding bikes for more or less 20 years but that was the best course I’ve ever ridden.” But he’s not alone in his praise: respected mountain bike journo Guy Kesteven agreed that Selkirk was “one of the best courses I have ever been on.” And USE’s evergreen Rory Hitchens said that, “this was one of the best days mountain biking I had for years!” But for all this praise the Selkirk course was a damn tough trial, proving that nothing good ever comes easily but if you persevere and take on the challenge then the rewards are more than equal to the effort. “I have been to all the other events,” Andy Hodgson told Mike, “and this is by far the best, most enjoyable but also the toughest course. The climbs were monstrous and the downhills were classics.”

For 2005, Selkirk is expected to be the round of the series. Be there to make sure you get your fix of some of the most hardcore mountain bike riding in Britain, courtesy of the Merida 100 team.
  2004

competition image


Merida Bikes TransWales '08
The 7 day MTB stage challenge.
Check the full story and the results on www.mtbtransuk.co.uk

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