banner
  Home | Events | Gore Sportives | Entry | Training | Diet | Tech | Offers | Local Info | Results | 17 Commandments & FAQ's | History | Contact
gore Exposure Lights purple extremeergon topeak wmb Lizard Skins borders High5 fizik gore Schwalbe formula ctc USE ergon forestry cycleactive buffCrank Bothers Salzkammergut trophy fibrax
  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>>
 


















  2006
       
  2006 Review: Bad Goisern, Austria Marathon

The Continental Marathon

The third Merida Bikes MTB Marathon ‘On Holiday’ returns to Austria’s largest mountain bike marathon event

The Ninth Salzkammergut Trophy (www.salzkammergut-trophy.at) staged in Bad Goisern, Austria over 13th-16th July 2006 saw the third Merida Bikes MTB Marathon ‘On Holiday’ event as a contingent of British Merida Bikes MTB Marathon riders made the pilgrimage to the prestigious international event to join 2,222 competitors taking part from a total of 25 countries.

Bad Goisern itself is a small Alpine town 40 miles from Salzburg, nestled amidst breathtaking mountain scenery in the stunning Hallstatt-Dachstein-Salzkammergut UNESCO World Heritage Region. The picture-postcard town, flanked by sky scratching peaks and mirror sharp mountain lakes, has played host to both the inaugural UCI World Marathon Championships in 2004, which saw Merida’s Olympic Champions Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesja claim gold, and also the opening round of the UCI Marathon World Cup in 2005. Its pedigree speaks for itself: it is one of Europe’s greatest and toughest mountain bike marathon events, and the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon spirit was adding to this truly cosmopolitan melting pot.

The event itself saw a prize purse of 20,000 Euros spread amongst a selection of marathon distances ranging from 53km and 101km, and beyond to the truly epic 200km ‘Servus die Wadln’, which loosely translated means ‘hello calves’ in reference to the grueling strain on the legs required to complete the testing course. But on the Salzkammergut Trophy any distance is truly a tough proposition, with the 101km course again being based on the testing World Championship and World Cup courses, with 3,387m of vertical equating to more than double the climbing of any of the other Merida Bikes MTB Marathons. The toughness itself is tempered somewhat by the absolutely flawless beauty of the area/

The riding itself was utterly Alpine and the organisers again did their best to showcase both the trails, in a typically Continental manner, together with the centrepiece scenery of the area. The atmosphere continued its long held tradition of seeing Austrian locals with beer in hand, cheering and supporting each and every rider passing through, adding something truly special to the riders’ experiences of continental marathon riding. Yes, things are done differently over the other side of the English Channel, but the passion for bikes and biking remains the same and the Salzkammergut Trophy is one of the best places that this passion can be truly experienced. Or, as Mike put it on his visit to the event, “It’s a beer festival with bikes!”

The now characteristic ‘Slow Motion Rating’ competition, which is intended to give the average Joe riders something to fight for, was again held. It sees the combined finishing times of the team members of the three ‘slowest’ teams to complete the courses added up, the ‘winners’ of which get to stagger away with assorted prizes including Deuter hydropacks and VDO computers. Two years ago, the assorted members of the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon team came close to the podium at sixth in this prestigious competition, a feat that proved just too difficult to replicate this year as a Slovakian team, Team Slovak Snail Highlanders, scooped the top spot out of 35 entered teams with a cumulative time of just 382 hours in the saddle. With a little training and much beer consumption, it’s a title that the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon team feels confident of securing. One day. Perhaps.

The 101km event was won by Austrian Wieltschnig Silvio in a time of 4hrs 35mins and 12secs with the first woman coming home an hour later. The epic 200km was won by Austrian Stefan Kogler in an incredible time of 10hrs 15mins and 40secs with the first woman, former European Champion Andrea Huser of Switzerland, coming home in 12hrs 56mins 20secs.

The event continued to build on its reputation as a truly special experience with its undeniably continental stylings: but the window onto our European neighbours’ mountain biking ways is, when framed by the Alps, an eye opening and inspirational experience that speaks volumes over the gulf of bicycle culture between us and them, and of the amazing popularity of bike sports and bike riding over there. Ken Livingstone, we’ve still got a long way to go, but with events like the Merida Bikes MTB Marathons we’re getting ever closer. As Cycling Plus magazine states, ‘Cycling’s a drug and we’re pedaling it’… To find out more about this year’s trip to the Salzkammergut Trophy go to http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/bad_goisern.php or log onto www.salzkammergut-trophy.at.

  2006

competition image


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

Join our Mailing List:
Enter your email address:
 
Confirm your email address:
Privacy Statement
Request the 2008 season Merida Marathon Guide Book (available early Spring):
Please Email us your FULL POSTAL ADDRESS and POSTCODE. CLICK HERE
Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series will go abroad:
Read MORE>>
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Back to Top^