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NEWS... |
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16.05.08 NEWS before the Ruthin Round HERE>> |
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25.04.08
Latest News from the first round.HERE>> |
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17.04.08 Report from the first round HERE>> |
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10.04.08
Latest News before the first event of 2008.HERE>> |
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29.03.08 Website updated - New Season is HERE>> |
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31.01.08
Online Entry now OPEN. MORE>> |
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28.12.07 Website updated - Entry facilities coming soon. |
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19.09.07
7 down, NONE to go….at least not this year.
MORE>> |
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Foot-And-Mouth - Please clean your gear:
MORE>> |
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04.09.07
Ruthin
News. MORE>> |
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Merida on holiday 2008 – win a
mountain bike trip in Austria
MORE>> |
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12.08.07
6
down, ONLY 1 to go. MORE>> |
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20.07.07
Selkirk here we come MORE>> |
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12.07.07
4 down, 2 to go (3 including the Austria round)
MORE>> |
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06.07.07
Latest Builth Wells Summer Marathon update
MORE>> |
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27.06.07
Latest News... MORE>> |
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16.06.07
MERIDA OUTSIDER UPDATES WITH COURSE PROFILES.
MORE>> |
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07.06.07
Latest News... MORE>> |
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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>> |
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08.05.07
It is only a few days now before the 1st ever English round
MORE>> |
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01.05.07
It feels that the season is truly here
MORE>> |
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17.04.07 ELBNO
and SPRING MARATHON MORE>> |
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10.04.07 ELBNO / Spring Marathon –
LAST UPDATE MORE>> |
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23.03.07 ELBNO
. MORE>> |
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23.03.07 Chain
Reaction Cycles voucher - make sure you enter early!
MORE>> |
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23.03.07 Aviemore
round – the Outsider. MORE>> |
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23.03.07 Penrith round – Cumbria
Bikefest MORE>> |
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23.03.07 Salzkammergut Trophy 2007.
MORE>> |
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13.03.07 The Outsider event and line-up
... MORE>> |
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22.02.07 Latest NEWS. MORE>> |
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19.12.06 NEWS 2007 Entry form available to download…....
MORE>> |
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'CycleActive price draw - winner revealed!....
MORE>> |
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23.10.06 NEWS The Outsider - New Event…....
MORE>> |
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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>> |
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26.09.06 We have just got back from
our 2007 planning excursion to Scotland . ....
MORE>> |
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14.09.06 NEWS Update: Merida Ruthin…only a couple of
days to go….... MORE>> |
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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>> |
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09.08.06 NEWS Update:Merida TransWales ’06…only
a couple of days to go…....
MORE>> |
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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>> |
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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>> |
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11.07.06 NEWS Update:…was
it hot or what? This year seams to be the year of extremes...
MORE>> |
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22.06.06 NEWS Update:
The last weekend before this year’s summer marathon in Builth Wells
is upon us.... MORE>> |
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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>> |
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01.06.06
2nd Round Rhayader Event... MORE>> |
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1st Round of the Merida 100 MTB Marathon Series 2006 in
Builth Wells 8-9th April... MORE>> |
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20 Reasons why you... should ride a Mreida 100
1 No faffing with maps: just point and play...
MORE>> |
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Vertebrate Graphics, MTB Guidebooks...MORE>> |
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MTB-Marathon Jersey NOW IN STOCK..MORE>> |
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2006 |
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2006 Review: Rhayader Marathon
Rhayader’s End of Days
The second longest running venue of the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon
Series sings its swan song
Next to Builth Wells, Rhayader has been the second home of the Merida
Bikes MTB Marathons but the 2006 instalment would be both its fifth
birthday and its last: despite this, its three day bank-holiday schedule
of back-to-back mountain biking over the 27th-29th May 2006 would
not – despite the best efforts of the weather – be a poor
relation to the highs that had gone before, attracting riders from
far afield as south west Scotland. After all, Rhayader still had some
quality fire in its belly.
The much-loved singletrackalicious 50km route was joined by the full
compliment of marathon distances, including the new 25km Mini Marathon,
to showcase the full 25, 50, 75 and 100km marathons for the first
time in 2006. These, together with the addition of the ever-popular
Pedros Spin rides on both the Saturday and the bank holiday Monday,
were all joined by the ever smiling, ever helpful coaches from CycleActive,
the UK’s leading mountain bike holiday and training company
(see www.cycleactive.co.uk). CycleActive offered both their very popular
Trials To Trails sessions and Skills Development Rides together with
a drop-in Bike Set Up Clinic on the Saturday to help riders brush
up on their skills and make any final set up adjustments to their
steeds before the big push the next day, followed by their own Junior
Skills Track and Sessions on the Sunday for the younger bikers to
earn their Merida Bikes MTB Marathon stripes.
However, the weather in the lead up to the event weekend had been
chucking more moisture onto the land than a whale sees in its lifetime:
but, aside from the usual route planning contingencies that John Lloyd
makes together with Clive Powell, Rhayader’s course designer
(www.clivepowell-mtb.co.uk, tel. 01597 811343), there is little that
can be done to ensure that the natural trail networks that the Merida
Bikes MTB Marathons rely on stay in tip-top condition. But still,
the Merida bike giveaway and the signature Merida Bikes MTB Marathon
Pasta Party helped brighten proceedings up, and the vast number of
on-the-day entries that brought the total to a best ever Rhayader
turn out of 1,150 riders meant that the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon
riders are resolutely hardy souls: “I enjoyed being part of
an 1,150 bike field,” Alan Lewis told the team once his SPDs
had dried out. “Yes the course was a grueller and I only did
the 50km, but isn't that part of the challenge?” After all,
where would British mountain biking be without a little mud?
Still, to the relief of all, the weather broke on the Sunday morning
with sunshine beaming down from above, helping to buoy spirits for
the trails that lay in wait and to ensure that Rhayader’s traditional
festival-like atmosphere was back in force for the duration. And at
10am the riding all kicked off under the mottled rays of sunshine.
The riding was unequivocally tough by anyone’s standards, and
despite the sun poking its nose out, its rays did little to dry out
the trails. With slip sliding wheels, squirrelly singletrack and Teflon
coated climbs, the challenge was both physical and technical: merely
staying on-course and on-bike was a supreme test of mettle at times,
yet riders were still completing the distance and, in some cases,
making it harder work for their admirably perverse selves: “It
was my second Merida Bikes MTB Marathon as I rode the 50km at Selkirk
last year,” said David Fulton, “I had a great time but
was not fit enough so put in a bit more effort over the winter and
finished an hour quicker at Rhayader this year, on a singlespeed!”
But despite the trench warfare waged on the trails surrounding Rhayader,
2006’s event was still a great success and stands as testament
to the ‘can do’ and good time attitudes of you, the Merida
Bikes MTB Marathon marathoners. It may not have been glorious, hardpack
baking sunshine, but Rhayader’s swan song last year proved that
no matter what, the event has what it takes: great atmosphere and
great riding that both conspire to make great memories for the riders.
For 2007 it will be sorely missed, but is replaced by the first ever
English round of the Merida Bikes MTB Marathons in Penrith, Cumbria
as part of The Cumbria Bike Festival, that will undoubtedly build
on Rhayader’s fine foundations. Go to http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/cumbria.php
for more.
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2006 |
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