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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: Selkirk Marathon
A League Of Its Own
Selkirk is the greatest snapshot of British mountain biking, with
both full-on technical man made trails melded with ancient natural
terrain and incredible views, Selkirk has it all in spades…
Three years has passed since Selkirk burst onto the national mountain
bike consciousness as part of the Merida Bikes MTB Marathons, and
there’s no sign of it giving up its mantle as the best mountain
bike course in the country, ever, ever, ever. Period. It’s still
#1, so why try harder? Well, quite simply, in 2005 we were only getting
started…
Scotland won IMBA’s (International Mountain Bike Association)
People’s Choice Award as a Global Superstar last year: the 7Stanes
network in the Tweed Valley, where Selkirk is situated, includes both
Glentress and Innerleithen, of whose trails trail builder and the
Merida Bikes MTB Marathons man on the ground, Pete Laing, made full
use of. Folding in natural trail alongside the cream of the world’s
purpose built, technical singletrack, Pete managed to produce yet
another undeniably world class course and actually improved on what
had gone before. The lure of which had hooked 1,200 riders, of which
almost 700 were down for the undeniably tough full distance, all of
whom were chomping at the bit to be unleashed onto the singletrack.
Alongside the regular event village exhibitors that include Merida,
Extra, Schwalbe, Pedro’s, Hayes, Ergon, High5, CycleActive and
What Mountain Bike magazine bringing along their mountain bike cinema
once more, pedal meisters Crank Brothers and also Ziggg standby bivvy
bags and personal shelters, together with the guys from ‘Café
To You’ who helped get everybody in the mood on Sunday with
their great coffees, all helped make the Selkirk event village one
of the biggest of the series. Perfect for helping riders while away
the hours or help stricken folks in need of last minute spares or
to help polish up on their technical skills: an important exercise
for many riders who have not experienced the true nature of the Selkirk
beast before.
With lung, arm and leg busting climbs Selkirk makes you work for your
gravity rewards, peppered as they are with gob smacking views of the
Scottish borders but when they come it’s literally like being
shown the exit door from purgatory that mainlines you straight to
Nirvana. Fast, rolling singletrack with centrifugal berms, gnadgery
rock sections, timber bridges, drop offs and snaking, sinewy trail
that lasts forever and rewards both fitness and finesse with Zen-like
flow are de-rigeur. “The course is absolutely phenomenal,”
Jamie Kennedy said afterwards, “I did not realise what people
meant by 'singletrack heaven' until Sunday.”
“Having done three Ruthins, my partner and I opted for Selkirk
50km this year,” explained Emma Glaisher, a ‘Female Veteran
of Extremely Slow Speed’ as she describes herself, of her ride.
“Wow, a big leap upwards in terms of technical riding and sheer
slog. On the way round I swore I would never, ever ride a mountain
bike again. By the time I finished I was grinning from ear to ear:
the beautiful last moorland climb to 3 Brethren and the fabulous descent
that just went on and on, made up for all the misery earlier!”
This is what the riding at Selkirk is all about. It’s also the
reason why the mountain bike press and personalities rate it so highly:
testament to the trail building skills of the Tweed Valley trail builders,
but also to the course designing skills of Pete Laing himself. It
was always a risk to uproot the Merida Bikes MTB Marathons from their
native home of Wales to transplant them to Scotland but, with thousands
of riders all raving about the riding, it’s one that’s
paid off big time, and one that has ensured that Selkirk is most definitely
on the ‘must do’ list for any self respecting mountain
bike marathoner. If you only ever do one Merida Bikes MTB Marathon
then make sure it’s Selkirk.
To find out what’s in store for this year’s Selkirk marathon
go to http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/selkirk.php
and prepare yourself for the ride of your life.
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2006 |
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