Merida Bikes MTB Marathon 2009 - Update

So NO 'England' round this year then, 4 in Wales and 1 in Scotland
EXPOSURE LIGHTS BIG NIGHT OUT night marathon - 11th April 2009
The first new course on offer is the new EXPOSURE LIGHTS BIG NIGHT OUT night marathon course which will be run on the evening of the 11th April. For years the night marathon has been the official opener to the series and 2009 will be no exception. A 50km course with around 1400meters of climbing will create a fantastic challenge and still leaving some in the tank for the Sunday morning Spring Marathon. The guys from EXPOSURE LIGHTS will be on site showing off their latest lighting developments and offering advice on what to look out for when 'indulging' in the fascinating world of night riding. This year's special finishing present will be the new reflective BUFF which will be handed out to the riders alongside tea, coffee and cake when coming back over the finish line. So don't miss out on this cracker of an opener and enter the event on our entry page (http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/entry_forms/entry_forms.php). You can find further details on the EXPOSURE LIGHTS BIG NIGHT OUT on its event page: http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/exposure.php.

Merida Bikes MTB Spring Marathon - 12th April 2009
Following the night activities will be the Merida Bikes MTB Spring Marathon on the 12th April. Three courses with some never before used sections will offer something for everybody - starting with a 25km course (600m of climbing), followed by the all new 50km course (1,200m of climbing) going all the way to the 70km course with 1,900m of climbing. To find out more about the Spring Marathon please go to http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/builth_wells_spring.php and don't forget that there is a special reduced weekend ticket for the event if you are keen to do both events over the weekend.

New location for the April Builth Wells
For 2009 we have moved across the river back to the original event location when we started 10 years ago with the first '100' event - the Royal Welsh Showground. With ample hard standing, tarmac access routes, a superb infrastructure and first class facilities the Royal Welsh Showground is the ideal location to host our 1st event in 2009. And the event is not much further from the shops, pubs, restaurants, hotel and B+Bs in Builth.

Big investment for 2009 events and beyond
The rather harsh summer of 2008 has encouraged us even in these rather uncertain timed to jump into the cold water and invest heavily into our equipment. For the 2009 series and beyond we have invested more than £ 35,000 into our own shower facilities which will allow us to have first class facilities wherever the venue is not able to offer them.

Guidebook in its way to you as we speak
The last few weeks have been super hectic with putting together the MTB-Marathon and the TransWales '09 guidebooks. The two booklets are once more packed with information and stories from the world of marathon riding and TransUK racing and will guarantee some fantastic reading. If you are on our database then you will receive them in the next few days. If you aren't and you are keen to find out more about our events then simply send us your postal address to info@mtb-marathon.co.uk and will post you a copy FOC (UK only).

How to enter?
There are two ways to enter the events in 2009. You can either download an entry form and send it to us or you can use the online entry. To enter the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series 2009 please go to the entry page on the MTB marathon site - http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/entry_forms/entry_forms.php. To enter the GORE BIKE WEAR Road Sportive Series 2009 please go onto the designated sportive site www.gorebikewearsportives.com and click onto the entry page (http://www.gorebikewearsportives.com/entry.php). Please don't forget that we have a price reduced weekend ticket for all the events which have a ride on Saturday and a ride on Sunday.

Other events in the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series 2009.
If you can't make it to the April round of the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series 2009 - don't worry there is plenty more going on in our 2009 series. Here the other dates and location on offer.
15-16th May --- Crickhowell (MTB marathon to be run on Sunday)
4-5th July --- Llanwrtyd Wells (GORE BIKE WEAR Sportive to be run on Saturday and the MTB Marathon on Sunday)
18th July --- 'Merida Marathon on holiday' Bad Goisern, Austria
1-2nd August --- Selkirk (GORE BIKE WEAR Sportive to be run on Saturday and the MTB Marathon on Sunday)
19-20th September --- Ruthin (GORE BIKE WEAR Sportive to be run on Saturday and the MTB Marathon on Sunday)
To find out more about the various locations go to the events page of the MTB-Marathon site (http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/events.php) and if you want to find out more about the GORE BIKE WEAR Road Sportive Series then please go to our newly created sportive site www.gorebikewearsportives.com.


So that's it for today - more details on the marathons and our other events in the next few weeks.


Mike
MTB-Marathon Team

Ah Mr G,

Thanks for posting that. I need to have a chat with you sometime about summer hols.
I've about 3 numbers on my mobile for you and not sure which one to use.

Lg

Little Gav wrote:Ah Mr G,

Thanks for posting that. I need to have a chat with you sometime about summer hols.
I've about 3 numbers on my mobile for you and not sure which one to use.

Lg

Try 0791 941 235 and ends in a seven

Cheers will do. Speak soon

i have never raced in wales .
but i have put my name down for the 50km
see you all there

woody1200 wrote:i have never raced in wales .
but i have put my name down for the 50km
see you all there

Woody the Merida's are great, well organised with a well marked course and usually with around 900+ riders so lots of company. The weather can be changeable I've known it to be warm and sunny at the start and snowing a blizard during the ride or it can be cold at the start and ok during the ride. So watch the weather forecast and be ready for any thing. The 50k will be a good introduction to Wales and should be no problem to you. Enjoy

there are two or three week to go