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Welcome to MTB Scotland
MTB Scotland aims to provide an impartial and comprehensive guide to mountain biking throughout Scotland, and is sponsored by Buff, Endura and Revolution.
MTB Scotland is run by mountain bikers for
mountain bikers. Whether you're a top-class XC racer, a weekend
downhill fanatic, a complete novice, or a family looking for somewhere
new to ride, and whether you're a native of Scotland or an occasional visitor, MTB Scotland is for you.
If you haven't been mountain biking in Scotland before, you've
really been missing out! Voted a "Global Superstar" by the IMBA in 2005
for its "outstanding mountain biking", from the rolling hills of the
Borders, to the
rugged landscapes of the Highlands, Scotland boasts the largest
continuous area of high ground in Britain.
With more than 700 mountains
over 2,000 feet, 86 of which are higher than Snowdon, along with
fantastic mountain bike centres like the 7stanes, Leanachan Forest, and Laggan WolfTrax, Scotland almost puts the "mountain" in "mountain
bike"!
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Photo by Peter Dennis
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Much of MTB Scotland can be browsed by anyone, but at the
heart of the site is our community of mountain bikers who've become
registered members.
Membership is absolutely free and it only takes seconds to sign-up. As a member you'll be able to post messages in the forums,
view the mountain bike photo galleries and mountain bike routes, customise the site with your
own menu, blog, and colour scheme, and submit your own mountain bike
articles and news for publication. Amongst other benefits, you'll also
be
eligible for our monthly prize draw and have the chance to get your
hands on free mountain bike kit to test and review.
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Voting has opened for the 2006 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.
The 2006 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award may have prompted
critical opinions that British sporting success stories have been a bit
thin on the ground this year. This is definitely not the case in
mountain biking where Britain's Tracy Moseley and Steve Peat took the
overall UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup Champion titles. In
Steve's case, it's the third time he's won this impressive title (02,04
& 06).
With the biggest event in mountain biking, the 2007 UCI Mountain Bike
and Trials World Championships, coming to the UK for the first time
next September, it's time for the UK's most successful rider to get
some much-deserved recognition.
The organisers of the World Championships in Fort William in 2007 are
trying to rally the huge mountain biking community to vote for Steve
Peat and put a real sporting success story in front of the Great
British public.
...continues...
They say the sun always shines on the righteous. Well the NoFuss team
must be a saintly bunch, because this weekend's first ever Relentless24
event at Leanachan outside Fort William was treated to some
unseasonally fantastic weather.
Congratulations to Fraser and his colleagues for organising a great
race, to main sponsors Relentless for the constant supply of energy
drinks, and of course to all 266 competitors whose endurance,
determination and sense of humour made it a very memorable 24 hours.
Category winners were as follows:
Solos...
Male Senior: Philip Kelman (22 laps in 23:40:51)
Female Senior: Shelley Farrar (17 laps in 22:12:27)
Male Vet: John Thomson (11 laps in 24:54:11)
Pairs...
Male Senior: NRC Cycles - Singlespeed (29 laps in 23:33:12)
Mixed Senior: Team His 'n' Hers (25 laps in 23:57:04)
Trios...
Male Senior: Pro Bike Sport (28 laps in 23:59:24)
Mixed Senior: Wheeze Coff Sniffle (22 laps in 23:51:00)
Male Vet: Walkers Walkers (25 laps in 23:44:19)
Fours...
Male Senior: Glencroft Rabble (35 laps in 24:33:03)
Female Senior: 4am Girls (24 laps in 24:36:33)
Mixed Senior: Nevis Cycles (32 laps in 24:45:21)
Male Vet: How LowePro can you last? (30 laps in 24:38:26)
A full list of results will be appearing on the Relentless24 web site in the next few days.
Photos from the event are available to members in the Mountain Bike Photos gallery section.
Dates have just been announced for what may well be next year's hardest
24 hour race. The StrathPuffer24 is set for 13-14th January 2007 in
Contin Forest. Last year's was a sell out and entries are now
open, so budding competitors had better be quick off the mark to avoid
disappointment. The StrathPuffer team have secured £30,000 in funding
to build some cool new single-track that will take the race through
some challenging and pretty terrain and avoid the worst of the
mud. But it won't be easy. There will be no moon to guide
the riders - skill and endurance will be at a premium.
The event organisers said, "We're also improving the facilities at the
event centre and should cope with whatever the Scottish winter can send
us. Otherwise, don't fix what ain't broken - there will be the
same mix of hard climbs, sweet descents and good vibes."
For further details, including an entry form, visit the official event web site at www.strathpuffer.co.uk
Following hot upon the sell out success of the Scottish Premiere of
Roam at the Glasgow Film Theatre in May of this year, the inaugural
Glasgow International Bike Film Festival programme has now been
confirmed.
Running from the 4th to the 12th of October at the Glasgow Film Theatre
in Glasgow, the Festival will feature a European Cinema Premiere, two
UK Premieres and a unique opportunity to meet top trials rider Ryan
Leech. The Festival aims to cater to all tastes and act as a showcase
for some of the worlds most talented riders and film makers.
The programme will include....
We've got two free tickets to give away to this year's Cycle Show at ExCeL in London, which is taking place from Friday 6th to Sunday 8th October.
If you're a member of MTB Scotland and would like the chance to win both tickets, you'll find further details in the General Forum.
Many thanks to the nice people at Upper Street Events for sending us the tickets.
Buff - the
original multifunctional headwear - has today (22nd August 2006) been
announced as the latest lifetime sponsor of MTB Scotland.
The Buff is
a uniquely versatile garment that achieves a high level of comfort and
protection from the elements. It can be worn as a bandana, sun-guard,
thermal scarf, beanie, foulard, balaclava, headband, scrunchie,
wristband, helmet-liner, muffler or dust screen and the list goes on.
Buff joins the ranks of Endura and Revolution, who have both been sponsoring the site since before its launch earlier this year.
Commenting on the development, MTB Scotland's Editor Iain Harper said, "We're really pleased that Buff
have decided to support MTB Scotland. The Buff is a great product that
everyone knows and loves, and having another brand like this on board
can only add to our growing credibility as a leading online destination
for mountain bikers interested in riding in Scotland. It is only
through the support of our sponsors that MTB Scotland is able to remain
an advertising-free zone."
Members of the site, who are automatically eligible to win in the monthly prize draw, will now also have the regular chance to get their hands on a free Buff.
The new relationship with Buff means that MTB Scotland now has only one lifetime sponsorship opportunity still available for a suitable brand.
Congratulations to Horse1874 (as he's known in the forums) and Gary Fairley who've won the latest prize draw. Horse gets an Endura Cirrus Shirt and Gary will receive a Tune Up Tool Kit courtesy of Revolution.
There was a gap in prize draws over the summer due to a combination of holidays and other lame excuses, but the normal monthly draw
will resume at the end of August. This month there's another Tool Kit
from Revolution up for grabs, along with an Endura Zytech T-Shirt.
Simon_Brooke writes "Twenty-seven cyclists in seven teams competed in this year's Stewartry
Wheelers 7/24 Challenge, starting from Glentrool in Wigtownshire on
Saturday at 11am and finishing in Glentress, Peebleshire. The event
takes the teams across 400 kilometers and all seven 7stanes centres.
All seven teams successfully met the challenge, completing the course
inside 24 hours. The teams taking part were: Stewartry Wheelers
Robertson Gemini Upstart Solutions Galloway Mountain Rescue Team 1
Galloway Mountain Rescue Team 2 Insomniacs Males on Wheels Despite two
injuries - Liam Warner (Stewartry Wheelers) fell on the Kirroughtree
black route and was forced to retire, and David Tyson (Galloway
Mountain Rescue Team 1) was knocked off his bike by a dog on the
Kirroughtree to Dalbeattie stage and suffered a broken arm - the event
was an outstanding success. Event organiser Simon Brooke said "this is
not a race. The teams are each setting out to meet a challenge: to
complete the course inside the deadline. I'm delighted that everybody
succeeded - everybody won - that a new course record of 17 hours 44
minutes was set, and that four teams beat last year's record time of 21
hours 5 minutes. It's a real achievement for everyone who took part."
Stewartry Wheelers are grateful for the support of Upstart Solutions,
Castle Douglas Cycle Centre, and Scaffie Ltd, without which the event
would not have been possible. We're also extremely grateful to the
volunteers who manned the control checkpoints."
The new Fallin Bike Recycling Project is being launched on Saturday 10th June.
If you would like to have a look at their new workshop, hear all about
the project, and maybe drop off any unwanted bikes you might have to
donate, you're invited to head along between 12pm and 2pm. There will
be some bikes for sale on the day too.
The Bike Recycling Project is located at just outside Stirling at Unit 3, Polmaise Park,
Stirling Road, Fallin (Polmaise Park is on the right hand side,
opposite Precision Engineering).
The sun finally came out this afternoon (28th May) to a grateful crowd
massed around the finish area and the entire length of the Aonach Mor
course for the final of the Downhill event.
In the women's race, Tracy Moseley destroyed the competition with a
winning time of 5:12.05, some 7.58 secs ahead of Rachel Atherton.
Sabrina Jonnier of France came third, with Helen Gaskell 4th.
Then to draw the 2006 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup to a close,
Australian Sam Hill clinched victory from Frenchman Cedric Gracia by
1.26 secs, finishing in a time of 4:25.33. Greg Minnaar from South
Africa came third, followed by British trio Steve Peat (4th), Gee
Atherton (5th), and Marc Beaumont (6th).
All in all, its been a fantastic weekend of racing. Roll on 2007!
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