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Thinking of taking on a mountain bike marathon event? Want to make a weekend of it and enjoy the festival atmosphere of the riding community? Our supported riders Jane and Peter Squires recently took part in the Hope MTB Marathon in Builth Wells, in central Wales. Here’s Jane’s report from the weekend.
The organisers of the Hope MTB Marathons like to make a weekend of it so there was free camping for three nights with entertainment on the Saturday night. There was a women’s ride and kids’ skills sessions on the Saturday afternoon, and at this round of the 2023 Hope series there was a night ride for those wishing to participate.
Sunday dawned cold but sunny and bright with temperatures forecast to hit 15 degrees. Thankfully there had been no rain in recent days so the trails were running nice and dry. The grassy sections would have been hard work if it was wet!
Over 400 riders filled the start area and once the klaxon sounded the usual madness ensued with 100s of riders jostling for position on the first road section behind the lead vehicle. Things soon settled down on the first serious climb of the day. Then it was a case of up, down, up, down, on some lovely trails with fabulous scenery. There are three distances on these marathon events: “Full”, which is 62km and 1,800 metres of climbing; “Half”, which is 48k with 1,300 meters of climbing; then the “Mini”, which is around 25km and 700 meters of climbing.
Our goal was to get round without cramp or any other issues so we each had a plan to dial it down somewhat and fuel correctly. The feed stations were well stocked with Torq energy and the usual cake, sweets and bananas, and we had our own Torq snacks too. This worked well, with Peter doing the full route and finishing in 71st place (not that anyone’s counting!) and me doing the half and finishing 7th female. I had decided to do the half on this occasion as I hadn’t been able to prepare sufficiently for the full and wanted to complete the route with no after effects or illness.
Overall, it was a really great weekend made even better by the sunny weather. We’re looking forward to the next round in July in Minehead and hoping to do some cross country races in the meantime. We love these events and highly recommend having a go. The competition is great fun and adds another dimension to riding through beautiful scenery but it’s also brilliant getting away and spending time with like-minded people.
Find out more about the Hope MTB Marathon Series here. Thank you to MTB Marathon Series for the photos. Check out their Facebook and Instagram channels.
