Report: Merida Marathon Round 2
Source: MTB Marathon
Posted: 21st May 2009
The latest report from Mike Wilkens of MTB Marathon, following Round 2 of the '09 Merida Marathon Series from Crickhowell, South Wales.
We have just returned from the 2nd round of the Merida Bikes MTB powered by MBUK Marathon Series 2009 which was hosted at the new location of the Glanusk Estate in Crickhowell giving all that took part four never before used courses. The weather turned the already challenging trails into an extra tough ride but that didn't stop almost 900 riders entering the event.
2nd round of the Merida Bikes MTB Powered by MBUK Marathon Series - Crickhowell on the 17th May 2009
John has been looking at the area surrounding Crickhowell which sits between the softly rounded Black Mountains and the dramatic Brecon Beacons for some time and this year he finally managed to include this fantastic location into the series. With the weather offering everything in between warm sunny spells and rain all day on Saturday and even added hail storms to the line-up on Sunday the riders had a real challenge on their hands.
The 10am start on Sunday morning was as always a mass start affair which took the rider through the beautiful Glanusk estate, followed by promenading through Crickhowell before heading up into the hills. The 1st rider on the 35km long mini marathon came over the line in just over two hours while the last riders on the full (80km) marathon made it back into the event village at 6.14pm after 8 hours and 14 minutes on the trails.
Even with the heavy downpours the courses held up pretty well giving us confidence that Crickhowell is going to stay in the series for years to come.
With the 2nd event now being 'done and dusted' our attention goes towards the next new location in the series and the first round of the Gore Bike Wear Powered by Road CC Sportive Series 2009 - Llanwrtyd Wells. So if you enjoyed what John put together in Crickhowell wait till you get to Llanwrtyd Wells�€�it is amazing!
Watch the action and the scenery on MTB-Marathon.co.uk
For the 1st time we have real 'moving' footage from out on the trail. Alan Dupre rode more or less the entire event with a handlebar cam and put a nice 10minute clip together. Check it out on our news pages: http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/home/news1.php#200910.
The next round of the Merida Bikes MTB Powered by MBUKMarathon Series - Llanwrtyd Wells 5th July 2009
Llanwrtyd Wells is the place where John Lloyd got introduced to mountain biking and where he spend the first few years of his riding career. The area is littered with natural and purpose built trails and will offer something challenging and enjoyable to riders of all abilities. As always we will have four courses on offer starting with the Mini Marathon (approx. 26km with 950m of climbing), followed by the Half Marathon (approx. 50km with 1950m of climbing) and the Middle Marathon (approx. 70km with 2600m of climbing) all the way to Full Marathon (approx. 80km with 2750m of climbing).
You can find all the details including further course details on the Llanwrtyd Wells mountain bike rides on our event page:http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/llanwrtyd_wells.php. To secure your entry for the mountain bike marathon please go to the entry page: http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/entry_forms/entry_forms.php.
But there is more going on at the 3rd round of the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series 2009 than just some fantastic mountain biking.
1st round of the Gore Bike Wear Powered by Road CC Road Sportive Series 2009 - Llanwrtyd Wells 4th July 2009
As you probably know following last years introduction the Gore Bike Wear Road Sportive Series will return in 2009 and will kick off on the 4th July in Llanwrtyd Wells. The sportive is based at the same event village and campground as the marathon - the only difference is it takes place on the Saturday. If you haven't tried a sportive and want to find out more what our take on this growing part of the sport is please go to our sportive website:http://www.gorebikewearsportives.com/.
The 1st round in Llanwrtyd Wells will have two challenging course on offer. The standard sportive with 50 miles and 1,600 meters of climbing and the classic sportive with 90 miles and 2,600 meters of climbing.
For more details on the 1st round of the Gore Bike Wear Road Sportive Series 2009 including profiles and course details please go to http://www.gorebikewearsportives.com/llanwrtyd_wells.php. To enter the sportives please go to the entry page on our sportive site: http://www.gorebikewearsportives.com/entry.php.
Weekend ticket at next round
Don't forget that if you interested in entering both events over the weekend that there is a £ 10 discount to be had.
Photos and website updates
Our event photographer Jon Brooke and his colleague Lauris Naglins were again on site as well as on course taking pictures of pretty much everybody. So just go onto Jon's website - http://www.rightplacerighttime.co.uk/ and you can find your photos there to view or buy. We have also made some further updates to the http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/ site so keep an eye on the news in the top left hand corner.
