Mountain Bikes

Halifax Sailing Club

Mountain Bike Challenge

22nd May 2011

For more information contact mbc@halifaxsailingclub.org.uk

HxSC 2011 Mountain Bike Challenge

Near gale force winds and rain showers may have reduced the entry this year, however 102 brave and hardy souls started the two courses, a 20 mile sport course for the fit and a 25 mile elite course for the super fit. Congratulations go to all who took part and finished. Just getting round the course this year was a serious challenge.

Both rides were through the beautiful South Pennine Hills on a combination of demanding off road terrain, local roads and lanes. The courses started at the clubhouse and were routed via Ogden Reservoir, towards Oxenhope and Hebden Bridge. Both routes offered excellent mountain biking, great views and plenty of good clean (and sometimes definitely not so clean) fun! Though this Sunday, I doubt if much time was taken to enjoy the views!

Image © Steve Davison 2011

Image © John Midgley 2011

This was the fifth year of the Halifax Sailing Club Mountain Bike Challenge and was run under grey skies, showers and strong winds of more 35mph. We received more than one complaint that it was unfair to have to peddle downhill as well as up!

Image © Adam North 2010

Of the 102 riders who set out,

all but 2 completed the course.

As far as we know, there were no major mishaps this year, which is always good news.

A massive thank you to all the Riders who took part in this years event and special thanks to all club members for the assistance given.

Once again the event has been a tremendous success and we look forward to seeing you all again next year.

2011 Event Map

Download this years map of the course

to see where you went!

Jack Clarkson

John Hardy

Simon Rodgers

Our thanks go to the

Calder Valley Search and Rescue team

who provide support for our event

If you are a mountain biker and have just completed this challenge then clearly you enjoy the excitement and thrills that this sport can provide. For more of the same why not try windsurfing or dinghy sailing.

Read on........

First to the finishing line this year was Jack Clarkson on the 25 mile course with an impressive time of 2hrs 12min, followed by John Hardy (20 mile) and Simon Rodgers (25 mile) both finishing in 2hrs 14 min.

FEEDBACK

If you have taken part in one of our mountain bike events,

we hope you have enjoyed the experience. We try our best to make this an enjoyable and fun day and of course its great to receive comments like those printed here. But if you have any comments, good or bad, please let us know.

Please email mbc@halifaxsailingclub.org.uk

This year Ian Dury said:- A big thank you to everyone who organised the Mountain bike challenge on Sunday. It was my first time at this event & I really enjoyed it. Please pass on my thanks to everyone who helped & I hope to see you next year

And from Chris Wilkinson:- Brilliant. That's all I can say about today's event. From arriving and finding it easy to park, signing on quickly and the lining up for the pre-race brief, all done with no fuss. The simple airhorn and "off you go" start was refreshingly simple too.
The course is excellent. Just enough of everything, steep climbs, lovely moorland singletrack, steep technical descents and a bit of road to rest on.
In the wind today, the 20 was worth at least 25 miles, so those that did the 25 did the equivalent of 30 easily. Glad I choose the 20 :)
The marshals were all great, showing the way and watching out for us.
Finally to the finish. A warm welcome, quality t-shirt, certificate and as much tea and cake as I could eat. Awesome.
Thanks so much for a great ride.
See you next year.

For more information contact mbc@halifaxsailingclub.org.uk

Leeds Mountain Bikers and Cyclists

Results and Galleries
2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Galleries	Galleries	Galleries	Galleries	Galleries
25 mile course	25 mile course	25 mile course	25 mile course	25 mile course
20 mile course	20 mile course	20 mile course	20 mile course	20 mile course