Maybe you’ve had a Fling every year or maybe it’s your first. Either way only a Briars Highland Fling can satisfy that itch. Celebrating seven years in 2011, The Briars Highland Fling mountain bike marathon, starting and finishing in the beautiful village of Bundanoon in the Southern Highlands of NSW, will open for entries at 7:07am on Thursday 7th July 2011.
Riders can enter the Full Fling (solo 110km), Half Fling (solo 55km), Flinging Threesome (relay style teams of 3). Or kiss and tell with an entry in the 100Mile Fling option (165km) or for those just testing this fling thing there’s the Casual Fling (14km) untimed participation ride.
The big news, hot off the press is that The Briars Hotel, a well known Southern Highlands hotel and restaurant has just signed up as Headline Sponsor for the event which will now be known as The Briars Highland Fling. More details will be released soon.
The Briars Highland Fling, which in 2011 takes place on 12-13 November, follows a unique route that passes through private farmland tracks, Penrose and Wingello State Forests, and local villages. Riders will encounter singletrack, open paddock, rough 4WD track, dirt roads and a tiny section of sealed road.
The 2300 metres of enjoyable climbing gives spectacular views and a sweet 2300 metres of downhill.
The Briars Highland Fling is one of Australia’s biggest mountain bike events with 2000 riders. In 2011 it also forms part of the Real Insurance MTB Marathon Series, put together by CycleNation. This is the fifth event of the series, and may well change the overall lead. Racers need to compete in three events to qualify for the series. No doubt we will have new leaders in the run up to the Fling.
Find out more about The Briars Highland Fling at the event website
We will have to wait to see who gets an entry, but it’s safe to say a lot of the top 10 from last year across all categories will be giving the race a crack again this year. Plus another couple of thousand Martathon Mountain Bike racers.