The 7th edition of the Briar’s Highland Fling was everything I expected it to be: hilly, hot, and hard. Whilst it was warm, temperatures were significantly more bearable than last year, which made for more enjoyable riding, especially at the back-end of the race. I had set myself a plan of a sub-5h time for […]
Archives for November 2011
Kath Bicknell: Fully Flung
A 100ker as a female racer brings with it some different tactics to those you sometimes hear about from the Elite Blokes. Longer race times mean different nutrition plans and a longer recovery period, smaller bikes often allow less space for biddons, a thinner rider density makes for multiple individual time trials and, while most […]
Justin Morris: One last Fling…
The Briars Highland Fling, now in its 7th year, is always a well run, competitive and difficult race. This year was no exception, in fact with the inclusion of the Real Insurance XCM series, this years edition was seemingly super fast. In the elite category there was big money on the line. After having not […]
Briar’s Highland Fling – Mates that don’t wait
This post has been provided by Kristen Pimpini. Waking up this morning, I wasn’t excited about the 100k Fling ahead of me, I had visions of me faltering on Broke Back Mountain or “Grass Ventuoux” as we call it, having to push my bike to the top and being passed by all my mates who […]
The Imperial Fling – A Sideshow?
Returning to a tough event is just as mentally challenging as it is physically. One year ago, asking MarathonMTB.com Team rider Graeme Arnott if he would return to the 100 mile Fling in 2011 (after winning in 2010), he paused. “No, I don’t think so. I know how hard it is now, and I can’t […]
Real Insurance XCM Series: Briar’s Highland Fling
Dylan Cooper (Trek) has taken out the inaugural Real Insurance XCM Series after beating Ben Mather (Avanti Plus)and Matt Fleming (Rockstar Racing) at the Briars Highland Fling. In a thrilling finish, Cooper finished just one one hundredth of a second in front of Ben Mather in the final round of the Real Insurance XCM Series. […]
Andy Blair – Highland Fling Preview
The following has been provided by Swell-Redshift racer Andy BlairWith winning form from the Cape to Cape Stage Race, strong local knowledge, and a desire to win – he has some unique insights into this weekends Briar’s Highland Fling. His knowledge of the field and various riders strengths and weaknesses is unsurpassed. The real insurance […]
Will Hayter’s blog: getting ready for winter
Two weeks ago, in mid-October, I competed in an enduro MTB race – the Ritchey Oktoberfest, in Bristol in south-west England. At the end the race, I got off my bike and put it straight in the car, still as clean as when I got onto it eight hours earlier. In some countries, that might […]
The Gong Ride – raising money and raising form
Cyclists are notoriously underwhelmed about their current level of fitness. This surprises me, especially given how much easier I find it to climb stairs, or double time it on foot, compared to many non-athletic mates. Still, if you keep your ears open at any bike event before the gun goes off, the number of people […]
Briar’s Highland Fling: The Real Insurance Show Down
On Sunday 13 November more than 2,000 competitors will compete in the Briars Highland Fling, the final round of the inaugural Real Insurance XCM Series. After a tightly contested Series it will all come down to the final result for both the Real Insurance XCM Series competitors and the Half XCM Series competitors. With the […]