This weekend sees the second round of the 2012 Chain Reaction Cycles MTB marathon series in Selkirk, Scotland; this round is special because it is also the British XCM championships, meaning that plenty of strong riders will be making the trip north and taking on everything the Borders can throw at them.
The UK has a real dearth of proper marathons, which makes this pretty special. Plenty of ‘non-competitive’ big rides, but not that many actual marathon races. Particularly not many which take in a single 85km loop. This area of southern Scotland is a real MTB heartland, with the trail centres at Glentress and Innerleithen nearby, so I have high hopes for the course.
Who to watch, then? There’s an interesting mix in the men’s race of recent ex-road pro Dan Fleeman, previously of the Cervelo Test Team and now riding for Cycle Shack / Forme Coaching; perennial competitor Nick Craig for Scott UK; erstwhile ABSA Cape Epic team-mates Ben Thomas for Mountain Trax and Josh Ibbett for USE / NorthFace / Santa Cruz; Matt Page of Wiggle; and 24-hour experts such as Ant White of Cannondale Racing. Should be an interesting line-up!
The women’s race includes luminaries such as Jane Nuessli, recently second place in the ABSA Cape Epic; and with no Sally Bigham in evidence, the field looks pretty wide open.
Given that April and early May have been wet even by British standards, the course certainly isn’t going to be bone dry; but we’re promised plenty of rocky, fast-draining terrain and singletrack, so hopefully it should still be pretty quick. With 3,000m of climbing over 85k, though, it’s not going to be an easy ride…
I’ll be representing MarathonMTB.com-Repack and reporting from the race. With the ABSA Cape Epic under my belt, plus a good number of road races to get that top end going, hopefully the ingredients are there for a decent performance. Let’s see!