The Marin Rough Ride

Sunday June 8th 2008

Photos by courtesy of Richard Sear www.diaryofamountainbiker.com

What is the route like?

The full route will again have around 7,000 feet of climbing, spread over approx. 75km, while the shorter route (48km) has over 4,000 feet of ascent. We check the route options during every kind of weather, and the tracks have remained entirely rideable, due to the free-draining nature of the terrain around here - so it should be a cracker in June. And for the past five years, riders have given us nothing but positive feedback - and every year more than half the field is made up of returners.

The route will share the character and many of the same moors that we have used in past years, but for 2008 Jeremy is again tinkering with options to keep it fresh, and again thanks to the support of local landowners for allowing this.

Most of the climbs and descents are on good quality moorland tracks. There are also one or two climbs on quiet country lanes, and a couple of short more technical descents. The vast majority of riding is across wild moorland with fantastic views on a variety of good surfaces. There are no forestry roads, no bike-carrying bogs and very little farmland.

Marshals will again be at gates and key junctions. Route arrows will be in place, backed up by a route map issued to each rider on registering at the event centre.

The event takes place in East Radnorshire on the English/Welsh border, just across the river Wye from the Brecon Beacons National Park. Its central location make it one of the most easily accessible areas of real mountain biking territory to the centre/south of the UK. For a graphical idea of where it is, follow this external link to a map provided by Multimap.

If you want to get more of an idea of what the area looks like, or would like to take the opportunity to do some riding in the area before the event or over the event weekend itself, then take a look at the routes section of www.roughrides.co.uk (particularly sections 1-3).

Refreshments will include drinks, cake, bananas etc, but you should also carry some food of your own, as you are in for a long day in the saddle, bacon sandwiches are additionally available to purchase at the long route lunch stop. The refreshment stops (one on each route) will be around the halfway point.

The Rough Ride isn't a race, we use bridleways, on which racing is illegal, we think what is important is having a cracking day out on your bikes. This doesn’t mean that we expect the event to be ridden at a pedestrian pace - it is entirely down to you to choose how to approach the day.