This Saturday we are holding the MTB club championships at Checkendon, and details of the event are below. There are quite a few things to cover/inform you about.

Firstly, as with the club circuit champs, this event is also an inter-club race. We have over 80 riders coming from Hillingdon Slipstreamers, Summit MTB and Zappi’s Arrows along with PPV. Please make all the riders from other clubs very welcome.

The event is taking place in Checkendon, Oxfordshire, and the location can be seen at https://goo.gl/maps/B9Pb5Mh8Vnz. The entrance to the course and parking is on the road between the A4074 and Checkendon village (on your left if coming from the A4074), through a farm gate. We will have signs up, but keep an eye for the turning as it is tucked into the hedge and the turning is tight.

We have lots of parking available in the field in front of the course. Either park to the left/right as you come into the field, or head down until you reach the course and park by the tape. Please don’t drive down past the tape towards the start/finish area — any cars you see there have been parked to unload equipment for the event.

Toilets (portaloos) are available by the edge of the course in the parking area.

Due to the location we don’t have any power, so unfortunately won’t be able to offer refreshments on the day. Please feel free to bring your own, and a chair or two, and sit and watch the racing. With lots of riders on the course it should be very exciting, even in the start/finish arena.

Sign-on costs are £2 for U6/U8 and £4 for U12 and above.

We have two courses for riders, which will be used by different age categories, and all races make use of the start/finish arena. The short course uses the first woods with some single track, a few obstacles, and a bit of mud(!), before looping back to the start/finish. The main course uses part of the short course, before heading out to a further wood via some flat drags alongside fields. The course has lots of single track and sneaky roots to watch out for, and is 3.3miles in length with only 75ft of climbing. It is recommended that all age categories familiarise themselves with the course before the racing starts, but you might only want to do 1 lap of the main course in your pre-ride!

Marshalls will be dotted around the course, so if you get into trouble one should be nearby.

Finally, just a reminder about the rules in MTB regarding technical assistance. There will be a pit/technical area situated by the start finish line where you can leave tools etc if you need (this only really applies to U14/U16s who are doing 2 laps). If you have a mechanical or puncture out on the course you cannot cut the course to get back to the pits quicker — you have to ride/run around the course. You can fix the problem yourself out on the course if you are able, or return to the pits via the course and repair it there. You cannot swap bikes, and only you (the rider) can touch the bike and repair it.

The event timetable is as follows:

9:00
Sign-on opens
Course open for pre-ride

10:00
U6 = 2 laps of short course

10.15
U8 = 3 laps of short course

10.45
U16 = 2 laps of main course

10.47
U14 = 2 laps of main course

10.49
U12 = 1 lap of main course

10.51
U10 = 1 lap of main course

11:45 (approx) Podiums for all categories (these are podiums for each race, not PPV only podiums)

12:10 Fun XC Eliminator races

After the racing is finished, and as we have the venue, we are planning to hold some fun XC eliminator relay style races. You don’t have to stay around for these if you don’t want to, but if you are here then feel free to join in. There will be no prizes, as its just for fun!

If you have any questions please let us know!

Thanks
Matt, Fiona and Chris