Birchwood Bash MTB Event - Round 3 WM Series

Details

access_time Sunday 17th April 2016

place Birchwood

supervised_user_circle Hosted by Run and Ride

linkwww.runandride.co.uk

For round 3 of the WM series we stay in the Malvern area for another mtb event held in conjunction with Malvern Cycle Sport. Birchwood is situated in the small village of Storridge just 10 minutes away from Malvern.

Held in a small wooded area the Birchwood event is a singletrack riders dream. An exciting compact venue which is fantastic for racers and competitors alike. Expect a lots of up and down technical sections and fun switchback singletrack. The course will test riders technical ability through line choice and the ability to maintain speed rather than throwing riders off big drops.

Malvern Cycle Sport have been holding MTB events at the Birchwood venue for a few years. The private land means it's locked away from riders throughout the year so it's extra special that you get chance to ride the trails.

The venue it's self is situated to the south east of the Malvern Hills. Similar in terrain to Cannock Chase with wooded areas, rooty under tyre the venue offers a quality old school race experience. The guys at Malvern Cycle Sport are working hard on putting together a fantastic course that will suit all.

And for those who've attended a Cannock Classic in the past then you'll be pleased to hear we'll be bringing along the same relaxed, family atmosphere you find at those events to this one!

Categories remain un charged and remember each race now carries series points which count towards the overall standings

Event Details

At the venue you’ll find camping facilities, fresh water, plenty of parking just a short walk from the start. Great view points for spectators along with caterers and trade stands.

The race categories are designed to encourage close competitive racing regardless of what position you finish in. The breakdown of categories are as follows:

Beginners - Please before you enter this category ask yourself is this the right race for you. If you are fit and like and have any inclination to chase Strava times then this is not the right category for you. As the name suggests this is for beginners, new riders or those that just know they aren’t super fit but like to have a go

Fun - Next category up from beginners. This is the most popular category. It’s for those who may of raced before but want to just enjoy it and not really worry about how quick they are. You like to go fast but you don’t spend hours a week on the bike and don’t class yourself as “quick”

Enthusiast - For the guys who race a fair bit, spend al lot of time training and generally rip round. Ideal for any Vets, Sport and quick Junior riders Not a category for Elite or Expert riders. British Cycling points will be issued for Vets, Junior, Sport, Grand Vets based on your overall finishing position

Pro / Expert – Top level racing for the quickest guys around. British cycling points will be issued for Elite and Expert riders based on your overall position

Singlespeed / Fat Bike – once again we’re offering up a category for each

Worth a mention is that we've kept with the new U8's category alongside the already popular U10's and U13's races. The kids races have proved to be a massive success at every race we do. So much so we've had to reduce the entry capacity per race. If you have children who fit into this age group and enjoy riding their bike then we highly recommend you get them entered.

We want to encourage more women to give racing a chance, therefore we have made the decision to continue to subsidize the entry fee for the women’s categories

Race Timing

Timing's are taken on the day, providing a professional service which includes making results available for everybody quickly after their race / overall event.

Photography

We have a professional photographer onsite during to the day. Pictures will be available to purchase on the day or after the event

The Course

As for the course, expect a real mountain bike course. What do we mean by that? Well plenty of nice techy, but fast flowing single track. and some lung busting climbs mixed up with a few fire road sections. This event is held on private land so all the area is off limit to mountain bikers other than on race day. If you are a newcomer don't be put off by the "real mountain bike" talk. Our courses are 100% ride-able by all levels and we don't put anything too dangerous in the course, plus anywhere that has a difficult section in will have a 'chicken route' alternative. The course will be around 5 / 6km in length and take an average of 20mins (Top riders) 30mins (first timers) to complete. The course will be similar to this years Winter classic it terms of skill and how challenging the section are to complete