Well, it would appear my concerns about a lack of progress on who would run the 2008 British Mountain Bike XC/National Points Series were unfounded, with the announcement that Thetford MTB Racing (http://www.thetfordmtbracing.com) will be taking over from Martyn Salt and his Inevent team.
I know how well run events managed by Frank and Paul etc. from Thetford can be, both from the Marin Winter Series enduro races and from Dusk 'Til Dawn, and am sure the series is in safe hands for 2008. It will be interesting to see which venues are selected, especially if, as suggested, there will be a return to Scotland for one of the rounds.
2008 will be a massive year for XC racing, in particular because of the Olympics, but also at national level. It looks fairly certain that there will be 2 Elite Men riding in GB colours in Beijing, with Liam Killeen and Oli Beckingsale the most likely candidates. Oli deserves to ride in China for the amount of travel he did in 2007 alone while chasing UCI qualification points! If Oli gets back to his 2005 and 2006 form, and Liam is fully fit, I am hopeful GBR will have a chance of some high finishes, not only in the Olympics, but in Italy at the Worlds, on a climber's course which should suit Oli.
At national level, particularly amongst the Elite Women, the competition is really heating up, with Amy Hunt now a real challenger to Jenny Copnall as British #1, and hopefully there will be more world class racers like Rosara Joseph (pictured) and Mary McConneloug making the trip to race in the UK.
On a personal note, I've not been out on the bike as much I would like, but riding round Richmond Park in SW London at night is a far better experience than during the day, with no pedestrians or dogs to slow down for! I've finally got round to putting more air in my forks so will start experimenting with the best pressures from now on.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment