“All you need is a mountain bike, a helmet and the heart of a lion!” said organiser, Jonathan Jones from Borderland Rotary.
Snap out of those winter blues, snap on the Lycra and mark Saturday 2nd May in your diary for the Dairi-Pak Mountain Bike Challenge, a 22 mile adventure MTB ride through the beautiful Berwyn Mountains and, while you’re warming up, spare a thought for the brave souls who are currently cycling the course so that it appears on our Strava group page.
James Davies, from Mule Cycles Cafe in Oswestry, who posted the quickest time last year said, “This is a great ride for all abilities especially if you fancy a bit of cross country adventure on natural trails”
The sponsorship by Dairi-Pak Ltd of Ruyton-XI-Towns means that All donations will go to charity. Dairi-Pak’s late founder, Brian Gray, was a member of Oswestry Borderland Rotary and pivotal in creating this event back in the early 1990’s. Dairi-Pak have sponsored the event ever since and Brian, a keen mountain biker himself, cycled the event until well into his 70’s, whilst his son Tim, along with several of his Dairi-Pak colleagues, have ridden (and continue to ride) the event.
Tim Gray said “We are so proud of our history with the Dairi-Pak Mountain Bike Challenge. It is a ride that is well respected locally and within the MTB community and has raised over £100,000 for local charities”.
Borderland Rotary Club, who organise the event, will set up the start and finish at Rhiwlas Village Hall, SY10 7JQ (just west of Oswestry) with the marshalled course weaving up hill and down dale, over streams, up steep banks and down rocky tracks. Jonathan Jones said, “We are very grateful to all the farmers and landowners who kindly allow us to cross their, normally unaccusable, land to make this such a unique and exciting experience for the riders. We’ve had to limit it to 200 riders this year, so get in quick – register today!” He continued, “We couldn’t stage this event without the help and support of our title sponsor, Dairi-Pak, all the Borderland Rotary volunteers who not only marshal the event but also provide catering and general logistics. We’d also like to thank St Johns Ambulance and Raynet, the communications-hub”.
Mountain bikers as well as local residents rely on the amazing service provided by the Air Ambulance, so it is only fitting that the charity continues to benefit from this event.
There is a limit of 200 entries so go register at http://www.borderlandrotary.co.uk/bikeride.php , follow on Facebook: Borderland Mountain Bike Challenge or Twitter: @Dairi_pakMTB
Pictured: Dairi-Pak_Challenge group shot.
Pictured: L-R Shane Griffiths Tim Gray Sarah Glover.
