On the site this week, there’s all the action from a great Easter Weekend. With both the Mountain Bike Downhill and Cross-Country national series getting underway it was quite a weekend for the off-road fraternity. We had hoped to have detailed reports from Plymouth and the first Cross-country event, but our correspondent went down with a serious bug on the Friday. He’ll be back in action at the second rounds of both series in May, but in the meantime there are links to full results from Plymouth and Ae Forest on the site. The weekend also saw the Track World Cup circus visit Manchester and we have several hundred photos from the event on the site, along with detailed results and some excellent interviews. Watch out too for reports from the Girvan stage race in Scotland. GO THERE .>>>

Last weekend saw the beginning of a new era in Cross-Country National Series racing in the UK, with the launch of the Premier Mountain Bike series, incorporating the traditional NPS events (day 1), a new Short-Track knockout event (day 1, evening) and the equally new Trek 6-4-2 Enduro series (day 2). Round one in Plymouth used the classic setting of several previous World Cup events, Newnham Park, and was a great success for the big fields contesting all three disciplines.

The Short-Track in particular produced some very enjoyable racing, lots of incident and noisy crowds. Cross-Country riders are used to suffering for hours on end and the shorter format really seemed to be a refreshing change for the riders, who went off in 8-man/woman heats, with the top four going through to the quarterfinals and so on to the big final. The final itself was won by Jody Crawforth, from Nick Craig and Ian Wilkinson. With the races over two laps of a winding, grassy 300m course, all the action was over in about a minute and the whole event in an hour. There were smiles on faces all round and many were clearly looking forward to the next round in early May.

The other new event, the 6-4-2 enduro saw a really good turnout for all three classes. For those not in the know, the format sees riders starting at 10 for the six-hour event, at 12 noon for the four hour and 2pm for the two hour, all finishing together at 4pm. With the course extended from the NPS the day before to a full 9 miles per lap, with lots of rolling single-track, it was a hugely enjoyable experience for all involved and much more laid back than the previous day’s events.

With Trek’s new sponsorship yielding excellent prizes (cash in NPS and Short-track and product in the enduro), an impressive start/finish area and a fleet of test bikes, not to mention the presence of Keith Bontrager and Gary fisher, who both rode the enduro, it really did feel like the beginning of a new era. The next race is at Drumlanrig, Dumfries over the 8 and 9 of May. Entry forms are available on the britishcycling.org.uk website at http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/disciplines/mtb/entry_form_npsxc04.pdf GO THERE >>>

LINCOLN GP SAVED BY NEW SPONSOR

Building and Plant specialists, The Lindum Group, have come to the aid of the Lincoln Grand Prix as a major sponsor. The annual race will be taking place for its 49th time on Sunday May 9th and was faced with an increasing budget to maintain its international status and meet increased policing costs. Lindum’s support together with that of additional new sponsor Lincolnshire Co-operative has ensured that the race will continue as it looks forward to it Golden Anniversary in 2005. The Lindum Group and Lincolnshire Co-operative join existing sponsors NatWest Bank who have increased their support this year and The Lincolnshire Echo who continue their existing support and the production of the race programme. Ian Emmerson, the Race Organiser, welcomed both the new sponsorship and the continuation of existing supporters, saying “ This commitment by major companies will allow the continued development of the event in the City’s calendar and will bring many foreign visitors to the City who will return home with an excellent impression of Lincoln, both as a tourist attraction and as a major sporting venue.” The race will again be on its usual circuit, starting from Yarborough Leisure Centre at 11.30 am and finishing at around 3.30 pm in Castle Square after 13 laps of the circuit which takes the event out to Burton village and back through Lincoln’s historic tourist area.

BIKE SHOW CIRCUIT CUP CYCLE RACES

This weekend sees The Bike Show filling three complete halls at The NEC, Birmingham between 16 and 18 April. The show includes action from both off and on road disciplines and three Crit races on the Saturday at 11am, 12 noon and culminating in the 3pm Bike Show Circuit Cup Race. Top riders entered include Tony Gibb, Julian Winn, Malcolm Elliott, Huw Pritchard, Bryan Steel, James Taylor, Russell Downing, Dean Downing, Robin Sharman, Kristian House, Shaun Snodden, James Notley and Edward Clancy.

BIKE SHOW CIRCUIT CUP CYCLE RACES

BMX THIS WEEKEND

Braintree BMX Event - Track Address Deanery Hill, Braintree - Tel Julie Watts 01376 346523

East Anglia's first round of the Summer Regional series is set for Braintree this weekend. Braintree remains one of the Uk's most popular clubs and has a recently improved track. Here's some details of the East Anglia Series: Riders need to compete in 6 rounds to qualify for a trophy. A rider’s best 6 results will go towards their end of series ranking. Riders need to compete in a minimum of 4 events to qualify for the British Championships. Registration closes at 11 am and racing starts at Midday. Please check event status with the EA Regional hotline before setting off, as bad weather may prevent a race - 01449 722115. Parking costs £2.00 at all rounds. GO THERE >>>

The first round of the ever popular Scottish Downhill Series visits Laggan this Sunday. It's a big year for Scottish Mountainbiking with a great XC series, a full to capacity Downhill series, the National Championships in XC, DH and 4X and not forgetting the UCI World Cup. See below for contact and race schedule information for the first round:

Event info: Practice Saturday 9.30am until 4.00pm - Practice Sunday 8.30am until 11.30am - Racing Sunday Midday until finish - Contact Denise Reid by email on: denise.reid1@btopenworld.com or Stuart Ruffell on SRuffell@aol.com or 0781 7040679

FORT WILLIAM SXC CROSS-COUNTRY RACE

Round 2 of the Scottish SXC Cross Country Mountain Bike XC series takes place on Sunday 25th April and it provides a great chance to race the World Cup course and prepare for the British Champs. If you are a little less ambitious this is the perfect opportunity to experience the now famous Witches Trail. Full details and entry forms are available on the website http://www.sxc.org.uk/main.asp. Advance entries are accepted up to 1 week before the event though entry on the day is OK but at an extra cost of £5 (fun and school categories exempt). This is an opportunity not to be missed. After all if the World Cup Organisation rates this course as worth a repeat visit in consecutive years the course must be something special. The facilities and scenery are not bad too! GO THERE >>>

April 18 sees SIMBA XC Round 1 Dalby Forest near Pickering, North Yorks - It's great to have the Simba series back for 2004 catering for riders of all ages and abilities. All 2004 rounds are running at Dalby Forest and directions can be found on the Simba website. Grass roots is where it's at. XC racing doesn't get much cheaper than this. Event info: Format All classes up to Veteran - Sign on Received 4 days before event or from 9.30am, Cost £5.00 or £8.00 for kids and £15.00 for adults - Racing Between 10.30am and 11.40am. Contact Sue Imeson on 01904 426918 / 07718 108460 or Email: simbaevents@hotmail.com GO THERE >>>

THE BLACKMILL MTB ENDURO

The Blackmill Rat Run MTB Enduro takes place at Blackmill, Bridgend this Sunday. The social ride will take place over a distance of 60 kilometres and cater for male and female riders who are 18 years of age and above. For information, call John Lusardi on 01656 842645 or go to the event website: www.badbikes.org.uk

BRIGHTON MITRE JUMBLE SALE
The Brighton Mitre Jumble Sale is to be held at the Steyning Centre, Steyning, Sussex on 22nd May. Parking for 200+. Open to stall holders at 0700, public 0900. Tables provided £6 each. Event includes Mountain Bike Treasure Hunt & BBQ. Call Pete 01273 561985 for more details.

BIRKENHEAD PARK ROAD RACE SERIES

Birkenhead Park Road Race Series [10 events] kicks off on Thursday 22nd April at 6.30pm for Youth riders and 7pm for Junior and Senior riders and will be held every fortnight until August. It should be fast and furious racing around the tight top section of the park so come on down and have a go. The event HQ is at the Birkenhead Park Rugby Club for signing on and changing. Despite being a closed circuit it is still necessary to have 9 marshals around the course therefore if you can provide a marshal for the evening you will receive FREE entry to the event. Marshals must arrive by 6.15pm and stay for the entire event [not just one race]. Allocation of free entries will be on a first come first served basis and based on requirements. For more info please contact MAILTO:paul@chesterroadclub.co.uk .

BC ROAD & TRACK CALENDAR AMENDMENTS, ADDITIONS & CANCELLATIONS

Racing starts at 1300. Organiser is Nicola Schils - 01206 212507 or interbikes@aol.com

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BRITISHCYCLING.ORG.UK

LINCOLN GP SAVED BY NEW SPONSOR

BIKE SHOW CIRCUIT CUP CYCLE RACES

BIKE SHOW CIRCUIT CUP CYCLE RACES

BMX THIS WEEKEND

FORT WILLIAM SXC CROSS-COUNTRY RACE

THE BLACKMILL MTB ENDURO

BIRKENHEAD PARK ROAD RACE SERIES

BC ROAD & TRACK CALENDAR AMENDMENTS, ADDITIONS & CANCELLATIONS