.png)
Happy new year XC racers, welcome to 2020 - we hope you've had a good winter and you're getting yourself ready for the coming mountain bike season!
Our 2020 series events are now live on British Cycling and ready for entry. Round 1, at last year's smash-hit debutant Beecraigs Country Park up above Linlithgow, is only about eight weeks away - not long now!
Click here to start your 2020 mountain bike race season!
So what's new for your award-winning* SXC series then?
This year we're going to visit a couple of old friends, with trips to Drumlanrig Castle down near Dumfries and Blairadam Forest near Dunfermline. These spots need no introduction for many of you, but if you've not had the chance to visit one of them, and you like mucking about in the woods on your bike, then you're in for a treat!
For the second year in row, the series is being generously supported by our headline sponsor Shimano. In addition to providing first class technical support for all riders at each round (just go and see them in their blue gazebo, they're lovely!) Shimano's sponsorship is allowing us to reduce entry fees again. We think it makes sense to spread the benefit of their support to the whole SXC community, and we're delighted to be able to do this.
We also have a new category this season - Young Taster. This is a one-lap come-and-try-it taster race for any rider in the 12-17 age bracket (too old for under 12, too young for Female/Male Taster) who wants to give XC racing a shot but perhaps hasn't done it before or is a little apprehensive about jumping straight into the established juvenile/youth/junior categories. This is ideal for any young people looking to try it out!
* yeah, this one!
Wait a minute - where's round 3??
Well.. hopefully you've worked it out already, but this year Scotland is hosting a round of the HSBC UK National XC series!
On the weekend of May 9/10 at Glentress Forest we're planning a joint SXC/BMBS round that'll be round 3 of both series. This means that you'll gain series points for both the SXC and BMBS series from the same race.
We've got a lot of work to do to make sure all this runs smoothly, but we're on it! Bank holiday weekend, it's going to be big...
Have your say!
The annual SXC annual general meeting will take place at the Maureen Cope community hall, at the bottom of the hill at Cathkin Braes (here), on Saturday Jan 25, from 11 til 1.
Everyone's welcome - rider, helper, spectator, parent, sponsor or anyone else interested. Come and hear what we're up to and get involved!
Details here.