In just a couple of days' time the Chain Reaction Cycles TransScotland (powered by Merida Bikes) will open its registration at the Rugby Club in Selkirk - the home of the Selkirk round of the Merida Marathon Series. With the Penrith round of the marathon series being completed our focus turns now entirely towards the upcoming TransScotland event. Preparations have been ongoing since we finished last year's TransWales but they have certainly come to a climax over the last few weeks.

Before we head up to Selkirk we want to give riders and non-riders a quick update on what is going to happen over the duration of the event. For that we have put a 'location plan' together which will give visitors, support crew and the riders the chance to plan their TransScotland trip.

Locations and stages for TransScotland 2007

Sat 26 May: START/REGISTRATION - Selkirk Rugby Club

Sun 27 May: DAY 1 - Start: Selkirk Rugby Club - Finish: Moffat Rugby Club, Holm Road, Moffat - Length of course: approx. 76km with 2,100m of climbing

Mon 28 May: DAY 2 - Start: Moffat Rugby Club - Finish: Drumlanrig Castle - Length of course: approx. 45km with 1,150m of climbing - special stage (afternoon) in Drumlanrig Woods

Tues 29 May: DAY 3 - Start: Drumlanrig Castle - Finish: Buittle Place Farm, Castle Douglas - Length of course: approx. 100km with 2,000m of climbing

Wed 30 May: DAY 4 - Special stage (morning) in Dalbeattie Forrest - Start (linking stage): Dalbeattie Forest - Finish: Lochhill Farm, New Abbey - Length of course: approx. 59km with 1,300m of climbing

Thurs 31 May: DAY 5 - Special stage (morning) in Mabie Forrest - Start (linking stage): Mabie Forrest - Finish: Moffat Rugby Club, Holm Road - Length of course: approx. 64km with 1,200m of climbing

Friday 1 June: DAY 6 - Start: Moffat Rugby Club - Finish: Glentress Bike Hub / trail head - Length of course: approx. 65km with 2,100m of climbing - special stage (night) in Glentress Forest

Sat 2 June: DAY 7 - Start: Glentress Bike Hub - Finish: Selkirk Rugby Club - Length of course: approx. 63km with 2,300m of climbing

Registration, timetable and location:

The registration of the Chain Reaction Cycles TransScotland will be based in the event village at the Selkirk Rugby Club. It will be signposted from Friday afternoon onwards. For all the GPS users the postcode is TD7 5AX.

The registration will be open from 12 noon - 8 pm on Saturday (23 May 2007). There is NO registration on Sunday morning. If you are delayed for whatever reason please ring us on 07976 586418. Please keep in mind that the registration process is a little bit more time consuming than at the Merida Bikes Marathons so we can only suggest to arrive fairly early to avoid long queues.

We will have the official welcome and the briefing just after 8pm so please make sure you stay around for that. The start of the first stage is on Sunday morning at 9am from the event village at the Selkirk Rugby Club.

Shuttle service

Due to the increase in riders from outside the UK we have put together a shuttle service from Edinburgh Airport to Selkirk and back which will run on 23 May (pickup from the airport) and on 3 June (drop at the airport). If you haven't booked yourself in please send an email to info@mtbtransuk.co.uk.

Goody bag

The event holdall will again be filled with a few bits and pieces and rather importantly with a bottle of The Mix Insect Bloc 100% natural insect repellent kindly donated by the guys from www.insectsolutions.co.uk. They will also join the event at 2-3 location to make sure that nobody runs out of this great repellent.

Scientific study

The guys from the University of Glasgow have joined forces with the Chain Reaction Cycles TransScotland stage challenge and will be conducting a scientific investigation over the duration of the event into the ability of several commercially available 'sports drinks' to: maintain hydration, provide energy and aid recovery during prolonged competition. They already managed to get quite a few guinea pigs on board but could do with a handful more. If you are interested and keen to get some free energy stuff and a detailed analysis of your fitness level make sure you get in touch with Dr Andrew Cathcart: A.Cathcart@bio.gla.ac.uk, Tel: 0141 330 2585 [Andy's also racing the event for Bikemagic - Ed].

Last minute preparations

Our website holds lots and lots of information about the upcoming event. Please make sure that you read the requirements page http://www.mtbtransuk.co.uk/scotland/requirements.php before you come up as well as the FAQs page (http://www.mtbtransuk.co.uk/scotland/faqs.php) as they will answer lots of questions you might still have.

Entries

If you'really keen you can enter on the day at the Rugby Club in Selkirk - please be aware that we don't have any credit or debit card facilities. If you want to make sure that entries are still available or if you want to check any other details please call 07976 586418.