Nice mountains!!

The 2007 season and with the Merida Bike MTB Marathon series '07 is coming closer. With the recent introduction of the 1st English event of the series taking place in Penrith at the end of the Cumbria Bike Fest (7 - 13th May 2007) Merida now offer another big, new and clever event for the mountain bike, marathon and music lovers out there.

The Outsider

For 2007 the Merida series will join 'The Outsider' Festival (22 - 24th June 2007) - a major new annual event for Scotland. Held in stunning Rothiemurchus Forest, Cairngorm National Park, near Aviemore, it is a key element of Highland 2007, the year Scotland celebrates Highland culture. The Outsider will be a celebration of life, of landscape, of outdoor activities and the Highlands.

With a strong green agenda and set in one of the most pristine, natural and beautiful landscapes in Britain, The Outsider offers a brand new festival experience for the 21st century.

The Outsider will be the first festival to offer international music acts, sport, adventure, outdoor activities, nature, environment, health, good food, debate, film, comedy and cabaret, all in one weekend event. The Outsider is aimed to appeal not just to those who already participate in outdoors activities but to the much wider audience who enjoy and respect the environment, and also enjoy the celebratory atmosphere of outdoor festivals.

The Outsider is created and produced by Unique Events, Scotland's cutting edge event company who specialise in large-scale public events and festivals and are responsible for the world famous Edinburgh's Hogmanay.

Gorgeous views!!

Merida Marathon at the Outsider

The Merida Bikes MTB Marathon joins this outstanding event by being the sportive headliner. The terrain in and around Aviemore has some of the most amazing landscape and mountain bike trails in the UK. The 'Outsider' round of the Merida series will be held (contrary to all other UK events) on the Saturday (23rd June '07) and will offer the choice of three different distances. This enables all participants to enjoy some of the best riding of the series and follow it up with the chance to really enjoy the other activities and acts on offer at the festival.

International music acts and other sporting activities (i.e. 10km run) on top of an endless list of other offers available over the weekend will make this event well worth the trip. And the best is that through taking part in the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon the riders get an impressive discount on the normal festival ticket price. Tickets are available for the whole weekend or just for the Friday and Saturday.

We will add further details about this great addition to the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series with a full list of activities, music acts and everything else going on to the 'Outsider' page of the event website www.mtb-marathon.co.uk.

Entry details

Entry forms will be available on the www.mtb-marathon.co.uk. We'll keep you posted on the confirmation of dates and locations of the remaining four events of the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series 2007. More info about The Outsider Festival can be found at www.outsiderfestival.co.uk