Bikes
We've got a hefty stash of long-awaited bikes with full tests coming up very shortly. More by luck than design, they cover a fairly broad spectrum of styles. At the racy end of XC we have Scott's new Spark carbon fibre full suspension bike. We've got a Spark 10, which is the "realistic" top of the range bike - there's the Limited too, but we don't expect to see ever so many of those about. Moving on, there's a brand-new Marin Mount Vision Pro here too. 5in of travel at each end and 26lb on our scales thanks to the full 2007 XTR groupset hanging off it. And at the big'n'bouncy end of the spectrum is Chumba Racing's 6in travel EVO all-mountain bike. We've built the test frame up with Saint stuff and a Magura Wotan fork - it ain't light, but so far it's a whole lot of fun. Finally there's kind of an antidote to all this technology in the shape of Genesis's Altitude 2 - it's an 853 steel hardtail with what ought to be a thoroughly reliable Marzocchi fork/Shimano LX spec. It's UK designed and should be just the job for winter.
Events
The concept of an "off-season" is becoming an increasingly-quaint one in UK MTB circles. There are quite a few races and other MTB events going on in what you'd think would be quite a quiet month. For example, coming up there's the traditional (if you're somewhere in the South of England...) burn-off-the-turkey Salisbury Plain Winter Challenge, with 50, 30 or 15km route options. In a similar vein (but potentially even harder work) is Clive Powell's Elan Valley Challenge Ride, offering 40km around Rhayader in Mid-Wales.
If big loops aren't quite your bag, you could try your hand at something a little different. There's a round of the Rab Winter Trailquest league in the Hope Valley in Derbyshire if you want to test your navigation skills. Or perhaps you'd like to chance your arm (or, more pertinently, legs) with a bit of run/bike/run action at the Thanet Duathlon. That's a 2.4 mile road run along the prom at Margate, followed by two laps of a 4.5 mile MTB course with a 4.5 mile XC run to finish. And it's for charity.
Of course, if you're (a) well-equipped with winter riding gear and (b) utterly crackers, there's always Strathpuffer, the very first 24 hour race of 2007. In Scotland. In the middle of January. Impressively, it's actually full up, which if nothing else means that it's possible that not every lunatic in Britain will be there...
While we're on the subject of events, you'll notice that several of these link to our very own events system - organisers can add and edit their own events listings on BM, which is really rather handy for all concerned. Obviously it's only as good as the information in it, though, so we'd like as many event organisers as possible to use it. Need to know more about getting your event listed? Mail us.
Kit
As well as all the bikes that we need to work through, there's a pretty impressive mound of gear in the test pile too. It being January, we're planning to concentrate on things of a wintery persuasion - look out for plenty of base layer/fleece/jacket/other warm things testing. Plus, of course, there's a 2007 XTR groupset heading for a bike for some long-term grinding. And if you need a bit of a rest, quite a few books and DVDs too. Stay tuned...
