A mountain biking milestone is passed this Saturday 7 June as Trail Break run their 100th Southern Trail Ride. To celebrate this special event, brand new 100km and 60km rides will feature alongside the regular 40km (25mile) Trail ride distance.
The ride series began 10 years ago and has seen some 20,000 riders rack up around half a million miles between them in the pursuit of off-road excitement. The rides have visited prime locations across the south and further afield, returning to firm favourites and exploring new ground every season.
Rocks, roots, mud, dust, sunshine rain and snow have all been negotiated with varying levels of success at everything from race pace to pub crawl pootle. And thousands of tales and anecdotes have been exchanged post ride over a cup of tea and bowl of Phil's home made chilli, which has become an institution of almost legendary proportions in its own right.
Each ride is comprehensively signed to make it easy to follow and each rider is armed with a detailed and fully annotated map to fall back on in emergencies. These days, you can even get the routes for your GPS if you pre-enter.
This hundredth ride starts from Letcombe Regis in the shadow of the Ridgeway, a historic setting with a historic link to the Trail Rides; this was a favourite Trail Break location in the early days of the series and before. The full 100km route stretches across the Wiltshire Downs, through the Lambourn valley and out to the ancient monuments of Avebury, capturing the essence of the region's off-road riding on the way.
Swindon's finest, Red Planet Bikes, will be on hand to run a special manned checkpoint and support station on the 100k and 60k routes.
Full details of the ride and online booking can be found a www.trailbreak.co.uk, where you'll also be able to find details of the next 100 rides.
Read bikemagic's Trail Break 2008 preview.
