Fans of the Wiggle Mountain Mayhem have spent weeks head scratching, forum trawling and phone bashing, but the secret location for this year's event has finally been disclosed as Gatcombe Park, the home of HRH Princess Anne.
Last year’s instalment went down as the muddiest ever, and it was decided that for the 2013 event a change of venue was necessary. So, after 10 years at the iconic Eastnor Castle, the biggest 24-hour mountain bike event in the world will move to the Gloucestershire location in June.
Mayhem has been a stalwart on the XC race calendar for 16 years now, and the change of venue poses more than the physical challenge of simply crafting a new track, but also the weight of expectation of the start line faithfuls.
Patrick Adams, of race organisers Pacific Edge, said: “We believe we have found the perfect venue. It is less than 40 miles from Eastnor, but as a private venue we are extremely lucky to have found it.
“There are well-made forest tracks and a gravelly rock structure with high organic content, making the soil drain well. It is only through many hours of research that we found it, but my goodness it was worth waiting for.”
The prestigious venue has never been used for cycling before, but hosts an annual equestrian eventing festival. Adams is excited about the new 8.5-mile track currently being fettled from the already extensive trails at Gatcombe.
The 15-16 June dates were announced long before the venue, as was a ballpark vicinity of 'near Eastnor', in order to allow Mayhem stalwarts to ensure they could attend.
Entries will go live from 1 March. See the Wiggle Mountain Mayhem website for more information.
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