We’re just back from Brands Hatch, Kent, where Will Longden, Dave Wardell and Chris Smith have been busy building the dirt jumps and demo loops for BikeRadar Live 2010.
If the work they’ve done so far is anything to go by, the event on 10-11 July is going to be the best cycling festival the UK has ever seen.
The dirt jumps, dual slalom course, pump track and demo ride loop will all be in the same area this year to give you an overload of off-road action. The purpose-built routes will be graded for difficulty, so there’s something for beginners and experts alike.
After our initial visit to the site in February to check out the racing circuit, we decided to go back, in much warmer temperatures, to check out the progress with the mountain bike features. And we're glad we did, because there was a whole lot of fun stuff to ride.
The What Mountain Bike Dirt Crit loop snakes in and out of the woods above the mountain bike arena and is packed with multiple overtaking options, berms, jumps and sections of boardwalk. There’s more to come too, so watch out for pumping sections and bombholes too.
The North Shore features on the black demo loop section were a blast, as were parts of the red demo route which have been completed. Here’s Will Longden and Chris Smith with an update, and more details on the dirt jumps, where the world’s best will ride as part of the Freeride Mountain Bike World Tour:
Unable to load media
Here's a video showing the North Shore section on the black demo loop, which includes a flat-out run by Chris Smith:
Unable to load media
Mountain bikes will be available to demo for free throughout the weekend, so you can put the newest machines from the world’s top manufacturers through their paces.