Mountain Bike Event Hailed A Success

Torrential rain couldn't dampen the spirits of hundreds of mountain bikers at the recent '10 at Kirroughtree' mountain bike event which has been hailed a big success. The event, organised by No Fuss and Forestry Commission Scotland, had over 400 riders flocking to the famous 7stanes trails at Kirroghtree to ride as many laps of the route within a ten hour time frame. The plan was to give spectators in Newton Stewart a Tour de France style start with the race beginning in the middle of the town. Unfortunately, because the rain was so heavy overnight, the fields where the riders were camping were water-logged and moving their cars and equipment back into the town was an impossibility. For safety reasons, the start of the race had to be moved up to the Kirroughtree trails. No Fuss spokesman Frazer Coupland said: "The welcome we had from the local community was fantastic and we were really disappointed that we couldn't give them the spectacle of seeing all the riders race through the town. It was a difficult decision we had to take but on balance it was the right one. "Despite this, the biking event has been a huge success and we are already in talks with the Commission about holding the event again next year. The feedback from bikers has been really positive on all the mountain bike websites so we are all very pleased." The 7stanes trails at Kirroughtree are getting a first class reputation and attracting bikers from all over Britain and beyond. The trails are managed by Forestry Commission Scotland as part of the 7stanes mountain bike project which is developing seven centres of excellence across South Scotland. Keith Muir from the Commission added: "The mountain bikers loved the trails and want to come back again so we hope to stage the event again with No Fuss. We were really pleased with organisation involved in the event, particularly that local businesses were able to be involved and benefit from it too. We are naturally disappointed that spectators never saw the riders through the town but I hope they understand the reasons why. "One silver lining to the bad weather before the race, many of the campers opted for the comfort of local B&Bs and I gather the whole of Newton Stewart was booked up!." '10 at Kirroughtree' challenged entrants to ride as many circuits of a 10-mile loop as they can in 10 hours . Competitors rode solo, or as part of a two, three or four person team. www.forestry.gov.uk