Over 150 mountain bikers were blessed with near perfect riding conditions when they took on the challenge of the Alternative 7-Hills on Sunday (20th March).
The bi-annual event hosted by GP Sport and Wight Mountain was arguably the toughest route since the event’s rebirth 5 years ago.
The route left Sandown Airport and led the riders up some of the steepest climbs across the Island, taking in Wroxall, Stenbury, and St Catherine’s downs even before arriving at the halfway stage. The riders then headed westwards to complete their 28-mile route over the Tennyson trail to Freshwater golf course before dropping down to the finish line at Tapnell Farm.
The event is a test of ability and endurance and some notable achievements to pick out included local Apse Heath rider Leon Day (2hr:02min), managing to complete the full distance on his e-bike in a time of just over 2 hours, closely followed by James Hynes (2hr:08min) and Nigel Leppard (2hr:21min).
David Bone, Chichester (2hr:10) and local Team Wightlink Wight Mountain rider Adam Holleyman (2hr:14min) were the first 2 back on standard bikes., followed by local Team Naut rider James Spencer (2hr:23min) and Wight Mountain’s Ben Johnson (2hr:24min).
GP Sport organiser Gareth Shilton said:
“We had feared that the event would be billed as the wet and muddy one, but after a few days of sun the trails had started to dry out and on the whole, it was mud free.
“It was good to see such a diverse group of riders take on the challenge; the world of E-Bikes has opened up events such as ours to a whole new group of riders that would have not been able to complete it before.”
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The standard 7-Hills challenge will be returning in October: details available on the website.
Who was the first lady in this event?
Hey IE, where’s my comment gone bruv.
Your opinion was so irrelevant, it got removed, sorry sweetheart don’t be mad xxx