It will be all systems go, go, go for mountain bike riders at 417 Bike Park at Witcombe on Sunday.

That’s because they will be hosting the seventh round of the increasingly popular Go-Ride downhill races.

But there will be even more interest than usual tomorrow because adults will also be taking part in their own races.

“We have decided to run the UK’s first Go-MTB adults downhill race alongside the regular kids Go-Ride races,” said race organiser Len Hay. “It is the same set-up but for adults.”

The 417 Bike Park have been running Go-Ride downhill races for kids since October last year.

They are run by Crickley Flyers which is a British Cycling Go-Ride Club – Len Hay is head coach of the community sports club.

“The aim of the races are to introduce kids into racing,” said Hay. “They are non-competitive beginner level races to give them a feel for racing without feeling a little intimidated at some of the bigger races around the UK.

“We were the first place in the UK to start running Go-Ride downhill races and we are very proud of this. Getting more kids into mountain biking is exactly what we want to be doing and each round we are attracting more and more kids.

“In the last round we had more girls in the girls’ category than we had boys in any of the other categories which is amazing.

“We are again one of the only places in the UK that currently allows girls and boys to race against each other in the same category; however, we do offer the option of a separate girls’ category for those girls who don’t like the idea of racing against the boys!”

So why are the adults taking part this Sunday?

“We have so many adults at the bike park ask if we are going to be holding any beginner races,” explained Hay. “A lot of people find it pretty intimidating going to some of the more competitive race set-ups as a beginner to racing so we are giving them the chance to give racing a go.

“We will be holding both the adults and kids races on our blue track – The Cheeseroller – with a couple of different starting points for complete beginners to novices so people can choose where they start from.”

The categories on the day will be under-16, under-12, under-9, under-6, girls (aged 5-16), Open men and Open women.

“We will also be holding some fun categories with prizes,” said Hay. “This is to try and make it more accessible for families. It gives the parents a chance to come and race but also gets the kids involved, making it a family friendly event.

These fun categories will include:
• Parent and child combined time
• Husband and wife/couples combined time
• Family combined time
• Siblings combined time

For further information contact Lily Evans at admin@flyupdownhill.co.uk