Words By: Paul Conde
Previously conceived three years ago by the UAE MTB/UAE Mountainbiking for its members and headed by its chairman Mr Jessie Cruz, this mountain bike event held last November 29th highlights the start of the winter riding/racing season in the UAE. With the help of the UAE Cycling Federation and Ride Bike Shop/Giant as its main sponsor, the annual XC Race is now open to every mountain bike enthusiast in the country.
The race is held in Showka, a popular mountain bike destination in the region which is an hour’s drive from Dubai. The 3.4km course consists of existing trails and fire roads that range from loose gravel to baby head size rock gardens, uphills, downhills with a couple of technical sections thrown in for good measure.
At exactly 7:00am the race started ala “Le Mans” style where racers had to run 20m to get on to their bikes before the starting line. First off was the Masters with 10 gruelling laps. After 30 minutes of racing, it was now time for the ladies with four laps. Finally after waiting anxiously, the Experts category, one of the highlights of the race, where in all 118 racers charged side by side to get the holeshot, while spectators cheered them on. The scene was like watching a clip from a war movie.
The trail course was packed causing long queues and traffic along the technical sections and racers need to push themselves lap after lap. Thanks to the race officials, marshals and medics, the race proceeded as planned with only few suffering minor cuts and bruises.
As the dust settled, it was Andy Whitaker coming out on top to win the Masters category, Ian Miller for the Experts category and Michelle Guerin of Team RBS/Giant for the women’s category respectively.
Medals, items and gift vouchers from main Sponsor RBS – Ride Bike Shop/Giant, other sponsors like Cycle Hub, Beyond a Bike, Wolfi’s Bike Shop, Adventure HQ, Global Climbing and Decathlon were awarded to all the winners.
A folding bike courtesy of Beyond A Bike was awarded to the first place of the Masters category. A Specialized Hardrock Bike courtesy of Cycle Hub was also given as the top prize for the raffle draw. Medals were awarded to all first five finishers and certificates to all the finishers.
We would like to thank all the sponsors, media groups, teams, specially the volunteers and the mountain bike community for putting such a great effort to make this race a successful event. See you all on our next event.
To see more of our ride schedules and events, please go to www.facebook.com/groups/uae.mtb.
