The Beastway

Most mountain bikers will have heard of the Beastway Mountain Bike Race Series at some point - it's one of the oldest around having started up some 20 years ago. It's also famous for being held in London. Well, sort of; it was at the Eastway Circuit, twenty minutes from the centre of London.

There was some controversy a few years back when the plans came out for the Olympic Park as they were going to be building over the bit of land and the mtb circuit plans weren't all that clear. Still, I think something got sorted out in the end. But it did mean the series had to move somewhere else.

Luckily the Redbridge Cycling Centre (aka Hog Hill) in Ilford had been built and had some manmade mountain bike trails. So the Beastway series has been homed there for a few years. But all good things must come to and end and the organisers decided in 2012 that enough was enough and that would be their final year.

They asked for further interest in anyone looking to take on the series and obviously I, as SIP Events, showed an interest. Tonight was the first meeting of the group of interested parties and willing volunteers and as no-one else really had any organising experience it sort of fell to us to say whether we wanted to do it or not.

Decisions, decisions. What with the new job and the other events it's a lot to take on. I'll have to have a good look at it but it would be a shame for it to just stop so I'll do whatever I can to keep the series alive.