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Report  15-3-25

    V    Reported    1-4-25

Borderland Mountain Bike Challenge - Over 30 years old - but still going strong

10am on Saturday 10th May will see the Borderland Mountain Bike Challenge start from Rhiwlas Village Hall, SY10 7JH once again. Borderland Rotary Club first held the challenge way back in the early 90s when it was a fun ride for members to raise a little money for local charities. Through the years it has grown in popularity to become a fixture on the annual mountain bike calendar and the great event it is today.

Dairi-Pak, a local packaging company, has sponsored the ride every year - as Dairi-Pak’s founder, Brian Gray, was one of the original members of Borderland Rotary Club when the event was conceived. Sadly, Brian passed away in 2012 but Tim Gray, his son who took over the business in 2006, takes up the story. “This is still a wonderful event, and the Air Ambulance is such a good cause to support. I remember the very early days of the event and how keen my father was to support the event by riding it and sponsoring it. My father had been a keen road cyclist as a youth with many of his rides taking him through Europe; so on his 50th birthday I bought him his first mountain bike (a hard tail Saracen). He took to mountain biking like a duck to water and he continued to ride the event well into his 70s. I too rode the challenge throughout the 90s and early 2000s. As fatherhood consumed more of my time and age took its toll on my fitness, I didn’t ride the challenge for over a decade although Dairi-Pak continued to sponsor the event. But with the assistance of an E-Bike, I am back in the saddle and have ridden the event for the last two years.”

Brian Gray

The 22-mile Challenge takes the riders over green lanes and farm tracks, over private land, up and down the beautiful foothills of the Berwyn Mountains and is available to riders of all competence however, it’s not for the faint hearted as there is only about 300 metres of tarmac and probably no more than that on level ground. It’s a challenge but also a wonderful social event for riders of all ages and competence to enjoy.

Jonathan Jones, who organises the ride for Borderland Rotary Club said, “I still find the process of organising the Challenge as exciting and daunting as I ever did and although we’ve been at it for many years, it has never lost its charm and I still love to see hundreds of keen mountain bikers ride off into the Berwyn Mountains and raise thousands and thousands of pounds for charity. It has meant that with the support of such sponsors as Tim Gray from Dairi-Pak and James Davies from Mule Cycles of Oswestry, we have been able to give charities like Air Ambulance a regular annual donation as well as supporting lots of local good causes”.

This year there will be a coffee and snack van, a hot food burger van, an ice cream seller and music on the field so let’s have a party and hope we the weather plays ball.

Don’t forget, all you need is a bike, a helmet and the heart of a lion.

Tim Gray

End