Bucks Off Road Sportive - a brief history
The Bucks Classic started off 11 years ago when, after members of the club had taken part in the Hell of the North Cotswolds for a few years the club felt that there was a call for a similar event nearer to London.
As the event was going to be in the County of Buckinghamshire it was decided the event was going to be called the Bucks Classic, and was renamed in 2009 to the Bucks Off-Road Sportive. Although based on the Hell of the North the club wanted to improve on the HONC (as the event is popularly known) and the main problem club riders had with the HONC was the lack of directions arrows so that was the main priority to mark the whole route, no mean feat when you go along 100 km of twisting bridleways and small lanes.
The event started off with one route of 30 km, which then rose to 40km, and then with the input of top route designer Steve Keating 100 km with two shorter versions of 70kms and 30 kms. The event has grown over the years and has recently moved its headquarters from the Denham Country Park to the near-by Martin Baker social club which allows riders to shower and make use of a fully licensed bar as well as a cheap supply of refreshments along with a big car park.
The 10th anniversary event featured an even harder route as the full distance rose to 121 km which must make this one of the hardest off-road sportives if not the hardest one day event on the calendar, however the club wants to encompass all standards and there are 4 distances for this year.
The toughness of the 100 and 121 km events should not be underestimated although the hills in the Chilterns are not as high as those in other parts of the country the constant undulating climbs certainly take their toll and the single track can be tough going in places.
So what are you waiting for round up your mates and get those entries in. Although entry on the day will be available subject to pre-entries we strongly recommend you pre enter to avoid disappointment
The 11th Bucks Off–Road Sportive took place on May 16th, 2010
Well it is over for another year, feedback has so far been very
positive and it would appear everyone enjoyed the new routes.
Lots of people helped put this event on, far too many to mention
individually but big hand to all that did and to all the riders
now matter how fast or slow they were it was great to see such
a good turnout with the bonus that we also helped raise some money
for the South Buck Riding for Disabled charity.
Event photos are already available via the following link
http://www.muddybum.co.uk/
A big thanks to our sponsors, Mark from "The feed Station" , Ross from "For Goodness Shakes"
and if people can give some feedback on the value of his product that would be great as well
as "Eat Natural" and "Get Buzzing"
We will be getting over the efforts of this years event before we start thinking about next year,
but we do intend running the 12th edition next year and would welcome any comments people have
regarding the event. So far the main comment has been can we make it even longer, so we will have
to get the route Guru Steve Keating to think about that one as it is already a mammoth task
to mark the course.
Another event you may be interested in and one which a number
of our own club members take part in is the Marin Rough Ride
on the 13th June check out http://www.roughride.co.uk/
for full details.
A donation from each riders entry this year is going to be donated
to local charity the South
Bucks Riding for Disability Group, who have up to 100 disabled
horse riders in their group and cater for riders of all abilities.
The Group relies totally on donations and we as a club think
that this organisation which offers successful and life changing
therapy, recreational educational and sports riding opportunities
in safe and secure surroundings is a worthwhile cause and we
look forward to raising some money for them.
Event Sponsors
In an effort to keep riders well fueled and enjoying
the best of the Bucks countryside we have secured sponsorship
from several energy food providers. For
Goodness Shakes will be providing all entrants with a sachet
of their new recovery drink, Eat
Natural will be supplying their tasty cereal bars at the
feed stations and Buzz
Bar will be offering free samples of their energy bars at
the start line. As if this wasn't enough, The
Feed Station will be keeping riders hydrated at each of
the feed stations.
Eat
Natural and For
Goodness Shakes and The
Feed Station
