Rupert Elkington Takes Manly Cycles to the UK!

'2450m of climbing in 80k was a very very very hard race' 


Indeed, that sounds like an understatement. And if accumulated mud were any indication of difficulty, these photos would rate the effort even greater. 


Huge kudos go to Rupert for not only competing but completing The Marshbrook 80k mtb marathon in the Shropshire Hills. 

The route leads initially through a small area of forestry, then up onto the Long Mynd (meaning long mountain), the long route, immediately descending off the Long Mynd, making its way to the Stiperstones, a hill west of the Long Mynd, here you will ride some interesting single and twin tracks up and over the hill, after a short section of tarmac to get your breath back, you soon reach the Forest of Eastridge, which has been used in the past for NPS races.

After enjoying the technical single track descending, and beating the tough climbs you return to the Long Mynd an area of outstanding natural beauty, where there is an endless amount of exciting single tracks and bridleways, interspersed with short stretches on minor roads, and then, just when you think it can’t get any better the course finishes with the longest single track descent in Shropshire, possibly the longest in England.

'The Manly Cycles jersey was out there somewhere under all that mud, lucky it was black and not white.'

Epic bike, epic mud