On Sunday 2 September 2012, Rough Ride Guide will be running their Chilterns Challenge mountain bike event.
Dubbed the 'cycle network', the aim of the day is to experience a great route along the finest natural Chilterns singletrack, with added emphasis on the social side of riding.
Organisers say they want an event that enables people to ride new trails and challenge themselves, but also to have fun and socialise during and afterwards.
There will be refreshments en route, as well as spot prizes, hot showers and a big screen showing cycling films, all for just £15 if you pre-book.
Having grown up in the Chilterns and written guidebooks for the area, Rough Ride Guide's Max Darkins has included some of his favourite trails and created challenging routes for all abilities.
Max explains how the Chilterns can be difficult to explore on your own, so the Challenge is a great opportunity to ride some fully signposted singletrack, meet new riders and be able to push yourself knowing that support staff can collect you if you hit trouble.
The routes are circular off-road mountain bike trails, with 100, 75, 50 and 25km options. This year, there'll also be a 10km family trail.
All the routes share some of the same trails, with the shorter courses peeling off the longer ones – the organisers are keen to point out that it’s not just a 25km loop on repeat!
You'll also be able to change the distance you've opted for on the day, so there's no pressure to carry on if you're having a bad ride, and you can continue on the bigger loop if you're feeling good.
As the elevation profile shows, there's a challenging mix of climbs and descents on offer
Improve your mountain bike fitness
If 100km of singletrack riding sounds like your ideal event but you don't think your fitness is up to scratch, take a look at our new Flat out Fit mountain bike training plan.
Designed exclusively for us by Pro Ride Guides (the official coaching partners of the Megavalanche), the regime is meant for intermediate and novice trail riders who want to improve their fitness levels. It's based around three rides per week and one or two home workout sessions that require no equipment.
Intrigued? Take a look at some of the free sample sessions and purchase the full training plan for just £9.99. And if mud and singletrack aren't your thing, check out our events calendar to find something that suits you.
BikeRadar Training is a free online resource for you to record and analyse all aspects of your training, log your training routes, get yourself tailored training plans, see how you're doing on our leaderboards, set goals and plan your season with a comprehensive events guide.