Bucks Off Road Sportive - a brief history
The Bucks Classic started off 19 years ago when, after members of the West Drayton Mountain Bike 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 and the lack of singe track so that was the main priorities to find some more challenging trails and to mark the whole route, no mean feat when you go along 100 km of twisting bridleways and small lanes.
The event which is a mixture of stunning single track bridleways,byways and some quiet country lanes 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 70 kms and 30 kms. The event has grown over the years and moved its headquarters from the Denham Country Park to the near-by Martin Baker social club and now the Chiltern Sports and Social club which allows riders to shower and make use of a fully licensed bar as well as a cheap supply of refreshments.
The 10th anniversary event featured an even harder route as the full distance rose to 121 km which made the event one of the hardest off-road sportives, on the calendar. However, the club wants to encompass all standards so there were some shorter distances to choose from.
In 2008 the bar was raised further with the long distance raised to 132 km and then in 2015 150km.
for the last two years Club Guru Wayne Cook has designed the routes and this year we have 4 distances to choose from 40,75.100 and 125KM .
Under 16's are allowed as long as accompanied by an appropriate adult whi is responsible for there well being and safety, although the route uses lanes and bridleways it does cross main roads.
£20-£25 depending on distance and pre entry.
Read more at https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/157812/Bucks-Off-Road-…