The Summit 26 MTB Classic is a multi-discipline off-road event, exclusively for mountain bikes built in the last century and organised by Summit MTB Club. Set in the heart of the Chiltern Hills, the event recalls the birth of competitive mountain biking in the UK. Thirty years ago the Chilterns were home to the UK's first proper MTB race and subsequent series called the Wendover Bash and the Summit 26 is a unique revival event called the ‘Retro Bash’.
The Summit 26 takes place at the challenging Lotts Wood MTB race course in Hyde Heath, near Amersham, south Buckinghamshire. It attracts a wide variety of machines from early rigid mountain bikes from the 1980s and early 1990s through the first full sussers. There were very few disc brakes around back then and so we are expecting to see these bikes stopped by rubber blocks. Recalling the multi-discipline format of the sport’s early days, the ‘Retro Bash’ features a tricky trials section, all out time trial, fun bomb-hole challenge course and a two by two hillclimb race. All sections are timed and feature penalties to decide the winners.
Now in its third year, the 2017 Summit 26 MTB Classic is on Sunday 1st October starting at 09.00 and finishing by 14.00. The total entry is limited to 35 riders.
