Exmoor Beast riders return for end of season challenge

SEVERAL hundred cyclists will be hitting the roads and lanes of Exmoor on Sunday for the second annual Exmoor Beast, a 100-mile end-of-season race.
This year, the start and finish is at Wimbleball Lake, and the routes takes in Wheddon Cross, Dunster, Minehead, Lynmouth, and Simonsbath.
The event is already considered one of the best and most challenging cyclo-sportives of the year and offers a choice of routes over either 100 miles or 100 kilometres.
The Exmoor Beast has been devised by professional event co-ordinators and experienced sportive riders, who have been observing and learning from the varying organisational standards of UK promotions.
Chief organiser, ex-Royal Marine Marcus Di Vincenzo, said: “The domestic sportive scene needed a spectacular fixture, which is a fitting finale to the annual calendar and we will provide all the trimmings that will form the ideal climax to the season.
“We have the expertise and highly-trained manpower to enable the Exmoor Beast to be safely and successfully tamed, providing you give it the respect it deserves and have prepared properly.
“If the awesome climbs do not take your breath away, then the fantastic scenery certainly will and our aim is to make the journey from entry to post ride recovery smooth, enjoyable and truly memorable.”
Exmoor Beast is being held in partnership with BikeSomerset and this year has attracted nearly 1,000 competitors.
The first riders set off at 7 am on Sunday and the first to arrive back at Wimbleball are expected at about 1.30 pm.
The race will be raising money for the charity National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

• Our photograph shows riders crossing the finishing line in last year's Exmoor Beast. Photo by Active Exmoor.

HOPE event for people facing prejudice or harassment

AN event is being organised next month in Dunster for anybody who has experienced or is worried about being harassed or facing prejudice because of their race, faith, sexual orientation, or disability.
HOPE - Harassment or Prejudice Event – will take place in the Tithe Barn Community Hall on Wednesday, October 8, at 1 pm.
Speakers at the event include the police, local council, Crown Prosecution Service, Somerset Racial Equality Council, and Witness Service representatives, as well as somebody with personal experience of these sorts of incident.
Information will be available about support services and crime prevention and Tthere will be an opportunity to ask questions of all the organisations involved in tackling the problem.
The day will feature display stands from agencies involved and there will be a panel of representatives who will explain how the agencies work together, as well as a victim story.
A number of discussion groups will cover topics such as
Hate crime reporting - exploring the reasons why people do not report offences and what the agencies can do to encourage and make easier the reporting of such incidents
Safety awareness for businesses – for anybody running a business to share their experiences and find out what help is available to them, and to have their say in what should happen in the future
Your experience matters - where experiences of hate crime or being part of a minority community are shared with others, and suggestions made on how everybody can affect change
The court experience – finding out what happens if somebody is called as a victim/witness to court, the help and support which is available, and suggestions for improving the system
Free transport to Dunster’s HOPE is available via community transport scheme Atwest, which will be picking up from the Williton council offices at 11.15 am, from Butlins at 11.20 am, from the West Somerset Railway, in Watchet, at 11.25 am, the council offices in Summerland Avenue, Minehead, at 11.30 am, Driftwood Café, Blue Anchor, at 11.40 am, Silvermead, Alcombe, at 11.40 am, opposite Carhampton Post Office at 11.50 am, Ellicombe at 11.45 am, and Dunster at 12 noon.
To book a place at the event or to obtain further information, call 01935 402122, or just turn up on the day.

Exmoor activities lined up for Tour Britain spectators

A HOST of events and activities in Exford and Dunster has been announced for the day when the Tour of Britain cyclists race through the area next month.
The events will help to celebrate a spectacular day of excitement and entertainment as the world’s best cyclists, including British Olympic Gold medal winners Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas, descend on Exmoor on September 9.
In Exford, the entertainment will start in the morning when local people and businesses take part in a fancy dress cycle ride.
Lots of activities will take place on the village green, including a falconry display, live music, Exmoor ponies, a barbecue, skittles, bale throwing, an egg and spoon race, a photography competition, and a display of international flags to represent the 16 teams taking part in the race.
Exford School will also be involved and there will be two craft marquees with many more activites and things to see.
Exford is an ideal place to watch the cyclists mid-race, as they arrive from the direction of Withypool at around 12.45 pm and then head towards Wheddon Cross.
The narrow medieval streets of Dunster, with its castle and the picturesque Yarn Market, provide an idyllic backdrop for the race as it thunders through at around 1.25 pm.
Visitors should arrive early, however, to enjoy activities being held from 11 am to 3 pm, including Rollapuluza cycle roller racing which has been organised by local businesses together with Active Exmoor and Somerset County Council.
It is a fun and easy version of cycle racing which will give participants an opportunity to find out if they are ‘faster than Chris Hoy’, the British triple Olympic Gold Medal winner, with prizes on offer to the fastest riders.
Cliff Nicholson, of Spears Cross, in Dunster, and William Wake, of Dunster Castle, have helped organise the roller racing.
Mr Wake said: “With so many visitors coming into the village to watch the tour pass by, we felt we had to provide some entertainment and cycle roller racing is ideal.
“Cyclists will readily want to race, but more importantly visitors, just here to watch the race, will be egged on by friends to have a go.
“Cycling is an up and coming sport in the UK and this is an ideal opportunity to encourage people to try it.”
Somerset County Council has also organised a free park and ride coach scheme from Vulcan Road, in Minehead, to make it easier for people to visit and enjoy the day.
The park and ride will operate from 10 am until 4 pm.
The county’s economic development portfolio holder, Councillor Alvin Horsfall, said: “I am very excited about the day, which is not far away now.
“I hope that people get there early and enjoy all the fantastic things there are to do.
“It promises to be one of the best days of the year for Somerset.”
Somerset County Council is hosting the South West stage of the Tour of Britain, which will start in Chard and finish in Burnham-on-Sea.
The race, which is the toughest stage of the tour, is expected to attract thousands of visitors to the county.
Participants include Mark Cavendish, the only Briton to win four stages of the Tour de France in a single year.
More details about the events or more information about the race, including road closures, can be found by visiting http://www.bikesomerset.co.uk/.

• Our photograph shows some of last year’s Tour of Britain riders passing along the Exmoor coast. Photo by Guy Harrop www.guyharrop.com.

F1 chance for karting champ Beresford

WEST Somerset kart racer Beresford Mandley (pictured, centre) is to compete in a race of champions at Wembley Stadium for the title of BP’s Ultimate Karter.
Beresford received confirmation this week that he had set a fastest lap time at a qualifying event held at Team-Sport, in Cardiff, which was a new track record of 27.145 seconds.
Thousands of drivers have been taking part at 20 participating tracks around the UK and those with the fastest lap times qualify for the Wembley final later this year.
Beresford and several members of the Somerset Karting Club, which he co-founded, had travelled to various venues in the hope in setting the fastest lap times, but he was the only one to do so.
Beresford, who is 2006-07 National Karting Association Champion, is currently looking for local businesses and motor sport enthusiasts to be a part of a two-year sponsorship deal to help him compete in the Formula 100 series and in more British championships.
Due to lack of sponsors last year, he was unable to raise the £2,500 funding which was needed to compete in that series.
Beresford funds most of his karting activities himself, but previous sponsors Andrew and Sarah Dixon, of Andrews on the Weir, at Porlock Weir, came to his rescue with a sponsorship boost which enabled him to qualify for major competitions such as the BP Ultimate Karter, where he can prove his racing abilities.
He is also waiting for confirmation of a qualifying lap time set in January, which is a competition to find the next F1 star.
Event management company So World Ltd, the Daily Star newspaper, and broadcasters Channel 5 have come together to organise this 12-round championship, starting with karts up to Formula One.
The final two drivers will battle it out in an F1 car to see who will win a contract with a recognised racing team.
The Somerset Karting Club has been operating for more than a year with more than 40 members aged 16 to 80 who can enter the Somerset Karting Club Super series.
Prizes will be awarded for overall series champion, best newcomer, most improved member, best female driver of the year, and the brand new weight classes.
Membership is free and members can learn new driving techniques, race craft, and find their own driving abilities in a safe environment.
Depending on interest from younger members, there could be a juniors’ championship set up for ages eight to16 years.
More information can be found at www.somersetkartingclub.co.uk.

Butlins helps keep major motor sport event in West Somerset

A MAJOR motor racing event for West Somerset has been rescued at the eleventh hour by holiday firm Butlins.
The company stepped in when organisers of the Betta Somerset Stages Rally were forced to look outside the district for suitable facilities.
Now, the annual event, scheduled to be held on April 26, will continue to be based in Minehead.
The rally regularly attracts around 1,500 people over a long weekend of motor sport activity, which includes 150 entries and more than 300 marshals.
Butlins has offered the use of its Minehead holiday resort to the organisers, Burnham-on-Sea and Minehead Motor Clubs, which needs the size and scale of such a centre.
One of the Butlins main customer car parks will be used as a service and maintenance area for the rally competitors.
Butlins spokesman Richard Swift told The Post: “It is the lifeline they needed. It enables them to retain their service area and rally control in Minehead, and means people will stay locally, which is a great boost for the area.
“If they had to move out to Taunton, it would have been a 45-minute run from the service area for the cars to reach the start point.
“The logistics of it, especially for some of the smaller teams, would have been difficult.
“Butlins will be open and we will have guests who would normally have used that car park, so it means a change of operation for us.
“We do a number of events here and we work closely with the town council to try to promote Minehead whenever we can.”
The rally is held over stages on a compact route taking in forest areas and hills within Exmoor National Park.
It features entries ranging from club level vehicles to ex-works World Rally cars and is a qualifying round of several major championships.
It is the only forestry stage rally in the Westcountry and is run entirely by volunteers, with support from Exmoor National Park Authority and the Forestry Commission.
The first car will leave the start at 8 am on the Saturday and should arrive back in Minehead by around 3.30 pm.
Spectators are provided with a special stage at Chargot Woods where they can see the cars and listen to commentary.