The first major gravel race of the season on a cracking 58km route in Sherwood Pines.
You will race 4 laps of a 15km course taking in some wide fire roads, flowy singletrack & a few sandy sections. Race against riders in your age cat for the chance to win the Sherwood Pines Trophy.
Enjoy a great gravel cycling weekend with a sportive on the Sunday heading into the Notts countryside and a social race village in Sherwood Pines.
Women’s race – 9.00am start
Open 50 plus – 12pm start
Open 19 to 49 – 3pm start
Set in Sherwood Pines, this route starts near the Arena and heads around the forest over a 15km loop. The course takes in a mix of wide forest trails and some singletrack with a couple of sandy sections.
Stay over and ride a sportive on the Sunday on lovely sportive exploring trails outside the forest around the Notts countryside.
There are three races on the day, a womens race at 9am, open over 50 starting at 12pm and open aged 19 to 49 race at 3pm. The race village opens at 8am and closes after podiums at 5.45pm
There will be a mechanic stand at the start and then on each lap you will pass a feed & mechanic stop. Leave a bottle or have a helper in the official feed zone.
4th March: Rider lists published and final route details sent out.
7th March – 08.00: Race village at Sherwood pines opens. Registration is open 1hr before each race, the course opens for 45 mins before each race to ride a recon lap.
7th March – 8.45: Pens open for Women’s race, start at 9am
7th March – 11.45pm: Pens open for Open race aged 50+, start at 12pm.
7th March – 2.45pm: Pens open for Open aged 19 to 49, start at 3pm.
7th March – 5,45pm: Final podiums and race village close.
Please note this route is subject to some small changes. We will send out the final route to all participants one week before the race.
The route is 4 laps of a 15km course starting in the heart of Sherwood Pines. After a short section on wide fire roads, we head onto some flowy singletrack where passing is possible but not easy. Back on the fire roads we hit our first small climb of the day (0,5km at 4%).
The middle of the route is fast & flowy before another minor climb (0,5k at 4%) which could cause some gaps. The final 3km is on a mix of wide & then narrower gravel trails before a finishing loop around the ride village where spectators will be cheering you on!
Our race is in Sherwood Pines (nearest big town in Mansfield). There are several lovely villages nearby to stay for the weekend or camp onsite at the lovely Sherwood Pines Campsite (link HERE).
On the Sunday we have a sportive – Sherwood Pines Gravel X which starts & finishes in Sherwood Pines and takes in some trails around the forest and then out into rural Notts.
Hang around on Saturday to watch the race you aren’t involved in. There is plenty to do in the Forest including a cafe, Go Ape & disc golf.
Got any questions on this race, our race series or want to partner with us? Send us a message on the form and we will get back to you within 1 business day.
We will send out information closer to the race based on trail conditions. It’s early season so expect some mud on the grassy sections. There are a couple of sandy bits but if wet, this should be harder packed and less slippy. The course is varied with some climbs, gravel, grass & sand so favours good bike handling.
Very much depends on conditions but an all-rounder should be good unless it’s really wet / muddy.
You can leave a bottle or bag at the official feed zone which you go past at each lap. Early March should be fresh, you can leave a layer / jacket at the start line so you don’t get cold in the pens.
We have a mechanics station by the feed zone but bring spares to be self sufficient for other parts of the route.
Riders may use any type of bike (road bike, mountain bike, city bike, hybrid bike, cross bike, etc.) with the exception of tandems, E-bikes, recumbents and time trial bikes
All riders will finish on the same lap as the leader of their gender in their race, any lapped riders finish position will be based on the number of laps completed and then on order over the finish line. For example, in a four lap race, if you are lapped by the leaders whilst you are still on lap three your race will finish when you cross the finish line at the end of your third lap. You will still appear in the race results with your finish position calculated based on number of laps completed and order across the finish line at the end of your last lap.
All riders should bring their own tools and spare tire or tubular to the race. Tools are available in the feed zones to give riders the opportunity to fix other problems. Riders can change wheels during the event, but have to use the same bike frame throughout the event.
There is a feed zone & tech zone at the finish of each lap. Riders can leave a bottle in the feed zone or have a supporter handing out bottles / gels etc within the official feed zone.
You will race against people in age categories for both the Women’s and Open races:
19 – 39
40-49
50-59
60-69
70+
Each category will be identified by specific coloured race & body numbers. Where applicable, we will start riders within their category. There will be podiums for each age category.
This route makes gravel racing accessible for anyone. At the front of the race we will have a good field of elite men & women racers but this would make a great first race due to the rolling terrain with a mix of smooth gravel & singletrack.
Registration is open one hour before each race (8am to 9am, 11am to 12pm, 2pm to 3pm). You can collect your race number at any of these times.
You will also have some time to ride the course before pens open for the race.
The race starts near Sherwood Pines (Edwinstowe, Mansfield NG21 9JL). The nearest train station is Mansfield, just over 4 miles away.
Parking at Sherwood Pines is available for £5
There will be a spectator area within the race village where you can see riders go past each lap.
You can also stroll up 500m and catch the route twice, once at the start of the lap and another near the end of the lap.
Sherwood Pines is a major tourist destination with lots to do for non-riders. If you are bringing kids that love cycling, make sure they bring their bike for the family laps from 1pm to 2pm or they can enjoy walking trails in the forest, Go Ape, play area, disc golf & more.