Places are still available for this year’s Manx Telecom End2End Mountain Bike Challenge, but entries are coming in fast with just a few weeks to go to the final deadline. The 20th anniversary edition of the race will take place on Sunday September 13, starting at the Point of Ayre and finishing in Port Erin for the first time in its recent history. The final section of the race route this year will go via Fleswick and Bradda, out to Milner’s Tower, and then down over the new bridge in Port Erin with the finish line on the lower promenade.

The final entry deadline isn’t until midnight on Saturday August 30 – but with the event limited to a maximum of 1,700 riders organisers say it’s advisable to sign up as soon as you can to avoid disappointment. All entries must be made at www.manxe2e.org which also has all the information you need about the event. To help prevent bottlenecks on narrow sections of the course, there will be a staggered start this year with four groups setting off at five minute intervals. The elite group of 200 riders will start at 10am, followed by 200 more at 10.05; 200 at 10.10; and the rest of the field at 10.15. Riders will be seeded according to their previous times in the End2End and by other relevant competitive results. Riders will be asked to submit details if they want results other than recent End2End performances to be considered. All riders will be issued with colour-coded race numbers to indicate which group they will start in. Individual entrants can do either the full 46-mile course, or half of the full distance finishing in St Johns.

You can also take part in a relay event for teams of four riders representing sports clubs, work mates, or just friends looking for a challenge. In previous years there have been rules about teams having to be made up of work colleagues – but this year any group of four can get together to ride.

The four relay riders will each cycle one of the following four legs:

• Leg 1: Point of Ayre to Brandywell
• Leg 2: Brandywell to St John’s
• Leg 3: St John’s to Eary Cushlin
• Leg 4: Eary Cushlin to Port Erin

The relay event costs ?100 per team. Travel from Douglas to the start, and from the finish back to Douglas, is available for the first and last riders in each team. It costs ?13 per team. For individual entries it is ?40 per rider. Entry plus transport (from Douglas to the start and from the finish back to Douglas) costs ?53 (?5 less than last year). Riders choosing to do half the race distance and finish in St Johns can enter for just ?30. Event sponsors Manx Telecom are again offering their mobile customers a ?5 discount on the entry fee for individual categories whether with or without transport. All entrants receive a commemorative technical tee-shirt.

Photo - A scene from the 2014 Manx Telecom End2End Mountain Bike Challenge.