The Sam Houghton Mountain Bike Challenge is organised in memory of Sam Houghton, a keen mountain biker who sadly lost his battle against cancer and died aged only 22 in May 2006.

The event is normally a timed mountain bike ride starting and finishing at the Mill Yard, Staveley, Cumbria, covering the Longsleddale, Kentmere and Troutbeck Valleys and taking in Garburn Pass. 

However, with the current COVID-19 restrictions in place, this year's event is slightly different!!

Throughout June, we are holding a 'virtual' Two Hour Challenge.  Sign-up to see how far you can ride in two hours.

It's free to enter (although a donation to Cancer Research UK would be appreciated) with competitors undertaking and recording a two-hour ride in their local area in line with Government COVID-19 guidelines. On finishing your ride, upload your distance, the elevation gain and share a Strava/Garmin screenshot and/or a link to your activity.  There's no limit on the number of times you can attempt to better your distance and qualifying rides can be undertaken anytime in June 2020.

With being a Mountain Bike event, ideally we'd love it if competitors attempt the challenge on a Mountain Bike, include a section of off-road and also have decent amount of climb in thier routes.  However, we appreciate that this might not be possible for everyone in their immediate locality, so the challenge can also be undertaken on a road bike or even an activity tracker linked turbo trainer.

There will be exclusive Sam Houghton Mountain Bike Virtual Challenge T-Shirts for the top male and female riders, and everyone completing the challenge will qualify for a 5% discount off the entry fee for the next running of the actual event in Staveley, Cumbria.

All proceeds from this event will be donated to Cancer Research UK.