“Active Lower Silesia” is a civic budget programme enabling the residents of Lower Silesia to participate in selecting and financing chosen sports and tourism projects. The budget is implemented throughout the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, divided into five districts: Jelenia Góra, Legnica, Wałbrzych, Wrocław and Wrocław.
In the Jelenia Góra region, the idea of organising the 2018 International XC Cycling Race – the 2018 Lower Silesian Cross-Country Season Opening – received the most support in the September online vote.
The idea came from Mariusz Lickiewicz, an amateur cyclist with the Bolesławiec Xtrabike Cycling Club and formerly vice-president of the VIA SUDETICA association. Until 2013, he organised Bolesławiec’s Gliniada, and for the past four years he has been working with friends to revive and develop cycling in the Bolesławiec region. Thanks to their initiatives and efforts, cycling—both MTB and road—has experienced a revival since 2014, following several years of organisational stagnation.
Since 2014, Bolesławiec has hosted four MTB cycling races, as well as one cyclocross race and one criterium. The initiative to organise an XC race—highly spectacular competitions held on a course consisting of a closed loop several kilometres long—was met with great enthusiasm both by members of Xtrabike Team and by members of the “competing” Bolesławiec club, BIKESTACJA, whose team includes accomplished riders such as Łukasz Ryż, Rafał Iwan and Szczepan Paszek. The two clubs’ joint promotional efforts led to success in securing funding to stage the race.
Most importantly, the funds received from the Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship will make it possible to restore a course that many years ago, in the municipal woodland on Piastów Street, served as a training base for Bolesławiec cyclists. What is more, competitions were held there featuring leading Polish MTB riders, including Marek Galiński.
The course will feature obstacles that, until now, we had known only from television broadcasts of XC MTB competitions, including a rock garden, a section with logs laid crosswise and so-called drops. Work to restore the former course has already been under way for several weeks.
The race will take place on 24 March 2018 in Bolesławiec, and we will keep you informed about the event’s organisation.