It was the World Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling Championships last weekend and to celebrate this most eccentric of UK mountain bike events here are two amusing videos.

So this’ll be where Danny MacAskill got his inspiration from for that famous bit in A Wee Day Out then?

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The course, such as it is, is a 55 metre long trench (the Waen Ryhdd bog) that’s about two metres deep for most of its length. Competitors must complete two laps of the trench and their best time is their final result.

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Pic: Green Events

Due to the depth of the trench even lanky riders require a snorkel to breathe. You can stand up out of the saddle to get your head above water but chances are you’ll lose power and traction resulting in a stall and a fall sideways.

The bikes used are weighed down – usually by filling the frame tubes with lead shot. The competitors also wear lead weights on a belt to further help keep them submerged. The bikes’ tyres are filled with water to help with traction and stability.

Pic: Green Events

There are divers on standby in case anyone gets into trouble and needs rescuing from the filthy water.

The winning run this year was by Oliver McKenna. He didn’t manage to break the record time though which is 1 min 22.56 secs set by Kirsty Johnson in 2014.

The event is not a new event. It been going on in some form for over 30 years. To be honest, we’ve experienced similar stretches of bog on some Welsh marathon bike events – maybe this is the event we’ve been accidentally in training for all these years?