THE BBC will show an incredible 180 hours of Commonwealth Games coverage between the opening and closing ceremonies of the UK's largest ever multi-sport event writes Richard Mulligan

And no competition will be more challenging to broadcast than the mountain biking, which will be beamed worldwide from Rivington.

But it is a task that is being met head-on by outdoor broadcast veteran, Ted Ayling who is executive producer of road racing and deputy head of production for the Games.

Ted worked on the World Cup final in Japan but come Saturday he will be swapping that for Rivington's very own Chinese Gardens.

He says: "The biggest problem for us could be the weather. We rely on beaming signals from mobile cameras up to helicopters but if there is mist that could create difficulties.

"It's about eight months since I first had a look at the area we are covering, and from there you think about potential difficulties.

"That can range from dealing with the forestation, to protecting the environment and respecting vehicle laws in the area.

"But we've done these kind of things many times and it's just a matter of adapting our techniques to the surroundings.

"Our main concern is to provide good coverage of the race itself, but Rivington is a very beautiful area and we want to capture that as well."

Ted's crew will be operating 44 cameras, two quad bikes and two helicopters. Signals are beamed to the International Broadcast Centre in Openshawe, before being sent to the 72 nations and potential audience of one billion people.

The BBC will be showing around 15 hours of Games action each day on both terrestrial channels and the interactive sevice which has been so popular during the World Cup, Wimbledon and the British Open.

BBC programmes such as Songs of Praise, Blue Peter and Tomorrow's World will all include special Commonwealth Games editions.

If that is not enough, BBC 2002 Commonwealth Games Radio has launched on 97.7FM, including special reports for those with heritage from across the Commonwealth.

Martin Hopkins, BBC Sport Executive Producer, says: "We want these Games to be an inspiration. Event television creates those 'Did you see?' moments that get the whole country talking."