All the twos, twenty two
We made the trip to the Forest of Dean last weekend for the second round of the X-Fusion Southern UK All Mountain Race Series, a four-round series of grass-roots gravity enduro racing across the South of the UK. A route of almost 30km awaited the 230-odd starters along with 5 timed stages requiring varying degrees of fitness and technical skill whose combined times were added together in order to get a final placing.
Damp conditions failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the riders if the smiles on the riders faces were anything to go by – a testament to the fun that was had, certainly by us, on the fresh, loamy trails, some of which were used for the first time on race day. While there were many riders doing their first Enduro in the novice-friendly Sport category, the Competitive category featured some hard racing. Winner overall was Joe Buck (Nukeproof/Nema) who pipped Joe Winston and Chris Keeble-Smith (Nukeproof/Nema) whilst top female was Rachael Gurney. In the team category QECP Trail Collective brought home top honours. MBR just had a lovely time and were just happy to be there!
Round 3 is at Aston Hill on 15th September and the final round is at Swinley Forest on 13th October. Details (and full results) can be found at www.enduro1.co.uk.
Our thanks go out to Carlos Perez and his team of volunteer marshals and helpers who put on an excellent event, we had a blast and certainly hope to be on the start line at Aston Hill in September.
Photo copyright: Victoria Dawes Photography