The Merida EX Enduro presented by Shimano is one of Britain’s most notorious three-day events. And as if the total of 24 stages and 4,600 metres of descending wasn’t enough, it was one of the wettest on record.

That didn’t stop 80 entrants from enjoying some private trails and plenty of hospitality last weekend, however. Our very own Mick Kirkman even managed to bring home some silverware, winning the Grand Vets Male category.

There were 24 stages over three days for riders to tackle

What is the EX Enduro?

The Merida EX Enduro is a three-day, 24 stage mountain biking race set in Exmoor National Park. It’s beauty lies in its intimacy – only 80 riders are accepted to the event, and this includes both analogue and electric bikes.

But it’s not just singletrack that awaits the riders, the EX Enduro encourages riding after dark thanks to the Exposure Lights Night Riding Stages. Of course, it’s not just about the racing, there’s plenty of hospitality to be had at HQ, too.

From a BBQ to a DJ and plenty of refreshments on tap, the EX Enduro team aims to keep everyone entertained and well fed so they can get the best out of themselves on the trail.

Despite the slop, this year’s edition looked to be a success

The 2024 edition of the EX Enduro

This year, it was a pretty wet affair from what we’ve heard, with slop and slide the order of most of Friday and some of Saturday. Sunday offered a bit more sunshine, and the infamous Vominator climb. We don’t think we need to explain the name…

If you want to crack on and enter next year’s event, make sure you get your name down early as tickets tend to sell out pretty quick. All the relevant information can be found on the EX Enduro website. And, you can watch a video summary of the 2024 edition on the Merida Bikes YouTube channel (below).

Mick’s Ex…

One of the best things about the Ex for me is how natural it all feels. Riding round or racing, you’re brushing up against vegetation that feels like it’s been in place for centuries – think rambling oak, ash and beech, not boring old plantation lines. The hand-cut trails themselves haven’t seen more than a loving mattock, rake or flat pedal shoe in shaping.

Forget about machine-built berms, wide motorways or armoured features – you’re lucky if the ‘main’ line in a timed stage is 30cm wide. And it’s cool knowing the good folk involved in the event either built the trails in the first place or freshened up the loamy, rooty, twisty woodland snakes before the race rolled into town.

The Merida EX Enduro has turned me into a bit of an addict, and the trails are big part of why. It’s an annual pilgrimage to Exmoor every September for a fix. I admit it, I’m totally hooked; both on the event’s combination of riding and racing miles of singletrack hidden in a lovely corner of England as much as the coming together of like-minded bikers after a slice of the afters as much as the trails themselves.

And who wouldn’t want it all when the ‘aprés’ is all about great food, booze and daft activities that this year included a DJ-soundtracked BBQ in a barn one night and roller racing set to a classic rave soundtrack after a sit-down dinner served by ‘waiters’ in fancy dress the next?

Obviously, my keeping coming back to the Ex is nothing to do with also managing to develop a habit of leaving with the victor’s trophy in the old man’s category (honest, Guv!), but it doesn’t hurt the ageing ego to be able to shine on my favourite kind of riding either.

This year, like every other, after three days riding, you just end up losing track of how much singletrack gets gobbled up every day (and there’s plenty of singletrack in the night too on the Exposure Lights Friday evening stages). The trails you do race on the clock – over 25 stages each time – are absolutely prime too.

Down straddling the Devon and Somerset borders, the Ex keeps you fed and watered with the best treats along the way and has you grabbing blackberries off the bush to refuel while cruising the deserted countryside. It also has you peeling eyes wide open in amazement at endless carpets of black singletrack-riddled moss or looking out to sea from any of the stages that unfold from almost cliff top vantage points. The scenery and terrain are fantastic and there is plenty of elevation too, so many stages last way longer than you’d expect in an English event; the two times you get dropped off in an uplift van to save some climbing are close to the top of Dunkery Beacon, which is a hefty 519m above sea level.

For my sins, I raced the three-day event on a good old analogue bike this year and I’ve got to say it was bloody hard work. Mostly because the weather decided to defy the long-term forecast and chuck it down for the whole weekend and bring some lovely draggy soils and sticky climbs. This must have been the fourth time I’ve done the event, but it was definitely the first time it has pretty much pissed it down every day. If the wet stuff wasn’t falling out of the sky at a rate, the trails were so soaked, and so were you too within a minute flat, no matter if your mudguard was motocross-sized or not. And, it’s a lame excuse, but with one thing and another, that’s partly what I’m blaming as to why it’s taken me about ten days to get home, get sorted, clean up all my kit and get this report written.

Wet conditions made the event feel way more sketchy than normal too. The dirt down there drains well and is actually not too slippery when soaked, but there are only several thousand off-camber wet roots you can take before one will bite you on the ass and send you to it. I had more minor crashes this time out than ever before, but sliding about all day for the weekend when it’s warm and wet was as much fun as you’d expect; just a slightly different type of fun and not as idyllic and gentle a version of riding as I normally associate with the event.

The EX is totally relaxed about what you ride and how you ride it. For some, it’s more like trail riding and the journey itself is enough and others want to try so hard against the clock they’re sprinting every little climb mid-stage and scaring themselves senseless on enduro bikes trying to go flat out. And this year, you’d have especially scared yourself senseless bombing around on blind tracks in the dark while it’s chucking it down inside a lights-reflecting cloud. The Friday night pre-BBQ stages were ridiculously dangerous if you didn’t have the good sense to wind it back a bit (note to self!) and I can confirm it’s definitely not as fun munching a burger and supping beers covered head to toe in mud and spray.

Some riders ride Ex-it on e-bikes, most riders ride analogue, but I reckon most are there primarily to just soak it all up, roll along, enjoy the massive days of riding and ride times you’d never normally do and the general good vibes. It’s also an event that is actually good value for money for all it offers with the non-stop delicious grub and drinks and extracurricular activities like yoga and whatnot. It’s also so welcoming and inclusive that it would be perfectly fine to rock up on your own and find new mates to ride around with straight away. I’ve spent every edition bumping into nice folk along the way and chatting along the liaisons with whoever you find at your pace. This year’s EX in the wet was different and a bit emotional at times, but another mega weekend where I got to feed my habit. If you’ve never entered a multi-day enduro like this where biking just kind of takes over from normal life for a minute, I’d seriously recommend it, and the Ex Enduro has to be the best of its kind you can do in this country.

Race results:

Open Female

1st – Rachael Gurney

2nd – Amy Jones

3rd – Natasha Litherland

Open Male

1st – Luke Teare

2nd – Nick Horsley

3rd – Luke Paterson

Vets Male

1st – Guy Chandler

2nd – David Valler

3rd – Stuart Brereton

Grand Vets Male

1st – Mick Kirkman

2nd – Graham Sheldon

3rd – Ian Sanders

E-Bike

1st – Sam Shucksmith

2nd – Simon Wakely

3rd – Liam Mason

the-ex.co.uk