British Enduro Series Round One 2016 - Video

Ae Forest was the venue for not only the first round but the first ever British Enduro Series. The team had been working flat out for months prepping for this event, and by the looks of the glorious blue skies on Friday it was going to be a good'un. Working late into the night Friday making sure everything was perfect. Waking up Saturday morning was a different story completely... the heavens had opened. The field was wetter than an otter's pocket, and people were having a very leisurely start to the day, secretly just reluctant to get riding.

Stage one started with a flat out sprint through the misty forest before opening a little then dropping over a fire road and into to wide open rocky corners. Stage two was not technical but was the most open to the elements, again staring with a sprint into the wind over some table tops and finally almost traversing a cliff until you reached the finish, stage two was the most gruelling of the day for riders and marshals. Those poor marshals were stood on the side of a hill all day in 40 mph winds and rain going sideways, so props to them. Stage three was the round that was going to make or break your race. The track dropped in at the trig point and as soon as you were off you were into a mix of wet roots, wet rocks and wet off camber loam, this track was a full on downhill track and the weather conditions were not making it easy for people. I can guarantee you not one rider got down that track without crashing that day.







Racing got underway and you could see people's souls were already destroyed from their practice loop that morning. Near enough 200 brave souls braved the elements and set off up the maze of fire roads to the top of stage one. The unrelenting rain didn't stop all day. I was one of 4 media people on the hill, but I don't blame the rest of them for staying at home. I had 3 pairs of socks on with two bin liners and my feet were soaking.

Stage four was very much like stage 3, again starting from the trig point straight away you were plunged into wet roots and darkness. Tracey Moseley saying her Garmin even went into night mode as she entered the woods. Five was a little more tame with the top 3 quarters being part of the red route so some single track with flowy berms, then it dropped into some fresh cut what were intended to be lines but infact were more like streams at this point. Then one final slog back up the fire roads, back to the trig point to the top of 6. By this point in the weekend, some were happy it was nearly over, some were probably wondering why they weren't at home in front of a nice warm fire, but I can tell you that not one person wanted to ride their bike anymore that weekend. Six sent you down the downhill track that people will be racing this weekend at the British Downhill Series. So gnarly, loose and yet again you guessed it... wet. To finish, if you had anything left in the tank it was put into sprinting down the finish straight, through inches of puddles and mud to the finish line covered in dirt, sopping wet but glad it was over. You could see the looks of relief on people's faces.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend and a great first round to the series. I don't think weather can get worse than that so anyone thinking about entering, this series is only going to get better and better. If you do fancy it, get yourself to Dyfi Forest on the 7th and 8th of May.
See you then.

Film by Taylor Smith

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MENTIONS: @Cannondale / @FilmSmith

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