2016 Cannondale British Enduro Series: Ae Forest - Round 1 Race Report
The day kicked off bright and early with a view to get the 200 riders through practice and the first three stages. By late afternoon the weather had clearly taken its toll on the track, creating a wild and muddy affair with plenty of slip’n and slid'n going on. You’d think you were in the thick of winter, not the start of Spring, but nevertheless, the opening round of The Cannonade British Enduro Series, 2016 is in the history books.
Race Day #1
The first round of any series seems to uncannily set the tone for the rest of the season and as the dedicated competitors and spectators alike, plunged into Ae Forest near Dumfries, Scotland, the weather - in typical Scottish fashion - decided to test both the riders, spectators and organisers moral. The level of commitment and skill for Saturday's practice and timed runs for stages one, two and three were however on another level. That said, the mud, rain or cold did little to dampen the excitement of the day...
Race Day #2
The second day of the Cannondale British enduro series started with sunshine as spectators, riders and organisers flooded back to Ae Forest; rested and feet dried. However, just after the first riders set off from the start line the weather quickly took a turn, reminding them of the hardship that was Saturdays practice. If the riders thought the weather brought its worse during stages one, two and three, they were sorely mistaken, having to contend with hail, rain, wind and thankfully, some sunshine.
Another early start couldn't dampen the enthusiasm to tackle stages four, five and six. Similar to the previous day, the cruel Scottish weather and extensive tyre abuse transformed the track, leaving each category to find their own lines and leaving the male and female elites, the honour of riding in the muddy ruts the previous contestants had left.
The day was not without its fair share of slips, collisions and mishaps. Nonetheless, the riders triumphed against the weather and come the podiums, the sun finally came out to tip its hat to the victors.
The next round is on the 7th & 8th May in Dyfi, see you there!
Full results here: https://www.rootsandrain.com/race3657/-mar-27-cannondale-british-enduro-series-1-ae-forest/
MENTIONS: @Cannondale / @schwalbe / @Magura / @Niall-Read
Race Day #1
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 Joe Ward tackling a muddy S-Berm on Stage 3. |
The first round of any series seems to uncannily set the tone for the rest of the season and as the dedicated competitors and spectators alike, plunged into Ae Forest near Dumfries, Scotland, the weather - in typical Scottish fashion - decided to test both the riders, spectators and organisers moral. The level of commitment and skill for Saturday's practice and timed runs for stages one, two and three were however on another level. That said, the mud, rain or cold did little to dampen the excitement of the day...
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| Two legs to two wheels to four legs, everyone was exploring the fire roads. |
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| Mud, mud and more mud. The norm for Saturday's racing. |
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| The grueling start and finish line for this weekend's competitors. |
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| Alex Cameron storming over the roots, coming in with a time of 22:26.54. |
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| Going for a dip. |
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| Making a splash at the bottom of Stage 3 - just keep peddling!. |
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| Pinkbike banners standing strong against the wind. |
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| One of the many brave marshals laying up. |
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| The mystical towing machine, helping half the cars and vans off the waterlogged and mud drenched fields. |
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| My favourite ladies of the weekend. |
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| Elite women setting off for their race - Traharn Chidley with smiles all round. |
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| Gazeboes standing adamant in the face of the wind. |
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| Intense's show bike on display. |
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| Spectator watching through the fog. |
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| An elite rider pushing back-up to try new lines during practice. |
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| One of the many bike stalls of the weekend - www.tred-shop.com. |
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| Wading to the finish line. |
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| Cation ahead for 0-16 category rider, Harvey Clacherty. |
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| Doc Ward, the official photographer of the Cannondale British Enduro Series in action on stage three. |
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| Hitting the bend hard in entertaining conditions. |
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| Two riders push hard for the final technical section on stage three. |
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| A very furry spectator. |
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| A beautiful Scottish setting for the first round of the British Enduro Series. |
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| Shortly after a much needed clean. |
Race Day #2
The second day of the Cannondale British enduro series started with sunshine as spectators, riders and organisers flooded back to Ae Forest; rested and feet dried. However, just after the first riders set off from the start line the weather quickly took a turn, reminding them of the hardship that was Saturdays practice. If the riders thought the weather brought its worse during stages one, two and three, they were sorely mistaken, having to contend with hail, rain, wind and thankfully, some sunshine.
Another early start couldn't dampen the enthusiasm to tackle stages four, five and six. Similar to the previous day, the cruel Scottish weather and extensive tyre abuse transformed the track, leaving each category to find their own lines and leaving the male and female elites, the honour of riding in the muddy ruts the previous contestants had left.
The day was not without its fair share of slips, collisions and mishaps. Nonetheless, the riders triumphed against the weather and come the podiums, the sun finally came out to tip its hat to the victors.
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| Final descent before the finish, at the bottom of stage six. |
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| Spectators brave the rain... |
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| A local rider shredding the trails. |
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| Marshals fighting off the cold. |
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| James Shirley sliding around on stage six. |
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| Inspecting stage five. |
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| No time to chat. |
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| Gnarly root section on stage six. Cornering and carrying speed are crucial for success here in Scotland. |
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| I'm happy that the medics on site were the only ones with nothing to do. |
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| Sheltered from the wind, rain and the mud. |
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| Event Director, Si Paton making 'mud angels'. |
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| Chris is relieved to cross the finish line. |
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| Mud splats everywhere. |
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| Mechanical issues don't slow Mason Pritchard down. |
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| Blasting 'dem' one liners. |
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| Giving it all for the final straight. |
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| Gazebo making a dash for it. |
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| All caught up. |
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| The norm in the fields. |
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| Cooper with his brolly at the pits. |
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| Over the finish line, much needed sit down. |
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| The elite men winners! From left to right: Sam Shucksmith, Chris Hutchens, Leigh Johnson, Adam Brayton and Joel Chidley. |
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| The elite women, from left to right: Roslynn Newman, Martha Gill and Tracy Moseley. Tracy had the fastest women's time of the day - 17:26.915. |
The next round is on the 7th & 8th May in Dyfi, see you there!
Full results here: https://www.rootsandrain.com/race3657/-mar-27-cannondale-british-enduro-series-1-ae-forest/
MENTIONS: @Cannondale / @schwalbe / @Magura / @Niall-Read
Author Info:
Member since Dec 26, 2011
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20 Comments
- 14 0
JRW82
FL (Mar 29, 2016 at 10:47)
£5 for the mystical towing machine to drag you out the water logged field! Stage 1 & 5 times missing from masters category still, no penalties or order to riders leaving for their stage start times, short cuts not being monitored for stage 6 transition, lack of organisation at sign in. But stage 3, 4 & 6 were awesome! I'll put it down to teething issues...
- 12 0
bbh13
(Mar 29, 2016 at 15:03)
Got to hand it to the old gravity enduro organisers, twice the entries and half the problems.
- 8 0
boardinbob
FL (Mar 29, 2016 at 5:34)
Surprised at only 157 entries. Wonder if it's just because it clashed with Vallelujah?
- 1 0
cardronapumpandjumptrack
(Mar 29, 2016 at 7:30)
That is likely to be the reason. So many great events its hard to choose
- 7 0
flymcg
(Mar 29, 2016 at 11:21)
Valleluja was half the price and better trails, no contest.
- 3 2
inchhighj
(Mar 29, 2016 at 11:44)
Did you ride both to know?
- 2 0
flymcg
(Mar 29, 2016 at 12:48)
Rode valleluja and ridden Ae before...Tweed Valley offers a lot more. Aside from that, having two events in Scotland is great.
- 4 0
usernamenotavailable
(Mar 29, 2016 at 10:02)
157? that is low, half the numbers of the PMBA rounds and the Welsh GE. Hopefully it was the weather that scared off the weak?
- 2 0
Kimbers
FL (Mar 30, 2016 at 5:52)
First go for the new organiser so some slack allowed, big mistake to have it same time as valejulah, just down the road really, and tweed valley can handle the rain much better than Ae, proper parking too.
First round of UKE clashed with WGES and PMBA so they also saw low numbers.
It's a tough format to get right !
- 1 0
Swordsman29
(Mar 30, 2016 at 14:06)
I rode on this weekend, bit gutted with the timing issues. However I was driving away on the Sunday and found myself absolutely exhausted its was a hard race but very enjoyable! It was hard got ask Paton to compete against that kind of weather. Great weekend though, with some issues that I'm sure will be ironed out for round 2. ????
- 1 0
adamxrt
(Mar 29, 2016 at 10:33)
i rode AE forest on thursday past, and there wasnt a soul to be seen. except for the felllas putting up the enduro trail boundaries.
id a half mind to tackle some of them but being completely on my own and never being there before, i settled for the omega man!
- 5 0
BMXrad
(Mar 29, 2016 at 10:44)
5 on a podium is bollocks FACT
- 1 0
flynngav
(Mar 31, 2016 at 0:46)
Ha ! Didn't think that until you said ... Happy to see Sam on the podium though !! Maybe they could do a group photo so nobody's left out 
it's the taking part ...
it's the taking part ...- 1 0
jaame
(Mar 31, 2016 at 7:42)
yes but there are five on the podium FACT. Unless you're in elite women, then there are only three because there are only three entrants. You could literally enter, walk down, and take 4th. I can see it on someone's CV now. "4th place, british enduro series". It sounds awesome.
- 1 0
BMXrad
(Mar 31, 2016 at 12:28)
@jaame: Still its funking silly why you have 7 on the podium if you want to be different ;-)
- 1 0
jaame
(Mar 31, 2016 at 16:06)
@BMXrad: no I agree with you. Five is rather silly. It should be three. Rather, I was making the point that it's easy for girls to make the podium. I keep hearing the equal prize money argument in other sports. In this case it wouldn't be appropriate, since you'd only have to finish to make the podium.
- 1 0
BMXrad
(Apr 1, 2016 at 11:18)
@jaame: hahaha I agree with you then, the best paid model is a lady best paid sports person in a fella market forces.
- 1 0
MancAndy
(Mar 29, 2016 at 5:26)
how sketchy is that course, lets hope it isn't lashing down for the next round!!
- 1 0
Konda
(Mar 30, 2016 at 5:21)
Reminds me of SoCal.
ohwait
- 1 0
Alexcam
(Mar 30, 2016 at 0:54)
...storming!
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