Race Report: TweedLove’s Transcend Bike Festival 2019

TweedLove’s new Transcend Bike Festival hosted over 2,000 riders in the Tweed Valley, Scotland last weekend.




The inaugural event provided riding events of all varieties including enduro, gravel, the first ever UK leg of the Bosch eMTB Challenge supported by Trek, and notably the first ever two-day uplifted enduro in the UK - the Transcend Epic.



Riders arrived from around the world to take part in the nine different events held across the weekend. All were treated to some true Scottish weather conditions which opened up the competition in the hotly anticipated Transcenduro, round two of TweedLove’s Triple Crown race series. It was Wide Open mag’s Christo Gallagher who beat the pros to claim a surprise men’s top spot ahead of the big guns and Orbea’s Bex Baraona took 20 seconds out of three-time World Champ Tracy Moseley to get the fastest time of the day for the women.

Fastest 3 females;
1 – Bex Baraona (Senior) | Ibis Cycles Enduro Team – 21:23.63
2 – Tracy Moseley (Master) | Trek/T-Mo Racing – 21:48.64
3 – Becky Cook (Senior) | Orbea Enduro Team – 21:48.87


Fastest 3 males;
1 – Christopher Gallagher (Senior) | wideopenmountainbike.com – 18:47.65
2 – Florian Nicolai (Senior) | Canyon Factory Racing – 18:48.52
3 – Mark Scott (Senior) | Santa Cruz X Sram – 18:54.21



The big highlight across the weekend for many was the Transcend Epic - a new enduro format for the UK which saw riders get two days of uplifted blind enduro racing across 13 stages in four of the Valley’s forests. It was local racer Thomas Mitchell that took the win with over 64 minutes of race time on the clock, but the racing went hand in hand with the vibe of enjoying two massive days out on the bike. “It was awesome, we’ve covered so many more tracks than you ever could in a normal race. It’s been brilliant – it’s the future of enduro,” said one of the riders.



But the festival wasn’t just about the competition. Thousands of others turned out to experience all of the entertainment that was on offer in the festival village; live music, DJ’s, the Frog Bikes Kids Adventure Zone, Tempest Brewing Co’s Beerfest tent, the Pumptrack, the Street Food Village as well as over 700 demoing bikes from the 30 different brands across the weekend.






The new festival format was a true success providing loads to do on and off the bike with many hoping the event will become a permanent feature in the calendar. “We are in awe of what TweedLove have just pulled off. They certainly did raise the bar and wow what an amazing weekend. There was something for everyone and a great atmosphere all around. We can’t wait for next year,” said one of the riders.