Below are some short reports from three riders who have competed in enduro races outside of the island of Ireland.
DISCIPLINE: Enduro
EVENT: Enduro World Series
LOCATION: Tweed Valley Scotland
DATE: 02/03 October 2021
CATEGORY: U21 Men
RESULTS: https://admin.enduroworldseries.com/uploads/documents/races/1633278741.pdf
Two weekends ago I took on the final round of the Enduro World Series in the Tweed valley, Scotland. It was my first ever EWS race so I wasn’t sure what to expect, however it did not disappoint. The trails where class and quite like home only faster and longer. On the Friday we had practice where I was able to ride all 5 stages before the first stage on Saturday. On Saturday was the pro race stage which finished in the race village, it rained all day so the trails were soaked, I had a lot of fun on stage and tried to keep it smooth in the sloppy conditions, and ended up taking 22nd in the under 21 category. On Sunday we had to do all the stages which made it a big day on the bike, over 1600 metres climbing and 6 hours on the bike. The first stage of the day was stage 2, which was one of the most physical of the day and a tough one to warm up on, I was pleasantly surprised to take 8th on that stage. For the rest of the day my aim was to be consistent in the slippy conditions, have fun on the bike and not make any major mistakes which I was able to achieve. I wasn’t used to the long stages which took there toll later in the day, but I was very happy to finish with a top 20 at my first EWS taking 19th overall in the under 21 and first Irish man in my category. After an incredible weekend, I am excited to get racing more Enduro World Series races next year. I’d like to thank Cycling Ulster Off-road Commission for the support.
Ben Wilson
DISCIPLINE: Enduro
EVENT: Enduro World Series
LOCATION: La Thuile, Aosta, Italy
DATE: 7 July 2021
CATEGORY: U21 Men
RESULTS: https://admin.enduroworldseries.com/uploads/documents/races/1625926890.pdf
Had a great weekend racing the EWS100 round 2 in La Thuile. Ended the race in 23rd, I struggled with a few mechanicals and a couple mistakes and falls, but I’m still taking it as a positive, as I gained a lot of valuable experience, and had a good improvement over last round. All in all, another super steep learning curve with valuable experience gained, along with a steady improvement on the timetable. I would like to thank the Cycling Ulster Off-road Commission and all those within for their support of athletes taking the large leap to continental racing.
Scott Roberts
DISCIPLINE: Enduro
EVENT: Enduro World Series (EWS80)
LOCATION: La Thuile, Aosta, Italy
DATE: 7 July 2021
CATEGORY: Women
RESULTS: https://admin.enduroworldseries.com/uploads/documents/races/1633209258.pdf
After booking my race entry in March 2021, it was now time to travel to Scotland and what an experience it was in the Tweed Valley.
We left early on the Wednesday morning to catch the ferry at 03:30 and drove to our campsite at Innerleithen, Scotland.
After we got set up we walked around the hills to catch a glimpse of what I would be racing, the stages were fantastic, well-built and very long.
While we were walking, the E-bike category of the EWS series was live, it was cool to see some racing action and some of the best endure riders in the world.
The weather forecast was looking good for practice day on the Friday and race day on the Saturday, I was looking forward to hitting the stages. Unfortunately, the forecast didn’t play ball, with rain overnight, I imagined it would be sloppy for practice day.
Practice day come around very quickly, I was very nervous but keen to get on the stages and find out how they were riding, we drove up to the race village, picked up my race number; 846, and then straight up to the tracks to get practice started.
With long stages, come long climbs, stage 1 was probably the longest and it took me around 45 minutes to get to the top.
Stage 1, “Pre Drinks”, was a great stage, very much like stages at home, but longer, tight, twisty with parts you could just let the bike go. The conditions were as expected, covered from head to toe in muck after one run, but great fun
Stage 2, “New York New York”, I had heard a lot about this track and it was even better to ride very long and exhilarating.
Stage 3, “Big Baw”, was probably the sketchiest and most technical stages of the race, lots of rocks, roots and jumps but amazingly well built.
Stage 4, “Big deal”, was the longest track but it was fun and flowy the whole way down with a few hidden surprises along the way including a new step up at the end that had been built for the event, after almost 6000ft of climbing and around 22miles my practice day was over….
Race day had arrived! Once again the Scottish weather defied the forecast, It had rained all night, it would continue to rain the whole day, making what I had practiced the day before more unpredictable. I have never been more nervous before a race!
My first Enduro World Series race was happening! After getting my timing chip activated, I left the race village and it was around 2 miles to the start of the first climb then about another 45 minutes climb to the start of the first stage, my start time for Stage 1 was 13:22. I arrived early, got myself settled and went for it….
Next up, stage 2, and another 45 minutes climb, with the strong winds and rain at the top section of the track I didn’t hang around I just got stuck in. I finished it and by the end of the stage 2 was completely mucked and soaked through.
Stage 3, this stage was slippy on a lot of sections especially some of the rocks and roots, at the end of it I was exhausted so time to refuel I took some food to get ready for the final stage.
Stage 4, last stage, after a 20 minute bike climb I was then greeted with a 45 minute push up. I eventually got to the top of the stage, took a breather, put my gloves on and gave it everything as it was my final stage. My legs were burning on the last few minutes of the stage, but I pushed through it and entered the final fast section and the new step up feature, a massive crowd roared from the side-lines, as I passed through the final gate, it was a great feeling.
I had completed my first ever EWS! Mind you, I was happier to get down the stages in one piece and to have achieved something I had wanted to do for a very long time. I still had around 2.5 miles to ride back to the race village to return my timing chip, I got my times printout and then back to the van to get changed into my clean, dry clothes.
We waited around the race village for podiums checking out some of the exhibitors. Eventually podiums started, it came to the EWS 80 girls’ podium, I wasn’t expecting a result, the goal for me was to participate and finish it but then to be called up onto to the podium was amazing, I did not expect a podium finish, I was buzzing, so I ran up onto the Enduro World Series podium and got a really cool 2nd place medal and just looked around me, a crowd of people who I didn’t know stood and cheered for me, I just took it all in, great experience.
To end on a high note, we stayed to watch the Pros on the Sunday, it was unreal, the fastest Enduro riders in the world were riding the same tracks as me and they were lit!
I am still over the moon with my result and I hope to get back to the next EWS in Tweed Valley next year to race it again.
I could not have done it with support from my family and the help and ongoing support from Specialized Ireland and Gortin MTB.
I would also like to thank Cycling Ulster for their help and support, it is very much appreciated.
Hannah Mullin
