PMBA Grizedale report and video

The Grizedale PMBA Enduro took place last weekend, and Kev the organizer is satisfied: “I think we pushed the limits of what can be achieved in a 1 day event”.

The aforementioned limit pushing included 4 stages, 3 of which were 5 minutes +, and Kev claims “they were the most technical [stages] we have ever done”. The course repotedly won plaudits from racers of all levels for its challenge. Nice one! Here’s Whitenosugar’s video:

And here’s a neat report by second-place woman Roslynn Newman:

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After our Female Riders Race team gathering at Steel City Downhill, Kev Duckworth, good friend and organiser of the Hope PMBA Enduro Series insisted I pop into Grizedale on my way home. I managed, at the last minute, to convince a speedy Elena Melton to join me on my venture, and so we were off on our first ever trip to the Lake District.

Turning off the M6 and into a maze of ever-increasing remoteness I started to get that ‘why am I trusting this sat nav to lead the way?’ feeling. Nonetheless, the beautiful scenery unfolding around me entirely quelled my doubts.

I was really surprised to find Grizedale trail centre quite literally in the middle of nowhere. However the centre itself is a widely spread and modern facility with large and comfortable toilets, an awesome cafe with excellent and friendly staff, a fully kitted bike shop and a gorgeous gift shop. The centre is built from old converted buildings, with the original stone and authenticity retained; it truly is a gem in the middle of beautiful nowhere.

So I started off loving Grizedale before I had even sat on my bike. The spring sun shone brightly, the sky was blue and there was a cold refreshing feeling in the air. After a quick registration and a great chat with a very helpful and awesome Nancy, Elena and I set off to practice two stages.

The PMBA guys have done something slightly different with the enduro format. Most of the races are one-day only events, with practice in the morning and racing in the afternoon. Although limited sections were available to practice the day before, arriving mid-morning I didn’t have many options so I chose to practice the two final stages and ride the first two stages blind. My teammate and 2015 PMBA series champion Bex Baraona advised, “it’s better to prepare yourself to ride blind.”

Practice was great fun and all the marshals were super-helpful. I bumped into the One Planet race team sessioning various line choices on the muddier sections of stage 4 and they made light work of the technical rock section on the lower part of the stage. After practice, the cafe offered a free lunch to each racer; a piping hot bowl of chilli was waiting with our names on it. This race was full of surprises! We couldn’t stop for long but managed to stick around long enough to realise that our Scottish burr was barely comprehensible to the locals.

The race

The whole circuit comprised 23 kilometres, 750m of ascent and four stages. The first two stages finished by Coniston water in the lakeside car park and after each was a fairly arduous climb back up onto the ridgeline – nothing to cry about but still a tough transition. At least there was a feed station at the top.
Stage 1

After a fairly long climb up to the top of the trail centre, stage 1 sat snugly in amongst the trees. Due to my lack of practice on this stage I had asked a number of riders about what I should be expecting and was told it was ‘rooty death hell’ and also ‘the longest stage’. I knew, if nothing else, it was bound to be a buzz.

About two metres from the start, I could see that the previous description were accurate. A number of nicely polished, shining roots crossed over in various directions shouting, “I want you to fall off your bike”. A bit of foot dabbing and some fairly girly noises got me through the worst and I was off, constantly having to remind myself, “you don’t know this trail, keep your head right up and expect anything”. I heard rumours of big log jumps and a lot of mud, there was an especially muddy section before a steep chute that I would have preferred not to roll in but ‘hey ho’. I am Scottish so mud isn’t really an issue.

It wasn’t all mud though; there was a really fast descent including the KS drop, but only after an uphill fireroad sprint that sapped the juice from the legs. The fast and wet rocky descent did, however, have some beautiful corners to the finish line.

Now, at the foot of the hill at Coniston Water, we were greeted with lovely views of sailing buggies and picturesque houses; I never thought it was possible to have a manicured stonework finish until I went to Grizedale.

We met some local riders on the road to stage two who shared their knowledge and updated us on what to expect for the next stage. Thankfully the feed station at the top served a well-deserved homemade flapjack from the cafe and water kindly donated by United Utilities.

Stage 2

The second stage was a loamy trail that had a multitude of line choices, a river crossing with a short up hill blast and some sneaky corners with looming roots.
It was so much fun picking my way around but really important to keep on the pedals at the same time. The trail opened up onto a grassy field that was developing some rutted corners, but was great to thrash the bike about in. Riding blind adds another mix to the enduro format and I realised I was very reliant on the marshals to direct me as I crossed forest roads.
Stage 3

The view of the Lake District from the top of this stage was breathtaking. Elena and I shared such a wave of excitement as we admired the lovely hills of Northern England. Another wooden circlet stood distinctively in the landscape below, overlooking the trail we were about to tackle.
This was the stage everyone was referring to as the ‘puncture producer’. It had some sneaky rocks and a couple of sections reminded me of the rock slab features on the Fort William downhill. It was a short and action-packed stage that crammed so many features into bitesize chunks; slippy slabs, wooden bridges, muddy puddles, drops and flat out descents. The stories of punctures weren’t exaggerated either: a shower of upside down frames with rear wheels, tubes and pumps was scattered along the transition road to stage 4.
Stage 4

The top section of this stage was fairly technical, going through some muddy ruts and awkward roots before leading onto a felled forest and a trail centre jump line. There was a huge fire road section that I was absolutely dreading, as it seemed to go on forever. Dropping back into the forest, riders were greeted with a technical rock slab and some mud-coated rocks. Homeward bound toward the finish line was alongside a lovely piece of single track. It was so much fun – if not hugely exhausting.

Back at the event village I discovered I was sitting in first place but this was short-lived; Becky Cook arrived and had a hugely impressive time – just over 16 minutes, a massive 90 seconds faster than me. Second place was still satisfying. Elena came third, another 30 seconds behind.
The real winner of the day, though, was Grizedale and the amazingly well organised and fantastic atmosphere of the PMBA series. The balance of technicality, ability and the challenging aspect to the trails was spot on and suited to all levels of riders. The PMBA team really has thought of everything and all of the race information was well delivered. If you’re looking to try out enduro for your first time, the PMBA offer a lites category or, if you’re an experienced racer, the PMBA hits the spot.

Thank you to all the marshals, especially Nancy and the great staff at the café, and huge thanks to Richard Baybutt for demonstrating the brilliant kindness of strangers and lending me his brake for the day after a crash at Steel City the day before.

For a full list of the results, click here.

Barney Marsh

Barney Marsh takes the word ‘career’ literally, veering wildly across the road of his life, as thoroughly in control as a goldfish on the dashboard of a motorhome. He’s been, with varying degrees of success, a scientist, teacher, shop assistant, binman and, for one memorable day, a hospital laundry worker. These days, he’s a dad, husband, guitarist, and writer, also with varying degrees of success. He sometimes takes photographs. Some of them are acceptable. Occasionally he rides bikes to cast the rest of his life into sharp relief. Or just to ride through puddles. Sometimes he writes about them. Bikes, not puddles. He is a writer of rongs, a stealer of souls and a polisher of turds. He isn’t nearly as clever or as funny as he thinks he is.

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