Happily, in a forest east of Wrexham, the spirit of enduro was still very much alive. Aran’s first report of the race season.
Growing up in West Yorkshire, my time spent racing the under 21 categories was focussed mainly on the PMBA Enduro Series. As a result, for myself and many others, the end of PMBA last season marked the end of an era and a huge blow for the UK enduro scene in general.
With Tweedlove also departing after the 2024 season, the health of UK enduro did really seem to be in a bad place.
The Welsh Enduro Series is now one of the main players still standing. I was therefore excited to see how its 2025 Series first round at Llandegla would go down in the wake of such a rubbish time for enduro.
Proper enduro set up: Giant Reign 1 with tasteful tape to stop mudhugger rubbing, pump attached to a Crankbrothers BC18 bottle cage, spare tube in the frame stow, quick-link taped behind brake lever. Yes, the Mars Bar did melt.
Llandegla is a venue that I have always put off in the past due to a reputation of being rather tame and ‘trail centre’-orientated. For a ‘trail centre enduro’ I’ve come to expect long, flat stages with nasty sprint efforts. What I don’t expect is natural, loamy, off-piste offerings spliced into pedally trail centre sections.
That was the formula that the Llandegla course desginers presented. And it made for a really solid enduro race, presenting a challenge on every end of the spectrum. For some riders the loose, technical rooty sections – such as the start of the very first stage – provided a real concern to ride cleanly. For others, these roots offered an opportunity to push.
The riders that blitzed through these rough sections were then subsequently beasted by a lengthy fire road sprint, or a sustained effort on a relatively flat trail centre loop. As a result, the Llandegla course had something to test every rider and required a well-rounded skillset to perform well.
In terms of the loop overall, the transitions had been deliberately picked to avoid efficient-but-dull fireroad slogs between stages, instead opting for scenic singletrack through the forest wherever possible. This routing did get some grumbles from some typically hard-to-please enduro racers; there were transitions that could have been much more direct using the fire road.
Overall though this routing resulted in an interesting and enjoyable day out on the bikes, giving a sense that enduro is something more than just who can go quickest down a few stages of downhill.
Stage 1
Stage 1 started by implementing the rooty and newly felled black section of ‘Natural Selection’ (for those familiar with Llandgela’s trails) then crossed a road into a short section of fast trail centre. Riders were then spat onto a slightly uphill fireroad for around 100m (which felt like a mile) before dropping into the shallow gradient and meandering ‘Dave The Fox’ to finish.
Stage 1 really provided a good summary of what was to come: a demanding mix of natural off-piste, fast running trail centre and sapping sprint sections.
Stage 2
After a relatively short transition, Stage 2 began again with a flattish, slightly uphill singletrack sprint before turning sharply onto a section of ‘B Line’, one of Llandegla’s more flowy trails with small doubles and table top jumps.
These jumps and rollers provided a nice opportunity to catch your breath before the stage progressed sharply into a steep, loose and loamy wood section. A cheeky high-line here – skipping the first left corner of this steep section and setting you in nicely for the next right – got my vote for line of the day.
Stage 3
The transition from Stages 2 to Stage 3 was a long but pleasant one, taking riders through classic Welsh singletrack, over boardwalk, a narrow bridge and finally a lake.
Stage 3 was much more natural. Starting with a steep, rooty section onto a short road sprint, before back into a loose slightly greasy (after the morning’s rain) bit of natural trail. This section terminated suddenly with a nasty acute left into punchy fireroad climb.
This corner really was nasty, with some riders opting to ditch the pedals and run alongside the bike up this climb. I’m still unsure whether this was quicker or just different. This was the longest fire roadsection of the day with, thankfully, both downhill and uphill stretches providing a nice easy place to pass riders.
Stage 3 finished with another natural and technical section, forcing riders to pick their way between stumps and roots presenting a welcome opportunity for choose some interesting lines.
Stage 4
The route then returned up a short and steep climb back to the lake with Stage 4 starting adjacent to Stage 3. For me, Stage 4 was a highlight, a most welcome short ‘n’ fast stage.
This was the first stage without any off-piste, though it did include a climb in the middle. These climbs were not met with too much dismay, as the short nature and the fact it was the last of the day meant you could spend all your energy without risk of needing it later on. The rest of the stage consisted of flat-out sections, rock gardens, small rollers and lips to squash, providing an all-round fun finish to a pretty ough day.
Final thoughts
As an opener to the season, round 1 of the Welsh Enduro Series at Llandegla provided early evidence that UK enduro racing – and the community spirit that feels unique to this sport – is as strong as ever.
Aside from a pretty feeble attempt at rain on Sunday morning the weather was wonderful, and all in all it was a great day out. I am really looking forward to the rest of the Welsh Enduro Series, given that on paper this was supposed to be the fairly tame opener. It can only get even better.
Results
As for the riders that had the balance of skill and fitness dialled, Hunter Macrone (senior 21-29) marked himself as the fastest man by 20 seconds (the only rider to go sub 8 minutes). Becci Skelton (35-44) taking fastest in the women by a more competitive 4 second gap to the travelling American, Opal Barber (U21). Becci Skelton’s win proving only more impressive with the 2nd fastest rider in her category a whole minute and a half back. As for the youths Alex Vickery (U15) put in an impressive time just under 40 seconds off FTD and dominating his category with Alex Carson going just under 30 seconds off FTD to take the win in a very competitive U18s. There was also some close racing in the under 21 male category from Sam Powell, with a slow second stage but an impressively quick stage 4 putting him 0.2 seconds up on Alfie Minta to take the category win. A similar story for the Senior (21-29) Female category saw Holly Bradbrook having a slow start but with 2 stage wins clawing back the category win from Jessica Greenhalgh by 3 seconds. As for yours truly, I was happy to place 5th in a fairly competitive 21-29 senior category, but I think it is fair to admit I definitely need to work on my fitness to be nearer that podium.
A big thank you is in order to Adrian and the rest of the Welsh Enduro Series crew along with the Llandgela gang and One Planet Adventure for hosting such a fun yet demanding event.
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good write up
sounds fun!,
tbh its cost that stops me doing races these days,
Great review thanks.