I thought I’d have a stab at a write up of the Dunkeld Enduro, if you are interested read on…
‘one of the most technically challenging enduros the UK has ever seen.’ was the description bestowed upon the first round of the Scottish Enduro Series by Enduro MTB magazine, I’m glad it wasn’t just me who was in over their head! After some persuasion, I convinced Rich HB to join me on the trip to Dunkeld to throw ourselves down hills with 300 or so other mountain bikers all in the name of fun.
Having scoped out some trails a few weeks previously we were quietly confident that we knew what to expect…..we were wrong. From riding the Laggan enduro last year I knew you didn’t go to an Scottish enduro for ‘nice’ trails but these were proper! Steep, awesome, muddy, wild, rooty, fun, rocky, terrifying, big drops, off camber are all words I’d use to describe the trails, often all at the same time. These were some of the toughest trails I’d ridden and at times a bit overwhelming but boy were they good fun.
Practice day was an eye opener, the first 3 stages were on the hills on the west side of the A9. Some rain on Friday and Saturday morning had made the trails super slick, the most demanding was stage 3 which was described by another rider as ‘survival!’. An OTB from myself and a shouts from Rich of ‘Hebby doesn’t like this!’ set the scene for a messy day. Stages 4 and 5 started at the mast above Dunkeld and were much more flowy and fun and provided some motivation for Sunday.
We caught up with Eilidh, in her flash new team kit, on race day, along with her brother and a few others, one of who I suspect is the scottish cousin of Arron Gwin as he rode the first 3 the stages with no chain after a rear mech implosion on the first corner of the first stage! Some dry weather and some modifications to trails by the organisers made for a much better day on the Sunday. The new roll through start/finish took a bit of getting used to but grippier trails and the pressure of racing pushed me on to ride sections I’d avoided the day before. With an existing knee injury playing up, HB bowed out after the first two stages, leaving me to fly the GMBC flag alone.
Stages 4 and 5 again proved to be the highlight of the day with their steep chutes, switchbacks and bermy corners, extra kudos to Eilidh for riding them blind! After 20 miles and 4000ft of climbing each day, the bottom of the last stage was a welcome sight but tired bodies didn’t get spirits down. It was smiles and all round and off to registration to get that all important wee bit of white paper.
I finished the day 48th in the senior men and midfield overall, which is about where I expected after a few spills, plenty of room for improvement. It’s not all about the result though, there was some great riding and a great atmosphere and buzz about the place (I’m still amazed at the variety of riders at the enduros). I’ll definitely be signing myself up for another one and I’ll be on the lookout for other victims/volunteers to come and join me, so if this has tempted you (probably not) give me a shout.
P.S. Check out the cracking video of the Enduro by Glen Thompson here https://vimeo.com/159371453 (you’ll spot some familiar faces hanging about at the start)
