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Bike Perfect

Lifestyle

Rich Owen

After three days of wild riding and partying, the EX Enduro proves why it's the UK's number one 'must ride' MTB race weekender

MTB Exmoor

Side view of a rider negotiating muddy mountain bike trails .

The EX Enduro returned over the weekend for its eighth edition. Three days of enduro racing amongst the Exmoor hills awaited the 80 competitors, plus a few riders from the main sponsors, Merida, and MTB media such as ourselves.

The total number of riders is kept deliberately small which helps promote a friendly vibe as faces become familiar over the three days of racing. Smaller numbers of tire tracks means a lower impact on the local environment too.

The EX's Exmoor setting means you get to ride all manner of awesome race stages such as this (Image credit: Paul Box / Framedogs)

The weather didn't exactly play ball for last year's EX Enduro, so fingers were crossed for this year. However, while the forecast conditions looked promising earlier in the week, as the event became nearer heavy rain looked set to hit. Mud and slippery roots were a certainty as it rained hard the night before the first day of proceedings. Heavy rain was also predicted to hit during the first race day too.

As it turned out, the weather more-or-less played ball for Friday's afternoon of competition which comprised of five stages. The first of them was non-competitive – which helped to get everyone warmed up and in tune with the slippery conditions ahead.

After a few hours of slip-sliding in the mud, riders got some time to rest up before the second round of racing of the day – the night stages. Sponsored by Exposure Lights, the brand helpfully issued bar and helmet lights to those who needed them. While the skies remained dry for the first stage (which was epic), they properly opened after that. Stair rods of rain battered down and bow waves of spray were coming off front wheels, so visibility was at a premium for stages two and three. The tricky conditions made the BBQ, beers and DJs awaiting us at the end of the final stage even more welcome as the curtain came down on an awesome day's racing despite the wet finale.

It got about as wet as it can get for the last two night stages (Image credit: Paul Box / Framedogs)

After a very sodden end to Friday, spirits were buoyed by a brighter start to Saturday, with the sun even making guest appearances now and then for good measure. With 10 race stages and over 1,850m of descents (yes, that meant a lot of ups too), Saturday is known as the 'big day' for good reason.

Things kicked off with some steep singletrack that's not often accessible to the public (it also appears in the Southwest Enduro Series), then across the A39 to the woods that are home to many of the EX's stages.

Midway through the day was the incredibly fantastic vintage tea stop, which is arguably the best feed station on the planet. Where else can you get fed and watered mid-race with tea served in china cups and saucers, or snacks and sandwiches served on tiered cake stands?

The EX is the only race with a feed stop that includes tea served in a vintage cup and saucer (Image credit: Paul Box / Framedogs)

A new stage on Saturday afternoon definitely divided opinion. Dubbed the 'Pain Cave', stage eight consisted of at least as much up as down, which saw many riders having to push their bikes up the steeply ramped finish to complete. A hornet's nest at the end of the stage meant a bonus bit of climbing too, as the marshall clocking finish times had moved further up the hill to stay away from the flying beasties. A dinner party awaited us on Saturday night with live music and competitive roller racing for those hardy riders with energy still left in their legs.

Uplift vans meant each day started with a descent, though there was always plenty of climbing to come (Image credit: Paul Box / Framedogs)

More heavy rain was forecast for Sunday and riders were keen to load their bikes onto the uplift vans to begin the day's racing before it got too wet. The increasingly sketchy conditions meant that the first stage was removed from the schedule, which left five competitive stages for the riders to negotiate in the testing conditions. The tough conditions didn't seem to dent riding spirits though and while it may well have been type two fun, the stoke was still high at the end of the day.

Bronze, silver and gold stag trophies awaited the winners of each category (Image credit: Paul Box / Framedogs)

So that was it, another EX Enduro completed. All that was left was to hand out the prizes to the winners and hit the road. Many thanks to organisers Mike, Paul and their team who had put on a stellar event as always and the race stages were properly brilliant. Roll on next year for more of the same!