With no Enduro World Series until the start of July in La Thuile, it fell to the British Enduro Series to fly the flag in the midst of back-to-back Downhill World Cups.
Afan in South Wales was host to round 3 of the British Enduro Series. Despite roasting hot conditions the previous weekend in Fort William, Afan was a soggy affair.
Words and photos by Samantha Dugon.
Round 3 of the British Enduro Series already? We started up in the utterly grim wilds of Ae forest, then battled a leg-busting ride round at Dyfi. A series needs variety and that’s what’s been delivered. Three entirely different races, made even more ‘unique’ by the weather. Will we have a single dry round this year?
The week leading up to round 3 might have had people thinking that the trails would be coated with a generous helping of dust. Sadly South Wales, in typical fashion, wasn’t having any of it and the heavens opened just in time for riders getting going. We’re very good at riding in the mud here in the UK, so it was business as usual, and Britain’s best prepared to do battle in the Welsh Valleys.
The first two rounds were clearly more than enough for some and with just 150 riders on the start list there was an expectation that Afan was going to be another tough one!
Afan is best known for being a trail centre mecca – with miles and miles of surfaced, all year round, ride in any weather trails. The BES did make the most of those, but in typical fashion the team also threw in some fresh sections to keep everyone on their toes.
Stages 3 and 4 seemed to the riders favourites. They packed in plenty of fast, flowy turns and a healthy dose of Welsh rock and loam. Stage 5 was definitely the nemesis trail for a lot of the riders. With deep, greasy ruts and tight corners, it didn’t take long for the crashes and pile ups to start flowing.
“OK – the numbers were down and the midgies were evil – but it was actually a really good event. There was a mix of trail centre stuff some fresh cut DH stages. It was hard graft though – I rode 60 miles in total over the two days!”
Andrew Titley
By Saturday afternoon local hero Leigh Johnson was way ahead of the pack with a full 24 seconds lead over second place Sam Shucksmith. Elite woman Becky Cook also ended Saturday on a high in 1st place and was under pressure to keep hold of the lead.
Race day started bright and breezy at 9am on the Blade Trail, Afan’s newest and most talked about trails. With an easy 1.5hrs transition the day started easy and riders were treated to plenty of time to get warmed up.
Seeding took place on Stage 1 using a mix of the 373 and 4x track, with a long and very tiring grass sprint to the finish arena. Only in Veteran Men and Open Women would the fastest seeded rider not win their category.
Andy Sadler took fastest seed in Veteran Men and unsurprisingly took the stage win on the opener. He’d keep in touch with the top three, but eventually have to settle for 4th overall.
The women were the first to come down and tackle the rain, wind and midge swarms. Stanton hardtail rider Heather Kay seeded second in Open Women, but gradually finding her pace after stage 1 winning all the other stages and taking a commanding lead. Heather would end up the best part of five minutes ahead of second place.
Stage 3’s hard packed terrain made it easier for the riders to maintain speed and flow through the berms. With the sun making a brief appearance, stage 3 had the opportunity to dry out a little and the riders used this to bring up enough speed to get some style on the jumps. Contrasting the hard-packed and bike park like nature of the top of stage 3, the lower half provided fresh and upturned dirt exposing greasy roots trying to catch riders out.
Stage 5 gave the riders the most technical challenge of the weekend. Brakes were a riders enemy on stage 5, making sliding easier and grip severely less. Whilst most riders worried about the tight rutted and slippery turn that introduced the riders to stage 5, Marin rider and local boy Leigh Johnson took it all in his stride. Most riders took the corner tight as they were afraid to slip on the bank, but Marin Team rider Leigh Johnson took the risk and it paid off, coming out over 6 seconds off any nearest competitor.
The final stage saw the riders race the seeding track, and it was no doubt that the final grass sprint where the riders had an opportunity to claim back crucial seconds, was a little more exhausting to complete than after yesterday’s practice. The riders came across the finish line, 5 race stages wiser and their energy levels hitting near rock bottom.
“Overall, it was a good weekend There were five awesome stages providing a great mix of natural and trail center stuff making for a great race. Shame the weather had to curse is for Sunday though!”
Leigh Johnson, elite winner
Leigh Johnson pulled off the win by over 30 seconds, leaving Matt Stuttard and Sam Shucksmith battling for 2nd place with a mere 0.6 of a second between them. Becky Cook took the Elite Female win with a solid minute and 34 seconds ahead of Marin’s Martha Gill.
Despite the rain, the BES provided yet another great venue and event to test the best the UK has to offer. Fingers crossed for a dry round at Eastridge in August!
Full results can be found here. We’ll see you at Round 4 in Shropshire in August. Why not check out our reports from Round 1 (here) and 2 (here)?
