Fresh out of his final year at Uni, Wideopen’s Kelan Grant hit the high seas from Ireland to Scotland for the Tweedlove Shimano International Enduro.
The plan was to keep it fun and low-pressure …
Words by Kelan Grant | Photos by Saskia Dugon
Tweedlove and the Shimano International Enduro meant another solid weekend of racing and hands down one of the best events – and races – I’ve ever been to.
I made my way over to the Scottish Borders and met up with team mate Hutch. Whilst the race is local for him, Scottish races mean plenty of travel and plenty of Ferry time for me and the other Irish lads. It’s worth it though and trips over the water and becoming more and more regular – the more I get over to Scotland the more I like it. A few months earlier I took the win at the Tweedlove Vallelujah Enduro and I was keen to get back and have another crack.
I was impressed before I even got on track. The event was called ‘International’ and it lived up to the name with pits like you’d see at an Enduro World Series. On track we were treated to a 50km loop with a good mix of stages and plenty of technical descents.
It was a GREAT circuit. The local lads were flying and I knew from the start that the mix of locals and international big dogs would make for a tough race.
Coming into race day I tried not to put too much pressure on myself. I’ve just finished my final year at Uni (Product Design!) and had to take my foot of the gas with training to focus on work – that meant I was feeling a little out of shape but also didn’t feel any pressure to do well.
In the timed stages I felt like I had the most relaxed race I’ve had so far and just enjoyed every minute of it. We had fun in practice and just tried to do the same for our race – with me and Chris filming sections on the GoPro, taking it in turns to shred corners and taking our time to check out the new Mild Peril trail.
Team mate Chris Hutchens has been on a stormer the last few races and made his way into the top 5 against some of the best in the world. Taking a chilled approach to racing clearly worked and I slotted into 7th place which I was happy with.
The final podium consisted of Mark Scott in 3rd, Lewis Buchanan in 2nd and Enduro World Series leader Greg Callaghan taking the top spot.
For the women, Tracey Moseley took the 19-39 win with Katy Winton and Andréane Lanthier Nadeau following her down.
The Shimano International Enduro might not be an Enduro World Series these days, but I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a proper race – it’s big, it’s tough and it’s very fun with some trails that blow me away every time I visit. I’m looking forward to the Tweedlove King and Queen of the Hill race later in the season!
Thanks as always to Team Wideopen’s sponsors:
