Team Wideopenmag’s Chris Hutchens previews the 2018 Scottish Enduro Series’ trip to the north east and the venue of Pitfichie.
This preview is a little harder to write. Mainly because I’ll not be heading North on this occasion to race and it was one of my stand out events from last year. It’s not long now until the 5th round of the Scottish Enduro Series at Pitfichie in the North East of Scotland.
Scottish Enduro Series 2017: Round 2 – Pitfichie from Scottish Enduro Series on Vimeo.
In 2017 I was still living in Scotland and was heavily involved in the MTB scene in and around Aberdeen. On the run up to the SES at Pitfichie, just outside Moneymusk to the West of Aberdeen (the fact is though you can’t go East of Aberdeen without hitting water so that goes without saying), I put in some serious hours getting the trails touched up and ready for the race there.
The event was blessed with sun, dust and smiles all round. Even the local community group got involved providing some fantastic catering. The charity behind the plans for a new Adventure Centre (which wasn’t fully announced at the time) NETCO was also in attendance and pushing their concept and idea while also providing marshals.
They’re doing the same this year but are looking for a few more marshals. If you can marshal then let them know. Your time will help finance the charity.
NETCO Marshal Sign up here.
While there’s not likely to be any major changes to the already fantastic course from 2017 there’s been some manicuring and touch-ups on going in order to provide riders with an even better ride. If the dust sticks around then I’m going to be having serious FOMO over the next week and a half.
The heather-strewn hillsides provided the perfect stage for riders to drop into the six stages. I definitely sensed there was a buzz around the trails at Pitfichie last year, which are a great mix of rocky, technical and relatively fast trails.
The photos only just do it justice and following the race I think there will be an increase of people making the trip North to ride in Aberdeenshire. There’s plenty of other spots around as well for you to get your granite fix!
With the series heading into the 5th round of the season it’s going fast. There’s still riders battling out for series positions and also event wins.
Wideopenmag’s Christo G will be heading up to Pitfichie on the 15th and 16th of September to chasing some more series points. He’s looking good for 2nd overall with Lewis Buchanan striding ahead at this point in the season. Good luck lad!
