May 4th and 5th sees the BEMBA National Enduro Series move north to Graythwaite.
Round 2 of the UK’s National Enduro Series promises to be a big one with a hefty loop and lots of tech, natural riding.
The series so far
Round 1 of the BEMBA BNES British National Enduro Series went down at Afan in South Wales.
Racers were treated to perfect conditions, sunshine and dusty trails with Leigh Johnson and Becky Cook taking the win.
Where the hell is Graywaite?
The Venue:
- Estate Grounds, Graythwaite, Ulverston LA12 8BA
- Postcode: LA12 8BA
- Race Director: Kev Duckworth
- email: [email protected]
- mobile: 07979 911337
For round 2 we’re off oop north to Graythwaite in the beautiful Lake District.
The race is organised by Kev Duckworth and the team behind the massively successful Hope PMBA Enduro.
The PMBA team are calling this one “The Epic”. It’s a big, tough loop with stunning views and grizzly climbs.
There are 8 stages over 15 miles with 1100m of elevation. Riders should take around 5 hours to get round the loop with around 20 minutes of racing.
The stages promise to be properly good fun with no trail centre whatsoever and plenty of technical stuff.
What’s happening and when
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
- Site closed for set up with no access to stages.
Friday.
- Race arena opens, free camping available and portaloos and showers open in the evening.
Saturday.
- Marshal Brief 9:00 AM
- Sign on will be open from 9:15
- Surf and Turf catering open from the morning – time TBA
- Practice starts 09.30 from arena – Stage 1 open 10am
- Practice finishes 16.30 – stages closed after this time (and gates on S8 locked)
- 18.00 – Vittoria Q&A & Airliner Demo
- 18.00 – Happy hour at the bar
Sunday.
- 0745 marshal brief
- 0810 Sign On opens (timing chip collection)
- 0830 First riders depart
- 0900 Stage one opens
- 1200 All racers have departed
- 1300 first racers back
- 1430 Bottle bar opens (TBC)
- 1730 last racers back
- 1745 Final results
- 1800 podiums
- 1830 done and dusted
- 2054 Sunset
- 2100 Bottle bar closes
The Pits
Outside of the racing, there’s going to be a buzzing race village with plenty of brands on display.
Grizedale MTB will offer spares repairs and a heap of other brands will have their gear on display including: Vittoria Tyres, Sixth Element, Hope Tech, Orange, Surf and Turf, Sport Ident, Trailside Sports Therapy, Pace, SJ Campers and the excellent Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery.
Points mean prizes
Round 2 will have Enduro World Series points up for grabs. Go fast here and you can earn those points to qualie for the big league EWS. You can learn more about what you need to qualify for EWS points here.
Please note – you must, must, must (must!) pre-register with EWS to qualify for points. No pre-registration means no points!
BNES team points are also up for grabs. This means that you can team up with your mates and put in a bid for the BNES Team Championships. Points will be tallied up on Roots and Rain. Remember that each team’s top 3 results at each event will be used for the ranking and only one result per category will count.
Don’t miss the Russell Spirit of Enduro Award
As a nice touch, the PMBA team are offering a Spirit of Enduro Award.
They’re looking for “outstanding acts of resilience, bravery, kind heartedness and fellowship in the race community”. They’ll take nominations at the sign on tent with a winner being announced at the end of the weekend. Nice touch!
Who’s going to take it?
Last race we took a stab at Leigh Johnson for the win and, no surprise, he nailed it.
This weekend’s start list is absolutely packed with almost 600 racers entered… But a few notable absences as riders head out early to Madeira for the Enduro World Seires.
Leigh isn’t on the start list for Graythwaite but we’re told that Adam Brayton is due to make an appearance. Wideopenmag’s Christo Gallagher (3rd place in round 1) and Matt Stuttard (2nd place at round 1) are both also on the list and will be battling for top results.
Just as round 1’s men’s winner is absent, so to is its female winner. With no Becky Cook, it’ll be a battle betweenKJ Sharp, Kirsty Adam, Abigale Lawton and Alyssa Podesta. Kirsty took P2 at Afan so could well be the favourite for the win.
For full info on the race you can visit the PMBA website’s event briefing webpage.
2019 BEMBA British National Enduro Series (BNES)
Dates and venues:
Round 1: April 13-14th Afan, South Wales
Welsh Gravity Enduro BNES £65.50 (Sunday)
Tickets on sale 24th November at 09:00
Round 2: May 4-5th Graythwaite, England
PMBA Epic £75
Tickets on sale 17th November at 09:00
Round 3: May 25th-26th Minehead, England
Tickets on sale 1st December at 09:00
Round 4: Venue TBC and date TBC (to be June or July)
No Fuss Events £TBC
Tickets on sale, TBC
Round 5: August 17-18th Tweed Valley, Scotland
Tweedlove £TBC
Tickets on sale, TBC
Round 6: August 31st-1st Sept, Machynlleth, North Wales
Welsh Gravity Enduro BNES Champs £65.50 (Sunday)
Tickets on sale 24th November at 09:00
