Race Report: Valleys Enduro Round 4, Abercarn, UK

Race Report

Valleys Enduro Round 4

from Abercarn, Wales UK

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Words by Nick Bentley (Man Down Media) Images by Isabella Wagstaff

Round 4 of the Valley Enduro took place this weekend in Abercarn, Wales. This time round Western Bike Event’s Valleys Enduro went for more hand-cut, steep, technical trails in contrast to the Afan round before, which saw the riders take on trail centre trails. This, however, brought plenty of challenges. With Wales being Wales in spring, we saw plenty of rain in the week leading up to the race which made these fresh loamy trails pretty slick in places. Unfortunately, this meant there were plenty of crashes, some more serious than others but the team at Western Bike Events had it all covered and thanks to the hard work of the medics and the marshals injured riders were well looked after.

Back to the racing though. The fresh-cut trails seemed well received with organisers keen to learn from each race. It’s great to see this young race series evolving round by round.

Elbows out, power down. Reuben Lewis dominated in the U14 field taking the win by over 30 seconds

The views over Abercarn made the perfect backdrop to the enduro, greeting the riders as they emerged from the forest

The exposed off-camber was a challenge after the weather the track had seen all week

GT Viris’ Rico McStay took his first win of the season in the U16 field by just under 2 seconds

Even in the wet, it’s true what they say – Wales never fails

As riders left the dense woodland they faced loose loamy turns

The steep slab berm kept riders on their toes after the bank holiday rain, but they were no match to Chris Hulley taking home second in the 18-29 category

Hot Pursuit Cycles’ Stuart Howard had a great day on the tracks taking home tenth in a packed e-mtb 35-49 field

Riders were clearly enjoying the tracks at Abercarn, as there were smiles all round

Seth Barrett keeping it pinned across the off-camber on his way to second in the men’s elite field, narrowly missing out on the top podium by just 2 seconds

What’s not to love about spraying loam on a Sunday?

Vivian Jones took the win in the men’s 30-39 field

With plenty of fresh-cut loamy trails on offer, line choice was everything

The tracks were steep and slick

The G-outs onto the fire roads were no joke either!

The trails were tight and twisty. It really was a challenge at Abercarn

Even on the transitions everyone seemed to be having a great time

Ian Dowell having a great time in the Welsh valleys taking home second in the 35-49 e-bikes field

With the bluebells starting to come out, this really is a picturesque venue

Oli Poulter working his way through the tight twisty turns

Back on top step for Stu Hughes this weekend

A strong second place for Anna Cipullo in the women’s 30-39 field

At least there’s a stunning view to take in as you wait for the start of your stage

Plenty of queues waiting for stage start which gave the riders an opportunity to catch their breath and have a gossip

The trails are open, just head this way

There’s always time for a little bit of style, but YT Mob’s William Pugh mixed the style with speed coming out on top by just 5 seconds in the male U18 race

A strong top-5 finish in the senior men’s field for Ben Potts

Best thing about enduro is there’s always time for a chat

It was pretty dark in the woods, making those wet sniper roots even harder to see

Chris Archer powering his way through the turns

Trust me I’ll catch you!

Plenty of step chutes this weekend to test the riders’ nerves

Not everybody made it out of them cleanly

The next round of the Valley Enduro takes place on 25th June at Hafod Wen, Brechfa.