State of UK Enduro Racing: Dyfi
Round 2 of the Welsh Enduro Series took place at Machynlleth over the weekend. Here’s Aran’s second report of his enduro race season.
Housing the Athertons and Pivot Factory Racing along with Dyfi Bikepark, Machynlleth is a hub for British mountain biking. Even a quiet pint in the White Lion in the town will feel like you’ve entered the Lion’s Den of Downhill. A-list status.
Coming into round 2 the expectations for a race deep in the heart of the UK’s downhill hotspot were high. For those who raced the first round at Llandegla, this second round felt like a whole different sport; the long, physical, trail centre stages having been benched in favour of rough, rooty off-pisters.
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ShakeycamGoPros were allowed, providing they were mounted in line with British Cycling rules, and for practice only, not for racing. I have attempted to provide some video proof of how good the stages really were. A few misadventures on my part to mention as a disclaimer however. First of all the GoPro was left in portrait for Stage 1 (rookie error).
Anyway, I have put together a highlight reel of stages 2-5 for your viewing pleasure…
The day kicked off with what felt like a fairly long transition out of Machynlleth town centre up into the hills and woods towards of white rocks for those familiar. The first two stages implemented these white rocks trails, rough, rooty and steep enough to catch you out.
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Stage 1
Exiting the woods on Stage 1Started fairly flat, but what it lacked in gradient it made up for in sheer roughness. ‘Gnadgery’ would be my word to sum this stage up. ‘Challenging’ would be a more direct summary. The stage didn’t stay flat for long, dropping into some chunky steep sections with rutty corners.
Stage 1 had a fairly unclear main line, so plenty of options for line choice for most of the track. With a collection of tight trees, roots and tree stumps littering the lines, flow was hard to come by.
For many riders (myself included) the feeling at the bottom of this track was relief that it was over. However, as the longest stage of the day, if you could find some flow or just fight your way down this stage, the time rewards were considerable.
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It was then back up the last part of the first transition to Stage 2.
Stage 2
Shale singletrack corners on Stage 2Stage 2 began to showcase some more natural flow. Although it began with a punchy flat start, the line choosing began almost immediately. The top section was fast and flat out with plenty of chances to sneak in some creative lines, before dropping steeply into some spicy technical rock drops and rooty sections. These rooty sections remained steep but evolved into loose shaley corners allowing riders to get a bit of steer-with-the rear action going on.
The transition from stage 2 out of the white rock area towards the off-piste tracks behind the town was the longest but definitely the prettiest of the day. A long fireroad proved to be no small task in the sun, but riders were rewarded with a panoramic view looking over Machynlleth, Dyfi Bike Park and what felt like the rest of mid-Wales.
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Views transitioning from Stage 2 to Stage 3Stage 3Stage 3 kicked off with a downhill crank over grass into the woods, where riders were met with dusty but rough singletrack containing some rutty and flat corners. Holding speed through corners and avoiding the temptation to brake was crucial here. Stalling out of corners punished riders with otherwise good speed, proving difficult to recover on many sections of the stage.
The most pedally stage of the day but it still kept a good balance of technical and pedally which in turn demanded a good blend of fitness and skill.
Stage 4A tough, steep but thankfully much shorter climb took riders to Stage 4. A scenic start on top of a free-standing grassy summit. The top of 4 began with a flat-out speed-tuck over grass. The key here was bravery over blind crests, trusting the track would still be there and importantly pointing the same way you were. A slight kink after the first crest caught many riders (again myself included) out.
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Stage 4 then dropped you into a wood section running parallel to stage 3, giving a duel-slalom feel to a few corners as the tracks converged.
Stage 4 then hit riders with a punchy climb, enough to catch out riders who had forgotten to downshift. Both of Stages 3 and 4 were fairly ‘one line’ but the lack of line choice did not mean riders could let off on their sense of direction. A good memory of where these tracks were going proved a serious advantage over riders who hadn’t been revising on Saturday.
Stage 5After finishing right next to Stage 3, riders were routed back up the short punchy climb to the top of the final stage. For me this stage was the favourite.
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Flat out and flowy but gnarly enough to catch riders out. Riding this blind in practice was a personal highlight for the weekend and in hindsight some of the gaps I pulled for were a little unwise. However, this track featured heaps of line choice, more than is possible to learn in the pub even. However, thankfully, excluding a few high line set ups, the main line did seem to be the quickest for the most part. The track built speed nicely. By the bottom you were motoring over roots into a widely-taped finish straight.
Line of the dayA tough choice with heaps of options across all five stages, some more ethically dubious than others and some so unethical the taping was reconsidered for race day.
To me my personal favourites were on Stage 5. Firstly, a pull out of a corner towards the bottom of the stage would gap you over a small rock drop providing some entertainment for the photographers when inevitably you landed in an odd position with a regrettable facial expression.
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Another Stage 5 line involved using a pretty square edge rock to bump you up a small rise on the inside of a corner was another favourite.
Line of the day: Stage 5 inside left to set up a high, sweeping, no brakes corner into the finish
However, also on Stage 5, the Line Of The Day was a simple inside high line at the bottom of the stage which really opened up the last corner and crucially kept speed high into the finish straight.
Final thoughtsOverall then, Machynlleth and white rocks met the high expectations. Fairly short and punchy tracks yet a really good mix of riding. The race catered for those who enjoy roots, steeps, ruts, fast open trails and even the psychos that enjoy a little sprint. Overall the race was fairly short, an epic day but 5 fast paced stages produced finish times at the sharp end of the field around the 7:30 to 8 minute mark. As a result consistency was key with no real leeway in the times for mistakes. Once again, a big thank you to Adrian and the Welsh Enduro Team for hosting an excellent event.
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ResultsPeter Carpenter of the U21 took his Forbidden Dreadnought onto the top step of his category and took fastest of the day overall. Innes Graham (21-29) followed closely, taking the second fastest time of the day just over 0.3 seconds shy of Carpenter and winning the senior male category. Another youngster, Charlotte Kay of the Under 21s, was the fastest woman of the day aboard her Hope HB916 with a much more dominant 20 second gap to Hollie Vayro (U21). Other standout performances included: Joe Carpenter of the Under 18s won his category with a blistering time just under 7 seconds shy of the fastest time of the day set by his brother. Becci Skelton once again won her category (35-44) dominating the competition by over a minute and placing 3rd overall behind the youngsters. The male Under 21 proved once again the most competitive category of the day and the only category to see the whole top 5 finish in sub 8 minute times. Peter Carpenter shared this competitive U21 podium with James Nixon in second and Oli Poulter in 3rd. As the opener of the British National Series at such an infamous venue some big names were attracted including Josh Brycleand who placed 2nd in his category and 11th overall but claiming an overall stage win on stage 4. As for myself, a lacking sense of direction and too much caution put me in a frustrating 16th in category. Overall, a good day of racing with some tight times on varied and fun tracks.
My race bike and setup
Same as Llandegla but a crash earlier in the week and no time to find a bolt left a shifter held on with zip ties (semi-permanent fix)
I was racing the same Giant Reign I used for Round 1 at Llandegla albeit with a bodged shifter from a crash earlier in the week. Aside from this self-inflicted shifter issue, the bike performed really well as before.
I put a new Schwalbe Albert Gravity Radial on the front and found the extra grip to be extremely handy in the dusty(!) conditions. The Maxxis Minion DHR II DoubleDown on the rear seemed to cope well with some harsh treatment (even with a tube in) which was a relief as a puncture at this event would have put a swift end to any hopes of a result.
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On ther whole, the bike carried speed really well over the rough stuff – for example at the bottom of stage 5 or at the top of 2. However, I was finding the rear suspension a bit soft and sluggish, especially at the top of Stage 1 and in flatter bits throughout the day on Saturday. Probably due to drier, faster conditions than am used to! So a bit more pressure in the rear shock and dialling off some damping seemed to do the trick for Sunday.
One thing I did regret was running 780mm bars, with tight trees leaving some marks on my forearms in places. I was finding it a little hard to persuade the bike round tighter sections, however some narrower bars and some more thoughtful riding should hopefully remedy this for Round 3 at Llanfyllin on June 7/8th.
Bring it on!
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Originally posted on: https://singletrackworld.com/2025/05/state-of-uk-enduro-racing-dyfi/