Enticing cyclists from all over the world, the Tweed Valley is renowned for their efforts within the cycling industry and award winning trails.
Just an hour outside of Edinburgh the Tweed Valley is home to some of the greatest trails in the UK thanks to the passion and hardwork of the local cycling community. And so the Tweedlove festival began to celebrate the sport and the community. Including a large number of events including Skinny Tweed, a road cycling event, the Family Ride where riders and their families take to the streets of Peebles and the International Enduro which sees the likes of EWS & Downhill legend Tracy Moseley participate in, along with a number of family and kid friendly cycling events. The Tweedlove festival celebrates all disciplines of the sport, for every age.
Each year the festival concludes with the International Enduro and “Tweed on the Green” and this year the organisers put on the biggest event to date. From 9th – 11th June, the small Peebles town saw the largest exposition to set foot on Tweed Green, with over 250 bikes on hand available to demo, as well as rider signing sessions where the fans got a chance to meet the likes of Trek Factory Racings Tracy Moseley, Katy Winton and Lewis Buchanan, along with Cube rider Greg Callaghan. There was also live music, craft beer and plenty of other brands on site showing off their newest kit giving the riders and spectators plenty to keep busy with.
The International Enduro course was a long day out in the saddle, with long climbs, seemingly longer descents and tight transition times, the International Enduro was one to test all riders, regardless of their experience. Comprising of 5 stages over a 50km course, the tracks had everything, with pedal heavy stages on stage 3 being over 9 minutes long, and some very technical yet fun and flowing stages like stage 2. All eyes were on previous years winners Tracy Moseley and Greg Callaghan as the riders left the event stage Sunday morning and with local pros Katy Winton and Lewis Buchanan going for the top step it would be interesting to see how the local advantage fared.
Despite summer showing it’s face in Britain throughout May, the weather gods decided that having a dry June was too boring, and with that, the tracks which had been sprinkled with dust just a few days before the race, now had a lining of slick mud. However, with the majority of the racers on the weekend being British, many of them welcomed the mud as British winter training left them with more experience of wet and muddy riding.
In the womens race for the top step it was Tracy Moseley that took the win of the weekend, however, unlike previous years race, she only won 4 out of the 5 stages, with Rocky Mountain rider Andreane Lanthier Nadeau took the win in stage 2. Local pro Katy Winton put down consistent runs throughout all 5 stages that landed her in 2nd place, just under a minute behind teammate T-Mo.
Keep an eye out on the Tweedlove website and social media for when they release dates and details for next year’s event as it is certainly one for the bucket list! Even if you think the International Enduro would be beyond your skill level, then the team at Tweedlove also put on events like the “Enjoyro” to give people a taste of Enduro and what the tracks are like.
You can also check out the 7stanes website which consists of a number of MTB Trail centres throughout Scotland.
Words and photos Samantha Saskia Dugon @saskiadugon