It was certainly a weekend of contrasting conditions. The previous day the XC racers faced a day full of hard rain that changed the course from one lap to the next and then just 24 hours later the 500 riders that lined up to tackle the 25km loop that made up the Big Welsh Weekend Enduro faced unblemished blue skies and warm gentle breezes.

At the stroke of 10am the first draft of riders belted out behind the quad bike to tackle first of their 3 long laps. The route sped along the opening tarmac section followed by the XC racers the previous day, before turning full pelt into the first gravel slope, the field even at this early stage was straining like an over stretched elastic ban.

Next was the skirmish into the foothills of the previous day’s final descent, but this time the riders were climbing before they darted to the strenuous double track that snaked it’s rock strewn way to the very top, with barely the chance to collect a breath and take in the view it was a quick spurt to the descent which sprinted all the way down the other side, before eventually dumping you on another gentle climb, next a quick dip into water followed by yet another climb! It was to be a day of constant ups and down’s with the only water supplied by the organisers and the stream crossings.

TORQ Racing made short work of the first lap, flying in close formation, with enduro specialist James Lister biding his time with team mates Ben Thomas and Tim Dunford. completing their first flyby in just over an hour. Jim Bryan was close enough to glimpse a few orange and black streaks on the opening lap but soon the blistering pace took its toil. By lap 2 the TORQ trio had been reduced to a duet with Thomas leading Lister and Dunford playing catch up, by lap 3 Lister had opened up his own lead leaving his team mates in his wake, taking the 75km win by nearly 3mins after 3hrs and 18m on the bike. Thomas took 2nd, with Dunford holding off Bryant to make it a clear podium sweep for TORQ Racing.

Michael Powell took the vets race with a time that would have placed him in 5th spot overall. Runner up was the legendary Barrie Clarke out for a pootle, commenting on his way round that this was one of the best enduros he’d ridden for a long time! Praise indeed! Of the handful of women who opted to take on the big distance, it was Lesley Ingram who took the honours finishing 37 mins ahead of runner up Fran Bullock with Zoe Frogbook coming in for 3rd.

In the 50 km event Matt Dennis, looking to make up for a disastrous race in the XC where he was forced to pack after a knee, stem interlude, romped to a convincing win. Stephen James, riding for Swinnertons Cycles after borrowing a bike to race, thanks to the tealeafs that spirited his own bike away in the night, fought hard for 2nd, but was unable to edge past Christian Aucote, who took the runner up spot with just 1sec separating them.

Pete Dawe held court at the head of the pack of the vet’s 50km to take the win just ahead of Myles Gerrard, while Sue Clarke still smiling after a less than satisfactory outing in the XC the previous day, out did hubby Barrie by taking the top spot on the podium. WXC riders Cait Elliott and Carla Haines, both on borrowed bikes (thanks to Specialized and Merida) having also fallen victim to the organised bike theft the previous night, made up the finally two spots on the podium.

In the 25km young rider Martin Turton held off William Worrall to take the win by a meagre 21 secs and in a similar close matched race, Lorna Rider just held off Serena Wood to take the win in the women’s 25km.

While competitors were off romping in the hillsides tackling the epic nature of the course, many more were able to take advantage of the huge choice of bikes on show in the arena as part of the demo that goes in hand to hand of the British Mountain Bike Series Weekends.

With Saturday being a slight wash out the welcome return of the sun on Sunday saw the stands supplied by Specialized, Giant, Merida, Genesis, Yeti, Trek and Santa Cruz do a brisk run on demos. Osprey too found their packs in great demand as the weather hotted up!

Next chance to test some of the best kit in the UK will be on the 3/4 July in Dalby Forest, you’ll also get the chance to race the XC on the World Cup course or tackle the Great Yorkshire Enduro around a 20k route too.

Full details on the next full on fun filled weekend at www.britishxc.com.