Entries are now open for what promises to be one of the highlights of next summer, the POC King and Queen of the Hill enduro at the Tweedlove Festival on Sunday May 26, 2013.

The 2013 edition will be the fourth Tweedlove, a nine-day festival of bikes and good times in the iconic Tweed Valley that organisers say is the UK’s fastest growing bike festival.

The POC King and Queen of the Hill is the week’s flagship enduro event and takes advantage of the area’s famously stellar mountain biking, including the world class trails at Glentress. As well as sweet singletrack and secret trails, the race will have its own event village in Peebles Hotel Hydro, where the race starts and finishes.

Swedish protective gear company POC is onboard again as the event’s title sponsor, which will mean some cool prizes.

Event organiser Neil Dalgleish said: “The idea for the event started from the kind of riding we do most of the time. We generally have to pedal to the top, and we maybe try to put some time into our mates on the climbs, but where we really want to nail it is on the descents. Enduro seems to represent what most people enjoy most about mountain biking, and this event is in line with that – though with its own Tweed Valley flavour.

“Everyone knows how difficult it is to make these events add up financially, but we’re trying to make this the best race as well as the best value enduro out there.”

If you get on board quickly, you can save a fiver on the usual entry fee. TweedLove is offering a discount of £5 to anyone who signs up for the race by the end of November, so entry will cost just £34 instead of the usual £39. Entry fee includes a full weekend of riding at Glentress (Saturday practice, Sunday race), chip timing, personalized number board, feed stations, instant results when you finish, goody bag and entry to the event village at Peebles Hydro Hotel.

Dalgleish says POC’s involvement is crucial in making the King and Queen of the Hill work. “The event went so well this year and it’s great news that POC will be sponsoring the race for a second time in 2013,” he says. “POC are one of the coolest brands in mountain biking and working alongside them will ensure next year’s King and Queen of the Hill is another top event.”

Entries for the race are now open on the TweedLove website, which has more info on the race and the whole TweedLove programme.