2022 Events launched

2/3 April – Gisburn Grassroots weekender
1st May – Llangollen mashup
28/29th May – “The Epic” Graythwaite
[Summer Break]
13/14th August – Llangollen
11th September – Kirroughtree

Voucher holders* can enter from 18th October 9am
Public entries from Saturday 13th November 9am

*vouchers were given to some 2020 Covid cancellations.

Enter here

Firstly a thank you, these last 2 years have been stressful. There are so many people to thank who helped me through; the support from racers was immense, you understood and were flexible. My team of marshals and helpers were there to support me, and help plan once we could.  Sponsors were also very supportive, no issues with contracts not being met again just understanding and support;  a special mention for series title sponsors Hope Technology who went above and beyond.

I started PMBA Enduro to fill a grass roots hole in Enduro. Back in 2011/12 if you wanted to race Enduro it was the UKGE national series, a trip to a no-fuss event in Scotland or an odd mini-enduro down at Forest of Dean. The series has grown from 2013 and grassroots racing at Gisburn Forest was complimented with running national and even international events too.

The last 2 years have had a massive screw to the bigger events so now for 2022 its time to address that balance and start the year off with a weekend dedicated to grass roots enduro.

Saturday 2nd April will see a fully trail centre 3 stage enduro for women and kids (age 8+); with an event modelled around the very successful “Hopetech Women” enduro’s we ran in conjunction with Hope for 2017/8/9 but now open for girls as young as 8 as well as novice boys ages 8-16. We will use the same 3 stages we have always used for the HTW, the “fast” kids, and the full-enduro ladies can still do the main 5 stage Enduro on the Sunday – open to ages 11+.

Later on Saturday afternoon, the youngest get their shot at glory, with ages 2-10 on a 1 stage mashup that’s FREE to enter (27 berms trail not too far from HQ). We trialled this type of event in 2019 at Kirroughtree and it was an amazing success, it was scheduled for Gisburn 2020 too but alas the ol’rona spoiled those plans. Will be great to kick off the season with a day of genuinely grass roots enduro; if you want to gauge its success the overall winner of that kids race was one 10 year old “Katy Kaos” now one of the PMBA Ambassadors, several “big” enduro’s under her belt including 3 EWS Qualifiers and still only 12 years old.

Sunday 3rd April will see the start of the “series” with 2 additional stages from Saturday’s loop, cramming so much into 1 weekend will mean a very busy forest. Please be aware that overnight stays will be possible but on the event field only – no overnighting in the main car park as we need all that room for Sunday’s racers. The same rule will apply for Sunday racers arriving Saturday, as well as Saturday racers staying for Sunday. Please be aware this is field parking and in very wet weather may not be available or available only via being towed on/off. Parking fees to the forest will be as normal.

After the opening grassroots weekend we head off to Wales for our 1st of 2 visits to One Giant Leap Llangollen, this will be a 1 day, 3 stage mashup avoiding the hardest sections of trail. However, with the nature of the steep and fast trails on offer it will still be a good challenge and we have plans to make the stages slightly different from what will be encountered later in the year. Saturday practice (with medic and marshal cover) will be available on the day.

Next up, at the end of May, will the “The Epic” this is the highlight of the PMBA Enduro calendar and no doubt it will live up to its name. Even more work on the trails and maybe even a lakeside camp/HQ are expected but watch for full info as we confirm everything.

At this time it is not known if the Graythwaite round, or the big Llangollen round in August will be EWS Qualifiers or rounds of the BNES but it is hoped we’ll have at least 1 of each when those organisations make announcements.

As teased above, next up is the “big” Llangollen 2-day 5 stage enduro using almost the entire hillside at One Giant leap including some of its most hardcore sections.

We finish off the season at Kirroughtree in September, Saturday events may well be added during the summer but you can certainly look forward to a great Sunday mashup enduro and lovely camp field.

I’m not ruling out being able to add more events to 2022, if your a series regular you will notice no mention of Grizedale or Lee Quarry that have been firm favourites of the series since 2014. Without going into detail these venues still have “issues” and I’m therefore concentrating on making the 5 weekends announced as awesome as possible on a quality over quantity vibe.

There are small price rises for 2022, but please bear in mind my costs have shot up and events like Graythwaite had been the same price since 2017 so an extra £5er has not been added lightly. Graythwaite and Llangollen include camping/parking; as I don’t like to have additional costs on racers on race weekends. However the local forest authorities for Gisburn and Kirroughtree require all forest users to pay for parking so those will be payable on the event weekend and do go to the respective forests.

Gisburn Womens and Kids – £42.50
Gisburn kids taster (ages 2-10) – FREE
Gisburn 5 stage Enduro – £52.50
Llangollen mashup – £55
Graythwaite Epic – £80
Llangollen 5 stage – £80
Kirroughtree mashup – £52.50

2/3 April – Gisburn Grassroots weekender
1st May – Llangollen mashup
28/29th May – “The Epic” Graythwaite
[Summer Break]
13/14th August – Llangollen
11th September – Kirroughtree