Hidden in the South West of England, Exmoor is a sleepy national park frequented mostly by seaside holidaymakers. Ewen Turner takes a trip to race the Ex Enduro and finds out there is another side to Exmoor, one that involves fantastic trails, good times and great people.

Although I live on a small island, there are many places I have failed to explore over the course of my mountain biking life. Even though the island is modest, the diversity of terrain and landscape is vast, providing a veritable plethora of riding destinations for the exploratory mountain biker.

I live in the North; the north of England that is, but there is plenty of proper north in the form of Scotland. However, in Northern England, we assume a lot about the south. Just as the south thinks anything up north is grim, wet and windswept, populated by flat cap wearing whippet owning miseries. The north assumes the south to be flat, mild, dull and home to soft, lager drinking road cyclists. As with most stereotypes, this is incorrect.

When I was first invited to drive five hours south to go and ride my bike I baulked at the idea. I could get to some great riding if I flipped the compass. Tweed Valley, Fort William, hell, anything in Scotland is excellent. Heading south I passed North Wales, then as you would expect, South Wales, all the while wondering why it could possibly be worth burning this much fuel.

You can guess where this is going so I won't labour the point, but hidden in the South, a long way from London I might add, is Exmoor National Park. This is a treasure, where the hills meet the sea, the sea meets the sky, and quite often, the sky falls on your head. It seems that in the UK you can never escape the rain.

Strava looks like it hasn't reached Exmoor with segments totalling 30 riders, the leader boards seem positively scant. Finding trails is hard. We are here for the DMR EX, a three-day blind racing enduro in sleepy Exmoor. The closest thing the UK has to a Trans-Provence. The days are enormous, the stages plentiful and the food is incredible.

Making Life Hard For Yourself

DMR have backed the event from the start, and at last years inaugural event they made sure the hardtail category was given the visibility it deserves, due to the recently released DMR Trailstar. Fast-forward a year and DMR now has a full bounce bike; the Sled, but the hardtail category remains.

Because I have 'a thing' for hardtails and I like making life tricky, I once again tracked down a steed to saddle up for the EX. A chance encounter at Eurobike saw me arriving at the race line with a hot pink hardtail which I built up the night before and looked like it was going to be a wild ride.  The curiously named Pipedream Moxie would be the bike, and I rolled the dice and came up double sixes.

Long and slack it may be, but a hardtail is never the most comfortable to long days in the saddle, but with a busy looking hardtail category the racing would be tight. The stats for the weekend would add up to a serious distance, around 150km and 4500m of ascent, though they are kind enough to throw in a little uplift at the start of each day!

No Place Like Loam

Exmoor has a split personality. Those who have explored it over the past thirty to forty years by bike will no doubt think of long rocky tracks heading down from dome-shaped mountain tops towards the sea. The few locals however who are in-the-know will emerge from the vastly forested hillside with a fat grin and a bike covered in the finest dirt. 

Enduro has arrived in these parts and may have been the catalyst for trail building, but it doesn't feel like a race venue. These are locally crafted authentic trails, gently worn into the hillside with minimal building, just natural lines down through the woods. I almost felt sorry for riding them, hidden gems built for fun times.

The forests are mixed woodland for a lot of the time, and their spacing makes for easy build trails. The soil and underlying rock make for a depth of material that is happy to be formed into supportive corners simply from repeated riding. Add in a mix of gradients and aspects from sunny and gentle to steep and shady for a total blend of woodland styles.

More Tea Vicar?

With a blend of excellent trails, mixing the wide open, with the tight tree root infested forest, it's a discerning riders event. No bike park, few jumps, just rolling corners upon corners. It seems only apt that quality refreshments accompany quality riding.

As we were exploring the area each day from the same start point, it gave the opportunity to roll through Minehead at least once a day to resupply. Tired and muddy bikers were rewarded with a bizarre combination of terrace cottage, and DMR branded easy-up to create what can only be the first-ever mountain bike vintage tea shop.

Ye olde village tea shoppe, served us the finest hot drinks, cakes and sandwiches, all from china pots and cups. Almost too sophisticated for a rabble of mountain bikers, but as I mentioned, this is a discerning group.

Blind Leading The Blind

I feel that blind racing is the best type of competition, a real test of rider ability. I understand why few races offer this format, but the rewards for the participants are extensive. The excitement of hitting a trail for the first time, attempting to judge the pace and play the tactical game while pushing on is a delicate balance.

I can understand why race organisers have issues with this type of racing, for it surely entails a different set of risks from standard racing. Barely retracing one's tracks for three days of riding gives an adventurous feel to all three days and offers a more level playing field to everyone.

A quick chat to the marshal at the top of the stage is as much information as you get. After that you hit everything as you find it, trying to judge how much energy to expend, and trying to look one, two, three corners ahead for the next obstacle. With minimal taping, this is not a downhill course, and spotting tape, arrows and signs is as essential as every other riding skill.

The variety of riding on offer tests us further, with flat-out rocky stages contrasting starkly with loam-based floaty corners and g-out berms. If I could only race one type of race, blind stage racing would be the one.

Evening Entertainment

It's not every day you get served cocktails by a World Champion, but that's what to expect at the EX. The Trek team were down for the event, and Tracey Moseley was there, not racing, but flying the flag and being her awesome good self. With the rest of the Trek team, they rustled up a bunch of drinks in a marquee, and if it wasn't surreal enough already, a harpist, yes a harpist was brought along to add to the already surreal vibe.

Food and drink are as essential as good trails, and the spread on offer was the best event food I have ever consumed. Using a mixture of village hall kitchen and some barbeques they created fine dining for everyone. Free beer kept everyone well lubricated and with Bristol just up the road, there was a new DJ every night providing an aural backdrop to the recouping and revitalisation from food and drink.

Feeling a bit rough in the morning? A yoga session in the marquee sorted everyone out each morning and had everyone ready to get back on it. 

The Blueprint for success

This isn't a story about a place, nor a story about a race. This is a story about how to cultivate great times on a bike. Race and event organisers take note, for the Ex is how it should be done.

The ingredients are perhaps simple, but the final result is more than the sum of the parts. The trails are fantastic, but they are not the biggest or the most wildly challenging in the country. Their level of challenge allows riders to race blind, while looking for fun and speed in equal measure, rather than attempting to merely survive.

The days are big, the value for money here is obvious, and the adventurous nature of the routes takes you far and wide around the area. Couple this with excellent food, drink and music and it's all good.

The real answer to why it's such a success lies with the people behind the event. From the organisers to the marshals on the stages and everyone in between, there is a mutual feeling that they all want the event to be a success. Friendly warm and encouraging, there is little space for egos. Sure, there are podiums and prizes, but this almost seems more of a formality to be able to call the event a race. The racing is hard fought and tough, the winners very deserving, but it's one part of a bigger event.

If these guys could organise my weekends all year, I would be winning at life. Big thanks to Mike, Paul and the team for putting together another great event and having us along for the ride.

Videos

THE EX enduro 2017 - The Highlights
By Ewen Turner
Ewen Turner is a self-confessed bike geek from Kendal in the Lake District of England. He runs a coaching and guiding business up there and has a plethora of knowledge about bikes with an analytical approach to testing. His passion for bicycles is infectious, and he’s a ripper on the trails who prefers to fit his working life around his time on the bike.

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