Southern Enduro #1 – Milland

Oli Carter headed to Milland with 280 hardcore racers to try out a brand new 4 stage enduro course in a brand new race series – round 1 of Southern Enduro

In a rural village where Polo is part of mainstream education and Verve Cliquot is a cheap sparkling wine there is an uprising of mud loving, forest dwelling, bike riding rebels sculpting a mecha from dirt… Welcome to Milland and round 1 of the Southern Enduro Series.

I haven’t really heard of a race organiser building a whole new venue from scratch before, but that’s exactly what Scott and the Southern Enduro team have done. Four brand new and fresh cut stages for a brand new race series, sounds pretty good right!? We headed to the race last weekend along with 280 other riders to see what was in store…

After 2 days of torrential rain there was a slight worry of the tracks not holding up but come race day the sun came out and started to dry out the sodden ground. It actually made the track conditions super soft and sticky sapping every bit of speed that gravity fed you, A lot of effort was needed to keep your speed up on the flowing single track.

After a morning of practice, the tracks were changing constantly… drying out and getting faster with ruts forming in all the right places.
Stage one was the longest stage using every inch of elevation on offer from the small but steep hill, this trail really needed flow, clever braking and alot of effort on the pedals. Chris Doney of Bird cycleworks put in the fastest time by 0.2 over Laurie Aurther and myself 2 seconds back in third. Racing was going to be tight all day with the short and intense nature of the tracks, no room for mistakes or backing off.

Stage 2 was a favourite amongst many with it pointing straight down the hill and rewarding those that put the effort in and let off the brakes. With the sun shining and the tracks improving run by run we started to get some of the famous Milland ‘Brown Pow’ coming though and locals out lining the tracks… racing was really hotting up.

Stage 3 was another technical delight, with some great features including a fireroad gap, sweet steep corners and a small but tight rock garden. A great stage to race and ride with huge smiles and high 5s being seen at the finish line, In fact that was all that was seen all day at the end of each stage… The good vibes were really out in force, this race had one of the best atmospheres i have ever had the pleasure of being part of.

Onto the last stage and probably the most intense with a pedal then a steep and techy first section, tight and flat middle, ending with a sprint across a field emptying the tank to the finish line.

In the pro Category no one could knock Chris Doney off the top spot with him winning all of the 4 stages, i kept it steady and upright and came in second with Laurie Aurther coming in 3rd.

With Milland being my home village this race really meant a lot to me, being involved with the whole thing and seeing everyone having such a great time in my valley really confirmed the comradery in the MTB community. Pedaling round a race with your mates is the best, keeping the nerves at bay and the stoke levels high for me at least is the best part of racing and from what I saw everyone was on the same page.

With Scott cutting his teeth organising local races over the past few years he has really stepped it up a notch with the Southern Enduro Series, if round 1 was this good i cant wait to see what the next 3 rounds are going to bring. I have just re arranged my diary to be at all of them and i think you should too.

I must thank Rob and Edd Jenner, the land owners for letting this awesome race happen on their land… and on that note the land is private so please dont ride it outside of a race as it will jeopardise future events… and we wouldn’t want that after this weekend being such a success.

If these few words or all the hype online hasn’t given you the buzz to come and race the Southern Enduro series then you need to have a brain check… Keep your eyes peeled on Southernenduro.co.uk for entries to the next few rounds… Round one sold out in hours, i predict Round two will be minutes….

Huge thanks to Banshee Bikes, Ison Distribution, USE/Exposure lights and Nutrixxion Energy and Ride.io for keeping me rolling, see you at round 2.

Photos by Big Mac Photography