Race Report: Pedalhounds Multi-Stage Enduro, Land of Nod

For those in the UK old enough and with long enough memories, the name Pedalhounds will bring back memories of southern-based mountain bike racing at its best in the 90’s and early 00’s. The races were the proving ground for some of the south’s best mountain bikers in both XC and DH. The Pedalhounds races were where many of the south’s top names caught the racing bug and started life between the tapes.

One such rider was Surrey Hills Cyclework’s owner, Dave Farmer, whom raced the Specialized Rockhopper South XC at the Land Of Nod with 595 other riders in 1995, winning the Junior race. 21 years later he was back racing Pedalhounds Muti Stage Enduro in the Masters. It was also great to see Brendan Fairclough, literally riding from home in the next village to race the event. A great opportunity for Brendan to stretch his legs before heading off to Utah for Red Bull Rampage. For Brendan it was also a return to his roots, as he was one of the many southern-based riders that got into downhill racing through the Pedalhounds series.

Pedalhounds take on the ‘Mash Up’ enduro format was to get riders to ride a lap made-up of a number of stages (four at the Land of Nod) in any order, before returning to the race HQ, checking in their timing chips and finding out how they’d got on. They then headed out again with the fastest accumulative time through four stages over three laps taking the honours. The other big change was to ride the stages blind! With no practicing before the stages go live on race day. The aim of this type of racing was levelling the playing field and giving those without the time to practice the course an equal chance on race day. The Land of Nod is a private estate and a hidden gem, boasting blocks of woodland and open farmland with the rolling hills that enabled Paul and the Pedalhounds Event crew to design and build four very different stages.

Stage 1

This saw the riders complete the longest of the four transitions and head out to the top of one of the original Pedalhounds downhills. From there the start of the course quickly dropped into the pine trees, weaving it’s way through the ferns, before snaking out onto the steeper section of the hill, where three “bus-stops” greeted the riders. The last of these “bus stops” was the largest, dropping the riders into the final shoot across the tree roots and off-camber, into the stage finish.

Stage 2

This gave the riders lungs and sprinting legs a real workout, with a flat-out sprint across the top section, before picking up the loam through the snaking turns under the pine trees, then a quick blast into the tight and rooty section before being spat out of the final turns into the finish. The lower section of this stage was where the time was really gained or lost. Lots of line evolution took place throughout the day with the corners cutting in, along with some roots coming out to catch the weary racers off-guard.

Stage 3

This had another fast open start, before plunging out of the light in the field into the dark of the woods. No time to let your eyes adjust, as it was straight into the multi-line corner. Then as the pace quickened again one of the toughest corners of the day, a 180° right hander through the tightest of trees; keep the bike rolling through this one and you were guaranteed to put some time between yourself and the competition. From one of the worst corners to one of the best, the final turns cut in a treat as the day wore on and left riders wanting more of the same as they burst out of the woods to cross the finish line.

This had a short sprint from the start, before the riders left the forest-road heading into another virgin section of trail. From here a series of turns that had riders dodging the tree stumps that lay in wait between them. Back onto the forest road and another short sprint, then into the steep turns where line-choice was critical. Everyone seemed to be struggling to carry good speed through these turns, but that was soon forgotten as the track opened up into a fast short downhill section carrying riders down to the finish line.

Pedalhounds were really happy with this, the first of their winter series and would like to thanks everyone who came and took part, with the feedback on the day and on social media indicating everyone had a great time. They had some great sponsors and event partners; Surrey Hills Cycleworks, MoreDirt, DigiTickets, D&D Cycles, Clever Banners, Block Head Energy Gum, Firecrest Mountain Biking, Fox, Mojo and Sussed Out Suspension. It was fantastic that The Land of Nod letting them come back and race again after so many years away. Pedalhounds would also like to thanks the First Aid Staff and of course all of our Course Marshall’s, whom without their support there would be no racing.

Website: www.pedalhounds.co.uk

Words: Jim Buchanan Photos: Big Mac Photography

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