Well, as they say in Hollywood, that’s a wrap! The first season of the Vitus First Tracks Enduro Cup came to a close in Donard Wood, Newcastle on the weekend 19th/20th September. This was Northern Ireland’s first full enduro series and it went down a storm. With an abundance of natural landscapes, mountains and trail centres riders were tested on all types of terrain to see who could best handle conditions across a full season.

Riders came from all four corners of the Island, the U.K. and as far as Finland to race with and against each other. From the first round in Castlewellan to the last in Donard the racing was fast and furious. The feedback from the riders has been overwhelmingly positive, with high praise for the professionalism of the First Tracks Team and how much fun it was to ride the trails used at each venue.

The best however was saved to last. The technical aspect of Donard left 250 riders with a huge smile on their faces as they hit turn after turn of fresh loam. Riders completed a 20km lap with 5 natural stages. It was hard to pick out the best stage as the dig crew had crafted some of the finest trails ever. The trails stayed dry all weekend with plenty of roots to catch riders out, for the last few pro riders a shower of rain hit on stage 5 but this did not stop people hanging out to see who was crowned Champ. Michael Cowan from Chain reaction Cycles handed out the prizes and Uncle Hugh presented the coveted Vitus First Tracks Enduro Cup to local man Nathan McComb.

Chilling at the top of stage 4 with Slieve Donard as a backdrop.
Chilling at the top of stage 4 with Slieve Donard as a backdrop.
Loam and roots for every stage
Loam and roots for every stage

The series was made possible with the time, energy and goodwill of a lot of people from both within the biking community and outside it. The FirstTracksMTB.com Team would like to thank everyone involved and we hope to work with you all again next year.

First Tracks MTB dig crew
First Tracks MTB dig crew

The scene has been set and riders have been left wanting more, and more is what they will have, as provisional dates have been set for the 2016 season already.

Team First Tracks MTB
Team First Tracks MTB

“The 2016 Vitus First Tracks Enduro Cup will be bigger, better and more competitive next year, we can’t wait to get rolling.” Glyn O’Brien, series Organiser.

Another hugely successful event organised by FirstTracksMTB.com and Vitus Bikes. See you all in 2016.
Big congrats to the Vitus First Tracks Race Division riders:

  • Glyn O’Brien 1st Masters B (overall)
  • Alistair Baron 1st Junior Men (overall)
  • James Mac Ferran 2nd Pro Men
  • (overall)

Full results can be found here, and the winners for round 4 are as follows:

Hard tail Men, William Houston (Boyce precision engineering) Junior Men, Alistair Baron (Vitus First Tracks Race Division ) Masters A Men, Dave Egan (Gravity BC) Masters B Men, Andy yoong (Honcho Media) Senior Men, Ben Irwin, Veteran Men, Brendan Masterson (Gravity BC) Super Vet Men, Steven Graham (Plush MTB), Women, Meave Baxter (Zero Gravity Racing).
PRO Men, 1st Nathan Mc Combe (Rock n Ride Outdoors), 2rd James Mac Ferran (Vitus First Tracks Race Division), 3rd Jamie Mc Cullough (Plush MTB).

Master B overall
Master B overall
Junior podium
Junior podium
PRO Mens Podium
PRO Mens Podium

Many Thanks to all our marshals, the riders for coming along, Newry Mourne and Down District Council, Forest Service NI and all our sponsors – Vitus Bikes, Acti-Snack, Erdinger, Advantage Control, Dennis Wilson of Glenavy, Point 1 Athletic Development, East Coast Adventure, Think Studio, My Life bathrooms, Grrana Energy, Biostore.ie, Rapid Racer Products and FirstTracksMTB.com!

Words and photos: Vitus First Tracks Enduro Cup


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