Race Report: Fair City Enduro, bringing back the fun

“If you go down in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise!” Perth residents and families out on their Sunday dog walk certainly had an eye opening time last weekend. For sure, it is not everyday that you see a Baywatch babe racing though the forest, hotly pursued by a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Darth Vader and a Giraffe.

For the second year running it was time again for the Perth Fair City enduro held in Scotland, an event that last year unashamedly put the fun back into enduro, looking around at the gathered riders it was clear that this year would be no different. Hosted by Muckmedden events, over 240 riders had turned out, many in full fancy dress to ride the great stages of Kinoull Hill.

The day started in the historical streets of Perth, located on the banks of the River Tay, an ancient settlement that has stood since prehistoric times. Cutting edge bikes crowded the cobbled retail center and the skyline was dominated by the 12th century St Johns Kirk. But it was not the bikes that were catching the attention of the onlookers, it was the riders. Decked to the nines in full fancy dress, ranging from the hilarious to borderline terrifying. There were zombies, ninja turtles, creepy skeletons, plenty of exposed flesh and some creations that defied any description, as riders were released in waves of 30 everyone knew this was going to be a crazy day.

As riders rode through the city streets a quick hop over the River Tay brought them to Kinoull Hill, a small forest that has been preserving the sanity of city bound Perthshire bikers for many years. The two hills are littered with a veritable maze of flowing singletrack, DH trails and cheeky rock gardens. There would be six stages through the day, spread over a fifteen mile circuit, and it was time to get into it.

Stage One was devilish creation, starting with a flat out sprint for 20 seconds before the trail pitched sharply upwards onto a steep one minute hill climb, riders crashed down through their gears while attempting to not roll backwards from where they came. Some powered up it while some were brought to a sudden halt by the gradient, wheezing and puffing. A couple of Bananas put on a good show, and even though it was perhaps not everyone’s favourite stage, it was certainly different, and was a cracking start to the day.

Stage Two could not have been more different, a fresh cut trail that was brand new for the event. Starting out with a fiddly, nibbly top section, cutting its way between the trees, suddenly it turned the thrils upto 11, mixing awesome steep turns with flat out plummets. The blind drop of the road ruffled more than a few feathers and everyone finished with massive smiles on their faces. The conditions were amazing, dry and almost dusty, the weather had been threatening all day but never let rip.

The remaining stages were a perfect mix of Kinoull hill classics, beautiful brown ribbons of dusty dirt, cutting smoothly between the autumnal leaf fall. It was all about carrying speed though the flat and flowing turns, low on scares and high on amazing fun. The marshals were all on good form and the fancy dress brought great comedy to the proceedings.

It was a day of laughs, great trails and catching up with old friends, and making many new ones. The Muckmedden team had put on a race that mixed perfect riding with a great day out in the hills, and refreshingly did not follow the current trend of trying to make the day as tough as possible, just cracking banter and fun!

Results:

There were some great performances on the day, and Haglofs were there to hand out prizes. The fastest man on the day was Dave Duggan riding for Devinci / Haven with a staggering time of 10:57:00, the fastest woman was the delightful Fiona Beattie with a time of 14:02:00. Full results can be found here.

Cheers to all the Marshalls and the organisers for putting on another great show, it was a belter.

Vote on your favourite

There were some pretty amazing fancy dress costumes on display… which is your favorite?

Words and photos: Trev Worsey

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