2020 Events announced
The Hope PMBA Enduro series returns in 2020 with 6 rounds, the events have been running since 2013 and have always been popular. Entries open Saturday 16th November at 9am, expect some rounds to sell out in a matter of minutes, especially the early ones. Last year it took just 55 minutes for round 1 to sell out. So if you want in you’re advised to make a note of the date and time entries go live; Saturday 16th November 9am to remind you!
Our philosophy is “Enduro for all, with an emphasis on fun” and to meet that we have a varied range of events to suit all types of racers. Ages 11+ can compete in the series, with all under 16’s needing a chaperone. From grassroots, mainly trail centre stuff, at Gisburn & Kirroughtree; to the techy steeps of Graythwaite & Llangollen and everything in-between. This isn’t a series of similar events; its a diverse range of events, each has its own style we love and embrace those differences.
PMBA Enduro has been the consistently most attended of all the UK enduro series, which we hope is a reflection that we are succeeding to deliver on the our “Enduro for all, with an emphasis on fun” philosophy. Almost 2500 people enduro’d with PMBA Enduro in 2019, where the next best had 500 less for the same number of events.
The 2020 series looks a lot like the 2019 calendar, the inaugural event at Llangollen was so loved it returns as a 2-day event in 2020 and a round of the BEMBA National Enduro Series (BNES), maybe even an EWS qualifier but we’ll have to wait till January for EWS to announce if we have been successful with either of our 2 EWS qualifier applications (Graythwaite and Llangollen).
Another event making its return in 2020 is the free kids event we ran at Kirroughtree this year. It was great seeing the balance bike battle between the 2 year olds, and regular kids Downhiller Katy Kaos taking the overall win. We are looking at doing this at other rounds as well in 2020 starting with Gisburn on Saturday 28th March, and committed to do these single stage mashup enduro’s for FREE for under 13s.
Enter from 9am Saturday 16th November
Website : www.pmbaenduro.co.uk
However this website is likely to crash on the day entries open, so make sure you save the SI entries website link for the entries website
https://www.sientries.co.uk/series.php?series_id=366
As is tradition the series opens at Gisburn forest, 2 weeks before Easter , a great enduro to ease you into the series. Popular with novice racers to experience the enduro format. Expect trail centre stages along with a selection of off piste sections. 1 day event, with a free kids single stage mashup on the Saturday. Last year this event sold out in just 50 minutes, so if you want in you’ll need to be ready 9am sharp to get in!
After the opening round we hit the big 3 Epic’s, with Llangollen & Lee Quarry/Havok Bike Park getting the “Epic” treatment with all those little extra’s including on site showers, evening bar, trade stands, massage service & marquee on top of our usual free parking/camping. Any traders wanting stands please email pmbaenduroseries@gmail.com
Graythwaite
Round 2 has traditionally been the big one, our “Epic” at Graythwaite. Held over 2 days on a private estate with 100% off piste. Its been our favourite venue, with a great rare arena and epic Lakeland views, in fact his round has some of the very best views of the whole series, even some of the best views available in the lake district. Camping included within the picturesque grounds of Graythwaite Estate and the Manor house .Expect a spectacular finish arena, with camping, catering, showers, water & marquee with a bottle bar thanks to Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery. We also hope the round to be named an EWS Qualifier when those are announced in January, our application is in.
Lee Quarry and Havok Bike Park is always a popular & unique round, drawing racers from all over the country. Returning as round 3 of the series on midsummer’s weekend, the big loop includes a moorland transfer taking us over to the ever-popular stages we have at Havok Bike Park. Popular with DHers crossing over to Enduro with the stages at Havok and overall one of our most airborne enduro’s for those that want air, while still being popular with XC crossover racers due to the natural singletrack loop and fully rollable timed sections. We are working hard to introduce a new stage to this loop.. As well as investigating a new stage, we’re also hoping to have a new HQ field and a larger camp field to enable this event to step up to Epic level.
Round 4 is time for One Giant Leap Llangollen, praised as one the leading DH venues in the country, and we’ll again be turning it into a Enduro venue for the weekend. We’ve already started on some new built sections enabling is to run 5 stages and have this round also host BEMBA as a round of the BNES Series. Awesome steep and fast DH trails as well as great camping field, it should be stunning weather to match the stunning scenery. We also expect the round to be named an EWS Qualifier when those are announced in January
Our round 4 is also a round of BNES (BEMBA National Enduro Series), and the full calendar for this series should be announced soon. However expect events to be the absolute best available in the UK calendar.
From Wales to Scotland for round 5 at Kirroughtree, this is our “family round” with great camping facilities, permanent showers and toilets and a course that’s just pure fun. What the venues lacks in elevation it makes up for in loam & bedrock. A grass roots round that the fastest also enjoy, it has everything an enduro should have and has become an unmissable round of the PMBA Enduro series with many calling it their favourite the fun level is that high. Often racers will bring the whole family, so in 2019 we ran a free kids race and had 33 kids aged 2 upwards racing on the Saturday. The free kids race will return in 2020. The idyllic camping area and permanent brick shower/toilet block gives a holiday vibe; enhanced by the smells from many BBQ’s in the evening. Late in the year, September is not overly problematic with the midges either – but still come prepared!
Round 6 and we return with a firm racer favourite – Grizedale. Having been a stalwart of the series since we started in 2014, its a great venue, with big stages and big elevation; technical stages are the norm here; expected to be the toughest of the one day events, priced to include car parking for race day. Off piste trails with rocks and mud make this a good test of bikes and riders alike and with the final having to count for the series overall ensuring the series winner is a deserved champion. This one day event may well run with the mashup format – TBC
Categories
The categories for the series are based around the for the BNES series which fall in line with the EWS, we believe that our 12 categories are great and go hand in hand with our “Enduro For All” mantra. The standardised BEMBA categories of 2019 will be unchanged, but we’ll continue to add U15 males, U16 females and a Unisex Hardtail category to the 9 BEMBA ones.
Male:
Under 15 (PMBA only)
Under 18
Under 21
Senior
Master
Veteran
Grand Veteran
Female:
Under 16 (PMBA Only)
Under 21
Senior
Master 35+
Unisex
Hardtail (PMBA Only)
PMBA Enduro price rises.
There have been price rises this year, on the 1 day events mainly, and I feel I should comment on these and why they were required.
Price rises are around 8%, with Graythwaite entry price remaining unchanged, event prices range from £49.90 to £75 while other factors also are involved the 2 biggest are below.
VAT – this is a big one, from 1st October 2019 PMBA Enduro had to become VAT registered, a victim of our own success. While VAT is 20% overall the cost to the business will be around 8%.
Insurance – these costs have also increased, but we have also allowed for cancellation insurance. It irked me back in 2017 when we had to cancel Gisburn and could only give 50% refunds and last year the costs were too high to be able to insure against this. However we have now found a provider that can do this for a reasonable price and we hope that this extra safety net is appreciated. Exact details TBC in February when we renew our yearly policy.
The series is not designed to give me (Kev) lots of money, in fact I have model that puts back into the series and the future of the sport. Once certain levels of entries are met I can spend money on our ambassador program or on improving the events with extra marshals, medics, freebie’s or trail repairs. The large turnout at Graythwaite help to fund the kids race at Kirroughtree as well as making the showers free, buying you all a finishers beer and a free T-shirt at sign on. The same philosophy will be applied in 2020, once I have enough to live any extra the events make will be put back. The event break-even numbers must be realistic especially with Brexit uncertainty – sorry to mention the B-word, but the events are a luxury for many of you and if you don’t have discretionary spending power and events don’t all sell out as they did in 2019 the series needs to be able to survive on lower entry numbers. If every event sells out like 2019 then there is a lot of good I can do in 2020/2021. I’ve committed to 2 FREE kids races in 2020, at rounds 1 & 5; Gisburn and Kirroughtree, and bringing at least 1 new ambassador to the team. Seeing the progress of Leah this year has been awesome, and our longer standing older ambassadors have also done well, I’ll do some off season reviews of their individual years story but many of you have been following their progress on our social media. Pat yourselves on the back for supporting the events that help me support the ambassadors.