The Cream of Enduro will rise to the top at Comrie Croft

Muckmedden Events, organisers of the upcoming Cream o’ the Croft Mountain Bike Festival (15 – 17 June 2018), supported by EventScotland – part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate, have revealed the eight stage course for the 2018 Cream o’ the Croft Enduro (COTC2018), a 25km, mountain bike enduro race with 1000m of descent. The signature event at the popular family friendly weekend festival will be staged on Perthshire’s award winning Comrie Croft Trails on Saturday 16 June.

In a bid to find the true “Cream o’ the Croft”, this year’s course ditches the quirky Hill Climb and Pumptrack stages in favour of more gravity-fuelled stages, including a brand-new black-graded downhill trail which will officially launch at the three-day festival.

Race organiser Aaron Gray said: “The 2018 COTC Enduro offers a unique opportunity to ride the Comrie Croft Trails in a totally different way and I know the riders will be as amazed as I was when they see the new stages!

“Comrie Croft Bikes have done an unbelievable job over the winter opening up a number of new trails and link sections to make this year’s course, without doubt, the best by far. Now that the new trails are rideable, I’ve managed to ride all eight stages back-to-back and I’m astonished by how well the guys at Comrie Croft Bikes have connected everything up. They’ve used every inch of the growing trail network and have used their imagination to create some new linking sections, resulting in some truly monumental descents!

“As fun as it was, we decided to ditch the quirkier stages from previous years and opt for a more ‘traditional’ Enduro format by squeezing in as many quality descents as we can find! We couldn’t ditch the Dual Slalom stage though, so riders can still look forward to some thrilling Head2Head racing with their mates at the end of the day.”

Once again there will be ample opportunity for younger riders to get their race faces on across the Cream o’ the Croft weekend in celebration of Scotland’s Year of Young People 2018. The young, budding world champions, aged 6 to 13 years, can take to the trails in the Mini Enduro on Sunday 17 June. Featuring contactless chip-timing just like the main Enduro, upcoming riders can test their mettle on five timed stages on some of Comrie Croft’s mellower trails. Parents and guardians are welcome to chaperone kids on the trails if they wish, which is great for building confidence in both parent and child. A perfect introduction to multi-stage Mountain Bike racing for young riders!

Toddler specialists DG Cycling will be running Balance Bike and Pedal Bike races throughout the day for under 6's. Better still festival entry is free for under 6’s and includes race entry.

Road cyclists have also been catered for at Cream o’ the Croft 2018. They can look forward to the new ‘Breadalbane 160’, a 160km (100 miles) Audax road ride (a non-competitive, time-limited long distance ride out). With an Audax UK AAA (Audax Altitude Awards) certification, this is sure to be a challenging but rewarding day on Highland Perthshire’s most iconic roads with some stunning views to cherish en route.

For more information about Cream o’ the Croft Mountain Bike Festival and to purchase festival passes and race entries go to https://www.muckmedden.co.uk/our-events/cream-o-the-croft/

Credit: Ian Potter