25/08/2026
Enduro mountain biking is dead. That message hasn’t made its way to Rothbury or Northumberland.
The late, great, Jason McRoy grew up racing in these hills. The old boys of the valley still talk about the Simonside Sizzler. A heritage like that might nap for a period, but it’ll always roar back into life given the opportunity.
To top it off, we’ve got fast riders coming out of rural Northumberland again after a 20 year lull.
These photos really do make me happy. They embody everything that is great about sport - this sport especially. I mean, look what it does for people. It inspires them. It wows them. It makes them resilient. It’s amazing.
The support we received from local business’s such as Alncom was invaluable. Like us, they are part of this rural community and believe in doing things right. They make our event and lives better.
The thank you list is long:
- Everyone involved in Coquet valley trails. Too many to list.
- All the people who let us tinker on trails in the woods and take over for a day: James Boulton, Will Armstrong, Richard Quell, Alex McClennan, Martin Snaith, Duncan Hutt, Jess Taylor, Philip Muckle, The Carmons at Scrub Cycles, Andrew Stewart, Jonesy and Nelly for the ramps, Morris for the sarnies and Claire for the lunch time craic in the butchers, Glenn for the coffees, Spike for doing cool stuff, Bo for bringing his tractor from Wharton, Iain Nixon and Northumberland National Park mtn rescue and special mention to Steven Bridgett for funding our Ebike and helping with countless tasks in the run up. There’s probably loads I’ve missed but we are grateful.
These beautiful photos are from Adela Carter who is an unsung hero with a very perceptive feeling towards our sport. I must shout out another local photographer Katy Nixon as well who is a talented rider in her own right as well.
Excellence is infectious and I really do think we collectively delivered excellence as a community.
