Our Story

Huge excitement to close out AES23 at the brand new, fabulous Tarland Trails centre, only opened earlier in 2023. Our biggest ever entry of 350 riders had a fantastic day out, with a memorable finish, down one of the longest single tracks descents in the UK. Phew!

A return to probably the most popular location on our rota, with some new trails to add freshness and a complete sell out.

We were delighted to realise a long held ambition of a "trans-Deeside" event, from Ballater to the green of our home town of Aboyne. Our longest and most complex enduro yet, but a great day for everyone who came.

Glenlivet, back to back being our final 2022 event and the first one of AES23. Hard work from the Bike Glenlivet team means more and better trails every year, making it a fantastic location to race (and with a nice cafe for afterwards)!

Our return to Bike Glenlivet saw fabulous weather and a total 300 riders sell out, with everyone having great fun on some new trails mixed in with the old. Good riding and the cafe outdoor extension and excellent catering made for a brilliant atmosphere and fun end to the season, when we crowned our third Aberdeen Enduro Series champions.

Lack of engagement by a private landowner prevented progress of possible solutions to reduce conflict between estate activities and mountain bikers in Birse. This meant being unable to run an Aboyne only event, but other supportive landowners enabled us to run our longest race yet, from Ballater to Aboyne. Excellent feedback made it all worthwhile.

The huge storms of the previous winter had devastated swathes of forest across Scotland and closed many trails in the NE. Some great work by Forestry Land Scotland and ATA cleared enough trails at Pitfichie for us to make our fourth visit. Even with an increased capacity of 300 riders, we rapidly sold out and those who came had a great day.

We partnered with Bike Glenlivet, Moray for our latest ever event in the year. Blue skies but a howling wind meant dropping the most exposed, unrideable, stage. A memorable day and the trail centre's support, fab cafe and trail network development plans made us sure we'd want to return (but earlier in the year)!

Five years after first asking for permission, we had built enough confidence with the landowner for our 10th enduro to be run at Scolty, our most popularly requested location. It sold out in an hour(!) and didn't disappoint. Some fantastic trails and close racing to crown our AES champions and finish the 2021 season with a bang.

Returning to the fairytale glen and loamy forests of Drumtochty for the third time saw another 250 rider sell out, and a great day of racing. A highlight was the final immense Stag Antlers descent down to the road and, for some, a wee bonus stop at the Clatterin' Brig Tearoom, before heading back to the event village.

Our third visit to the hugely popular location of Pitfichie, with some new sections to keep things fresh. Another record 250 riders had a blast on a fantastic blue skies day, even with Covid precautions to keep everyone safe.

The Covid pandemic cancelled most of AES20, but extensive safety measures and good landowner support allowed us to run the only 2020 enduro in Scotland, at Pitfichie. Record rainfall didn't stop us welcoming a new record turnout.

The final round to decide the first ever Aberdeenshire Enduro Series champions. Some unexpected tree felling in Drumtochty a few days beforehand made for late changes. With all hands on deck it worked out for another successful event.

Back to Hill of Fare for the second round, the location where we started out with our first event, but with some new trails. We were unlucky with some poor weather, which hampered things and reduced the rider and parking field. Mud, mud, mud…

We were now confident enough to run a 3 race Aberdeenshire Enduro Series (AES). First up Aboyne and another record entry for this great new location for enduro racing in Deeside. A day to remember, with blazing sunshine and an ice cream van.

Drumtochty was a popular spot, with some great loamy forested trails in a compact area, well located to attract day trip riders from a distance. With 180 riders, it was our biggest entry yet and we knew we were on the right track.

Pitfichie and its established epic granite trails saw us attract well over 100 riders. We added catering and a wee event village. A fabulous day on the hill and some great all round feedback encouraged us to keep going.

It took plenty of effort and persistence before we were able to run our first ever enduro race at Hill of Fare. We had 80 riders, some dreich weather and learned a lot. But everyone loved it and the sun shone on the prize ceremony. We were off.