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‘Major’ changes are being planned for the tenth edition of the Tweed Valley’s TweedLove Bike Festival, with a new event and re-invented festival weekend.
Organisers have unveiled Transcend Epic, described as the UK’s first ‘Trans Provence’ style enduro, with two days of uplifts and shuttles providing access to trails in forests from Glentress downstream to Yair and back again.
The event is the headliner for the TweedLove festival weekend, now named Transcend Festival and moving from Peebles to a site near the trails at Innerleithen.
TweedLove originator Neil Dalgleish said: “The Epic is something we’ve always wanted to do – though of course I’d rather ride it than organise it!
“It’s based on the Trans-Rockies, Trans-Provence format, though obviously a lot shorter – and with better beer.
“We’ll be working with the guys at Adrenalin Uplift – they provide an awesome service here in the Tweed Valley.
“It should be an amazing weekend of riding and a big adventure, this one’s definitely more about the journey than the podiums.”
A new enduro, Transcenduro, will provide Saturday’s major trail challenge on the valley’s enduro tracks, while a ‘Boost’ version will run on the Sunday.
TweedLove’s Mega Bike Demo will run all weekend alongside the expo, and a new e-MTB event will also be announced shortly.
There will also be TweedLove’s gravel adventure ride Gritopia, a new ‘X-Trail’ event, bike uplifts, DJs, live music, pumptrack, a festival bar, food village and bike expo.
Dalgleish added: “This is a big step up for us. We’ve learned a lot over the last nine years and we want to put it to good use with something new.
“The aim is simple – to create the best bike weekend you can have in the UK.
“I think we have the perfect trails and all the assets needed to achieve that here in the Tweed Valley, so we’re putting everything we can into a creating a weekend of good times to equal the quality of the riding.
“We’ve hosted a fair amount of the top level enduro racing in the UK to date, and we’ve always tried to show how inclusive the sport can be too.
“Building on that, we’re going for a ‘full grin factor’ approach – we want the riding to be as good as it can get, with uplifts and events to squeeze the most good times we can out of a weekend.
“And what’s better post-ride than looking at the bike bling with a beer in your hand, top tunes in the air and a bunch of mates to share it all with.”
Transcend Epic places, limited to 150, will go on sale at 7pm on 3rd December, and entries for the TweedLove Triple Crown enduros will go on sale at the same time.
TweedLove Bike Festival has won the Scottish Mountain Bike Event of the Year award for the third year running.
