The wait for the ninth edition of THE MERIDA EX 3-day Enduro presented by Shimano is almost over, with only a few more days to go before we kick things off in beautiful Exmoor. Returning to our traditional weekend, the event will take place from the 12th to the 14th of September, with the campsite doors opening for early arrivals on Thursday, the 11th, from lunchtime onwards. Before we go into the final stages of putting everything together, here are a few more details and tips for the upcoming event.
Location:
We will once again be based at the Allerford & Selworthy Community Hall, Hare Park, Allerford. The postcode is TA24 8HL. We will be marking the venue from the main road, and Allerford is small, so you will not miss us.
The event opens:
The event will be open for camping and arrivals from lunchtime on Thursday (11th). If you can avoid arriving before then, it would be super helpful, as we will be in the middle of setting up.
Food at the event:
Officially, our ‘all-inclusive’ event food starts on Thursday evening. So, if you arrive before then, please make sure you have some snacks, etc. with you. Also, neither Porlock nor Minehead are far away if you need to pick up some last-minute items.
Briefing:
The event briefing for THE MERIDA EX, including some PAIRS racing details, can be found by clicking here. Please read it carefully before you arrive at the event so that you know the small print, what to bring, what to do and what not to do. The race rules and regulations can be found here.
EXPOSURE LIGHTS Night Stages – bring your lights:
EXPOSURE LIGHTS are also back on board to support the super popular and very memorable night stages that will take place on Friday evening. As in 2024, there will be 3 tracks to ride at night, starting with a roll-out from the venue. The main change for this year is that all three stages are on the same hill, which should keep things a bit closer together. As per our usual tradition, we will have our BBQ dinner just meters from the final night riding stage. Please make sure you bring adequate front lights for the night enduro stages and rear lights for getting to and from the trails and any road sections.
E-bike details:
We have a fairly large e-bike category at THE MERIDA EX presented by Shimano, and we have a few extra pointers for riders in the e-bike category. First of all, the e-bikers ride the same course and stages as the rest of THE EXers. But they have their own category, so there is no assisted vs. non-assisted racing in THE EX. Other than that, here are the other details that are specific to the e-bike category:
- Only regulated bikes (maximum assisted speed of 25 km/h / motor limited to max. 250 watts) can take part in the event. We will check every bike and disqualify any bike/rider not riding within the above limits.
- THE EX is very demanding in terms of terrain, and battery management will be a crucial part of the event. Please keep this in mind throughout the day as there will be no ‘top up’ charging stations on the course on Friday (day: 28km / 900m of climbing – night: 13km / 450m of climbing). You may wish to consider riding certain sections without motor support to conserve the battery for the final part of the ride.
- We will have a top-up station on Saturday (40km / 1,800m of climbing) at approximately 18km and on Sunday (25km / 1,100m of climbing) at approximately 16km. Each rider will be given approximately 30 minutes to top up. Please make sure that you hand your charger (with your name and race number on it for easy identification) to Paul Newman, who will be in charge of the charging station.
- If you have a second battery, we will not restrict you from using it and will take it to the feed station for you. Please contact Paul Newman for details before the start of the ride.
Course:
We will be setting up the course pretty much till Thursday afternoon (as we are doing it all by bike, and it is hilly down there). If you want to go for a spin when you arrive, please talk to either Paul or Michael for some tips on where to go.
Here are the basic stats for the three days:
Friday: 28km – 1,300m of descending – 900m of climbing – 5 special stages
Friday (EXPOSURE NIGHT ENDURO – no uplift – riding out of the venue): 13km – 450m of descending – 450m of climbing – 3 special NIGHT stages
Saturday: 40km – 2,000 of descending – 1,800m of climbing – 10 special stages
Sunday: 24km – 1,300 of descending – 1,100m of climbing – 6 special stages
Schedule/timings for the weekend:
For simplicity, we have put together a schedule that we intend to stick to, but with this being a ‘live’ event, please keep in mind that the schedule may be altered slightly on the day.
Thursday: 11th September 2025
– Event venue/camping opens at lunchtime
– Guided ‘warm-up’ ride (approx. 2 hours) leaving around 4:00 pm (as always, participation is at your own risk)
– Dinner and drinks from 6:00 pm onwards
– Signing on will be open in the afternoon/evening, but might be closed while we are out on the ‘warm-up’ ride
Friday: 12th September 2025
– Signing on opens around 9:00 am
– 10:30 am pre-ride ‘yoga session’
– 11:30 am official briefing/welcome
– 12:00 noon – start of the ‘day’ ride
– Food/snacks at the end of the day ride back at the venue
– Approx. 7:00 pm – ride out and start of the ‘night stages’ from the venue (please make sure you have adequate night riding lights), followed by a BBQ just meters from the finish line of the 3rd special stage
Saturday: 13th September 2025
– 8:30 am pre-ride ‘yoga session’
– 9:30 am official briefing
– 10:00 am – start of the ride
– Approx. 7:00 pm – THE MERIDA EX dinner party presented by Shimano and Exposure Lights
=> EXTRA: Make sure you ‘keep some ponies in the stable’ for some more ‘night racing’ during our dinner party. We will have some exciting prizes from Race Face, Birzman and our other partners up for grabs…so it will be worth it. More details over dinner.
Sunday: 14th September 2025
– 8:30 am pre-ride ‘yoga session’
– 9:30 am official briefing
– 10:00 am – start of the ride
– Snacks and drinks back at the venue
– Approx. 4.00 pm final presentation and end of the event
Extra things:
As you can see from the schedule, we will be running our very popular pre-ride yoga classes again. So, if you fancy a little ‘pre-ride’ stretching, then make sure you are ready to ‘stretch’ in the main marquee at the times we have given in the schedule above.
We also plan to take a little spin on Thursday afternoon. So, if you are up for it, you might want to drop us a quick email at ride@the-ex.co.uk so we can have an idea of the numbers. The ride is at your own risk. There will be no marshals or medical assistance for this ride.
Sports Massage:
Amy from Anatome Physiotherapy and Sports Massage will be at our event. She and her team will be offering professional sports massages and taping support throughout the event. They will be available at the end of each race day and at the start of days two and three to help you stay at your best.
Massage/taping: £20 for 15 minutes.
Cash or card payments accepted.
If you want to secure a slot ahead of the event, please email Amy at anatomemassage@gmail.com.
If you want to keep it flexible, simply add your name to a time slot when you get to the event, but please be aware that they will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Reduce waste:
We are really keen to reduce the amount of rubbish the event creates. So, as well as asking you to do the obvious and not leave any rubbish on the trails, campsite or event site, we are looking at a few more things to reduce our impact. Once again, we will be using proper cutlery and crockery throughout the event, but we would like you to bring your own coffee/tea mug to reduce the number of paper cups we have used in the past. We will have most of our drinks in kegs and bladders to limit the number of cans we have to recycle, and we will give everyone a compostable cup on registration, which you can either return to us after the event or take home. This will further reduce the need for plastic and/or disposable glasses.
We aim to recycle bottles and cans from the bar and feeding stations, so please make sure you use the recycling bins provided.
Protection:
If you haven’t done THE EX, you might not be aware that the terrain we ride is super technical and steep. We don’t have any sudden drops or big jumps on our courses, but the riding is undoubtedly challenging. So, with that in mind, we would strongly recommend that you bring at least knee pads to the event and also consider any other protection that you feel is appropriate. Helmets are, of course, compulsory, but there is no requirement to wear a full-face helmet.
RideGuard number board:
As in previous years, we will once again be using the fantastic RideGuard fenders as our unique THE EX number board. So, after they have done their job during the event, they will look pretty good on your bike, keeping water and dirt out of your face.
Sponsors:
Besides the crew from MERIDA BIKE and Merida Bicycles UK, who have been with THE EX as a title sponsor for the last five years, we have once again the Shimano team joining the fun. Both teams will be at the event and will always be up for a chat.
BONTRAGER will be with us, showing some of their latest gear, while Race Face and Birzman will have some of their latest products on display.
Exposure Lights will once again be part of THE EX, supporting the night racing action and the delicious Horner Farm BBQ that follows. They will also be showcasing the latest in lighting technology.
To have the all-important post-ride ‘re-hydration’ taken care of, we have the support of the Bristol Beer Factory once again. We will have a selection of beers and ciders (including the popular Clear Head – non-alcoholic IPA).
And finally, we have the support of the National Trust, who have worked closely with us since the inception of THE EX and have made it possible for us to run our little event.
Thanks to all our sponsors – the event would not be possible without their help!!
So that’s it.
If you have any more questions, please drop us a line at ride@the-ex.co.uk.
We hope you are as excited about the event as we are. We can’t wait to see you all in Allerford.
Thank you
Paul & Michael