We’ve sent Pete Scullion across the country to find out what makes some of the top riders in the land tick. This issue, it’s a short journey to meet up with the newest resident of the Tweed Valley, enduro racer, Bex Baraona.

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY PETE SCULLION

As luck would have it, both sunshine and one of Ibis Enduro Team’s pinners, Bex Baraona, would be present in Dunkeld for my first trip to the ancient religious capital in many a moon. The A9 carrying me there in good time and Bex’s desire to get some training done in the morning means that we’re meeting after lunchtime. A far cry from the usual bleary-eyed ride I’d do most days. It felt positively laid-back.

Bex may well hail from the one of the English counties that made roses and wars famous (not Bex’s doing), but has recently moved to the land of the Picts and Reivers to take full advantage of the access laws and the plethora of bike trails that have made it famous. Yet another World Enduro podium rider now calls the Tweed Valley their home. I’d be lucky enough to coax Bex further north without too much effort, however.

The tall, widely spaced larch, spruce and firs of Dunkeld offer a stark contrast to the cool darkness that typifies the forests of the Borders. Certainly the ones we turn a wheel in, anyway.

As with any rattle up the A9, it is done without ever really remembering any of it. This trunk road tends to offer little that is memorable for me, as usually I’m trying to wake myself up or trying to stay awake while driving it. Despite the hefty 40mph contraflows, we’re at the foot of Atholl Hill in no time and I am met by a Bex who looks very much ready to go, even though we’re both early.