Grinduro will return to the UK in 2025 after Forestry Commission charges and Brexit forced the event to take a one-year hiatus.
Held in Kingussie, Scotland from July 18 to July 20, entries for the 2025 event – which promises “secret paths, ancient military roads, winding trails, wooded climbs and gripping descents” – will open soon.
Grinduro’s emphasis on creating a festival-like atmosphere, fun transfers and technical timed stages has seen the gravel event grow massively.
Starting in California in 2015, the series expanded to Scotland in 2017 and was followed by further events in Germany, California, Pennsylvania, Wales, Italy, France and Japan.
Speaking to BikeRadar, Grinduro's global manager James Deane explained why keeping the event fresh and external challenges forced it out of the UK for a year.
“We like to move things every three years. Having run Grinduro on the Isle of Arran, Scotland and in Machynlleth, Wales, the next logical thought was the Lake District or somewhere in the Yorkshire moors.
“But to do anything fun, specifically singletrack, which is very important for Grinduro, meant dealing with the Forestry Commission.
“Forestry Commission charges... restricted where we could go, while making the event financially viable.”
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“The Forestry Commission turned out to be a really big mouth”
Grinduro is far from the only cycling event to have faced issues trying to run events on Forestry Commission land.
The 2024 edition of the King’s Cup Gravel Festival was cancelled due to Forestry England increasing permit costs beyond what was deemed financially viable.
Grinduro may be among the UK’s biggest gravel events, but Deane explained that the franchise’s insistence on using local suppliers – and the costs that entails – to deliver its events is part of the challenge.
“We work with a local promoter to execute the event, and support them via sponsors and funding, so there are many mouths to feed.
“However, the Forestry Commission turned out to be a really big mouth.
“We tried to negotiate with them on their extravagant levy fees, but we couldn't make it work.”
Deane contrasts the situation in the UK to Europe, where government bodies actively encourage cycling events: “In Europe there is a lot of tourism board funding for cycling events, so this made [running an event there] a no-brainer.
“We had a great time in France… with better weather than Wales.
“It made sense for us to focus our energy there for 2024 and keep working in the background for our UK return.”
Forestry Commission charges have also impacted mountain bike events and businesses.
The Forestry Commission’s demands for 20 per cent of revenues earned by coaches and guides working on its land has had a chilling effect on the sector.
Deane blames the Forestry Commission for the demise of his local mountain bike race series: “I'm ten minutes away from Thetford Forest. That's where I stuck my teeth into mountain biking and gravel riding.
“There was once an enormous XC race scene, but it's all gone because promoters can't work with those costs.
“[The Forestry Commission has] shot itself in the foot but, unfortunately, they're such a big dinosaur that by the time they’ve realised they've made a mistake, it'll be too late.”
The Forestry Commission has been contacted for comment.
A return north
Unable to secure an agreement to run the event on public land, Deane was forced to find a private estate to hold the event.
The 2025 edition will take place on the Wildland Estate in the Cairngorms: “The only way was north”, as Deane puts it.
Wildland is a large Highland estate focussed on rewilding.
Wildland is owned by billionaire Danish fashion magnate, Anders Holch Povlsen, who has become the largest private landowner in the UK, primarily through his prolific purchasing of Highland estates.
Alongside Outsider Events and other local promoters, Wildland’s staff will help deliver the event.
The first Grinduro event outside of California was held on the Isle of Arran on Scotland’s west coast in 2017. The event ran here until 2019.
Commenting on the event’s return to Scotland, Deane explained that “with 2025 marking the 10th anniversary of the Purple Party, returning to, not only to its birthplace in Quincy, California, but also Scotland, feels like the perfect nostalgia trip.”
Deane adds that exotic locations are part of the event’s appeal: “Grinduro has always been an ‘out there’ event and the Cairngorms is about as out there as you’ll ever manage on this little island!”
Brexit causes sponsor frustrations
Brexit also caused unexpected challenges for Grinduro.
Sponsors of the Welsh edition – many of which were located in Europe and took large stands and a fleet of bikes to the event – were stung with customs fees when travelling to and from the UK.
“Our sponsors were becoming frustrated as [when moving products in and out of the UK], they were hit by customs or unpredicted charges.
“This also led us to take a year off while sponsors and brands figure out how to deal with customs.”
Headline sponsorship is essential for the survival of events like Grinduro, but Brexit pushed marketing spending outside of the UK: “Post-Brexit, our sponsor market was significantly more interested in Europe”, explains Deane.
