A great day out, great atmosphere, but pretty brutal! Harder than the one at Builth Wells back in April. It was on local trails for me so I knew what to expect, but it still felt hard.
Just had a hot bath and am not sure I can summon the energy to brew up!

Yes, i was there. Just got back home.
I found it tough to be honest, toughest round this year.
Pushing up the first big climb was frustrating, would love to know if the fast guys at the front managed to ride up any of it.
Can’t wait to see what next year brings.

Ah, so that’s what all the route markers were for 😀 . Curious to see the route, anyone got a link? Can’t see one on their website.

They don’t put the routes on the website as some of the ride is by local agreement with land owners etc.

I did the ELBNO Equinox and the mini-marathon due to child care issues. Loved it to be honest, went rather well too

We did the 50K distance which we reckoned was harder than 65k at Builth Wells.

The route was: start at Hope, road to Castleton, up the Broken road, Mam Tor, descent to Edale, then up Jacob’s ladder, down the other side to Hayfield, then back up, Mount Famine, Roych Clough, to Rushup, then over the road for another climb, eventually descending Pindale, then up a long climb to Shatton Moor, fast descent, and the last couple of km along the road back to Hope.

Saw the start of it. Was on a road ride coming back through Hope & just caught sight the signs so stopped to chat to the marshal. The ride started about 5 mins later so I got in between the Lead Quad and the Lead Moto which gave me a lovely window of zero traffic as I rode to Winnats. I stopped at the T junction there and watched the lead half of the bunch go by, saw a few mates in there. I rode up Winnats and caught the leaders as they turned onto Rushup Edge. Had a brief chat with Nick Craig & Paul Oldham then they turned right and I went straight on along Rushup.

Riding up Winnats was lovely – no traffic passing me, presumably because it was still all stuck behind the MTB bunch. The marshal said 1000 riders.

Yes enjoyed the full. Was tough connecting all those classic bits together.

Although I’m not as in love with Dark Peak as many these days. Saw a lot of spills on the beast. I’m sure Jacobs Ladder used to be easier to climb than that. Everyone walking it.

Rigid wasn’t the best choice for me.

As usual some goon quality over takes on the downs.

But a well oiled and supported event with some great climbing.

Great event and did well in the raffle. Nice to be home in two hours instead of the usual four from Ruthin. Hope Hope becomes a regular fixture.

Wife and I did it, great day out and really good to see so many there. Big rocks and big hills 🙂

The goon quality overtakes might have been me! I can’t do it on the climbs…

The goon quality overtakes might have been me! I can’t do it on the climbs.

I hope you weren’t the guy who span 180 degrees descending the other side of Jacobs ladder whilst reaching for his dropper post ?

As usual some goon quality over takes on the downs.

That’s what wiped me out on the first descent at Exmoor. Fractured elbow, stitches, thumb socket broken, grade 2 ligament damage and road rash that would make anyone wince and that I’ll bear the scars of for some time.

People need to have a good think of thier own capabilities and the potential outcome of a deflecting bike in a crowded scenario at these events.

Putting other riders in jeopardy is not what it’s about and hooning DH like you’re alone at a trail centre amongst groups of riders of unknown ability and reactions is plain stupid.

Glad you all enjoyed it though, I’ll look forward to Hope next year!

I did it, with no training at all.

I was the guy on the PP Shan 27 flying on the downhills but then dying on the ups.

And cramping like anything on the last half

Still good fun though

No dropper on the bike I was riding. Plenty of folk who appeared to have never ridden down a hill off road mind.
Speaking of Jacob’s, I was pleased I wasn’t pushing a 50lb ebike up there.

I did the full route, not convinced of the need to go UP spud alley with 55 km in the legs.

Hope the guy who stacked it badly on the beast is okay.

Fun but hard. We did the 50k. SpeshJnr did well 3rd home in the 50km, 2hr 50mish. He only put the one hour in to me.
I found some of the climbs were unclimbable and some you couldn’t because of congestion- but that’s the natural of the beast.

These events can bring out the best and worst in people. There are always people to chat to, offers of help and encouragement, plus some quality piss taking.
but there is always someone who thinks its the start of the Mega and they are up for a podium. Which brings us back to piss taking:-)

All in all a great weekend, fantastic to be a little part of Ride For Charlie, which is a great idea, the work they have done already with getting a 2nd at the Euro Juniors.

Putting other riders in jeopardy is not what it’s about and hooning DH like you’re alone at a trail centre amongst groups of riders of unknown ability and reactions is plain stupid.

Absolutely, there are plenty times you can be alone to do this.

Of course nine times out of ten you then pass the same person on the next climb never to be seen again.

There were quite a few struggling with the easy off road climb up Mam Tor and the descent to Edale, so I wonder how they got on later on. At the Mam Tor bottleneck, which ground progress to a halt for a few minutes, the bloke behind me said it was his first time ever on a mountain bike and was regretting his decision to do the 50k event.

While I was finishing the 48 riding back into Hope there were quite a few riders riding the other way. Anyone know why? I don’t think that was part of the 65km route.

I came across a few 65k riders who were at a junction on the main road who looked pretty lost and asked what length i was doing.
Then when approaching the event village, around 5 or 6 guys were heading back down the road. Maybe locals heading home?

Maybe they’d missed the time cut for the full route?

Climbing up Spud Alley after 50k 😆

I got talked into doing the event by my 15 year old son who wanted to do a marathon, I thought it would be a nice easy ride but he took off like scalded cat, managing to last about three hours before he went ‘pop’ and I was then able to get a rest for the last hour, he managed to be faster junior which he was well chuffed about, even managed to get some pictures.
Great day out, well organised and nice to see so much support for a very good cause.