It sounds really good. My birthday weekend also but just how does it work? The course this year is 40 Kms with either the choice of doing the whole 40kms timed or do just the timed DH stages which is the bit I’d be interested in. Do i still ride the whole 40k or does one just cut through from one section to another? Whats the camping like? Prices etc..

The 4 stages are part of the 40km loop. I guess you could take a different route if you knew some shortcuts, but then you would miss out on riding the transition stages with everyone else, which was really good fun and a massive part of the overall friendly, fun atmosphere. Also, you still get an overall lap time even if you do the enduro rather than the sportive. But most people have a breather at the top and bottom of the stages. Camping was fine last year, think it was £5 a head.

It’s only 40k, just ride it all.

You still do the 40k on same course, it’s just that sections are timed. Camping good at dales bike centre, can’t recall price, other camping around area as well mind. Cours as title suggests rocky, no trail centre kitty litter. 40K, yes and it feels like it, big climbs… You’ll know you have had a day in the hills, over open moors, no forest roads or muddy tree lined tracks. Beef up your tyre set up, tubeless and sturdy with lots of pressure . It’s very layed back…

£52 for the timed stages – think its £36 for the lap. Timing is the same system as the Trans Savoie

Either way, you do the entire lap and all descents. The main difference is that for the timed descents you clock in and out at the start and end of the descent. You’ve got 4hrs 30 mins to do the entire 40km

Route opens at 11am on Saturday for practice – race / sportive is on Sunday. Think there’s camping available but don’t know where / how much space. From what I’ve heard, it’s a well run great event and the route is meant to be pretty good too. All the climbs are on public land so you can ride em now. The downs are on private land (part of the Scott Trials motor cross route and old lead mines)

It’s all on their website tho – just google Ard Rock Enduro

That’s up over a quarter on last years price.

Ard Rock

I would imagine if you start taking shortcuts it could jeopardise future events. The guys have worked hard to get permission to use private land who may take exception to anyone going off piste.

So tyre-wise something with sidewall protection i take it or will my Chunky Monkey/ smorgasbord be adequate?

Does practice on the Saturday include doung the whole 40k?? Looks like im gonna have to lay off the pies and get some miles in.

Anyone know how quickly it sold out last year?

Up to you if you do the practice or not, made a massive difference to me last year, I placed much higher than my friend as he made a few mistakes on the descents.

If you can cope with 40k both days do it, it will be beneficial if you want to put in some good times on the descents, however, the 2013 event did include short cuts for practice which greatly shortened the loop, but these short cuts are for practice only!!

Is this doable on a Long travel HT?
Very tempted. Looks like a great event.

Long travel hard tail is perfect for it tbh, most folks were way over biked last year. There’s a few wee rocky techy bits, but also lots of fast swoopy stuff that is well suited to HT.

Shortcuts are not on. It’s an Enduro, not an uplift day.

There’s quite a bit of land being opened for the event you would not normally be allowed on – you are requested by the organisers to stay on obvious paths where present – people ignoring this may result in no future events. The biggest distance between stages last year was the road between 3 and 4.

Aardrock is a fantastic event and really, 40km is not huge – assuming you’re not trying to ride a DH bike. You earn your Downs. It’s not the same format as UKGE, and there’s probably a lot more pedalling involved – at some points it’s very XC.

I rode it on Cinders last year without issues. Nobby Nics and High Rollers were very much in evidence, as were plenty of HT’s – and of course the usual high number of Five’s. The wind last year was strong enough to turn some Fives laid on the ground at the top of Three into kites! Last year I did it on a long travel HT and I probably will again. Definitely agree about the overbikedness of some.

If you have fragile sidewalls there are a couple of areas you will be at risk. Likewise, pinch flats seemed to be the biggest cause of flatting last year for people. It’s a very mixed bag of road, mud, loose shale, rock and grasstrack and not particularly manicured. No hardpack kittylitter. I normally ride Dark Peak and North Yorks Moors and was a bit surprised by the amount of small, sharp loose stuff. The big road liason (assuming its still there) will throw up an extra element of pain if you’re running super low tyre pressures and there are some pretty steep offroad climbs too.

Chip timing is great. Basically you have a rubber band with a little piece of plastic on your wrist. You touch this to a post at the start and finish of the event, and if riding the special stages, the top and bottom of the stages. End result: Everyone gets a total lap time, but people on the sportive don’t get the stage times (but may still ride them). If you only care about the 20-something minutes of gnar on the SS’s, ignore your lap time. 🙂 As they say, there’s really no reason you can’t bimble round the loop with your mates. There is a gap between riders like for a top of run start gate, but there’s no concept of only being with riders ‘in your own class’.

Expect static marshalls at strategic places and also mobile officials on trials bikes and quads between stages – which is nice.

You get to ride everything on Saturday as much as you want.

Unless wildly different, the route is likely to take you through a village or two, pubs, ice cream shops, streams… there will be juniors to seniors riding and enjoying themselves. If you fancy stopping for a sandwich, why not? The pub over the ford just before the arch after SS3 last year had an awful lot of mountain bikes outside it when I passed…

Overall it feels much more like a mass ride through some really cool stuff with a bunch of friendly people and prizes for the fastest than a ‘race’ and that’s a good thing, in my book. I can’t wait! 🙂

I let me make this clear…I DONT WANT TO DO SHORTCUTS…i was just wondering how the whole thing works..ie.riding a leisurely 40k with some timed sections or whether you go from timed section to timed sections via different routes..

@ vincienup…..you’ve sold it to me..