I’ve only been to a couple enduros before but this seemed really well organised with a really good atmosphere, so hats off to the organisers and thanks to all the marshals, etc. for making the day so great.

I guess the only thing you couldn’t control was the weather and whilst it was nice, dry and warm – the wind was absolutely brutal, as in pedal to go downhill or you’ll stop kind of wind, or blow you off line (or your bike) as you try and thread your way through the course!

As a result, I had more fun on the practice day than during the race as it was very calm on the Saturday.

Went off line on the first stage at the bottom of a sort of shoot and after hanging on for dear life as I prayed my bike would ride over the massive rock patch I was now aiming at, I was rewarded myself with both front and back pinch flats. In hindsight, I should have probably ran down the rest of the course to salvage my time, but I decided to fix them both and so as a result my time for that stage was a write off. I was actually enjoying it more than on the practice day despite the wind, but the repairs sort of put a damper on that.

Stage 2 was the most fun I thought although the wind was annoying again.

The push up the road to stage 3 was pretty much soul destroying, but at least the sun was out a bit. Stage 3 was fun again but the wind made me a bit nervous on a couple of sections and I messed up my line in a couple of places. The lad I was riding round with had both front and rear pinch flats here (after getting a rear puncture in the same place on practice) and ran his bike down.

Then followed about an hours worth of puncture repairing until almost giving up until someone helpfully donated a spare inner tube (his inners were like a sieve basically!).

Then the long trek right back across the to the final stage. Enjoyed stage 4 as well, flying across / traversing grassy fields is something I’ve not really done before. Felt like a bit of a ski run at the end.

I’ve ridden in quite a lot of places, admittedly trail centres the majority of the time, but this kind of terrain was quite new to me and I definitely wasn’t at my best, but it was a good experience and I’m really glad I did it.

If I ride here again, dual ply tyres will be a must as well as about a dozen inner tubes! Full face helmet would be an idea as well, nowhere soft to fall off pretty much anywhere – all jagged rocks!

How did you find it?

Agree about the excellent organisation. In fact excellent overall, wind apart! Great weekend.

Marshall here – fortunately it was windy when the course was set up so the tape was as close to secure as we could get it. It seemed to mostly stand up to the gusts. Such a shame the wind got quite so bad, but at least it was dry!

Glad for the organisers that it all went smoothly on the day, the vibe from riders was great and I saw mostly considerate riding with conscientious overtaking. Well done all!

Sadly I was marshalling a tricky bit where people might get hurt (last of the gulleys on 2), so couldn’t shout “GO GO GO GO GO” at people, but I was thinking it!

Cheers for your efforts unk. Count yourself lucky you weren’t the marshall at the top of stage 3. Epic wind battering!

I spoke to the guys from the tops of 2 and 3 – sounded truly epic!

How long was the route (km) and what sort of length (minutes) were the timed stages?

It was a great event, well organised, really enjoyed the stages, the wind was brutal though! Got blown about all over the place and saw several people fly off line into nasty rocks.

I heard they had to abandon the 4:30 cutoff time to complete as everyone was struggling into that wind!

All the results are up at the Sport Ident site (who did the timekeeping), http://www.sportident.co.uk/results/2013/ArdRockEnduro/

I thoroughly enjoyed today, maybe not the wind up to stage 3, but a good day.

At the top of stage 3 I was stood next to a guy with an ibis mojo. It was almost horizontal in the wind, good job he had a good hold on the bars.

My overall time was ruined by 2 flats in stage 3. I was running around 3m30s avg, took 22 mins on 3rd one putting me in 106th…

202 mins for the whole lap. I clocked it at 24 miles.

I had rode the course yesterday tubeless and burped tyre off rim resulting in a shredded leg so put a tube in for today.

Might have another bash at this enduro malarky.

Queing up at stage three, I was watching all these people with their bikes floating in the air, hanging on to the bars. I thought they were just messing about. It wasn’t until I got up on the start hill that I realised that it was involuntary!

My first enduro, it won’t be my last! Absolutely loved it, even the wind! Riding to stage 3 I had the bike banked to 45 degrees just to go in a straight line! That was tough lol

Brilliant weekend, really well organised, worth the 3 1/2 hr drive south. Weather was ace, wind was the same for everyone, as it never dipped all day, so no issue really. I loved all 4 stages, especially the first two, the gullies were great fun.

I’ll be back next year, no doubt.

I see Jenn was there too, so I expect there’ll be a report in the next issue?

Really enjoyed it overall, but that wind was a joke.
If I have a criticism, it’s that some of the stages didn’t seem to quite take advantage of the terrain as well as they perhaps could – lots and lots of climbing for some pretty brief stages. Also, the transition out to stage 3, then back to the start of 4 was outrageously long, if quite enjoyable.

Unfortunately I missed out on practice, which meant I was riding pretty conservatively for most of it, but happy enough with 51st…

Absolutely top weekend. The only downer was the wind, as previously mentioned, but better than rain I guess. As Fortunateson said, the stages may have been better losing the height slightly slower so as to make them longer, or make the climb back up not as arduous. But the tracks that they did tape out were still ace. Couldn’t understand why more people weren’t taking advantage for the rather conveniently placed pub on the 2-3 transition. Pretty chuffed with 30th.

Windy?!! That was normal……

Out of interest does anyone know who the photographers on the route were? Quite keen to see the pictures.

Loved stage 1, like a mini megavalenche, total carnage ! and a total blast !

Did anyone go down on the chute on 1? Saw someone hit the deck hard on practice day, got up and needed to be made to sit down for five minutes. Seemed basically fine though. Whoever you are, I hope you bought a lottery ticket!

Anyone found any photos yet?
Was a great event. Really good trails and everything seemed to run very smoothly. Felt the camping and bbq was a bit pricey though. As it grows in popularity, i could see the absence of marshals on the Saturday being a bit of a problem. Potential for some serious injuries in some exposed parts of the loop.
Would gladly come back next year if its on.

Great event, really friendly and well organised.
The big brake pad giveaway for odd rider numbers at the end was a nice touch!
The wind was truly brutal. Having said that, when I rode practice I was a little worried about the potential for overheating so I guess you can’t please everyone…
The slog over the moortop after the road part of the 3/4 transition and 4 itself were possibly my very favourites but really it was all good.
Just a shame about the pinch flat I got on 3 that cost me heavily as my tyre bead just didn’t want to reseat. Should have just legged it…

Well we’re back from the Enduro and we know we’ve had a tough ride out! Legs don’t want to move right now.
We got up there on Friday, set up camp, cooked the tea, a bit of music a few beers and a play about on the bikes….a very chilled out evening.
Saturday we decided to pre-ride the course at a leisurely pace and set off up, and up and up the first road climb onto the moors. Not an easy way to start! As soon as we got to the start of stage one the climbing seemed to be a thing of the past and off we went at a pace down the descent and across the moor. Massive grins on our faces when we got to the end of stage one. The transition from stage one to stage two was a right b**tard of a climb with many opting to push. A couple of hill climbing warriors were making it the whole way and respect to them, as this was no ordinary climb!! Stage two was a technical rocky section where you had to keep on your guard at all times, with a long ride out to the ends markers. Again big smiles all the way despite one of our gang going over the bars in one of the rocky gulleys.
Setting off for stage three through the transition one of our crew had a massive off as we fired down a grassy banking into a small rocky gulley. We got him down to an access road and took care of him best we could. Thanks to all who stopped and offered assistance, especially Chip for his help. Two of our guys set off to get the 4×4 so we could get him to hospital, as we didn’t have many options! He is ok, but suffered a broken collar bone, damaged ribs(don’t know the extent yet) and a few cuts and lacerations to his legs. His helmet took a right battering, so a lesson to us all to continue to wear them at all times!
Once on his way to hospital a couple of decided to ride straight onto stage four, missing out section three. What a drag up to section four!! It almost broke me! Don’t want to talk too much about it….. it was, in my opinion, nasty but necessary. Anyhow, the final moorland crossing to stage four seemed to pick me up a bit and it became really enjoyable. Stage four itself was a grassy descent with a few wall crossings, pretty quick to ride.
Then a short ride back to camp. Quick change and straight to the BBQ for a tasty burger and some salad. A few walks around the trade stands and back to the tent for a few beers and a talk about how the day went.

Sunday went pretty much as Saturday without the drama, except for that north yorks wind!!! Never experienced a wind like that. The drag up to stage three was horrendous and when we finally got to the start of stage three the wind was that strong that bikes were floating in the air with the riders holding the handlebars??? I didn’t seem logical but did happen? This was our first look at stage three, which turned out to be a good section, except for my son puncturing and having to descend rather slowly to the ends markers..less than happy:) fixed the puncture and went onto stage four.

Any how, we enjoyed the experience, we will be back next year all being well.

It was well organised, with good staff and a good timing system. A really relaxed atmosphere!

My only comment would be regarding the number of stages. Anyone who punctured in a section were not able to make their time up and I was thinking it maybe better having five stages with the best four counting??

Forgot to mention….one of our crew won the Crossmax ST Wheels….guess this balances the karma for our collective weekend and it looks like my son might be getting them 😀 😀

Report on the front page, Nobeerinthefridge – didn’t fancy carrying a proper camera around with me…

http://singletrackworld.com/2013/07/ard-rock-enduro/

Big thanks to the marshall at the top of stage three who held my bike down so I could get on it!

Found these photos so far:

http://f11digital.wix.com/norfolkngoodgrafix

Try here for a good few photos, if that link doesn’t work, head to Heather b studios, client area, events – there should be a couple of hundred photos!

singletrackjenn – I work here.

Report on the front page, Nobeerinthefridge – didn’t fancy carrying a proper camera around with me…

‘Ard Rock Enduro

Big thanks to the marshall at the top of stage three who held my bike down so I could get on it!

Canny pic of my lazy dog!