Who’s in?

Did this last year and absolutely loved it, didn’t even come last (or anywhere near last for that matter, but a looooong way from first still), so have entered again.

Any idea if they’re using the same 4 runs as last year, or if it will be different?

Off down there this Sunday 17th for a bit of a recce if anyone else is about and fancies doing the same…

I’m doing it, looking forward to it but slightly nervous. Steep, muddy, rooty stuff isn’t what I’m used to riding. Going to invest in a Shorty for the front in preparation.

No idea how I’ll go, not last hopefully 😀

You’ll be good mate, shorty on the front is probably a good call considering the rain we’ve had lately, but the FoD does dry out a lot quicker than places like the Wyre. I’ll call it on the day between minion DHF and shorty on the front I think.

A few of us are going, racing this weekend too, so no early practice for us.

I just signed up for this too. Doing the MAD enduro at Ebworth Park this Sunday so hopefully will still be in one piece!

Thanks for reminding me. Signed up now.

Not much time to regain any fitness, so if you see an exhausted chap on a blue Codeine it’ll be me!

petey83 – Member

I just signed up for this too. Doing the MAD enduro at Ebworth Park this Sunday so hopefully will still be in one piece!

I’d never heard of these and it’s just about a day trip from Leicester so may well have a go at the October one. This weekends out and I’m away in August 🙁

Please leave your tear offs at home. Thankfully most people do now. Ta muchly.

Anyone else?

Few of us off down there tomorrow to get a look at the current trail conditions and get bikes dialled in etc.

Well my Shorty for the front arrived today, I’m looking forward to.

What’s the parking likely to be like arriving as late as possible for sign on, I assume a nightmare?

parking can be a right pita!

Really don’t think you’ll need the Shorty. Even with the rain forecast for Friday, it should still be fine for Sat/Sun. You could always park at nearby Beechenhurst which is about a 5 minute cycle path ride away. Or if you’re feeling stingy Speculation car park/picnic site is just up the road from PBA.

Just got back from there having bunked off for the day…

Put it this way, on Sunday a Shorty would have been the tyre of choice… Today it’s bone dry just about everywhere! Unless it’s an absolute downpour the entire time before Sunday, a Minion will be the tyre of choice I think.

Trails riding good FWIW…

Well that was a waste of buying a tyre, oh well, I’m sure I’ll use it at some point 😀

Cheers wilko, not stingy, I’m riding solo so want to minimise time between practice and race. Think I’ve parked at Beechenhurst once in the past so will probably do that.

I’m in the hardtail category, first time. Do the sign on queues tend to get long? What kind of time do I need to aim for to get parked and signed on in time for a practice lap before the race? Very excited!

Yep me and a few mates will be there. Looking forward to it, always a good laugh.

the off piste tracks are dry, but a bit of rain expected later. Looking dry though for weekend.

Bike’s ready, just to get myself ready now…

See you all down there boys and girls! 😀

How did everyone get on today? Pretty chuffed with a 16 place improvement over the same event last year (70th in Masters this time, up from 86th last year), times were very close in the middle of the pack to be fair… Speaking of which, great to meet you fathomer (or Skinny Sam as I’m gonna call you, I know a guy whose surname is Homer and he’s quite fat, so my expectations were thus! LOL) and you beat me by just over 3 seconds over 10 1/2 minutes of timed trails, and that was worth 4 places!

That 1st (and 4th) stage can sod off though… Would have been quicker on a lightweight XC bike with semi slick tyres on the top half! Loved the other stages, would have taken doing 2&3 again over doing 1 again, or any one of a number of other trails I can think of… But never mind, just hope they don’t decide on that top half again!

Hope the lad on the hardtail that spannered himself is healing ok.

Odd day for me – had great fun. Top bit of 1 & 4 was a bit brutal, bottom half was fun. 2 & 3 were great stages.

Didn’t feel like I was riding well – stage one caught the 2 guys up in front of me, second one had a bit of a complex and didn’t want to let me pass. Same story on the other stages – but I picked some better overtake points.

Ended up 9th in masters. Probably cost me 4 or 5 places in total as there was only a handful of seconds covering the guys in front.

Mixed feelings about the racing then, but the riding was fun 🙂

Yep, good to meet you to Mark, you’re right my username is not a good representation of the way I actually look 😀

I thought Stage 2 was ace, as was 3. 1/4 was good after the fireroad but the top half was pretty lame and rather peddaly.

Also though I saw prezet and his green Scout, though didn’t get chance to say hello.

Hob Nob you’re obviously far to quick for people on this thread, 1.20ish up on me n mboy, but well done!

Was up there yesterday riding with the g/f. Looked fun.

What sort of runs were they in terms of technical ability? Wouldn’t mind having a go next time if it’s not too mental!

Cracking day out. Had a slide out at the very end of stage 1 trying to be clever and going wide to cut across the ditch at an angle. That lost me some time. Stage 2 was my favourite. Stage 3 was great up until I crashed out on that off camber rooty section. Ended up drifting to the bottom into that gulley and couldn’t get back up in time for the right hander at the end.

So a couple of crashes and finished 84th. Slightly disappointed but a great day. I agree that the top of stage one was brutal on the lungs.

Decided not to wait around for the stage 4 run, as it was already late and we had a 4 hour drive home. So hooned back down verderers and ripped my rear tyre covering me in Stans juice 😀

@fathomer – would have been good to say hi. Likely it was me, I only saw one other green Scout all day.

@HobNob – that’s some impressive times! I think I need to remove my brakes to give me any chance of those kinds of times.

A fun little vid has gone up on Pinkbike about the weekend

http://www.pinkbike.com/u/behindthetapeproductions/blog/one-industries-mini-enduro-round-2.html

A bit disappointed with my result but had great fun nonetheless. I got through all four stages with few mistakes and felt fast but obviously not fast enough! Such small margins for error on short stages. Luckily I had a better stage 4 time than stage 1 so didn’t regret staying to doing it!

Yeah so I as the hardtail rider who went down on stage 1 – I got bucked over the bars by that tree stump on the left during the super quick section near the bottom. Apologies to those who had to wait until late to have a go at stage 4! My knee is knackered and my eyes aren’t quite doing what I tell them but I was released from hospital yesterday evening with the all clear. FYI unless there was a second hardtail that went down, the pinkbike report is incorrect in saying that I was airlifted out.

Glad to hear you are okay rsl1.

I saw the ambulance at the end of the stage so was confused by the pink bike report too. There was a helicopter flying around the area before your crash which must have caused the confusion.

Glad you’re ok too mate. I rode over that stump in practice and in my first race run, and it bucked you a bit even with 160mm travel front and back! Would’ve been a nice line if they’d built it up just a touch more before hand so it didn’t kick so hard…

Hope you heal quick and you’re back on the bike in no time.

Is that Y2K?

Glad you’re on the mend @rsl1

Does anyone know why stages 1 and 4 were the same? Was a bit gutted about having to ride stage 1 again as there are so many good trails in the forest it wouldn’t have taken much to find an alternative. So I’m guessing it was a technical reason?

Where about’s roughly was the stump?

I assume just for setup ease, being a 1 day event & a lot of riders, extra marshalled etc.

The stump was near the bottom, out of the steep wooded bit, round the few corners and there was a big, open & fast straight you could straighten out even more by going over an old tree stump. You needed to hit the RHS of it though, the left was a bit soft (which is what I suspect caused the incident).

It was flat out down there, must have been a nasty crash.

@HobNob – True, but none of the other mini’s I’ve raced in has re-used one of the stages. Ah well, was fun regardless!

I know the bit you mean, and yeah, that would have been nasty.

Lessons learnt – I think I over practiced so was quite tired after the pedalling in stage one and hit it a fair bit faster than the 5ish times I pushed up that lower section (I knew it would buck me a bit). I don’t actually know where I landed, would be interesting to hear more from the marshal on that point. I did speak to a photographer right there before the race run. The chopper could be because I think someone said it was cardiac arrest (it wasn’t) so I got a very quick response.
I’m actually gutted I didn’t set a single time as I felt very quick, especially on stage 2 – that was great fun. Anyway thanks for the comments guys.
As for stage 1 being repeated, are there normally 4 stages? I would much rather repeat one than only have 3 stages, although repeating that stage would have put a lot of onus on your fitness

All the other mini enduros I’ve done have had 4 distinctly separate stages.