I would like to enter One but I don’t have a clue what level of rising is needed? Anyone shed some light on this, thanks!

Technically,they’re not too difficult,even for an old dud like me,but you do need a reasonable level of fitness to cover the full distance.

Ok thanks for your reply! My fitness should be fine but as I’m getting back into biking after quite some time off my riding will need to improve!

Are we talking enduros or endurance? If you’re a regular rider your fitness will probably fine for the former but you may have some fairly scary moments on the timed downhill sections unless you’re comfortable on pretty gnarly stuff. The Enduro1 series special stages were, to quote “mostly red grade with elements of black”. My handful of mildly scary moments were probably as a result of riding a race pace, on unknown rooty muddy fairly steep tracks, in the wet, and I was pretty middle of the pack.

Depends entirely on what flavour of enduro, it can mean different things. Frinstance, the innerleithen enduros are pretty damn hard- a competent rider could ride most of the stages, but you need to pretty handy to ride them fast.

OTOH some XC enduro events are more or less riding round a field til it turns to mud- they’re a bit less hard (but I couldn’t do one worth a damn, don’t have the fitnes or the bloodymindedness)

Basically, read up on it, check with the organisers if in doubt

Having seen bits of the Innerleithen Enduro course, I’d say it was way harder than a normal trail centre Red….

footflaps – Member

Having seen bits of the Innerleithen Enduro course, I’d say it was way harder than a normal trail centre Red….

however, early feedback from Coed Y Brennan sounds like it was very much ‘red’ standard

CyB always was a very easy trail centre – and even then they removed all the more interesting bits, as too many people were having accidents! There was an interesting article in Privateer about it being a major driving force for 5″ trail bikes becoming the norm, which I found quite amusing as there’s barely anything there to challenge a HT!

footflaps – Member

Having seen bits of the Innerleithen Enduro course, I’d say it was way harder than a normal trail centre Red….

There’s been a few there now but on at least one of them the easiest stage was the one made entirely out of downhill trails 😆

All your replies are much appreciated. Without sounding like a c**k I used to consider myself a fairly competant rider but its gonna take some time to get back to that. I think il have to see how it goes! Looking forward to getting back on it after so many years off!

I would say it depends on the event. I did the Ae Avalanche in 2010 and that is probably closest to the classic enduro style. A seeding run the afternoon before followed by 6 timed It was all trail centre red.

I’ve also done the Innerleithen Enduro which was by comparison a bit mental. Far harder than any trail centre stuff I ever ridden. Put it this way there was a guy who podiumed on a Santa Cruz V10! Was still a fun event though and really pushed the limits of what I was prepared to ride.

I would say give it a go if you are happy enough at trail centre reds and blacks then you should be fine.

I’m looking forward to the POC King of the Hill Event at Glentress at the end of May

More confusion caused by the use, or misuse, of the word “enduro”.
Which event do you have in mind, motofal ?

Wiggle Enduro 6 next weekend is mainly a test of endurance, you don’t need all that much in the way of bike handling skills.

Other events, which are closer to the proper meaning of enduro, tend to be held on established trails. If you get a chance, and can find out exactly which trails they use, you could ride the course in advance.

I want to try an Enduro (in the Euro sense, Gravity Enduro or whatever you wanna call it), but don’t much like the idea of it just being a DH stage-race! Trail centre red sounds good. Harder than any trail centre ever does not, for my meagre skillz at least 😕

I’d also love to try one of the Gravity Enduro style events but there doesn’t really seem to be any remotely close to the south east. Always thought of myself as being reasonably handy downhill but I bet one of these would be a bit of an eye opener.

Thought the Enduro 1 series was the Gravity Enduro for you southerners? Not the SE but probably as close to you as some of the GEs are to me?

To answer the original question (I’ve done 6 races now): If you can ride trail centre black and the natural equivalent you’ll be fine. It’s all doable by most riders. It’s doing it fast that’s the tricky bit!

It’s all doable by most riders. It’s doing it fast that’s the tricky bit!

Amen to that!

DrP

I’d also love to try one of the Gravity Enduro style events but there doesn’t really seem to be any remotely close to the south east.

I believe the lack of significant hillage may be the issue there

There didn’t feel much lack of hillage at the FoD Enduro1. The guys on the podium are riding damned fast – I’m not slow amongst my local riding posse, especially downhill, but I felt like it when the times came out for that race. I can’t even blame my lack of rear suspension having been beaten by one person on a rigid bike and throughly whipped by another on an XC hardtail… Once it stops raining I’ll be spending as much time as possible on my local DH runs!

There didn’t feel much lack of hillage at the FoD Enduro1.

The FoD is in the South East now?

Good point! 😉

However the highest point in the Forest of Dean is lower than the highest point in the Surrey Hills and the same altitude as the highest point on the South Downs.

Enduro1.co.uk have their next rounds nearer you… Rd 2 is on the Salisbury Plain and Rd 3 in Hants.