[Closed] Anyone else doing the King & Queen of the Hill (Scottish Open) Enduro

No Zorro then, boooo! 😉

Really hoping there is some sort of extra off piste stuff to make up three stages on the GT side but looking increasingly like just the four stages now?

As long as they have the same sort of awesome Cademuir stages I am not fussed about the GT side. I tend to do far better (ranking wise) on the Cademuir stuff as well. I can't ride spooky wood to save my life.

ho chi mink looks odd without the trees

So does brown trout, which is officially ruined!

Has broon troot been felled? Hadn't heard about that incoming

Went passed the end of Broon Troot on Wednesday and plenty trees there, must have felled it all pretty quick if it has been! Last time I did Broon Troot it wasn't as good as it used to be as there have so many new lines taking the easy route round trees, just wasn't the same. Shame.

Broon troot hasnt changed in the slightest, went down there today,there has bee some "racing" lines been cut but think they may be blocked off for next week

Sorry just meant there's a few trees taken out since last time I was there a year or so ago. Plus the short cuts and the fact it's been so heavily ridden have rather spoiled it in my view. 🙁

Any details on event timing yet? Was expecting an email with a few details by now, trying to sort out ditching the kids!

Broon troot was pretty today different since I last rode it a few months ago, the woodwork has been removed, there are some new strava/endooro lines, the left hand switchback with the logs has been improved and I think there has been some filling in, certainly it runs more fast and flowy, I quite like it. People need to use the original line near the top with the right hand 90 degree turn with the big root though, its fast disappearing.

Yeah, the log thing got trailfairied a while back as the logs were rotten (don't know what else was done as I wasn't there). There's been some efforts to block in strava lines but, well, you know.

Was also down BT yesterday, and while the wood has gone that didn't make a great deal of difference I didn't think (apart from stopping and wondering where I was - dummy - having just ridden through where the first bits of wood normally were). I thought it was running ok, but maybe I never noticed all the new lines ... just ride it the same way generally. Still a good run down the hill. Was pretty slidy though - the rain has returned these trails to normal 🙂

The event video is out now as well. Really enjoyed filming this, except when I pringled myself. I'm 3rd rider, and 2nd when we split over the rock drop.

Cool vid that, some class riding! And dry trails even.

Any more word or random speculation on the trails 🙂

Hoping to do a ride this week and was thinking

Spooky - BB - BT ( Any thought on full spooky or down the off piste to ~ 3rd down)

EWS Lang Whang (stage 4 day 2)

Cademuir (stage 4 & 5 from last years event)

I'm definitely starting to look forward to it now, its a while since I've ridden up there so its gonna be fun! What kind of overall loop distance is it likely to be?

Looking at the weather... mud tyres, wetsuits and snorkels. But you're using rule 5 so what do I know (I hate mud, that's what I know!)

Mud tyres on Spooky Woods and Betty Blue (+ whatever other main trails are used)? Think I'd rather walk....

Weather doesn't look too bad- last year we had snow in the week before the race 😆 Races like that with a mix of hard and soft are what god gave you the Baron for.

(PS, 650b-havers, nyah nyah)

I think im gonna stick a magic mary on the front, seems to pretty good in mud and everything else?

If i was doing it I'd put my baron on the front based on the off piste last weekend. Have fun y'all

I'll be sticking with my trusty Chunky Monkey/ Smorgasbord combo. Has been fine in all the Scottish Enduro rounds so far plus the EWS.

philbert31 - Member

I think im gonna stick a magic mary on the front, seems to pretty good in mud and everything else?

Not so convinced on hard stuff tbh, I used mine for the laggan ses because of bad planning, dragged like an anchor and only gripped well on stuff it could get its teeth into. Was good in the dust and loam and I think it'll be great in soggy wintery stuff though. Good tyre like but a bit more specific.

My recommendation for stages we don't know about in weather that we're guessing about is... wavy lines. No, pentagram.

With a semi-slick out back of course

anyone doing the inners round of the scottish series in october?

I suppose it is just guess work at the moment..

anyone doing the inners round of the scottish series in october?

Yes, doing the entire series.

BoardinBob - Member

Yes, doing the entire series.

Same here, should be interesting to see what they come up with, last one turned things on their head a bit.

(this is the point where I slide down the rankings, since all the rounds so far count- but from here on in the dropped rounds start coming into effect!)

Same here

You're my nemesis on Roots And Rain 😉

Hah. You can't be very good then, if I'm your nemesis

I'm abysmal, but I'm less abysmal than I was at the start of the year so at least I'm moving in the right direction

I think I'm getting worse, every race teaches me a new thing to do wrong.

Ive been running a magic mary last 2 weeks at GT, quite a lot of the off piste stuff and Im not convinced,Ive been running hans dampf combo last 2 years and cant see by it, I took the magic mary off last night and put Hans Dampf back on for sunday,feel it "moulds" around stuff better, probably talking nonsense but it s chance Im gonna take I think 😀

I was never a fan of the HDs, I've been using the Front tyre the Crossmax wheels came , its pretty good but it clogs up pretty bad if its muddy which is a bit of a worry for the weekend.

I'm booked in, looking forwards too it, course and format were allot of fun last year.

This is my first enduro and i am wondering what people do to make the most of practice , i have ridden the trail center stuff at GT plenty of times ( one of the reasons i entered was to see a bit more of the place ) so my original plan was to just practice the stuff i have never ridden but looking at the trail center closures that will still leave me quite a lot to ride on the sat ! would riding the course once be enough ? i suppose that is the whole point of it

im bricking it a bit now

Last year I rode each stage once. Decided they are so long you'll never remember the whole lot.

I just tried to focus on learning the lay of the land; how steep, how pedally, and it seemed to work for me. It was a big day out, and doing the Sat and Sun had me shattered!
I think I'll stick to the same plan, maybe take even more time on the Saturday and just cruise round.

I'm going to clumsily batter my way round a full lap early doors so I can get back home and watch the WC finals.

not sure the course opens before about 9am. what time are the WC finals on? elite mens at least? i heard they may be showing it at the Tontine Hotel?

Think its only certain trails that will be open for practice on the saturday

you are right, "unmarshalled practice: selected trail sections only" could be a few suprises on sunday then!!?

red bull website says coverage of the WC doesnt start till about 5pm anyway! result

edit; thats on the friday actually...

1:15pm
should be fairy do-able if we're not able to ride all the tracks

yeah but dont really wanna be on the King Lear by 2pm the day before a race!

ski78 - Member

I just tried to focus on learning the lay of the land; how steep, how pedally, and it seemed to work for me.

That's what I do too- if there's an obviously critical bit or sections where you might gain or lose a sack of time I put more effort into practicing/remembering it (quite a few of those at Laggan) but mostly I just want to be able to pace the stages and know roughly where they go.

(it's amazing how much difference even the most halfassed practice run makes- doing stages blind you lose speed all over the place, every fire road exit's a lottery whether you turn the right way, every sprint turns out to be too long to sprint, every choice of lines is the worst choice...)

cant make it. anyone want an entry? email in profile.

I might have a taker, I'll let you know asap. Are the organisers ok with entry swapping? Says on the website you may not use another riders number?!

Anyone who did this last year able to comment on when we can expect the final confirmation email with the registration/practice times etc? Really need to be able to plan the weekend asap!

Sour mix.....

The pack came out a week before last year but the website says there will be 1 day of open practice so It makes me think this year will be late in the week, maybe Friday for route maps etc.

Schedule from the website

Location and dates

Tweed Green, Peebles
Saturday 23 August
Race Registration Saturday - times TBC
Unmarshalled practice: selected trail sections only

Sunday 24 August
Race Registration (7.30am-9.30am)
Race Day (start times between 9am and 11am)

do this event attract anyone relatively shit, or are they all super keen speed demons + me.

There will be plenty of mincers, it's at Glentress after all!

tenacious_doug - Member

Are the organisers ok with entry swapping? Says on the website you may not use another riders number?!

No they are not keen on entry swapping at all. That's why there's a big reserve/waiting list

My mate gave me his entry, we cleared it with the Tweedlove organisers and they swapped over the entry details so just drop them an email with all the details.

And will there be mincers? Yes, I will be there 😆

jaffejoffer - Member

do this event attract anyone relatively shit

Last year certainly had some people who'd never seen a bike before.

I was watching the SDA on sunday and saw a guy on a rental orange alpine have a full-on kick-the-bike hissy-fit when he had some kind of issue. Racing attracts all sorts...

Check your emails, all the info is now out (Bar the courses themselves)

race notes

Check your emails, all the info is now out (Bar the courses themselves)

Where does it state 'Cademuir & GT, and 4 stages'? I can't see that. Website says at least 5 stages, which like last year, would be 5 stages.

it says 4 stages with some transition on tarmac road so very much points towards Cademuir

well i dont know about any of that, only ever been to GT the once... it does say full course open for practice on the saturday tho!

Where does it state 'Cademuir & GT, and 4 stages'? I can't see that. Website says at least 5 stages, which like last year, would be 5 stages.

Then under the "Withdrawal" section at the end, it states "The event will take place on the Forestry Commission Scotland’s Glentress and Cademuir Forest trails."

****in' hell. I was looking at the website. Not the Riders Notes PDF. Aw, dang, was hoping for 5 stages again, that's a shame. Still, no idea what the route is yet, they might be longer sections.

And a lot less climbing than last year

Hopefully, being a wee bit shorter will mean folk aren't totally done in come race day and can feel good enough to ride their best on the timed stages. A lot of events have been getting seriously long, so with any luck it'll be fun and a right good charge down the hills.

I agree, it needs to be a challenge but shouldn't be so long/tough that by race day you're too goosed to give it the beans!

I like a big brutal enduro tbh, I can ride mediocrely all day, a lot of faster riders seem to fall apart after about 30km, generally the later in the race it is the better my stage results are. It's good to test more aspects of riding- fitness is a legit part of the competition, so's racecraft- judging how much effort you can put in etc.

But, it's still sad to see people unable to complete, it's one thing to do badly and another to dnf. And if they're finishing up at cademuir that is an absolute bollocks of a climb/push. Obviously I don't have a side in this one but I think there's an argument for both, it just depends on what sort of race you want to have. Just the same as any other difficulty aspect.

(and that's my one criticism of the king/queen- it's never really clear who it's [i]for[/i]. First year was relatively all-abilities, second year raised the bar and caught a lot of people out... A problem lots of enduros have, to be honest.)

Last year's King of the Hill was the longest, hardest "gravity" Enduro I've raced - and the most enjoyable.
It was a great test of bike set up and component choice, endurance and technical riding ability.
Riding a 30km+ course like that two days in a row (if you do a day's practice) without breaking yourself or bits of your bike really is a challenge.

I did feel sorry for the people doubled up with cramp on the push up to stage 4th Cademuir though.

Really wish I was taking part again this year.

Was last year the only 2nd time of the event? First time doing it last year and had a blast. I never enter races, but enjoyed it so much, hence why doing it again this year. Hoped for 5 stages again, but we shall see what the 4 consist of this year!

How long was last year? This year it looks like 2 at GT and 2 at Cademuir with a pedal up Janet's Brae to start with...... so the only big change appears to be that we're not racing up Janet's Brae

How long was last year? This year it looks like 2 at GT and 2 at Cademuir with a pedal up Janet's Brae to start with...... so the only big change appears to be that we're not racing up Janet's Brae

Last year was 3 stages at GT (Berm Baby Berm>Electric Blue, Boundary Trail, Ho Chi Min>Zoom or Bust>Fort), there was no racing up Janets Brae.

My race day Strava tells me it was 39.7km

there was no racing up Janets Brae.

huh, I thought there was an uphill stage last year. Am I thinking of the year before, or was there never an uphill?

2 uphill stages in the first year- though the slowest stage of the day dropped and I think a lot of people just decided that'd be one of the climbs in advance 😆

I'm maybe getting the years mixed but I think 2012 was

Janet's Brae climb timed to top of skills area
Berm Baby Berm into Electric Blue
Timed climb up Anderson Road to start of boundary trail
Wee offpiste descent to spooky woods to hitsquad hill
Broon Troot
Ho Chi Minh/ZORB/Fort descent

Sound right? Have to say, I really liked the blue route stage, it sounded like a terrible idea but I loved how much the experience of riding easy fast trails changed under the clock. I think I overcooked just about every corner on electric blue...

yes 2 climbs the first year, I think there should be a good chunk of climbing in any enduro, takes the bike out of the equation a bit and puts a bit more on rider fitness, I was passing people pushing or hauling huge rigs up, my positions on the two climbs were twice has high as on the descents.

Have to say, I really liked the blue route stage, it sounded like a terrible idea but I loved how much the experience of riding easy fast trails changed under the clock. I think I overcooked just about every corner on electric blue...

For all who wanted to watch the WC at Peebles, from Tweedlove on Facebook:

Great news for enduro-riding MTB World Cup DH fans - two pubs in Peebles have agreed to show the World Cup from Meribel on Saturday afternoon. Head along to the Crown (on the High Street) or the Bridge Inn (near the, er, bridge). So you can get out and shred all the stages in the morning and relax watching the DH after. Perfect.

Cademuir was quite busy yesterday evening with the locals....

Oooh - I like that idea - might pop in for a pint after I reccie stage 3 - its the only one I don't really know 100%.

Sadly can't get drunk as helping to wrangle marshals on the sunday, but we should definitely encourage This Kind Of Thing in Peebles.

Trails to pub to trails. What could possibly go wrong?