[Closed] British Enduro Series 2016 - Dates announced!

This is a good interview with one of the protagonists...
http://enduro-mtb.com/en/the-interview-neil-delafield-on-his-2016-british-enduro-series/

[url= http://www.mtb-enduro.co.uk/#!round-1---mid-wales/c1hke ]Round 1 will be at Brechfa[/url]

Anyone whos done one of Neil's events before kind enough to explain how 3 stages on sat and 3 on sunday makes a 10 stage 2 day race?

Ta!

i think they repeat 2 stages each day?

tom and aidan have done them

wtf is Brecfa?

Anyone whos done one of Neil's events before kind enough to explain how 3 stages on sat and 3 on sunday makes a 10 stage 2 day race?

That's is massively confusing, Guess:

Sat:

S1
S2
S3

Sun:

S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S1

brechfa is a trail centre, further west and up round the edge a bit from Afan

trails are goof fun, though its been a while

its 7 stages day1

10 stages day 2

they should get that typo sorted then!

kimbers - Member

brechfa is a trail centre, further west and up round the edge a bit from Afan

trails are goof fun, though its been a while

its 7 stages day1

10 stages day 2

Still confused... 🙁

I've ridden a lot of the off piste stuff round there with Jay from Mudtrek - it's bloody good, lots of steep, off camber rooty and rocky madness. As Jay's helping with that round I reckon he'll be hunting out some choice runs 🙂

Sorry, 5 pages in and I'm still confused.

Quick questions:

1. Who decides the national champion in the absence of that country's governing body?
2. Has anyone dropped in the 'I am Spartacus' gag yet?

Which one is the Judean People's Front?

and 10 stages in one day? That is one massive day out!

. Who decides the national champion in the absence of that country's governing body?

Wouldn't worry about it, just know that there's a shit tonne of great races to do next year!

We have never had an enduro national champion so why do we need on next year GavinB?

Well, now we could have two. Do they have a race off at the end of the season, to see who the supreme champion is?

Without BC or some sort of enduro federation there will be no national campion. They will just be winners of the series they have entered in.

The reason British Cycling are not involved in Enduro is simply because of lack of officials to do the thing justice and therefore keep the risks under any sort of meaningful control. It is not because "they" don't want to support it. Overall there are too few Downhill qualified commissaires and there are waaaay too few to cover Enduros where each section really needs an official on it.

The reality for all cycling is they are getting spanked over insurance cover (i.e. something of an exponential rise in premiums due to the number of hefty claims) and are therefore having to tighten up on procedures.

Despite imaginations running wild about resources and staffing, the reality is that the vast majority of people actually doing things with a BC hat on are volunteers from within the discipline which they are officiating at. A lack of volunteers equals a lack of officials. A lack of officials equals a lack of racing. Simple really.

The reality for all cycling is they are getting spanked over insurance cover (i.e. something of an exponential rise in premiums due to the number of hefty claims) and are therefore having to tighten up on procedures.

Symptomatic of people today who buy a mountain bike to ride at mach10 down an Enduro stage (of their own free will) and then run crying to mummy when it goes wrong for them....only in this case 'mummy' is a vulture-like no win/no fee solicitor who will try and take BC, the organisers and whoever else they can blame instead of the numpty riding the bike who ran out of talent.

spectator safety possibly weighs heavily in the insurance costs/conditions...

and then run crying to mummy

Take your point, but actually its not like that. What actually happens is rider stacks....major injury necessitating life long care occurs..... person receiving bill for life long care seeks to mitigate their loss by going after anyone and everyone who might be culpable...... Persons covering said events bottoms begin to squeak..... everything gets tightened up.

Generally speaking the person who is injured or killed has no input whatsoever into what happens afterwards. Sadly, there is no such concept as "at your own risk" in English Law, so you cannot contract out of your rights, so this is the way its going to be and it always was the case that it would. Best idea is to run things properly, and if we want to do this stuff, take our turn at standing up and volunteering.

spectator safety possibly weighs heavily in the insurance-costs...

Best idea is to run things properly..........

Thinking that you need a Commissaire at the start and finish of each stage is the DH mindset that has dogged Enduro in the UK since the start. (See also: two day events, seeding runs, millionths of a second timing systems, full face helmets, letting people sleep in their vans at the race and bring their dogs with them, and finishing in an "arena".)

IMPO the whole "not enough Commissaires" was the excuse, not the reason.

Go on then list all the Downhill comms you know....

Loads. I am training to be one and ran many DH races. So not really a fair indicator. And I am certainly not going to start using real names and dragging the innocent into this !

What needs to happen is a properly drafted and agreed set of rules, Commissaires can then be trained on them, the risk is qualified and quantified and mitigation clear. There is a finite pool of how many races the market can take, DH and XC are both decreasing, well they are in Scotland anyway, as Enduro rises.

That may not solve the nervousness around liability what with some high-profile incidents in both DH and Enduro in the last couple of years. By the time BC gets back in the game with any luck the cowboys will have been run out of town.

Yeah lots more to it, as I understand BC wanted to bring enduro into line with DH as its viewed as a gravity sport, therefore, full faces 2 practice runs on every stage, double taping, line of site marshalling, very hard (and ecpensive)to do on a big enduro loop

I think taking a leaf out of ews book and avoiding the UCI/ BC etc is only way to keep the 'spirit of enduro' (tm) alive

BC didn't understand enduro. as kimbers said they where think along the line of dh.

Full face - practically achievable but massively unpopular with the mass market

2 practice runs - impractical on 80% of races.

double taped - impractical on 1km+ stages

line of site marshalling - some race would have more marshals than racers!

But BC dumping enduro has had some advantages, Its forced organisers to talk to each other, its also some race to flourish and push the boundaries of what am enduro is.

All the BC comms are on their website if you are a member.

If people are racing downhill on enduro bikes then what's the risk difference between that and downhill?

If you want BC onboard then most of those bullets are surmountable, however, line of site marshalling is the biggest stumbling block IMO.

If people are racing downhill on XC bikes then what's the risk difference between that and downhill?

XC, enduro & DH could all use same trails, doesn't mean they are the same.

The bc site does indeed list many comms. What it doesn't show is active comms. There is a huge shortage of active comms, and issues organising them. Look at the last couple of BDSs as examples. Both under comm'd.

al - Member

The bc site does indeed list many comms. What it doesn't show is active comms. There is a huge shortage of active comms, and issues organising them. Look at the last couple of BDSs as examples. Both under comm'd.

letting people sleep in their vans at the race and bring their dogs with them

What's wrong with that?!...sometimes I don't want to splash out on a B&B or hotel and my van and a tent is the best solution....and I also love having my dogs with me, the other half goes off walking them while I 'race'....it's a lovely way to spend a weekend together weather permitting and we've found some lovely places like Eastridge/Shrewsbury that we otherwise wouldn't have spent time in.

What do you think that is?

For me there are problems with how long mtb events are, if you comm a road race it doesn't require 2-3 days time standing in the rain in a field. If been a starter at a national TT and we were home by the afternoon, that's not going to happen at an Enduro.

Also lack of club structure and little willingness to put on and support events.

What do you think that is?
The way BC treats non-Olympic cycling disciplines?

Clearly that's why Cyclo Cross is in the doldrums too...... right?? 😯

The reality is that British Cycling is comprised of its members. All officials are volunteers and generally from the discipline they cover. A lack of officials therefore tends to correlate with apathy on the part of persons involved in that discipline. If you take a moment to think about it you will see the rational is obvious and self evident.

Someone asked about who would travel the length of the country for a race series? Look at the BDS - oversubscribed, and doing a full season is almost a pilgrimage for the racers. I suspect enduro racers will do the same, based on Si's reputation at laying on events.

xiphon - Member
Someone asked about who would travel the length of the country for a race series? Look at the BDS - oversubscribed, and doing a full season is almost a pilgrimage for the racers. I suspect enduro racers will do the same, based on Si's reputation at laying on events.

the question remains that based on si's reputation for pricing events can the very crowded enduro market sustain that?

The DH events market is pretty saturated too - loads of events going all round the country. I think for some, the transition from DH to Enduro will be 'natural', especially if the events will continue to be organised by Si.

Sounds like the Patton BES will have ukge style seeding run on the Saturday

British Enduro Series
UPDATE: Seeding:
-All pre-entered riders from every category will be seeded before the event weekend begins.
-All riders will then be seeded after Saturday evenings results are published for their Sunday start times.

Hope they keep two day practice then. Just not enough time on saturday with seeding to do as well.

PRACTICE: To ensure Safety and Fairness for all, the events will run on the Saturday and Sunday only. There will be no official or unofficial practice immediately before the event or after the scheduled practice times which are to be confirmed. i.e Saturday evening/night.

We ask all riders to respect the course closures and the rules, encouraging a level playing field for all with equal practice times.

This will enable us prioritise your safety during official practice with adequate marshals and medical cover.

Entered riders on course outside of official practice will be withdrawn from the event.

Krien Dawson - BES Team.

Just seen it on their facebook page

Will level thelaying field a bit (although locals always do!)

Just gotta see what the price will be !

that should be interesting!!, its the Neil rather than Si series

The British Enduro Series supported by Marin Bikes is being hosted by the Revolution guys for round 4 in July.
Awesome tracks, uplifts, event village, camping and pasta party.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/revolution-bike-park-wales-2015.html

Great venue, sure will be interesting.

Triscombe, Aberdare and Kirroughtree in the mix as well now...plus reasonable prices at £54 for one day or £70 for 2 days