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Myself and a mate are doing the http://www.epiccymru.com/
Not sure what to expect to be honest but a few days riding in South Wales has to be good.... I hope.
Anyone else doing it?
I have my 15 year old coming along for some of it, I am hoping there will be some other kids/families along so he has someone to socialise/hangout with to help keep him entertained.
We are thinking about a two van strategy so that we have spares and some ability to get round at each venue.
Anyone going say hello, always good to put a face to a forum personna ;-D
Yes I'm doing it, not sure what to expect except the guys at the bike shop at Afan say it's going to be pretty tough!
Yes - feels so long ago now that I signed up, and the anticipation is starting to build. Equally intrigued as to what is in store!
What bikes are people doing it on? I'm leaning towards the up and down times so will be on my (slightly battered) Anthem 29, with 120mm up front...
We're there doing Suspension support, drop in and say hello, may even be a pot of coffee on if you time it right, bring you own cup & milk though 😉
Yup I'll be there. Will be on a Rumblefish with 140 up front 😉
LoCo, I'll pop over, want to find out how that record attempt went.
[i]the guys at the bike shop at Afan say it's going to be pretty tough![/i]
4 days of 30-50 miles a day around those hills? I'd say they're being a bit economical with the truth 😆
The trails are all local to me, it's not going to be easy on the legs!
Would have done it myself, but the astronomical entry fee for riding stuff on my doorstep (all be it in a competitive manner) put me off! Enjoy though, sure it will be a great event!
I am still currently unsure how the race is even going to be run.... but it has already achieved what I wanted... I have ridden more and I am in the best shape I have been in for 10 years!
Don't panic, I am still a 14 stone 48 year old so not finishing last is my goal!!
Looking forward to enjoying a few days biking and making new friends.... the atmosphere at pretty much all the bike events I have done has been excellent.
Loco... i'll bring a big mug.
Good luck to all. You'll need it.
Yep looking forward to it.
As above ive put in fair bit of effort over the summer so hoping it goes well. Still wont trouble the fast guys and girls though. Strangly its not the distance and climbing thats playing on my mind but what we might be faced with on the downhills.
As above there not been a lot of detail about the stages so im hoping for goods things but expecting anything.
I was supposed to be doing it but last minute work commitments have scuppered me having the time off 🙁 I'm truly gutted as I've trained hard for it - on the plus side the guys organising the event have been fantastic and postponed my entry till next year. I hope the event is a real success as it would be brilliant to see more race formats like this in the UK
Best of luck to all involved and see you next year
fisherboy - Member
Strangly its not the distance and climbing thats playing on my mind but what we might be faced with on the downhills.As above there not been a lot of detail about the stages so im hoping for goods things but expecting anything.
On their site its mentioned that there wont be anything harder than red routes. Should be alreet.The Prolouge stage looks like it could be tricky!
Dunno exactly what Matt has in store but... reds at BPW would be black everywhere else... I've raced at Margam a fair bit and the tracks there are black in places but if I could ride them back then when I was really crap (and on a rigid xc bike) they're not going to be too bad... Afan reds are rough in places but never scary... I think the emphasis is going to be on how fast you dare go rather than whether you dare ride it at all.
I kind of assumed it would just be racers there, it will be good to have a mix of everyone, as long as nobody's pissing on my tent at 3 in the morning singing Wonderwall. Can't wait for it to start now. Just need my forks back, Loco 😉
My feeling is that it is as much an Endurance event as an Enduro event.
The distances and elevation gains look ok as i've trained but I just know I am going to be cursing like 3 Irishmen as I toil my way up yet another fireroad.
The downs i am hoping will be long and the more technical the better.
I am going to be on a hugely over biked Spesh Enduro 29er with a fast rear tyre.... why.... cos it is the bike I own.
Fun, hardship, a couple of beers and friendships formed by sharing the experience should make for a good few days.
Crispo, pop some sort of Hex sign up on your tent and i'll try and remember not to sing while i'm peeing. (joking mode on)
I have had a butchers at the start list, some very capable riders in there, should be a fair battle for the top spots.
I hope there will be plenty of 'have a go heros' as well... one of the best things about these events is the way everyone gets on irrelevant of ability.
I'm in - eeek
oh and I need my forks back too!
I'd love to enter being a local and all but I really dont think i could phyiscally do 20,000 feet of climbing in 5 days.
Ha.... thanks for that Phil.
It is one of those have a go and see how it pans out jobs.... fingers crossed.
I think it will be quite relaxed, there will be untimed commuting stages to chill out on. Unless its raining, then I'd want to get back quick!
I'll try and come along and get some photos on a stage that crosses the Rhigos, possibly i might get up onto On the Edge to get the shots if it goes there. (I'm a photographer so will host them on my site FOC if anyone wants any give me a shout.)
I'm in... Probably have the family with me over the weekend but solo thereafter. I'm hoping my general bike fitness will see me through as I've not done any specific training, other than riding more in the summer.
My big debate is the bike- I have a Yeti SB66 alu, which is 1x10 and will descend brilliantly, but will be a pig on the climbs. Alternately I have a Devinci Atlas CR... This will definitely be a far better climber/mile muncher, but with a 120mm SID fork, it may be a bit of a compromise descending...?
You lot are making me feel well underbiked on a 100mm hardtail. With luck I'll get to the top of the hill so far ahead that you won't see me mincing down!! Ah well, I was never going to be Trail King anyway...
And thanks Mbnut, so considerate!!
I'm in, looking forward to it.
Been doing much procrastinating on bike choice as well but I think I've settled on trail bike over more XC oriented, since it doesn't weigh a whole lot more and will definitely be a lot more fun going down.
So I'll be on the bright orange rocky mountain (unless I change my mind!)
Pyga OneTen for me
I'm liking the sound of this. Everyone seems to be taking a relaxed view. It will be good to meet some new faces and share the comraderery of getting through the last few days. but i bet once the flag drops on the special stages the competitive juices will start to flow.
Typically my bike had developed a rear brake squeel in the last few days. So if i don't manage to get it resolved i'll be the annoying rider ruining the peace.
Sorry, due to unforeseen circumstances we won't be at Epic to do tech support apologies for any inconvenience, gutted we can't be there !
Sadly I'm with Scarey and have had to bale/postpone due to work. I'll be dead jealous of you all taking part, and I'm hoping you get dry dusty trails and I'll see you all next year.
@charliemort- the Pyga seems a pretty similar package, which is the bike I'm leaning towards. Are you running it with the standard 120mm Sid fork?
The distances for each day seem to be about 50kms- of course pretty much singletrack, but it should be fairly manageable, if it's anything like how the event info describes it.
Does anyone have a clue about starting times on the Saturday? I'd vastly prefer to come down that morning so I'm hoping for a late-ish kick off...
Ah- I can answer my own question having looked at the website! Registration from 10 for a 3pm rider briefing, 4pm ride. All sounds quite civilised...
Chrispo, i've seen you racer guys go, some pretty amazing speed on the rough and twisty stuff on those 100mm hardtails.
Pyga OneTen sounds pretty much perfect to me!
As for mostly singletrack, I am expecting plenty of fireroad climbs and I expect a fair bit of fireroad to get us from one area to another.... I would love to be wrong but there is only so much singletrack out there.
Some photos would be great Phil... gonna look those trails up now.
Route has been released. There's significantly less racing distance than was originally publicised - ie 40-50%.
Not quite what I was expecting, so need to digest it and see if bike selection is going to change... I'm fortunate to have a choice!
Where is the route info?
@philwarren11 - you should have received a 'final information' email yesterday evening, with a link to the rider handbook. Route is in there...
140mm Pike on my OneTen
good luck all
Not had time to study the maps yet, today is bike check day!
Blimey, I am dreading the prologue already! What goes up must come down though 🙂
@Chum3 - what sort of daily distances are in the route then? If its significantly less than originally detailed?
Around 50/55km most days with 1500m climbing, the last day is easy... only 1200m climbing!
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@Captain_Sponge - It's not the overall distances that have changed, but the amount that falls into the timed racing stages. The original blurb said 40-50% of the riding will be timed, but in fact it is going to be 10-20%, [s]probably closer to 10%[/s]. [i]That's probably a bit harsh - it is likely around 10-20%[/i]
This won't bother many people, but the race was billed as two races in one - an xc/'up and down' race, and a gravity biased race. Make your choice, and go for it. I was hoping for a longer distance xc race (40-50% of the riding being timed) with fun downhill sections, and selected kit for that.
Now that there is going to be much less xc racing and more pootling between timed stages, I need to look at the stages in detail to see if it's worth taking the bigger bike. I just hope it's not going to be a 5 day Enduro - that's not really what I signed up for - but whatever, it will still be fun, and better than sitting in the office!
chum3 so have the dropped the Timed XC sections and kept the Timed DH Sections?
http://www.epiccymru.com/event-info/timing/
Really wish I had the annual leave to do this, it sounds like fun and something that could, with the right management and organisation, become a classic. Hope it works out well for the racers and organisers.
I don't think they've dropped the XC sections, they're just shorter than first suggested. The maps released don't make it explicit where the XC and DH are, but there is a 'Stage Split' marked, which is likely to be the XC/DH split, but I'm guessing.
chum3 so have the dropped the Timed XC sections and kept the Timed DH Sections?
I've not read the info in detail, but there appears to be a mix still, but the portion counting towards "trail king" seems high so it seems a bit biased towards the downhill side.
No stage looked, from a scan, like it would have the 20km timed (40% ish) that the link above suggests, but I took that as a maximum rather than an average anyway.
Looking forward to seeing how it all works out on the ground. As above, will be nice to be riding and not in the office 🙂