[Closed] EWS Tweed valley

The trails haven't been announced yet. Scouring the area shows a few trails looking in suddenly very, very good condition though so rumours are flying around at the moment.

The trails are starting to dy out now so they are beginning to run pretty well.. Hopefully there wont be too much rain in the next few weeks so they can continue to recover..

The rumours are flying around, as legend says... I dont think anyone will know for sure until they are actually announced.

Do Enduros make for good spectator events? Considering making the trip down to watch if they do.

enduros are great for spectating, find the last stage and get hollering!

UKGE the weekend before at inners will be worth visitng too as all the stages are realtively close by
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well, I guess it'll all go public pretty quickly after the weekend. Certainly saw something new and already well ridden out the back at gt at the weekend, and a few people on mince tanks where you wouldn't normally see people on mince tanks. The inside knowledge article showed inners and caberston highlighted too, and there are trail closure for the EWS on the 7 stanes site.

exciting stuff!

Caberston was certainly busier than normal last weekend.. Especially with big bikes..

Exciting indeed 🙂

I'm shaking like a shitting dog with excitement. Heading down on Wednesday. Going to practice Wednesday and Thursday then have a rest day on Friday and go watch the pros practice

full or open face though?

think will practice weds, thurs too, ill need the rest on friday as weve stupidly signed up for ews1

it's going to be tiring just watching ews1 🙂

Definitely full face

Lol @ Bob 🙂

full face + pressure suit 🙂

The trees have a habit of jumping out at you..

How long is the route ? full face all the way round ukge is hot n sweaty work, though I'm considering it for the inners round possibly cart my ff for transitions but it does get heavy

Waiting to see if I'll be fixed enough to ride... But assuming I am, I'll be down for practice on wednesday and thursday. Friday I'm at work! But I need the rest day anyway. Loving the mystery about the stages, every new deer trail's got wheelmarks on it 🙂 We've been digging a totally new section at GT and revising some old ones but even then, there's no guarantee they'll be used.

Will be open face myself unless there's some real surprises, really not a fan of fullface for enduro, I'd sooner have a clear cool head and a feeling of normalcy. (ps, If I'd had a helmet tied to my camelbak when I crashed on sunday it might have been a lot more unpleasant than it was.)

"mince tanks" is my new favourite phrase of the day, thanks! 😉

I have to credit Northwind for the mince tank phrase!

For Caberston full face certainly isn't a bad idea, but the climbs are horrible so a transition lid would also be needed

I don't think that's one of mine bigjim! It's good though so I will accept credit anyway.

For Caberston full face certainly isn't a bad idea, but the climbs are horrible so a transition lid would also be needed

I dont mind the climbs at Caberston.. Walkerburn is a different story though

hmmm maybe we need one of these

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actually I spoke to the Met guys at the QECP demo day this weekend and the chin guard isnt detachable its just very well vented and is infact
'Enduro Specific'

they only had a medium though, and wouldnt fit my oversized melon

if you like the met.. have a look at this... (50seconds)

http://www.vecnum.net/bike-parts/split-helmet.html

Not getting up there until Thursday night so practice Friday, well, practice the most tricky stages Friday.

Then all hell breaks loose Friday! I'll be taking my FF and usual helmet, I'll make a decision on the Friday which to race in, if I race in the FF I'll carry my other helmet for transitions.

It's been years since I've ridden up there so I'm sure I'll be in for a tough time..

Especially when you'll have to select what to practice out of 8 or 9 stages spread all over the valley!

You can at least shuttle on practice days between gt/inners/caberston

I think we'll be luck if we can cover 3 stages on the Friday, fully intend to ride the stage an stop at any tricky points to get a feel for them, can't see too many full stage runs happening.

Anyone think there will be any sections that will only be able to be ridden by the pros..? i.e. big gaps etc..

Just realised I will be in France for haif term, getting back late on the Saturday of the EWS weekend, could anyone confirm or deny whether 3G is one of the trails being used please.

No idea yet

I doubt they would build pro only gaps, they'd just fill up with mincer's bodies, but I have no idea.

I would imagine anything on caberston will be steep as though, and pretty exciting by the time hundreds of people have practiced for 3 days and then raced on it.

@bigjim, I did think that might be the case, to be fair I'd be one of those bodies. I don't doubt there's going to be some 'exciting' sections..

bigjim - Member

pretty exciting by the time hundreds of people have practiced for 3 days and then raced on it.

Yeah, that's the clincher eh. Especially if it's wet! Could be a lot of SES round 1 "The track I practiced no longer exists" going on

Surely they'll choose fairly weather proof trails. An absolute mudfest on virtually unrideable trails wouldn't be a glowing advert for the tweed valley!

It's basically numbers and duration- 600 riders so almost twice the size of most enduros, and 3 full days practice (which will tend to concentrate on the more natural stuff), plus quite a lot of gradient change, no such thing as weatherproof with that sort of pressure. Doesn't mean they'll be unridable but they will be evolving, especially the new stuff- we've done a good job of ours but it's still as-dug forest floor.

Still it's been a good runup so far. It's not like last year's UKGE where there was still snow on the trails the week before 😆

Please god, no repeat of SES round 1!

you better pray for good weather bob 🙂 if they are using what i think they are using... its going to be a mudfest unless it dry's out significantly 🙂

The trails were drying out great, last night the first descent off Minch was like riding on marbles - but raining now.

As long as we get a few dry days next week with a bit of wind it should be ok.

I would say that a FF is a no-brainer for racing at Caberston.

I would say that [s]a FF is[/s] balls the size of melonsare a no-brainer for racing at Caberston.

 

I'm quite scared, and I am only in Enduro 2 punters race so won't have to do the most techy trails.

I have been told by somebody who knows to practice riding steep stuff. Pete Williams track at Inners here I come... In the forest, nobody can hear you scream...

Caberston isn't THAT bad, I got down most of it reccie-ing for the KOTH last year. Unless they have some new horrors in store for us.

I don't expect class 2 to be any different than class 1 other than looser transition times.

Enduro 2 has less tracks I believe. Or so the organiser tells me, I am waiting on the maps to be released on sunday night like everybody else. I have to work all week but live in Peebles so will go for some strategic late night reccie missions.

hels - Member

I have been told by somebody who knows to practice riding steep stuff. Pete Williams track at Inners here I come... In the forest, nobody can hear you scream...

Caberston isn't THAT bad

Interesting, I'd say that Pete Williams track is a good bit easier than any of the trails on Caberston. Its obviously also a lot shorter.

Why the hell are they releasing the tracks on Sunday? Surely Wednesday would make a lot more sense to stop the locals (and sneaky pros) getting in extra practice?

Why the hell are they releasing the tracks on Sunday? Surely Wednesday would make a lot more sense to stop the locals (and sneaky pros) getting in extra practice?

Map released on Sunday
Trails closed for taping monday and tuesday
Course open for practice from 10am on wednesday
Any competitors found riding the trails on monday or tuesday will be disqualified

aaaahhhh ok that makes more sense, although I still can't see any reason for not just releasing them after they've been taped

So people know where NOT to ride during the week ? Hard to disqualify somebody for riding a track when you haven't told them where not to ride....

Where should I practice for the steepness then ?? The Golfie ??

And more importantly, where do I park ??

hels - yes practice Golfie for the steepness. Just seen a picture on Chris Ball's Instagram feed and it looks very likey that Community Service is going to be used.

I certainly hope E2 doesn't have any less trails than E1 (I'm in E2 also).

it looks very likey that Community Service is going to be used

Oh crap

There was talk of one less stage per day for EWS2, but to be fair, that was at the point where everyone was just making it up as they went along 😉

Hey... Aside, but is there anyone out there in EWS2 that really wishes they were in EWS1? I don't know if transfers are possible but, if I'm not 100% fixed then EWS2 probably makes more sense for me...

Northwind - No, I'm definitely happy in E2. If the rumours are to be believed then the transition times are going to be barsteward tight in E1.

Again, where do I park ??

Again, where do I park ??

Event village is on Tweed Green in town. I imagine there will be parking close by. Maybe on the rugby pitches although only if they cover them.