[Closed] Innerliethan gravity? Enduro, very dissapointed.

If you had less skill would the 60/40 ratio not be different though ?

So perhaps your skill to fitness ratio meant you were dissapointed, not that the course was disapointing ?

You obviously won it then cause you is teh awesumz.

"Too much uppy and not enough downy" 🙁

Didn't go to this one but it doesn't sound like any Innerliethen Enduro's I've done.

Both the i-cycles enduros I have been were at the Mini DH end of the spectrum. I guy on a V10 podiumed at one of them.

I was totally out of my depth and as such had a right laugh!

seeing as it's a series, Id expect other events to balance out the overall xc/DH ratio.

its like a lot of event series, some tracks are more in favour of certain aspects, others are different, would you have been moaning if it had been too technical for you, and not enough as per your perfect course.

Seems people forget its a not a course designed with the individual in mind.
I race motorbike enduro and the courses in the chamionship vary from very motocross biased to flatland to mental extreme almost trials.
i am better at some than others, but I dont moan about the course, just accept the challenges it throws up and try my best.

BTW my mates got 12th male elite and 3rd womens elite so totally chuffed to bits for them. They train hard for it.

So you expected it basically to be downhill?

And Tracey Mosely won the ladies, XC, I don't think so.

The route:

Sancho - would that be Mandy and Mini?

it was yes and in that order lol

and

pussywillow - Member

I thought with these kinda of races you were proving yer fitness by getting to the next stage in time?

you were wrong.

think of the pedally stages as a small mercy, if 'stage X' doesn't drop very far down the hill, then you don't have to ride so far back up the hill to get to 'stage X+1'

(and it's "Innerleithen")

I wouldnt say that it was an xc race

only 3 was trail centre style,1 was a standard dh track, 2 and 4 were mostly steep and muddy 5 came down caddon bank so still plenty of gravity

there were some pedally sections but its 90% DH tho fitness, stamina etc are what its all about

Im still not 100% convinced by the timing, the penalties seem to be applied at random and at least 2 people lost places when they overtook others on their runs

OP starts a thread saying how disappointing something was.

Gets loads of replies from people who weren't there telling him he's wrong.

Classic STW.

[quote=DaveyBoyWonder ]OP starts a thread saying how disappointing something was.
Gets loads of replies from people who weren't there telling him he's wrong.
Classic STW.
Oh teh ironing....

I was there daveyboy, I think hes wrong

I wasn't there. I wasn't making a comment on whether it was good or not so there is no irony (its irony, not ironing unless you're trying to be funny like all this tools who call every thread <something>trackworld and call cyclists and walkers cyclisters and walkerists).

As far as I can see, only the OP and kimbers were.

classc mountain biker moaning about something that wasnt exactly to their narrow pre-defined expectations.

I was there with some mates, I found it had a lot of pedally sections, my mates were more pissed off about it than me though as I don't mind xc 😀

Tbh, from the map and the feedback it doesn't sound as good as last years course. On the other hand, I was riding a desk in the library, so probably would've given my left testicle to race

The trails would have been superb if not for the conditions - a good mix of everything. I didnt have a great time but then I dont ride very well in slop. Annoying how some people manage this - and enjoy?

I've thought about it and I apologise for my comment above.

But my first comment stands. I've noticed it loads on here recently, someone says something and then is 'corrected' by someone who either has no experience or wasn't at said event. Just a bit weird...

I've been wanting to do a few Gravity Enduros so await some more actual real life feedback on this but I did hear that sections suffered a lot from the weather / hundreds of riders ploughing through sections.

So you expected it basically to be downhill?

And Tracey Mosely won the ladies, XC, I don't think so.

TMo is quite a good XC racer, she's doing XC and 'Gravity' Enduro races this year after 'retiring' from WC DH last season;

RESULTS 2013
Midlands XC 1 – 2nd place
UK Gravity Enduro 1, Afan – 1st place
Forest of Dean Summer DH series – 1st place
Midlands XC 2 – 1st place

😉

I was there but DNF'd, bike issues. Bit peeved! Still had a good weekend but not the best enduro I've done.

Personally I thought stage 1 and 5 were excellent (believe both were shortened by the bad conditions up top though) though stage 5 should probably have gone down the luge not magic carpet... Stage 2 I can see would divide opinion, very badly affected by the weather (hope it recovers...). Stage 4 I ended up not doing on race day so won't comment other than that the pedally trailcentre bit really isn't very long before it goes black. I think it's a great stage, covers all the bases.

I won't stick up for stage 3... I assume there was a reason it was used and not one of the good trails, but it was terrible, and a bad transition too. (for those not there- the transition was mostly a push, and the descent was largely a pedal down the red route's climb) There was a good bit at the end and it felt like the rest was all just there to give it distance.

The weather's really hit innerleithen this year. There were feet of snow on the top of the trails til very recently. Also there's still extensive closures and I think we'll have lost some offpiste stuff to the harvesting. And stages have to be planned and approved ages in advance. So sure there's things that could have been better but I think it's mostly understandable (and the other stuff might have good reasons that we just don't know about)

So all in all I'd call it a success and say cheers to all- good effort. And no I wouldn't say it was at all an XC race! In the entire field, how many hardtails? How many Orange Fives? 😉

Sancho - Member
seeing as it's a series, Id expect other events to balance out the overall xc/DH ratio.
its like a lot of event series, some tracks are more in favour of certain aspects, others are different, [/b]would you have been moaning if it had been too technical for you, [b]and not enough as per your perfect course.
Seems people forget its a not a course designed with the individual in mind.
I race motorbike enduro and the courses in the chamionship vary from very motocross biased to flatland to mental extreme almost trials.
i am better at some than others, but I dont moan about the course, just accept the challenges it throws up and try my best.
BTW my mates got 12th male elite and 3rd womens elite so totally chuffed to bits for them. They train hard for it.
POSTED 3 HOURS AGO #

Errr...no, I would have loved that but I was given the impression that it was all gravity fed like all the nice steep secret lines they have on the golf course side, how wrong was I!!

b r - Member
So you expected it basically to be downhill?
And Tracey Mosely won the ladies, XC, I don't think so.
The route:
>

/p>

POSTED 4 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

Yeah I expected it to be all gravity fed downhill, then pedal to the next stage, This was the whole point of gravity enduros designed for people who prefer the descents to there climbs but have to pedal to get to there descents, and so only the downhill is timed.. Well put it this way, the most people I spoke to seemed disappointed with how much xc was in it! It's just I'm not afraid to say it! 🙂

I was there and I thought that it was brilliant. It was exactly as an Enduro should be- not just a DH race with a pedal between descents but a form of racing in its own right to test skills and fitness.

Stage 1 was great.
Stage 2 was hard but a real test of mostly skill and then a bit of all round fitness.
Stage 3 was a great fitness test and then the last bit was fun too.
Stage 4 was the best stage on the hill for me. I can't fault it at all. Good muddy technical bit at the top, a small bit of pedaling, some fun trail centre and then the brilliant, steep, muddy, rocky, rooty descents to the finish.
Stage 5 was good fun and a bit of a test of fitness again.

As regards to Enduro,as we may well be aware that yes we have now have different wheel sizes including the 29er and as our bikes change so does what we race, hence why the gravity enduro has gone more to the side of xc of late.

it is true,the market we are in drives it that way im afraid.

getonyourbike - Member
I was there and I thought that it was brilliant. It was exactly as an Enduro should be- not just a DH race with a pedal between descents but a form of racing in its own right to test skills and fitness.

Was not just an enduro, it's called a gravity enduro, anyway perhaps I've been mislead by peoples interpretation of what a gravity enduro is, but like I said, I wasn't the only one dissapointed, if I wanted a true test of skill and fitness I'd have done a xc race or marathon event or even just enduro!

so what youre saying is the 29er has ruined gravity enduro? im not entirely convinced

full on dh tracks would be fun but wouldnt they require full on dh bikes, climbing (or even pushing) to the top of inners 5 times on a dh bike-whos gonna do that!

sounds not for me 😕

If Bikeind believes that, I will eat my own arse.

Since when was it ever supposed to be 5 downhill races? Stage 4 is a classic inners enduro stage, I think it's been in the UKGE every year and has been in a load of the innerleithen mtb racing events including the very first (in which I went down it mostly on my head). Stage 2 also a fixture ever since it was built for the Classic Enduro. Stage 1 and 5 have had bits used before (classic innerleithen dh-trail mashups)

pussywillow - Member
Was not just an enduro, it's called a gravity enduro, anyway perhaps I've been mislead by peoples interpretation of what a gravity enduro is, but like I said, I wasn't the only one dissapointed, if I wanted a true test of skill and fitness I'd have done a xc race or marathon event or even just enduro!

You might well not be the only person that was disappointed but I'll happily also wager that more people enjoyed it than disliked it. The only people I talked to who didn't like it were those who were scared by stages 2 and 4. But hey. Horses for courses and all that.

EDIT- Stage 3 was used because they were making the most of being able to use that last natural section before it gets felled by the Forestry Commission.

I expect a gravity enduro to be like the first stage and second although second could have been steeper in my opinion, 4 was good but only the start and finish, I felt my hard earned skill in the first and last bit was let down by the lengthy xc bit inbetween, now I'm far from unfit but I haven't the strength to power those sections where I think someone who's fitter would gain so much more time by being quicker on the flatter xc bits, horses for courses but when someone who's more a xc rider beats someone who's more a downhill or technical rider on something that's supposed to be a gravity enduro then I think there's something wrong? I think a gravity enduro should be about slow technical skill with some proper hard tech bits mixed with fast downhill like the one on stage one, that would create a true test of biking skill and agility!
Maybe people have different ideas of what downhill is, but none of the bit in the middle of stage four was to me, stage 3 even worse just basically a trail centre stage!! 😐

pussywillow - Member

I expect a gravity enduro to be like the first stage

Which has a huge amount of trail centre in it! Not to mention a load of easy "dh" trail on the tunnel and make or brake which is no different to the trailcentre stuff. S1 was the second most trailcentry stage of all.

Sounds like someone wants a race for fat unfit people... 🙄

Now I've only really looked into Enduro's very recently. In the past, I have raced xc. I'm just getting into more gravity assisted riding and quite fancy having a crack at an Enduro as I haven't got enough riding time to get to a race level of fitness for xc anymore.

Anyway, I'm wondering if people are complaining at it not being technical enough and not wanting to pedal, why not enter a proper downhill race?

I think a gravity enduro should be about slow technical skill with some proper hard tech bits mixed with fast downhill like the one on stage one

You might want to google SDA or NDH for that.

Enduro has always (since Salomon and Avalanche races at Ae, and probably before that) been a proper mix of pedal like ****, horrid nasty wee ups and balls out downs. The mix will obviously change from race to race, but if you aren't absolutely hanging by the end of it then something's very wrong.

Maybe people have different ideas of what downhill is, but none of the bit in the middle of stage four was to me, stage 3 even worse just basically a trail centre stage!!

See previous SDA/NDH comment, and did the stages not all drop in altitude? Really think you've got a bit mixed up about what these enduro races are

but when someone who's more a xc rider beats someone who's more a downhill or technical rider on something that's supposed to be a gravity enduro then I think there's something wrong?

Nope, a good XCer with some good skills could easily whoop a mediocre DHer with average fitness

If I remember what stage was which rightly, stage 4 is in fact known locally as "the Classic Enduro stage" as we did indeed use it in one of the first Innerleithen MTB Racing events, which for the record we were running before the Gravity events started.

So if you want to look for where Enduro went to learn itself in the UK, have a ride down there and stop yer whinging.

Is stage 4 not just known as "the classic"? Classic as in one of the very first DH race runs in that part of the world

Just the bottom section where it turns back off of the red route. Generally referred to as either the Classic of DH Classic. Used to run from much higher up the hill but all that's gone now (it also crossed the bottom fire road and popped out right at the very bottom)

[i]Nope, a good XCer with some good skills could easily whoop a mediocre DHer with average fitness [/i]

If there's a decent climb in it, they wouldn't even need good skills.

I think someone has got upset that it was wet and slippy.
the riders who excelled in these conditions are basically the better riders anyway so trying to make excuses that they were beaten by a bunch of xc racers is just quite frankly sad.
the top finishers are basically good in all conditions and if you want to do well in UK Gravity enduro then you need to polish up on your wet riding skills as it rains quite a lot in the UK

Anyway, I'm wondering if people are complaining at it not being technical enough and not wanting to pedal, why not enter a proper downhill race?

Because they wouldn't do very well in that either.

🙂

Is it Dan Atherton that does pretty well in enduro's? He's pretty rapid uphill as well as down I believe?

results and a write up are on pinkbike, mandy is third picture down. (the one after the cows arse)

be interesting to analyse.

dan atherton complained rd 1 was too muddy on a post race interview

so his absence was cause for everyone commenting that he wouldnt have been able to handle this round!

and some facebook banter...

🙄

The point is that it's a race, and it's the same for everyone and if you don't do well, you go away and train your weaknesses or stop eating cakes and lying about in front of the telly.

I'm sure there are some kind of 'challenges' or 'sportives' that one could enter...

[i]

Yep, looks XC to me 😉

Too much trail centre style riding for me there ,shame too many restrictions to do these events to get that more natural feel to them with the trails a d downs

Northwind - Member
pussywillow - Member
I expect a gravity enduro to be like the first stage
Which has a huge amount of trail centre in it! Not to mention a load of easy "dh" trail on the tunnel and make or brake which is no different to the trailcentre stuff. S1 was the second most trailcentry stage of all.
POSTED 1 HOUR AGO # REPORT-POST

Eh!?? Either u don't know what the **** your talking about or u weren't there lad!
Stage one was nothing like trail centre stuff! It was through the woods with nice rooty off camber lines, that to me is quite natural! Im not saying it was hard by any means, Ok so maybe there was a few berms been cut in but trail centres are the hard packed groomed manicured shite. Seen some of your posts before and u talk utter garbage lad. You always appear on here, I think u should spend more time riding yer bike than spouting shite u know nothing about over yer keyboard!

😯

Let me be the first to say, you come across as a bit of a pillock 'lad'. I don't know northwind, but he comes across as one of the good guys and is a very knowledgeable poster that posts a great deal of helpful and informed stuff on here ime.

As far as I understand gravity enduro in Europe have large pedal sections as does the mega. Your never going to be able to please everyone. I still think the best place in the UK for an enduro would be snowdon but that will never happen.

Easy tiger... Sounds like confusion between calling seeding 'stage 1' or 'seeding'.

Either way, I was there. The only thing I'm disappointed in is that I wasn't fitter or more skilled. No doubt it was a tough day out but for what its worth I thought there was a good mix of trails and I had fun. Most folk I chatted to had a good time too.

pussywillow - Member

Northwind - Member
pussywillow - Member
I expect a gravity enduro to be like the first stage
Which has a huge amount of trail centre in it! Not to mention a load of easy "dh" trail on the tunnel and make or brake which is no different to the trailcentre stuff. S1 was the second most trailcentry stage of all.
POSTED 1 HOUR AGO # REPORT-POST

Eh!?? Either u don't know what the **** your talking about or u weren't there lad!
Stage one was nothing like trail centre stuff! It was through the woods with nice rooty off camber lines, that to me is quite natural! Im not saying it was hard by any means, Ok so maybe there was a few berms been cut in but trail centres are the hard packed groomed manicured shite. Seen some of your posts before and u talk utter garbage lad. You always appear on here, I think u should spend more time riding yer bike than spouting shite u know nothing about over yer keyboard!

Mate i was on your side until you wrote that. As with everything opinions differ but it doesn't mean yours is more valid than anyone else s. But having chatted online a fair bit to Northwind about the Innerleithen Day/Night enduro i entered a few months back i can say he really does know what he is talking about when it comes to racing down there and he really helped me out with advice on the routes and other info.

Anyway, I'm wondering if people are complaining at it not being technical enough and not wanting to pedal, why not enter a proper downhill race?

Exactly. And then still come last because you need to pedal in DH races too, just sprint style!

gravity Enduro - the race that keeps nobody happy, all of the time?

To Tech, not tech enough, to pedaly, not pedaly enough, too expensive, too silly, too everything.

I'm sick of all this the course didn't suit me crap.

Get better at being an all round rider.

And don't make excuses if your a one trick pony,

mikewsmith - Member
gravity Enduro - the race that keeps nobody happy, all of the time?

To Tech, not tech enough, to pedaly, not pedaly enough, too expensive, too silly, too everything.

and yet all the rounds sell out months in advance........

one or 2 whingers on the internet dont represent the hundreds that come back for more each year!

Woahla,

Northwind hating?

Burn the bitch.

Edit. No edit.

Pussywillow's right enough though, I was getting stage 5 and stage 1 mixed up 😳 Thinking of it in the order of timed riding rather than the order on race day (we did stage 5 first as it was the seeding run). Though his response is ridiculous, since I described stage 5 enough that it was a) obvious what I'd done and b) obvious I was there, but hey.

At the end of the day, if you don't think yesterday was a proper enduro, you're not likely to find one in this country. It wasn't the best I've done but that's a whole different thing. Give the endurance dh at fort william a go maybe? All on one track but you're not going to go home complaining you've not had enough downhill. It doesn't have much climbing but it's a brutal test of fitness, brilliant day out.

cfinnimore - Member

Edit. No edit.

kimbers - Member
mikewsmith - Member
gravity Enduro - the race that keeps nobody happy, all of the time?
To Tech, not tech enough, to pedaly, not pedaly enough, too expensive, too silly, too everything.

and yet all the rounds sell out months in advance........

one or 2 whingers on the internet dont represent the hundreds that come back for more each year!

True, interested to see how it has matured as an event.
It does seem that everyone would have won it if it was steeper, flatter, easier and harder 🙂
The idea is gaining traction over here in Oz too will have to see how it develops. The main issue is getting enough sets of timing kit (and helpers we run state DH with bugger all resources)

Poor pussywilly. Was a bit too hard for him I think... You've gotta be too fit for XC, too fast for DH, and Enduro just isn't quite right either. Maybe you're just not good enough?

Well the course didn't suit me either pussy but I gave it me best shot, enjoyed the buzz too. Maybe chill out a little too
Think I'll try downhill next time. 😀

Where did pussywillo place?

Even in DH you have pedal sections I'm pretty sure this is a DH course......

I think pussywillow is another members' more reasonable alter ego 😀
This gravity enduro stuff seems to divide opinion doesn't it? The FB page is a real bitch fest!

Its all about the all rounder!

Sounds a great race wish i could of been there!

http://m.pinkbike.com/news/A-Short-History-of-Enduro-2012.html

There you go op have a little read up you'll see that it's not uncommon to have climbs in the times sections and peddaly sections

I was at the Afan round in the mud this year and at Eastridge & Dyfi in the sun last year. There were similar complaints about stages at Afan as the weather was grim.
I had great fun at Afan, my fitness wasn't a patch on last year and I'm useless in muddy conditions, but enduro is supposed to be a combination of MTB skill sets 🙂

If you look at other European enduro's they will pull you out of the race if you're off pace.

"I felt my hard earned skill in the first and last bit was let down by the lengthy xc bit inbetween, now I'm far from unfit but I haven't the strength to power those sections where I think someone who's fitter would gain so much more time by being quicker on the flatter xc bits, horses for courses but when someone who's more a xc rider beats someone who's more a downhill or technical rider on something that's supposed to be a gravity enduro then I think there's something wrong? I think a gravity enduro should be about slow technical skill with some proper hard tech bits mixed with fast downhill like the one on stage one, that would create a true test of biking skill and agility!"

So basically you expected a Gravity Enduro to be all downhill and no pedalling! Sorry to dissapoint you but it's not! You have to be an all round rider to compete and do well at these events, and any weakness in your skills set ( for you xc ) will show up, we always blame the things we're not good at. I suggest you go and train your weaknesses for a while. Definition of Gravity Enduro: Gravity assisted/resisted riding with Enduro length endurance required.
Regards the stages at Inners, many of the local "secret" trails could've been used but I really don't think the locals want 350 riders pummelling them to death over the weekend. The stages used were completely in the essence of the discipline.
On a final note: The Megavalanche "Longest dh race in the world" has 450m + of climbing in it at altitude.... c

As far as I know, XC courses and DH courses aren't all exactly the same either?

Sounds to me like the course was bob on for a proper mix. 🙂

Hi All
I really love all you people that hide behind an ALIAS and are "Keyboard World Champs", yes this is aimed fairly and squarely at you "pussy whatever" or is it Sam Sharp?
I applaud your original comment, because we don't want to see you trackside either, spoiling all the fun that the other racers have!
If any of you want to approach us directly, Myself and Charlie are always willing to listen, join the FB group or email through website.
Thanks to all who took part, I take my hat off to you for finishing the event in the horrible conditions.

^^^ 😆
It was very tame, that is all im saying, and I would like to apologise to northwind for my outburst, that I shouldnt have said! I guess I just felt let down by what I thought was going to be some good riding, never the less I hold my hands up and admit that I got it totally wrong thinking a gravity enduro meant nice steep techy downs that were timed, then a long climb back to the next stage.. I was totally wrong, its more like xc with trail centre descents, may the fittest man win! Dont get me wrong, Im far from unfit and do plenty plenty xc riding and have done lots of xc races too in the past but I went into this with the totally wrong idea about what a gravity enduro is, and thanks parr but I certainly wont be doing one again! Tbh with you maybe you should look into what people want as there were a lot of riders complaining, seems they all kiss arse on here though aye! 😉 £60 I wish Id have kept hold of! 😕

Well said!

My teammate was up there, just read his report and saw the pictures.

Well done to anyone who braved it and survived while I was getting leathered at a school reunion..... 🙂

My perspective on Enduro is that you need to be fast, fit, technically strong and also able to use your brain. Look at someone like Mark Weir - not the fastest downhill, very strong physically, but when you combine everything, the perfect all rounder. The best all rounder will place best at the end of the series - some rounds suit better than others, the top dog will make the most of each scenario.

Cheers mate. 😀

Where do normally ride pussy? If some of the classics on the Inners hill don't register as 'good riding' then you must have some amazing local trails... And to reiterate, not wishing to kissarse, I never spoke to anybody who weren't enjoying it. Let alone find any who were actually complaining...