[Closed] Isle of Man End2End roll call

1. I am - cannot wait
2. This will be my 3rd....in 15 years
3. Under 4h too

me -

1) Yes i am - anything;s better than a 14 hr day driving the drop bag van and running the finish like last yr
2) hmmm - 6th or 7th time
3) a bit more under 5hrs would be a nice change from 4.58, 4.59, 5.34 (my mom had just died) and 5.02...

i may well be at the sign on showing what can be squeezed into a medium Tee shirt if you have strong tyre levers 😆

At least I'm not on my own from on here.

1) No - wrong side of the world this year 🙁
2) done twice
3) Would love to hit 4 hrs with lighter bike and a chance to ride the hills (If you get off and push get out the way!!)

I've heard that they might not be using Ballacob this year - the first off-road climb - where the first traffic jam causes everyone to get of

If i know the E2E organisers, then there will be something even worse!!!

I'm there with BoltonJon above, will be my first time, be gentle on me...

No, due to a u-turn shaped change of plans I have 4 entries with the return bus if anyone is interested!

Scud - just remember what i said about the climbs last year - you'll love them!!

Once over the finish line, its a 1 mile downhill to a local town for a pint

This does, however, suggest that there is a 1 mile uphill before the finish line!!

Looks good,going to book it for next year.

I'm in, however one of my mates bust his collarbone at Llandegla the other week so we're waiting for the OK before we book the ferry..
It'll be my fourth E2E.Last one I did was in 2006
Used to take me between 4/35 & 4/50.Somewhere around 4 hours would be good.

8th time for me. Sloc section announced as closed as of yesterday for repairs and to prevent further erosion, been bloody wet of late. Done 3.35 previously but anything under 4 would be good this year due to work, kids and consequent extra padding round the tummy.

Will be nice at the finish to have my statutory celebratory beer then ride downhill-biased singletrack all the way home 😀

Hello Rob - how's the Rumblefish??

Rob. Do you think the Sloc will be repaired in time for the event?

I've just heard that their changing the route to miss Ballacob out, adding an extra 2 miles & 300 ft of climbing

This could scupper my plans for a sub-4h race finish - 4h 02m last year

What's the alternative to Ballacob then?

JohnClimber

A climb up through Ballaugh plantation

If they use the route i think they will, then its a bit more of a gentle climb, but very long and very tough - it should get rid of the traffic jams which occur on Ballacob!!

Do you know the island well?

A route up through Ballaugh plantation and then out Slieu Dhoo wouldn't add anything like an extra 300ft of ascent. It would add maybe an extra mile but the total climbing is pretty much unchanged.

boltonjon - Member
Do you know the island well?

Fairly well, I used to vist a customer at Jurby and I know Bonzo for my sins.

I hope the new route does get rid of the Ballacob bottle neck as I'm on a slower bike this year, so definatly would have got stuck in it.

yes, no and 4 hours.

Though 4.5 hours is probably a bit more realistic. And I'll probably be happy as long as I am sub 5 hours. Or thereabouts.

Sounds good about Ballacob - the traffic jam was one bit I wasn't looking forward too. Looking at a map, it looks like the total accent may actually be slightly less.

Looking forward to the event: only had a bike for a year after not riding since my teens. I live down south and normally ride SDW, but am Manx which is why I decided to enter. Just need to decide what tyres I should use.

ab1970 - Member
Just need to decide what tyres I should use.

Oh for Gods sake don't start that sort of talk on here 😉

Here's a shot from the net of the fire road through Ballaugh Plantation [img] [/img]
Can any locals on here confirm this is the trail we'll be using, it looks better than Ballacob as long at riders don't ride 4 abreast

How's everyone getting over?
I've done the Liverpool ferry in the past but the 3 nights in Douglas for one ride was a bit too much.

I've booked onto the Saturday afternoon Heysham ferry and escaping on the Sunday evening ferry, so only one night out and I'll most proberbly ride to the start on the Saturday evening and bivi up there rather than get up at stupid o'clock to get the bus north on the Sunday

ab1970

I live down south and normally ride SDW, but am Manx which is why I decided to enter. Just need to decide what tyres I should use

Me too - been living near Reading for the last 10 years - but don't ride on the SDW much

From Port Erin originally

I'm in, looking forward to it - looking for an improvement on 5hrs 30 last year, fingers crossed 🙂

1) Yes - I'm riding this year.
2) Yes - 2011.
3) Be happy with anything under 5 hours.

1) I've entered but broken elbow has scuppered that.
2) First time last year
3) Was looking forward to starting in the top 100

was thinking of this next year what is the best type of bke for this

Jon: the Rumblefish is ****in mega mate, ate everything up in its path in the Alps. It's a bit weighty but when you point it downhill it just goes and goes. Could do with a bit more fitness in me though!

JohnClimber - Member
Can any locals on here confirm this is the trail we'll be using, it looks better than Ballacob as long as riders don't ride 4 abreast

Well I'm extremely local to that bit of trail but I'm not privy to whether it's part of the route or not and anyway, owing to a big date mix-up on my part, I'm not riding. I thought that I was away in Greece that weekend so didn't enter but now I find out that I'm not.... 🙄

I know of a spare ticket AndyR?

Am sworn to secrecy but if the route changes there will indeed be more climbing than Ballacobb and it will add a good 10 minutes to the time taken . Nobody on here has guessed correctly what the alternative route , if indeed they use one , may be . Anyway I thought Ballaugh Plantation was still closed because of the tree disease .

Thunderpants: I've heard straight up Druidale on't rumour mill. Can you confirm or deny?

As I say I am sworn to secrecy , however if you were to come into the shop and threaten Julian he may just tell you . Should be a good fun 3 weeks with everybody speculating where it will go .

Hope the finish line doesn't change, I live within a mile of it and it's downhill all the way 😀

I'm looking forward to a couple of nice pints of Guinness in the Bay in Port Erin!! 😀

For those that are veterans of the event, how does it compare recently to prior years? I appreciate that the course hasn't changed much but the volume of people riding it now has risen massively.

I last did it 4 years ago (I think) just as popularity started to gain. My (possiby misplaced) impression was that it was starting to get a bit too big an event to make it enjoyable. I keep threatening to do it again so it would be interesting to hear peoples thoughts.

I was in the very first event back in 95 or 96 with 30 other riders. It was pretty lonely halfway through the course

I entered again last year with 1700 riders and it was awesome

Yes, very busy early on and a nightmare up Ballacob, but great banter and a better course than the first event - I've never done another race like it

I agree with Jon, my first was in 03 and I barely saw anyone from halfway apart from the leaders coming ripping past through Arrasey (back then the elites started an hour behind the rest).

Last year was mega, great to be part of it

Ramsey Neil - Member
Am sworn to secrecy but if the route changes there will indeed be more climbing than Ballacobb and it will add a good 10 minutes to the time taken . Nobody on here has guessed correctly what the alternative route , if indeed they use one , may be . Anyway I thought Ballaugh Plantation was still closed because of the tree disease .

Neil, AFAIK parts of the fireroad up through are still closed, although the actual green lane (the old road)has been open for a while.
Alternative route? Sulby Glen and up the Snakebite??

Sounds like you're fitting than me Rob, I remember Elliot Baxter and his entourage hurtling past me as I pootled through Tynwald Mills the first year I did it!

Really pleasing to hear its still got the same charm, maybe I'll have another go at it next year.

boltonjon - Member
I know of a spare ticket AndyR?

Thanks for that fella, but if I'd planned to ride I'd have been getting a few more miles in than I have been. Part of me is very tempted though....

you'll be fine Andy - its nearly flat!! 😀

Andy R - Member
Sulby Glen and up the Snakebite??

OK give us off islanders a clue what and where the hell is Snake Bite.

When will any changed if any be anounced to the masses?

Lager, cider and blackcurrent

Personally, i'd go for a Purple Nasty - as above - but with some Perno

this isn't very helpful is it?? 😀

It definitely won't go up the snake bite .The land owners don't seem very keen on MTBers riding up their land and they are building a house somewhere up there so the track has been totally churned up by heavy equipment .

And there was I thinking that those two 360's and that big Komatsu 'dozer that I saw working up there this affy were doing a bit of trail prepping for the big day 🙄 I went up Ballacuberagh BTW, not up their track. 😉

Ballacuberagh , wow that's proper hardcore nobody has cleaned that with witnesses , that I know of , Kale claimed he did it while on his own but that doesn't count . Anyway the government won't pay £8000 for the best advert the island could get on TV so I don't see them paying out to have all that machinery to make tracks ok for us

robarnold - Member
Thunderpants: I've heard straight up Druidale on't rumour mill. Can you confirm or deny?

Ramsey Neil - Member
As I say I am sworn to secrecy , however if you were to come into the shop and threaten Julian he may just tell you . Should be a good fun 3 weeks with everybody speculating where it will go .

Rob, for the rest of us off the Island, please go and threaten Julian and post up here or just PM me 😉

If anyone's going to do it it'll be Kale, I suppose - I got up to about 20 metres from where the top gate used to be but I was about buggered by then so I just pushed up that really steep snotty bit 'cos I couldn't be bothered trying to ride it.
I am an old man, you know 😛

If it's that bad/steep they'll never send 1700 "racers" up there. Will they?

If Julian has anything to do with it, then we'll be going up Ballacuberagh !!

the government won't pay £8000 for the best advert the island could get on TV

Another golden opportunity missed 🙁

I've done it twice (4:13 and 3:49), great event, can't afford it this year so I have an entry for sale...

3.49 cynical Al - great time!!

So do any veterans of this event have any good tips for the big day?

If we are still guessing alternatives to Ballacob, what about Tholt-y-Will?

ab:

Try and get away with the front group from the start. It usually zips along at a good pace and tagging on and staying out of the wind will get you to the bottom of the first climb fresh and out of the bad traffic.

Don't burst a lung up the first climb (wherever that may be) then smugly watch as all the lunatics who blasted past you up there slowly get despatched through the remainder of the race.

The first major fireroad descent to Brandywell checkpoint is rocky and punctures are frequent. Take it easy and save yourself some time and hassle.

Save some energy for the final third...there are three tough climbs after halfway (Slieau Whallian, Glen Rushen and Cronk Ny Arrey Lea) so don't get to St Johns blowing out of your arse.

Find yourself some space for the Sloc descent. If you're half decent downhill you will make up minutes down there, try and elbow past any stragglers before it gets too techy so you get a good clear run at it. It narrows as it gets more techy so passing is hard.

Enjoy the views and the atmosphere! Have a beer waiting for you at the finish!

ps. Tholty...are you insane?!

I've been made privy to some 'insider information' and know the new sections replacing Ballacob and it will increase the climb by 300ft

It sounds better than Ballacob and should reduce the traffic

There are some slight changes further South as well

Can't wait!!

Rob that's pretty good advice except for the 3 climbs in the second half of the race . Cronk Ny Arrey Laa is surely a descent not a climb , the last big climb is the road section up The Howe to the finish . Hope that gives you the chance to say I stand corrected 😆

Did you mean the climb up to Cronk Ny Arrey Laa from Eary Cushlin?

Old Rob is getting the Cronk Ny Arrey Lea descent mixed up with Eairy Cushlin ascent

Probably a comeover!

Thanks for the advice. I will be on the look out for people elbowing past me at the top of the Sloc and try not to hold people up at the bottom! Is there much other technical stuff apart from Arrasey?

Is the trail from Ballaugh to Bullrenney ridable? That looks like it may add the required 300ft of climb (and 300ft extra of descent!)

Boltonjon, Ramseyneil, I do indeed stand corrected.....I was in the middle of a night shift is all I can come up with as an excuse.

:hobbles off in search for some orthopaedic shoes: 😀

boltonjon - Member
I've been made privy to some 'insider information' and know the new sections replacing Ballacob and it will increase the climb by 300ft

It sounds better than Ballacob and should reduce the traffic

There are some slight changes further South as well

Can't wait!!

Jon, please can you email me the gossip ref route change?
Email address in profile.
I won't say a word and I'll get you a beer at registration 8)

The only alternative that add's another 300ft of climbing I can see does the extra on tarmac.

Is that the plan?

I wasn't going to bother but fukit, if they're getting rid of ballabottleneck, I may as well. Be a good excuse to try out the go-pro properly.

Boltonjon, drop me an email at mattb at pokerstars dot com and I'll take one of those tickets off you at face value if there is one left. Also, if you're staying in douglas and need anything, give me a shout. I have tools, stand, workshop etc.

As for me. Well I broke my leg in 2 places (oddly enough, on the E2E route) and ruined my knee in oct last year. Had surgery to completely rebuild it in Jan, and will be aiming for a sub 5hr time this year, just to prove to myself I can. It'll be my 4th time doing it, and my baest time to date is 5:03.

Personally, I don't think Ballacob is too bad. There always will be a bottle neck. Even somewhere with that many riders. And it is a short push really.
I think for this year, the area across the moors is just very rutted and wet from all the rain making it much more difficult.

I wish they would publish the route, or at least give us an indication where we are going. I do understand that some of the route is private land so they don't want to publish a map as that would make some people believe they have permission to ride the route.
Also, Ballaugh is closed at the moment due to tree disease so they might not want people trying to ride there before the race.
For the additional climbing, there are other areas where they could add in some climbing to make up any lost by the route change.

I've also heard mentioned that we would not be going up Slieau Whallian but up Barnell, although this is mentioned every year.

First timer. Aiming fro sub 5 hrs.

I've done Ballaugh to the top of the Sloc 3 times in the last month in 3hrs (the allowed training route!) and a bit pissed that its going to change. (can anyone tell me how long it would take to get to Ballaugh from the start, and the descent from the sloc to the finish.....cant be arsed to try the whole thing out!)

No one seems to mention the change of the Pipeline. To me this bit is ridiculous and narrow to go up with so many people, and surely a better route is taking a left upto the round table...a tougher climb but at least you wont get congestion. It's then only a 1 min bomb down hill on the road ( and up a bit) to get back to the planned route??

The route last year didn't go to the top of the pipeline, but turned off across the farmers land (private) into the plantation and out near the bridge.

The first road section depends really. 45-55 min, but just be careful as you can waste a lot of energy going too fast in this section that will cost you later. I know of one guy who stayed with the lead group to ballacob and had bonked by the top and withdrew at St Johns.

Also, leave some energy for after eary cushlin as the track down to the sloc is tough, and there is still more across to above surby and the final climb to cregneash.

Sorry Johntheclimber - sworn to secrecy!!

Cat with no tail - email about spare ticket sent through

I don't see why people want to train on the course - the course (IMHO) is pretty horrible - there are much better climbs and DHs over there - so why ride Ballaugh to Sloc 3 times in a month??

Just had the email to say that the Ballacob funnel and mud bath afterwards is no more (at least for 2012)

Less than 2 weeks to go....

Maybe Summer will start by then

Just put 3 entries for this in the classifieds, must go today if anyone is interested?!? 😀

So what with that bitch of a head wind, the extra milage and the extra climb how did we all do?

On my Fat Bike I came in 59th place in 4hours 10mins 38secs

This is on my list for next year 🙂

Hard work, did turn into a bit of a slog at the end there when crossing the heathland and it started to have hailstone for us slower boys. Thoroughly enjoyed it though apart from having to queue to go down the first downhill through the forest only to then have to walk down it due to all the people ahead. The headwind was a bugger in places especially having to pedal hard to go downhill.

I thought the best part though was the marshals and the people watching, great to have so many turn out to watch a bunch of loons on bikes.

Punctured after CP1 as you were disappearing off in to the distance John, came in 153rd. Don't talk to me about the cramps.....ooooh the cramps.

Thoroughly enjoyed it though, in a slightly morbid way

I did 4:55 in 238th place (290 places better than last year).
So I am very happy and actually enjoyed the day a lot.

So what with that bitch of a head wind, the extra milage and the extra climb how did we all do?

On my Fat Bike I came in 59th place in 4hours 10mins 38secs

You had a bloody good ride John - I spotted you as you dropped into the start of the singletrack in Ballaugh plantation.
Rob's quick (and slightly out of shape) descent to there was a pleasure to watch too, as was the way he nipped inside three other riders on the turn into the singletrack section.

RobArnold
Good to see you on the trail sorry there wasn't much time to chat, maybe next time?
How did your mate get on with the snaped chain on hte CX bike?

I did'nt make it.Been training more than ever & picked up a strain / tear the other week.Doing that Wiggo sportive made things worse.Best laid plans..

Hardest E2E Ive ever done. I was bollocksed.

Having said that, Ive done no races this year. In fact my last mtb event was last years E2E! I blame it all on the Ducati Motor Company 😳

Was gutted to be beaten by the Ballbag by 1 effing second!

I gotta tip my hat to John Climber though. Remarkable ride on a 36+lb bike. Well done mate.