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Having previously completed Exmoor Explorer & lacking in fitness I thought this year I would enter it again. Taking up the offer from the event organiser to do 'The Triple', Mendip Murmuration, Exmoor Explorer & Quantock Quake, for a slightly reduced rate.
This past Saturday it was finally time to see if my plan to improve my fitness had worked.
We arrived on site bright & early, already plenty of people in the car park unpacking bikes & signing on & getting their pre-ride coffees & breakfasts.
To help avoid mass start chaos we could start anytime between 9 & 10am. We got on with it as best we could & got going by about 9.10am, from a sunny but with a strong chilly wind at the start.
It was tough, tougher than I expected, a couple of absolute banging downhills & more than enough climbs to keep you honest.
That said I loved every minute (well apart from the climb from the final check point, that was nasty, as was the climb up to the finish). I am very much looking forward to next month's Exmoor Explorer.
However, something that did make me a bit sad was the demographic at today's ride. I am approaching 50 (I say appoaching, it can see me staring at it through it's Ring doorbell) it felt like most people there were older than me. This makes me slightly sad that the fashion of MTB has now changed that younger generations are just not into long rides like this in the country. This makes me slightly sad for the future of events like this. Will the participants slowly dwindle & make them no longer viable?
I don't think it's an ebike thing, cos there were plenty of people on them & enjoying it. It is a tough day out for sure & there were definitely times some assistance would've been nice, but there were plenty of people older than me on normal bikes toughing it out.
Would love to know people's opinions...
it felt like most people there were older than me. This makes me slightly sad that the fashion of MTB has now changed that younger generations are just not into long rides like this in the country
Most of the younger generation than me (not necessarily yoofs - 20's/30's/even some 40's) seem to definitely much prefer sessioning steeps at Black Rocks/Wharny/Win Hill. I prefer a good old ride with a sprinkling of spice
Great write up! I keep meaning to tackle "The Triple" one year as an carrot/stick to be more organised to ride my MTB more. I was out on the Quantocks on Sunday afternoon and it's such a great place. Though I must get a smaller chainring and a lighter set of tyres (and lose a few kg myself...).
Thanks - I think entries are still available for both the other events...
I don't think I can make the Exmoor one, but I've just sent the Quantock one to a few friends to see who is keen. Maybe we can bring the average age down a little, but maybe not be enough 😀
@PrinceJohn - Thanks for the post! You may have inspired me to attend an event!
I was wondering if you could give a little guidance? The website reports that the cut off time for the extra loop to take the distance out to 35 miles is 1330 suggesting that the first 20 miles take between 3.5 and 4.5 hours. This in turn suggests that the route is somewhat challenging (or gnar-core or whatever we say hereabouts these days) but this contrasts with the pictures on the site which show fairly benign open moorland etc.
Am I missing something (Savage Exmoor climbs? Tricky slow singletrack?) or am I over-thinking the whole thing?
@roadie_in_denial the way it worked was it was about 12 miles to the first extended loop, this took us about 1hr 20m. The extended loop was about 7miles. It took us about an 1hr 10m to do it. To get the full 35 mile experience you needed to do it twice. While it was a fun loop the climb at the start was brutal & my legs weren't up to it so we cracked on to the finish.
As you can leave between 9 & 10am you should easily get there in time. Our average speed for the event was 7mph.
So in actual time we did started the first loop at about 10:30, finished it about 11:40 & we were back at the finish for about 14:00. We would've likely finished the 2nd loop before the cut off time for starting it.
I think the cut off times are to stop anyone who is really really slow from attempting it so that the organisers can actually go home & aren't out looking for someone all night.
I'm 59 this year and I've been riding for a while.
I've ridden all of these events over the years. I first did the Exmoor Explorer in 2007 and did the other two (Quake & Murmuration) events after Channel Events took over in 2015'ish.
I enjoy all three days and I enjoy the riding style: steep ups and steep downs with lovely countryside in between. On a dry and warm'ish day there is no better ride.
BUT I have never felt like the oldest rider in attendance and I'd say the average age of riders is around 50.
I hope we all keep fit & strong and keep attending so that these events never dwindle out of existence :o(
It's definitely changed, I was really sad to see the demise of the MTB Marathon events as have been doing those since the early 2000's on and off. I don't really see the point of just shuttling up and down the woods, but suspect I'm looking for something different from my riding - scenery and headspace.
It's got to be a lot to do with media exposure, as the recent mag article on our 'public image', or maybe the kids really can only manage thinking about things that take minutes rather than hours!
It's definitely changed, I was really sad to see the demise of the MTB Marathon events as have been doing those since the early 2000's on and off. I don't really see the appeal of just shuttling up and down the woods, but suspect I'm looking for something different from my riding - scenery and headspace.
It's got to be a lot to do with media exposure, as the recent mag article on our 'public image', or maybe the kids really can only manage thinking about things that take minutes rather than hours!
@PrinceJohn - thanks for the write up there mate, you've allayed some concerns for me, but raised another - this brutal first climb that you mention - can you elaborate further or is there a gpx/route description some place that I've so far failed to locate?
@roadie_in_denial - it was just hard & felt like it went on for days...
It's the climb here up to Wavering Down -
@PrinceJohn - thanks for this - looks like a challenging climb! Gives me some food for thought. Thankyou
@PrinceJohn - You inspired me in this thread, I'm intending to do the short loop on Sunday (which is described in today's email as 24 miles) so come and say hi if you see me - I'll be the super-sized gent riding a yellow 26" wheel Trek hardtail. If our paths don't cross - have a great ride and stay hydrated.
Ive been marshalling at these events a few years now and they are well organized and great fun, but unfortunately the numbers are starting to dwindle, so its up to us older folks to keep them going and try to encourage the young pups to give them a try. The cut off times for longer loops are so us old folks (62) on EEBs can clear the trail behind you and check for bodies and still get back in time for food and beer!!!
@roadie_in_denial I'll keep my eyes open. But likely I'll be breathing out my arse just trying to make it round the 24mile loop. I'm fairly certain I've not got the extra 18 miles in me.
@konanige you guys are always great at these events and it's appreciated you giving up your time to look after us
I'll be right there with you mate...I'm looking at that hill in the middle of the route and am reminding myself that I still run a triple chainset for things like that!
@roadie_in_denial - how'd you get on?
I found it super tough in those conditions, along with 4hrs sleep. I was almost done by 7 miles...
Just about made it round tho, despite putting a small dent in my rear rim by going a little bit too quick on the descent from Dunkery Beacon.
Hey @princejohn - guess there was something about the 7 mile mark!
I'd really struggled since the 2 mile point, it wasn't just the climbs, the descents were WAY steeper than what I'd been training on in the Forest of Dean and I realised between mile 2 and mile 7 that I was in over my head. So I took a time out at the first checkpoint, checked in with myself and realised that the smart thing to do was leave the course and roll back to Event HQ rather than push on and risk creating a problem for the organisers or mountain rescue to sort out.
So I had a word with the crew at the checkpoint and recorded a DNF.
It was a fantastic event - I just wasn't up to it yesterday.
Glad you had a good ride tho - even with that dent on the rim!
