Just got sent this
Nevis Range are doing the endurance downhill again! I did it I think 4 times bitd and loved every one.
How it works (assuming they keep the same format) is a le mans start then you ride up to the wallride (horrendous on a dh bike) and from then it's 10 hours like an endurance xc race but entirely on the world cup track with the chairlift. Most runs/last one to die wins. *it used to be 6, 6 was already a LOT, 10 is deranged*
So some people will go out full dh race pace and take an early lead and then crash or wear themselves out or destroy the bike. (Suck, it, Guy Martin, I am better than you and this proves it). Some folks will tortoise plod all day, some will take breaks, some will be barely making it down the track each time but still going. There comes a point where your skin starts falling off and you can't remember any time you weren't doing this and you realise you lost your mind about the 6th or 7th time you got off the gondola... But you're only 30 seconds behind Mr Blue Commencal Man and he must be caught.
(they always used the public version ie no big doon road gap, slightly easier for mortals but still obviously hard and brutal.TBH the track is a little harder than it used to be, less chicken runs etc so it'll slightly raise the bar but you don't have to be a Riding God)
But yeah brilliant. Attack it how you want, fight your demons or duke it out for first. I scraped into 12th last time I did it despite basically being rubbish, just by knocking out solid runs all day... But the guy who was 13th, was on a rigid dirt jump bike. It's that sort of nonsense.
20th June, £55, cannot recommend it too highly. It's not run by No Fuss any more but I think one of the No Fuss team is involved. So glad it's back. There's no way I'll be fully fit for it and I don't think I care.
This is relevant to my interests
I was excited just by your vivid description of the event! @mark can you get northwind to write an article on this for the mag please. Sounds like he won't be in a fit state to take photographs though. 😁
Not gonna lie, this sounds amazing. I did 10 under in a team of four a decade or so ago and it was ridiculous fun. This sounds madder. In a good way.
I did 10 under in a team of four a decade or so ago and it was ridiculous fun.
I did a 10 Under (solo), can't remember what year but it was baking hot. Used the cattle sheds as bike pits so thankfully a bit of shade. Roasting hot.
I did something called the Avalanche Cup one year too. There was an XC race on the Saturday and then the proper Avalanche event on the Sunday. That must have been 30-odd years ago! I can imagine me falling to bits quite quickly if I tried something like an Endurance downhill (and also being a moving roadblock for every other rider).
He could do an entire issue nevermind one article. There'd be one article on what tyres!
That sounds mentally ace.
I did 10 under in a team of four a decade or so ago and it was ridiculous fun.
I did a 10 Under (solo), can't remember what year but it was baking hot. Used the cattle sheds as bike pits so thankfully a bit of shade. Roasting hot.
I did something called the Avalanche Cup one year too. There was an XC race on the Saturday and then the proper Avalanche event on the Sunday. That must have been 30-odd years ago! I can imagine me falling to bits quite quickly if I tried something like an Endurance downhill (and also being a moving roadblock for every other rider).
Looking back, I think it was 2012. Absolutely sweltering - I think I recorded 37⁰ at one point. We had no shade, and in the time it took to barbecue some burgers the rolls we'd set out on the bonnet of my old Rangie had actually started toasting.
I'd love to do it again.
Anyone want to borrow a tandem.....?
I love the sound of this - it might be the first DH race I'd be able to come anywhere other than last, I'm not fast but I'm good at keeping lapping an uplift from open until close! Trying to schedule this and get there from the other end of the country is a different matter...
There's no way I'll be fully fit for it and I don't think I care.
That might well have sold this to me..
It's ace fun, although the 2017 one was only 6 hours.
It's ace fun, although the 2017 one was only 6 hours.
I think originally there were concerns as to how long most bikes would actually take that sort of punishment!
I've just booked myself in for this because I fancied a summer solstice epic and this definitely fits the bill!However...
1) I've never raced DH before, only a few local mates races
2) I've never ridden the World Cup track before, so looks like the first run will be a scouting run.
3) I've got no idea how I even go about training for this - lots of uplift days? Take an ebike out and do the same track over and over?
What should I expect other than lots and lots of midges?
I'd love to do something like this but I don't know a single person who would join me. It would be a long, exhausting weekend on your own.
Anyone doing it solo?
1) I've never raced DH before, only a few local mates races
2) I've never ridden the World Cup track before, so looks like the first run will be a scouting run
I'm a long distance xc racer and was fine on it, although nowhere as quick as the pros. I did it on a Cotic Rocket with single crown forks. The only bit I refused was the big gap jump over the river but there's a way around that. Pads and full face give you a lot of confidence.
If I can do it you can!
Anyone doing it solo?
AIUI the old ones were not team events, everyone entered solo.
Maybe the change to a 10 hour event has changed this but it didn't sound like it from what Northwind told me.
I don't mind doing the riding solo, I just meant sharing the driving, camping, banter etc.
It would be a long quiet journey for me on my own.
Child number 2 is due a couple of weeks before this one anyway so I probably shouldn't make any plans.
Child number 2 is due a couple of weeks before this one anyway so I probably shouldn't make any plans.
You're a braver man than me.
I'm a long distance xc racer and was fine on it, although nowhere as quick as the pros. I did it on a Cotic Rocket with single crown forks. The only bit I refused was the big gap jump over the river but there's a way around that. Pads and full face give you a lot of confidence.
If I can do it you can!
How were your arms by the end andrew (assuming you don't ride DH regularly)? Sounds like a fun, unique event but I'd be worrying about my hands and arms dropping off halfway through. I guess you're at like 80% each run so it's much more attritional, but sounds tough on the body.
So the gondola ride is 15 minutes, make it 20 for queuing and getting bike on/off.
Taking it easy down the WC track - 7-10 minutes.
So potential for 2 runs/hour for the 'average' rider.
Pity there isn't a team/relay category.
I did an uplift day in Italy last summer. It was a quiet spot so there was no queues for the chairlift and we had a nice leisurely lunch. After 6 runs I started to feel it in my arms. We managed two more runs and I was hanging on by the end, braking bumps at the end were the worst. I'm tempted to do this but I'm worried I'd break me or the bike.
did an uplift day in Italy last summer
I know what you did last summer...... I was there.
Rain stopped play. Last (express) chairlift ride was the last of the day.
Just as well as I might have been tempted to do just one more!
There's no mention of teams (actually it gives the impression that they're keeping it fairly small, teams IMO would be a good idea to widen the appeal but maybe they don't think they need to. The lifts are open as normal so that also puts some constraint on size. Once hte race is on it's a mix of completely lonerey and randomly social.
As far as how hard it is? First time I did it, I'd literally done one run of the track when I signed up and hadn't ridden every feature. I sneaked up for an uplift day beforehand though and got some practice in and at least was able to find a line down everything before the race. I did it on my old Cotic Hemlock which got through the day but PURELY COINCIDENTALLY broke in half a week later. By the last time I did it, I was on a dh bike and just missed out on a top 10 because of a flat. But equally the guy one place behind me was on a rigid dirt jump bike. This time I'll be on an coil'd enduro bike, tbf it's not drastically less good at it than my 224 was. Honestly I'd love to hardtail it (especially because my hardtail is completely badass) but with it being such a rare event I never wanted to risk spoiling it.
I was a solid enough rider, not brave or fast or super strong but I was able to keep slogging out runs. I was a pretty consistent midpack finisher in scottish enduros at the time, for whatever comparison that's worth.
I think there's basically 2 sorts of stamina in here, yes it's physical over the entire day and getting over 10 runs gets hard but also there were a ton of people who just couldn't do full runs, or not more than one or two. You see this at uplifts there too, it's like people have 5 minutes of fitness and then die, it becomes mandatory to do it in two. And once you hit that point you tire out super fast, every bump is harder. So it's like, absolute fitness but also... sustainability? Top to bottom golfy runs are going to be the closest thing I do to training, for whatever that's worth.
The actual dh track is sort of hard to explain. It's not as hard as you'd think- there's like 2 or 3 crux move sections that are legitimately harder, some intimidating bits like the enormous rock garden near the top, a lot of bits that are hard to do fast and carry speed- but by the metre it's easier than some of the stuff at the golfy. Especially if you're able to drop and hop and float stuff. BUT, that doesn't really explain it, because pretty much the entire track can catch you out, up on the moor there's always something happening. My crashes at this event were always on absolute nothing sections. Oh yeah I can't jump for shit so the motorway is always embarassing for me, I can't go fast down it because then you really have to jump, I have to go at squashing speed. Frustrating.
It's IMO a little harder than it was just to get down it, it used to be there was a reasonably straightforward rolling line down everything, now I think that's not quite true- I did it with a less confident friend last year and I'd kind of forgotten the challenge of doing it slow and careful, there's at least one bit where the send-it line is absolutely easy and forgettable and the roll-it line is awkward and all-or-nothingy.
I'm less strong now and also just less good. This'll add up for me I'm sure. If I didn't have hte past experience I'd maybe not enter it? But it helps that I know how it really works and also I know how brilliant it can be. I'm not going to set goals but if I can match my 13 (in 10 hours instead of 6, but on an enduro bike and 10 years older) I guess I'll be happy.