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Does appear that something went very wrong that they put her in with much much faster riders. Not fair on her or the other riders.
I always thought there was some management of start times to avoid this kind of thing, or does that depend on riders being honest about their ability?
So I've only ridden Ard Rock once, but except at the pointy end of the 'pro' race on the Saturday (where people are going to be putting down their results at other races) it's all self assessed as you your level. And that's all gone to pot after a couple of transitions if people are riding those at different speeds anyway.
I found a few other people who were riding at a similar speed to me when I rode and after the first few stages we regrouped and set off around each other which meant most of the time we weren't catching people up or getting caught. Adding e-bikes to the mix is going to throw all that out as eeb's are going to transition faster and catch people on any stage with climbing. A shitty idea to allow them to mix with other riders.
Re the difficulty it's a big day out - the climbing and distance were pretty much what I'd do in a regular day out on the bike, but I was much more exhausted at the end of Ard Rock than I'd be normally.
I’m a total mid-packer but even so, I’m not racing against the pointy end guys, I’m racing against myself and my fellow mid-packers, usually against my mates who’re also mid-packers. At some point, though, there’s a line between racing and not racing and throwing e-bikers into the midst and then saying “yeah but they’re not actually racing, they get an NC” is just not an answer, when they’re in there with everyone that is. And the second you say “well if you’re an also-ran why does it matter if you lose 20 seconds”, you’re saying to them “why are you even here? Why are you paying us money when you’re not really racing”? At that point I think I’d finally agree with GW and folks who say “just go and ride the trails on another day”
Agree with everything NW says here. When I've done Ard Rock I'm more racing against my mates than aiming for the podium and so it does matter if you lose 20 seconds. Look at what 20 seconds difference makes at Ard Rock finish times...
Reading on the 3-Peaks rule change thread where they're boiling stuff down to being prescriptive about the types of axles you can run on your bikes... its really not difficult to have a seperate category for e-bikes and fire off those who can't be arsed pedalling early doors with real bikes going afterwards. Turn up to ride the non-e category on an e-bike and get turned away. Creates a far more even playing field when you have e-bikers chasing down other e-bikers etc. Just removes any aggro with a very simple change.
Do they let the eebs in with the normal bikes so that friend groups can ride together?
i had the misfortune to watch the ladies video
guiness world record for the most 'oh god / oh my god' comments in a 2hr video, although its under 10 mins..
such a shame she has got all those sponsors when their are so many talented kids and females who are much more deserving.
She was absolutely crawling along, but was then having some clearly very good riders overtaking her.
Just a guess, but from the vid they posted it was possibly because they both set off up the climb to the first stage with their ebikes on turbo/boost and caught/passed a lot of fast racers that weren't on ebikes. They then started the stage with said riders behind them and probably p****d a lot of people off by holding them up
At that point I think I’d finally agree with GW and folks who say “just go and ride the trails on another day”
They're all on private land and not really accessible outside of the race. The organisers specifically ask people not to ride them outside of the race to help maintain the viability of the event. I rode it last year on the Friday with no intention of racing, just to get round and enjoy it. There were a few clearly racing but I didn't see any conflict or people behaving like dicks. From spectating on the Saturday there were far more people taking it seriously alongside people who were really struggling to ride the stages.
Good luck to both of them. Lots of haters on here just jealous. Not watched the video in question but seen plenty of others without negative judgement. Seems ironic being criticised for being dull by middle aged middle management overweight IT guys on a forum 😉
Agree does though seems like their approach to the race was poorly thought out and planned.
Maybe look at Kara's sponsorship from marketing perspective? She started with no skills and now jumping better than most people on here, surely good for women to see, also encourages male partners to get their OHs involved.
I quite enjoy Tom & Kara's videos. Sometimes they can get a bit heavy on the "sick"s and "insane"s and other gnarly bro talk, but I find them very relatable, especially Kara's struggle with fear management.
I only see her Vids on Instagram and i have them on silent... i had no idea who her partner was and still don't, apart from his name lol.
That said, i think she's ACE in terms of progression and jumping and having the balls to hit certain things that clearly scare her. I don't care if she's fast or slow or whether she 'deserves' the sponsorship... i like her clips 🙂
Karas videos are quite good - relatable and sending out good role model messages. It’s nice to see a channel that’s not just a pro making things look easy. He makes various appearances on them and usually shows himself up by riding like a bit of a dick and talks down to her a lot.
They do have an ebike category on the sunday sport enduro.
So yeah, they should go on sunday instead.
Thanks for bringing this channel to my attention. Will give it a missing in the future.
I only see her Vids on Instagram and i have them on silent
blocked the pair of them on instagram so their videos wouldn't come up.
i think she’s ACE in terms of progression and jumping and having the balls to hit certain things that clearly scare her. I don’t care if she’s fast or slow or whether she ‘deserves’ the sponsorship… i like her clips 🙂
+1 I find her mildly irritating to listen to but am so impressed with her progression and courage to have a go that I’ve happily watched quite a few of her videos. Biggest and fastest isn’t always what counts for sponsorship. Good luck to her
Totally agree with above posters about having someone relatable and presents themselves well, being just as valuable as someone who is an amazing rider.
For those throwing shade at Kara for being low/intermediate skill and getting free kit, how do you feel about others (mainly men) operating in the same kind of space?
e.g. McTrailrider looks like a good mid pack rider (about where I am) but he's not going get a rampage invite is he?
He seems to get a lot of free stuff. As do many others.
comes down to how much exposure you can get for a company. I don't care who you are sponsored by. Good on you if that is what you want to do. I can't be arsed with people that shove the products in your face in videos though. The videos also have to be good to watch to (which is why my channel does badly lol). I prefer watching normal people but also the video quality has to be good. By that I mean interesting.
By all accounts being a YT mountain bike influencer is hard work too.
e.g. McTrailrider looks like a good mid pack rider (about where I am) but he’s not going get a rampage invite is he?
McTrailriders videos are rarely about him and more often about the routes or location. They're generally decently shot which is pretty uncommon in the mtb youtube space. Trailfinder is another one who films accessible routes well.
the sunday sport enduro
Interesting title sponsor.
"MTBer puts 15 energy gels up his jacksy"
"Marzocchi Bomber found on moon"
Elvis been riding a 29er since 1986!!!
"Lovely Chantelle, 19, says mountain biking made her boobs grow: Special report pages 5-17."
"This Coronation Street star says MTBing and a diet of Fish and Rice cakes were the key to prepare him for last nights sensational episode"
Thanks for bringing this channel to my attention
Second post I said this - and I'll repeat it again.
Everything they do is to get you to watch.
Whether that's riding slowly when others are riding faster, saying "Oh my God" a lot, riding an E-Bike when others aren't, not prepping, not taking water and so on...
It is ALL designed to intrigue, inflame or provoke. So that you post about it on any form of social media or even just tell your mates down the Pub or in the Park when you're out with your kids.
3 pages on a Mountain Bike Forum - these techniques work well :o)
PS: I'm not holier than though and I have found myself being reeled in just the same.
Whether that’s riding slowly when others are riding faster, saying “Oh my God” a lot, riding an E-Bike when others aren’t, not prepping, not taking water and so on…
Yeah not sure what the eebs in with non eebs is but when you see that its not just the yootoobers but also Steve Peat, Josh Bryceland etc. you have to wonder if in order to get them to come for the publicity benefits, they're having to allow eBikes in the 'proper' race. A sad state of affairs if it is. If you CBA to ride it on the right bike; then just don't.
If you want some wholesome YT from Ard Rock, check this out.... (not a single bit of clickbait)
joe barnes / hazard racing is great to watch, amazing rider and locations. and seems very down to earth as does Fergus ..
also his videos makes you want to ride the same places, definately sold the IOM 2 day enduro to me last year. hopefully the dates will work next year.
v7fmp - Approved! Wholesome and some good music choices too :o)
Everything they do is to get you to watch.
Worked for me, out of curiosity. Won't be watching anything of theirs again...
Yeah joe Barnes / Hazzard racing easily my favorite MTB YT channel.
Definitely have their own style unlike any others, creative oddness, don't try too hard, and brilliant riders also
Joe's recent Fort Bill slop video is the best edit of the year so far.
Total opposite of these clowns.
Yeah not sure what the eebs in with non eebs is but when you see that its not just the yootoobers but also Steve Peat, Josh Bryceland etc. you have to wonder if in order to get them to come for the publicity benefits, they’re having to allow eBikes in the ‘proper’ race. A sad state of affairs if it is. If you CBA to ride it on the right bike; then just don’t.
As far as I can tess from Roots and Rain, the Enduro Sport had an ebike class (which Ratboy won) racing the 7 normal stages; there was also a Bosch emtb advanced which had stages 5, 6, 7 along with 4 other ebike specific stages (uphill? its not clear) and a Bosch emtb amateur which had stages 5, 6 and 4 ebike stages, one of which was done twice.
Ebike racing is probably quite fun, I'm sure they enjoyed it.
Why someone would pass up these 3 options which seem to cover most bases on days, difficulty etc to just ride around in the pedal bike race (affecting actual competitors) and get a N/C result is beyond me.
Aye, the Barnes lot are great. Bumped into him and James Shirley way back when the Irish Enduro started. They gave me some water as I'd ran out as they were parked beside me, really nice guys and where happy to chat about the racing. Picked Fergs brain at Graythwaite this year on one of the awkward techy bits and he was happy to give some advice. It worked! (although it may have been a fluke).
But call me cynical, but Karas shouting every 2 seconds on stage 1 did have me wonder. She actually rides it fairly well, stays on line mostly, no sudden changes. But hey, fair f*~ks to them. Her jumping is great though, wish I could hit the stuff she can. But he can gum my plums, comes across as a right tool especially towards her.
But call me cynical, but Karas shouting every 2 seconds on stage 1 did have me wonder
The first part looked fairly tame as well. Not sure what the hell she was getting excited out.
Everything they do is to get you to watch.
LOL no shit sherlock.