Ae Gravity Enduro – After the rain…

So how did everyone find it?

(i’ll post my thoughts later)

Top weekend, marred only by the weather and me snapping a rear sus link on the top section of stage 1 🙁

Ae’s not my favourite venue but the use of the DH track was great.

Signing on could’ve been better but Parr’s promised to sort that. Most importantly, the timing was unobtrusive and worked!

Great atmosphere too despite the rain. Roll on Kielder

Worth the cash?

How did the new Heckler ride Mike?!

Worth the cash?

Most importantly, the timing was unobtrusive and worked!

That makes it worth the cash imho.

That’s excellent news about the timing. That was the stumbling block for me entering some of the later rounds.

Glad to hear it… I invalided myself out but it’ll be a disaster for british racing if this one doesn’t succeed IMO. Really hoping to make Kielder, hopefully once the word of mouth starts the signups will kick off.

Heckler was good, my main problem was with the DH track, would have been fine in a DH race but a bit much for the field especially after it rained. My other half didn’t race because of it so was a bit of a shame, very out of character with the other 4 stages. I’ve done easier Pearce DH rounds!! Without the rain it might have been better on there.
Hoping Kielder brings it back to trail rather than DH

I have to disagree with you there re the DH track. The rain did make it more tricky but everyone seemed to finish the qualifier and stage 5 with a grin on their face. All the big jumps/drops were avoided and there were some sneaky new lines included.

The series is billed as the Gravity enduro so is always going to have a DH bias. There was nothing that needed anything bigger than a trail bike…….. imho, obviously 🙂

What is enduro racing?

Enduro racing is a cross country based event and is normally run on an existing red route cross country loop. The event is run like a stage rally event where each rider has to complete a set amount of stages, most of the timed stages will be downhill but some will have uphill sections.

From the blurb on the website
I saw plenty pushing down the DH in in Seeding, a few didn’t finish and some a couple of the masters went off down the shredder at the end rather than do Stage 5.

Aside from that loved the other 4 stages, could have tightened up the transfer times as it was hard to go slow enough to avoid sitting round for ages starts.

Hope the live finish line timing is sorted for Kielder.

This was my 4th or 5th enduro and one of the best. Nice for them to get the timing accurate, organisation seemed good and atmosphere was excellent. DH run was a bit harsh for an enduro and the weather kind of took the edge off it slightly. Very harsh to disqualify Joe Rafferty for snapping his Remedy on stage 1 then finishing the event on another bike (a borrowed 45lb DH Norco) which he’d never ridden before, then went on to set FTD on the remaining 4 (XC) stages. At least they did the decent thing and got him up on the podium with the winner.

haha…you should try a Enduro race in Europe. THAT will make your eyes go wide!

Enjoyed it, despite an appalling run on Stage 5, managed it in seeding, blew it on the race. Few teething probs but overall seemed good considering the weather, roll on Kielder!

I enjoyed it. Sign on / info on what was going on / should be going on was a bit too laid back for me. Lots of folk asking each other about finer details on starts etc.

Course was good but I minced big time. Nice atmosphere chatting to all the other vets as we pedalled between stages and waited.

Think the riders would be better set off with the fastest rather than slowest first? I caught the guy in front of me virtually every run just as the guy behind me caught me causing all three of us problems with a tangle of three trying to get past each other on singletrack.

I hit the road for the long drive home straight after I finished so have no idea of any results including how bad I did! Any idea when they will be online? Who won?

Glad this went well, really hope this series succeeds just because I think it’s a great format. I would definitely have been racing if my health was up to it. I am aiming to come and take pics at some of the others.

Yeah – I guess you could sum it up with, a few teething problems but the important bits went well and everyone I met had a smile on their face at the end. I’m looking forward to the next round anyway 🙂

…Think the riders would be better set off with the fastest rather than slowest first? I caught the guy in front of me virtually every run just as the guy behind me caught me causing all three of us problems with a tangle of three trying to get past each other on singletrack…

good point, but… setting the fastest riders off last helps maintain interest through the event – in theory everyone should get a mention for setting a new ‘fastest time’ into the finish arena…

stages 2, 3 and 4 were very pedally and suited the fitter riders, but the qualifier/stage5 was definitely one for the guys with more Dh experience.

i suspect a qualifying stage that was more representative of the overall event would have kept catching to a minimum.

anyway, a cracking event!

i haven’t made up my mind yet about the contrast between stages 1-4, which were fast and fun. and stage5/qualifer which was a steep, technical, Dh-course, mud-fest. it’s either a brilliant idea for keeping it serious and respectable, or it’ll cost them entries, as maybe your average 5″ trail bike rider will be put off, and the Dh crowd will be more likely to enter an actual Dh race.

Obviously i don’t know what will happen, i’m just writing shite.

Think the riders would be better set off with the fastest rather than slowest first?

That does seem strange? It would put me off a touch if I knew that the person in front of me was (theoretically) slower and the person behind was faster?

edit: good point about the fastest time

The downhill track was out of my league really. I fell off quite spectacularly on the seeding run, mangled my ankle and didn’t make it to the bottom.
I ended up going home on Sunday rather than racing but I regret that now as the rest of the stages were great.

Access to the showers after 5pm would have been good, my seeding run started at 5 and it was quite difficult to wash the blood off with a bottle of mineral water and toilet roll.

No one appears to have posted a link on the main site to this yet?

http://vimeo.com/23435672

Gives those of you that weren’t there an idea! Spent quite a lot of the day riding and chatting with Guy. Nice bloke.

I’ve got mixed feelings about the event. I signed up based on the web-ste blurb and what I’d heard about previous Kona and UK avalanche races and Stages 1-4 ticked those boxes and was brilliant fun.

For me the donwside was the inclusion of the DH course for stage 5 and seeding. If it had been dry it might of worked, but its Scotland, what are the chances! If I’d wanted to do a DH race I would of rode the Pearce series at Bringewood, 30miles from home!

I know there are harder enduro series in Europe, but I didn’t enter them. There are rumours the innerleithen round will have stages just as DH, so I’ll be giving that a miss. Keilder sounds more sensible so I’m considering that.

From an orgaisation and timing, in general it went really well. There were some first of the series teething issues, but that’s only fair.

Oh and the results are already up on the timing peoples web site:

http://www.racetimingsystems.com/

Haha, that video is amazing – where did the guy on 24s come from!? 😆

Are there any more pics/video floating around does anyone know?

That does seem strange? It would put me off a touch if I knew that the person in front of me was (theoretically) slower and the person behind was faster?

What’s the time gap between riders at the start? Don’t know much about how an Enduro is run but if seeding’s done well (like with DH) it should mean there is only a very small difference in times between each rider as the event progresses. only time I’ve ever seen it go fastest first in DH racing (set off at 30sec intervals) is with the women or Vets where there can be 2min time difference between the 1st and 3rd or 4th seeded riders times due to the small fields and huge difference in ability.

I thought the event went well, yes a few teething problems but I’m sure they will be sorted by the next round. As for the tracks used I fell they should have been a bit more gravity based or split 50 50 to find the best overall rider not just the xc wippet/dh king more to find the best all mountain rider, but it will be hard to keep every one happy.

I was quite happy with my result but must make a mental note to at least carry a jacket with me I was soaked to the skin ten minutes after the start and stayed that way till just before the start of stage five.

3-4 min specials seem way to short IMO but glad it went well.

Where was the qualifier held and were Shredder/Omega Man left out?

Qualified on the DH track, shredder and final descent was stage 1, no omega man though was looking at it as we headed up for s5 on the DH again wishing it was in.

Looking at the results was happily surprised with 90th overall and 47th in masters after another crags in the bog/stage 5.

As for the balance in.the stages only 4 was really pedally, 2&3 were ok and 1&5 mostly gravity. Would prob have been better to qualify on a more representative stage.

Mint, mint, mint weekend 😀

Almost the worst weather conditions and yet once on track it all got going well. The wait at the top of the quali and stage 1 was horrible though!

Atmosphere was excellent on site and track all weekend. Organisers very friendly and approachable etc.

I felt the course was a spot on split of pedal and tech. The DH had all the brave moves taken out of it and was rollable. I’m not claiming to be an expert, I fell twice in my quali as I was pushing too hard, was not anyone elses fault as I could have slowed it down if I wished but was enjoying the challenge.

My race was cut short due to my first lesson of running tubeless on normal tires – yes that is a freezer bag repair running tubeless done on stage Couldnt get enough pressure to stop the tyre rolling without the bag coming out more and more. Managed the ride back from the bottom of Granny Green Love on it. Spot the stans doing it’s job.

fbk – think I spoke to you watching the last stage at the mud/rootfest.

Looking forward to the next ones now I know my tent can take the rain lol.

Sounds like a fun course. It was probably slightly too pedally last year, although it was still a lot of fun. I don’t see the problem with having the DH track in there, especially as everything else is groomed, for me its about who can carry the most speed over a variety of terrain. The qualifying and running order is very difficult to get right. Were you riding in singles or pairs?

Oh forgot to add – line taping was also very good and made for some very interesting choices.

Mr Plow – yep – I saw that photo and thought it must be you 🙂 I wonder if that guy ever came back up the hill for his saddle!!

Fingers crossed for better luck all round at Kielder 🙂

Shandy – there was some initial talk of setting off in pairs but fortunately they stuck with singles. I can’t really see how the pairs thing would work?

I enjoyed the weekend, Rode the seeding run like a pansy, but after having a word with myself came out fighting on Sunday and got 8th in masters.
I think it was a good mix of trails, everybody has different skills and a providing a good mix gives everybody a chance to get bits they like and/or are good at. Canny wait for round 2!!!!

Punctures are almost always user error. Wrong tyre – check, probably lost pressure on other stages – check, pedal stokes into rocks – check. Lesson learned lol.

The guy did come back for his saddle. We agreed it was a lovely expensive trophy as per your initial analysis.

Another top point was SRAM helping everyone out. I saw a guy after the race with knackered lyrics that was about to bung his bike in the car. Pointed him over to the sram van and later spotted someone giving the forks a proper going over. Hope he got them sorted. 😀

I can’t really see how the pairs thing would work?

easy, you divide the field by 2, and pair 1st fastest in the top half with 1st fastest in the bottom half, and explain that the slowest of the pair is expected to yield before the first narrow bit.

at least, that’s how i’d do it.

Meant to give a “Big Up” for the SRAM guys. They fixed my shifter after I snapped the lever off in qualifying, then both laughed and sympathised when I showed them my frame on race day. They even offered me a seat on their bean bags & looked after my bike while I walked the course :).

Top bunch of very friendly, helpful guys – makes me glad I’ve got Sram/Avid/RS stuff

ahwiles – ah ok, that kind of makes sense I guess 🙂 .
That does mean there’s even more of a mix up of fast & slow riders, although I understand the gaps can be bigger.

Last year at the Avalanche round, they paired you off as they went down the results of the seeding run. Theory behind it was that you would both be a similar speed. The done thing on the day was a gentleman’s agreedment that you took turns to be first away, and it worked well for us. I did prefer it as a single though.

fbk: Bummer on your link. Thanks for the company over the weekend. It was enjoyed. I’ll have a blog up of it all later hopefully. Think I might have crap camera picture of Ned finishing to include?

andrewy33 – that just sounds silly!

Pete – no worries, cracking weekend on the whole. I’ll look out for the Blog – crap pics of Ned are always entertaining, we need to keep his spirits down after he beat Beef despite puncturing on 2 stages 🙂

Is there a list of the other stages (i.e 2,3,4)?
I only ask as on the website it said the stages were a 50-50 mix of man made and natural stuff. I know Ae pretty well so interested to hear where all this ‘natural stuff’ is?

Downhill course in the wet for non-downhillers would have bene an interesting spectacle, even with the main obstacles removed.

The pairs thing wasn’t too popular but it worked out alright. Most pairs agreed who would go first and then alternated. In my case I was with a guy who raced DH and 4X but wasn’t as fit as me. I basically gave him the gate every time and then followed him, he would open a gap and if there was a pedally section I would catch him up. Obviously it allows them to put twice the riders through in a given timeframe.

I noticed the Italian organiser in Dirt saying they were aiming for 70% of people missing the cut-offs. I would’ve said Ae last year was close to 100%, there were some very long waits.