Ard (rock) Yeah

great weekend. achieved my goals of not coming last on every stage out of our group, not crashing, not cramping and finishing in the top 50%.

That last section was brilliant today but awful yesterday

By comparison the first section was brilliant yesterday but awful today!

yeah wish I’d pushed harder on the last section, was wary after yesterday but there was plenty grip after all. 1 and 5 were my favourites, 1 was extra fun today.

Absolutely shattered, not doing that on a hardtail again. Challenging but damn good fun and pleased I made myself do it.

Trout, good job you weren’t up on section 4 he was very unhappy.

Excellent weekend, Big thanks to the riders for being cheery, cooperative and having a banter, made all the standing about at the top a lot of fun.

Have to say while stages 1 & 5 were very pleasant, looking over to 3&4, it did look a bit nasty.

Riding down 5 at the end of the day after you all cut a great in was a very special treat. Cracking bit of trail that.

bring on 2015!

What was the problem on section 4 Darrenspink I only got to see 5 and 1 the whole weekend .

They said bring your bikes and you will get a lot of riding in
Like yeah ride to your section and spend the day there
and then miss the free beer and food the marshals got if you go for an evening ride that is if you have any energy left as surprised how knackered marshaling is .

Very surprised at the lack of injuries over the 2 days the medics were very happy to have a quiet event and little work to do .
the guy at the bottom with me only had a cut finger to attend to

Trout..he was freeeeeezing. It was dark and extremely windy. Talked to him for 30s and he said he was hating it.

I reckon they must of made an amount of money out of that race (and won to boot) they should pay people who help out.

Edit…actually think it was section 3.

Just got back down south from a brilliant weekend. Now tucking in to a hard earned beer.

Chap on stage 4 didn’t look happy. Even when I fell flat on my face in to the mud trying first to cycle up, then to run up a hill he didn’t muster a smile. It probably was cold there though with wind being funnelled through.

Stage 5 was brilliant today, no wonder you saw all smiles there Trout. Proper fun.

I marshalled the top of stage 2 all day today it was horrible, but had some great banter with the riders, and seen some good riding. Glad i got to ride most of the course on friday while setting it out. Maybe next year i’ll get to ride properly

My guys were manning stage 4 as well they probably didnt seem that happy as they only got in off the p#*s about 2 hours before the race began, none of the guys on 4 had any interest in mountan biking they volunteered to help out so that they could have a day of work on friday, i dont think they will volunteer for anything i ask them to again lol

Gotta say the marshals I spoke to were all great. It was an awesome event (again) I really liked the new s4.

Next year I’ll make sure I bolt my chainring on properly though… :p

Top event again! Huge thanks to everyone who made it happen!

Bloody hell I did not realize how the weather was so different at each end of the course .
that explains why they arrived at me dressed for winter riding and I had spent the day keeping out of the sun as my head was frying

Great event, some quality riding to be had up there!

Had a fall on first stage near the bottom (and lost my flapjack 😡 ), had a puncture and chain came off on the last stage, other than that it was a really good day!

Brilliant event again and thanks to all the organisers and marshals. I did my best “Aaron Gwin” on stage 4 after flatting the rear down the first gully. Quite good fun trying to control the rear all the way down but bloody knackering! Sorry to the 3 or 4 riders that I may have held up, I was trying to keep out of the way but still get down the course in a reasonable time. Based on times relative to my mate, I figure the flat cost me around 2 minutes extra. All part of the fun!

darrenspink – Member
Absolutely shattered, not doing that on a hardtail again.

SO much fun on a HT!

Were the stages the same as last year?

I think I heard someone say they changed one, wouldn’t know which one though!

I “think” someone said stage 3 had a change to it. And stage 4 was all new for this year.

Stage 1 had a shorter, steeper ending to it but otherwise the same. Stage 2 was exactly the same. Stage 3 set off down a different gully but was more or less the same once you picked up the ridge before the ‘big steep bit’. Stage 4 was all new. Stage 5, apart from the start being 5 metres before the stone wall rather than on it, was the same.

Well I had a grand weekend out, even with the occasionally hilarious weather conditions. I did the challenge thing on the Saturday, it was great fun, but I reckon I’ll be back for the Enduro proper next year if I get chance. I loved the timed stages, they were just the right level of challenging and fun for me. We had a wander round stages 1 and 5 on the Sunday and there was a very wide range of abilities on display, but most people seemed to be having a great time.

(Tell you what though, they might want to get more bogs in next time, they were pretty grim by Sunday morning.)

Yes, 8 portaloos wasn’t enough. I went to use the toilet on Sunday afternoon just before we left and they were “full”!

the marshalls on stage 3 were taking a pummeling from the wind, the flag ripped right off the pole at the top of 3 as I was waiting to start

Marshalls were great, course was great. Had a great time, but a pinch flat right at the top of 5, which I decided to repair rather than ride out/run means my time was appalling.

Glad I did fix it though as 5 was an absolute blast and I wasn’t wasting that final transition!

I didn’t enjoy the new stage in practice, but it was fine in the race. That boggy climb out was no fun though!

Top weekend.

It was a great event! First time riding in that part of the world and loved it.

Does anyone know if the results of the All mountian challenge are out anywhere? I cannot find it on the Sportident website!

Found it! as you were.

This has just reminded me how slippy the bottom of stage 1 was.

Another great weekend at the Ard Rock enduro for me and my lad. Found it harder going than last year though, and my body is feeling it today! I think it was the new section 4 that finally drained my legs or the climb out of it…..how long was section 4, it seemed to go on for ages? Some great riding, great views and good banter. Thanks to the marshalls and anyone else who made it happen. Top do!!!! 😀

Four was ace and I really liked the changes that got you there and out – even the bog fest in the ferns by the river.
I thought S1 was changed at the top and a little less ‘banzai!’ than last year although still a big ‘boom!’ of a first stage.
I was gutted by 5 – I just didn’t have any pedal left to do it justice and it had dried out to properly quick.

I did last years’ on a Chameleon and this years’ on a Zesty. Both good, both different. Hardtails rock but bouncy is good also.

Did anyone see the guy on the tandem with young child in stoker position???

I can’t believe some people (according to Marshals) were whining it was too hard. Neither hell nor high water could keep me away from 2015.

The tandem guy was Guy Kesteven, it’s a nicolai I think , the kid must have a bit of bottle!

I found it difficult compared to last year but then I haven’t been riding for the 3 months up to race day, I still didn’t do to bad considering, I’ll definitely be back next year and I’ll definitely be putting the training in for then!

The kid can’t see anything. Which with Guy choosing where you go probably helps.

Have you seen any photo’s of the event yet? I’m guessing they will be on rootsandrain sometime soon?

Kesteven’s tandem is awesome! Jim Buchanan and I did a couple of laps of the car park field on it. #fullenduro Guy also decided to show me how well it skids… A 180 degree skid on a tandem when you’re the stoker is damn scary.

Hehe – if that was Sunday afternoon then I saw that

Looked ace fun

They were just in front of me on the steep section of Stage 1 on Saturday.. got the bike proper sideways (to the point I thought it was going to dig in and they were going over) before letting of the brakes and riding it out – awesome! B-)

The kid can’t see anything.

I dunno, she was peering right round dad for a good look when I was following them down the ace wiggly bit after stage 2. Top work from the both of them. 🙂

she was peering right round dad for a good look

That’s caught her a smack in the head on a tree before!

If anyone’s interested I’ve done a write up of my weekend there.

http://cycopathcycles.co.uk/team-race-reports/

As all the others have said great weekend, great atmosphere and thanks to all the marshals!

Had a cracking weekend too. Think doing a full course reccy in the torrential rain on Saturday was not my best ever decision. Glad I stuck it out for the Sunday even though I really didn’t feel like it by the time I made it back on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday was all pain, but Sunday was definitely a fun day!

Gaz2405 – many thanks to your co-pilot Lorna as her words of advice got me up that steep bit too!

Guy and Daughter looked to be having a great time and when they when through the wall top of 5 if she had not had spd`s I reckon she would have gone three feet in the air when the back kicked up over the stones.

It looked so much fun that they may lose a marshal for next year and gain an entrant.

Photos here guys n girls

https://www.facebook.com/sylvia.slavin/photos_albums

Been through about 2000 photos of the Sunday and managed to find just 1 of myself. I can’t be photogenic enough! Seem to see loads of some people.
More photos here – https://www.facebook.com/john.horner.79/photos_albums