I suspect that in percentage points, the average MTBer would be closer to the winning time in an enduro than they would be in a National grade XC race! The gals and guys who ride XC at that level are FIT, i mean properly fit, even those who look to be making up the numbers!

At the recent Cannock round, which isn’t very hilly in the grand scheme of things, the climb back up to the start at the end of the lap was a good distance (i’d estimate probably 1.5km) of continuous uphil grdade, and the top riders where still standing up and mashing the pedals in a big gear when they got to the top! I’m a “typical” hobby MTBer, and i think i’d manage about 100 yards before i had to sit down and change down…….

Been said up there but thetransition times on ews are really challenging, eventhe pmba grizedale I did was 38km of riding (38km round grizedale is a long way) you need to be fit as a fiddle to get through that and then blast it on the descents. I wasn’t.

I did the Boltby Bash this year. It was my first race since the POC King and Queen in ’13. I would have preferred to enter the Enduro category but it sold out and therefore I entered the Sportive. I loved it and I’ll look to enter other races, hopefully this year, if not definitely next.

I rode the Sportive in the same fashion as I would have rode the Enduro e.g. took the route as a whole and transitions steady with time to chill and chat and focussed on being as quick as possible on the descents. Then comparing Strava times with mates after the race to see how we did.

The Sportive format, certainly at Boltby, is the same route/course as the Enduro but is timed from start to finish. So if I’m unlucky and I only have the option to race this again next year I’ll opt to get round as quickly as possible.

So maybe if other events use this Sportive format then this might be the option for you OP?

It seems to me that a downhill specialist arriving at the start of a timed DH stage , lets say 80% knackered would still ride a DH stage quicker than an XC specialist arriving at that DH stage 60% knackered, and also vice versa.

You’re assuming they’re all just DH stages though, which isn’t quite right. And no, I’m not just looking for an argument, merely pointing out the saying enduro is just staged downhill races is off the mark. There’s so much more to it than that, some of the EWS stages are absolute monsters.

I think it’s brilliant, it’s the most accessible form of racing to yer average Josephine, way easier to start off than both XC or DH.

Give it a go.

Thanks for the replies.
Well I’m willing to give it a go.

Can anyone recommend any good events more suited to a first timer?

The PMBA R1 at Gisburn is good for first timers (no time limits, trail centre trail stages), and get more gnarly as the series goes on.

Have a look at the PMBA events. Get sold out quickly but they are set up for most abilities and ages. It’s well organised and very welcoming. Next round is at Lee Quarry.

Whereabouts are you based Geologist? Sounds to me like you need to have a go at MTB orienteering in one of the more hilly parts of the country. Fair bit of XC riding and if you are fast on the rough descents you can certainly make up some time too. But it all comes down to route choice and navigation in the end, making it as much about planning on the hoof as it is about out and out fitness. Don’t get me wrong, the boys consistently doing well are bloody fit and fast, but given a combination of terrain and difficult route choices, it is amazing how level the field becomes.

This all presupposes you can read a map of course 🙂

Thanks Welshfarmer, I’m in Ludlow, so not a million miles away. I’ll have a look at those.

Current masters xco world champion won the masters ews emerald enduro.

@geologist

I can highly recommend this one (my local event and not too far for you). Plenty of proper off road riding and some pretty gnarly options available if you care to include them in your route choice.

https://www.bmbo.org.uk/calendar/details.php?event_id=1080

Where are you based geologist?

Swinduro is a good shout & definitely favours the xc whippet!

motorbike enduro had similar debates. some events the time limits on the liaison sections were so easy that every one made them without penalties, so a 4 or 5 hour event was decided over a few minutes of special test, which could be won by a fast motocross style rider over a pure enduro rider who could ride fast all day. Some events the time limits were so tight that half the field could be eliminated as over 60 minutes behind schedule. (houring out)

As someone who isn’t XC fit, but likes a good technical climb, I have always thought there was something missing from the available races. I think the Singletrack Weekender races tried to address it by including lots of skills tests (mini trials, hill climb, downhill and xc) all in one weekend.

There was also a great event ages ago in Kielder that featured a 25mile loop with all sorts of tests (a few trials sections, a fire road dh, road/gate ettiquette, a hillclimb, etc thrown in (it was my best ever placing so I like to cling on to it 🙂 ).

I wonder if Malverns had anything similar last year?

So I tend to make my own up – for example Ard Rock – the climb out of stage 4. I try and clear that and then look on Strava for the day and mentally adjust my overall result to include that 🙂

In essence, I agree that there isn’t a good all-round technical test of rider ability, but Enduros are still really good fun.

I wouldn’t mind and undero timed climbs and you just have to survive the untimed descents.

it’s the most accessible form of racing to yer average Josephine, way easier to start off than both XC

I wouldn’t say that, the Manchester Mid-Week Madness XC series is open to all, simple categories of Racer (you hold a BC licence) and Enthusiast (you don’t) and they’re £15 OTD entry, can be ridden on anything from a CX bike to an Enduro Sled and they are really sociable, laid back affairs – obviously at the sharp end they’re very quick, think National Elite Level kind of quick, but for the rest of us.

I think that Enduro is just more fashionable in regards to accessibility, it’s certainly not cheaper once you factor in the entry costs, the inevitable Enduro / LT trail bike, the pads etc, which not everyone has.

As someone who raced XC once, on my only mountain bike, a 15kg 140mm full sus, I can concur it is open to all…..as long as you don’t mind being lapped by whippets on their 9kg mega expensive bikes. I have no problem with this or with the difference in bikes between front runners and rear end party goers. I race road and do OK, but the XC race I did was none technical, less technical than CX races I’ve done. It was more about going fast on multiple uphill sections, the downhills were very easy with no skills required. I do completely agree that UCI XC is now much more technical. (The XC race I did a number of the front runners had carbon 29er bikes with rigid carbon forks and very narrow 29er tyre)
I wouldn’t even dream of racing Enduro, would love to have the skills to do so – but would more than likely be getting in everyone’s way!

If you included steep technical climb special tests in an enduro event then they’d have to be observed, with penalties added for dabbing/failure, as otherwise people would just get off and run if it was faster – like in a XC race.
Ultimately, in an event against the clock, there are no bonus points for style.

I don’t race because I don’t see the point. I have no chance of getting a decent result at XC, Enduro or DH, unless maybe there are multiple categories and I put myself in the “easiest” one such as the “Midweek Madness” “Enthusiasts” category

steve_b77

Member

I think that Enduro is just more fashionable in regards to accessibility, it’s certainly not cheaper once you factor in the entry costs, the inevitable Enduro / LT trail bike, the pads etc, which not everyone has.

I think that out of the people that are likely to want to do a race, probably more have a longish travel these days than anything that looks like an XC bike. I reckon that’s borne out when you look at, say, the glentress seven- a first race for a load of people and probably half the field are on trailbikes.

It’s not something I’ve ever quite got either. I’ve done a few – Innerleithen MTB Racing’s ones mostly, and two by No Fuss- the first Kinlochleven one and one at Nevis Range. In theory it should work nicely for me – I ride stuff like the Inners and Kinlochleven trails all the time on a big full suspension bike and enjoy them. But the racing never comes together for me – all these races were purely downhill timed stages, my fitness, which is my strength, didn’t come into it. At the Kinlochleven one, if two of the stages (a big long one and a shorter one linked by a little climb) had been joined together it would have immediately removed the bias towards DH riders playing on a trail bike and made it a bit more of an all round event. A few more climbs in stages would really sort things out I think.

I should add that I also do a bit of XC racing and enjoy it and do pretty well at it – mostly endurance stuff. I think the Muckmedden 6 hour race format in Fife was good – there was one lap that you raced over 6 hours, but three times the course split with a much more technical “enduro” line and an easier “XC” line. The Enduro line was always quicker but you had to be a good technical rider to survive them. That then levelled the playing field between XC riders (although the front end of the field took the enduro line anyway – you’d be amazed what a decent bike handler can do on an XC bike) and the people going round on big 150mm trail bikes.

It’s fun, it’s sociable, you don’t have to train for it per se, it’s a chance to ride some of the best trails around, see a new area, you can race your mates and meet them at the end of each stage and have a bit of craic, it certainly sharpens yer skills, and did I mention it’s fun?…

Na, I don’t get it either. 😊

I think my problem with that is, I can do that on a normal ride. Why pay what now seems to be the thick end of £100 to do it to bimble around in the middle of the pack?

munrobiker

Member

all these races were purely downhill timed stages, my fitness, which is my strength, didn’t come into it.

I think you might be underselling yourself, the grey mare’s trail’s a killer for anyone that’s not properly fit. Not from pedalling (though, to do it quick you do a fair amount of pedalling to keep the speed up) but from the length and general high physicality of it, I’m always dying by the time it gets off the moor and into the flume.