RIP Tweedlove

He also runs a Hillside Creative Agency,  but that pretty much runs itself with staff I think.

@airvent oddly the opposite experience for me, same year.

I left well early to make it round and nobody was bothered, was going round with decent folk (Thanks to the guy who fed me drumsticks on the way back up to stage 6) and had parked well away from the herd. Can appreciate how that could colour your perception mind, the practice day was a riot as well!

One of the best stages I remember was at a tweedlove at Glentress, top of ho chi min, to the fort then down to the hydro, 15 minute stage with a decent fire road climb in the middle. Now it’s all 5 3 minute stages with no physical effort.

This sounds like more fun and more of an adventure. Probably harder to take seriously/train and prepare for those at the top.

Apparently you and I are in a minority though, and what the people want is repeatable, rollable downhills with minimal aerobic effort.

One of the best stages I remember was at a tweedlove at Glentress, top of ho chi min, to the fort then down to the hydro, 15 minute stage with a decent fire road climb in the middle. Now it’s all 5 3 minute stages with no physical effort.

That was an EWS, back when EWS was interesting. And before FLS bulldozed the trail…

It’s fun to think of ways to turn enduro into a bike race (or some hybrid variant), rather than a time trial, that would put a very different complexion on things – attract different types of riders. Given it’s in the doldrums it’s prob the right time to be thinking of new things, it is really hard to see how this could be made to work (format and practicalities of land access), and would basically be unappealing to the majority of punters.

I suspect the format we have is the one that suits the most people best, and the sport needs a refresh of people and venues after the first / second generation of organisers have built the discipline. I wouldn’t expect these people to just naturally spring up, either, given the spectacularly thankless task that is race organisation. Organising and engaging people for anything is hard these days, let alone a multi-stage MTB event.

To be fair I was always of the opinion that enduro events should have at least an up stage and not be all winch and plummet. Where only the downs count.

As a fat and lazy rider, I’m not convinced by including uphill!

A variety of stages, both in style and length would peak my interest, and longer transitions to make it more of a journey.

Back in the mists of time when the mtb-borders forum ran and we met for rides. We had an annual event. Last one was a timed section up corby linn, times down the quarry off 3B, complete an easy soduko at bottom, times through mullets, a memorize these numbers (I had a sharpie, so wrote them on my thigh) time penalties for mistakes. Next section was back up SUW but you had to take a painted rock from the quarry, big ones were obvious pebbles were hidden.  Last was a banzia race down corbie linn Then pub and curry. Think it was “marshalled” by 4 folk and some walkie talkies.

Back in the mists of time when the mtb-borders forum ran and we met for rides. We had an annual event. Last one was a timed section up corby linn, times down the quarry off 3B, complete an easy soduko at bottom, times through mullets, a memorize these numbers (I had a sharpie, so wrote them on my thigh) time penalties for mistakes. Next section was back up SUW but you had to take a painted rock from the quarry, big ones were obvious pebbles were hidden.  Last was a banzia race down corbie linn Then pub and curry. Think it was “marshalled” by 4 folk and some walkie talkies.

that was the only sporting event that I’ve ever won in my life. I’ve still got the thermal top that Walter blagged from a bike shop for first prize.  I can’t remember if it was for overall win or if I just won the climb up Corby Linn but I’m still proud!

All Enduro racing should include an element of uphill IMO.

It’s turned into Downhill racing without an uplift in many events, and I don’t think that’s right.

BoardinBob Full Member
TVTA is not the Trail Fairies. All a bit People’s Front of Judea/ Judean People’s Front but TVTA are down the golfie and the fairies are glentress

TVTA is indeed not the Trailfairies but I don’t think there’s any real competition between them. Trailfairies is organised by the FLS’s MTB rangers and so focuses on maintenance of waymarked trails and has created a few new trails that fit into FLS’s own plans. It’s mostly done work at Glentress but has done work at Innerleithen too. TVTA is about the “unofficial” trails that are in the valley.

Though sadly using the present tense for the Trailfairies activities isn’t quite right, as it’s been on hiatus for a couple of years now.

@mtnboarder – I try to respond to any trailbuilding inquiries sent to the Trailfairies’ Facebook page, apologies if I missed yours! (I’m not part of FLS but a few volunteer Trailfairies have helped with the Facebook page and given the workload the rangers seem to have had that mean it’s mainly been volunteers responding to messages recently.)

For any brand, proposition, service or product to be successful it has to meet three criteria:

Desireability, Viability, Feasibility.

Desireability – people want it.

Viability – people will pay for it and that will cover the cost of running it.

Feasibility – you have the capability to deliver it.

Enduro racing has generally waned in mass Desireability – it’s become old hat and not the new trendy thing anymore.

The lower numbers, and rising cost of everything needed to run the events means the cost is significant magnitudes higher than 10 years ago. People are less willing to pay to ride trails that are free to ride any of the other 364 days of the year, which can now be easily navigated through TrailForks, compounded with that lower desireability, means it’s very hard to make a profit out of Enduro racing so it’s become non-viable.

Due to the lack of profit to re-invest in the business because of this non-viability, the capability to deliver an enduro race is massively reduced as we can’t pay for all the staff needed. Which means it’s not feasiable to put on enduro races at the scale they were previously.

All of this has been pretty clear and predictable for a while now.

What survivor brands do in situations like this is re-look at the strategy – starting with Desireability. There’s no point making something more feasible or viable if no one wants it. This is where many brands go wrong, they tinker with how they deliver the same thing, instead of innovating the business itself.

In the coming years we’ll see innovation in the types of events that are put on, testing the waters to see what people actually want after more than a decade of the same kind of thing on the same kind of trails with the same kind of people.

Then we’ll see innovation in new business models that will turn a profit, with some building new, exciting brands around that changed proposition and business model.

Nothing ever stands still – the end of something now is the beginning of something brand new tomorrow.

Thanks ChrisL,

Not sure how much goodwill I have to put into volunteering any more- FLS have been nothing short of obstructive and incompetent for years now. The cabin debacle, the Worlds and the new trails have all been mismanaged to the point where Glentress is a worse place for all the public investment directed to it.

I’m genuinely curious as to how much public money people think should be used to subsidise a commercial business. Of course TL brings huge local benefits but so do other businesses and events. They have, over the years, received significant public money, both in time and grants. But they are still a commercial venture and they need to be able to stand on their own feet. I’m not sure if I am entirely comfortable at suggestion, however slight, that public bodies are responsible for their success or otherwise.

There’s nothing wrong with public funds being used to subsidise a business if that venture subsequently brings other benefits to the area – I’m thinking tourism mostly. There does have to be a sensible cut-off point though and, as has already been pointed out above, in these times of austerity it’s harder to provide that funding.

I agree that commercial entities should be self supporting to a large degree, but where is the cutoff? Do we direct the funding towards Olympic medals or encouraging participation in the young and at grass roots level? Which has more benefit?

The waste of public money in supporting events like the Worlds XC which created zero tangible benefit for riders or local businesses (apart from ESO who readily scooped up cash). The knock on effect of effectively closing Glentress during the summer holiday period and delaying the new new trail development badly hit many businesses financially, not just Tweedlove. The promised legacy, so shouted about by DMBinS (also publicly funded, and of minimal tangible benefit IME) has been nothing beyond a pile of rocks and a sign.

Outside of the financial side, Tweedlove suffered probably more through the hinderance of the public bodies, rather than the lack of financial support though. Active campaigning saw the banning of Tour of the Borders by the Council and at a local level there has been much opposition from the community council.

saw the banning of Tour of the Borders by the Council

that’s simply not true. SBC never banned the event. They wanted to consult on alternative routes. They never banned the event.  for balance, the councils detailed statement is contained in this article.

https://road.cc/content/news/tour-o-borders-organiser-slams-disingenuous-council-301947

Sorry- “effective banning” would have been more accurate.

The consultation on alternative routes was done extensively. A large number of alternative options were looked at and none were suitable. Off the back of that SBC made it effectively impossible to run on that basis.

Next year it will be back to the original route, which did work.

Trail fairies.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Xm79evCfsYcr15p6/?mibextid=WC7FNe 

Just spotted on Facebook – trail fairies are back in action on 17th August…

So sad this, I was lucky enough to be there from day one, I’d quit xc style racing but the gt7 dragged me back in, then those first 2 EWS rounds were just incredible. Dug, raced and marshalled and loved it. I think special mention for the accessibility of it, while it feels like so many organisers were in an arms race and obsessed with chasing the top end, being a knobber in a tweedlove race has always felt great. I was like 278th in the first ews but felt like a bloody champion

hatter
Full Member

*waves* Councillor here, I cannot really overstate how squeezed local government budgets are right now, we also have a huge swath of services that we are legally obliged to provide (i.e. bin collections) so when the costs of all those go up and our funding doesn’t all the ‘nice to have but not legally mandated’ stuff is where the cuts have to fall.

Borders council is almost certainly going to end up poorer from this though. Like other things, tweedlove and biking in general has been a golden goose that the council and local businesses have been happy to reap the benefits of but few wanted to actually feed it. And there’ll be plenty complaining now it’s had the temerity to die.

Whilst I agree that government money shouldn’t prop private businesses up, it is clear for anybody trying to book accommodation, have a meal or grab a pint during Tweedlove that it does bring a lot of extra people to the area.

I cant help but think the weather being so bad this year may have put the final nail in the coffin? If it was dry and warm, would it have been more successful with vendors making more money and everybody being happier?

It does seem peoples attitudes to mass events and racing has changed. Before COVID there were loads of events, all well supported. I used to do a few Gorrick or Evans events as it got me riding somewhere different and it was good to have a beer and some food afterwards but I started to get fed up with it being too busy (I know, I paid money and contributed to the traffic) so I stopped doing them and started exploring more on my own with an OS map and trailforks. Now I like nothing more than an off piste ride where I hardly see another person.

Now I like nothing more than an off piste ride where I hardly see another person.

I stopped racing enduro way before it was cool to stop racing enduro, but I do wonder if post-Covid misanthropy has something to do with the current squeeze on event organisers?

Borders council is almost certainly going to end up poorer from this though.

What’s the mechanism for that to happen please?

I can only think of decreased business rates income if other companies with premises fail as a result of Tweedlove stopping, which seems a stretch TBH.

Happy to be corrected though.

Has Enduro just got too big? Tweedlove used to be all grassroots and just come along and ride with your mates and socialise, but then it started attracting the Pros and things started to change. I suspect as the Pros moved in the courses became more challenging (I’ve only ever done 1 Enduro and it was the Tweedlove Funduro, so not something I’m basing cold hard facts on), and may have put off the grassroots riders, so numbers go down – as said, this isn’t based on evidence, just my thoughts on it – this might be a millions miles away, but reading other comments on this thread, I think it isn’t too far off.

I’d hope every event is a great success, but that proves much harder when the pool of potential entrants is reduced. It is a really difficult balance to put on a course that satisfies everyone that also doesn’t put everyone off.

Pandemic has also changed how people spend their time…far fewer people keen to be mingling with loads of people (although music festivals seems to be surviving well)…

Ae will be my only race this year

previously ive done 8 odd races a year, usually at least 1 tweedlove, even before covid the demands of family life were making it harder, As much as Id love to race the BNES series, for me financially theres no way I could manage driving up and down the country, paying £100 for race entry + more for camping/ bunkhouse+ food + broken bike bits etc, probably looking at £250-300 a weekend?

What’s the mechanism for that to happen please?

I can only think of decreased business rates income if other companies with premises fail as a result of Tweedlove stopping, which seems a stretch TBH.

Happy to be corrected though.

I think he was referring to the geographical area rather than the institution.

Is there any data on the demographics of mountain bikers?

I haven’t raced since my kids were born and it’s unlikely I’ll manage any racing for at least another few years (my kids have made it quite clear to me they don’t like mountain biking so it’s unlikely we’re going to become one of those racing families so many on here seem to be part of).  By that point I’m not sure if I’ll actually want to race anymore.

I’m still wondering about the effect of ebikes on the sport in general and how it affects entry into it.  Sure, it makes it easier to get started but it increases the barrier to entry to youngsters looking to take it up purely due to the cost, imo.

I’m not sure about that though so that’s why I’m wondering if there has been any changes in the demographics of mountain bikers over the last ten years and particularly since ebikes became so popular.

I think he was referring to the geographical area rather than the institution.

It was a response to a post specifically about local authority budgets and mentioned the council by name, so nah.

<quote>squirrelking
Free Member

I think he was referring to the geographical area rather than the institution. </quote>

both are true but i was referring to the council. There’s little doubt in my mind that this’ll have a knockon effect of losing local businesses, tweedlove provided several of the busiest weekends of the year and have done for a long time, the area is adapted to it. Any marginal business that benefited from those surges is going to be nervous. And it’s likely to eat at numbers year-round- people who came once for a race and then returned, people whose mate raced and then brought back the whole gang, etc.

Speaking to groups of visitors, especially offpistey visitors and tweedlove comes up all the time.

I think special mention for the accessibility of it, while it feels like so many organisers were in an arms race and obsessed with chasing the top end, being a knobber in a tweedlove race has always felt great

Definitely this for me . I used to do vallelujah and king of the hill every year and if  I finished in one piece and wasn’t dead last I considered it a success but you never felt like you were an afterthought at tweedlove events . I did the EWS 80 the first year it came back and it for some reason I felt like they were just after my money, to be fair the weather was rubbish and that can have an effect on an event.

I live in New Zealand now and the Enduro events near me are pretty small compared to Tweedlove . Even in Rotorua the main series is 3 one day events which I think are mainly used as fund raisers for the local club . The much bigger event is the Waka which is a marathon event which attracts more riders . I think the marathon events can attract people who aren’t necessarily full on mtb riders but people just looking for a challenge and something to train for so your potential market is bigger .

I hope someone comes along and still runs some events in the valley , they were great fun and the local community benefited from them on the whole . It would be a shame if there was no legacy from that .