Well, what can I say?

Great venue, how ever the organisation and course marking was utter shocking, never seen so many lost riders, including myself!

The Course marking was totally inadequate, I some how found my way back to the car park and when I asked the marshalls in the arena where stage 6 was, they had NO IDEA! or no map!!!

I know lots of other people had the same problem, a guessing game, no wonder we needed a whistle for when we were lost!

Oh well, lovely day, though will not be doing these events again!

I hope the organisors if reading take this on board!

I really enjoyed it – some of the signing was a quite vauge tho. Easily fixed by issuing a map I guess. It seems like a load of signs were ripped down, and one of the stage 6 was turned to point in the wrong direction! Que a few extra miles, I wasn’t really feeling competitive so not really bothered by it tho.

Awesome day for it, singletrack was runningly lovely.

Blimey, I thought it may appear on here!

Ewan did you have to Pay ? Lol

That’s why you enjoyed it! It has potential though.

That is true! My suave good looks came to the rescue 😀

I really enjoyed it –

Really?

To be fair apart from the guessing game on the route and lack of info it was OK!

i love it too

Overall I enjoyed it too. Whilst I understand that that some of the markers had been moved by militant walkers there was a bit of a lack of markers/tape in general on the transitions & in a couple of places stages. Given that the whole event was based around one hill it was inevitable that we would be crossing our own paths a few times and I would have liked to have seen more regular marking just to reassure us we were on the right track. All that said I thought the stages were pretty good with some excellent singletrack.

I expected a thread to pop up on here ragarding the farce that was the superenduro today.

First things first, the positives-
The trails were great fun and flowed well providing a good test to the rider to get stuck into.
The majority of the marshalls were very helpful and honest in as much as admitting the event had several problems.
The weather.

That’s about all of the posives that i can think of.
Negatives may take longer-
The course marking on the stages was pretty poor and very lazy with the tape leaving countless riders lost on stages. It’s nice to have a wide taped track so people can pick lines but the tape on several stages was non existant leaving riders unawhere which way to go in places.
The marking arrows and tape for between the stages was dreadful. You didn’t need a whistle for when you possibly got lost, more a cystal ball to read the minds of those who supposedly marked out the course or Gandalf the grey to lead you on your way through the maze of confused marshalls and unmarked transition stages. When i was waiting to start stage 2 people were pushing up it trying to find stage 1 still.
The timing was confused from the very start of stage 1 when people were due to be going only to be told that they weren’t and then serveral minutes later being told again that they should have started already!
The hill climb and ‘trials’ stages were dreadful and should be removed imo in the future. Certain people were told that they had completed the trials stage and then others were made to continue over the fire road with a short but steep and loose climb up and over a stoney mound.
They were still trying to decide what a ‘dab’ actually could be when people had started the stage. For instance, if someone lent against a tree, was that a dap or not? They said yes.

I understand that some markers were removed by walkers but had more tape been used then that would have pretty much sorted that as it’s far easier to move or take a arrow than it is to remove meters of red and white tape

Gravity Enduro is the fastest growing event in mtb at the mo and the venue is more than capable of holding a great race, this wasn’t even a good impression of a average race.

Parr and Tally from the uk gravity enduro series have nothing to worry about from this organiser currently as the rounds i did this year, including their first round were practically perfect, other than the weather!

Great format, great venue, poor execution of race.

I agree with Dave360 on the other thread. Great day out. Only problem with the marking (for me) was from the stamping point out in the middle of nowhere back to stage 6. A few of us got lost together and eventually found our way to the start of stage 6, after asking a marshal, where I don’t think we were penalised. Riders around me were friendly and no one being too serious.
It was down as being a trial event, and so it was. My first enduro and thought it was great. Will bring a team next time. Enjoyed the hill climb and the trials stage as well as something different. Pretty tired on stage 7 with the uphills, pedalling like my Granny.

I also attended the super enduro today and had a good time. Yes the signage was poor, but the course itself was great and made up for it. I had expectations that the event would not be as polished as some established ones, as it was a warmup to next years series with a new organiser. No doubt they will improve the course markings for the next race, have more marshalls (with maps) on sections that could cause confusion and might be worth issuing maps to riders on the day.

Thought both the hill climb and skills section were worth putting in, was just some fun and added variety.

I liked the hill climb and the trials bit, good heckling (I was rubbish at both)…

Yes I agree signage was poor , great single track not sure about the hill climb, I will give it another go next year just to see the attractive blonde lady at the start of stage one?

Well I loved the trails and format, shame about the signage and lack of marshals.

A couple of skills sections – hill climb and tight, no dab section. Our team “Kingley Vale Bikers A” got 2 clearances on both and 1 dab +20point (on climb). We also got to ALL of the starts on with time to spare, even though stage 6 sent us back to start like everyone else. Stage 3 we kept our eyes open and spotted the ticker tap on a tree branch, not sending us the wrong way. All race sections were railed nice and quick.

1st place nice! Photos taken and bubbly, and prize. Until they phone us 30mins on way home to say, “oh, theres been a mixup, you came 2nd”. This is because we’ve changed the rules and now the “Enduro” has lost its timekeeping element, which is all part of the Enduro format. Right, so all the penalty points that teams may suffer by not keeping their eyes on the signs and hence fail to make start times, have these wiped.
Thanks, change the rules, to suit others. Our team are not pleased, although we had a nice ride out (costing £30 each+long drive!).

Hopefully this will be sorted with a reply to my text, Mr organizer. I would like to do some future events 🙂

I didn’t know that race times were out yet, but well done on the team win or not

They arent. But we stayed till the end – cause we knew we’d won 😆

markhw – Member
Yes I agree signage was poor , great single track not sure about the hill climb, I will give it another go next year just to see the attractive blonde lady at the start of stage?

POSTED 27 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Agreed!! LMAO!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDyaktH5Xj0
She’s 30secs in 🙂

Went for a walk & watch around it with the kids – looked like they had managed to pick most of the decent trails, looked like hot work though.

No.79 if you are here, thanks for the wheelie, the kids liked it & I got a photo 🙂

“She’s 30secs in”

And from her crouched position probably realised she was being oggled 🙂

A race resume is up on the SuperEnduro site now. Some problems of course but also some saboteurs making for fun and games in the sun!
As a cosequence the results are not out until tomorrow.
Still a good day out and an enjoyable ride/race format.

Really enjoyed this event. Trails in great conditions and stages were good, yes could could of done with more tape and signs but overall a good day. Really like the skills stages more of them will be good.

Untill, well done you guys have won the team CAT, O no you didn’t. We change the rule half way round the race and now time pens don’t count so you are now losers “Sorry”.

1. How can you change the rules of the race after the start?
2. Why did no officals tell us untill stage Six.(second till last stage)

We were numbers 44 to 48 and were 4 to 8 across the line, miles ahead of the other teams i just don’t get it.

The race is a SuperEnduro race so if there droping the times to the stage is not an enduro race anymore.

So is it a now a Super race?

Hi all, I don’t usually post on forums, but felt the need to sign up and add to this post, to clarify some of the above points, having raced this event as well.

Firstly the trails and concept, congratulations Carlos you nailed this. The trails were excellent with a good mixture of flowing singletrack, testing climbs and leg sapping drags, to ensure that this event was truly aimed at all round riders. I particularly liked the hill climb and no-dab sections which brought a new edge to an already great format.

The negatives were as follows: number of marshalls, signage and trail marking. All of which Carlos has taken on board, and unfortunately due to being let down by a local scout group, who were to assist in marshalling and marking out the course, the standard which he wished to set was not reached. Add to this the fact that the signs and marking that were distributed had been extensively disrupted or moved by individuals not involved in the event, then we can understand why many people got lost or were delayed to the start of each stage.

In regards to Scottfitz and superfil’s comments about the race been changed to suit others, I feel that this is an unfair statement. I too like yourselves waited at the end to see the results (i’m Lee from Ticket2Ride team). You both were aware of the difficulties encountered by other teams and individuals from as early as stage 3, and at the start of stage 4 I was in phone contact with Carlos, and he had decided at that point to waive the penalties applied to stage starts due to the problems riders were having in getting to each stage, by no fault of their own. You were present during this conversation, and it was discussed after I finished the phone call.

I must however applaud your teams ability in navigating the transition stages without getting lost, but you are within the minority, not the majority in this instance. This is why Carlos removed the penalties. He also removed stage 7 times on the basis that half the field took a wrong turn and ended up on the fireroad too early, on the basis that one of our individual riders who took this wrong turn, felt he would have gained an unfair advantage over those who took the correct route, hence the removal of stage 7 times.

So we are now left with stages 1 and 5 points challenge, and the timed stages 2,3,4 and 6.

Initially Superfli/Scottfitz your team Kingley Vale A were awarded winners, we shook hands, end of story i though and you were the fastest lads through the trail. When packing up, Carlos arrived to say there had been a mistake, one of your team members had been entered an incorrect time, over 18 minutes quicker than anyone else had done including your own team mates. Once this had been corrected you were called I believe, but had already left. I fully understand your frustration, but by making a comment like ‘rules changed to suit others’ passes a slight on our team. So your win then backtrack were actually based on an incorrect stage time, not on the basis of penalties added or removed. They have calculated it purely on the fastest through each stage, plus or minus any additional points from the hill climb and no-dab.

If we and everybody else had got lost as a result of our of own incompetence, i would happily have taken that on the chin. But as it was due to outside tampering of the course markers, then I feel that it would be unfair to be penalised on these grounds.

The concept of these races is to see how fast the timed stages can be covered, the transitions stages are there to bump up the miles and are not designed to be ridden at pace, and at every other event they come with a comfortable time limit.

We enjoyed the banter with your team, and look forward to doing battle again on a fully taped course at The Forest of Dean.

So to summarise, great concept, great trails. Work required in number of marshalls, and quality of marking/signage. But Carlos has got the important bit right with quality of trails and route, the marshalling and course marking are easier areas to tame. We need to support these grassroot races and offer constructive feedback, as they’ll disappear as quick as they appeared. It takes a brave person to step in and run a race or series, so all the help and advice that can offered, I’m sure will be appreciated by Carlos or any other potential organiser.

Right, trails are dry and bike is calling, catch you all at race sometime.

I will add some more constructive points,
The marking was poor no matter if a few bits were damaged by thugs- why have a arrow marker after a junction or turn when it should be just in front of it etc.
I note the explanation on the “follow to road” sign, I can confirm that it was still up at around 1pm when I passed it the problem was after that(no more arrows)

At others events I have been to, a constant mobile marshall is used to fix problems.

If you are let down by helpers you as the organisors have to get over it, as peeps have paid not to get lost and be hit with excuses. Especially when it is most expensive event around!

Fair point lee and we did enjoy it lots. Our point was we made up a lot of lost time on the in-between stages around 45mins in all with all our team members. By the time we got to the team Chase we were all abit knackerd. It would have been good to be told sooner not near the end.

I am looking forward to a nice friendly rematch 😉

Still not sure why they drop the pens for the teams?

I think the decision was made to not issue time penalties to teams or individuals on the whole, so as to apply a level playing field, due to the fact that it was outside riders control in regards to missing or tampered signs etc.

I think we ended up covering about 25-26 miles in all on sunday, which is a good bit more than anticipated.

All in, it was a event which showed great potential, once the teething issues are solved.

Look forward to the rematch at FOD.

You maybe interested in the enduro being held on 22nd Jan 2012 at Brechfa, South Wales

http://www.bikebrechfa.co.uk/events.htm

Should be a good crack

Hi Lee, it was a good race indeed, but the only transition stage that was tampered with to make it impossible to follow the correct route was stage 5-6. In this case, it meant a longer (5km?) ride back to start and then onto start of stage 6 (oh and we also got held up by what, 15mins by you guys at stage5 – lessening even more our time margin). Yes stage 3 was awkward to follow and I could see it was easy to go off course, however, when we passed the sharp right turn with a dubious junction, one of our team members spotted some ticker tape in a tree, which meant that was the way. Hacking as fast as you can without always paying as much attention to waymarkers can be detrimental at times. Much like stage 7. I was the person that said I didnt ride flat out on that stage – as I wanted to stay on track, and thought it wise to slow down to follow it. Turns out it was a wise move (although it was scrapped anyway!) as I managed to stay on track.

This is why I feel hard done by when our ability to keep on course with stage timings has been disregarded.
Its not all about who is fastest down a hill – this is the beauty of events like this SuperEnduro, or nav events like questars etc (which I also do).

Hope to see you guys at other events, but I limit my travel to South really to save costs.

Have just read the organisers explanation of events on the race website & I have to say that given what he did to put the event on almost single handed I now feel a bit guilty moaning about the course marking, he clearly put in a hell of an effort so fair play.

Carlos did a good job for first event with limited resources. Hopefully he puts on another event because be would have learnt a lot for this one.

Still think it unethical to change the rules after the event. I have played a lot of sport and this has new happen to me before. Owell next time we will get our team tactics right and save all our legs for the stages and don’t get to the start on time.

And……

Been looking over the times, well done lee and your team you got some really fast stage times, we just beat Jou on the skills stage, congratulation on 1st place.

Till next time.

Yes congrats T2RBC on your times down the stages. Not sure how they counted times in Stage 7 as I know that I was the only guy in our team to complete that? The fireroad down, off the course was obviously quicker? IMO these should have been eliminated and points based on the completers.

Fair play to Carlos for putting this event on, Officeboy makes a great point

We need to support these grassroot races and offer constructive feedback, as they’ll disappear as quick as they appeared. It takes a brave person to step in and run a race or series, so all the help and advice that can offered, I’m sure will be appreciated by Carlos or any other potential organiser.
We need these new races to carry on and feed into a National series,same as DH and XC, hope you’ve all seen the announcement by UCi to adopt this format in 2013, we could have another World Cup race in the UK!
Constructive criticism or feedback is always welcome 😉

scottfitz – Membersuperfli – Member

This is why I feel hard done by when our ability to keep on course with stage timings has been disregarded.

2 words for you- “trail quest” 😉

had a good day, shame about walkers ruining the course, but i also took a wrong turn on one stage as a lone rider (with no number board on)was coming the wrong way up the course,
thought the guy done a good job single handed and it was a good starting block for next year assuming he still wants to go a head with it.
looking forward to next year

Northwind 1 word for you “enduro” Google it you get time pens if you late to stages.

I don’t want to get in to an argument.

I had a great time at this event and will be doing the next one and would like to support Carlos as much as I can. We were just making the point shame they had to drop some of the scoring (the bit we did well at)

Please spread the word about the forest of dean event and try and get Carlos some local mtb volunteers to help run the stages. Bit more tape and marshals next time and were on to a winner. So support Carlos and the superenduro so we can have race enduro in the south for years to come.

Is there quite a lot of cycling around aldershot? Looking for some local-ish places to ride on weekends!

scottfitz, that was a joke.

Northwind- its not a laughing matter 😉

Masonmarxx- yes there is loads, I think there is a local group called the tunnel hill trolls. Google them and they should be able to point you in the right direction.

Scottfitz- stop being a nob head and get out and ride you bike 🙂

cheers scottfitz 🙂

Signed up to reply to wrclarke.

I am seriously peeved off about the local MTBers antics on the course. The excellent video that kingley vale have put up shows him racing a fire road with some numpty riding up the opposite direction admiring the view. Lower down the road was taped off which is what directed you to the left and to the drop. Both ends of that road were taped off and, in place, with a warning sign on ‘stating danger do not cross’. Now as a racer the last thing you want to see is a bike coming up the opposite direction. If anyone local recognisers him which it hard to do I admit please PM me.

Further, on looking back on the pictures at the drop just after that footage and on the same stage so they must of been riding it from a fair distance, what do I see. A group of 5 locals riding down the drop which is a closed off stage that they have not entered or paid for with a competitor right on their heels and them in his sights which has made me bloody angry! Riders are set off 1 minute after the other and the last thing a rider is expecting is to be following or catching a group of riders in front of him. How they can totally disregard the course markings as fellow bikers during a stage is beyond me and has angered me no end! And I know they are local as one has a local MTB forum shirt on. I don’t mind anyone riding the course once the riders are through but during the stage runs it is akin to taking the family car onto a rally stage whilst it’s being raced. I thought my only problem was only with the walkers but it seems all groups are to blame which is a shame as I would of expected MTBers to be more tuned in to the way they conducted themselves during a MTB race!

Hopefully they will be recognised as I have sent their pictures to a local rider who knows a lot of locals.

Apologies.

And thanks to all of you for the kind comments and even those with the bad ones because you do have fair points and I obviously know where to improve now and the offers of help that I have since received is what will make the difference.

Thank you all for supporting the race in the first place and to our sponsors Upgrade bikes/lezyne, Endura and Decade/Urge please support them if you can as they took a chance on the small boys. And a big thanks to all the volunteers as you really make the world turn around for us sportsman!

I wish you all happy landings and sweet singletrack beneath your tyres!

Carlos

Northwind- its not a laughing matter 😉

Masonmarxx- yes there is loads, I think there is a local group called the tunnel hill trolls. Google them and they should be able to point you in the right direction.

Scottfitz- stop being a nob head and get out and ride you bike 🙂