Just pondering what a keen “Enduroists” training regime would look like, i’m always bumping into some very focussed and psyched locals riding different hills, there is obviously some sort of cunning plan in the offing, other than just riding.

climb hills to get your fitness up, ride technical stuff to get your skills levels up and do full power sections to improve muscle power.

Bait taken – reel me in!

I was under the impression the phrases ‘Enduroist’ and ‘Training Regime’ were inversely proportional. That’s why they wail like a trodden on cat every time a stage features pedalling! 😆

you mean like xc racers wail like a trodden cat if the courses are too technical?

Just ride your bike in the Tweed – the landscape will do enough for you if you can keep it rubber side down and have enough flapjack for the climbs

To be fair to fifeandy, I imagine the phrases are inversely proportional. Training’s a dirty word these days, Enduroists probably call it hashtag-smashingit or something a bit more on trend 😆

I think a bit like DH’ers are dismissive of XC-jeyboys etc when they’d be shocked at just how fast and skilled they are, the top of the field in a enduro race is pretty damn fast and fit.

Just watched that vid alexxx posted, i think that’s actually pretty impressive that Marc Beaumont is only 2 minutes slower than Nino Schurter round a lap. I had a look at the tissot timing results and the back end of the men elite is 2 minutes slower per lap too. Admittedly that’s over 7 laps not one, and with course congestion etc, but still…

I am not a good enduroist but, my “training” is just riding- my idea of a good solo ride is pretty much indistinguishable from a race, saunter up and charge back down (I say solo, because riding in a group there’s more chatting and generally the descents are more broken up, you don’t get that full effort thing) I’ve done some specific targeted stuff to get rid of weaknesses mind especially after time off, including the orrible turbo.

fifeandy – Member

That’s why they wail like a trodden on cat every time a stage features pedalling

IME this mostly happens when it’s shit pedalling, like the trail centre crap at Glenlivet SES where suddenly you’re racing national level enduro on a blue route- which is roughly equivalent to signing up for an XC race and then discovering it’s all on tarmac. Relatively few people have any issue with pedalling with a purpose, in a good stage.

Frexample- Anne Caro spat the dummy over stage 6 at Tweedlove EWS, and quite right, it was a joke. But she didn’t complain about stage 8, or the fireroad link in the previous year’s event, or 5 Year Plan into Deliverance- all of which are big pedals but still, well, proper racing.

I don’t think the guys&gals nearer the pointy end are anywhere near as slack as you are making out…Katie Winton puts the hours in doesn’t she… loads of XC? road rides and then there is the Enduro specific stuff… same for the baeys surely?.

Multiple laps on different hills…seems pretty specific to me, not just eating cake and having a laugh.

I don’t think the guys&gals nearer the pointy end are anywhere near as slack as you are makeing out

No, I agree, was just having some fun. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of flab hiding under the pyjama tops at the top end of the field.

On a more serious training related note, I don’t think the training at this time of year varies very much from other disciplines. Plenty of easy base miles (will be hard to achieve on a MTB with soft knobby winter rubber), and some sessions focused on technical riding.
As the season draws closer replace some of the easy miles with hard interval sessions from 15s sprints to ~5mins. Again not easy to do on the MTB unless doing hill reps.
In the last 4 weeks or so before your event try to combine the intervals and technical such that you are dropping into trail sections already redlined.

Taking advantage of holiday times to get some bigger rides in.
Yesterday rode from Peebles to inners, up golfy, then water world, liver damage, wolf of Wall Street and marks track (can’t remember the name!) then over to Innerleithen trails and did barts, angry sheep and date night. Then pedal home to Peebles. I consider that a good day out training ride.

Shorter rides (2 – 2.5hrs) would be 3 or so top to bottom at golfy or GT.

It still amazes me..that the 3G stage into Splash and Dash for the inaugural Tweed EWS, had that 300m uphill sprint into a steep techy chute…must have broken a few.

Just fishing for specific training examples, X rider 2000m of ascent on various hills including laps on Ben Doon and Phill Mcavity?

Oli^^^^ This.. you are one of those guys with the thousand yard stare 🙂 no cake for you, i must try harder.

It still amazes me..that the 3G stage into Splash and Dash for the inaugural Tweed EWS, had that 300m uphill sprint into a steep techy chute…must have broken a few.

It was horrific. I was in bits as I dropped into S&D.

And it didn’t help that you had to sprint alongside riders on the transition shouting encouragement/ abuse

I passed 3 people on the fire road sprint, because I am an animal… then arrived at the chute and was in such a state I forgot to put my seat back down. Managed to trackstand/elbow dab right on the edge and get it down then slid down the chute, then fell off for no reason on the roots immediately after. Oh, and punched the timing box off the tree at the end as I passed too close. PRO!

I’m not that slow uphill (for an old fart who rides once a week) but I have had Ruaridh Cunningham overtake me uphill a few times (going about 10mph faster)and he’s supposedly a DHer. A lot of the top XC guys are totally mental downhill considering the bikes they’re on. A lot of Enduro races in this country seem to be about international XC event level but without the pedalling (judging by the complaints about the difficulty being out of the box when the EWS came to the Golfie!)