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I should be OK to marshal at the QECP Day & Night this year - we are doing Open Morning at DPS on Saturday and Alec and I will be demo'ing bikes on Sunday. I'll check and confirm.
I should be OK to marshal
Ask around the DPS MTB parent too please
Might take a punt in this thread.....I'm looking for an Entry to the Southern Enduro round over the second May Bank Holiday in Exmoor. Anyone have one that can no longer attend??
Cheers
Brent
Can anyone enlighten me on how the BNES series points system works? 🙂
How do these events compare to something like a Gorrick XC or Big Dog course? Vaguely interested, but concerned I might be massively out of my depth.
Are full face helmets and pads compulsory?
Can anyone enlighten me on how the BNES series points system works? 🙂
"BNES Series points and Champions
By working together, the BEMBA organisers have been able to create series points with overall series rankings. At the end of the season, National Enduro Series Champions will be crowned.
To gain points for the overall title, racers must compete in a minimum of four of the first five rounds and the final round. They’re able to drop their worst result from the first five but can’t drop the final round points. Riders can get an overall series ranking from any of the rounds."
And I'm almost certain we are using the BC points like the BDS.
How do these events compare to something like a Gorrick XC or Big Dog course? Vaguely interested, but concerned I might be massively out of my depth.
Are full face helmets and pads compulsory?
At the grass roots level is simular technically to a Big Dog/gorrick
If you want to give one a go the Southern Enduro in Pippingford is probably one of the easiest rounds.
I don't think there is a race in the UK where FF helmets and Pads are compulsory (there are some in Europe)
Thanks. Penshurst is quite close, might go and have a look this weekend.
I've signed up for day night enduro at qecp, will be camping with the family 😁
thanks Scott I'd got the 4 out 5 rounds bit and final round clear in my head.
this was the bit I was unsure of" And I’m almost certain we are using the BC points like the BDS." but it sounds like that's still TBC at the mo.
I was trying to figure out if a "middle table master" like myself was going to accrue any points
I'm off to Penhurst this weekend, day/night in a few, and then SE champs end of may....
I MIGHT camp at teh day/night...will see!
DrP
@scottfitz - where will BNES Series points be available to view? Will it be Roots and Rain or the BEMBA site?
Great question, I think Roots and rain but we are still working on that.
Cheers Scott. If that's the case then I didn't score any points at Afan 😔 but obviously would be good to know where to see them anyway 👍
Good luck to everyone riding at Dyfi tomorrow. Gutted not to be there. Race report needed please 😀
We're doing the Chopwell Funduro tomorrow through Northern Downhill, nowt massively tiring or technical, just four stages of fun about hour from home. It was ace last year.
My lads first enduuuurrrooo tomorrow at dyfi. Apparently stage 2 is a little "challenging"
Great day at Dyfi today. Storm Hannah left some interesting conditions behind her. Stage 1 was running well and I had a decent run. Stage 2 was cancelled - disappointing as I’d perfected my plummeting tripod technique during practice. Was the right decision - it was almost impossible to stop on the steep chutes in the mud and would have been carnage if raced, despite being fun to ride. Stages 3 and 4 were horrible flagging mud feats and didn’t go well for me, but I was not alone in that.
“horrible flagging mud feats” = horrible claggy mud fests!
Dyfi is always good, seeing if I can get a pass to the Final round of the BNES there.
Well done. I suspect it would have been a horrible ‘flagging mud feat’ for me though!😀
Cheeky post...
I’m unable to race PMBA Rd2 this weekend (torn calf muscle 🙁) so have entry available.
If anyone is wanting an entry I’m open to offers. Rider and class can be changed on SI. Best contact is email:
roy_nicholsonATyahooDOTcom
Cheers
Finally got around to putting up a race report on my blog from the first round of WGES/BNES. If anyone fancies a look, here it is!
Big road trip up to the Lakes tomorrow for BNES R2...who else is racing!? Looking forward to some new (to me anyway) stages and weather looks ok, if a little chilly.
Sorry to hear about the injury @pukeko, sounds painful! 😬
Big road trip up to the Lakes tomorrow for BNES R2…who else is racing!?
Not me but I really want to I need to do the Epic at some point!
Yep, me in the Veteran class:)
Me and Alex the Badger doing the PMBA Graythwaite tomorrow. Half mega looking forward to riding some ace trails, half in mental turbulence knowing I'm not riding enough tech to be on top form.
Yeah sad I'm not doing PMBA graythwaite, I believe keV has cut out some of the less fun push ups too!
Have fun
I believe keV has cut out some of the less fun push ups too!
He's kept that annoying one on the final stage in though by the sounds of it! 😂
Hoping to head over to spectate. Never been before, where are the best spectating points please?
How'd everyone do at Graythwaite? I managed to not embarrass myself too much. Low/Mid pack in Masters was all I was hoping for really. Alex kept his banana in one piece all way round.
Finished 80th in Masters which was a shade outside where I'd like to have finished (top 40% at nationals). Loved the stages, loved the free beer at the finish line. Didn't love having a stupid OTB on the very first practice run though..bruising is coming up nicely now!
I finished 9th in Masters, really enjoyed the course but I wasn't comfortable pushing hard on the roots. After I finished racing felt like I was gaining confidence would have been nice to do another lap to see if I could improve.
Impressive seanr!
Oreana how did it compare to last year's?
Nice one guys!
Strava tells me a depressing story - I was significantly slower than 2016 and 2017 (based on stages 3/7/8, which were unchanged). Need to confirm it with the times on R&R o course.
The roots are all nicely polished now but I know I'm not riding to the same standard....
The roots where much more polished than 2017. 2017 was amazingly dry in comparison.
Anyone got a boltby entry surplus?
I didnt have the best weekend at Graythwaite. I managed to faceplant the ground hard enough in practise (stage 6) to write off my bell Super9 and give myself the worst concussion iVe ever had. Im still not feeling 100 so dont plan to ride at all this weekend. Hopefully Ill be Ok for the next round at minehead, as I loved it there last year.
9th in Masters is a great result! I was aiming for a top 20 but would have been happy with a top 30.
45th in vets, would of liked a little higher but reasonably happy with that. move into grand vets next year so am at the wrong end of the catergory. no issues riding, just took it to steady making sure i stayed upright and fitness let me down in stage 8, had nothing at all left by the time i got to those little up bits near the end of the woods and barely made it up that push up near the end.
SES at innerleithen next.
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kimbers
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<div class="bbp-reply-content">Impressive seanr!
Oreana how did it compare to last year’s?
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Well that's annoying - posted up a longish reply yesterday but seems it didn't actually post (or I didn't press 'submit')!
Summary - didn't do last year but did Champs there two years ago; nice mix of flowy and fast vs tight and techy; as above, lots of polished roots and greasy corners in the woods; 'only' 15 miles and 1,100m of uppy/downy but still felt it at the end!; new stages were good fun; final stage is still very much a love/hate stage!
Great result @seanr!
@blackmountainsrider - take it easy with the concussion and don't rush back.
@bigfoot - also a good result! I'm in a similar position but in my last year of Masters this year. Keeping an eye on Vets times to see where I might fit in next year 😀
So glad I signed up for QECP Day/night enduro
took the family- which always makes things hectic, but its great having them there, everyone had a great time, good arena, bike demos, nice food stalls, trails were perfect, weather was great, was quieter than last time I did it, but still brilliant fun.
Shagged for work this morning tho!
Bring on the southern champs
I really need to do an Enduro one day.... but expense troubles me along with lack of ability... I worry i'm going to have about a dozen riders being held up screaming at me to get out of the way as i'm destroying their time !
One like that though with family etc sounds great.
There is usually a fun category if you're worried about your pace, but it's generally not a problem,I had to let a few faster guys past me this weekend.
If you're near swinley then swinduro is a good shout, not too technical! & this year they are having camping & kids races, as well as xc & dual slalom it seems !
Edit there's even a gravel race. & An old skool MTB race.
Actually had no idea so much was happening at swinduro, Tristan is taking on a lot, there's only one way to find out if it will be Glastonbury on bikes or Fyre festival, gonna sign up!
Plus one on the QECP day and night enduro being a fantastic day out. Now wondering if I can manage another couple over the summer.
Came with a mate and bagged a top ten in masters in my second ever race and first time outside of Fun. Me and my buddy finished less than a second apart (Thank god I snuck in the win, he was on a Hardtail vs my enduro spec beast!)
Give it a go if you are on the fence, start in Fun and then move up to the main categories once you have a good idea of the speeds.
Picking the right event is definitely the best way to enjoy it. Sure if you mention location plenty of people will advise what events are less serious and more fun to get the most out of it.
Swinduro Sounds ideal! Consider me booking up on payday for me and my lad.
For dipping your toe in the enduro water the Swinduro is about as tame as it gets.
If you're worried about pace, just enter fun, or grade yourself (I think they ask when you enter to put yourself down as 1-5, 1 being fast, 5 being slow) & be observant to faster riders. You will know after the first stage if you're likely to be caught.
If you're the catching rider, you can always leave a bigger gap at the start too, but the stages are mega short anyway.
I don't think i'm terrible.... but I'm no Sam Hill either... Looks likely though that me and my boy are in for it 🙂 Trying to rope in a couple of others.
Thanks for the info lads.
Nation series standings:
https://www.rootsandrain.com/series1083/2019-bemba-national-enduro-series/standings/
And some info about round 3:
http://southernenduro.co.uk/champs2019/
Questions?
No seeding on Saturday now?
FML, the entry list is stacked. 😆
No seeding on Saturday now?
No 2 reasons:
1. Main reason not enough day light for 600 riders.
2. None of the other BNES rounds have seeding.
Looks like I have got into the main event on Sunday which is great!
My question is therefore when can I practice stage 1,2&3 on Saturday as I am also doing the Lite mash-up? Timings say I can from 15:30-16:30 so is this enough time and what happens if I want to hang round for the Lite podium presentation?
Cheers.
Practice stage 1,2&3 in the morning before the mash up, you can d them in under an hour.
Ohh exciting. Pics appearing on Instagram from Exmoor and the sun is out. Oh and it looks like @scottfitz has double downed on the bogs this year.
Only doing the lite and my first mash up. Anyone got any tips on how to best approach them?
Well that was fun! Managed to stay upright for all seven stages but stage 2 wasn’t pretty(or fast)! It looked like the medics were busy all weekend. Hope everyone was okay.
Had some unintended lie downs in practice on the Stage 2 A line coming out of the left-right kink whilst trying to get it right. Got through it fine on my race run but followed it up with another unintended lie down on Stage 3. Topped it off by dropping my chain half way down the final stage so final time wasn't what I hoped for.
But, huge fun as always on those trails. Gotta love that loam!
Did the lites on Saturday and it was brilliant. Stacked it into a tree on stage 4 had time to put one run on it but was way off pace. Great laugh.
Well done @scottfitz it really was the best organised event I've done
It looked like the medics were busy all weekend. Hope everyone was okay.
My mate went down on S1 in practice and broke his collar bone. After the (excellent) medics and marshals got him down we managed to get him up to Bristol and BRI A&E sorted him out. I wasn't racing as already have a broken shoulder.
Marshals and medics did a great job, it was super dry and loose out there.
Cheers to everyone that came 900 racers was a real challenge. And 100 ladies between the 2 races is incredible.
Marshals and medics did a great job, it was super dry and loose out there.
Cheers to everyone that came 900 racers was a real challenge. And 100 ladies between the 2 races is incredible.
Thanks for a great event, first race of the year for me after throat surgery. I went for too draggier tyres (given my lack of fitness) and my legs were destroyed by the end of stage 1. By stage 7 I struggled to walk up the transition.
Brilliant fun though
great weekend & great trails
results were definitely not my best but spent a great 4 days camping with the family at a brilliant campsite down the road, kids had a brilliant weekend
top work scott, crew & all the marshals
kids play area was great idea too,
Had a great weekend, and mostly lucky on the weather.
Saturday riding was fun, and given the number of riders it flowed pretty well. The beer also flowed a bit well on Saturday night.
Reflecting on race day, frustrating result yet strangely pleasing. I had an off course excursion on stage 1, another on 3, far too sensible on 4 as I thought the rain would have affected it & a good old crash on a fresh corner on 5. I ended up 21st, but only 20 seconds off 10th place, which is the frustrating bit. The crash on 5 alone cost me a big chunk of that - that's racing though!
Hopefully you all enjoyed Gary the Enduro Unicorn heckling you 🙂
my kids loved the unicorn
Was a good weekend. Thought the trails where a nice mix that everyone could ride and enjoy which I guess showed in the entry. Think it closed the times up a little bit. Didn't feel like a pushed quite hard enough but that's racing.
Another round of the Welsh Enduro Series done. Conditions were perfect and the trails at Llandegla running fast. 32nd out of 74 in Masters was a big improvement over the previous 2 rounds for me but I have to admit to being a little disappointed. My runs were all good for me, maybe lost a handful of seconds through little errors but nothing significant so it’s a little disheartening to be 54 seconds down on the Masters winner. Still, I’ll be in Vets next year so maybe it’s not so bad - would have been 23rd of 55 Vets, but still 45 seconds off the winner. Despite the slight disappointment, another great day out. Looking forwards to Round 4.
Still a great result so well done! Ironically I had my first proper ride yesterday since tearing my ACL and MCL at Foel. I think Llandegla would have been much more my cup of tea!
Cheers Tim. Definitely a different kettle of fish to Foel, certainly playing to my strengths more. Hope the first ride back went well and you’re healing up.
Has anyone else entered the Naughty Northumbrian?
BNES 4 rounds done 2 to go, standings so far:
https://www.rootsandrain.com/series1083/2019-bemba-national-enduro-series/standings/
Yup in naughty northumbrian, wife is doing the gravel thing on the Saturday. Barely ridden this year and nothing that steep around here so not expecting a good result but should be good day riding.
Hey, I’ve got a couple of entries for Ard Moors Sprint, if anyone is interested in taking them off me? They cost me £130.20.
Entered bnes/wges dyfi next weekend
Not done much racing this year so should be good, hoping the weather holds !
Pmba Kirro and fair city left for me this year . Had a mixed one this year , had my best result and one of my favourite days on a bike for ages at dunkeld then a nightmare practice day at tweedlove last week which ended up with me not racing on Sunday . Looking forward to the 2 left as they are good days out .
BNES/WGES for me too next weekend. Think weather is looking good at the moment.
Final race of the season the week after that with the last round of the South West Kenda Enduro series at my local, Grogley Woods. Gonna be great having proper racing there again!
Was planning on doing the Eastridge round of WGES the week after that, but don't think I'll bother now as it's too far for me to go for a one dayer!
What a top race, hats off to Charlie, loop wasn't massive but stages were all great
Big dump of rain on Saturday night turned sections & the whole of stage 2 into a mud chute
I crashed a lot!
Great fun tho
I did the WGE on the Saturday, brilliant event (thanks Charlie and Co) with great stages especially 5.
Thoroughly enjoyed the WGE at Eastridge at the weekend. Stages were decent, atmosphere was friendly and the mash up format is good fun - nice to be able to put a run down knowing you can have another crack at it. I'll definitely be doing more next year.
Our plan was to do four runs in the morning then stop for a cuppa and go back out to do 4 more.
Stage 1 I caught someone and took a few seconds to pass, then stage 2 I had a messy run.
My shock had been playing up (turns out it's a warranty job) so I was getting lots of pedal strikes and chain slap. Second run down 2 my chain came off, then on 3 I managed to mangle my mech and snap my chain. Gutted.
I pushed back up to 3 so I at least had a time recorded for all stages and really enjoyed the chainless run so I did it again. Somehow managed to find 7 seconds.
Just about sneaked into the top half in class so very happy considering.
the national series standings haven't been published on roots and rain yet. are they available anywhere else?
I've not seen them anywhere.
I managed to do all six of the BNES series. Each race was great, but it was a serious amount of commitment in time, cost, logistics and effort to do them all.
As a thoroughly mid pack rider, I don't think I'd make the commitment again.
I was never in it to win it, and obviously the quick boys and girls were much higher up in the points table and deservedly so, but the distribution of the points system throughout a category with a large number of entrants seemed to not really encourage people like me who made up the bulk of the pack to attend multiple races.
It was a great experience though, I'm glad I did it, and would recommend others to do so next year; but I think I'll stick to the WGE or Southern series next year, with maybe a couple of interesting Lakes / Scotland put in to the mix as I feel like it, rather than making the huge BNES commitment again.
Thanks to all those that were involved in organising the races.
On a side note - have the organisers asked for feedback on the series anywhere?
Anyone else going to enter the Ae ND(h) uro in November?
Was sure I'd seen the BEMBA final points somewhere (with my token 4 points for taking part in 4 races!) but can't find it. May be getting confused with the SW Series (where I got more points 😁) but thought it was on Action Sports Timing's site.
I think the National Series worked well piggybacking existing races. However, I did both the WGES + BNES combo weekends and all four races felt compromised a little as a result, so not sure I'd do the same next year...one or the other for me.
I've heard rumours of potentially more races in the series next year so I'm thinking the organisers felt it went well generally.