newish tyres are on with foam inserts,
but what jacket, full goretex or lightweight windstopper, or just a tshirt.
likely on and off rain all weekend.. 13-19 degrees.
looks like it'll be that inbetween weather
looks like it’ll be that inbetween weather
As in crap for standing round in between stages?
Personally for races it's a full duty jacket for me, stashed in the bag* whilst I'm moving but on pretty much regardless of the weather once I'm queuing.
*hip pack, jersey pockets etc as appropriate
I'm doing the Friday which is forecast ok weather to start then some rain coming in.
Was thinking the epic would be more of the just riding round crowd like me so hadn't considered queuing tbh - that's a good point to take an extra layer.
I did last year in just a long sleeve jersey but I might take a light windproof this year as it's forecast to be a bit cooler. Mainly for the queues as it can get a bit cold at the top of some of the stages. I won't be wearing it for the climbs or the stages though.
I’m unsure on clothing choices. Plan on taking all the options so I can decide on the day. Racing the Saturday so the weather could be iffy. It changes every other time I look though!
got cold at the top of stages year before last and it wasn’t fun
wore a mesh tshirt last year, sunday 830 start, caked in mud from the field on s1 onwards, absolutely filthy bottom of stage2, but dont recall much wind, i overheat in a waterproof /goretex peddling uphill,
i'll decide on the day, i dont mind being cold for 5-10 mins here and there, but dont fancy being cold and wet in the valleys between stages.
gonna bumbag it this year and d30 back protector, which is like a built in radiator, long sleeve if likely dry or light jacket if rain is due
No idea what I'm going to wear, I'll decide on the day but Stage 2 and the awful transition to Stage 3 fill me with dread! It's going to be soooo muddy!
Watching with interest...hadn't considered the queueing angle - cheers
Friday looks ok. Will probably take a lightweight waterproof and maybe a warm mid layer to deploy if really needed.
Are the stages all generally rocky? That's my impression from watching the videos. Asking because I have a magic Mary in the front (which should be fine for everything) but a fairly low profile maxxis aggressor on the rear.
I have another magic Mary I could put on if that would be better (though draggy)
yeah >10% horrible when wet, not many roots at all .
stage 2 wood is comedy crash central when really wet, as is the next transition to the red lion pub, before you get on the road upto s3
i've done it with a minion SS when really dry, maxxis DHR on rear for me with a rimpact.
Most the miles are rocky, but the muddy bits can be very muddy when wet.
Stage 1 and 2 and 7 are rocky at the top, a mix of grass/mud/rock in the middle, then pure mud once you get into the woods (stage 1&2 are the worst for mud)
Stages 3, 4, 5 & 6 are all pretty rocky.
Last couple of years, stages 1+2 have been pretty horrendous, the transition from bottom of 2 is horrendous, a muddy drag that everyone pushes out of in a long queue. But once you get going away from that, it's mostly been fine from there on. Even in horrific weather last year, by the time I'd got back to do 7, it had dried out plenty and was running fine.
Alright. So, tyres. I'll be mincing on a DHF 2.5 maxxgrip up front, 2.4 Dissector maxxterra at the back. Sound OK? (First timer here)
I’m running dhf front, dhr rear. Pretty much my year round choice on the hardtail!
I’ve ran an aggressor rear before in damp but not wet conditions and it did absolutely fine
Mary/Betty 2.4’s both Super Gravity, Soft compound. No inserts.
Mary/Betty 2.4’s both Super Gravity, Soft compound. No inserts.
Exact same here, on a hardtail. At last year's Ard Moors I had a worn DHF front and Aggressor rear (both 2.3) and it was very sketchy!
Thanks @marksnook think I am going to risk the aggressor (2.5) on the back for practice on the Friday and see how it does.
Got a spare rear wheel with a 2.35 magic Mary on it if it struggles.... however its looking a bit worn so may actually be worse...
Riding 3 days with son / daughter in different events. Friday looking ok but forecast for Sat & Sun seems to be constant rain. I thought we must be due a dry Ard Rock but no... The only positive is if it's constant you won't get the disparity of last year when early riders (of the Sport) got a clean / fast run down stage 2 but later riders (me) got caught in the downpour and it was like the Battle of the Somme mud and bodies everywhere. I managed to get to the finish without stopping or falling but I was just surviving not racing.
Anyway I'll be on a 2.5 Shorty up front with 2.3 DHR rear. I find the bigger DHR hard work to peddle, the 2.3 feels closer to the SS which I used at Ard Moors . Makes me wonder why I bother with the SS, it doesn't seem fast enough for the compromise over DHR, I didn't even find it quicker on tarmac.
Might bring full wets - water proof shorts for Sat / Sun, water proof socks. Medium weight water proof jacket though I'm playing with the idea of a base layer to trap some warm moisture. I got cold in Ae last month and that was just light showers. Lots of dry changes / gloves / HydroShot etc.
I'm sure I'll enjoy it even with the weather but I can't say I'm particularly looking forward to the conditions.
but I was just surviving not racing
That’s my intention whatever the weather etc
That and keeping up with the 17 year old (which won’t happen).
Yep got just about all my clothes packed and a load of bin bags for bagging up the horrendously muddy clobber.
And yes, just looking to survive!
I'm also considering running full mudguards.. definitely proguard xl on the front and possibly also sks mudrocker rear. anyone else?
I thought we must be due a dry Ard Rock but no
Just watched the weather, Schafernaker says a month's of rain due to fall over the weekend 🙄
After surviving last year, I figured it couldn't get much worse, hope I was right!
I'm really struggling for motivation with the prospect of another muddy slog. Only doing it again this year because my riding buddies bailed after S2 last year!
I would pack warm. I was getting really very cold in the rainstorm even with a proper waterproof, after queuing 30 minutes plus whilst they picked the bodies up off stage 1
Only doing it again this year because my riding buddies bailed after S2 last year!
That's a shame because once you've passed the slog out of the bottom of S2, it's not as bad. S3-6 aren't as badly affected by the rain as the first two. S7 could be pretty hairy I guess, but it had dried up nicely by the time I got back to it last year.
And the queues thin out a lot from S3 onwards.
All IME of course and I've only ever ridden the Sunday.
Great day on the epic today - first time at Ard Rock and went round pretty smooth. Some fast bits, some lamentable lines, but did 24.15 all in which I'm pretty happy with. Weather ended up being brilliant - threatened rain all day but outside of 2 mins on stage 3 never really came down seriously. Hope it doesn't deteriorate too bad for guys riding the weekend.
Think I liked stage 1 the best and 2 in theory - unfortunately 2 was an absolute crowd scene for me and went down it in convoy, but the trail was great. I guess that's the nature of such a massive event. Queues did completely dissipate by stage 3 for me. Big old day pedalling an enduro bike - got a new perspective on just showing up and riding with no practice day beforehand, got a lot to recommend it.
Quick question - What pressures do people typically run at the back? Think I'm out of step as I had 5 or 6 riders tell me my back tire looked flat on the transition climbs - does 20 psi sound unusually low at 15 stone? Felt spot on for the descents tbh - I guess if you're riding hard AF it might be different but I thought that was fairly typical.
I’m racing Sunday, not ridden it before. I’m seeing a big 5ft drop on facebook does this have a chicken run? Are there many/any other big unrollable features to watch out for? Not mad keen on hitting stuff like that blind with no idea of run out!
If the drop is the one at the end with the sign above it then yep there’s a chicken run (which I never fail to take!)
I don’t think there’s anything big which doesn’t have a bail out option.
There were two un-rollable (I think) features that I saw Mat - one on stage one that did have a B-line, and a final drop at the end of stage 7 - I was told this had a B-line but I missed it on the run and took a biscuit-arsed line around the tree that was probably harder than just riding off it. Both looked more like 3 foot, so not what you'd call big features, but I'm not getting involved with hitting any unrollable drops on a blind run.
It was a good level, some steeps, loads of gully chutes, nothing scary - by far the biggest risk of coming off (imho) would be going too fast and taking a painful line into some rocks, as some of the stages were very fast. The terrain itself never got so hard you were just trying to make it through or anything like that.
Was dry-ish today though, just some wet stuff in the woods. A wet track would obv be harder throughout.
The big final sender between the trees at the end of Stage 7 IS rollable. It’s also the biggest thing I’ve sent myself off two years on the bounce, you will almost certainly be fine whichever your approach of preference.
There’s nothing else you either can’t see coming and plan for or is really well marked with yellow or orange flags.
Today was ace, it’s amazing how different it all rides in the dry compared to last years Somme like terrain.
That might not be much comfort to those riding tomorrow or Sunday going by the forecast mind,
Thanks both! Yeah sounds like it’s going to be pretty muddy by the time I’m riding it on Sunday!
@mat are you going today? You can ride up to the bottom of stage 7 and see the sender, watch a few people go through it. I was pretty unsure about it last year, but it's easy to hit straight with a bit of speed and there's plenty space on t'other side!
Not stopped raining in Blackpool all nigh. Setting off in a couple of hours. Not really looking forward to the drive. It'd be nice to be able to sit outside and have a pint later on without getting rained on!
That’s a shame because once you’ve passed the slog out of the bottom of S2, it’s not as bad
Agreed, I continued without them. Got a pretty good result I think by virtue of being one of the few who didn't come off the bike on 1 or 2.
The big drop looks intimidating but it's smooth and easy and the landing is huge.
does 20 psi sound unusually low at 15 stone
For me, 20 psi is mad I can't believe you made it round! You must ride much lighter than me. Way I see it getting a flat is losing infinitely more time than a marginal gain of a soft tyre
Rain didn't live up to forecast today, hardly rained all pm but everyone arriving back after the enduro was covered in 💩 so guess the damage is done. Currently can't be worse than last year so should be ok 😬
Forecast for tomoz pretty grim, but hopefully no worse than today
Rained pretty hard last night so the early Enduro riders got filthy but with no real rain all day by the afternoon Sprint stages 1 and 2 were firm again and we all had good clean runs. So clean that by the end of Stage 2 we could have put the bikes away without washing.
It was a different story on the 2 to 3 transition though where the bikes picked up a few kilos of mud. Bad, but still not as bad as last year I had flashbacks of having to brace myself against the bike trying to triangualte an get a foothold halfway up the path without sliding back down. And stage 3 was muddy, seriously though where did all that mud come from on a quarry stage?
I feel we got lucky today with the weather, but I just checked and a yellow weather warning has been issued for tomorrow . I have Sport tickets for Sunday, I'll ride the stages but I'm not sure I can face the 2 to 3 transition if it gets worse! I'm tempted to see if we can transfer intro for stages 4 to 7 if we can't I might just do that anyway and DNF.
Well enduro went well. I felt I was riding well. I was catching up with 5 or 6 people per stage though! It’s not really a race you can race in a way with so many people.
There was a lot of grip despite the rain though I thought. Rain didn’t really come in as forecast which was great. Crashed hard in the rock garden at the bottom of stage 7. Full otb into a pile of rocks. My leg is still dead now 😂. Bent my bars and brake lever.
All in all a good day out. Hardtail handled it brilliantly
Looking pretty soggy this morning, daughter counted 67 coming off on the bottom of stage 2 in an hour and a half yesterday morning. But I didn't see any in half an hour or so later in the day once it had dried out a touch. No such luck today I fear.
Friday was nice and dry. Yesterday, the rain held off in the day after a night of rain, and it was sketchy but doable. My thoughts and prayers for anyone doing it today.
Got to start getting up and ready to head down there for 9:50 start. It's rained hard constantly for 10 hours solid now. This doesn't feel like a good idea.
Thoughts and prayers for all those attempting in these conditions! Broke my scaphoid at bpw 2 weeks ago so was pretty devastated about missing ard rock - not feeling too bad this morning!
It’s absolutely minging on the course today. DNF rate will be through the roof and props to anyone who does all 7.
Just got home after having a great time.
Did the practice on Friday, a lap each of 6 and 7 then 2x laps of 1 and 2. Conditions were brilliant.
Saturday Enduro, bottom of stages 1 and 2 were very muddy after the overnight rain but still fun. Got very very lucky with the weather and thought the rest of it was riding pretty decent all things considered. Seemed to have dried up by the time we hit 7. The woods were a lot better than expected and the grass zigzags at the bottom actually had some grip.
Time of 24 minutes something which put me about top 1/3 in my age category which I was very happy about.
As above, prayers with anyone riding today - absolutely filthy conditions.
Off to deal with all my minging kit now... wish me luck
I survived it! Truly minging, at 8am this morning I would've been happy to receive a cancellation email, but I got motivated and headed out.
It has literally not stopped raining since 10pm yesterday. Heaving it down right now.
Every stage was a total slop fest. Last year, after 2 it wasn't so bad. This year they're all a right state! Surprisingly the transition out of 2 want that bad. It was super muddy, but much more rideable than last and it didn't clog up tyres and weigh the bike down, so every cloud and all that.
Got pretty cold at points, but tbh, once you're wet and shit up, you can't get any wetter or shittier. Everyone was just trudging round looking ****ed most of the time, all the same shade of brown. I think everyone just wanted to get it over and done with!
Last year I promised myself a bigger front mudguard and some goggles. I bought neither. Every stage, big dollops of mud in my eye balls.
Stayed upright though, no injuries. Sent the sender. And despite it all, it's still a great day out.
Managed to rinse everything under a tap at the YHA and dump it in the drying room. Hopefully the rain will ease slightly, I need to walk back down to the pub for some grub.
Rissss-pect!
That was the wettest I've ever been. As above, wouldn't have been upset to wake up to a cancellation email but it never came. Very nearly had to quit after stage 4 with a hole in my tire but was saved by a guy with some tubeless plugs, so thanks again mystery stranger. Means I got to give the sender a go although stage 7 was pretty much carbon copy of the bit after the bus crash in Romancing The Stone
Was just doing the intro with my 17 year old - stages 4-7.
First time for me and stage 4 was a rude awakening, we were wondering what we’d let ourselves in for.
Got easier after that - or we adjusted.
Great event with friendly people.
And mud. Lots of mud.
Couldn't face a full loop in this weather and switched to Intro, if it had been our only race of the weekend probably would have stuck with Sport.
Turns out 4,5,6 are not weather proof and even though they were slimy and had a headwind on 5,6 they were a hoot. 7 was as I thought - mudaggedon - and even though I was prepared for the off camber came in too hot did a 180 and flipped myself into the wall. No harm done or so I thought until I saw my daughters times, she had been flying and aced the stage obliterated my time. She said it was down to her cyclocross skills (not the waste I said they were obviously) not only winning her category but fastest women overall. I still sent it on the final drop and she didn't so I still count that win. I need something.
It did mean hanging around in the cold and wet for podiums but they rattled through them quickly. The site was pretty messed up by this point and tractors were pulling vehicles out. There were a lot of happy muddy faces at the end, maybe the joy of surviving the experience but I suspect like us they'll look back and think yeah I had a pretty good time.
Top race, great course. Headwinds and and mud meant that pedalling power was probably more important than descending prowess to get a good time today. Which was good for me!
Ok.
I stuck the muddy clothes in the washing machine.
I rinsed them.
I washed them.
They were still muddy.
Now on their second wash.
Did the Sport on Sunday
I've never felt that cold in July! Had stop a few times to dig mud out of my eyes, was still finding it this morning! Stages were amazing fun as always though.
Only fall of the day for me was when I lost my footing pushing up from stage 4 and slid about 20 feet down the bank on my face 🙂
Healing vibes to the guy that came a cropper on the Stage 2-3 transition.
First time for me, practice Friday and Race Sunday (Enduro)
Riding was great fun, despite the forecast (and seeing Sunday's conditions) we were very lucky weather wise.
Got a bit frustrated on stages 1+2 as there were lots of riders making no effort to accommodate friendly "rider" calls and the wooded sections at the end were just a convoy.
A lot of people struggling on the link to the pub after two, pretty claggy mind.
After the big transition to three things spaced out a bit and moved more freely.
A long day out (7 hours on course) meant it felt tougher than EWS Tweed last year somehow despite the riding being less technical.
Looks fun
I wonder if me 5:10's will be dry in time for next year? 🤔
Yeah I felt the same @rockthreegozy
I wanted to race. Chose the Saturday enduro for that reason. Stage one I caught 3 people before the woods. Got past another 3 people in the woods! It was the same on stage 2. Things did clear a bit from 3 onwards.
Do they put riders on to the course based on speed? Faster first, slower later? It felt like everyone went out early. Maybe some people didn’t know what the stages would be like and they were way out of their comfort zone.
I overheard a few people talking about the fact they paid their money so should get a ride, the racing isn’t important. I agree everyone should get a day out but why enter the main race if you don’t want to race?!
its generally done fastest first but doesn't work that well due to booking with group names to ride together so some groups have slow and fast in them. previous years i've been fairly early but this year despite putting top 10% down on the entry i was vertually at the back although i went 45 minutes early with a mate.
part of this years problem was somebody hurt themselves on stage 1 fairly early on which caused all the backlog on 1 and 2.
i was lucky going into 1 being behind a group of fast lads but did catch and pass 4 people on 2 again luckily between the tight section with the netting and before it dropped down towards the end so didn't lose to much time. passed a few more on 3 and 4 but werent to bad.
theirs always been loads of people racing that are way out of there depth doing it just because of the kind of event it is, go for the festival side of it and also do the race. they should really be doing the sunday race but probably prefer to race saturday and get pissed saturday night.
i treat it as a race but less serious than other races(not that i treat any races that seriously at my level) and just enjoy the whole weekend with mates, if i lose a bit of time behind someone it doesn't really matter although if i got stuck in a train through hecklers wood or other similar bits it would be annoying.
I wasn’t racing, I was just getting round.
I was honest about that, rode on the Sunday, moved to the side or even stopped if fast folk (that’s 95% of other riders to me) were coming through, and if stopped tried to find a gap to drop back into.
To be fair though, by mid-morning on Sunday (we had an 1100 start time) the trails were actually reasonably quiet.
Two of the three days was super wet. I was taking photos on stage 1 Friday and then stage 4 for the other two days. High winds on Sunday didn't help. Hiding under my umbrella trying to keep the camera gear as dry as possible.
I rode the Epic on Friday, from what I can gather it's the same thing as the main Enduro event. Very lucky with the weather, glad I wasn't riding the Sat/Sun. Great event with some great riding. Managed 23:07 in the end which I was happy with.
I did find the practice riders quite annoying, well those that decided they weren't going to follow the official practice stages at the appropriate time and clogged up some of the early stages.
@unsponsored - you managed to get a few pics of me too 🙂
@unsponsored - I think you were using those special lenses that make the rider’s face look worried and the terrain look like a green route.
Some good photos of my son and me. He’s talking about buying a couple. Thanks.
Anyone here riding Naughty Northumbrian? Seems like you can still enter for next month.
I had a great time riding Boltby and Ard Rock after not doing enduros for years - fancy another one, but it seems a fair step up in difficulty - How does it compare?
I see there's a sportive event where you can get the lie of the land.
Finally got the tent dry and packed away, still not looked at the bike though.
Haven't been since 2017 and was impressed at how much it had grown, the extra stages and how well organised it was. Loads of trade stands and interesting stuff to see, if the weather was better I'd probably have grabbed a couple of bikes to demo on the Sunday but conditions were just too grim.
Managed 11th in the enduro (vets) which was a bonus and thought the tracks all rode well despite the weather. Got out at 8am start which helped with traffic and the weather was better than forecast and looked to improve as the day went on.
Cheers @unsponsored and all the photographers that braved the weather, will get on roots and rain and have a look.
Friday is the new Sunday.
Practice riders have no business being on the Friday race route. Stages scheduled as such.
if the weather was better I’d probably have grabbed a couple of bikes to demo on the Sunday but conditions were just too grim.
got the dirtiest i'd been all weekend demoing an orbea wild on sunday, didn't care about the conditions flying about in turbo with a grin on my face. it could have done with a mudgaurd on it though, even after showering at home later on was still finding bits of mud in my eyes.
now where can i find 9k for a new bike.
Can anyone see the official Ardrock videos from each day on YT? The Sunday one popped into my feed yesterday and I watched it, not now I can't find it or any of the others (if they exist!)
If I go to the Ardrock channel there's nothing there. Just last years.
I'm in Portugal at the moment, would that have anything to do with it!?
got the dirtiest i’d been all weekend demoing an orbea wild on sunday
Which spec level?
I'me eyeing up an M-Team as my next bike
@unsponsored Thanks for braving the conditions on the Sunday! You got me nicely and I bought a pic.
Took a Wild out on Saturday and it was an incredible bike. It descended so well.
Didn't think it would be my cup of tea, but genuinely on the verge of being converted after a couple of P3 laps on the Saturday. A fantastic machine. It was the M-Team spec so Orbea have some in their demo fleet. Give your dealer a shout and I'm sure they will hook you up for a ride. Really, really good bike (although I'm not a regular e-MTBer). But it came down the hill better than the Intense Tracer.
