[Closed] UKGE rd1

No ukge for me this year pal. Hope you have a good one. Good luck

See you soon bud 🙂
Still undecided on tyres, not sure if I can be bothered to change to MM. My Butcher is pretty good allrounder.

Depending on the stages they run triscombe is never too much of a mud fest. Roots on the other hand....

And bring your climbing legs. Quantocks may be small but they pack a punch...

I do hope that everyone's suitably insured to participate in this thread!

😉

People mocked and yet still it sold out.

There's a good piece on Pinkbike at the moment from Brian Cookson re. the Enduro insurance fiasco and he quite rightly points out that that insurance companies and cycling feds view Enduro as essentially competitive DH stages with non competitive XC linking stages, like it or not it came under the 'gravity' banner and all that entails....poss line of site marshalling, higher premiums for organisers, increased risk for British Cycling etc.

Steve Parr got a hard time on here for his decision but it was interesting to read the head of the UCI echoing his thoughts. Enduro is in limbo at the moment, riders see it as a standalone discipline and can't understand the confusion and risk averse nature of everyone else involved. Parr is right in trying to get a national and then international Enduro body set up for itself so the sport isn't reliant on the UCI, British Cycling etc.

Anyway, rant over.....well done to all who got in, I didn't so I'm doing some grass roots DH stuff this weekend instead!...that is after the better half has dragged me round Badminton Horsey nonsense on the Saturday though!....all good stuff, Sunday is even meant to be dry isn't it?

Yep, leaving tomorrow morning.

Weather is looking fairly decent.

I have my piece of paper that says I'm insured, I'm still not entirely sure what I'm insured for, or why, but it only cost £17 so it's hardly the end of the world.

Hoping for a good weekend on the bike, a decent result would be nice too!

Enduro is in limbo at the moment, riders see it as a standalone discipline and can't understand the confusion and risk averse nature of everyone else involved

no such issues for the SES or the EWS though. like its been said a million times the insurance that you need to enter the UKGES is not there to protect the organiser and the fact you don't need a set level of insurance makes it even more of a joke.

that interview on pinkbike was a load of bollox though

Its like groundhog day. Ukge requires insurance. probably time to get over it

I didn't bring it up duffus

I'm heading up tomorrow afternoon. First UKGE for me although done several SW based events over the last couple of years. First time riding Triscombe too.

Swapped my 34t chainring for a 32t and still got a Swampy up front after last weekend's Enduro1 round but will probably whack my Butcher back on for practice tomorrow.

If you see a Westcoast MTB/Velotive jersey, that'll be me in it so say hi (especially as I don't think I'm going to know anyone there!)

Well top weekends racing, some great tracks with some tricky sections, glad of my fullface today, OTB on stage 5 saw me testing mine
Excellent heckling at the bottom of the final stage
And really good having results up on the web
instantly

Just a shame about the thieving scumbag mofos that ruined the weekend for quite a few

So if anyone sees some suspicious mde or whyte bikes for sale . ..

Ah shit, I saw Steve Parr posting about the bikes going, but had completely forgotten that it would've been at the race! Probably the worst thievery I've heard of at an event

Yep, a great weekend and great stages. Was doing alright til I got a puncture at the very start of Stage 4 so had to leg it on foot all the way to the bottom 👿 Cost me about 40 places in Masters!

Gutted for those who had their bikes stolen 🙁

Cant believe so many were stolen. Genuinely gutted for them. Hoe did they manage to steal so many?

Dunno how, they cut through a lot of locks then took them out to the carpark the other end from the farm, they found the number boards cut off there

Was it done overnight then? From a bike lock up?

Orena45 i was spectating s4 and saw you pushing good effort mate!

Yup overnight

Were taken from various vans and tents thru out the site I believe

Ha, cheers bentiggerwyles! Can't believe it happened so early, and on probably my favourite stage too. Conti Protections tubelessed will be back on for round 2 at Grizedale!

Great trails and great company! Shame I performed so badly. Lack of power and effort. I couldn't work out why until i looked at my HR. My Max HR down 15bpm and well below average. I need to rest in future before racing, rather than hard exercise for 10 days running..
Truly shocking how the bikes for nicked. I heard some where nicked off the back of a van, locked, whilst people slept inside. Surely this means there will be some security for future events?

These events are advertised and it cant be hard to target. We arent a million miles from anywhere either. Just put it in a van or car, not much effort for peace of mind... Sad to see so many peoples bikes nicked and hope they get replacements asap.

Race was ok, loved the dirt on friday, turned greasey and gloopy on saturday so not so good. Happy with the result considering i spent most of the time going over the bars.

11 mile loop though...?

Yeah would've been nice to do the full route, forestry work meant it was cut short
The mud made it more fun!

Lets be honest, we're incredibly cavalier about bike safety at events. I've left my bike lying around loads of times, like most folks I think. I'm not saying anyone deserves to be robbed but more "there but for the grace of god". A bloody shame, glad it doesn't seem to have overshadowed the race too much.

(also, no bugger'd steal mine)

I really hope those robbed had bike insurance, as well as personal insurance they don't want.

The MDE and whyte bikes were in steve's awning locked to a bike rack about 2 feet from where he was sleeping apparently. I know the whyte guys will be sorted out with new ones as they are a pro team but some of the others might not be so lucky.

Anyone got a route map of what they used?

Shame you weren't allowed on the really good stuff on the north part of the hills...

I think the map is up on the ukge site

Pretty gutted missed out on those other tracks

I think we all had a good fun weekend.

Racing wasn't bad, got a couple of top 15's on the stages, sadly let down by a couple of howlers - 22nd overall wasn't bad though in the usual stacked masters field 🙂

As much as I enjoyed it, i'm not sure it was a national venue though. Even with the other stages, it would have only been a 2.5hr/20km loop. I know it was a bit of a challenge to get an event like this there, so appreciate the efforts, as I haven't been to Triscombe in years.

The bikes being nicked thing wasn't cool at all. There was a lot of p*ssed off looking people there Sunday morning.

Tickets are available for National Champs+all rounds apart from 5, on More Dirt website.
Strangely (?!) it doesnt show on UKGE website, unless you go to enter an earlier event (I chose Grizedale), then click enter and follow the link to MoreDirt.

My experiences of the weekend's race - [url= http://westcoastmountainbiking.com/features/2015/5/11/uk-gravity-enduro-series-round-1-triscombe ]Westcoast MTB race report[/url]

Still gutted about my puncture...reckon I should've gotten a spot prize for the fastest stage run on foot!

Just watched the video and me and sharki built quite a lot of that...

That video explains why it looked like everybody had taken the chicken line around the drop in the Greatwood d/h track when I was up there the other night, because it was taped off 😯

Surely a 2.5 ft drop doesn't need taping off for an event like that?

How did the helmet rules work out then? From the photos I've seen most were wearing proper full facers, so I guess most were carrying two helmets?

I rode with my FF lid. It was pretty hot on the ups. In the summer months I'll be taking another lid. MY mate rode with both and wasnt too bothered. Obviously not as good as enduro lid, but I'm not buying yet another lid!

Pretty happy with my MET Parachute, which wasn't bad on the climbs. Might pop the cheek pads out on hot days for climbing as that's where I've noticed it the most.

Lots were riding in the new MET Parachute and Bell Super 2r but lots in DH fullfacers too. I did see one rider wearing the old MET Parachute which I was surprised got through..

Would I be right in thinking it was far from a climby course compared to the 4,000ft+ rounds?

Wasn't climby at all, Strava says 1,800ft for the main day

How did the helmet rules work out then? From the photos I've seen most were wearing proper full facers, so I guess most were carrying two helmets?

Most of the people around me who rode with a proper FF, wern't wearing it properly on the climbs & were pretty open about it. Others just pulled the cheek pads & liners out & left them wobbling about on their heads.

I wore my D3, safe to say I sweated a fair bit in it, and it needed a good wash after.

And at a risk of fanning old flames, the tracks didn't warrant it, the choice should have been left to the riders as before, especially with no BC involvement now (although there was some BC people there?!)

It's going to be pretty unpleasant on a bigger loop with a hot day. Looks like i'll be forced into wearing a pack again & have to ride with 2 lids.

Lots of grumbling about it too.

There was an independent adjudicator there who is also a BC commissaire as well who gave up his time to keep us on our toes.
Re: Full faces... 3 people crashed onto their faces, 3 full face helmets were written off. 3 people walked away with minor injuries to ride another day...conclusion...Full faces were warranted for RACING and will continue to be mandatory on all UKGE events.

Quite happy in a full face. Although it was a short loop.

Know what you mean about taping out drops and jumps, i could understand if it was blind racing but it's not! Premier enduro series in the uk... but getting wheels off the ground is too risky? More huck lines please

That video explains why it looked like everybody had taken the chicken line around the drop in the Greatwood d/h track when I was up there the other night, because it was taped off

Surely a 2.5 ft drop doesn't need taping off for an event like that?

the one just after the fireroad? they left it in for the enduro1 round last year.

Quite impressed with my met parachute, was sweatier than a trail lid but worked out fine, my only issue is that my goggles don't fit very well

Didnt see anyone riding without them on the transitions did see a few taking the cheekpads out for them though, no one really complained though

Things weren't quite as gnarly as I was hoping but I'll put that down to 2 of the stages on the dh side being closed due to FC work
Yeah one of my mates went OTB and smashed in the chinguard on his ff
[img]Take a look at @enduroFactory's Tweet: https://twitter.com/enduroFactory/status/596709626441310208?s=09 [/img]

the one just after the fireroad? they left it in for the enduro1 round last year.

Yep thats the one at about 3 mins into the video, I did the enduro 1 race too and can't understand why they would tape it off 😕

heres an actual pic of stu's lid
[img] [/img]

id happily have had some bigger drops n jumps tho
from speaking to folk who did the dig days, last year at least, it was the BC guys that insisted the more dangerous lines were removed

We tape the tracks to make them different to normal. I've ridden those drops a hundred times and never gone the way we did for the race...The right hander into the new section was not built with the fast drop line in mind, also It makes it fairer for non-locals who like me ride the same line day in day out. Safety is paramount for Gravity Enduro racing. Hucks are for Dh and have no place on Gravity Enduro Race stages. BC Had nothing to do with these changes, these are things we implement to limit risk to all the riders and not just the quick people!!

There was an independent adjudicator there who is also a BC commissaire as well who gave up his time to keep us on our toes.

I'm not there to keep you on your toes. I'm there to help Charlie and Steve and to try and help racing function as safely and fairly as possible. And to enjoy the weekend! 🙂

Can't think I asked for anything to me removed last year. Can't speak for others though and certainly BC staff at HQ were more worried than most about Enduro being another name for DH. Generally speaking though the organiser has to strike a balance between what keeps things fun and interesting for the experienced skilled rider and what is not going to cause the less experienced, some times first time, racer to end up in hospital. Until there is a points qualification system that's always a balance that has to air on the side of caution.

It was a shame the original stage 1 had to be dropped, it was the fastest most challenging of the stages in my opinion. Certainly one I rode a few times cos it was so good when I did the recce. Might well pop back next weekend for a couple more laps.

#safeduro

Hi Al! You always keep me on my toes. Making the views nice n'all. 😀

although there was some BC people there?!)

BC person who was there here! Nothing to do with the safety and nothing to do with the decision made by head office, just there for a good, well organised, couple of days racing and that's what I got, great event!