The Ard Rock Enduro has quickly become one of the big events in the MTB calendar and seems to be getting bigger and bigger each year.
After a more serious race calendar last year, I was up for something more relaxed and social and after reading the all-round positive feedback for Ard Rock, I hastily signed up for the Sport version of the enduro when race entries went live way back in October .
Whereas in previous years (I think), there was one enduro race, this year had three; the main competitive Saturday race, the short 3 stage Sprint race, and the Sport enduro race on Sunday. Both the Saturday and Sunday enduros rode the same full course with the main difference being that there were no formal stage start times for Sunday so you could chase down your mates on the stages…oh, and there was no practice, so you were riding them blind. Almost perfect for my liking!
I broke up the 7 hour drive from Cornwall to the Yorkshire Dales with a short stop in the Midlands for a couple of days and eventually rolled into the picturesque area of Fremington and Reeth on Friday afternoon. A bit of an explore around the impressive event area and some cider downed whilst listening to the live acoustic guitarist in the evening, was a nice start to the enduro festivities.
Saturday was pretty chilled out…well, my mindset was, but the weather was blazing sunshine and mid to high 20s on the temp gauge! Â I headed up the road for a spin on the CX bike just to get a feel for the scenery and watched as the Saturday enduroistas came off the hill at the bottom of Stage 3, listening to tales of sketchy moments on the previous stages. Later, the rest of the Faff Racing crew arrived at camp and we headed back to the event arena for the frankly ludicrous prize draw where tyres, wheels and forks were given away (I won sweet FA) and then the rock band played indie/rock covers til late. It seemed like plenty of the Saturday riders had the beers flowing and shapes throwing after a day out on the trails. But with a 9.15am Sunday start, we were off to bed before the mosh pit got wild!
So yeah, the sun was blazing on the Saturday and was made more effective by the lack of a breeze. Sunday however, was very different. A weather warning for 40mph gusts held true as we woke up to a grey sky full of cloud and lower temperatures. Still dry though so I was looking forward to seeing what the Dales could throw at us!
A steep road climb up to the top of the Fremington Edge escarpment and we were sent into Stage 1 down its face with the strong wind gusts blowing up out of the valley with force. It literally hit you as you crested, nearly stopping you in your tracks or nearly blowing the bike out from under you! Some nice chute criss-crossing and into a pedally singletrack traverse, where I got held up a bit behind a rider in front before dropping into the trees and some proper nice loamy root sections to finish. Stage 1 done and I was already impressed at the quality of the descending and looking forward to the next one!
Stage 2 was a fight against the headwind to start and felt like riding backwards but once into the steep, loose turns off the top, the stage flowed really well with some nice switchbacks, rock gardens and off-camber grass banks. Again, I got held up a little but had a lot of fun overtaking several others and trying to second guess their moves and banzai past!
A long road climb into that hideous headwind to Stage 3 and then back down more rocky chutes and into a super fast double track to finish. I got stuck behind someone in the tight twists at the start and couldn’t get past until he missed a turn. I should’ve left more of a gap but it was too windy for comfort at the top and just wanted to get out of it!
Stage 4 and my legs were starting to feel a little tired with the long climbs and bastard headwinds beginning to take their toll. I had a free run at the stage, but with the sound of riding mate Chris’s Hope hub clicking in earshot, I had to keep the pedals turning as we dropped down into the purple heather covered valley.
The transfer to Stage 5 was a slog up and over the Moor and again, into that headwind. By the time we reached the start, there was no hanging about and we dropped in almost straight away. Back down the face of the escarpment near Stage 1 and this one had some fast wide open slalom grassy turns and plenty of rocks to catch a wheel at high speed, with the potential for a massive crash..which I nearly had! I was feeling quite tired now, both in the legs and the arms so a quick mental “Keep it together…don’t damage yourself now!” and I hung on for the finish line.
As the results rolled in, I ended up 38th of over 380 in Masters, with Chris only 8 seconds behind me overall. Strangely, I had my worst stage result on my favourite stage (stage 2, 82nd), and my best stage result on Stage 4 (31st) where I felt tired.
So, despite the gale force winds, the Ard Rock weekend was a huge amount of fun. The whole event was really well organised, the turnout was immense (over 2000 riders!), the music was good and the stages were a great mix of technical and enjoyable flat out fun.
Could anything be better? Not much really but one issue was the ability to swap race entries before the race. A few riders I knew had to pull out for various reasons and there were others who would love to have taken their place, but the organisers wouldn’t allow it for some reason. The refund policy was understandable, as it’s such a big event and the bills need to be paid of course, but what’s the problem with being able to change the name on a race entry? A simple online name change on the race entry and no one would be losing out surely?
By far, it was a top weekend and I can’t wait to be back next year…hopefully without the wind!
orena45blog - MTB Riding & Racing 