Nirvana rides Enduro

Some of the guys were up in Yorkshire the the Ard rock Enduro. The feedback from Tony B, our resident rider, mechanic & guru, is that it's the best event he's ridden! Epic climbs combined with epic downhills. Some of the hardest riding he's encountered. Well done to Tony, Jon, Ryan & Ian. Here's a little write on on what enduro racing is about by Tony Berlin:

So last race of the uk Gravity enduro coming up weekend of 19th sept, places left. So what's this enduro racing like? Well I've done a few this year and its a bit of a roller coaster. 1st you have to drive, drive lots, they are usually 4-7 hrs away and that means motorways, which sometimes means traffic. It's goner happen get over it. Next major thing is weather, the UK events are held throughout the summer, but sometimes it rains, so be prepared whilst camping to deal with rain. We've had one rainy morning out of the 4 events so far, but we have had rain through the night and that does affect the stages so good mud tyres help and for me changing to flat pedals for the steep techy muddy sections .

Food and fitness. You need a half decent base fitness to be able to ride 20/30 miles off road and if you want to pre ride the course ( highly recommend ) that's doubled.Some riders get there on a Friday and pre ride all or some of course then just session sections Saturday . They have a burger van at most events but you really need to take food, lots of carbs and protein shakes and a bottle of red.

Saturday seeding, Saturday afternoon is the seeding run which you line up in your age group in number order at start of chosen stage and ride to bottom of stage quick as you can. This time will put you in race order for next day's racing so riders either side of your start time will be very close to your time. Race day Sunday is race day, you get given a start time from the arena and a time to get to the 1st stage which is a fairly easy spin, unless it's the Ard Rock and it will be a monster climb. You will get a count down and boom your off, the stages are a little sprint into steep techy sections sometimes with a fire road sprint joining 2 sections together, stages are 2/5 min long . When the red mist has cleared and you can breath again you head to the next stage till you've done 5 stages.

What I love about enduro is it covers everything. Some stages would suit faster rolling tyres some super gravity tyres, do you take spares? Do you pack a jacket? How much food and water do you take? Its all up to you and a gamble and can make or break your day. It's a proper challenge and tests your riding skills, but most of all it's bloody good fun, hanging out with your pals, camping / sleeping in your van, banter, beers and bikes Go on give it a go Tonyb