Beginner races

ec18

Afternoon All,

Is there any recommendation for any upcoming beginner/more leisure racing?

I'd like to get into something to focus on but my fitness would be poor and would like to start at something that's a more leisurely pace (contradiction I know)

Ec

QueenMTBee

ec18 wrote: »

Is there any recommendation for any upcoming beginner/more leisure racing?

You mentioned bike parks before. Is your skill level immediate/advanced and it's just your fitness level that is beginner?

nak

Race season is almost over, couple of enduros left but no XC. Biking Blitz starts around February and is suitable for all levels.

bogmanfan

Maybe try a sportive rather than a race? The Nire Valley Drop in Waterford is on October 28. Think there are 3 options - 20k, 40k and 60k. Would give you something to work towards for now.

ec18 wrote: »

Afternoon All,

Is there any recommendation for any upcoming beginner/more leisure racing?

I'd like to get into something to focus on but my fitness would be poor and would like to start at something that's a more leisurely pace (contradiction I know)

Ec

emeraldmtb

The Tour De Ballyhouras is also on some time in October/November. They haven't updated the website yet from last year's date. It's on the Ballyhoura trail centre usually, with a few extra bits, and is pretty casual to support charity.

ec18

QueenMTBee wrote: »

You mentioned bike parks before. Is your skill level immediate/advanced and it's just your fitness level that is beginner?

Yeah my skill level would probably be intermediate, I'm fairly comfortable on the red trails at the GAP and have (slowly) gone down some of the black trails at BPI.

ec18

bogmanfan wrote: »

Maybe try a sportive rather than a race? The Nire Valley Drop in Waterford is on October 28. Think there are 3 options - 20k, 40k and 60k. Would give you something to work towards for now.

Thanks I'll have a look at that

muckwarrior

The Gravity Enduros usually have a 'Challenger' category, where you only do 2 or 3 of the easier race stages.

iwillhtfu

Have a go at the Grass roots enduros they're beginner friendly and proper blind racing no practice days. All of the obstacles are rollable or have a B route and there's no time pressures like in the gravity enduro. Show up and take a spin down each trail as many times as you can manage before cut off usually 15:00 and 3 trails. I think the next one is down in Cahir

Wanderer78

iwillhtfu wrote:

Have a go at the Grass roots enduros they're beginner friendly and proper blind racing no practice days. All of the obstacles are rollable or have a B route and there's no time pressures like in the gravity enduro. Show up and take a spin down each trail as many times as you can manage before cut off usually 15:00 and 3 trails. I think the next one is down in Cahir

Is there online info about such events?

Gerry

http://grassrootsenduro.com

Just to point out - you need a reasonable level of fitness for enduros. While you might manage each stage quite easily if starting from scratch, doing 5 or 6 takes its toll.

ec18

Gerry wrote: »

http://grassrootsenduro.com

Just to point out - you need a reasonable level of fitness for enduros. While you might manage each stage quite easily if starting from scratch, doing 5 or 6 takes its toll.

Would a enduro training thread be an idea? or is just a case of go cycling and keep cycling

muckwarrior

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Have a go at the Grass roots enduros they're beginner friendly and proper blind racing no practice days. All of the obstacles are rollable or have a B route and there's no time pressures like in the gravity enduro. Show up and take a spin down each trail as many times as you can manage before cut off usually 15:00 and 3 trails. I think the next one is down in Cahir

I keep seeing people say that the Grassroots series is beginner friendly, and in many ways it is, but just be aware that it doesn't mean the stages are any less technical than a Gravity Enduro. On average they're probably actually more technical as there's no trail centre stuff used.

That said, they are great fun, and less of a commitment than a 2 day event.

ec18

ec18 wrote: »

Would a enduro training thread be an idea? or is just a case of go cycling and keep cycling

or a boards dublin training group for the winter

JJJJNR

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057902609

Gerry

There's loads of info out there on how to do training but I think the best is just to get going on riding your bike as you say In terms of focusing it a bit, an enduro is a big spin. Think about a normal spin where everyone gets knackered and wants to head home. How much would you have done at that point?
You should build up gradually and aim to be able for a spin of 20k plus and 600 - 1000m climbing. Djouce was 25k and 1050m climbing but ticknock was about half that so they do vary.

iwillhtfu

muckwarrior wrote: »

I keep seeing people say that the Grassroots series is beginner friendly, and in many ways it is, but just be aware that it doesn't mean the stages are any less technical than a Gravity Enduro. On average they're probably actually more technical as there's no trail centre stuff used.

That said, they are great fun, and less of a commitment than a 2 day event.

They are beginner friendly every obstacle is rollable and you can take as many runs as you like. Yes they're technical and will push you a bit but should be manageable to anyone who's considering entering a race I assume you won't see many that are brand new to MTB entering a race.

I didn't differentiate the difference with Gravity enduros as they are very similar but grass roots doesn't have the time constraints.

xxyyzz

iwillhtfu wrote: »

They are beginner friendly every obstacle is rollable and you can take as many runs as you like. Yes they're technical and will push you a bit but should be manageable to anyone who's considering entering a race I assume you won't see many that are brand new to MTB entering a race.

I didn't differentiate the difference with Gravity enduros as they are very similar but grass roots doesn't have the time constraints.

I wouldn't go so far as to say they are beginner friendly, the ballyhoura and Killaloe one's were very technical. If the op is relatively new to mtb then maybe an xc race is a good way start, the S4 category in an nps race is a good option.

muckwarrior

xxyyzz wrote: »

I wouldn't go so far as to say they are beginner friendly, the ballyhoura and Killaloe one's were very technical. If the op is relatively new to mtb then maybe an xc race is a good way start, the S4 category in an nps race is a good option.

Bree as well. There were some sections there that would have been unridable for an inexperienced rider if the weather happened to be wet.

I guess the problem is how you define 'beginner'. In my eyes it would be someone who has maybe just a bit of experience riding trail centre stuff, in which case I'd never recommend they do an enduro race first. On the other hand it may be a relatively experienced rider who is only a 'beginner' when it comes to racing.

In the OP's case it appears to be the latter, so seems reasonable to recommend the Grassroots series, but in general the Biking Blitz series is probably the best way to start racing for beginners.

emeraldmtb

If youre a beginner mountain biker, go for the Blitz series. If you're relatively comfortable on your MTB and dipping your toe into racing, then the Grassroots races are a relaxed single day events place to start. But as others have said, and as is clearly stated on their own website, they are not a beginner event and as technical as other enduro races. That said, Cahir is the next round and, from what I heard last year, it is one of the less technical rounds, although possibly a bit pedally.

QueenMTBee

iwillhtfu wrote: »

They are beginner friendly every obstacle is rollable and you can take as many runs as you like. Yes they're technical and will push you a bit but should be manageable to anyone who's considering entering a race I assume you won't see many that are brand new to MTB entering a race.

I didn't differentiate the difference with Gravity enduros as they are very similar but grass roots doesn't have the time constraints.

"Rollable" is relative depending on a person's skill/confidence level. In theory everything at a Grassroots is rollable but only if you are reasonably confident on your bike. Personally I found the Grassroots at Bree far tougher than the national DH champs at BPI (but I find jumping stuff less scary than rolling down it as I had a bad crash when I rolled something that wasn't rollable!!). The Grassroots is a very relaxed format as there is no "race run". You simply ride the stages in whatever order you want at whatever pace you want and your fastest time down each stage is added up at the end to make your overall race time.

rizzodun

The grassroots guys actually went to great lengths last year to stress that the stages are not beginner friendly.

The format may be more relaxed but the stages are just as tough as the gravity, I did Bree last year and some of it would have been sketchy as hell in the wet, also last years Ballyhoura grassroots was way tougher than this years Ballyhoura gravity enduro.

I actually pulled out of it after two stages of that grassroots when I blew up my brakes, and a club mate had to help a guy who broke his carbon framed canyon strive and drove it into his leg, nearly severing his artery. Also stage one was stopped temporarily to help a guy off who broke his shoulder.

Killaloe had some really nasty off camber drops too.

Didn't make any grassroots rounds this year but was really disappointed with the one gravity enduro I did in Ballyhoura, some lads I was talking to said rounds of the grassroots was harder this year than that round.

Gerry

Someone might be a beginner to racing and be experienced in terms of technical ability.. but if you aren't really fit I'm not seeing the big deal about being able to do multiple runs of the grassroots stages. Just doing all the stages once in a day is enough for most people.

emeraldmtb

Gerry wrote: »

Someone might be a beginner to racing and be experienced in terms of technical ability.. but if you aren't really fit I'm not seeing the big deal about being able to do multiple runs of the grassroots stages. Just doing all the stages once in a day is enough for most people.

There are only 3 stages in each grassroots round, so if you repeat each of them you’ll be up to the 6 of other enduro series, but with generally shorter transitions. Some of the pros have been known to do multiple runs of each stage. Killian Callaghan at BPI last year managed 11 runs

rizzodun

emeraldmtb wrote: »

There are only 3 stages in each grassroots round, so if you repeat each of them you’ll be up to the 6 of other enduro series, but with generally shorter transitions. Some of the pros have been known to do multiple runs of each stage. Killian Callaghan at BPI last year managed 11 runs

+1 on this

I managed 10 at Bree last year, it does also help if you crash or have a bad run, you always have the chance to run the stage again, whereas the Gravity, you crash out, it's pretty much your day screwed.

steamsey

I love the Gravity Enduro format but really like the sound of the Grassroots too. As rizzodun says, if you feck something up you get a chance to give it another go which is really appealing. Will defo look into doing a few next year, maybe a few of the downhills too to see what they are like.

emeraldmtb

I think there are still places left for the last Grassroots round at Cahir the end of this month. Registration opened last night, and they usually fill up in under 24 hours.
http://grassrootsenduro.com/round-5-registration-form/

emeraldmtb

I've done a few of the Grassroots over the last couple of years and did my first Gravity at Ballyhoura this year.

For reference if you're interested this is what I thought:
https://emerald-mtb.com/gravity-enduro-ballyhoura/

And how the two series compare:
https://emerald-mtb.com/grassroots-versus-gravity-enduro/

Icyseanfitz

thinking of taking part in cahir myself, whats the difficulty like? i do quite a lot of the trails in killarney if anyone here knows of them as a reference

emeraldmtb

someone asked me this yesterday as well. i didn’t get to do cahir myself last year, but a friend of mine did and said it was “good, but more pedals than i’d like”
It’s meant to be far less technical than Ballyhoura (grassroots, not gravity) and Killaloe.

And i ride Killarney!

Icyseanfitz

I've signed up for it anyway will be my first enduro so a mixture of nervous and excited, but I figure if I can manage the trails at torc in the wet and muck I should be okay haha