The Dyfi Enduro 2010 results are out – You can see them here:
They are in a different format to usual as you have to look up your rider number (or surname) to find your time and position.
Well done to all those who finished.. And even those who took part and didn’t finish as that’s more than what I managed to do as I didn’t even manage to get to the start line this year!
Never mind, I’m feeling a little better today so hopefully I’ll be able to start training ready for the Dyfi Enduro 2011 before too long!
Well, I’m not doing the Dyfi Enduro.
I’ve got a pretty bad cold and its been getting worse over the past couple of days. I was exhausted yetsterday after driving into town and back and don’t feel any better today so there’s simply no point. Especially considering the fact that last time I did a ‘race’ when I was ill I ended up on the cardiac ward in Bronglais Hospital (twice!) and out of action for a few months.
It’s pretty disappointing and I’d really like to do it, but it would be a struggle in my current condition, I wouldn’t be able to put in a representative time and it may put me out of action for longer than necessary. There’s always next year I suppose.
If you’re doing it then have fun, I wish I was there with you but it’s not worth the risk.
Last night was the last MTB ride before the Dyfi Enduro for me. The idea was to meet the usual attendees of the Wednesday evening night ride at Pendam for an easy ride around the Summit Trail.
I found myself there and at a loose end at 5ish, a couple of hours early so rather than wait around for a couple of hours or drive home just to turn around and come back I thought I’d go for a ride on my own instead. I had intended to take it easy, but started off on the Pendam Trail and as usual started pushing a bit harder to see how close I could get to my Personal Best.
Last time I did it a few weeks ago I beat my previous best by almost 30 seconds with a time of 36:55. On that occasion I got to the Visitor Centre at under 15 minutes.
Last night, the trails were as good as they get, dry, dusty and smooth. There were very few people around and the conditions with only a fairly light wind were ideal too. I got to the visitor centre in under 15 minutes again and I was feeling good, so I started pushing hard from there.
I caught someone up on the Italian Job and got held up for a few seconds, but he soon got out of my way and I then went a little faster than I normally would down the rest of the Italian Job. The next few sections felt good, but by the time I reached the final climb I wasn’t sure how my time compared but it seemed as though it was quite a way to go in 5 minutes in order to beat my time.
As it turned out I had plenty of time and actually beat my personal best by over a minute with a time of 35:39. A fairly reassuring performance with the Dyfi Enduro in a few days time. I then headed off for an easier circuit of the bottom section of the Summit Trail - Mark of Zorro was lovely, leg burner felt OK too and I did it in a slightly higher gear than I normally would.
Less than a week to go until the 2010 Dyfi Enduro, so yesterday a large group of us had a pre-ride around the course.
There were 17 of us in total. We didn’t do the road section from Machynlleth but started at the ClimachX Trail head and then rode down to the road and up the first long climb. It wasn’t long before I was trailing towards the back of the group with some of the faster cross-country whippets sprinting off ahead. It was going to be a long day so I was quite happy pacing myself.
The first descent rode nicely, but on the climb afterwards a couple of us had flats, me included. Actually, mine was from a previous incident a couple of weeks ago that I thought had sealed itself, but obviously it hadn’t. There was no option but to stick a tube in it. The others had carried on so I had to ride fairly hard to catch them all up. So much for taking it easy! I eventually caught them over the top on the grassy field, which now has a wide path cut into it so that its actually a rocky road across the field.
The descent into Baileys Bridge was nice, if a little greasy and slippery on the off-camber rocks. We did however manage to lose a couple of the group members here. We waited for a while but they didn’t show up so a couple of people went off in one direction to see if they could find them whilst Joe waited at the bottom of the descent in case they came out that way and the rest of us headed up to the cross roads at the top. The rocky descent to this point was pretty sketchy with a couple of people off and a little bloodied and bruised. We waited here for the others to find us, which they eventually did.
After a break and a play on some of the jumps at the top of the ‘World Cup Descent’ a few of the group headed off on their own, leaving us with 11 people. The next descent was the ‘World Cup Descent’ which I hadn’t done before. It may, or may not, be in the Dyfi Enduro. It was mad, nice and flowy at the top with some jumps if you fancy them and then it just gets steeper and steeper becoming a mad, rocky cliff that you ride down. We all made it unscathed, if a little scared at times. If that’s in the event next weekend then it will be carnage!
From here it was a fireroad descent followed by a long climb to the feed station. We stopped here for a bit but as it was getting late, there were lots of MX bikes about and some people were pretty tired we decided to miss out a couple of the descents and climbs in this area and instead started heading back towards ClimachX.
The next descent was a typical loose, slatey, Dyfi Enduro descent followed by the technical climb up to the descent with all the whoops in. Then we climbed back to the ClimachX Trail, did the 3 in 1 descent and then climbed (again) back to the top. We were going to do the Elephant descent and the final Dyfi descent but instead did the final descent of the ClimachX Trail.
All in all a good day out. I felt OK all the way around, but was slow both up the hills and down them. It was nowhere near as far as the Dyfi Enduro will be next week and there were lots of stops and rests so I think it might hurt quite a bit more next week.
Our weekly night rides at the moment are all exploring the trails that are likely to be part of the Dyfi Enduro. Last night we started from the northern end of the course and rode a few of the trails there. The first descent we attempted was covered in branches leftover from recent forestry operations so unless they clear that before the event I doubt that we’ll be going that way.
The other descent were typical Dyfi Enduro style descents with lots of sharp loose slate that managed to slash both Dave’s and my rear tyre. Each descent was of course followed by a long slog up a fire-road. The cold winter does seem to have released a lot of extra rock from the trails meaning that it is very loose under-tyre and slowing down on the descent is difficult as the loose rocks just slide on each other. It may improve a little as more people are up there riding the trails in preparation for the event now. The recent nice weather is drying things out a little up there as well.
Next week we’ll be riding around the Bailey’s Bridge section followed by an end of month ride around the entire route (as near as we can get to it without knowing in advance exactly where it will go).
I’ve decided I need some new tyres ready for the Dyfi Enduro.
Currently my Commnencal Meta 5.5 has a 2.4″ Continental Mountain King on the rear and a 2.35″ Maxxis High Roller on the front. Both are OK for general trail riding but a little too chunky for a longer distance ride such as the Dyfi Enduro and pretty draggy on the climbs… I think I need to make life a little easier for myself on the ups and go with something a little narrower and with a lower rolling resistance.
Haven’t decided what to get yet though… 2.2″ Continental Rubber Queens could be a good option as I still need a fair bit of grip for the descents. Anyone got any recommendations?
Entries for the 2010 Dyfi Enduro opened today and soon sold out completely. I managed to get an entry in though, rider number 282. Most of the local riders also got a place so it should be a good year.
The course will be similar to last years – Click here to see the Dyfi Enduro Route from last year. It is a 75km off ride ‘challenge’ around the Dyfi forest with around 800 riders. Last year I did it in a time of 4hrs 13 minutes which wasn’t too bad for my first attempt, you can see my Dyfi Enduro Race Report here. I came 222nd but as there were 35 people who finished before me but did the shorter route, I could say I was 187th,
I guess my aim (after finishing it) should be to get around in a quicker time this year.
Did you manage to get a place? What are your aims for this year?
