Isle of man End to End

steve3577

Hi all
Thinking of doing the isle of man end to end next year, i presume its hard, but was just wondering how hard and can a mear mortal complete it.
cheers

HebdenBiker

Yep - looks like "mere mortal" territory to me.

If it's your first crack at the distance I would do a training ride at this distance first to make sure your knees don't pop out or your bum doesn't swell up and fall off or something.

cat_with_no_tail

It's not TOO difficult to complete in the allowed time, but they do call it a challenge for a reason.
Most certainly can be completed by mere-mortals.
You should definitely complete as many 30+ mile MTB rides as possible before the actual event though, that way it's not going to be as much of a shock to the system.

Can't stress enough how important it is to make sure your bike is up to the job too. I'm not talking about having a £4k race bike or anything, but make sure your pads are good, chain is not too worn, tyres and tubes are in good condition. I know that might sound like common sense, but you'd be surprised how many people have to retire after mechanicals that wouldnt have happened if they took proper care of their stuff.

I'm hoping to do it next year too, so I'll see you when you get here

John Moore

It's OK, just 3 killer climbs with a bitch at the end.

I'm thinking of going again in 2010 to try and beat my 3hr 47mins and 76th place.

New Bike = top 50??? :?:

boneyjoe

Did it for the first time this year, and its an excellent event. Most reasonably fit riders should be able to do it, just ensure that you go prepared - some decent hill training and bike / kit in good working order, are probably the main things to worry about until a week or two before. And get your entry in of course! Think they've increased the field size for next year, but it was full-up this year a few months before the event.

moolarb

are there any technical bits in this, i.e. difficult or rocky ascent/descents?

I don't mind the climbs and can cover 100+ miles on the road but I'm an MTB novice and not great on the technical stuff

boneyjoe

Its not overly technical IMO - certainly not as much as your typical xc race. For a novice, the most diffult parts are probably still the climbs, as they are really very steep, on loose, slippery trails, which take some skill to ride in places. There are also some slippery muddy sections where the trail flattens out, and a few rocky descents, but not so steep or rocky that you would need any special practice or training to ride them IMO. Though riding them fast is another matter altogether!

John Moore

Sorry boneyjoe, but even though I fancy it again in 2010 it's quite boring and with nothing techncal at all going downhill anyway, apart from the wheel trapping ruts or the very wide raised wooden section.

moolarb

sounds good to me, I'm more interested in a physical challenge than a technical challenge if you know what I mean...

boneyjoe

No need to apologise John, and I agree it isn't an overly technical course. Think the organisers are basically going for mass appeal, so don't want anything that's too scary for the average weekend rider. Still had good fun though, and will also do it again if poss.

miss notax

Hmm, this is interesting as I was thinking about this event.

I'm purely a weekend rider and have never entered an event like this, but quite fancy a challenge and something to aim for! I'm pretty good at the technical stuff, so I don't think that side of things would be a problem, but I have never ridden more than about 20 miles off-road (and that almost killed me!)!

I would try and raise some money for charity too, so I think it's only fair to put some effort in (rather than 'sponsor me for riding 5 miles' etc)!!

BenChaffer

Pretty sure I'm going to enter this. Can someone who has done it before tell me what the most technical part of the course is?

boneyjoe

As mentioned above, its not really a very technical courtse tbh. Even pretty novice riders should be able to do all of it. The steep climbs on loose and slippery trails are probably the most challenging, and then there are some muddy sections, a rocky (but not steep and certainly rideable) decent to St Johns, and some rutted sections towards the end of the course. All totally do-able for everyone imo.

mikeyj28

What sort of bikes do people use to do the end to end? I have a fairly specced up Cinder Cone HT. Will that be any good or am i better off on a full suss?

Also how many miles would people who have completed it suggest i do per week as training? How many miles of it are climbs and are they real killers?

Thanks

cat_with_no_tail

People ride it on pretty much whatever they have. Everything from £6k carbon full-sussers, to £80 halfords specials.
I saw one guy doing it last year on one of those "boss" full sus things you buy from Freemans.
There were some fully rigids (think John Moore was on a rigid) and even some singlespeeders (who may or may not be clinically insane).

I was on an XC full-sus last year, but I'll probably be on a rigid this year.

Due to the number of people taking part, most of the event is on fireroad type track, so it's nothing too technical.

Most important thing is to make sure you and your bike are in good condition and carry enough spares to cover punctures, broken chains etc.

If you can do a few 30mile XC rides before hand, just to get used to the distance. The time is set so that most people can finish in the time allowed.

Just remember, as well as a challenge, it's supposed to be FUN!

John Moore

Yep I was on a geared fully rigid 29er, just so I could beat a mate who was single speeding it. I needed the gears to get away from him over the first very long road section and I beat him by nearly 20 minutes.

If I do it in 2010 (not sure just yet) I want to try and knock about 15 minutes off this years time and to help me do that I've just got myself a new rigid "race" bike for this years enduros.

Last years times good and bad are all here - 76th :oops:
http://www.manxtimingsolutions.com/Resu ... verall.pdf

steponahen

Hello fellow end 2 enders. Here's the route profile on tracklogs. It changes slightly from year to year depending on which farms allow access, and is usually between 40 & 43 miles.



There are five sections.

1- Start to Ballaugh - 14 miles. All road and pretty flat. A good warm up.

2 - Ballaugh to Brandywell. 5 miles. Off road begins here. Tough steep climb, which only the pros can get all the way up, mortals have to walk up sections of it. Once at the top there are lots of ruts, rocky descent to first checkpoint.

3 - Brandywell to St. Johns. 9 miles. Rocky fire roads, mixture of ups and downs, quite a fast section. Descent to second checkpoint.

4 - St. Johns to Eary Cushlin. 5 miles. Steep rocky climb, rideable but you're probably knackered by here so may walk it. Then a fun descent through a plantation used by the downhillers. Then another very steep climb to the final checkpoint.

5 - Eary Cushlin to finish. 8 miles. Starts with a climb, then mostly a descent to the finish. Back onto tarmac for the finish - a killer climb of about a mile.

For me, each section is roughly an hour. The first year I did about 3 months training, two or three 2 hour rides per week on my road bike. It didn't really prepare me for the climbs, but I finished in 5 hours. This year I did fewer rides, but concentrated on long slow off road granny ring climbing, and a few 5 hour rides. Got it down to 4:30 (pros do it in under 3).

As mentioned, there's not much technical stuff, but it's a great day, and definitely a challenge to finish. As for suitable bikes - I ride a Stumpy FSR for comfort, my friend rides a fully rigid for climbing efficiency. So whatever you fancy.



PS - 400 people are already entered for 2010, so don't wait too long to sign up.

commando04

whats the max on this?
:?:

John Moore

What max?

Speed

Time allowed

Distance

Numbers of riders

commando04

sorry, didn't explain myself properly! Max number of people allowed to enter!
thanks

cat_with_no_tail

Well, it was 1,000 last year, but they've not actually confirmed numbers for this year yet. It's going to be at least 1,000, but there are already over 300 people entered so don't hang about too long.

John Moore

1000 and it's over half full already

John Moore

I've just entered for 2010 :roll:

Just over 400 places left on this classic event

Dirtydog11

Just entered myself.

Does anyone know of any good camp sites within riding distance of Douglas. I don't drive and will be relying upon the 'layed on' transport so need to be as close as possible to the pick up points.


Cheers

cat_with_no_tail

I know the Ballacottier site is open all year, just off the TT course, would take about 30 mins to ride to the pick-up point (mainly downhill). I know of a few more sites, but some of them are only open for TT and MGP then they close.

You may be as well looking for a cheap B&B on the Prom. Plenty of them are happy to provide facilities for bikes, you're close to the villa for sign on, close to the pubs, and only have a 2 min ride for pick-up and drop-off.

Dirtydog11

Cat With No Tail wrote:

I know the Ballacottier site is open all year, just off the TT course, would take about 30 mins to ride to the pick-up point (mainly downhill). I know of a few more sites, but some of them are only open for TT and MGP then they close.

You may be as well looking for a cheap B&B on the Prom. Plenty of them are happy to provide facilities for bikes, you're close to the villa for sign on, close to the pubs, and only have a 2 min ride for pick-up and drop-off.

Thanks mate.....yeah you could be right with regards to to the B&B. We will probably come over Friday till Sunday so 2 nights B&B.

Is there anywhere in particular you could suggest as I don't fancy tackling that 30 min downhill the wrong way on Sunday night.

Can anyone recommend a B&B (must be clean/cheap).

cat_with_no_tail

Just a quick heads-up for anyone wanting to do this who hasn't entered yet. There are now around 900 riders entered. Rumour has it that they *should* be capping entries at 1200. Either way, best choppy choppy if you want to be guaranteed a place.



Also, Dirtydog11 there are loads of B&Bs on the prom right next to where the coaches and trucks leave from. Some are cheap, some are bl00dy expensive.

Might be worth sticking a post up on the local MTB site here about it.

cat_with_no_tail

END 2 END 2010 IS NOW CLOSED FOR ENTRIES

Good luck to all those who have entered.

Hope the weather is as nice this year as it was last year.

mikeyj28

I have been lucky to get my entry in on time but i now need to pay!!

What do i put other than sending in a cheque for the correct amount? Do i need to include more details other than that the cheque is for my entry?

thanks

Gazmondo

Hopefully I'll be able to enter at the end of feb if there's a bunch that haven't paid... Really wanna do this!