My first Enduro - TORQ 12:12

LukeHurst

Hi,

I just thought I'd share that I've just put my entry in as a team of 3 to take part in the TORQ 12:12 12-hour Enduro on 29th August. It will be first Enduro and is likely to be my 3rd ever MTB event!!

I've been racing road bikes for 13 years to quite a good standard (well certainly during the early years) and I am still racing 2-3 times a week on the road at the moment. I've been on a training camp to Majorca this year and I have excellent fitness at the moment.

Now the challenge.....I only purchased my MTB 2 months ago having never really ridden off road before apart from a cyclo-x race a couple of years ago. I did my first MTB race at Thetford forest 3 weeks ago and finished 41st out of 120ish so I know I can be competitive to certain extent.

I'll be riding the event with a very experienced MTB racer and also a mate who has never raced but rides off road a lot, so I should be somewhere in the middle hopefully I've got quite a few tough E/1/2/3 road races plus another MTB race coming up before the Enduro, so hopefully I'll have a good level of endurance to carry me into the Enduro.

Any tips/advice and words of encouragement would be appreciated.

Luke.

njee20

Just enjoy yourself, it's a good event, on a great course. The first year it was insanely wet and generally a bit miserable, last year it was really dry and dusty, and good fun!

If you keep going for 12 hours with no mechanicals you'll do absolutely fine. The course isn't technical, there's nothing to catch you out.

willhart

My training partner and I are planning to enter the 12:12 too. We are doing our first 4hr solo race this weekend and then deciding which catagory to enter.

We were going to enter as a pair, but we are both a bit sadistic and now were slowly talking each other into doing it Solo!

We have no chance of being competative and would be doing it for the fun aspect and seeing how much riding we can actually manage to do in 12 hrs.

I just looked at last years results and the winner managed 19 laps, that 145 miles!!!!!

But the last placed guys only managed about 2 laps, so we think we can do a bit better than that at least. Personally I would like to aim to clock up 100miles, that would be a big achievement for me I think, not sure yet if it is realistic though!!!!!

We'll see how we survive this weekend first then make our decision.

It sounds like you will do very well with your Roadie fitness and a few MTB races under your belt by then. Just enjoy it and if you get a good result, all the better.

Cheers, Will.

carbonfiend

If I was you I would spend as much time as possible between now and the race on your MTB, you clearly have the overall fitness so I would just get used to being bashed about a bit and work on your tecnique and confidence, get used to throwing the bike about. Enduro's also fatigue your whole body so also work on some core and upper body stuff and maybe look to recognise very closely when you are getting tired as this can have a direct and quite immediate effect on your riding and when tired on an MTB and racin its very easy to make a mistake and a small slip can have a big impact.
Good luck think I'll be there as well

willhart

Thats good advice, I am not all that leg fit really but it was still my shoulders arms and hands that suffered most in my first enduro last weekend.

Towards the end I was nearly headbutting the bars when I went through a bomb hole section of the course as my arms couldn't support my wheight through the dip anymore!

Also I am glad I did quite a lot of training on technical trails. The course was not massively difficult, but as the fatigue set in it became more and more difficult. I ended up falling off quite a few times towards the end of the race, if I hadn't done the technical training I think I might have ended up having a bigger accident!

Nothing new here really, just saying that the last post is good advice in my book.

Good luck at 12:12,

BEEMB

I'm doing my first Torq 12 this year too. I'm a solo entry having competed in the Muc Off 8 a few months back. I managed to finish somewhere in the 40s of the 120 solo riders.

I think Torq 12 will be far more enjoyable. Gorrick races always seem to have some reward for climbing - proper singletrack sections to get your teeth into and look forward to each lap. The Muc Off was not very well designed and pretty muddy and slippery.

Training wise - I second a comment above .. be on your bike as much as you can. And if you can't, like me, spin and run.

I find fuelling to be more important than I ever imagined. In warm conditions a good sized water bottle per lap, maybe slightly less (8 miles so roughtly 40-50min laps), filled with a lowish mix of energy drink, 1 energy gel per lap, an energy bar every 90 minutes, then take on protein after 5-6 hours. That's my plan. Hope it's not too hot.. But rather that than rain and mud!

M.

Stuntman

Hi Guys, i am entering my first solo enduro as well and yep, it's going to be the Gorrick Torq in your sleep.

I agree with everything everyone else has said and just to say it's crucial to get a good core workout a few tims a week as this is where fatigue will hit hard. Mountainbiking is all about the core.

Good luck with the training guys. i do triathlons mainly so this will be a challenge. doing a sportive this weekend as extra training though. Still not spent enough time on my bike.

Cj83

The course was not massively difficult, but as the fatigue set in it became more and more difficult. I ended up falling off quite a few times towards the end of the race, if I hadn't done the technical training I think I might have ended up having a bigger accident!

haha reminds me of my first race i did earlier this year, first lap i thought technically it couldn't be easier and wondered what all the fuss was about when people on the start line were warning me of certain sections. By my last laps when i was absolutely knackered it was a technical nightmare and obviously i stacked it over the bars on one of those very sections.

LukeHurst

Hi All,

Many thanks for the replies and sorry that I haven't posted back sooner. I thought I would get emails when someone replied but I must of forgot to tick that box, so I assumed I had no replies.

Anyway, there is some good advice on here, and as it is now a few weeks since I started the topic and only a couple of weeks to the event, I am able to say that I'm in fairly good shape. My technical skills are getting better every time I ride and the main thing is that I am really starting to enjoy riding off road.

For the event I will be wearing my club kit which is red/black Castelli with 'Pedal Revolution' and 'Norfolk Motor Group' sponsors. So give me a shout if you see me!

Good luck to all those who will be taking part as well.

Luke.

Stuntman

Hey Guys, I'll be there on a Solo bike(glow stick under my seat) with a blue road jersey probably. I might buy an xc Jersey from Evans in their sale before the race.

Will give you a shout if I see you mate

LukeHurst

Stuntman wrote:

Hey Guys, I'll be there on a Solo bike(glow stick under my seat) with a blue road jersey probably. I might buy an xc Jersey from Evans in their sale before the race.

Will give you a shout if I see you mate

Good luck. I'll watch out for you.

I'm on a black Specialized rockhopper with white recon forks and white grips.

Luke.

Stuntman

Red Spesh Epic with white forks and grips(as long as the grips last until then) and if it's raining then white mud-guards. I'm not normally that colour co-ordinated it kinda just happened.

panterpop

You will all be pleased to know that the course is in great shape and will only get better with the Sun...

It can be rooty and can be techinal at times, this year a Bomb Hole has been added for added fun, 8 mile Cse. Laughing!!

See ya there.

Stuntman

Hi guys, how did everyone get on?

Great day and the bit of rain added another dimension to the course.

Sorry I didn't manage to bump in to anyone to say hi but the whole day went by in a flash!

JasonRwmb

I managed to keep going in the 12 hour solo category, eventually finishing 11th after 13 laps. I had time for one more lap, but I had the offer of a cold beer and the beer won!

I enjoyed the whole event, I also thought the rain added a bit of interest to the course, I am just glad it stopped when it did and then the sun came out!

I saw Njee20 at some stage, he was flying.

Roll on next year, hopefully a few of the new sections will have bedded in by then!

Stuntman

Ah, the cruel temptatoion of the cold beer.

I was more than happy to have the sun come back out too

I was shocked as it was my first 12 hour event and I was only doing solo to prove a mate that I could. lol. I got 4th with 15 laps and am now re-thinking it all!

EDIT - wish I hadn't had that puncture.

carbonfiend

Managed 9th in vets solo 12 laps went well considering I had no support. Had a lights issue which lost me a fair amount of time near end and had a rough bit during middle section but all in all pleased. Defo back next yr hopefully with some help :?