Another Double Day Report - Enduroland
Banbury May 2010 & Tring June 2010

When my plans changed for the bank holiday weekend I was please that I’d be able to make the Enduroland event at Banbury. It was a new venue, and from what I’d heard it was going to be a good one due to the nature of the terrain ie woodlands on a hill, grass covered hills and open going – so a little bit of everything. The weather forecast was good for Sunday so I set the alarm early enough to finish off a few bits and bobs on the bike plus pack all the gear in the car – something I normally do the night before. Getting there was easy as its right near the M40 and there was plenty of room to park, but some of it is on a slope so I’m glad it hadn’t rained too much.

the parking - skies are looking rather dark!


Steve and co were running a little late so I was ready to rock by the time they got to the site. I missed the start of the ‘sighting lap’ as I’d been chatting to other riders about the recent Scottish Trip and also catching up with Steve who was apparently still feeling the effects of the previous weeks race with CHEC down a Tunbridge Wells, where he’d had a few tumbles! I headed off to get a few laps in while Steve set up camp. What little rain we had on Saturday was just enough – enough to turn the first few laps into a crash fest for those lacking experience! The course started out on a flat run across the field where you entered the site. Once at the far end it looped back round, but this straight had a little dip in it that caught a few riders out once the speeds got higher later in the day. A familiar face from the endurofest event back in 2009 got caught out here - but more of that later.

 

Steve does his best "look no white marks on my black dress pose"


After a few more bends the track climbed up through the trees briefly, did a couple of tight turns round some larger trees then headed down hill towards the main stand of woods. Half way down the slope the track split into ‘hard’ and ‘easy’ but it should have been labeled‘deep mud’ and ‘normal track’ as the hard route was nothing but a deep bog that I only tried the once and not again! Once at the bottom of the hill you had to enter the woods via a gully that had been bridged across by a few sheets of board. After that it was a fairly steep root covered climb and nearing the top you turned (still on the slope) and headed back down. This up and down bit on the hill inside the woods carried on for the full length of the trees – well it would have if you could get a clear run at it but there were bikes scattered around every turn of direction!

man down ...... more to follow

rider no. 2 is now visible!

Seeing a stricken rider I stopped to take a picture. Then snapped another one as the first ride picked his bike up – only for a second guy to fall off in the same way and land on no. 1’s bike, knocking it down again! Then the first rider set off and someone else (rider number three) came along and did exactly the same to rider number two. I nearly fell of the bike laughing! The problem was that the guys were slowing down too much at the top of the slopes and gravity was taking over and pulling them of the bike. Once again momentum was the key to success.

the first rider makes his exit

 

while no.2 sorts himself out...............

 

until another guys come along and knocks him down again!


Leaving the woods we had to cross the same gully as before and once again a little makeshift bridge had been constructed to help us clear the water filled bottom. The climb out of the gully was a little slippery, as was the next slope but once at the top the track took you back towards the pits. Branching off this track was another of the ‘hard’ routes so I took that and turned right down a steep hill followed by a left turn and another steep climb that had a small bump in front of it so getting a run up ie more speed wasn’t so easy. There was a guy down at the very top but there was enough room to get past so I sailed up the slope, front wheel pawing the air as I reached the top. I parked up and leaned the bike again a tree to go and help the fallen rider. There was no way he was going to get the bike going from where he was – it was just way too steep. Walking over I looked down into his rather worried looking face and said “I’ll help you – but first I’m going to take a picture”! I think he got a good deal. Pity the photo flattens the angle off so much.

hold on.... keep it like that - don't move!
(amazing how the slope is flattened out in pics)


Setting off once more there was a nice flat turn followed by a high speed blast down a gentle slope before a small detour off to the left. Then we looped back round this top paddock, again at high speed. The faster we went the slight hump in the track went from ‘didn’t notice it’ early in the day to ‘whoa big jump’ in the afternoon. Something I found out later when I had the bike pinned to overtake a slower rider, and nearly landed on him!
Next up was a tight right turn on the grass followed by several more grass covered and deceptively slippery turns before climbing once more into the next paddock where there was another opportunity to open the bike up, turning right just after the electricity pylon. There was a slight step in the lay of the ground next and we dipped down and up several times working our way through the hedges/trees. In the early laps these tight turns had people slithering all over the place and once again there were loads of bikes on the deck. One last tight off camber bend and we made our way first across and then down a grass covered hill that was again very slippery in the early laps and you had to be extra careful with the back brake otherwise the back end would swap over with the front – with non desirable results! About halfway down the hill was a little gentle uphill slope, again covered in wet grass. Several riders went down (using too much throttle I suppose) and this caused a log jam of epic proportions - so much so that the big man himself came to sort it out, and fell on his backside cos it was so slippery! I parked up and shot a few pics until it was safe to proceed.

riders dropping all over the place

 

oh dear it's getting worse!

 

fear not the man is here to sort it out!

 

when he's not falling on it arse!


A couple of laps later and the woods had been taped off which was a bit crap so I stopped to ask Nigel what was the matter. He turned the air blue and shot off to go and sort it out. The next lap it was back to business again but the extra ‘hard’ route after the woods was cut out so that less experienced riders could skip the woods out all together.
After several laps I pulled in and met up with Steve. After a breather we headed out again and I popped a wheelie the whole length of the first straight – unfortunately not when I was filming. The conditions were getting better and better. The sun was out a lot of the time so it was drying out and the tyres had managed to cut into the dirt enough to allow plenty more grip. By now it was lunch time though so we all sat around Steve’s van and chilled out for a while, me stuffing my face (as usual some would say!).

 

with the board failing some metal runners were brought in to 'bridge' the gap


After lunch it was helmet cam time and I sat behind Steve for a while – until the plonker ran out of fuel! I cut the lap short and headed back to his van, stopping to tell his wife the good news so that she could open up the van for me. Then we found that he only had a large 20ltr jerry can and I couldn’t see me carrying that one handed back to him so one of his mates came to the rescue with a mini metal can that I could manage. It wasn’t easy ridding back one handed though.
Once suitably re-fueled we headed off into the woods and I stuck right on Steve’s back wheel trying to get some decent footage, and I did - Steve hitting the deck. His bike cough stalled on a climb and with no drive it dumped him back down. The rest of the lap went without a hitch but Steve now calls me ‘Red Bike Jonah’ as every time I film him he manages to hit the deck! Although i didn't see it Steve reported that he had quite a hard landing later on, on the last part of the track which was downhill turns on grass. the front washed out and dumped him into the dirt before he could think about saving it.

 

 

helmet cam lap of the track

 

the 'enduroland babe' of the day

 

enduroland prat of the day!
(only joking mate -see you next time)

oops!

 

 

steve's view of the lap.......the one where he has a tumble!


I got a few more fast laps in after that, but it was soon time to pack it all in and head home. However just as I was packing up I recognised the guy a few cars down and he was looking more or less the same as when I last saw him at endurofest in 2009 – banged up and bruised! He’d hit that slight dip in the first field and the rear end had pinged him out the seat, sending him flying. Once again his bike was looking decidedly second hand, as was he. Still - he landed on his head so no damage done!


Tring 13 June 2010
photos of me courtesy of Dave Burton - click on picture below to jump to his site.
He takes pictures at all Enduroland events

 

This event was pre-book only due to the short nature of the track and the limited parking area. As it was going to be made up of 100% woodland tracks I had no doubt about entering. From what I had heard from Steve it was going to be quite a track as there where loads of ‘bomb holes’ throughout the woods and if I know Nigel he’d have us ridding through all of them - and I was right! Just so you know (so as not to put anyone off for future events) Nigel always has ‘easy opt outs’ running next to any tricky section which means the events are open to all level of riders. Finding the track was a little more difficult than usual but we got there in the end and the car park could have done with a bit of strimming!

 

oi! cut the grass!

 

After the morning coffee meeting Steve advised up to hang back until after the sitting lap was done before going out, as the multitude of bomb holes and climbs would cause big bottle necks. However I was keen to get out so I headed off and it looked like there hadn’t been a mass guided lap as things were running smoothly. The track was far too twisty to do a blow by blow account so I’ll generalise a bit.

"Dont forget to visit the official Enduroland Photographers website for all the latest phots from all Enduroland events".


A few turns into the tack and we got our first taste of the dips. Even though this one was fairly shallow it was still catching a few out. A few turns later and we popped out the trees into some flat grassy turns that required caution early on. Once into the woods proper it was a case of flicking the bike one way or the other most of the time until the first bomb hole. This one turned out to be rather tricky on the first lap as there were two entries down into the hole which was fairly small as holes go but had steep slopes. Going down I looked for an exit mmmmm the gap to the left of the tree looked rather narrow so I opted for the one on the right, but that meant I had to make a slight turn and it slowed me down too much and I stalled the bike near the top. I managed to slide it backwards without falling then once at the bottom I had another go, getting to the top without incident this time. Just after the crest there was a stump that happened to be right in the middle of the exit line which caused a few problems.

 

one of the 'bomb holes'
(it was so dark in the trees that the photos are rather grainy)


Weaving through the trees brought you out to another ‘hard’ route that branched off to the right from the main track, but most seemed to be missing this one as it was only marked with an orange arrow not a separate ‘hard’ marker. It was a multi tiered hole but was easy enough to negotiate. The remaining ‘hard’ part was a very steep drop and climb that was immediately followed by a tight left once at the top only for it to drop off again and climb out once more. More turns through the trees and we arrived at a part of the woods that was completely undulated and we weaved through that for a while then onto some flatter track until eventually getting back to the pits. While the track wasn’t very long, the time it took to get round was deceptive as the speeds were so much slower than anywhere else. Coming round one of the bends a rider had cut the corner so tight he’d gone off line – straight into a boggy patch. Very boggy patch indeed as it has swallowed the front wheel and he was up to his knee holding the bike up. I parked up, leaning the bike up against a tree, while at the same time pulling the camera out. The “thanks for stopping” turned into “you have got to be kidding” fairly sharpish as I snapped away! In all fairness I did help him get it out but it took four of us to get it free!

 

"Dont forget to visit the official Enduroland Photographers website for all the latest phots from all Enduroland events".

 

oops! need a hand with that?


A few laps later and a quad was stuck in the same hole but that was stuck fast and there was no way it would come out without a tow, so after taking some more photos I headed off.
While waiting for Tony I was sitting at the start of the lap (in the pit entrance) when Steve wife came trudging past. Her bike had stopped and she couldn’t get it going again. It was only a few turns in so I went over to have a look. Mmmm key on, in neutral, press button – chug a chugga. No dice. Kick Kick Kick, nothing. Look at the petrol..........turn that on. Press Vroommmmmm! Well more of a phuft phuft phuft really from the AJP but at least it was running!

 

 

one of the enduroland regulars/staff showing how to do it on a quad

 

and someone else demonstrating how NOT to do it


I waited several times for Tony but we always seemed to get separated and I eventually figured it out that he was skipping a load of the ‘hard’ parts due to ‘rider error’. He was also having a bit of a tough morning session as his arm was pumping up from holding on too tight and he was struggling to keep hold of the bars. I gave him the keys to the car and set out on one last lap before stopping for lunch.
At lunch time Tony supplied England football cake and I supplied an extra strong ibuprofen tablet that I used to take when I separated my shoulder. He didn’t have any problems in the afternoon.

 

"Dont forget to visit the official Enduroland Photographers website for all the latest phots from all Enduroland events".

 


Setting off after lunch I seemed to have forgotten how to ride as I was all over the place. The corners had become a bit tricky by now as loads of tree roots and been scraped clear and these were catching the front wheels sending you off course. There was also plenty of branches laying around and every now and then someone would go slightly off line pushing a fallen branch into such a position that it would try and steer your bike for you, while you were going in another direction. About three quarters of the way around I must have lost concentration for a second and I didn’t place the front end in the turn properly. I caught a root that grabbed the front wheel turning it off into a wholly inappropriate direction - sending me flying. Luckily it was in a bend so it was only a small tumble.

 

 

Helmet cam footage of me knocking out a lap!


Pulling in at the pits I told Tony it was ‘helmet cam time’ so I went off to get geared up, leaving him by the start of the track. When I got back he was chilled out lying down propped up against the bike and didn’t look like he was in the mood for more fun. We set off with me filming him and I’d given plenty of pre ride instructions not to miss the hard parts. First time into the big dip and he went the wrong way at the top almost blocking my exit. I pulled up on the next straight’ish bit just before the next ‘hard’ turning and motioned to him with my hand to turn right (you can see it on the film) and he sailed past the turning and went straight on! I caught up to him at one of the next big holes and he managed to block the path again as he was going around in circles at the top having missed the sharp left turn. Please note: never follow Tony when you are lost (or any time). I can remember the classic example when out trail riding years ago. We had to briefly ride the Ridgeway to the next lane. I stopped at the entry point gathering the group, turning to Tony I said “up here and take the very next right”. In the lead he set off and we watched as he sailed off into the distance while we waited at the turning. We took a short break waiting for his return – he went bloody miles until he turned around and realised he was alone!


Near the end of the lap there was a tree with very hard branches that was catching me out every single lap and while I was following Tony I managed to hit one of the stubby sticky out bits hard enough to send me off course and into the next tree while making a big dab with my left foot, which just so happens to still be painful from a monster dab back at the CHEC open day in March!


The next lap I chased after Steve who had just come round and I got a fairly clean lap in to catch him just after the last hard section of the track. We pulled in eventually and went back to the car for some petrol and cold drinks but when we tried to rejoin we were told it was closed. They had to close early due to noise problems apparently.
So the next event is the big charity one up at Adstone. See you there?

 

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©2010 John Muizelaar