ROCK FACES

After three long years the Ard Rock enduro is back... so how did the riders rate it?

- Jamie Darlow

By golly, we’ve missed this. Racing by day before partying by night; the mountain bike festival format is as old as the sport itself and taps into what most of us truly love about mtb – great riding and a sense of community.

For 18 months we’ve been denied the hedonism, but now the calendar is waking up, with events like the Enduro World Series in the Tweed Valley, the Malverns Classic, the Ex Enduro and loads more rounding out the summer season. We went along to the biggest of them all, the Ard Rock Enduro, to find out how riders felt, returning after three long years (2019 was a washout for the Dales event). Relief? Sheer bloody abandonment to hedonism? Or a more sober look at what events like this really mean to us?

EDGAR DIAZ

I’m originally from the Philippines and I’m working over in the UK now for South Eastern Railways and living in London. I first did Ard Rock back in 2018 and got an entry into the (easier) Marathon event, but this time I prayed to all the Gods (laughs) and finally got an entry into the main event. So, I got a lucky ticket and here we are.

mbr : How did you find the first two stages? On a scale of one to 10, this is definitely a 10 (laughs). Probably the hardest riding I ever did here in the UK so far. I’ve ridden Coed y Brenin and Forest of Dean, but this in the wet is something else – so slippery, so technical.

mbr : Have you enjoyed it then, or is it too much? Ha! Well, I’ve enjoyed it so far anyway (laughs), and I’ll need to see what the rest is like. I’ll definitely be back for more if I can get in next year.

JOE BARNES, TEAM ORANGE