Ard Rock 2023 | The UK's Biggest Enduro MTB Race & Festival!

[@brianbathgate4944]

Great riding! Was a brilliant weekend, but such a slopfest. My front tyre was like a triple scoop ice cream - ha - no tread/traction. Even when I got on the road… half a mile of mud flying off the tyre on the road and it was still jammed :). Def heading down again next year - great festival

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Thanks! It was both of those things! First Ard Rock experience for us and already looking forward to next year. Haha likewise - that mud was just glued to the bike! Cleanup was not fun 😅

[@asacron]

It’s always a good day when u guys post a video! Love it!

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Aw thanks! 👊 Always good to hear they’re enjoyed! Such a fun one to edit this

[@asacron]

@@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB have u found the little bird tsjirping in your bike after cleaning it Laura? 😅

[@stoneyX]

Well done guys thats a tough event for sure, especially in that weather. The Ard moors is another good enduro event, its local to me and the trails are epic.

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Thanks! Yeah a long day on the hill. Definitely keen to try Ard Moors too - was chatting to someone about it at the weekend. Keen for any good enduro events!

[@bobbyboyd72]

Great effort guys…..it’s a brutal exposed loop in tough conditions…..thank Tam for liking one of my reels 😂

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Thanks! Yeah our first experience of it and it certainly was as tiring as everyone had said! Hahah shall do 😂

[@glennbroad2543]

This looks great! Tough but fun, well done with the conditions

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

It was a really good weekend. Mud always makes it extra fun. Thanks!

[@muddymongoosemtb9873]

That looked muddy madness! Well done racing in that. Although I was most impressed at Tam's lightning quick reflexes picking up his sweet from the ground...well within the 5 second rule.💯👌🤙🤙🤙🤣🤣🤣 Looked like a great event, fantastic video as always.

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Thanks! Ahahah yeah even a 1 second rule would have made it 🤣 anything for a sweet! It was a super weekend. Good festival vibe!

[@gaelcarlier8809]

Great vlog and well done for beating Tam by 1 sec! Sunday was brutal and very wet but thoroughly enjoyed my first race. 😀

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Thanks! Hehe always neck in neck between us. Massive kudos for racing on the Sunday! Spoke to Gareth and we were thinking of you up on those moors! Good you enjoyed it!

[@trevoredensor7114]

Awesome riding Laura especially in those conditions and a bar respectable result !!! Only Yorkshire can provide the chest of trails and weather to match 😨😨🤣🤣 great filming too 👍👍👍

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Thanks! It was a big old day out! Haha totally. I’ve heard the savage weather is a given for this race 😂 glad you enjoyed the vid! 🙌

[@trevoredensor7114]

Absolutely...Yorkshire never disappoints ....hope you'll be returning next year 😊

[@boybusilakbikes]

You were smoking everyone Laura! Great vid!

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Aw thanks. Plenty fast girls out smoking me too 🤣 glad you enjoyed it!

[@DizRidesMtb]

Yes Laura u smashed it mate 👏 👏 👏 ❤️. Nice ridin hun n tam mate always fun n awesome too bruva. Well done to ya both. I'll leave all that hardcore Mtb to u guys. Plus iv got a ht n dh bike so I'd prob still b goin now 😂 😂 😂 😂. Great vid guys xx

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Thanks! We both had a blast. Good crew. Hahah yeah you definitely don’t want a dh bike out on those hills 🥵😂

[@kevinwood8021]

Brilliant guys loved it tough conditions too👊

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Thanks woody! Hope you had a great holiday and some nicer conditions 😅

[@kevinwood8021]

@@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB thanks guys it was mint, some briliant natural trails and a bit of trail centre. 👊

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

sounds a perfect mix!

[@garioch_gravel_rider7376]

Awesome guys! Just lucky you weren't racing Sunday 😜

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Thanks! Oh I know that was wild. Saw people on the drive home looking a tad miserable on the way to one of the far out stages 💦😬

[@RicardoPetrazzi]

That looked awesome...well done to both of you. The biggest reward is in the taking part (of course) and those conditions were quite a challenge in there own right. One of the best things about your channel is the dynamics and energy you both have in your delivery and the passion you clearly have. (I presume these trails are preserved for the event and not normally accessible at other times?)

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Thanks it was fantastic. This event in general was about enjoying the whole festival and atmosphere as much as the race itself. A really happy fun vibe in the village! Yes we should have said that - they’re tracks on private land exclusively used for the race :)

[@TeddyChap]

Sorry Tam but Laura schooled you on the Tech sections here 😂😂😂😂

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

She always does 🤣

[@TeddyChap]

@@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB 😂😂😂😂

[@fillfreakin2245]

I can see why there isn't a category for E-bikes. I've never understood why people would race enduro with e-bikes. The whole point of enduro mtb is that the timing is on the descent, but you require the fitness to do the climbs and still have something left in the tank to ride hard going down. Nothing wrong with doing long e-bike rides of course, but racing doesn't make sense.

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Controversial one! I personally think it’s great to have everyone able to race. Some people ride e-bikes for health reasons or time constraints or for enjoyment and it’s nice that we can all race the timed descents in our categories fairly. I’ve got mates who have illnesses that mean they wouldn’t be able to do a big enduro and it’s awesome to see them able to enjoy it too! That’s my take :)

[@0836whimper]

All for inclusivity and e-Bikes…but timed racing (as opposed to mass participation type events) needs categories and rules to be credible. With An e-bike you don’t have to worry as much about the balance of a bike being both fast downhill and manageable uphill. You can just ride massive rigs downhill and motor your way back up. So makes everything unbalanced. Like using the cheat button in a video game…yes in theory you are still playing the same game and there are still challenging elements, but the original challenge is gone.

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

Yup agree categories are needed for e-bikes. There usually are separate podiums in the regular enduros as well as specific ebike challenge routes etc

[@fillfreakin2245]

@@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB Right. They're not able to do a big Enduro. So why Enduro? E-mtb is a different sport. Enthusiasts of it need to find a meaningful competition format. Especially as E-bikes develop, it might be more useful to look to the sport of dirt biking for inspiration. Just a couple of years ago E-bikes meant pedal assist, but now that's gone (at least in Canada) and throttles are allowed. And motors used to be limited to 500W, but now they're only limited to 500W average, meaning motors can have bursts much higher than 500W. So, already my fears that e-mtb was just the thin edge of the wedge to allowing full electric motorized access to trails is materializing. I'm a terrible runner. If 5 years from now I could buy bionic exoskeletons, should I be allowed to run the Boston Marathon in one?

[@0836whimper]

@@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB Problem is loads enter the wrong event and get disqualified and still some in the official Ard Rock Enduro (non E-bike) results were on e-bikes. So it’s either or properly run race or it isn’t.

[@gasca2033]

thats well muddy lol

[@LauraJaneWeeTamMTB]

It was 😅 proper sticky kind of mud!