I had never heard of an enduro format until this year when I was talking to a friend about a mountain bike race he was about to do. The idea of a race but you’re only racing certain sections and then get a bit of a break in between sounded fun. Do you make the most of the recovery time but risk maybe stiffening up or do you take shorter moving breaks and stay limber? We were about to find out.
I had signed up for the pairs race with my brother Connor and we had no plan of how to pace ourselves. Slowly the start queue shortened as pair after pair were released. Like greyhounds at the gate, we were raring to go. The first two stages climb up the Porter Valley to the very edges of the Peak District, teasing us with mere glimpses of expansive moorland before ragging us back onto tight woodland paths that descend seemingly forever down and down to the Dore and Totley train station.
We had, to nobody’s surprise, gone very hard very soon. We had immediately fallen into the trap of feeling good whilst pushing too much, and this was all to come crashing down with leaden legs and shortness of breath. Thankfully the next steep climb of steps was within a rest break, and we only had to navigate the short upper section with any real speed.
The remainder of the run was dotted with pretending to be chased by a group of women in pink, really taking advantage of the rests, and absolutely blasting it down the Meersbrook Park descent. The final segment was an all out 400m sprint through Endcliffe Park to the cheers of an awaiting crowd. All in all a good day out.
Stats
Elapsed time: 2:45:16
Enduro time: 01:35:10
Total distance: 24km
Enduro distance: 20km
Elevation: 594m
Calories: 2178
Average HR: 154bpm