I know Craig has already put a post under Bosshog's Enduroland event, but I felt it probably wont get the visibility it deserves as all the earlier posts are reminders of the event.
Unknown to most on here I have recently changed Troys (10) bike and he's now on his first fully manual bike - a lovely Kawasaki KX85 small-wheel. He's only ridden in 4 times before this event and just started becoming better at the clutched pull-aways. He also cant touch the ground with both feet - however I felt a journey to a new riding patch - especially an organised event - would be great for him.
So off we set to Minehead for 'Endurolands' "Mayhem in Minhead" event. They have various classes to ride - with Saturday especially arranged for novices and the 'kids-and-dads' (KADS) rides. The itinery showed this would be an hour on and an hour off through the day (so 3 x hour sessions) and included a buffet lunch.
Well the weather was excellent and the journey up to Minehead virtually traffic-free (we left at 7:10 and were eating a Maccy-D breakfast in Minehead by 9am). TTRs ex trailer we purchased tows so well you'd hardly know it was there
We then drove to Bratton Court and parked up in the field for signing in. The event was extremely well organised throughout the day. Unknown to me was the kids were also riding the full circuit, which I think was 4.5 miles long. This was a small climb up into the woods and then a lovely flowing course through the woodland - where a little water still existed - and included a few roots, small reasonably steep climbs and descents to match.
The first lap was a sighting lap, led by marshalls with other marshalls amongst the children and their parents to assist where necessary - ie often. The first lap this way actually took 45 minutes !! LOL !! So that was the session over and lots of kids with beaming smiles on their faces and tales of extreme thrills and spills.
Next sessions were off at your own pace. There werent a huge amount of people in the KADS group so never ever felt busy out there. Yes there was half a dozen kids who could ride real well, but they didnt pressurise anyone to pass, and they did so quickly and safely when they had the chance. Again marshalls in more technical areas to assist -- especially the stoney final descent which Troy fell off every lap . Still we did manage to get in 2 laps on this session and 2 laps on the final one as well. So thats nearly 23 miles of great offroad riding.
Lunch was a pleasant buffet (rolls/sausage-rolls/scotch eggs/crisps/water/cake).
So all in all a great day for our £55. Was good to meet and chat to Craig and his son Issac.
Havent any photos en-route, but here's a couple of a lovely venue.
My lad needs scrapping off the ceiling he is on such a high after today .
The total cost for my lad and myself was £55 including lunch. The marshalls were brilliant and so very tolerant of completely and utterly unprepared numpties i.e me . I was even given a replacement spark plug for Isaac's CR80 .
Isaac thoroughly enjoyed himself and has been bitten by the bug. Me thinks this weekend is only the start of a very expensive past-time. He enjoyed meeting new like-minded souls and is keen to do this all again, possibly with a better prepared bike and a dad who makes sure the fuel tank is full before every session .
Thanks to all at Enduroland. We will definitely be coming again....
glad you had a good days riding i have been on a few of these days but couldnt justify the cost for a single rider but £55 for you both isnt bad for 2 days
Did this a year or two ago with Clayton and like you said, it's really well organised and the marshalling is spot on. Glad you and your lad (and Craig and his) had a great time
. Still we did manage to get in 2 laps on this session and 2 laps on the final one as well. So thats nearly 23 miles of great offroad riding.
