- This topic has 40 replies, 19 voices, and was last updated 14 years ago by downgrade.
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10 at Kirroughtree
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Stu_NFull MemberPosted 14 years ago
How good was that? 🙂
Total Shock and Awe on a bicycle. Quite possibly the best biking weekend of the year so far – finished work Fri lunchime, home, packed car, sucked into Tour on Eurosport with scorchio Andorra mountaintop finish, left late then down to Kirroughtree to register. Stayed at thebreakpad in Castle Douglas, couldn't recommend them enough – perfect MTB B&B, and had an awesome day of riding on Saturday.
Usual excellent No Fuss organisation, top course and perfect enduro weather – sunny spells and warm (but not too hot) and dry until after the race finished. Totally sweet course, sadly the middle natural section had been skipped but swooptastic and really quite hard work to keep momentum up at times. My favourite racing thing ever happened too – someone forced their way past then went arse over tit right in front of me 20 seconds later. I love it when that happens :-)! Otherwise great craik on course and off it.
Managed 8 laps solo in under 10 hours which I am well happy with, and gf got a podium in solo ladies which is nice (she even let me put the trophy on my bedside table last night so I could pretend I was a Contender!).
Seem to be a bit stiff and sore today though, had to go for second choice of loaf in ASDA because the favourite was on the bottom shelf and that was too hard to reach.
Cheers to everyone involved (No Fuss, marshalls, FC, fellow "competitors" etc – roll on next year!).
Hope everyone had as good a weekend as I did – aren't bikes brilliant?
trail_ratFree MemberPosted 14 years ago3 tubes and 1 rear mech put paid to my solo at 5 hours / 6 laps
the missus had a ball , she also had three punctures as she managed to pick up a bit of glass on the road climb. 3 tubes later she got to the finish and the john boy at perth city cycles pits (right next to ours) checked tire , found glass , replaced tube and sent her on her merry way
oh and she beat me too … 7 laps in just over 10 hours (we think….she lost count)
Course was great if you were in a team imho. probably wont say this ever again but as a soloist i thought it needed a piece of fire road in the latter half of the course before descents for feeding.
apologies to the guy i was mid passing then clipped a rock and knocked us both off our bikes …thats what broke my mech 🙁
RorschachFree MemberPosted 14 years ago1st race for 15 years,solo and ss probably was'nt the brightest idea I've ever had.Nor was doing the black on friday evening.Nor was going off like my arse was on fire for the first 3 laps and blowing up spectacularly.Felt much better for having a kip and managed to crawl round for another 4.Was having WAY too much fun pinning all the singletrack.Will know better for next time (just not the ss thing-I'll never learn).
boxelderFull MemberPosted 14 years agoStu-N
I think that may have been me – orange and white Kona – forward roll off into the long grass on one off the nadgery rocky drops?
On second thoughts I'd asked nicely to pass and then apologised when I passed the same guy a minute later. I was putting on that spurt of acceleration to get clear and lost concentration – not sure how I didn't hurt myself.
Fantastic day (bar the band/karaoke pair) – even made the podium in the oldish farts cat. I agree – tough to beat No Fuss '10' events
trail_ratFree MemberPosted 14 years agotry that stu n . Should be your missus on the podium in the ERC kit non ?
Stu_NFull MemberPosted 14 years agoHard luck trailrat, kind of agree that the course was too singletracky for solo but it's a tricky one to complain about! (EDIT – thanks for the pic, apparently that's her leaning tower of Pizza look!)
Roscarch – it's hard not to nail the singletrack stuff isn't it? I did that last year and popped my back after 3 laps by pushing too big a gear on the little rises – forced myself to ease back and click down a couple of gears and seemed to do the trick.
Boxelder – doesn't sound like you at all, this guy was a "rider coming through" sort of cock, nearly took me off as he forced his way past then proceeded to go over the bars on the next rocky bit of trail. Was laughing too hard to shout ha-ha in a Nelson style 🙂
boxelderFull MemberPosted 14 years agoGood effort there. It's a hard course to solo, with so little respite for eating/switching the brain off.
I need to get more aggressive I think – I usually wait until people ask if I want past – it's only a bit of fun after all.
HariboFree MemberPosted 14 years agoindeed qwality. popped my solo cherry although nearly threw the bike in a hedge in a strop on the first lap. Span out easily for the first 15 mins then the red mist descended and the first puncture.
oh well puncture fixed (after topping out the lack of pressure at a marshal station)but "ive lost so much time" vision getting redder. Passed a lassie on a descent hammer down and out braked myself on an easy bermed right hander straight into a 2ft high boulder and exploded over the bars with an "oh my god are you ok" from behind.
by this point i think blood was leaking out my eye sockets. Calm down i heard myself say – 5 mins later hammer down passed two on a techy rock section and as i passed over the last drop BANG, second puncture.
i was riding light and after going through my tube and cartridge already borrowed a tube and pump of the couple i had just passed – "take it easy over the rocks, youve got all day" they said 😆
finished the first lap grabbed a pump (borrowed from a mate brand new lezyne on), tube and bottle and off for the second…..
lost the pump about 15 mins and the air turned blue.
apart from that managed 6 laps which was my target – i think without the fuss at the start i would have had time, if not legs for another 1 if not two as i stopped at 1900.
BRILLIANT – bring on the next calmer solo event 😈
ChrisLFull MemberPosted 14 years agoTeam Lost in Transition (trio) managed 10 laps, 4 from me – team and personal bests for a No Fuss event. Also I didn't puke, which is always nice. Course was great but some part of me did sort of miss the natural sections that were there last year but which weren't there this year. That would have changed if the rain had arrived before the end of the race, though!
I think that every rider I encountered yesterday was well behaved and either courteous when passing me or generous (to a fault) when I needed to pass them. Our team suffered no mechanicals or punctures at all I think, in fact our "pit bitch" had very little to do all day except occasionally apply some extra lube to our chains just to make it look like he had something to do. 😉
RorschachFree MemberPosted 14 years agoAfter riding the course on friday I thought passing was going to be a right mare but everyone was very patient when wanting to pass and generous when passing them.A lesson to learnt for everyone there (especially the numpties in certain north east wales trail centres).
mushroomsFree MemberPosted 14 years agoLoved it! Had a great time leaving fitter guys behind on the swoopy descents
Looking forward to it again.
I_did_dabFree MemberPosted 14 years agoOur trio Hexhamworks managed 9 laps and came 19th *whoop*. The bike shop did well out of us – one front brake and one rear mech. I rode my first lap with a brand new front brake but no pads – they fell out 😯 .
Oh and apologies for shouting at the bloke in a giggleberries top for walking up the singletrack climb the third time you stopped in front of me after passing 2 seconds before. I'll say sorry even if you won't… 🙄
crazy-legsFull MemberPosted 14 years agoIt's always a great event that, gutted I missed it.
Another top bit of worik from No Fuss from the sounds of it. Second Stu_N's comments about The Break Pad B&B – fantastic place. 🙂SaintlyFree MemberPosted 14 years agoFantastic event again, I never regret entering them.
Lots of friendly folk, good atmosphere out on course and noticeably quiter on course than 10 under at times.
Rorschach, was it you I was chatting to at the end of the first lap, were you on a 29'er singlespeed?
StuFull MemberPosted 14 years agoFantastic course and great atmosphere as ever. Was amazed at how quickly folk move out of the way (even when I wasn't that fussed about passing) when they hear a pro II buzzing behind them so thanks! 😀
Oh and I hope those that camped on Saturday night had decent tents. Driving back along the A75 was 'interesting' to say the least.
DougalFree MemberPosted 14 years agowent arse over **** right in front of me 20 seconds later
Sounds a lot like me. Second climb, dude waved me past on the right, just off trail. Turned out there was a wheel sized holed under the grass; straight over the bars, landed on feet, grabbed bike and ran up the steep section till I could get back on. [Carbon full susser, was wearing the hideous purple/pink 2002 Scotland kit at that point]
Passing was fine once you sorted out the pre-pass chat, "I'll squeeze past when you there's space, no hurry", worked really well, usually got let past within a few seconds. Thanks to all the nice people who made those exchanges pleasant. There was one gentleman who barraged me for the above with some horrendous language, possibly he missed the point of these events.
Cracking day out, although driving back in the Biblical rain was a bit much.
stuartlangwilsonFree MemberPosted 14 years agoWhat a great day. Borrowed a more xc than usual bike, did some training, kept the seat up, wore lycra and a hrm, loved it.
Great flowing course, overtaking (or being overtaken) was all very polite. BBQ was decent, fixed a few folks bikes, only 1 puncture for the trio, came 13th i think.
stevioFull MemberPosted 14 years ago2nd year present – my brother who was racing pairs with me (274/275 – manx MTB Club) blew on his 3rd lap….after not drinking at all on his 2nd.
Great event and i recommend it to all and sundry at home. Nice atmosphere and everyone who passed me or i passed were fine – no "elite rider coming thru" moments i'm glad to say.
Can't bear to see how bad we did but i enjoyed every second… when can we book for 2010?
stevioFull MemberPosted 14 years agoFelt sorry for the guy i saw on my 1st lap (2nd actual lap) walking down the 1st fire road stretch with his rear mech hanging off. Also the older guy with an Enduro who'd bust his hanger and was desperately trying to find one in the Transition area – unfortunately my FSR one was no where near close in fit.
Plus i was impressed by the Singular guys, especially the one with the moustache bars, and i actually saw a Jones in the flesh too!
So, who won the Spesh Cross single speed then? i have real problems accessing the No Fuss site from work and i hasn't updated since last week per my blessed screen…
SamFull MemberPosted 14 years agoReally awesome weekend, very laid back friendly atmosphere but still some good competitive riding. Course was fantastic and perfect for a singlespeed. Not a lot of rest for teh soloists though and a lot of inducement to push it as hard as possible on all the fun bits. Won't say my broken chain on lap 2 cost us the win but it would have made things a lot closer had it stayed in one piece – serves me right for not checking… Stevio – you're very kind – more drop bars than moustache though really 🙂
DougalFree MemberPosted 14 years agoSam – Were you running carbon deep-dish rims with tubulars on?
I guess it might have been on your second lap where I caught up with you with a few angry riders behind you on the last descent. I had no idea what was going on, but there seemed to be a lot of near-crashes with people nose-tail desperate to pass, despite the final fireroad being about 20s away.
goldtecgimmerFull MemberPosted 14 years agoWe managed to come second in the Vets mixed pairs with 10 laps.
Awesome race, trails, atmosphere, free whisky samples! etc
The only downer for us was incredible bad luck… wrong turn on 1st lap 4k until back on track dohhh!! ripped front tubeless tyre off as I completely overcooked a bend on lap 5, missus spent 10 mins trying to pull her chain out from the spokes as it went over the cassette, bugger.
Who cares anyway, still we had a ball, and will be back next year for sure!SamFull MemberPosted 14 years agoYeah, that was me Dougal, I didn't think I'd held too many people up as I was trying to get off the trail as soon as I'd lost momentum. If I cost anyone a few seconds which affected their placing I apologise profusely.
RorschachFree MemberPosted 14 years agoSaintly-yeah that was me.Got carried away and stayed out for 3 laps before I went bang,well more pfffffttttt really.Like Sam says not much respite riding solo.Commited every schoolboy error in the book-not drinking enough-not eating enough-pinning all the downhill bits.Will have to get my sh1t together for the kielder 100!
SaintlyFree MemberPosted 14 years agoNice one mate, good to chat with you. I managed 8 laps in 10hours, stopped for a half hour refuel after the fourth due to pushing my own limits. Will see you in Kielder if not before.
boxelderFull MemberPosted 14 years agoWe were chuckling about 'Girls are Loud' beating all the blokes in the quads cat. I now see they beat us too 😳
It's wrong I know to assume girls are slower, but those/you ladies are quick – good effort.DougalFree MemberPosted 14 years agoIf I cost anyone a few seconds which affected their placing I apologise profusely
No problem for me, and the guys immediately behind you appeared to be overeager, judging by the pace (or lack of) along the final fire-road.
goldtecgimmerFull MemberPosted 14 years ago'Girls are loud' for reference 1 ex raliegh uk rider in Emma Guy, and Tracy Brunger used to ride for Giant UK, not sure but she may have been national champ once? respect though for just letting it all a hang out and just havin' some fun now and not taking it to serious like some other ex pros do!
DougalFree MemberPosted 14 years agoThe other two girls on the team, Lee and Leslie are both proper fast also, not really surprising they dominated the quads.
RorschachFree MemberPosted 14 years agoShirley (sic) quads should be subtitled 2 and a half at kirroughtree? ;0)
downgradeFree MemberPosted 14 years agoFirst time doing this kind of race, the course was great and good atmosphere like others have said. The many, many people who overtook me were very polite about it…
Got a couple of pictures of the first lap starting:
downgradeFree MemberPosted 14 years agoThe 'official' photos are online now
http://www.xpressphoto.co.uk/events/gallery.cfm?galleryid=28&startrow=1
trail_ratFree MemberPosted 14 years agoJust thought id post that to show the inconsiderate **** what to do with burst tubes if they feel they "dont have space to carry it"… only saw three discarded tubes this weekend but saw 5 or 10 at the ben !
I_did_dabFree MemberPosted 14 years agoHere's one of me with no front brake pads. It was steeper than it looks!!
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