Last day to pre-enter. Weather looks changeable. Who’s in?

In! 2hrs Vets

I’m in. 2hr vets again.

I’m in. Not ridden a mountain bike in 7 weeks, not really ridden at all for 3, should be err… Fun.

3hr Grand Vets. Will see effect of 3hr max effort on heart arrhythmia #killorcure

yup 2 hr vets. feeling severely unfit. recent commutes have proved I am indeed severely unfit. should be fun.

Yes – in for the 4 hour. The dizziness from the last round has just about stopped… 😉

3 hr fat bike, weather looks okay.

Yes. Will be riding around on the fat bike.

In for the 4 hours. My first Brass monkeys, hoping to generally improve my aversion to winter events, if i manage to enjoy it, that’ll be enough!

Potentially doing the 2hr vets race. Only slight issue my back went ping on Monday and I am currently laid up on my back taking lots of painkillers!

The last brass monkey I did was the one last year which absolutely peed with rain! It was a little miserable, if it is raining this year I will be staying in bed! If not I hope to see you there 😀

2 hr male.

Haven’t ridden competitively in 20 years…

Just wondering, I’m entered into 4hr vets, if the weather is crap I might do SS. Anyone know if there are any issues with changing categories on the day?

Is there a definitive location yet?

I’m in the 2 hour vet – looking forward to it, even if my back trouble hasn’t eased yet… Oh well, what’s the worst that can happen!!

In on the one-gear for 4 hours… Was feeling pretty good but was hit by cat aids (or a cold. One or the other) mid week….

Yay…

DrP

Missed the online entry deadline 🙁

Gutted to be missing this one. Back to shift the xmas podge in R3!

Pretty confident it will be at Frith Hill as advertised.

No rumours circulating this time.

Yep, 2hr vets again. What’s Frith Hill like?

2 hr male for me, defending my honour at the back of the pack 😆

I’m hoping the ground may firm up a little over the next few days as Checkendon was a swamp in places.

Yep, 2hr vets again. What’s Frith Hill like?

Should be good, lots of races held there over the years, couple of climbs, drains well, course is 7 ish miles long (apparently) and not too hilly.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/nukeproof-conversion-kit-15mm-to-qr/rp-prod80192

Heavy rain from 6-9 tonight and rain tomorrow from 10-3ish.

I seem to remember it was the slippiest race I’ve ever done year before last.

So Ron up front or change to a beaver?

Still not sure if I’m in or out. If I’m in it’ll be Ron’s front and rear. Can’t be bothered to change and it can’t be that much slippier than Checkendon, can it? I’d not take my advice though as I really have no idea 🙂

Following the can’t-be-arsed-to-change-tyres theory on the rd 1 thread, I will run a ground control/ saguaro combo. This will be perfect for Frith Hill. 😉 🙂

It’ll not be as slippery as Checkendon, more sandy, gritty mud. I will almost certainly use Rons, although still have Thunder Burts on at the moment.

Might go for my wider Ralphs then.

Saguros I think.. 😉

DrP

Might want to reconsider the Thunder Burts 🙂

Sheesh. Hungover, in pain from yesterdays physio on my shoulders and just done a Turbo sharpener with 2 intervals in a TT helmet to play with the (adjustable) fit.

I’ve never felt less like doing an XC race than I do at this moment in time.

Could be worse. You could have signed up for the 4 hr!

4h veterans on ss for me.
Didn’t bother changing tyres as per Yak’s theory xddd so Ikon 2.2 front and rear. If I rode Checkendon on this combo I can ride Frith Hill too

What time is the start for the 2hr tomorrow; is it 10?

Well that was a bit rubbish. Problem with my forks on the first lap, thought I had a front flat at first, not sure what it is yet but felt like they’ve no air in them and were constantly bottoming out even on tiny bumps. Got annoyed and packed it in. Probably serves me right for not having ridden it since round 1. Annoyingly long way to go for less than a lap of riding. Seemed like a good course too.

Hope you all had better rides 🙁

Nope.

I underestimated the time it would take to do a practise lap so started mid pack instead of where I should have been. A rider fell in front of me/others on the start which didn’t help.

I fell three times during the race, one looked so bad the four riders behind stopped to help – I was OK, turns out I’ve fractured a finger and a few other bruises – and splintered the end of my bars. I fell again a bit later going from 14th – and a possible top ten based in the negative splits I naturally ride – to 24th on lap 2.

I had a miserable lap 3 as the wind was literally knocked out of my sails, probably ending up 26/27th or similar.

Oh well, two hours riding at threshold is a bit of decent exercise I s’pose.

Arse.

Good to see Gazhurst though, bad luck MrBlobby.

Blimey Kryton, eventful race there! Shame to have missed you.

Bit annoying to have wasted a half a day on the weekend but at least no injuries.

Did a practice lap and was cursing conservative tyre choice – mountain king front seemed well OTT.
Started at the front and as aim was total emptying really went for the sprint – what’s this I’m leading!

Normality shortly resumed. Managed 5 laps and 8th Grand Vets, tyre choice seemed good after a couple of laps as mud and fatigue increased. Probably about the same as last year. Hard to make progress against committed racers – back to the training plan!

Good course but had a cr@p race – I’m not sure shifting from 4 hrs to 2 hrs post injury suits me. Gutted how much fitness I’ve lost. The best I can manage now is somewhere round mid-pack. Still it’s only been a year back riding I keep telling myself..!

I need to change my fork too – a 9mm qr SID is way too noodly after riding a 15mm thru axle!

Finished safely midpack around 28th. Fairly uneventful for me. Enjoyed the course, very rideable. Just wish I could pedal a bit quicker