DrP, in…..

4 hours on the SS for me 🙂
Likely to be sporting my full waterproof pants as well – avoids water ingress…..

DrP

Been trying to decide on gears or ss all week . I think the next 16 HOURS OF RAIN has made the decision easy !

2 hrs SS for me !:-)

4hrs. What, you reckon it will be muddy in the southeast? I thought it was semi-arid desert up there?

Bring extra brake pads 🙂

I’m on the 4 hour for my first ever race. Goal is to finish pure and simple.

I’m on the white gt zaskar full sus if anyone wants to say hello!

Not meant to rain tomorrow hopefully

2 hours on my Scott 29er..

Drying up overnight and a sunny day tomorrow – it’ll be fine!

@ Rexated , shouldn’t be too muddy . Despite the rain all today & tonight.

Ceasars drains well , but that’s because it’s quite sandy , you might want to make sure you have fresh brake pads & maybe some spares ?

Same reason for a lot of riders running SSers tomorrow!

I needed a new drivetrain anyway, quite useful with Xmas being so close!

4hr on my new chinese 29er, praying i’ve fixed the slipping seat post issue, adamant on sticking with racing ralph’s

http://chris-noble-mtb.blogspot.co.uk

@c klein87 , you’ll be fine with your Ralphs . I’m up there regular with Contimental X Kings – pretty similar grip to the schwalbes.

Have you tried turning the seat post clamp so the bolt side is over the slit in the frame , makes a difference on my 2 29ers.

good, it drains well there from memory, anything else drags really bad, mud x’s are the worse choice IMHO

it has two slits, using carbon paste and a few other riskier options to hold it in place, i guess its what 300quid from china gets you…..other than that it rides great

2 hours on the ss for me too. Spare pads, check. Have a good one everyone, say hi on your way past. 😉

4hrs, mud tyres not going to mess about with Ralph’s, pads part worn and don’t have spares so going to have to hope they hold out. It was supposed to have stopped raining by tomorrow last time I looked. This is where a light alfined bike would be perfect

4 hours for me, I’ll bring spare pads but have pretty much new ones in already. If they go, I may not be bothered to change and continue. Part worn Mud X for me.

2 hours, 1st ever event! Omg!

4 hr race for me to have swapped to Knobby Nicks, was going to SS it but not sure on what is left on the pads.

Well , it’s not going to stop raining , so , I supposes I better go out& clean last nights mud off the bike , so I can bring it into the kitchen & check those break pads !

3 hours in the hertfordshire alps Drifting on slop, skating on chalk and ending up in a thornbush. Soaked through but grinning ear to ear .. toes still frozen though !

Great event as usual.. bit stodgy in a couple of places but overall the surface held up well.

Got my target 3 laps in.. those climbs were hard work on the final lap!

Great race – course was very solid for the most part. A couple of stodgy sections but all rideable which was amazing given the weather all week.

GB

Yeah I’d agree. I think that they did an amazing job with the course.

Wasn’t overly convinced by the start loop however, it was pretty much the same as just starting us off in the singletrack, which led to a slow processional first few minutes if you weren’t well placed on the start line…

I agree with Rich on the start loop, or maybe i was caught napping at the start! the course held up really well, few good changes from last years loop, here’s to the next 2 rounds 🙂

http://chris-noble-mtb.blogspot.com

Well I really suffered…bike quickly filled with crap and then decided every time I used the granny it would suck and jam. Cramp kicked in badly on lap 4 and then just did my best to keep the bike moving for lap 5.

Impressively managed to bin it 2 metres from the finish line when I thought thank god for that. Nice big hole in the elbow now.

Good event considering the rain we’ve had recently

Yup, I was there too (2 hour race). Only managed 2 laps, missed a 3rd lap by a couple of minites, but 5th in class which i’m quite pleased with 🙂

DT78 – think I might of seen your cheeky slide off that corner just before the finish! I was waiting to see a buddy finish at the time.

I must add – my single speed was a baaaad choice!!
Got killer leg cramps on 3rd lap, and was unable to push it out of the saddle as both thighs were locking up if I did!
Alas, lost of walking up the main hills on the last few laps…would have given my Hora’s left teste for a granny ring!

Happy with 32nd though, despite all that!

DrP

My race was a bit of a let down. Twice snapped my chain and sounding dodgy so just spun round to keep pressure off it as much as possible. Then near the end i was first rider behind a guy who’d hit a tree a full tilt,so i stayed with him til first aid got there.He went off in the ambulance so hope he’s ok. Think overall i lost about 25 minutes but i guess that’s racing, hopefully I’ll get bit more luck at the next one.

pete68 – I think I rode this shortly after the crash (there were lots of people there and a chap at the top letting us know to slow down). How is the rider doing?

I don’t know the rider who crashed but he was up on his feet when I left him. Hopefully just badly winded as he hit the tree chest first. He had pain in his back though when being checked over and shortage of breath but hopefully the ambulance was just a precaution.

I was amazed to see the only guy who managed 7 laps, and 18-39 male win was on a SS Singular Swift. legend!

Doesn;t sound good for that rider – hope he is ok, I saw another rider lying in the ditch after coming off one of those wooden bridges too – he said he was okay though!

missnotax – thank you for not laughing, I heard a slight chuckle from the people waiting, but given how knackered I was, I was suffering badly from a sense of humour failure at the time….

Can’t believe the guy coming first covered 7 laps, amazing, plus his times didn’t really get much slower as the course got worse.

Hope that guy who hit the tree is ok….he made a hell of a noise

Arrrgh, not nice 🙁

I saw another rider lying in the ditch after coming off one of those wooden bridges too – he said he was okay though!

DT78, at that point I though I was! So i carried on. But then other riders and spectators started telling me to get to the ambulance….. Several hours in A&E and 24 stitches to my face later, things started looking up again!

A big thanks to the Army paramedics and to Pants of this forum / course designer who took me to hospital….cheers.

I was absolutely loving the course right up until that second little wooden bridge 🙄

24 stitches! Blimey, hope it heals up quick.

Must admit I was very very tentative over the boards after that. Even got off and walked on the last lap.

Was the tree ok??

Comedy moment of the day goes to the lady who was so stuck in one of those ditches that someone else trying to help her out just resulted in her falling back in. Very funny.

24 stiches. Eek! Glad your OK?

The chap who hit the tree ended up with some bust ribs, it was his first event as well!

Well done to all those who raced, I may be kinder to you all at R 2

🙂

Watching a guy toppling off the bridge and frantically trying to unclip. 😮
He managed in the nick of time and landed feet first in the water with the bike on his head.
Pointed out to him that wet feet was better than a wet head and hoped it cheered him up. 😀

Pants; loved the course and to be fair the tree he hit wasn’t on one of your evil, wet, gnarly descents.
I do like a course that tests skill as well as strength.

Nothing was 😈 😀 Look forward to R 2!