Rode parts of the course last night.

Wow! I thought I knew the singletrack in Stamner but this stuff is amazing. Need to spend some time up there re-learning the best bits. I was following trying to hold Rorys wheel and failing but going faster than I normally dare.

The course is running very dry but the rain today will damped down the dust a bit. Looking forward to saturday.

Tim

me too

I've entered in retro pairs, looking forward to riding this course on a borrowed DOGS BOLX 😀

Have entered in a team of three. We put together an eight mile loop around Stanmer last weekend and were knackered afterwards, so I'm not holding much hope for a good overall time, but looking forward to the event and beer afterwards 😀

the course is ace and a little bit longer than last year thanks to some cunning new additions which i was shown last week. hope the rain holds off on friday so its nice and dry on saturday, otherwise all those wet slimey roots are gonna add a whole new dimension to the race.

my favourite section is the last bits of singletrack down into the bombhole. no brakes or pedalling and you can do it really fast.

As they say in Korea: "bring on the dog!"

See you all there…
Team of three, although one of them is being operated on today..
Hmm
J.

The last bit back to the arena is just ace. I hope it's not wet for your lots sake. I'm working/marshalling/gofer'ing :O)

Having seen how many will be on the starting line, I take it one of the grassy knolls will be used straight away ? (Hope not)

Wasn't so pretty tonight – couldn't see the course exit from the Pavillion – bl00dy rain!
Fingers crossed for dryer days this week although it'll be a hoot whatever weather presents itself on the day.

See you at 7am on Saturday Tim. Good riding last night btw.

Just spotted this on Twitter:
#brightonbigdog half a pint of #darkstar hophead as you cross the finish line. Thanks for support @darkstarbrewery

are all the rooty drop offs used to get from a higher trail to a lower one like last last year?
it was a good course, hope the rain dont continue though! I broke a couple of ribs on my last lap last year. A tree stump jumped out that werent there on the lap before………!

There is a new descent Malc, although it does contain roots, a bit longer on singletrack than last year I would say, most of it up. It was riding superbly until the rain – it's going to be waxy up on the top classic sections no matter what now – assuming the daily rain forecast is correct – hope it's not!

I crashed on your 'favourite section' mdb at the weekend – slipsville on the retro bike!

I'm taking a selection of tyres…

tyre choice is going to be difficult, i normally run RRs rear and NNs front but will take something wintery, i love my spesh storms they roll pretty good too just in case! weather looks dodgy friday/sat morning so should make it interesting. Riding up the downs this am to work and it was like ice in parts where the wind dont get!!! Still cant be as bad as muckoff 8 that was just s**ty.

I won't be like muc0ff 8, more compacted and slippey – grip over speed any day when it comes to rubber choice!

agreed, i`ll put storms on the front then. At least i should be able to negotiate the ST (hopefully)….. And hang on to the rear!

I'll be there, looking forward to it. The new course seems quite a bit longer than last year though, hoping they will cut it down a bit.

is it clearly marked out? i might pop in for a cheeky lap on saturday 🙂

I think/hope so, rumour has it that they may revert to the old (last year) course if it's raining on the day.

It's going to be so different with this weather – forget dust until next year!

i was up there last night too. trying to show some mates bits of the trails that might be used as they are doing it. i'm not – too slow to enter.

much easier last week when it was dry. think we rode up a new down bit a couple of times last night. looks fun.

weekend weather looks ok. hopefully it will have dried out a fair bit. however i recon i think it would be more fun in the wet. purley for the carnage

Weather for Saturday appears to be getting worse. BBC is now forecasting "heavy showers and prolonged rain" for daytime on Saturday. Gutted. Need to dig out some tyres from the garage.

The course has been running sooooo fast the last few weeks. As a solo rider I guess that's just one more challenge for the day!

Say hi to the Big Bike Bash team there please. They are lovely people and even better (for you) I cannot make it 🙁

Oh yeah, buy some BBB tickets too. We have sunshine*, beer and music!

*Alternative weather may be provided if sunshine is unavailable

I'm dusting off the mud-x tyres now. I maybe on a retro bike but I'm not racing on wet chalk with farmer johns!

Nooooo, the driest summer ever down here and then it decides to rain on Saturday! Might make for some good photos of epic dismounts on wet logstacles though…

Not much chalk in the woods is there? It's the ROOTS you need to look out for. They are everywhere.

Mmm, off camber rooty downhill corners. Bring it on.

Tim

Looking doubtful if I will be able to race. I crashed last Sunday and my ribs are killing me, so much so that I had to come to work by train today 😥

The course is lovely (glad I'm not racing it though!). We've spent the last two weeks planning, clipping, stump removing and riding it. The dust has gone and the roots are greasy – its a mtb ride not a walk in the park. Tyre choice? bring a dry and wet set and decide on the day but you will need grip!

The route is slightly shorter than last year however we have added new bits that make the lap times longer – new bits are split between climbing and technical singletrack.

This year there are plenty of rider options – fast technical line or longer less technical/punishing line. Hopefully this will keep the mind focussed as the panting goes into overload.

A couple of vids here <http://brightonmtb.org/&gt;

Cheers

best dig out the waterproofs and dirtworker i think.

What we looking at for average lap times for a slightly below average rider then ? Trying to work out how many laps I would have to do in my team of 3 !

mud/no mud – I ride Stanmer park all year and it's fine. slippy and greasy yes, but lots of fun.

there is one section which is fast lazy s through the trees, that'll be interesting!

What we looking at for average lap times for a slightly below average rider then ? Trying to work out how many laps I would have to do in my team of 3 !

Last year fast pairs were doing 8 laps, medium 7 and slow 6 laps. The course seems to be a bit harder this year with more climbing, so expect slower laps if they include all the changes.

I manged 7 laps with my pair with about 10 secs to go, and it was hard work..

I'm having a tyre conundrum for Big Dog.

Keep the summer tyre or go for something a bit chunkier to be on the safe side?

I've been riding stanmer all summer with a Crossmark but wondering whether it can handle greasy roots?

I'd go for a medium tyre. There were some quite greasy sections last night, and there has been more rain today. If you are on a proper summer tyre you will have to hold back in the single track sections. (unless you are very brave) I don't think there will be anything sticky enough to deserve a full on mud tyre though, unless the heavens open tonight.

i'll be on 2.1 rampages but I will have some mud tyres nearby just in case.

Mud tyres fitted here, I crashed scarily fast (twice) on some of the level singletrack sections last Sat after, rain Fri – on Rampages. It did dry out early afternoon though, not sure if God has that on the agenda this Sat though……

I am taking the Rampages, don't think they'll make it out of the car unless metcheck have been just playing with us! 😉

Each to their own..

Its chucking it down here in Brighton – i live 10 mins from Stanmer – so I'm running with my Bonty Mud X on the back. Might be slower rolling but at least they'll have some more grip when it matters.

Going through my clothes now to find some wet weather gear.

Can't believe after all these dry weeks we get rained on!

Looks like this year its the Wet Dog!

High rollers, mainly because I can't be arsed changing them, and with my levels of fitness tyres are the least of my worries. but actually looks like a good choice now. I'll probably win. 😉

that dogs not muddy. the one tomorrow will be very at this rate. i've got some swampthings in hte garage just in case.

the trails were quite grippy on tues when it was minging wet but then they hadnt been chewed up by 100's of bikers.

i'm more worried the longer lap times will effect my beer drinking schedule.

i'm more worried the longer lap times will effect my beer drinking schedule.

+1

Hmmmm i think i'm going with an inter tyre (Bonty ACX) on the front and a faster summer trye on the back (Bonty 29.3's). Stanmer has been dry for ages so i can see the rain of today just disappearing into the soil.

Roots will be fine just hit em fast, keep the weight back and relax. Having said that i bet i wipe out on some of them. 😕

Looking forward to doing pairs after marshaling last year. I'll be at the Quest Adventures van so come over and say hi.

The important question though is what tyres for the after race party ? 😛

+1 for the Fortune of War after tyre party.

See you out there Si