The Regional Event Officers are focused on increasing the quality and quantity of participation opportunities in Road, Track, Cyclo Cross, Mountain Biking BMX and Cycle Speedway. Please feel free to contact the Events Officer in your Region if you are an event organiser, official, volunteer or club and you need help in the following areas

We went to these guys. Blimey Brownbacks you’re scarier than my old teacher.

Cows in Cars
Not trying to attack you at all and you raise some interesting points.
The tone however seems to suggest that we should be dominating the world in XC and anything else is abject failure. Without doubt our success in DH and track is absolutely gob smacking and it hasn’t been replicated in XC although take Grant Ferguson-he has had 3 top 5 finishes this year in UCI Junior World Cup Events and a 6th. I think that is pretty good going and bodes well for the future
You are right that the level of support available through clubs/BC (for any of the disciplines) drops significantly once rides progress out of the Youth category. Its a pity but where do you draw the line given the financing available. My direct experience though is that riders generally have fairly well established training infrastructures that they continue to use. It may be that your club is particular poor but within our club there are chain gangs, threshold sessions etc as well as local pro/semi pro riders that are utilised. If you haven’t got the techical skills by that age in truth it is unlikely that you will make it on the National scene let alone at a higher level than that.
It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it or that it can’t be a lot of fun but its going to be a hobby not a way of life
I am sure if you want to help developing riders and if you have the appropriate coaching qualifications (or you want to be supported to get them) there will be clubs that would welcome you

just trying to think about my club, we have/had a former world masters champion and used to have a national champion for mtb on the membership list. On the road side there are weekly tt’s during the season plus some local road races, the club has held a round of the national cross series. There used to be MTB races in the area, bob’s bash, Astley, FoD, but now there is nothing. However these were organised by other groups.

Yet if you look at the club now there is little in the way of xc competition, some riders might enter MM, but it isn’t really done as a race. the club is responsible for HONC but that is pretty much the only mtb event.

What i can think of is that very few of the road events place demand on the club, the club may organise one event but other clubs reciprocate and that is how you get a series. It isn’t going to be easy to find enough people willing to not ride and marshall week in and week out.

No sorry mikeWW, I didn’t mean to imply that anything other than dominating xc at world level is a failure. And perhaps at a world level it’s just that ‘wait till things start to pay off’ thing, hopefully Grant Ferguson/David fletcher will come through the ranks strongly and once again the UK will have someone to look for in world xc mens races. It’s great to see Annie Last up there already and hopefully some more will join her.

Just from a spectator point of view, we had the days of glory days of Baker and Gould et al and then Nick Craig filled the gap for a while. Then it was Oli and Liam, but has been Oli and Liam for a very long time and apart from the odd great result or good season, there has not really been anyone to get behind for a while.

I still hope Liam will come back to his best, as he is undoubtedly talented, it was just disappointing to see him on the third row of the grid at the world (not seeing that as a particularly bad thing)to then disappear into the 50’s to then DNF. It would just be good to see a few UK riders in the top 10/15. I think especially with the Olympics round the corner both in time and location, it would be good to know the crowds would have someone to support with a chance of a medal but going on the results at the moment it looks unlikely (talking about the mens, think Annie could be in there with small chance of a medal); unless Liam and step up to the mark again, which is not impossible if the last two Olympics are anything to go by, but still.

Liam came 7th in the 2010 World Champs ! Annie Last 2nd in U23 this year.

Where do you want to look for your Uk riders?

I said Laim has stand out results but his performances this year haven’t been great at all. And I have repeatedly sung the praises of Annie Last!?!?
Plus as I keep saying it’s the lack of depth of talent, in elite mens it’s just Liam really that we have had to look to, for almost 6-7 years, but maybe it’s a waiting game.

All those looking at grass roots series should maybe read this about the FNSS http://www.xcracer.com/viewblogpost.php?blog_id=219

It certainly looks like how to do it – spread the work between lots of clubs (presumably road clubs who also organise cross races in the winter) – thats why there are so many cross races to do.

One group organising a set of races is mental – ask the SMBC crew who do the Ratz Rampage series (4 short course races at same venue) AND the SouthernXC (5 full course races at different venues) – with course prep they are putting in about 20 days work each per year!

Cross is actually a fine way to get started in XC racing for the buzz of chasing people so why not lets all invade the cross races…

Cross is actually a fine way to get started in XC racing for the buzz of chasing people so why not lets all invade the cross races

Oi bugger off ➡

FNSS is a great little series, pretty old skool but still catches out plenty of riders

One group organising a set of races is mental

I think it would be good to have a local championship under the one banner and something that allows you to accumulate points in a series.
Different clubs organise the different races but these 5-6 races form a championship at a local level and maybe build that into a national championship race.
For example: divide the country into 9 regions who each provide 5/6 races for local riders, some or all of the regions can chip in to organise a national series race allowing local riders to pitch themselves against a higher level rider. But each individual race is organised by a local club.
Have I explained myself clearly?

Like cyclocross inters?

No idea, is it? It works like that in Spain very well.
It takes the pressure of any single entity being responsible for organising a series and the riders get to race against the highest level riders.
Fancy sitting on the start line with Hermida in the national champioship?

and i’m not suggesting that xc courses need to be really technical, i AM suggesting that they should at least be good enough to justify some of the entry fee.

You get to ride flat out without worrying about dogs/walkers/horses/gates round the next corner. You’re on a trail with other people doing exactly the same so none of the problems you get at a trail centre where you catch Mr & Mrs Family out for a gentle bimble while you’re trying to cane it.

If it’s private land it doesn’t matter quite as much if you slide it round a corner or cut up a bit of ground.

No matter what course you have there will always be someone moaning about it being too long/too short, too much singletrack/not enough singletrack, too hilly…you get my drift.
And certainly for National level events there are technical regulations governing a lot of the course design and layout anyway.

No matter what course you have there will always be someone moaning about it being too long/too short, too much singletrack/not enough singletrack, too hilly…you get my drift.

+ lots.

Cant see there’s any need to make XC races more techinical.

I’ve been doing the gorrick’s for a few years. Still in the open category but starting to get near the top ten.

If I dont fall off during a race I count it as a success.

If its been raining a little then general by the third lap its difficult to stay on your bike.

I did the course at heath warren wood near eversley this year. First lap I was flying round no problem, but by the last I tired and kept falling off on really easy stuff just because I was tired.