Competed in my first xc race on sunday, manged two laps of the three lap open event but al least I didn't finish last, next time it will be the two lap beginners.

It wasn't the legs that were the problem, more the arms and upper body. By the end of the second lap, felt I was unable to control the bike, particularly on the downhill and it was just becoming too dangerous.

Any advice on the necessary arm/upper body training would be appreciated

Cheers

No particular reason for it to be that much harder than normal XC riding, do you normally ride for longer than an hour?

A lot of it is about core stability, not specifically your arms.

thank you for your advice;

the hour thing not that often, say once a week;

can you explain core stability.

MTFU!

A lot of your strength is provided by your core muscles, those in your torso, abs etc. If your core is weak then you'll struggle with other weaknesses like back ache etc, which could be part of the problem.

To be totally honest, if you can't ride for more than an hour without being in serious discomfort then you just need to ride more!

press ups wouldn't be the worst start.

done properly with stomach/ back pulled tight.

I rode on rigid forks and it was fairly bumpy so it can wear you down a bit but believe me there are far harsher courses especially when its bone dry. Upper body wasnt the problem for me, my legs were..the last little steep hill i hardly noticed on the 1st lap but on the 3rd it felt real enough!

Pressups are good for the core, throw in some burpess perhaps but sounds like you just need to get used to riding that terrain at intensity.

Are you tensing up on the bike? That'll aggravate any weakness in core strength and lead to much faster fatigue.
Try to relax, don't death-grip the bars or fight the bike.

Were you pulling on the brake levers quite a bit on the downhills? That can cause a lot of pain all the way up the arm and cause arm pump – try middle finger braking for that and get a stress ball to exercise those muscles. Did you also stretch before starting?

Reckon you need a few energy gels and to pace yourself better.

And re-think / adjust your riding position plus suspension set-up – and get fit.

The first Gorrick we did, we took our lunch and had a stop half-way… but we managed 4 laps (nearly 40 miles) of their Enduro only 4/5 months later.

thank you all for your advise

PS I will not be giving up

Cheers

I had a problem with my back at D2D and the core strength was the problem. A winter of road riding on the singlespeed seems to have sorted that, even if my arm strength needs some work.