OK, I do mean to sound big headed. If that bothers you, stop reading now.

From various threads on this forum,it seems to be a common belief that…

29ers are no good on twisty singletrack
Fat people ride slowly
Tyres must be at least 2.2" wide and run at 20 – 30 psi for optimum grip
Hub gears are heavy and slow
Suspension should be professionally modified and adjusted to suit the rider
Bunnyhopping and other technical skills are essential
Bar ends should not be used with risers

…so how come I, a 47 year old with a BMI of 28, riding a fully rigid Rohloff 29er with bar ends and risers and 45psi in the 2.0" tyres, who is unable to bunnyhop up a curb and gets off to walk the tricky bits, can consistently finish in the top half, usually in the top third and occasionally in the top quarter in races from 50km to 24 hours and currently be 5th in the Midland Trailquests Autumn League (did I mention I ride trailquests ?)

I even managed to get a top half finish in the Kona mash up after they'd sorted the timing shambles, when trail centres are really not my sort of thing.

Where are all these people with their perfectly suited and perfectly set up bikes and why do so many of them ride slower than me ?

WGAS?

I don't mean to sound big headed,

You failed.. 🙂

I have no idea what your point is but I pump my tyres up to 65psi minumum….

You failed..

+1 🙂

You stopped reading too soon.

i have read your posts before, you sound like a descent bloke. Until now, not too late to mod your post mate!

Maybe it is not you who is good, maybe the standard of riding at the events you enter is pretty poor. It actually goes to show that you don't need great skills to ride xc races in the uk.

**runs and hides**.

I reckon that in any racing situation (on a bike) you should be disqualified if you get off and walk.

cos u is teh shiz, innit

It's because you're a fat trailquester…
Everyone knows that fat trailquesters sh*t out skinny nichewhores before the fashion gurus and worried fettlers have finished brewing their rare and exotic morning coffee..

I'm not fat, but I do smoke and drink too much, don't really do much cycling other than short distances, and mainly ride a singlespeed. Top ten finisher in World Class events such as the BigBikeBash 2-lap 'Open' race, and I can climb better than most.

S'cos I've got skilz, innit? You've either got it, or you haven't. It's called Talent. something most of you lot will never possess, sadly….

LOL at Yunki. Top bombing

Mr Midland: it's just boys playing with toys and really not important enough to get worried about.

What's a Trailquest?

All crap except for the bar ends comment & then only because it just looks wrong…..

<sigh>

Because it's not about the bike, the tyres, the clothing, the gears, the wheel size, the suspension or how g'narly you are.

If you're a good rider, you'll ride better than those of us who spend more time waffling on the Internet and trying to justify buying bling than riding our bikes.

Well done – but try to keep the boasting down, it makes the rest of us look bad. 😉

: P

Nothing to do with the bike you probably got good endurance. Ride a sensible bike and you might do better 😉

Doh…Kuco beat me to it

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ❓

maybe the standard of riding at the events you enter is pretty poor

That's probably about right, a quick Google shows you Midlands XC 1 result from April, where you came 50th out of 52 finishers. That's a pretty low key XC race. Trailquests clearly aren't full of good cyclists, or you're far better at map reading than you are riding.

No offence like.

Does this thread not prove that the races you're entering are just not that technically demanding, i.e. you could be on a cross bike and still do almost as well?

Does this thread not prove that the races you're entering are just not that technically demanding, i.e. you could be on a cross bike and still do almost as well?

or better 😉 runs of sniggering

If I won a trailquest, I'd consider that a substandard performance on my part.

And even top half doesn't mean that much these days when a much wider range of abilities enter races (which is a. good. thing. by the way- come, race, it's fun!).

And most of those statements are true (except the one about tyres). I've had some experience of them all.

I have decided this is a joke. Cant bunnyhop kerb's, 45psi, getting off, bar end's/risers and top third in races. WTF !! Annoyed that I got sucked in 😥

Well done. I hope i'm as good as you one day. (It's a shame sarcasm is hard to detect over the internet so i'll insert this sentance just to clarify)

Is this smee/glupton/whatever the hell he's called?

Good point, njee, that was by far my worst result and I was surprised by the standard of rider in the veteran class at XC races. I even started a thread on here asking why XC riders were so much faster than marathon racers.
50th in the veteran class, but I think I worked out at the time that if I had ridden in the open or sport class, I can't remember the details now, I would have been top half again.
Compare with 10th at Set2Rise and 16th at Hit the North though.
A long, long way behind the winners, but reading some of the opinions on this forum, I'm lucky I even did one lap in the time allowed.

There is a sort of serious point to this and I don't mind making a fool of myself to make it.
There have been a couple of threads recently where people have become disillusioned with mountain biking because they don't have what they believe are the necessary skills to ride properly. Both were women, maybe it's just that blokes are less likely to admit such things in public.
As I said, I can't bunny hop or do much technical stuff. I'm fairly good at track stands though.
It's a shame that people are being put off mountain biking because they think they, or their bike, are not good enough.
If I can do it, and do it reasonably well, it really can't be all that hard.

yeah i was suprised at the vets too, the prices are terrible. i also found if id have entered the local primary egg and spoon race id have been in the top half too. odd that

An example of my awesome riding skills at HtN.

And yet, only 15 riders completed more laps than I did.

For those who have got the technical skills and the bike all set up correctly, where were you ?
For those who don't think they have, just go out and ride and enjoy the scenery.

It could be that you are a average rider/runner participating in events that are fielded by a high percentage of below average ability people..

There's a heck of a lot of people doing events because they enjoy doing them, and not for results.

It seems from the post you do quite alot of events so your level of fitness is high, a high proportion of people haven't such a good level of fitness and no amount of bling and perfectly set up bike is going to make the wheels turn faster for longer..

Sorry i didn't bite.

Tip top trolling Mr Graham.

Probably your map board giving you extra downdraft for the all important grip!
Graham is such a trailquest name! 😉

Funkin smart phone.

.

Think we've heard you now…

we heard you kingtut 😉

"It could be that you are a average rider/runner participating in events that are fielded by a high percentage of below average ability people."

That could well be the answer.
I had a go on a PowerTap on rollers once and was dismayed at just how low my power output was. I think I peaked at about 700w, which is about half what a good roadie half my weight would put out.

There have been a couple of threads recently where people have become disillusioned with mountain biking because they don't have what they believe are the necessary skills to ride properly. Both were women, maybe it's just that blokes are less likely to admit such things in public.

I can't ride a bike for toffees. I have no technical skills. I like being out on a bike in the countryside.

We all ride for different reasons. Embrace the fact that we are all different. 🙂

+1 CG.
It's not how good you are that matters, it's how much you enjoy it.

can consistently finish in the top half, usually in the top third and occasionally in the top quarter in races from 50km to 24 hours and currently be 5th in the Midland Trailquests Autumn League

don't you organise these, you finish well because you set the corse and know the short cuts? 😉