my first xc race….

what can i expect?

Going to enter the southern xc at Checkendon

http://www.southernxc.net/event/ROUND1/Checkendon/details

it’s 3 laps. Has anyone raced it?

I’ve obviously done all enduro things: mayhem, SITS, Honc, kielder but this’ll be my 1st BC race in the sport category

Depends really. There’ll be a mad rush at the start and you’ll go off too fast and be in pain after a few minutes. So then you’ll slow down to a sensible pace and still be in pain. Lots of fast people will fly by you at this point. So from 5 minutes in you are going to be on a nice bike ride around the woods. You may see some people from time to time, but you won’t quite know if they are in your race or not so you will chase them down but be unsure if you should be pleased or not.

After 30-40 mins you’ll be tired and think ‘oh crud I’m only half way!’

Then after an hour or so you will get cramp and have to slow down some more. When you get to the end you’ll have someone announce your name and utterly nobody will pay you any attention. You’ll ask your position and be told XXth, but you won’t know how many people were actually in your category anyway.

You’ll eagerly await the results on the website at work on Monday and then when you finally find out, your reaction will be:

‘Oh’.

Then you’ll do it all again in a few weeks 🙂

EDIT: just noticed you are entering Sport. Expect everyone to disappear inside the first 20 seconds, and your only company will be bewildered folk who didn’t realise how hardcore Sport is 🙂

I’d suggest Open for a first race unless you know you are sh*t hot!

Well I entered sport cus i want to start racing this year (road and xc)

I’ve been training fairly seriously since december and put in some hours (did a 2nd fitness test yesterday and pleased with the results.. but numbers don’t mean anything when your racing 🙂

I’ll see how I get on.

must convert my HT to gears though 🙂

Sport will be fine if you’re in it to actually race! The first race I entered was sport and I wouldn’t have done it any other way.

Good luck!

@molgrips

😆

I’ve been training fairly seriously since december

Enter Open!

what legnth is each lap? really keen on trying some racing out! what sort of climbing is involved?

this speaking from experience then molgrips?

i’ve heard masters can be pretty immense

(Well they are all immense if i’m honest)

I’ve only done 1 race and that was a cyclocross race in December. Pain for the whole 50 minutes but very enjoyable

what legnth is each lap? really keen on trying some racing out! what sort of climbing is involved?

Think it’s 5 miles a lap

Oh and you can enter sport if you are 30-39 ( on xcracer is says 20-29 but BC changed this after they set the categories)

is it reletively flat course? are the majority of XC courses flat?

guessing the emphasis is more on speed than amount of climbing etc etc

I got talked into doing a leg of the Scottish XC at Drumlanrig a few years ago. No idea what I was letting myself in for. +1 to Molgrips but with added pain and humiliation. I did Masters, it was hardcore.

Going to have a proper go at XC (am a Vet now) this summer but down here in Soft-Southern-Shandy-Drinking Engerland……(OK I may regret saying that)

Wouldn’t have thought it would be that flat. Climbing’s where you gap people 🙂

You’ll be fine, stick with Sport, got to start somewhere! Sport will be bigger this year as a lot of the slower masters will move across.

Checkendon was used a vast amount up until 2007 when the land owner changed, and the new one wasn’t keen on MTBing, it hosted several NPS races up to 2006 though, it’s a course with history! There always used to be 2 distinct sections, a very hilly chalky, flinty bit, and a flatter loamy wooded section. Laps were usually pretty long there, one race they did had 45 minute laps! It’s hellish in the wet, 1.5″ tyres needed in places with the sticky mud, but then it’s rooty and flinty as well.

There used to be a few nasty techy sections they could use, awkward drops and what not, but I suspect even in 5 years things have moved on sufficiently they’ll now seem easy!

There’s some field edge sections which are horrendous, think baked tractor tracks in the dry, or just a sticky energy sapping mess if it’s wet.

is it reletively flat course? are the majority of XC courses flat?

guessing the emphasis is more on speed than amount of climbing etc etc

You guess wrongly, most courses are won and lost on the climbs, flat courses are fast and close, and a bit boring!

It always used to be one of the hilliest courses, some real grinds.

Just enjoy it!

this speaking from experience then molgrips?

Yes!

Climbing’s where you gap people

It might be where YOU gap people.. I can only make headway on singletrack and descents. It’s amazing the number of people that get to the top of a climb and think ‘phew that was tough’ then have a little rest.

It might be where YOU gap people..

i can gap my mates quite easily.. Gapping people in a race.. Err 😯

Are you there njee?

I did my first season last year, starting with the Jan SPAM race

Great fun, always entered open cats as I was worried about the sport cat as per above comments. Surprised myself by finishing mid field in the first 3 races without really trying (just get to the end).

So by race 4 actually started taking it seriously and getting the elbows out, trying to start near the front etc… got a couple of top 10’s and lost over a stone…then busted my collar bone 🙁

Probably start back up again in the autumn.

s it reletively flat course? are the majority of XC courses flat?

guessing the emphasis is more on speed than amount of climbing etc etc

XC courses in the South East tend to be flatter, for obvious reasons – although not flat.

XC racing in Wales is much hillier 🙂

Are you there njee?

Indeed I am, starting just ahead of you in Expert. If it stays dry I’ll be very happy!

Say hi!

Indeed I am, starting just ahead of you in Expert. If it stays dry I’ll be very happy!

Say hi!

Say hi when you lap me 🙂

What bike will you be on?

Thats a great video Tricky….already feel like I’m getting in way over my skis…..

What bike will you be on?

A blur. Or at least, it’ll look like one 🙂

Most of the course this year is based on the course thats been used for Rampage races (which claim the flattest course in the country!). Its all tight and twisty single track but its been widened in places for passing. Lap times at Rampages are between 11 and 14 minutes depending on dryness. Extra length is being added by going down into the woods and there will likely be 2 climbs (with matching downs!) Should still be lap times around 25 minutes though.

Tricky – don’t enter Open – thats my category! To really get yourself ready for race pace I’d recommend finding a little loop you can do in 10 minutes with no stops/junctions/gates/pedestrians; do a lap as fast as you can (10 minutes is nothing so really go for it); time it and then give yourself 15 seconds to catch your breath; then do it again; then do it again and again until your times really deteriorate; then go home to die. Then do it the next day as well! (not recommended the day before the race!)

Good luck and I’ll see you there!

What bike will you be on?

I’ll be on my Top Fuel, black/yellow kit.

you’ll be fine mr disco, just think you can have a nice bimble with me in a few weeks time as we act like slackers at the e6 😉