(and by XC racing i mean where you need a licence)

Which series are you doing? what bike you running and what category are you racing in?

I’m giving it a bit of a go this year after getting a bit fed of road racing last year

Did my first xc race a couple of years ago but got DNF cus of a stupid tyre (furious fred)

Did a few cyclocross races in the winter with a few top 10’s (and even a 3rd!)

Thinking of doing the southern xc series and maybe some welsh one’s as well in the sport category.

I’m racing Sport in the Midlands and Eastern regions, and also doing most of the Nationals. I’m racing a KingdomBike Supreme 650B and not doing too badly so far.

Is this your first season of racing?

may have a go at a few of the southern XC- not thought about category yet as I have only doen one XC race (the Offcamber one near Blandford) and placed 14/45 on a snowy crappy day. Is it a case of give open a go and see how I do?

Will be on my whippet with SIDs and hope pro 3s- normally used for adventure racing duties

Yep.. i think turn up and race open if you don’t have a licence but if you do race in sport

Yes I’ll do the odd one, if I can get fit enough not to embarrass myself! Pencilled in a couple of Southern XCs, and a couple of NPSs. Expert.

So does it work the same as road racing categories. Can u move down from expert to sport if you don’t retain enough points in the season?

Dunno, don’t think they police it nearly as actively as road racing as categories are so much smaller. There’s only 130 or so Experts. Anyone outside the top 50 in elite is meant to be demoted to expert. In reality I’ve only seen them demote people with zero points, ie those who’ve not raced at all.

My only points scoring race last year was the Nat Champs, but I still got some. Perhaps I’d have got demoted otherwise.

No. Once you get promoted to expert you stay there. Just like you can’t move down from cat /3 to cat 4 on the road.

I believe that you can get moved down from Elite to Expert but it is unlikely to hapoen for various reasons.

Enjoy.

Have three FNSS XC races booked in, and will leap at the chance to race at Lotts Wood if they race there ever again. Big road season this year.

Experts don’t get demoted but you need to do well in sport to get promoted to Expert (well top 15 overall). Top 5 experts move into Elite. Try a regional race before a national – they tend to be a little less full-on. I’m doing the Nationals and Southerns in Elite.

GB

I agree that you need to do well to move up Gee, but when I was racing a few years back my target for the following year had I not started working proper hours was to get promoted to expert…..if I’d done all rounds of my local xc series (midlands) where I would have been around top ten and a few rounds of the welsh xc where I think there were usually 5 or so racing in the sport category, then I’d have probably had enough points to move up even though top half of the field would have been a big result for me at an NPS. Top 15 has always struck me as a large number especially as not many seemed to do more than a handful of races.

True – sport to expert is fairly straightforward once you enter enough races. Expert to Elite is a lot harder.

It looks it! Didn’t seem to trouble Jason Boutell too much mind!

So do you think xc racing has dwindled in recent years? I know road racing has got a bit crazy with races being over subscribed and full up 2-3 months in advance. Also the whole olympics and wiggins effect hasn’t helped this.

It seems to have, but it might just be to do with my location.
I was about to buy a new bike, but as racing is a bit sparse I didn’t bother and just use an old beater.
I’d like to help the scene. I can’t see why XC racing can’t take off like cyclocross? I think the 1 hour format and fewer cats is the key.
I’m looking at a location for simple ‘old school’ xc. Perhaps road clubs could be the saviors of XC 😕

Dwindled thats an understatement!!!The Hay day years are long gone.Mid 90s you had a choice of 5/7 races on one day Hay Ho.Raced for 16 years on and off 10 very serious happy days.

Racing the middle to the end of the season once I get my marathon race out the way.

Will race the 30-40 age group over here, including the national XC and marathon champs, as well as a few rounds of the national series.

Trek 9.9ssl with 1*10 gripshift, and American Classic wheels.

26er and proud 😀

I’m going to try to do at least 1 southern xc round, it’s quite pricey though compared to cx isn’t it. Not sure if I would be open or masters? (38 yrs old)

I’ll be riding my c456 with a long stem and hoping that no big ring isn’t too much of a disadvantage!

i’ll do 4 or 5 races this season. Im an old sod now but still like to take part. I’ll be on a cannondale flash 26er

although i may use a beat up old singlespeed for one of the races

so what we talking for a sport or expert race.. how many?

There were typically forty to sixty in the Sport races that I did….this tends to dwindle towards the end of the year.

Numbers in sport this year look a lot lower than that from the few results sheets that I’ve looked at.

I’m racing all mids,welsh and nps in elite. I to am on a 26″ flash (one of only three at sherwood in elite,as gee says the hard part is going from expert to elite i was that 5th rider at the end of 2011. I’m 32 with a full time job (electrician) and a young family, i train around 10 hours a week

Second year in the Vets cat racing and helping to organise the Fully Sussed SW XC Series (Rd1 this weekend United Downs Redruth)
Done a couple of seasons(masters) of the Nationals and might go back again but this year concentrating on 6 hr events and 12/24hr races.

Riding for Royal Navy Royal Marine Cycling Association on a 2011 Epic Marathon 26er and a Giant XTC Carbon also 26er.

Rob

so what we talking for a sport or expert race.. how many?

At a Southern only 20 or so, National: up to 60

20? wow.. very low

Can’t wait to get out there and race. None of this stupid negative racing and riding around in circles with no one doing anything 🙂

Also.. who races rigid?

There were nearly 60 riders in Sport at the recent Midlands XC – only 17 experts though.
But what got me was the 70 veteran riders! And they were faster than Masters! I turn 40 this year and had been hoping for an easier ride…

Was going to but I have changed my focus, although I might do an odd Southern XC.

Now racing road/ crit. TT’s and the summer CX in Newbury. Plan is to get 2nd Cat by the end of the season. I have 39 points left to get. 😀

SouthernXCs have been holding steady at around 300 riders a race for the last 3 year’s and Gorrick are about 400 so it’s not really dwindling. It is more expensive than cc as the courses are longer, need more land and manpower to build. Don’t need a licence for sport or open at Southerns but open has more riders and wider ability range so more people to race against whatever you’re ability.

Not racing again this year myself due to hip issues but can’t wait to get back…

on’t need a licence for sport or open at Southerns

Well that doesn’t seem right? It says sport on my licence and i would have thought this is what you need to race ni it

I do laugh when i hear people saying i’ve now got enough points to move from open to sport (overheard at checkendon a few years ago)

Well that doesn’t seem right? It says sport on my licence and i would have thought this is what you need to race ni it

Only at the Nationals, even then only since last year, used to be able to race sport without a licence wherever.

I do laugh when i hear people saying i’ve now got enough points to move from open to sport (overheard at checkendon a few years ago)

You heard one person say it once?

Also.. who races rigid?

You received a lot of feedback about your poor tyre choice before Checkendon, ignored it, and got a puncture, is this going to be a repeat!? 🙂

You could race one round of sport at the nationals without a license in 2011.

You received a lot of feedback about your poor tyre choice before Checkendon, ignored it, and got a puncture, is this going to be a repeat!?

nope, i think that was after I talked about doing the race in that thread.. (this was my thread before doing the race)..okay okay.. maybe there was some info about the terrain being flinty 🙂

going Rocket ron/racing ralph and keeping my SID’s on

Tricky… See the tyre choice thread on xcracer for Matterley conditions 😀

http://www.xcracer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=9016

Mmmm, Matterley is just down the road from me. Could be rude not to race!

1996 SAMS 1st round had over 300 sport riders at Puddletown and a year later 187 Masters at Ringwood how things have changed.

120 vets in the first NPS this year. Yes it’s changed, but it’s better than a few years ago. A lot of growth in the young categories too. When I was a Junior (8-9 years ago) there were often fewer than 10 riders in Junior, now often 30+

There were 750 pre entries over all the cats for the National at Sherwood the other week, I’d say that’s hardly dwindling. Sure, the 1st race I did in 91/2 had 300 in the sports cat alone, but that was when mtb racing was pretty new, before trail centres, proper gravity events, enduros, 24hrs, guided mtb trips etc and was in a fairly cash rich time. These days where a tank of diesel costs cracking on for £100 and there’s lots of other things to do, that many entries is pretty good.