[Closed] 2015/2016 winter 'cross racing thread

I got slower and slower. Stopped to clean mud and grass out of the frame but didn't realise until the end that my jockey wheels were about to seize up, packed with grass! Another lap and I would have done the same as David, I reckon.
In theory, the guy without his back wheel should be dq'd. Good effort and all that but the rules say you need to complete the course with a whole bike.(If he was behind me then fine, but if he beat me.... where's the complaint form? :D)

Oh, but I beat a world champ!(Manon) 😀

In theory, the guy without his back wheel should be dq'd. Good effort and all that but the rules say you need to complete the course with a whole bike.

One of the things I like about Welsh League is that Liz enforces the spirit of the rules rather than following them to the letter. Although I did wonder how that happened - was it a conscious 'I know, I'll just chuck my rear wheel in a bush to lighten the load a bit' decision, and if so why stop at one wheel 😉

Anyway I reeled him and dropped him on the last lap, thereby winning the bike carrying category, for which there didn't seem to be a podium sadly.

I didn't fully understand through the lactic haze when he explained it but he got a puncture, kept riding with the puncture and then his mech snapped, at which point I'm assuming he just ditched the wheel.

IdleJon - Member

Oh, but I beat a world champ!(Manon)

I heard someone say something about a wold champion being there and i wondered what they meant..

Ardingly - That was London League wasn't it?

yup.

There was a guy in a Western League Race (Conham I think) who did the last 30 odd minutes running round the course without a bike. He a) beat me (it was very muddy in my defence) and b) wasn't dq'd. I don't really take it seriously enough to care, and fair play to him for running for 30mins in a pair of carbon soled race slippers.

In theory, the guy without his back wheel should be dq'd. Good effort and all that but the rules say you need to complete the course with a whole bike.

In Central League yesterday my Teammates wheel fell out about 200m from the finish so he ran the rest, only to be told he may be DQ'd. He was about 3 laps down on the winners at the time.

is 34:44 a silly chainring combo?

No, wick weeks made a special batch for Katy Compton a few years ago in that exact sizing. Makes more sense for most people than the usual 36:46. Personally if I was in the market for new chainrings I would be going single and thick thin.

Hard work yesterday, racing in temperatures of 20 degrees

On the Chainset question, went single on the front with a 36 running 10 speed 12 - 30.
BTW would never go back to a double for CX

BTW would never go back to a double for CX

I rarely get out of my smaller 36 ring while racing, but seeing as my 'cross bike is my all round bike then I use the 46 a lot for everything else. I've worked out that for me a single ring makes no sense (other than for a dedicated race bike which is in my lottery winning imaginary garage.. 🙂 )

Suppose having a dedicated Cross bike I can run a single 🙂

Have raced all the Central CX League except yesterdays! Gutted as Lucy Gossage turned up who is an Ironman professional recently came 15th in Hawaii .. she stormed it on her light weight short travel 29er! Would have loved to have pitted myself against her!!! Back to it this week in Dunstable then a few weeks off to go to Thailand on holiday and have a relaxing break! Before I race again on 13th Dec in Hillingdon and suffer my way through the race having had 3 weeks off the bike!

I'm kind of surprised 1 by is popular in cross, from my very limited experience so far i''be found I've used the front derailleur more than the rear, mostly just keeping it middle of the block and small at the front and then just shifting into big ring for sections that you can power through. Seems like transitions between levels of effort are so much more abrupt than mtb so multiple shifts would annoy me. Also someone told me shifting with the rear when its clogged increases risk of mech failure

Singlespeed is really all you need 🙂

I haven't found my cassette clogs so much as the chain is constantly shifting up and down it. Jockey wheels are always the problem for me, just a bit of grass can sometimes cause problems.
Not having a front derailleur takes away a ledge that a lot of mud used to catch on. Not had a properly muddy race yet, but a single ring at the front is working well for me

Munqe-chick - Member
Back to it this week in Dunstable then a few weeks off to go to Thailand on holiday and have a relaxing break! Before I race again on 13th Dec in Hillingdon and suffer my way through the race having had 3 weeks off the bike!

I'm not racing now till the end of Nov. Cant race the Gilwern round and kind of wanted to to this coming sunday but its a 2.5h drive so am unlikely to bother (result from last sunday dependant :oops:). After racing 5 on the trot I think I need a bit of a break anyway. lazy (I'll call it recovery) week this week and then a couple of weeks hard training before the round at Pembrey.

Have raced all the Central CX League except yesterdays! Gutted as Lucy Gossage turned up who is an Ironman professional recently came 15th in Hawaii .. she stormed it on her light weight short travel 29er! Would have loved to have pitted myself against her!!! Back to it this week in Dunstable then a few weeks off to go to Thailand on holiday and have a relaxing break! Before I race again on 13th Dec in Hillingdon and suffer my way through the race having had 3 weeks off the bike!

Yes, she pretty much smashed it!

Did you see there has been a venue change for this coming weekend?

Results from Wlesh league on Sunday out. Only a couple of places behind David Jey (who admittedly ran a lap!) and knocking on the door of top ten senior for the second week running. Pleased as I had a bad start and thought I had a bad race. Now set myself a goal of getting a top 10 senior finish by the end of the year. If I can manage that in my first season racing 'cx I'll count it as a good season.

Beginning to think I might need to go to Newtown to increase my chances of a good league position 😳

Would far prefer a single up front, but seems like there's a lot of opportunity to drop the chain in the hurly burly of a muddy cross race. Guess I just need to try it and see what happens.

Beginning to think I might need to go to Newtown to increase my chances of a good league position

Should be less people there.... 😉

76th, not as bad as I thought but several people beat me who have been behind me all season. Time for more training. 😆

(I managed to cock up my preparation on Sunday by eating breakfast too early, drinking too much very strong coffee and riding down arriving so early that I cooled down. 🙄 )

IdleJon - Member

Should be less people there....

That's what I was thinking - plus with two good results in the bag, I want to do over seven results to try and replace my least good ones.

Doubt I'll make it though really.

(I managed to cock up my preparation on Sunday by eating breakfast too early, drinking too much very strong coffee and riding down arriving so early that I cooled down. )

Would far prefer a single up front, but seems like there's a lot of opportunity to drop the chain in the hurly burly of a muddy cross race.

Telnet Fidea are running single rings this year at world cup events, it's only shimano backed riders still using two rings in the main.

Where's the results for Welsh league? Yes saw it is Houghton Regis this weekend. Been out training today though and crashed bloody farmer spread his muck ALL across the road and I hit the dark hard and got a second knee cap.just feels stiff at the moment so hopefully back on it for weekend.

Know what you mean 're rest we did 5 in a row and needed a break last weekend. Newtown though don't you miss out on decent points or is that just women due to stupid points system? I have mates travelling all the way there as last year she lost series due to points and not going to Newtown race. How you lose the series when you've beaten the winner in every other race!!!! Stupidity.

Unlucky with the crash! Hope you fix quick.

Welsh league results are here: [url= http://www.cyclocrosswales.co.uk/results.html ]Welsh league[/url]

I don't think the points are different at the Newtown race but i understand less popular among the s.wales regulars due to being right up in the north so the field is smaller and hence easier to get points.

I was tempted as I've done six, need seven to qualify for a placing, have started getting good results the last two and I can do 3 more, 4 if i had gone to Newtown. Be good to replace as many as possible of my worse results now I'm getting the hang of cross.

Decided that by not going to Newton I can have a recovery week this week, do an FTP test and then get in two hard concerted training weeks and a mini taper week before pembrey and hopefully hit the last three races blazing. My average weekly distance has dropped by half in the last few weeks!

About 140 riders on the course during the V40/50/W race at Ardingly. When I first started back in eighteen hundred and something a total senior/V/W field of 35 was a good turnout!!! Ardingly was fantastic. Completely open course so no probs overtaking even with that many racing. Some thought it a bit flat beforehand but boy it was hard. No bits to recover on. Even had to sprint down into the bombhole to make sure I got out the other side without dismounting. The 'easier' bits on the gravel tracks were still hard as they were up hill. This place would be a great venue for a National Trophy. Would make a change to have one within a hundred miles of where I live in east Kent.

@Ferrals, good result. I am quite miffed I crashed out. As such I'm off to Newtown for the first time to try and not land on my face.
I'm not banking on a good league position this year. I've been plagued by crappy injuries and illness since the start.
Oh and the 1x thing. I went 1x last year as I found I was going too slow if I used the 36 ring and wasn't strong enough to push the 46 so going to 38 made it easier. It's fine for the road too for where I ride through the winter. In effect it's just little ringing it.

No the points are dependant on how many people are there so they do change/move about! IT is a bit of a farce despite Liz Slater being fantastic with organising, she needs to move with the times a bit and change things. How you can have a welsh series champion who never beat the 2nd place overall rider is beyond me!!!!

LOL @ Plop_pants... see it is the new "niche" fun thing to do! Which hey I don't mind. I was Welsh Cyclo Champ in '96 😉

LOL @ Plop_pants... see it is the new "niche" fun thing to do! Which hey I don't mind. I was Welsh Cyclo Champ in '96

Ha! I've got a gold medal from the Welsh cx champs in the late 90s, from the team competition. So I often throw it into conversations to try and suggest how fit and skinny I used to be. Unfortunately, the reality was that I finished 11/16 and our team (Schmoos) was probably the only one with enough riders to qualify. Still, a gold medal in a championship race... 😆

Oh and I once came 4th in the UK MTB hillclimb champs. Guess how many riders were there? 😳

Munge-chick
No the points are dependant on how many people are there so they do change/move about!

On the overall standings for this year they start at 150 for 1st and go down a point each position from there so would be the same however many entered? For the races with over 150 entrants if you are lower than 150th you just get a point. The confusing thing for me is the way all the cats are mixed up, so this week and last week i had the same position out of seniors but totally different in the overall.

LOL @ Plop_pants... see it is the new "niche" fun thing to do!

IdleJon
Ha! I've got a gold medal from the Welsh cx champs in the late 90s, from the team competition. So I often throw it into conversations

Not that I'm any better, I've still got a little plastic medal I got for an 8th place in an x-lite race in the nineties - presented to me by Steve Geall no less when Animal was the coolest brand/team around.

UK MTB hillclimb champs.

If you really are in Welsh League for points, you do need to be up on how they work and how to game the system (ie making the effort to attend some of the less popular rounds, racing in weeks when the National Trophy takes the top half dozen quickest riders out of contention....). I appreciate that its an imperfect system and weekly fluctuation in points gets worse the further down you finish, but just remember it's the same for everyone. You can always get yourself to the planning meeting in spring and voice your concerns there.

Oh, and remember it's meant to be fun 😉

Not for the first time this thread if I remember correctly!

😳

😆

I still find it amazing how different cycling in general, and racing in particular, is compared to when I started. (Or even 5 years ago, probably.).

@David Jey, completely agree re. the points thing and 'playing the system,' if you want to take it seriously its your business to understand the ins and outs and permutations. Not that I am I hasten to add, beyond the standard desire to do reasonably, but if you are you can't complain about a completely transparent system.

xc sports cat series last year was a case in point. all of us that ended in the top three were average at best apart from at the cyb race where sports was seperated from the championship race, the fast guys were in the championship and only 5 of us raced sports - skewed the results completely (my trophy is still on the kitchen shelf though 😳 )

The way my legs still hurt makes me think 'fun' is a bit strong though! 😆

seems like there's a lot of opportunity to drop the chain in the hurly burly of a muddy cross race

@plop_pants. Yup thought it was a great venue. Wondered whether the bomb hole would have been quicker to run the whole thing - getting round the corner to drop in got harder & harder.

When running a single NW chainring it is possible to increase the tension on Shimano derailleurs as there are 2 spring positions, there is a link on the Absolute Black website. Apparently SRAM have a higher spring tension so don't need the hack. I run a Veloce mech with no mods and have had no drop chains so far.

Edit - here [url= http://www.absoluteblack.cc/cx-rings.html ]Derailleur tension[/url]

Cartmel tomorrow in the NW league. It's looking like being very wet and muddy 🙂

Love Cartmel but seem to remember mrs running through a mud swamp over the boards etc. Imagine tomorrow will be worse. Also meant to buy the boy some better tyres but Ribble had sold out.....

Some bloke off STW having a paddle.....

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Bottled out and did clean up duty today - logistics of 2 kids and 2 parents swamp racing is just too complicated. Love the venue - such a shame the weather has been cruel to them 2 years running.

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I look like I'm having loads of fun there Mick 😉

Really good course, first proper mud I've raced in this season. Struggled on the carry up through the woods, my knees really don't get on with things like that which cost me places each lap. Otherwise, all good. Even beat some people. And speedy Dave Haygarth only lapped me once 🙂

OOO so the rest of us have a mud fest coming tomorrow!!!

Welsh lot in Newton, CEntral in Houghton Regis. Anyone know what the Hougton course is like? people say "FLAT" but must have SOMETHING in it to make it fun otherwise it'll be like a grass crit 😉 here's to hoping it is proper twisty turny and technical to make it more fun!

You all did good - I actually quite wished I was racing!

Cumbrian mud seems not too cloggy and very easy to hose off.
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Alison had a good one and the new home made frame worked great with no mud issues. Just got pipped by young Martha on the last lap (tried running on a bit she'd previously ridden which proved to be slower at just the wrong moment).

Hope everyone else has fun on Sunday.

Also wondering if I'll ever be strong enough to race the Ironworks Purgatory for 40 minutes.....

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Newtown (Welsh League round 8 ) was a bit of a clogfest - a long run up with leaves in the mix does not result in happy pedals.

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Really technical course, some wet rooty singletrack that wouldn't have been out of place on an XC course - so was a bit daunting on a 'cross bike! A lot of fun though. Not a great result for me - beaten fair and square by those with better bike handling - but an OK one.