raced rd.2 of the Midlands yesterday. great course and what a nice day for it. gridded out back but didn't put in a performance any how. lack of racing and skillz. seem to have lost over 10 places since the midland races early last year. all good though.
Southern xc at checkendon today.
Lol my class is full of race gods. Chatting to guy next to me who's using as a warm up before heading to Denmark to race big boys series!
Along with guys sponsored as part of the pedal on shop team.
Loads of guys running Di2 gears etc.
Course has been ridden, its fast, rooty, tight and twisty. Nothing too complex though for sure. Took it easy until a few fast lads came past so jumped on their wheels for a lap. Should be good fun either way!
well that was just massive fun. I was gridded a fair way back as I've not raced with them so its just a free for all. I went a reasonable pace off the start but not crazy and was soon in an 8 way battle, down the side of the field I put 2 riders behind me and knew there was a lot of woods coming up.
Very little in the way of overtaking through them, then into another field edge, I lost a place but that guy cleared off and took 5 of us in seconds.
The race kind of blurred into woods, sprints, power and a cool log jump I kept launching on the Whyte just for fun. I picked up another 5 riders over the next hour and a bit, having fun battles throughout and some chatting in the single track while trying to breathe!
A big tall fella passed me on lap 4 in the fields and I jumped on his wheel, he was quick in the long bits so we caught another guy and put him behind us.
I came round the start finish absolutely finished and saw the clock had 8 mins showing which meant another lap! Oh for the love of all things holy, I was knackered. Happily, anyone else behind me was the same. I lost about 10s to the guy in front I was following but was happy the gap behind wouldn't be closed down. So I clawed my way to the line, almost crashing twice on the final lap as I was dying! I have no idea what my result was.
I do know this, it was the best and most fun xc course I've ridden, just constant twists, turns, etc brilliant.
My boy was then out in the U9s race. He got a bad start as he was gridded near last and struggled at times to make up ground. Partly because he seemed to be in the wrong gear. I suspected he'd dropped into the granny as he was spinning like a loony! I was right.
He did however pick up some places and 2 in the last sprint for the line, for what I think was 7th! Respect for that!
Awesome day out.
Now, pub for massive burgers and beer while watching Liverpool game.
Nice one weeksy and weeksy jnr. I'm sat in the car waiting for the start of my race and nursing a bad back. Bit dryer than round 1 isn't it?
I didn't make round 1 mate as my lad ended up at a Philharmonic concert instead and Mrs Weeksy and MIL Weeksy like him to do that, so we skipped round 1. This round was ideal as its only 15 min from home.
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33rd out of 52 for me.
8th out of 20 for my boy
Yak from here finished 25th
Looking at the results, I did 1 lap more too! My strava finished 1hour 25. The race finished 1hour 6 lol
Good stuff there family Weeksy
Well done Weeksy and mini-weeksie! What cat were you in?
Couple of hard 9hr training weeks for me, but according to strava it's coming good, think I've had 7 KOMs and a bunch of top tens this week 🙂 even had some on descents. Just have to remember not to get totally sh!t-faced all week when I'm on hols and I should be good for Wasing 😆
Open. Which is their most friendly in terms of ability.
Nice one team weeksy!. We had a fun morning too. Daughter came in 3rd in u9s, son 20th in the u12s (massive step up there - things get serious!) and as above I came in 25th in open. Slower first lap, then I managed to find some oomph and have some fun on laps 2-4. Whilst I always prefer hilly courses, it's always fun at Checkendon, especially when it's this dry n'fast. Nice one Southern XC!
Stop it with all your talk of dry and dusty trails! It's rained all week up here!
Anyone riding the SWXC series in Devon starting on Sunday ?
Not a bad race at Checkendon. Not seeded so about 20th on the grid. Failed to clip on the start about 4 times so nearly dead last. Got up to 18th, beat a few people who normally beat me and closer to some others. More fitness required.
Start list has been confirmed for this weekends Nationals at Wasing Park. Looks like a very busy weekend! Lots of riders. Fortunately i'll be starting on the second row rather than the back this time!
Looks like big fields, I'll be third row assuming 6-8 in each row. Is there much of a start loop at Wasing?
Did you see practis starts at eleven? I won't be able to take advantage of the extra hour but it's a great move for us Saturday racers, hope it's like that for the last round (not doing the two northern ones)
15th grid spot in GV for me, hopefully second row, maybe third.
Awesome result Weeksy and mini weeksy! That photo of you two is exactly what racing should be about, brilliant mate
That photo of you two is exactly what racing should be about, brilliant mate
Sometimes i worry and i/we begin to lose track of that when it comes to XC Racing. My lad could have been unhappy with his finishing position, i was slightly surprised at it in honesty, but he's not 'training' in the same way as the lads at the front. For me, i could have been unhappy at for example not making top 50%
Instead, we both came away having an absolute blast. It was proper fun.
Although if you're looking for some feedback, he felt the kids course was too easy techincally compared to XC rampage. However, he's right at the borderline of the age catagory, so maybe it's easier for the smaller kids, which is fair of course 🙂
The only other thing i didn't like was a few of the guys in the field in the 'fun' type catagory who were clearly not there in a 'fun' context, they were seasoned racers out glory hunting... Which is just a bit of a pet peeve for me.
The start area was a little on the small side for the race too meaning it was imposible to get all the riders in.
Lastly... I ended up doing 5 laps of the course, instead of 4. That was down to me mis-hearing or mis-reading the rules for the Cat, but i was far from alone in doing the extra lap, but as i came round, the clock said 8mins.... So i carried on. I shouldn't really have been allowed to.
It didn't matter as i did my best overtaking on what was actually THAT finish and went past 2 bikes after the woods lol, so it worked out OK for me and was a nice bit of training
I now have a suitable bike...
does it have 890mm flat carbon bars?
The only other thing i didn't like was a few of the guys in the field in the 'fun' type catagory who were clearly not there in a 'fun' context, they were seasoned racers out glory hunting... Which is just a bit of a pet peeve for me.
That is a funny one, I think once you've won a fun race you should have to move to open or sport/vet to give other people a taste of winning, although to be fair sometimes it's people just racing whatever time works for them.
^I'm not sure any of the categories are 'fun'? More like less experienced? There are some mighty fast less experienced riders.
Anyone nearly endo on the log jump?
Anyone nearly endo on the log jump?
As i was on the Whyte T-130 i was launching off it and having a blast 🙂
Weirdly, the guy in front got pics, the guy behind me got pics.... me.... no pics !
Also noticed on the other pics that Yak was right in front of me on lap1.... I noticed a pink bike, but knew nothing about what he was on... It was only later seeing the pics i realised it was him or i'd have shouted and abused him a bit.
I get the point about 'fun' but clearly some of the riders were very very experienced racers.
Haha! Yeah, my pink dirty harry! Feel free to hurl abuse my way 😀
The thing about open is that it wraps up everyone who isn't up for sport, and in particular vet. Vet is very fast imo, and way beyond me and my meagre amount of riding. So there are a lot of quite-fast-but-not-vet-fast vets in open. ( I mean the vets at the front, not me obvs...)
I get the point about 'fun' but clearly some of the riders were very very experienced racers
That's quite normal in most races from what I've seen. It's not out of the ordinary to have riders one season getting podium places or very close to them in other categories like Sport or Vets then dropping down to Open the following season.
It takes the piss sometimes but there's no way the organisers can realistically check that every rider is in the 'correct' category.
Yup, can't argue and people will always go in Cats for a reason, could be early start, could be podium finish, at the end of the day, it made no difference to my enjoyment 🙂
Next up then is Crow Hill, Ringwood, BH24 3DA (Regional Championships)
on the 28th May.
The designation of 'regional championships' is a minor concern to me.... But it would be good to see if we can get back out and potentially find some form for my boy. He seems to have lost both his Mojo and form, i wonder if it's partly me not pushing him hard enough to race. The fast lads in his class seem to race every single weekend. But i don't really want that level of seriousness for him and in honesty we don't have the time for that either as a family.
Having watched a fair few kids go through the ranks it seems that you've found yourself in a very normal position Weeksy, it's striking that balance between encouragement and pushing, the smile on your lads face suggests your pretty much on the money!
See you at Croww Hill for he next round.
Good luck to all of you riding the nationals this weekend at Wasing!
First race completed. Premier of the regional XC series and 5th place in Vets 40.
4 * 3.5km laps with some serious A lines in place with doubles, drops, and rock gardens which made for some excellent tactics and kept things interesting.
As it was the first race of the season I lucked out and got a front row call up in the lottery which meant I had a real chance to get out and smash it. The season is more focused on marathon races but it's super pleasing to pick up a good result first off and almost podium.
Nice one Swedish chef! Weeksy were you and your lad loitering around the national today? Saw someone that looked like your pic but wasn't sure. Will post a race report when I have more energy!
No Sir. Family stuff at home
Just as well I didn't go up to them and say 'are you Weeksy?' then!
Hmm, I posted a race report last night and only the first line got put up!
Great course, very loose and dusty, lots of roots and a bunch of sun-baked ruts, my back was wishing I had a full suss by the last lap! First hot and sunny race of the year for me too. Nice to have a few slightly technial uphill sections too, although it was basically a flat course. Lots of a/b splits. Lack of confidence meant I rode the b-line forthefirst one in the race despite riding the a in practise. The big drop was always going to be the b-line, quitesevere for a b-line although it was easy to ride and great fun. Rode the other a-lines.
Sport results aren't up yet, I'm mildly concerned I didn't hear the timing mat peep as I went over it at the finish so hope they worked ok. I didn't do well, was aiming to stay with the guy I had a close race with at Pembrey but a lack of sleep and dodgy bowels that morning meant I felt pretty washed out and lost sight of him by the end of the first lap. Had some tight racing with another guy for the middle two laps but got enough of a gap by the last lap I was riding alone. Just as well as I started to bonk, faded fast and had a couple of vom swallowing moments! Felt like I was riding the technical sections faster this race which I was pleased with as normall that lets me down, only did a half hearted warm up and felt it so will have to make more of an effort next time.
No racing till the end of May for me now, thankfully will be a hilly one for third round of the Welsh at aber which should play to my strengths a bit more. Was a great fun course last year, nice and steep and natural-ish
Well done Ferrals! I always like Wasing, particularly in the dry. Well, only in the dry actually!
Lastly... I ended up doing 5 laps of the course, instead of 4. That was down to me mis-hearing or mis-reading the rules for the Cat, but i was far from alone in doing the extra lap, but as i came round, the clock said 8mins....
There is no countdown clock Weeksy - true XC races are always a set number of laps, they should say on the start line how many that is, as it can change from what's advertised, but there will never, ever be a case of "there's time for one more" in any category.
I'm going to dust off my mountain bike and ride the Gorrick next Sunday. First proper XC race in 18 months, sure I'll get a total kicking, but hey ho! I still have an expert licence, so feel I should ride expert, but I really will finish last there, so may just hide in the middle of sport instead!
Nice work! And good luck next week NJee
4 months of weekly racing or TT kicks off for me next Saturday. With the end of Training in March, a couple of bouts of sickness and the factbthe Scott Marathon kixked my arse i feel under prepared but hey.
My next MSG round in May is a Regional champs. What does this mean for entries in my category (Vet)? The reason i becuase after missing one round im back on the last remaining grid spot, and although i know the MSG regulars i can aim to take places back from, will it be flooded with other riders for the Champs meaning ill lose places? Or will they all be in Elite?
Also raced the nationals yesterday in Sport category. 8th for me. Lost out to 7th in a 3 way sprint at the end. Happy with the results and hit all the A lines inc the big drop. Felt a bit rough on the bike yesterday though, too much energy drink before the race. Major stitch on lap 3 and almost had a sneaky little vomit at one point.... The course was great, relentlessly punishing and so damn rough.
Might race at Aske next Sunday for north of England champs. If not, I'll be at Cannock for midlands Round 3 in May.
My mate is racing Expert at Wasing today so I'll be in the feedzone for him
Wow... Good work buddy... You're certainly on the right side of 'a it handy' 🙂
There is no countdown clock Weeksy - true XC races are always a set number of laps, they should say on the start line how many that is, as it can change from what's advertised, but there will never, ever be a case of "there's time for one more" in any category.
Partly right but; Due to the time limits that BC are encouraging the organisers to enforce there is a count down clock. So for example Sport is a 4 lap race (there is no point in doing more as your 5th lap and more will not count) and the briefing should tell you this but it also a minimum length of 1.5 hrs so you can't start a lap after an hour and half, hence the clock. I hope that makes sense?
I stand corrected, apologies. How daft.
I'm writing this from the portaloo at Wasing 🙂
Yesterday I was on the verge of begging someone for a full sus, I did a fast lap in practice yesterday and felt like I'd been boxing. Had a few practice runs down the big drop and found that it's between 1-2 second quicker, so if I feel proper knackered towards the end I might give it a miss. Gridded 34th elite thanks to a disastrous Pembrey, I'd quite like to halve that at the finish, so 17th.
Now I've just got to wait around for 6 bloody hours!
Good luck !
Good luck! Glad I wasn't the only one that found it bumpy - my back and calfs were shot at the end.
Well done jimbob, your getting some storming results!
How did you get on Paddy!
Well it was my first proper xc race of the year today at the first round of the Southwest XC series at Woodbury Common. Was running first in the fun cat racing my mates and chasing the wheels of the faster guys but sadly a broken chain ended my race. The course was cracking with loads of technical singletrack and gravel climbs. In all a great day out!
