Forum menu
The run up was ok tbh, it was pretty short and not too steep - certainly nothing compared to the one at Irvine!
Hopefully see you at the SQ races then. Think I'm going to enter all of them in the hope it gets me picked (assuming it'll be over-subscribed). Praying they don't find me worthy of the A race! St Andrews has lots of sand to practice on, so a double win 🙂
Did you see there's also a race at Chatelrault (Hamilton) at the end of February?
sb88 - MemberI'm just going to have a moan - was getting into the Yorkshire series as my first proper go at bike racing and have had to have a lay off due to some weird swelling under one of my sit bones. Shame as I was creeping up race by race (I.e. from like 7th from last to 9th last). Hope to be back for York!
Unlucky!
I've a sneaking feeling my season is over. I'd been fairly surprised to get this far through without any manflu related hiccups, but on the way home from racing on Sunday I started feeling distictly odd and had to take the first half of the week off sick with a high temp and more mucus than Noel Edmonds gunge tank. General consenus is it takes 3 weeks to shift this particular virus which means I'll be feeling fit just after the last race i had planned 👿
THough if that is the case I'll do some of the post chrismas races to make up for it 😀
@ all you Scottish folk, I was waching some footage from your round at Mull in my bed-ridden youtube wanderings - looks an epic course!
Yeah apparently it’s the best course in the series - i’m not going 🙁
Rain today, then snow and ice to follow maybe?
Should be a fun trophy race.
Anyone else doing the trophy race at Bradford tomorrow? Just got to a hotel nearby and the car park is sheet ice.
Should be scared but instead I'm so excited. Hoping for an epic 'cross experience in the morning.
Good luck rollingdoughnut, hope the race is suitably epic.
Had an entry to the N Wales event at Wrexham but it's been called off - story of the season, unfortunately. Race would prob be fine but it's more the weather decimating everyone's travel to the course I guess.
Hillingdon today. Gevenalle shifters and min v brakes were great.
[img] 
?oh=af0bf9b3500022d71d1cd0037ac682f8&oe=5AC5DE64[/img]
Appropriately named bike too!
Bradford quickly went from frozen, dry ground to mud today but I wasn't complaining as I enjoy slithering around and was pleased with my commitment to the ruts when they were available. Managed 15th Vet40 which I was well pleased with as a top twenty has been a bit of a dream for the last two years.
Tough day out eh? Warming up at 9am I thought it was going to be basically dry and quick, but no by 10.15 we had standard Bradford again 😆
Western league folk - what's the odda's chapel venue like? Quite fancy a nye race!
Western league folk - what's the odda's chapel venue like? Quite fancy a nye race!
Strava segment for the course that's been used in the past is [url= https://www.strava.com/segments/13875081 ]https://www.strava.com/segments/13875081[/url]. From memory the lap was as follows:
- Longish climb to start the lap. It was hard in the summer race there and I'm told it was unrideable for the last winter race.
- Round the edge of a field
- Mostly single track descent through woods.
- Rest of the lap is flatish field edge and farm tracks.
I've only ridden it in the summer, so I'm not sure what to expect mudwise.
Great course in the summer and the winter. You can get up the hill so long as you don't go nuts with the mince pies 🙂
Matt Lewis
Cheers both, will either do that or the filthy cross round depending on where that is. Want to get a couple of more races in as missing a couple this weekend and last - not ready for it to be end of season yet!
I think that the Filthy cross round is in Monmouth and it has BC points attached. Plenty more races and then the summer series kicks off in May. Cross across the year.
Matt
yeah I thought the filthy cross was in Monmouth- any idea what course will be like? Most likely do that if it looks like a good course as it's closer to home.
Jon Moyle the organizer has been saying great things about the new venue at Monmouth. It's my hometown too so I could cycle there!
Lets pester Jon on Sunday at the champs.
Matt
Wish I was going to be at the champs, been ill since Pembrey, now on antibiotics, tried turboing last night and lasted ten minutes.
Sounds like I'll do Monmouth then - loved to look of his course for last w/e, shame it was cancelled hoping to do that round in Feb
Jon puts on some great races. That was a cracking circuit last Feb. Looking forward to the champs just trying to avoid booze until after the race!
Watched some racing from Belgium on Eurosport last night... That was just BRUTAL ! It just baffles the heck out of me how they can ride like that, with that power, lack of grip, ruts, mud and are still absolute BEASTS ! Madness
Good work at the Welsh champs Matt Lewis. Hope you had a well deserved beer after.
I was just glad to finish with a just-working bike and round the year off with the race. Pleased to have done it 7 months after my injuries but still would've liked to have been on last years form. Hey ho. Next year...
Ferrals hope you're on the mend mate.
Good hard course Thom. I had a few beers! Pretty impressive that you managed to race this year at all considering that crash and nasty injury. Impressive stuff!
Do any of ye run a chain guide or similar thing on an oval ring? Had some chain issues with a new bike at Stadt moers at the weekend - 105 derailleur on an AB oval has been flawless on my old CAADX, including some really heavy races. New one not so happy with it, persistently threw the chain in the latter stages of the race. Wondering how you get this to work on an oval where the top of the chainring rises and falls?
I'm running a slightly smaller chainring on the new bike which is slackening the chain a touch, could be part of the problem. Taking a link out looks a bit on the tight side but should prob try this out, just hard to replicate cross conditions riding round the trails.
I use an inner blank ring on my 1x set up to stop the chain shipping inside. I've not had a problem with it going arm-side.
I can't see why it wouldn't work with an oval ring too.
shedbrewed - Member
and round the year off with the race.
Not tempted by the filthy cross on NYE Thom?
Pleased to have done it 7 months after my injuries
Super impressive that mate, onwards and upwards and all.
Ferrals hope you're on the mend mate.
Actually felt ok for a couple of days and then the little ones biological warfare campaign kicked back in and I'm ill again 😆
Still enough whisky over christmas should burn it all out 😀
Cheers and hope the whisky does the job for you.
NYE race is cancelled but the later races are still on according to Jon M.
Ah shame about that... Western league for me then I think.. though I'm wallowing in mince pies already so racing might be done and I'll just get back to sliding down hills on my bum clutching my mtb 😀
Central's Lovelo Crossmas round lived up to expectations, with loads of sloppy mud (rained on race day) to add to their famous bridge, and also a "snow hill" where they cut a track through all the piled up snow. Three weeks off the bike (diving in Cozumel 8) ) has put paid to my fitness so it was a fun race, but my lowest league position (offset by racing in full elf costume). Thankfully I banked 8 consistent races before the break (best 8 count) and it looks like I might end up top 5 overall this year which I'd be stoked with (battled to come 10th last year). Munqe Chick has the Senior womens' league wrapped up so is also racing the holiday excess off for fun.
Saturday is the last Central round at Corby, Glebe Park Destroyer of Mechs (20+ in 2015 😯 ). Then we're off to the Boxing Day Cross at Kenilworth which is a cracker (swoopy mtb style course with a climb on a closed road and a natural bowl that all the local residents come out and spectate/cheer/heckle) and trying to get myself race-fit in time for the Nationals.
We had our last round of 2017 at Macclesfield Supacross on 30th December, mini-me No.1 had his best race of the year and got his first top 10 in the U8's strengthening his 9th overall position in the league.
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4600/39393136381_7afbf7a0b1_c.jpg [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/232381z ]DSC_4614.jpg" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4600/39393136381_7afbf7a0b1_c.jpg [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/232381z ]DSC_4614.jpg"/> [/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/100713057@N05/ ]Ellen Isherwood[/url], on Flickr
After a week of snot and missing the last round I went on and had my best result of the year coming home in 49th from 100 starters in V40, and for the first time not getting lapped by anyone including the winner, the ever young Nick Craig 8)
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4597/39374133152_5516a6aeb6_c.jpg [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22ZmJ1G ]DSC_5354.jpg" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4597/39374133152_5516a6aeb6_c.jpg [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22ZmJ1G ]DSC_5354.jpg"/> [/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/100713057@N05/ ]Ellen Isherwood[/url], on Flickr
Both looking like you REALLY enjoyed it. !
Hi Steve - saw you warming up but I was a bit preoccupied trying to find where my "helper" kids had vanished to (eventually found on the skatepark). I was 40th so not long until you overtake me. Slightly amazing to see the second race that Nick did in the seniors (battling with Giles for most of the race then catching and sprint finishing with the race long leader).
I'm planning a daft bike for the lastround.... 🙂
weeksy - Member
Both looking like you REALLY enjoyed it. !
The boy certainly knows how to suffer, considering he's only 5 and tears are quite frequent in some of the other kids around him. He gives it everything and quite often needs picking up and carrying away from the finish line, before filling his little face, having a sit down and then heckling me all afternoon 😆
mick_r - Member
Hi Steve - saw you warming up but I was a bit preoccupied trying to find where my "helper" kids had vanished to (eventually found on the skatepark). I was 40th so not long until you overtake me. Slightly amazing to see the second race that Nick did in the seniors (battling with Giles for most of the race then catching and sprint finishing with the race long leader).I'm planning a daft bike for the lastround....
Flamin' kids and their enjoyment, pah!!
You never know, I'm starting to feel almost human again fitness wise so if I get it right next year it could happen.
The man is a machine, as soon as he finished I saw him carrying his road bike to the bottom of the park to presumably keep the legs ticking over between rounds.
I'm not going as it stands, Dyfi Winter Warmer that day you see and I'd booked that before they announced the muddy mech wrecking hole that is Beacon Park in winter.
Was a couple of places ahead of you Steve, so we were probably riding quite close - I was the portly fellow in Stockport clarion colours. Quite a hard course Macc, IMO - wide open and flat out, but I guess there was just enough mud to keep it interesting.
Feels like the end of the season but I'll still do Beacon park all being well.
Didnt bother with Western league in the end as just been too ill to put in that much exertion. However I did race our clubs fancy dress cx race dressed as a christmas tree! Not serious at all, not many senior competitors and only 30 mins but it really hurt! First and possibly only really muddy race of the season for me. Proper sapping conditions where run v ride often wasnt a clear cut choice: reminded me how much i love it when it gets heavy going. Also a reminder i need to go running more!
Shame there's not really any parking at the location as would make a great venue for a real race.
[img] 
[/img]
Who's still racing then? Final round of the national trophy today and it was such a struggle to motivate myself to dig in and hurt. Course was dry and pan flat unlike the thick mud I've been training in all Christmas.
Hoping for one last chance of a mud epic in two weeks time. Can't end the season on dry grass!
Thought for the day ahead of the Jan/Feb/Mar races - does anyone ever mix n match tyres? Probably thinking like a mtber, but wondering about sticking a mud tyre on the front and keeping the MPX on the back (if I can find a good mud tyre in stock!)
@legend, regularly.
More often file-tread rear, intermediate front; than mud front, intermediate back. Works well though.
@rollingdoughnut. I'm planning on one more race at filthy cross in Abergavenny on the 28th Jan. With lingering illness and christmas drinking I've not ridden a bike with any urgency since the end of november though so I am worried what my legs will say! Need some mud in my life though, I've not raced any properly muddy courses all season which is a real gutter.
ferrals - Member@legend, regularly.
More often file-tread rear, intermediate front; than mud front, intermediate back. Works well though.
Being able to run a file tread is something I can only dream of 🙂
Not sure if it would be good or just annoying. Steering but no traction would suck, and still likely be a risk of the drivetrain clogging up.
In race news. Super Quaich rnd1 entered and selected, rnd2 entered and waiting, rnd 3 still to open. 13thfloormonk, I wont be doing Strathy Park if you're fighting for freedom that weekend!
So did anyone else race the Nationals CX champs at Hetton this weekend?
Next years national trophy dates and venues:[url= https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/cyclocross/article/20180118-cycle-cross-Cyclopark-in-Kent-to-host-2019-HSBC-UK---National-Cyclo-Cross-Championships-0 ]BC article[/url]
Shame no Abergavenny, I wanted to try a couple of NT races just to get totally pasted.
I'm tempted to go up to Scotland for a holiday if by beach park it means a proper conti-style sand race though!
Two & a bit weeks until Love Crossed @ Chavenage House in Tetbury, Gloucestershire:
[img] 
?v=1513679643[/img]
Bring your bucket & spade 😉
[b]09:00[/b] course open for practice, [b]09:45[/b] U12 boys & girls, [b]10:15[/b] Youth boys & girls, [b]11:00[/b] Vet40 men, [b]12:00[/b] Vet50 men/Senior women/Junior women, [b]13:00[/b] Senior men/Junior men. [b]14:00[/b] World Cyclo-Cross Championships streamed live from Valkenburg NL. [b]15:00[/b] Prize giving.
https://lecol.cc/pages/love-crossed
I wont be making the 6 hour round trip to Lovecrossed this year, having had my request last year for gridding as a visiting rider met with laughter and "this is a western League race" 🙄 I asked on the basis of having come 10th overall in Central League. I was refused, and starting from the back row managed to come 7th. The guy who came 6th was also a visiting rider with a back row start. So if I wad a d1ck I'd say Western isnt a very competitive league. I've had a stronger season this year, coming 4th in my league and in the top third at the National Champs so could potentially be in contention for some prizes, but not when I'm starting from the back of the field.
Good luck with the event, but until this issue is resolved you're not building an iconic stand-alone end of season finale that will grow on it's own terms, you're providing a rich prize fund for a Western League round.