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I was looking at possibly entering this race.
I have the option of a 2hr or a 4hr event.
Is this closer in it's format, terrain and the people who enter it, to the usual Gorrick b"lls-out racers, or more like a Merida in it's atmosphere and attitude?
I've done the 3 lap races with the Gorrick and find them very hard graft, both in the terrain and also the sort of riders who enter them. I end up struggling towards the back of the 70 strong Vets 3 lap race group.
I am wondering if all the racers who would typically enter such categories as Masters, Open, Elite riders etc (ie the true racers who eat 4 or 5 laps before breakfast) fill the 4hr category or is it a little more balanced for the rest of us "average Joes" who ride Meridas, Set2Rise and such like?
It's like any other competitive Enduro, some incredibly fast riders at the front, Scott Forbes has won both 2hr races (Masters National Champion), Tim Dunford won the first 4hr, Ben Thomas the second (both Elite XC racers), but the times quickly tail off.
You won't get on the podium, but you won't be last.
Look on Timelaps at the times for the previous events, both cats will have an equally wide spread.
That is a bit of a tough one to answer. The course is quite hilly so it will be hard work. You are out for a relatively fixed amount of time so can go as fast or slow as you like. If you tend to hang at the back of gorrick races this won't be much different.
The chaps / chapesses who win these do tend to feature in the top tens of the gorricks as well.
The faster guys will be doing about 35 to 40 minute laps of the 7 mile ish course, the slower people may be taking upto about an hour on the last lap.
The event should be quite good fun and does deliver good value compared to the Gorricks.
HTH
Whilst I've doing some training, and I'm on track for my 24hr event in May, I'm no whippet.
I'm doing 2.5hr rides 3 times a week, increasing the time-on-bike every 3 weeks so I'm AOK with a quick pace over 2hrs, but would not be yet ready for a 4hr[i] fast[/i] ride at say the Master's pace.
I know it sounds like I'm answering my own question here, but wondered about the likely pace over the 4hr event, as what I don't want to do is enter the wrong category and make something of a dogs-dinner out of it!
Well looking at round 2, Scott Forbes times ranged from 22:34 to 25:22 for his 5th lap. Only the top 19 even did 5 laps, the slowest of them was between 27:39 and 35:34.
The last placed person to do 4 laps was as slow as 48 minutes for one lap, ie half the pace of the winner, there are plenty of people who did fewer than him too!
In the 4 hour race Ben Thomas lapped the whole field and was the only one to do 10 laps!
You'll be fine.
If you're training for a 24 hour race I'd recommend doing some longer rides at a slower pace - so a 4 hour race would be a good place to start. It doesn't really matter if you're well down the field, you'll be getting some good training miles in and will have the incentive of racing other people to stop you quitting.
It's a 4 hour ride, as I said, you won't win, but you won't be last. Does it really matter?
It's like a harder Gorrick 🙂
Not as such, but knowing how much I suffer at the 3-lap Gorricks, I did not want to be out of my depth at this point in my training.
As you say, the longer, slower rides over many hours is what I am training for, but most of my rides are 2.5-3hr hacks locally. So I can be quicker over 2hrs but feel, as you rightly pointed out, the 4hr is more what I should be attempting - but right now, seeing as we're in late January & having not actually ridden for 4hrs non-stop since September 2009, I thought I'd best post here and find out what's likely to be the best option for me on Sunday!
Thanks for the comments.
I'm gonna go 4 hrs and haven't been training at all, so you'll beat me 🙂
You won't win any of the categories, and you won't come last in any of them. I can absolutely guarantee the former, and assuming you finish, the latter as well.
Go, treat it as a hard 4 hour ride. If you can't manage that, do 2 hours.
Dez, I'll hopefully be there (Not riding) taking some pics, might see you around? 🙂
I have entered them all in the 4hour format.
70th in the 1st event, only managed to ride for 3 hours!
50th in the 2nd event which I almost got tempted into doing an extra lap on.
If I can manage to squeeze into the top 35 on Sunday I will be very pleased with my progress. They have been great winter training especially as I have been able to ride to the start of the 1st two.... I only live a few miles away.
If I were you I would enter the 4hour and then try and ride at a slow enough pace that you can manage to do all 4 hours. Just by keeping going for the full duration you will end up in the top 2/3rds of your category.
I assume you can't manage the full 4 hours Nick? 😉
I'm really looking to do a few triathlons this year, where the bike leg is unlikely to be much over an hour, even XC races are likely to only be 2 hours. I can't be bothered to do 4 hour races, I get bored!
To be honest, even the 2 hour may be a stretch, I've not been mountain biking in months, and I've not got a complete bike to do it on yet, still need some chainrings!
4hrs it is then.
Not a fast ride, just a good pace and last the distance.
Here's to coming last-but-one!
Just try not to let Ben lap you!
Ben is going to lap us all, again!
Give him a shove on the way past!
He killed his pads at round one and pulled out, may happen again!
I'll be sure to lock his bike to a tree. That should save everyone's embarrassment of being lapped at least once!
I'll start at the back and see if I can't make up one place per hour!
Say "Hi". Mines the Ti On-one & I wear a small 2ltr blue Camelbak on my back. Oh, and a pained expression! 😥
All booked in.
Good luck Ti29er, I'll see you near the back as well... at least for the first few laps.
Don't be such a fanny!
(wonders what a fanny does)
A fanny worries about where he'll come in races cos I dunno.. the girls will giggle at him if he doesn't make a certain percentage or something.
Get on bike, pedal, get better. Just get on with it 🙂
Not fussed about coming last - least of my worries.
If you'd have read my original inquiry you'll have appreciated that.
😉
See you on the start line perhaps.
I must say Tim it did come across that you are rather worried about it!
Not worried.
Wanted to be sure I was in the right category.
I have no issue bringing up the rear, but that rather suggests I'm in the wrong event or the wrong category.
The last Gorrick I rode most of he last 50% of the race on my own. It was less than inspiring, no one to interact with and no one to overtake. It takes the wind out of your sails and since there's no one to hunt down, it becomes a painful Sunday ride that you've paid good money to do.
It made more sense then, 2 years on, to inquire further, as clearly it seems to be a somewhat different format. I just wanted to avoid being in the wrong race for all the wrong reasons and thinking, for 4 long hours, how I'd wasted £19 and resolving not to bothering again with another Gorrick ride.
Anyhow, I'm booked in, so if, after 2hrs I'm clearly wasting my time, I can always make my way home (with my tail between my legs)!
It takes the wind out of your sails and since there's no one to hunt down, it becomes a painful Sunday ride that you've paid good money to do.
Yeah.. does, doesn't it? 🙂 There'll always be people to chase down tho even those not in your category.. that's what gets you better at racing. If you never race you'll not get better at it 🙂
What happens when the kiddies pass me - again and again?
Am I allowed to stick out a limb and trip them up? 😯
As you say, there'll be people out there to hunt down. Then I'll be out on my own at the end. Sigh - everyone leaves me eventually!
😉
Someone's got to come last, it doesn't mean that they're in the wrong category! More the case when you get juniors from the ODP riding Sport at Gorricks and winning by 10 minutes!
The back 50% of the field's a perfectly respectable place to be in any race!
To qualify my comment: if you are 30 minutes off the back of a race, one that's not very long, then, yes, you're in the wrong category!
(mechanicals and punctures notwithstanding)
But off the back of who? The leader?
That's a totally irrelevant qualification in an event where anyone can do any category, and there are no performance levels associated with anything.
You will probably be 30 minutes off the winners time on Sunday. You still won't be last.
If you're 30 minutes behind the person infront, and you're last, then you probably are in the wrong category!
30 minutes off the back of the race, as you say, 30 mins off the 2nd to last person home = probably the wrong category! Like I said, it was a fairly lonely event for me.
Not sure quite how this one works, other than it's a 4hr race, so we complete as many laps as we can in 4hrs. A mini Mayhem. ish. Meaning I won't be too late finishing!