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What's it like? Hilly? Gorricky?
I'd never heard of it before, but a quick search and I've came up with this video:
I think it looks quite good!
I'm no racer, but it's only a 30 minute road-ride away from me, so I might email the estate and see if they've any plans for allowing people to ride on it with a permit scheme/ whatever.
It does look good! Provided it stays dry....
It needs bedding in, by the end of the Southern XC there it was getting better, but seeing as you're not allowed to ride it away from racing I can't see it'll have improved much. There were a few little ditches/boggy bits to catch you out, I suspect they'll have addressed them by the NPS. If it rains it'll be hellish, it was boggy in the wet bits.
Had a good tarmac start to sort people out, then tonnes of singletrack. I thought it lacked flow, but was still a good course, some small grunty climbs rather than anything sustained. I worry about over taking too, there's not too many places.
Edit: and that's me in the video at 0:39 negotiating one of the ditches!
Does a tarmac start sort people out? At Margam it just results in a 30mph pile up waiting to happen. My best ever result was at Ringwood where there was a wide grassy start that went round in loops and through a series of downs and steep ups.. I blasted past loads of people there and even backed off a bit because I felt I didn't deserve to be at the front. Stupid that was...
Some serious mincing going on in that vid tho - come on, put your backs into it! 🙂
NJee - what category you racing in?
Expert.
molgrips - the tarmac start changes to fireroad slight climb so everyone is well strung out by the time the singletrack starts - the start is so fast my legs were screwed from the start and I never actually recovered.
Try watching the Elite race if you want to see fast [url=
Elite Race[/url]
If there's any bog left after the recent drought I'll be amazed - even the slippy climb might make it in!
Yes it was extremely fast, much more uphill than Margam, although I still think that does a reasonably good job of stringing people out. There were a few gravelly corners which may need sweeping, there was some sliding going on in our start!
I'll be in Open I think. See you there 🙂