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Had the pleasure of making @IdleJon and @ferrals acquaintances over the years although I no longer bring a flask of chowder to races for apres threshold consumption (eh Jon 😉 )
@shedbrewed - Pretty sure @IdleJon mentioned chowder when I first met you so it obviously made an impression! Welsh league races starting to show up now. Looks like I can only make a couple but looking forward to dragging myself round a race-course for the first time in 18months.
Fun wee session on the football pitches tonight, lots of slippy off cambers and I even got some tunes from the Friday evening Fitba kids on the astroturf.
Slid out quite violently on one embankment and the bike went down driveside, cue bent hanger AGAIN. I don't know if Kinesis just make tgeir hangers from cheese or if it's the super long cage GRX mech.
Could I just fit a short cage 105 mech, smaller cassette and run a wee chain keeper on my narrow wide ring? Added bonus of getting the jockey wheels out of the way of the clart a wee bit...
Marshalling the trophy yesterday was good seeing the top riders in action - very fast course at Milnthorpe. You often don't get a sense of the huge efforts being laid down in cross when it's slow through the mud, but it was like watching a crit where I was standing yesterday.
Nathan Smith (JM) and Amira Mellor (SW) both rode the field of their wheel in their respective races, really dominant displays. Senior mens race looked like a photo-finish - Joseph Blackmore got it (I think) over Toby Barnes with the two of them being out in front all race.
Well I'm actually going to race this weekend in the NWCCA, no self inflicted injuries, no kids parties just hopefully something a lot drier than the last time there was a 'cross running race at Townley Park.
But anyhow, Vittoria Wets have been installed and I've used a nano-ceramic coating cloth to give the bike a super slick finish so less crap will hopefully stick to it.
It's then the first round of the North Welsh the week after, yey!
All 3 of the kids will be racing both too, with the middle and eldest looking for more top league points.
Townley Park in the NWCCA was actually pretty good fun, you could ride it all and there were no swamps, totally different to last time we were there for the North of England Champs!
Son No.1 took the win in the U10 and was 3rd overall in the U12 too, with some pro cornering skills in action!
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Son No.2 took the win in the U8 as well.
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Son No.3 was 13th out of 18 in the U8 too, pretty good considering he only turned 5 at the end of August and is still on a 16" wheeled single speed.
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I did OK in my first CX race for absolutely ages, 14th V40 and 36th overall
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Well raced Steve and family. I was marshalling at top of the rooty climb - saw some good battles.
The course looked great on the day. Memory of the N of E champs loomed large, had forgotten that the year before it had raced pretty well.
Well raced Steve and family. I was marshalling at top of the rooty climb – saw some good battles.
So that was you, Hi!! There were a lot of people who raced the NoE and not especially local who marshalled yesterday, scared for life probably!!
Well raced Steve and family. I was marshalling at top of the rooty climb – saw some good battles.
@garry_lager Sorry I didn't realise it was you either, everyone is so different without a lid on, and when you've got your head down trying to keep up with the tiny bloke in front! Thanks for the encouragement. I think Paul hustled me for a few laps then dropped me for 10 seconds on the last lap! Chuffed with the position and the course was in better condition than previous years. A rgeat mix of everything. Thanks for marshalling 🙂
I’ve used a nano-ceramic coating cloth to give the bike a super slick finish so less crap will hopefully stick to it
How did that work out for you? I'm not bothering with a pit bike this year (not enoguh time to clean and maintain 1 bike, let alone 2!) so anything to minimise cloggage has got to be worth a go!
The conditions for Townley Park finally showed what a fantastic course it is, and was 100% rideable.
Sorry I didn’t realise it was you either, everyone is so different without a lid on, and when you’ve got your head down trying to keep up with the tiny bloke in front!
One of my buddies came to watch last time I raced in Dunfermline. I didn't see him even when I went through the tapes, over his foot and back onto the course, proper blinkers on! 🙄
@benjim - I think Pauls had to up his game just to keep up with Alice 🙂
We didn't enter Townley - combination of sniffles and ptsd from previous visits....
ferrals
How did that work out for you? I’m not bothering with a pit bike this year (not enoguh time to clean and maintain 1 bike, let alone 2!) so anything to minimise cloggage has got to be worth a go!
Well it helps that my new bike (Vitus Energie Evo) has epic levels of clearance, you can easily fit 650x47mm or 700x43mm tyres in there still with clearance, but even with the all the sticky mud & grass it didn't clog at all, the true pleasure was in cleaning it afterwards, just hosed it down, sprayed on some cleaner and gave it a bit of slight sponge action and it was all shiny again and still feels like glass.
I guess it'll work better when it's actually wet and not so tacky. One slight school boy error I made was to not degrease the drivetrain of the factory chain lube 0r whatever they come with, so the jockey wheels clogged a bit, all sorted now with a full degrease and wax lube applied.
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First round of the North Wales league tomorrow... excited and nervous in equal measures ... missed last season so first race in over 50s... First proper cross outing for bike too... can't wait!
How did you go @whytetrash? Great course there today - very mtb-style singletrack through the trees then open field. Mega dry compared to when I last raced there, bike was pretty spotless by the end. Was fretting over an iffy tubeless rear tyre that deflated overnight, but just whacked 30psi in and it was basically fine.
I had a good race with @steve_b77 - round together for most of it, nice to say Hello.
Also got passed by an older guy quite deep into the race, like 45 mins - you don't expect to get dropped there by a guy on your lap, but he distanced me easy. Must have taken him 30 mins to get warmed up.
@Garry_Lager got on great thanks, only downside was my blood sugars were useless as stressing too much! I've got a new vitus too and it's safe to say the mud clearances weren't tested yesterday! Funnily enough my back tyre pressure wasn't holding either but got around ok and pleased with beating a few people I'm usually in the mix with 😉 looking forward to Erias Park... hopefully the dry conditions continue 🙏
Also got passed by an older guy quite deep into the race, like 45 mins – you don’t expect to get dropped there by a guy on your lap, but he distanced me easy. Must have taken him 30 mins to get warmed up.
This sounds like my typical race - good start, blow up, recover, finish strong(ish). Just don't have the nerve to warm up as hard as I should I guess!
First race in 3 years next weekend, Fife College. Probably one of my best races last time I did it but it's gained a reputation for being a bit of a muddy running-fest since then...
Morning All
Just checking in as I am booked in for my first cross race on 6th November in Stadt Moers park (NWCCA).
Been doing a few Vo2 max efforts on the turbo in preparation but after buying a 2nd hand Giant TCX for £500 and taking it out round some trails last weekend I sense that Traineroad will not have prepared me for actually slogging through the mud in real-life for 50mins?!
Hoping to practice some dismounts/mounts next weekend but other than that think I'll just have to show up and see what happens.
Do you guys take on water when racing or just forego it for 50mins?
Once it's below 20 degrees I always managed without a drink. Only ever raced at Stadt Moers once but I don't recall anywhere I'd have really wanted to take my hand off the bars to reach for a bottle in any case!
Showing up and seeing what happens is indeed the best way for your first race. No to the water and take any cages off the bike.
Hard to say how Stadt will be, it used a different area of the park last time and it was very heavy (including a punishing run through a wooded section that had gotten too muddy to ride), but maybe if it's dry it will go fast. If it's raining that week though I'd expect a hard lap.
Cheers both- I'll pray for dry weather in that case!
I'm a decent runner but have neglected this for a while probably to the point of it now being counter-intuitive so will try and get a few short runs in soon.
Looking forward to it....in a way.
Duggan
Free Member
Morning AllJust checking in as I am booked in for my first cross race on 6th November in Stadt Moers park (NWCCA).
Yeah Stadt Moers is great for a run on the flat through mud and dog shit 😀
It was a bloody good race at Alyn Park yesterday in the NWCA, first time the family and I have raced over that side of the border, I agree with Gary's comments, it was certainly a fast almost Mid-Week Madness kind of course, I loved it, as did my boys.
I put the little one in the fun race as there's no point putting him in the 30min U12/U10/U8 combined race as he's only (just) 5, he had a good time and a hot chocolate, so that's all the matters.
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The eldest and middle ones went in the combined race in U10 and U8 respectively, it was their longest CX race ever with the NWCCA being around 15mins max for those age groups.
The eldest absolutely smashed it, just missing out on the overall win (about 10 seconds) to a very strong & much bigger U12 girl (who he beat last weekend in the NWCCA on a much twistier course) she nailed him on the two long straights but he closed the gaps on the techy off camber hairpins and so it went on for 30mins, but he was 1st boy home out of all the categories by over half a lap in the end over the next rider, so he beat all the U12's and 10's as well as the 8's.
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The middle one found it really tough with the length of the race and tech features and had a bit of a OTB and slide down the banking at one point, but he got back on and finished well, don't know where he came as I couldn't figure it out, but the results will be up soon, although he got he chequered flag, so you never know.
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I had what felt like a good race in the over 18 to infinity category with really consistent lap times and as Gary said above we had a decent battle, but he got the better of me in the end. Yeah that older guy breezed past with consomethinge ease, one seriously quick chap, called Jan or something like.
So onwards to the pending double header of the NWCCA at Stadt Moers on the 6th and NWCA at Colwyn Bay on the 7th November.
Sorry, one more question from me!
I mainly ride road these days and have set the saddle height on my CX bike to the same height as I have on my road bike- but wondering if it’s beneficial to drop the saddle just a touch on the CX bike for mounting/dismounting etc?
Or do you guys just run the saddle at the standard height?
after several bone-hard courses so far this season, we've hit 'cross weather in Wessex.
Apparently our course has been shortened today as the guide lap time (before it cuts up) was 16 minutes.
They've also had to send out an email regarding (possibly not) parking on the field
Man, I HATE running
Duggan - I have my saddle a bit lower. Not actually measured it but prob a couple of cm.
Mostly so I can get room for a good cross-up over the scaffold bridges, obvz
but wondering if it’s beneficial to drop the saddle just a touch on the CX bike for mounting/dismounting etc?
Worth checking the stack height of your pedals, if you're running SPDs or similar on your CX bike and road pedals on your road bike then your saddle should probably be 5-7mm lower on the CX bike anyway!
Thanks all, lowered my saddle today and practised some mounts/dismounts in the rain on the local fields. Still rubbish but at least I won’t be totally doing it for the first time in the actual race.
Fell off when the bike disappeared from under me after taking the mud bite tyres onto slimy wet cobbles on the way home 🤦♂️
Koppenbergcross was good yesterday - only caught the men's race, wasn't all that dynamic, but conditions very proper. Tv pictures couldn't do justice to the Koppenberg - six times up it in the rain made for a savage parcours, riders in pieces at the finish.
Anyone catch a beaming young Cameron Mason coming in 9th at the weekend? Linlithgow's finest!
Shouldn't be a surprise, I've yet to find anywhere near as a good a selection of twisting muddy singletrack as I did between Kirkliston and Lithgae, an excellent training ground.
only caught the men’s race
Watch the women's race! It was great.
Women races have been fantastic- just watching Oversidge now
Hopefully will have my first cx race in 18 months tomorrow!
@ferrals I thought I saw you on the sheet at the weekend? You riding Builth this weekend? It was quite wet at Tredegar park. These were some of the drier parts.
@shedbrewed - I was feeling pretty under-the-weather last week but entered on the offchance I would be feeling better since there aren't loads of races, but i was pretty lacking in energy on Sunday so decided racing a muddy cross in torrential rain would probably just make me feel ill again. Will probably race Builth - though all those hills and my current fitness will be a bad combination!
@shedbrewed Were there many racing?
I probably won't be able to do anything until Pembrey, which probably means I'll do just one race. I didn't race any of the season before Covid because I was working away a lot, and since then I've lost a bit of weight, so was looking forward to floating over the mud for the first time in a few years! 😀
Did anyone do the NWCCA race at Stad Moers on Saturday? Went over there and did my first CX race, pretty enjoyable!
Mainly I just wanted to get round without stacking it or pi**ing anybody off which I think I largely achieved. Started at the very back and hung there, then after getting used to riding in the mud picked off a couple of people but finished quite far back. Was pretty nervy but think I'll feel less anxious next time now the first one is out the way.
Not ridden off road for years so took a while to get used to sliding around in the mud. Keen to do a few more I think.
The amount of cleaning required afterwards was something else though- think I probably need to invest in a portable pressure washer?
Yep a few of us on here are NWCCA riders. Had a reasonable race, came in 13th and had a great sprint finish, just didn't quite get back on in time after the hurdles. No broken bike parts, which is always a bonus! That wasn't as bad as the last time we did Stadt Moers!
Nice to see @ferrals again on Sunday up at Builth Wells. It was a very climby course and the cold that’s still hanging around meant I wasn’t relishing the climbs st all.
https://flic.kr/p/2mHmKKd
Quick off the start and by the time the bunch had got to the second climb 4 riders had gone off the front. It wasn’t until the second lap that I managed to gap those behind bar one. He passed me at the top and I couldn’t get back on to him. I ended up 6th v40. Pleased with that but not a huge field (but more than 6!)
https://flic.kr/p/2mHdkDM
There were some slippery off camber traverses, some ruts and slightly technical descents but all in it was a fun course.
Good to see you to @shedbrewed. You were going well by the looks of things.
Really enjoyed racing again after 18 months. I thought the course was really fun though the climbs were brutal. I ended up exactly mid-field after zero training and minimal bike riding of any kind so I was really pleased with that. Felt like i remembered a tiny bit of the technical skills but by the time i started to get in tune with the bike, my body was failing 🙂
Can't wait for the next round - got two week to build some fitness!
Did anyone do the NWCCA race at Stad Moers on Saturday? Went over there and did my first CX race, pretty enjoyable!
Yup my 3 boys and I did our various races, I actually rather enjoyed it despite the fact it was like 'cross on ice at times as the mud seemed to get really slippy, managed to come away with 25th too which is my best result for a long time.
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My youngest (5yrs old) was 15th from 23 starters in the U8, going to try him on the next size up Frog bike this week as his little 16" wheeled one is looking a tad small.
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Middle boy was 3rd in the U8 race, despite a couple of crashes on the tight corners.
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The eldest was also 3rd, this time in the U10, he kind of lost his head a bit and just switched off for some reason, but that's kids for ya!
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Didn't race the planned North Wales round on the Sunday as the eldest spannered himself while messing about in the woods while I was racing and felt a bit worse for wear so we took the day off racing.
Sorry to miss you NW boys - we were stuck at home doing the never ending packing ready for a house move.
Photos look to be the cleanest and warmest Stadt Moers in a long time. The grass:soil ratio is definitely inverted.
Some good photos of a guy in Horwich kit having a lie down in vet40 - anyone know who he is? 🙂
I didn't ride the weekend but plenty did - 93 starters in vet50 and one point on the course where only really one bike could get through at a time!! My mate reckons you could've made a fortune selling cream teas to the mid-pack 🤣
Thought Stadt Moers was excellent on Sat - great course, reasonably similar to last time but with a merciful re-route that skipped a tough running section.
The Geoff Bewley used to be at Otterspool - only raced there a few times when I started the NW league, a great venue imho. Anyone know why it dropped off the calendar? Courses there were a lot of fun but a bit towards the non-UCI end of things. Absolutely massive (in cross terms) run-up on one of them.
Was it no to do with the council wanting to charge for using Otterspool?
@mick_r I'm pretty sure Ellen's wonderfully captured moment of an upside down Horwich rider is @twinklydave, again.
@BenjiM Fame at last 🤦
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51659520056_405fd829d6.jpg [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2mGYxwh ]DSC_4800.jpg" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51659520056_405fd829d6.jpg [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2mGYxwh ]DSC_4800.jpg"/> [/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/100713057@N05/ ]Ellen Isherwood[/url], on Flickr