Wasn’t there fisticuffs 2 years ago?
In 2019 I turned a corner to find 2 clowns squaring up to each other in middle of the trail.
the final decsent is there- but instead of coming through the bottom field then climbing out from the camping site - it just cuts through to the red trail oand starts to head back towards go-ape.
They have also added some loops near the top buzzard nest car park
TPBiker, where exactly was that on the course?
In my wisdom it was a good idea to enter it solo. First time doing it so not sure what to expect. I just plan on turning the pedals until I get bored or until I’m done. Only an hours drive away so don’t have to get up too early which is a bonus.
Yeah, people think solo is for heroes and for some it is but for me it just means I can worry about my own riding, not think about transitions or when I'll get to ride and when I won't, no pressure of letting other people down... I fell into it by accident, when a teammate dropped out after 2 laps and I just went, hmm, guess I'm a solo now...
Fun to be in a team again mind but I really like it as a solo.
Shit the bed, I just looked at the weather forecast and it said pissing rain in the morning, 30 degrees by mid afternoon. Apparently there's a Peebles in Wisconsin
Apparently there’s a Peebles in Wisconsin
Yep, sometimes I forget that too.
Get a bit of excitement that I can get outside.
Well that was cracking. Despite my grumbles about the setup I think being based at Buzzards worked really well. I actually think it made for a better balanced course than being something of a big climb and big descent before. I missed the fun of the last grassy slalom but I don't actually think it's worth it for the horrible grassy slog back up, and the skills loop addition instead was actually pretty fun. Oh and being able to have everyone with pit space was great.
I felt for you all whilst out running in the pissing rain.
I say "felt" more laughed internally.
Any punch ups?
Yeah, I thought it worked out great. I am honestly amazed at how well the box thing worked. I think Neil might be too 🙂 Still would have been more of a thing had the weather been worse but there were a lot of advantages to it, the pits are so much better. I did find it physically tougher than previous years, not sure why- seemed to just expend a lot more energy. First lap was a lot more queue-y for me than a normal year but that's purely because of the waves, not the new layout.
We accidentally took 3rd in mixed trios. Yes I know it's about the least competitive class, I don't care, I has a plank!
Out of interest northwind...
How many mixed trios were there...
Well done!
I really liked the altered course, the grassy climb is horrible and liked the detour via the skills loop better than going up the red skills path.
I quite enjoyed the first lap too even if in hindsight I burnt too many matches trying to move up through the field.
Best gt7 I've done so far . Agree with everyone who preferred the course to the previous one , I did not miss that grass climb at all . Also it was just really nice to be at an event with people and it feeling right .
joshvegas
Free MemberHow many mixed trios were there…
6 or 7 I think?
5 Mixed Trios participated.
As somebody who spent most of the day around the pits area, it was noticeably more relaxed than the chaos that usually occurs. I suspect that was more to do with the pits being far more spread out, and not having an endless stream of riders crowding in to a pretty contained transition area.
Yep, have to agree with everyone else.. pits were a huge improvement, transitions were a much chiller affair, so much so that I had my teammate roll up while I was still sat enjoying a sarnie.!
Also thought the course changes worked really well.. the little extra wiggle in the skills loop was great fun, I found it really got you into the right mindset for the lap.. and less climbing before hitting the Tunnel meant there seemed to be fewer people dropping into it breathing out their ears and hanging onto the brakes the whole way down, I also found myself enjoying the Cardie Hill descent much more as, with it being halfway into the lap you've still got enough energy to do more than just hang on.. seemed like a lot fewer people mincing down.. got held up on a couple of laps but nothing too aggravating. even the climbing back didn't seem so bad.
Being setup at the very end of the pit meant having to ride all the way through the pits and round the cruel little extra loop around the jump park was a bit of a shock to the system the first lap out. And there was a lot of confused riders coming into the transition very confused about where to go and who switches rides before dibbing and who does it after dibbing.. but, overall, tiny little teething issues and I hope they keep the format in the future, definitely a big improvement.
#EDIT : Does anyone know if the 2 big crashes at the bombhole are ok.? First one looked pretty serious as I went past with EMT's and a lot of medical gear spread out...
I agree the box thing work amazingly well.
I felt the course was harder. Not sure why but my back felt I more than before. Some sections were just bumpy on a hardtail.
And although it was not sunny, it did not rain to much.
Glad I was solo though and not fighting off midges for hours.
Photos are slowly been processed
https://www.rootsandrain.com/event8635/2021-jun-19-tweedlove-pirelli-glentress-7-glentress/photos/
The climb up and wee traverse into the freeride was horrible, especially on the first lap if you were in the back half of the pits so were about to change over... I'd killed myself on the cardie climb thinking it was the end. And no real tradeoff, if they keep the same general shape of lap I hope they find a way to take us to the top and then down through the freeride like in the earlier years. Even if it means just grinding up the push-up path, it'd end the lap with a bang, I definitely ended all of mine with a whimper. (and if they brought us round the edge of the pits through the woods, much like in the last few years, it'd stop that "pits split in half" thing).
The dibber station needed signage really or a marshall whose whole job was saying "dibbers ready" just before it for the first couple of laps. It's too easy for the marshalls at the posts to get caught up, that happened to me on first lap- I rode straight through because they were both helping another rider and there was so much else going on in the area that the dibber stations just weren't really visible... And if I can miss them then anyone can I reckon.
Little things though, and both things they haven't had to worry about with the old format. I reckon that's about all I can grumble about and that's a pretty high compliment! The staggered start wasn't good, but if that's what's needed to run the race then it's worth it. The end time change definitely caused some grumbles though, didn't affect us.
(I, uh, may have stupidly suggested we recommission the dog section descent from way way back, it can link back into the blue return and then to zoom or bust or the essentials. But I'd forgotten how horrendous the climb back out is)
Having 2 whole years between races and not having any trailfairy time in the runup definitely affected the actual trails. Not in a bad way, just different. The skills area loop was a nice bit of variety. Probably being a little later in the year made things a little more overgrown too, like the long grass in the horse trail where it's usually effortless to overtake.
The end time change passed me off.
I may have vented to the poor lady on the finish. I may have been slightly broken
Been solo I had no idea it was no longer 5.20 as their info had said.
And they let me out on another lap without telling me.
Never mind.. It would have no difference to my position anyway.
And I'm pleased for doing the 9 (8 recorded) laps.
I thought that was ace - the crate-shuttle worked way better than anyone probably expected, and the atmosphere was great. Weather was kind in the end.
The pits being up the hill balanced the lap out much more IMO and meant you didn't have people staking everything on the final descent. Felt like once you were onto the Cardie hill climb you could gas it all the way up to the pits, for me that's a much better way to end the lap than descending down through the field. A climb as a reward, it's the way forward.
Did it as a pair with Tyred jr, expected him to put in faster laps than me but he didn't. 🙂 Life in the old dog yet. Just outside the top 10, no pocket money for him this week.
I'd be pretty pissed off if I'd been caught by the end time change. Not entirely sure why it's not just set in stone? But the comms need fixing- tannoy announcements don't cut it, it's totally possible for a solo rider to just never be in the right place to hear it, even if they're listening out for it, which you're probably not. And the start/finish line marshalls can't really communicate it- takes too long, too many people, too much chance of delay or confusion, and they've got too much else to do.
Probably just needs a massive sign tbh. Scoreboard style numbers or a big whiteboard/chalkboard, "LAST LAP STARTS X, RACE ENDS Y". Somewhere that you see it every lap and know where to look.
(likewise the actual finish line/dibber station- just needs an unmissably big set of GET READY TO DIB and DIB HERE signs)
The last lap cut off is so weird, it's like it's a short track xc where lap number is decided once the race has started but it's not at all. As said it's possible for a solo rider to have no idea especially this year of no support, pretty mean.
I don't know why they don't say 5:20/5:30 or even just say 5pm. No Fuss races and the like where 10 hours and you had to be back before the 11th hour or something similar, simple and fixed from the start.
I would be so upset to get round in the previous allotted time to be told it didn't count solo or otherwise.
But otherwise a great event.
I too thought the new pits layout worked better. Later in the race, that previous grass climb out of the old pits killed you off before you'd even really started the lap.
The last part of the downhill at the far end of the lap before Go-Ape is a bit blown out now though; solo on a hardtail isn't fun down there after a few hours. Overall the organisers did a fantastic job considering everything they were up against, and I bet we'll never know the half of all the hoops they had to jump through.
Finished 10th in over-50 solo and was happy with that. Just the ride up to the start line is steeper and longer than anything I usually ride down in Suffolk haha. Had a too-long pit break 4 hours in, followed by a mechanical on the next lap that cost me time. Would've got another lap in if they'd kept to the 5.20 finish time but luckily I'd heard about the change to 5 and saved myself a wasted lap.
Had the usual experience of G7 - halfway through, the thoughts of "never again" start creeping in, then after a bath and food later I start thinking how good it was and what I'll do different next time! 🙂
Just looking at the timing, I'm quite happy that we were nowhere near getting 2nd in our class and about a million miles from getting 1st 🙂 No regrets, no "aargh if only we'd..."
In the end, the race was 7 hours, which is kind of what you'd expect from a 7 hour race, if it weren't for the fact that the previous years were longer and the notes said 7:20TBC. (I have results saved from a 2011 and 2015 for some reason and they both ran to 7:30)
So... yeah, anyone know why? There's got to be a reason for it but I haven't a clue what it could be... it seems just more sensible to say 7 hours is 7 hours. The "final lap cutoff" is mostly to stop there being loads of doomed people setting out... But that doesn't require a moving end time, if either is to move it seems more sensible to tweak the last lap start time.
Other timed races, eg the 'puffer, its first across the line after the clock stop. Even the kids races on Sunday were like that.
It doesn't really matter though, as long as it doesn't change mid-race.
