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I'm in 4 hours vets as usual. More hills than previous round? I like hills
I rode there last weekend and there was barely a puddle.
It hasn't really rained since.
You'll be fine on Ralphs, possibly even Burts.
GB
burts 😆 surely there is corners?
Nah, bottles on the floor for me!
Ditto
More hills, and less muddy slop, that's got to be a good thing. Better prepare to batter myself on my singlespeed. Running Nic on the front, Ron on the back, some would say I'm over rubbered but I feel confident with the front end on that combo.
Looking forward to it! Think I'm all prepped. I'm going bog-standard on the hydration again and just running my 750ml bottle. At least none of the keenos could ride the course today 😀 (not that it will make them slower 🙁 )
What a fantastic course!
One of the best that I can remember. I wish they would have left that tricky short downhill as it was. After second lap a new line was opened on the right.
My bike failed again. Rear hub didn't engage under power from the very beginning. Got worse and worse until I couldn't pedal at all. Ended up pushing bike for nearly full lap. A pity because I felt good throughout the race. I was 6th after 4th lap despite all problems but finished in the middle with 5 laps.
Could have done 6
Great race today.. results up on Timelaps.
Really enjoyed that, great track, paced it really well for 4 laps in the 4hr. Problem was I was way before the cut off, so had to go out for a 5th. Cramp in the first 10mins of the lap and spent the next 50 in lots of pain. Still good tolerance training!
Finshed 26/43. Surprised the field was so small. Smaller than round 1's.
What a brilliant race. The course was amazing - really flowy and suprisingly dry given the swamp that was the N Downs yesterday. It really goes to show how hard the Gorrick team (and Pants!) work on the trails, blowing all the slippy covering off the entire lap. I decided I had something to prove after my mincing and misery at R1, so attacked from the gun and didn't wind it in until the final two laps. I was nervous about having to do 7 so kept it in check on the hills for the final two. Won by 11 minutes in the end which was good.
Happy christmas to all and see you at R3.
GB
Course was brilliant! I chucked my chain into my spokes on lap 1 and then despite being 30 mins before cut off, bailed after 4 laps. I could have done a fifth but heard I was 27th on the tannoy and knew I wasn't going to beat last times position. I only lost 1 place anyway.
Highlight for me was Gee passing two of us early on his fifth lap down that first tricky descent with the loudest shout of "OOOOONNNNNNN THE RIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!" I have ever heard, as he came by at about 35mph before drifting it round the tree at the bottom with some proper sideways action! Class.
What a great race, so happy it was dry, I was crap in the mud! happy with 4th in 4hr. Mild grumble about the number of gel wrappers left on the course! it's pathetic! how hard is it to eat, then stuff it in your Jersey pocket! Unless you're smashing laps out In 35mins, u can spare 5seconds to stash a gel wrapper!! Jepodises the races for next year!
Chris N
Great course, great weather, great fun. Really good event, as always!
Top ride GB, I lasted on your wheel for about a minute before nearly ploughing into a tree!
Great course and lovely conditions compared to round 1. I only managed 1lap, lesson learnt about doing my long run the day before a Gorrick event 🙂
Yeah I thought the course was great. Also amazingly dry! And interesting enough for the four hours to fly by.
Fairly brutal though with lots of short ups. Legs were certainly feeling the burn after two laps racing Scott for second place. Had to ease off to avoid dying horribly. Still was good to finish on the podium.
Hopefully more of the same at round 3!
Got dreadful cramp and hit a tree, excellent fun overall. Lack of training recently was very noticeable but happy enough.
@akira Was it you who asked if I had any tips for cramp when I asked if you were ok?
Crosshair - that big sideways action was a complete accident - sooo happy I saved it as that would have been a fairly big accident.
That's my 'don't even think of getting in the way I'm not slowing down' shout. Mostly they aren't that loud! It's more for the avoidance of doubt... At those speeds you don't want someone wandering into your line. Gets rolled out a Mayhem a bit too, usually on a last lap gunning for a win!
Chris - even those lapping quickly have time to put wrappers in their pockets... It's usually those mid-pack who *think* they're too fast who don't IME. I have been known to see someone dropping a wrapper, stop to pick it up and return it to them...
GB
Indeed! It was certainly appropriate 😀 Can you look at your GPX and see how fast you were going (down there) on lap 5?? It was an epic save in that case 😀
Brilliant course and some great racing. Really went out hard and pretty much stayed on it for 4 laps and 8th in the grand vets. Met some really nice people.
I appear to have 2 flat tyres, seems tubeless did its thing during the race. Reminds me, I saw some poor chap whose car had a flat front drinving in before the race. Thought he's punctured already and not even started yet!
@crosshair, no I just stretched while swearing and it went quickly enough.
Fast guys all very nice when passing, although do wish I hadn't been passed quite so much 😉
Plenty out today, as above great course, it was a brutal four hours on a singlespeed, but very enjoyable and pleased with my 17th in the vets. It's always impressive to see the top lads screaming past, leaves you wondering how they do it.
Kevin Sheldrake photos [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinsheldrake/sets/72157647436185453/ ]here[/url]..
Sorry I didn't have my GPX on - forgot it.
I ride that trail quite a lot and it's usually 20-25mph or so looking back at other rides.
GB
Gee- I'd say it was erring on the 25mph plus side lol! Anyway, great ride mate- impressive stuff!
Akira- Ah ok, it was an Irish lad I spoke to who had cramp up one of those steep hills.
On the gel wrappers. Come on guys, you should know better. Don't litter FFS!
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It's even more ridiculous seeing as the organisers had put rubbish bins at the end of the two best feed-straights so there really was no excuse.
I dropped a full one. Don't you think the majority of these have fallen out of pockets?
I dropped a full one. Don't you think the majority of these have fallen out of pockets?
No. Not least because the vast majority of litter is empty packets, and an empty packet doesn't really weigh enough to bounce out of a pocket! I must say I have once gone to put an empty one in my jersey pocket and dropped it accidentally. Up the short leg for me!
Fairly sure as I was passing someone he took a gel and just threw the wrapper on the ground. I think it's about feeling pro. I think it makes you look like a fin du cloche.
That said, I dropped my number board on the course, which is even worse than a gel I guess 😳
No excuse for intentional littering.
Whats the non race access at Tunnel Hill like? Want to take a mate around tjat cracking course on friday.
Absolutely no excuse for this. Really makes me annoyed when I see it happen and when I do I always confront the rider, as usually I'm lapping them.
So who's at the final round?
Course conditions are perfect at the moment and forecast is good...
GB
I'll be there as pack fodder again 🙂
I'll be there, 2hr vets. I will be racing* hard at the back
*racing = getting out of the way of all the fast peeps at the front.
I am hoping not to be last, managed to avoid it by one place last time 🙂
Having missed last race due to manflu I've signed for rd 3. Low behold 1 hour after registering I've put my back out. Still aiming to race though.
We're Commissairing London League cx on Sunday so won't be there. Have fun all....
My first day without fever for 4 days, chest awful but I hope to be there.
Phew - nearly forgot to enter, thanks for the reminder! Hopefully I'll not end up ill and staying in bed for this round. No thawing out the trails please.
That was fantastic! The trails really flower together nicely and after a very sketchy lap 1 on the slippery surface it dried out very quickly. It felt hillier than it probably was, mainly as the climbs were pretty continually up/down/up/down with very little in the way of rest. I really liked the combination of trails and they were almost entirely firm after a lap or two. I decided to just put the hammer down from the start again and see how it went; I was certainly feeling the main couple of climbs by the end. Good to win 3 from 3 this year, not sure I've managed that before.
The amount of preparatory work that goes into these events is immense, having blown the entire lap a week or so ago, Pants was out last evening blowing the course again to get rid of the puddles. It really makes a difference on a day like today.
Next event for me is Battle on the Beach in March, so I've got a few weeks of hard training before then...
GB
Good job Gee, like you say the course was great - good job by all involved.
Well done Gee- great going. The course was great fun but like you say, the constant gradual climbs took it out of you. I got my best result of the season (Top 45% up from 49% in rd 1)- little things and all that 😉 !
I made the cut-off for lap 6 with about 30 seconds to spare!!
Also- many organisers could learn from Gorrick- the results were online by the time I had washed my bike!!!
A fantastic three courses and a great series.
Can't see the results?