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Ah, what I meant was, it will be fast, swoopy, full of techy root features, big bombholes, kickers, and liberally sprinkled with hero dust on every corner for max roost. 🙂
Ah now that sounds more like it... back runner but looking cool as hell then for me 🙂
Nah...not me this year....
The first and last round are on my kids' birthdays, and TBH, can't be faffed with everything going on at the moment...
Will come back to the racing scene for late 2019... Big Dog and Brass Monkeys high up on the list for "DrP and his singlespeed of lurve..."
Enjoy the racing folks
xx
DrP
Good, the rest of us SSers can all move up one place on Sunday ;o)
I'm out at least for another month I think - tendonitis.
Tapering?! I'll be happy to shake off my cold before Sunday 🙂
FYI for anyone else coming by train from London note that South Western have got a new year's sale on atm so you can get a return for £12 from their website instead of £18.
Ah bloody hell, turns out I won't be riding the quick bike. Got it out of storage and all the pivot bearings are seized, I suppose that's what comes from racing through floodwater. So I'll be on a Singular (geared and suspended) that weighs about as much as the sun.
I rode the Parkwood last night trail riding, first time outdoors on mud in a year on it, damn it rolls well. HTs really do seem to transfer the power well I have to say.
I'm so so torn now lol. I'm better technically on the FS but the HT flies. Roots though I think the FS will win. Errrrrm
No idea!
take both , do a practise lap , see ho rooty it is , decide on day . ta daaa.
£50 though .- when did riding round in circles become so expensiive
£50? Are you riding two races? ;o)
Yeah mine wasn't £50 lol it was £27
If I do a practice lap I may be dead for race. No practice for me.
umm maybe the £50 was for 3 rounds then ?
Could have sworn it was up around there, but I may be wrong
HT with fat tyres at 20psi would probably be faster around Minley.
Should stay dry at least , but it never gets very muddy there as the loamy soil and pine roots suck up alot of moisture
Well I turned up and met both Yak and twowheels for a chat. Did a 3/4 warm up and sighting lap and went racing.
In a very very loose sense of the term.
The course was good, most enjoyable. Off camber rooty bits, tight bits, fast bits. I could hold my own on the down bits and tech bits but as we'd expect, when it went up, I struggled a bit. Losing ground and then pulling it back on the guys and girls I was racing.
I'd set myself a target of maintaining 150bpm to ensure I made the time of 2 hours, but checking on Strava I seem to have averaged 163bpm oops.
I kept checking the clock as I was coming to the last part of lap 2, I was showing 1hr 21 on the Garmin, which meant I'd have needed lap 3 to be my quickest lap of the day for it to count, well that wasn't happening so I pulled the plug at the end of lap 2. Looking and thinking now, I did start the Garmin a smidgen early, so I'll be interested to see my lap time and whether it would be possible to have done the 3rd within the time. Either way, I'm happy I gave it a good shot and worked damn hard.
Tbh the only thing I can really take away from it is weight! I need to be considerably less weight if I want to move up the order. That's the grim reality of it.
But, I enjoyed myself anyway so thank you to STW for giving me the shove again to go out and race. Cheers
I loved it too! A great course, loads of fun and bone dry and loamy. The time limit adds a really challenging dilemma - I was bang on the half hour for laps 1 and 2, and dropped a minute or so on the 3rd. I was racing a guy for a lot of it, so we had a quick conversation as we crossed the line - to go for a 4th or not? We’d have to go 2 mins quicker than lap 3 to get in before the cut off. He said yes, let’s try it, so ensued a bonkers knackering time trial to try and make it. Sadly, we were 2mins40 too late, but it was fun trying.
I’m a bit broken now though! I love the time aspect of this racing, especially when you’re that close the cusp!
Nice chatting to you weeksy!
Perfect weather and nice dry course. Had a great time but my new stem (fitted Saturday) kept coming lose [idiot x1]. Also somehow I'd forgotten to unlock my forks from the road ride to Waterloo [idiot x2]. I did 3 laps in about 1hr40 I think, which I was quite pleased with considering the cold.
On the way home I decided to ride up some steps. Cleared them but dented rim and snake bite puncture [idiot x3]. My plan to was try doing a tubeless setup next weekend. Now I'm worried the dent will be trouble. Seems the method clamp or wrangling with adjustable spanner.
p.s. Good effort bigdaddy!
Sadly, we were 2mins40 too late, but it was fun trying.
I'd have sat down and cried! Top job fellss
https://www.strava.com/activities/2059248559/segments/51947805837 Strava shows I wasn't the slowest out there, which is good. 86/105.
But also shows I may have actually completed another within time, maybe
Told you it would be worth the effort. Gorrick boys and girls do a great job at this type of format on some great areas.
Good work weeksy. You did well given IMHO it was a course for 29er hard tails, apart from that bumpy bit across the field.
I forgot Strava. The top times (including padkinson's) are really impressive.
@theotherjonv - thanks for your encouragement and tip about entering after Blackbushes Road!
You did well given IMHO it was a course for 29er hard tails, apart from that bumpy bit across the field.
LOL don't say that, i left that one at home as you saw. 🙂 The T-130 was great though and worked really well, but that last hill before the finish i wished i had a 32T front on not a 34T i currently have !
57/66 for me. Bit confused how the guys in 54th and 55th got lap 3 counting even though over 2 hours, I'd have stayed out if I thought it counted, admittedly it wouldn't have made much difference.
Great write ups well done all. Looking forward to the 27th...
I don't think the timelaps team have an algorithm that works for a 'short' enduro format (ie finish the lap by cut off rather than the lap you're on) and people want to see their full stats anyway.....they need to go through and amend manually and in the haste to get the results out understandably focus on adjusting at the sharp end first.
Well that was a lot better than the December edition for me. Actually doing some riding has helped, and borrowing the wife’s 29er FS was a nice bonus for my lower back after 3 hours+
Got my pacing much better this time, and finished strongish, but didn’t attempt a final lap as I would have been 3-4 mins too slow. Need to start a shade quicker!
Hopefully 3 weeks time will elevate me to the sharp end of mid pack, rather than clinging on!
It was upsetting, but at the same time great fun - the guy right behind me agreed to jointly give the 4th lap a go, and it became a crazy ‘give it everything’ time trial. I kinda knew we probably wouldn’t make it, but I like those kind of challenges!
Finished 15th, would’ve jumped to 8th if I’d made that last lap 🙄 Well done everyone, see you all next time!
Not sure the finances stretch to that one here. Good luck to all who go!
Great course again, but a duff ride for me. Felt bad at the start, crashed on lap 1, then ran out of go on lap 2 and stopped early for a sausage bap. Mrs Yak had a decent ride and came 3rd again in her race. Good to catch up with weeksy briefly.
@ weeksy - what do you weigh in at? Are you one of the big fella's at Black Mountain 3 dayer a few years back?
Yup, that was a lot of fun - 2nd place 4hr SS.
But had a similar experience to bigdaddy - I'd been lapping at about 33/34 mins with the 3rd place guy behind me, so when we finished our 6th lap with 35m to go we stopped. Then about 3 mins later 4th place comes through and keeps going! I'd already taken my helmet and gloves off! The head said there was no way he'd make it, but it still didn't stop us from tearing off after him for what was probably the most enjoyable lap.
Came in about 20secs behind him and 2 mins outside the cut. 2nd place safe and got a full 4hrs racing in :o)
@ weeksy – what do you weigh in at? Are you one of the big fella’s at Black Mountain 3 dayer a few years back?
15st currently. Not massive by any means, comfortable 36" waist etc, but clearly 15st ain't 13st by a long stretch. It's something I need to get back working on, the 5-2 begins again tomorrow. In Feb I got to 14st 3 and that or below is my strict target for when Southern XC starts in April or so.
All that said, I just don't think I'm as good as the faster guys all round. Hey ho.
Not aware of that event so nope, wasn't me.
okay - I'm about the same, 15 and a bit, 36 inch waist, 47 inch chest. The constant little climbs kill me too, although I have a fair bit of power. I could lose 5 or so kg's but still a long way off the 70 kg whippets
wasn't there today as got virus diseasy thing from hell.......
Big turn out from the club (TCC) today and a win for Oli in the 2hr. Oli concentrated on road racing last season and got his Elite license. This was his mtb return. Others were very well placed too including some first time mtb racers. I went for a long road loop over the Chilterns, not having raced off road for a while. Might come for the next one though. Gorricks are always superb fun.
Well done all who rode. Surprisingly warm and dry today.
4 laps for me, in the 3hr grand get category - if I had gone a shade quicker on the 4 then could have possibly squeezed a 5th - doubtful really as I was stuffed. Over dressed in a softshell jacket, so next time will wear less. As others have said, great course, atmosphere, organisation and general friendly vibe - bring on rd3.
yeah another good fun course and event and once again unseasonably good weather!
Didn't quite have the legs today (maybe should have tapered more 🙂 ) so lost the lead group early on. Plodded round in no-mans land, not quite being able to close the gap on those in front.
Went out for an 8th lap (even though from lap 3 I knew I wouldn't squeeze it in) and finished 5 mins after the cut-off. Still all good training and managed 5th place.
@john_l yeh that last lap broke me today crawled up that long gravelly climb but still enjoyed the challenge. What gearing where you running?
So many forum guys and so many fast ones too!
32/19, I think. Good to race with you.
John, 32 rear and 19 front 🙂
And you, might have to gear down next time I replace the drivetrain running 33/18 at the moment
TiRed - I see in the pics my daughter took that the guy who chased me around our doomed 4th lap in the 2 hr vet race was a TCC member, he was a nice guy - we raced hard together. Please pass on a high 5 from me...
Enjoyed the racing today, although I got my timings slightly wrong and went hard on my 3rd lap thinking it was the last one I’d fit in. When nobody else had stopped I went for another and missed the cut off by a minute as the legs were done by then, so done the last one for nothing but it’s goid training.
Felt ok considering the Xmas excess, ended up 12th in 2hr. May have been a bit higher if I started further up and wasn’t nearly the last to the start, then getting caught up in the huge bottle neck going into the 1st single track. Looking at the time I lost nearly 3 minutes on the first lap so had to work hard to pull it back, I decided staying in a warm van was preferable to lining up for 10 mins!!
Well done to all that rode, I thought it was a tough course.
It was a joyous moment when i got home that my bike only needed a brush clean! great, if relentless course! finally got my podium sport in 4hr after so many years of racing them!
Congratulations on the result. !
Gutted to have missed this....I really like the BM series - great course & racing this fine of year just makes it more challenging.
Hey ho fingers crossed I’ll be fixed in time for the Southern XC series..