MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Well, i've signed up for my first race since I was 15 and thought wearing lycra and riding a univega hardtail was cool!
Done it for the craic more than ought else and a little bit for the personnal challenge of doing a timed 50km mtb ride, so here's a couple of questions for people.......
Anyone else coming this year off STW??
and...
For those that have done it before.....Whats the terrain like as i'm unsure whether my 160mm full bonger or my 29er hardtail would be my best choice of steed for it...?
I've found this route info: http://www.mtbtrails.info/Trail_Venue_Map_TrailViewer.aspx?VenueNumber=95&TrailNumber=159&Unique=634692451689026239
And last but not least!! There's 6 of our group signed up for it so far and really looking forward to it, like I said, i'm not a racer, just like a good challenge! So bring it on!
I did it a few years back.
Terrain wise I wouldn't bother with your 160mm full bonger. I did it on a steel hardtail with 100mm forks. Loads of fire road trails, bit of peaty singletrack over the border, bit of trail centre at Newcastleton. I remember the route back, a lllooonnnggg fire road climb back along Kershope Burn.
I enjoyed it.
I'm going - HT 29er 80mm travel will be my weapon of choice.
I'm hoping to be there. I did the Winter Warmer and have done a few of their other events in the past but not the Border Raid. A few of mates say it's quite tough as was the WW the other month. There was quite a good turnout for that and hopefully the series will continue to grow. Although it's a refreshing change to do an event which hasn't got 100's of competitors, especially on any singletrack sections.
P.s. Make sure you carry a few simple spares and plenty of food. With it being one big loop, it will be long walk back to the start/finish!
oooh, I "won" the seniors last year. I was beaten by Rich Rothwell but he was a vet. He also lead the bunch on a merry diversion which helped me no end.
I rode it on a 140mm full suss (stumpy and got round in 2h45min I think).
Your 29er would be about right. Bits of it are really rough (stoney/small rocks) so you might take a fair beating but you won't need the travel to ride features. There are some nice long draggy climbs, especially the one out of Newcastleton back over to civilisation ;).
It is not as hard as the winter warmer provided the weather is ok. If it is wet then you might want to consider spare brake pads. If it is dry then midge repellent. Most people got round in 3-4 hours if I remember.
The route is very roughly the bloody bush with some extra stuff at Newcastleton IIRC. looks a lot like this when you are on the trails
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Make sure all bolts are tight! I rattled loose my rear mech cable. Not much fun being at the scottish border with two front gears. Anyway, i do it on a HT but it rattles like hell for about 5 minutes after going across the northshore.
Hardtail 29er it is then 🙂 !!
I've entered as we are up there for the weekend. Love riding round there so it should be fun.
Less than a week to go, hope everyones prep is going well!
Had a gloopy ride around Dalby today with some off piste and adjacent woods thrown in for fun.
We've got 7 of us heading north at the moment, all trail builders with SingletrAction, and all really looking forward to it!
Does anyone have any more info on the route, ie GPX,Profile etc?
I don't have a gpx but in vague terms you head from the castle and take a short cut joining the lonesome pine trail about half way up (you miss the bit round the lake). You go all the way to the top and round the woodwork and join the bloody bush which takes you to the border. Fire road descent before some nice singletrack leads you to Newcastleton. One lap of that (be careful not to miss the signs otherwise it'll be two!) and then a log dragging climb back up the valley. A down, an up and then the finish.
Fast lads will be round in under 3 hours (I was about 2h50 last year). Slower riders anything up to 5 hours.
It's exposed on the tops so go prepared. keep your eye out for signs as people have and do miss turnings.
There are 5 of my club going. We'll be wearin "Midaircrisis" tops. Most riding for the challenge. Don't think I'll place well as I'm not as fast as last year but I'm looking for top 6 in my catagory to get some extra points for the overall series.
Pray it doesn't rai.
jonba - thanks for the route discription and the advice.
It's going to be pretty cold up there, chance of snow too
Really, forcast I saw wasn't that bad. 8 degrees. Sunny at the minute in Newcastle although that's no guarantee of anything at Kielder.
What a great day! Perfect weather, good turn out, and some pretty special singletrack. £500 raised for a good cause to. Thanks to all the organisers and marshals - Job well done!
+1, Good day out! Was easier than the Winter Warmer but still wasn't easy. Looking forward to the Oktoberfest. 🙂
Really enjoyed it, much more than the winter warmer which was tough. Apologies on my route advice, if you didn't notice we ran the reverse of last years. Climb out of Newcastleton was tough that way, normally you would come up the long gentle climb we came down from the border rather than up that rather steep hill that seemed to go on for ever.
How did you get on?
I loved the semi natural single track we did at the start where you were just following the flags through the trees. All round good course.
Top 10 finish, 2:38ish. I could really have done with accurate map and a profile of the route. The mystery tour was a little demoralising at times - especially on the very long climb which came as a bit of a surprise and that had several false summits. I think that some local riders had a significant advantage. I'd be happy to help put the mapping data together for future races. The route was advertised at a little under 50km - when the gps hit 52km I started to worry that the website had actually said 50 miles!!!
I loved it, trails were running fast and I had never thought of riding over to Newcastleton that way round. I will be back up for further events.