Anyone doing this next month ?
I may enter but I don't know anything about the skill levels / course type?
Anyone shine a light?
cheers
dave
me and a few mates have done it for past few years - course is quite tame but good fun for any ability (some small sections of singletrack in the woods but mostly dirt/gravel tracks and grass - how often do you get to ride in a theme park!). we'll all be doing it on singlespeeds... 😉
oh i think it was 3 laps of about 6miles btw, and the location near the black sheep/theakstons brewerys makes it a winner also!
done that race 13, maybe 14 years ago when CAroline Alecandra was racing. What i can remember was a fast course with no real climbs to speak off
Sounds like it could be a bit of fun, this year it seems like they're setting everyone off at the same time a la grizedal, which could be carnage if you can't get to the front.
Bloomin' 'eck! That's still going? I did it with a load of people from our Uni MTB club back in 1991. It was a good laugh, but hardly a technical course.
Aren't they making you do a time trial prior to the race this year?
Means you have to stay there all day if I'm reading it right
That was the format back in the day. A 1 lap TT and then the race later on.
What are the categories like? I know theres sport and expert. Is expert full of racing whippets?
What are the categories like? I know theres sport and expert. Is expert full of racing whippets?
Well if I get there I'll be a veteran and have never raced in my life. More of a District Midwife sort of cyclist...
Time Trials sound a bit scary - what exactly does it mean and why do we have to do it?
The time trial i think is just one lap of the course, by yourself.. it'll help to set a pace for the main race.
I'll be there on sunday.. anyone else?
Yup just entered. Couple of us from leeds going... Singlespeeding it up too. Grr.
Im in too.
Do we have to do the time trial? I dont want to be stuck right at the back.........
I assume TT placings will result in a grid start?
I don't think so. By the look of it you still start depending on your category.. Expert at 12:15 and Sports 12:30 etc. I think you need a TT time to qualify for an overall ranking. So basically your ranking will depend on the TT and race.
A ranking being related to a grid position or just for info?
Your final result me thinks. So basically what position you finish in will be made up of you TT time and race time. Sorry getting a bit confusing!
I thought that was the score. Looks like Im going to have to get there early then! Cant wait now!
Anybody make it down then? Had a pretty good day - course was as good as could have been expected I reckon - as well as being super muddy. 🙂
Time trial was tough but good as preview to the course. Well marshalled too.
Yep, was there, agree time trial was tough but race was better after the wet grass got compressed a bit.
Enjoyed it, despite falling off about 6 times (first off-road ride "clipped-in") managed a 33:10 TT .. but cramped up badly by the last lap of the race. I think a lot of people were playing it safe in the sports cat (including me!) - I noticed the first 5 finishers were faster than all but the top 3 in the elite cat!
Lot more people there this year despite the weather, some great organisation too (results online on the day of the race?! unheard of!)
Managed a 35.02 TT on my (now not so) shiny new singlespeed, not feeling so great in the race but struggled through in a 1.43. A great day out as usual, not the most challenging of courses but good fun when your racing your mates :0)
My TT was 34 mins. Managed to do race in 1.34. Always been crap at short, fast bursts. Really enjoyed it though. Not sure of the relevance of the sprots and expert categories. If they differentiated between the two, with a lap extra for experts etc, then I reckon it could have been even better. Enjoyable day though.
nixon_fiend - Think I may have been talking to you int he car park - did you come off on the slope that led down to the pathway and you hit the gate/fence post? If not, excuse me! There was one guy I was talking to who had not ridden properly before with SPD's.
Hi mate. yeah that sounds about right .. If you had a green/white global(?) and a 4x4 .. I was on the white rigid 9sp .. (next year I hope to build myself a proper 650b race bike instead of using my commute bike) I came 10th in the race after my many tumbles 😛 ... I see you scored in at 6th - Nice work! I think we had 56 racers in our cat.
That was a bloody deep puddle in the quarry.
Yeah thats me - bike is a focus. Not that you can tell with all the mud on it atm.
Puddles in the quarry were awful! Every lap I thought I'd worked out where the deep parts were but ended up getting deeper and deeper each time!
Was pleased with the result in the end - i was a little gutted with time trial result, (34mins) and so went out to make ammends! I much prefer the longer distances - could have done with another 2 or 3 laps I reckon! You got any other races lined up?
My legs were shot after the final lap so I couldn't have done any more! I was running a single 42t ring up front and a 12-25 cassette as the bike usually does road-work... Did me right in! I'll be racing again as soon as I get a more appropriate ride - I live in London but made a special effort to attend this time as I used to work for Chevin Cycles (the main sponsor)
David - You also failed to mention you were riding on slicks!!!!
Matthew
Does anybody know if there are any photographs pulished online anywhere? There seemed to be plenty of photographers but cant find any links anywhere?
anybody?
The guy in the quarry was there last year too and ive never found any of his photos. Why would people come and take pics and not post them for people to see? Crazy.
Maybe he has his own little collection.............