[Closed] Llandegla - Fire Fighters Charity XC MTB Race 2016

I'm keen for this! I'll enter later.

Damn I've just seen the entries are closed. Can you enter on the day or still got a chance of entering?

@blackmountainsrider Don't know, sorry. Ring the number on the entry form (01244 342145) maybe?

Llandegla Shop were taking entries last week, you might be able to enter there?

I'm in.

No entries on the day I'm afraid.

I'm in, missed it last year. Hopefully it's not too muddy

I don't think it'll be any muddier than previous years unless it pours down all week. Forecast is dry all week and light rain on race day (so far!). The muddy patches in the gullies where it's always been soft under the trees will still be there stopping people dead in their tracks. Not too many line choices either so they're difficult to avoid.

The medium-big root hop-up is still in. Expect a queue there on lap 1 as soon as one person fails to get up it, though!

I'm best at the downs. If I don't get clear air in the woods my "strategy" is caput though. Considering 75% of the time is spent going up and I'm rubbish at that bit... you'll see my "strategy" isn't very good! It's fun though.

Bikes, tyres, category, previous results please!

29er XC FS, Barzo / Mezcal, Masters, can't remember if I'm honest.

29er HT,black round tyres, old gits category, can't remember last years position just go like crazy till the end and collapse.

Awesome. Always a great event. Fingers crossed for a dry day and a tailwind on the climb 🙂

Im dissapointed I cant enter, hopefully next year. It would have been my 1st xc race in probably 7 or 8 years.

@blackmountainsrider it is a shame. Stick a reminder in your calendar for early September and keep a lookout on OPA's website around that time.

The Welsh National XC series came to Llandegla in March 2016 and they said on their Facebook that they'd had an amazing welcome and a large entry list. With a bit of luck they'll return in 2017 for another round. That was a great race too.

So how did everyone get on and what did you think of the course / race / soup?

I got off to a decent start up the first climb in the lead bunch of 20 or so riders, all going well until the techy bit before the rooty drop where another rider slammed up the inside of me on a tight turn round a tree and pushed me off, my chain then came off and about 4 riders passed me as a result. Much inwards swearing and a big ass effort to get back in touch with the top 20 again saw a lot of energy spent.
A consistent 2nd & 3rd lap set up a nice sprint for the line, but I had nothing left.

Came in around 20th overall, but managed 3rd in Masters and a nice place on the podium at the end.

The course was a nice mix although that climb is never pleasant. Soup was pretty nice too.

I'll be back next year if it doesn't clash with CX again.

It's a good job I didn't enter as I've been suffering from man flu all weekend. Hopefully next year.

Just had a go for the day out and the missus could see how slow I really am on a bike. I managed to get the full 3 laps but only just hooter went about 20seconds into my last lap.

Congrats on the podium @steve_b77. Well done.

Really didn't know what I could do this year but very pleased with my time in Masters 98:15, 3 minutes quicker this year despite longer track and having 10 weeks off this summer injured. Orange Five is no XC whippet but she did me proud and I had amazing fun on the downs. Plenty of alternate lines, got some awesome and 100% safe warp speed overtakes in and had energy this year for some fire road catch-up sprint overtake battles between the tree sections. Crossed the line to instant mega cramp in my quads so knew I'd done all I could. Every photo I've seen of me I'm smiling so can't be bad.

Didn't see the leaders for long but it's awesome to see just how much faster they are.

Brilliant weather, ace course as usual and soup was really nice. Brilliantly organised and marshalled. Can't wait for next year or the National to return hopefully. Thanks to all involved. Definitely one of my favourite events of the year.

It's strangely enjoyable being in the pain cave once you get going. Not taking it too seriously is the key for me. Relax, enjoy, no pressure = more enjoyable.

great event as usual.
organisation beats some much larger events I've been on.
Had a good ride and think I improved on last year but will reserve judgement until I see the official results tomorrow.

Sounds like it was another good event, I'll pass the positive comments on to the organiser tonight. I was unable to attend due to other commitments thus year.

Gelert - where are these photos you speak of?

Photos friends and family took.

Badger got some too. Hopefully they'll go on OPA Flickr account soon. I'll post link if I spot them.

OPA Facebook account had some tagged last night.

There were loads of people taking photos

[url= https://oneplanetadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Firemans-Race-Results-30-Oct-2016-By-Categories.pdf ]Category Results[/url]

[url= https://oneplanetadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Firemans-Race-Results-30-Oct-16-By-Fastest-Time.pdf ]Overall Fastest Time Results[/url]

Well done everybody. I'm in awe of the fast riders in every category. It's inspiring to see.

I'm not sure I'd want to be dropped so quickly week in week out but I can handle a couple of fun XCs a year to measure my fitness by.

I could do with finding another 10 minutes. I'll carry on chipping away at it year by year.

Has anyone had a sudden performance increase from a bike change or is it really 90% rider?

If I dropped around 25% of my bike weight (13kg 26in Trail bike down to 10kg 29er XC bike) I'd save up to 3 minutes over the 98 minute race I did. That sounds about realistic to me.

I managed to save 3 minutes over last year anyway with no new bike so basically changing bikes won't actually help much but winter training will.

Am I talking sense here?

No - get a 29er, the fast guys use them for a reason! 😉

I was pretty pleased with 9th in vets and 16th over all.
I wasn't as quick as last year when I broke my pedal, but at least I finished!

Had a sprint finish for 8th, but my legs decided that was the time for cramp, so alas it wasn't to be!

Had to pass the guy that knocked Steve off at the root drop by the res, luckily I survived that!
Much prefer the Fire Race to the welsh series event that was there. Course and organisation was far better!

Well done Adam. Great result.

I really don't know what I want to do or get so I'm looking forward to some demo days next year so I can decide properly.

I'll be up for the Fireman race and the National if it's at Llandegla again whatever bike I'm riding.

I'm guessing your fairly local to degla?
We've got a demo Big Nine if you want to try one.

7th in supervets and 10 mins quicker than last year,with no bike change/upgrades .
Time this year would have put me on the podium in my class last year.

Brilliant result @bigmick25, well done. That's a big time increase in one year and no bike change.

I just checked and my time this year would have been on the podium last year too in Masters. Ah well. There's always next year.

POSTED 20 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST SHARE
Adam@BikeWorks - Member
No - get a 29er, the fast guys use them for a reason!

Had to pass the guy that knocked Steve off at the root drop by the res, luckily I survived that!

Remember "it's not about the bike" honest guvnor

Lucky escape that one, he never even had his blues & twos on!!