That was my first experience of Kielder on my Orange 5 , which worked really well despite all the sand rammed into every orifice ,mine as well as the bikes, causing chain suck and the brakes were virtually useless at times and down to the metal after 30 miles. I swapped pads for another set, which lasted until checkpoint 2 where after a very close "big off" due to having one eye shut cos of the grit in it, I called it a day...the singletrack sections and the one down to the finish were fun tho'... Enjoyed the Black-sheep beer in the pub too!
Anyone elses eyeballs feel as though they've been grit-blasted?
Yup ,but feel a lot better today.
Amazing how fine that dust was,it really did get everywhere.
Who were the 2 guys with the Jones (one was the space frame with a fat wheel and the other a steel one)? I have never seen a fat bike before and it looked ace!!
The fat one is mine, but think that the choice of a big front wheel might have been a mistake on the day. Only the 3rd ride on it so I wanted to have a play. Does indeed ride very much like a bike, bit draggier on the ups, but rock solid stable on the downs and flat.
There was one other spaceframe out there which I rode with on the first fireroad, non-fat fork.
Some of my thoughts on the day as part of the Killer Kielder write up:
www.killerkielder.co.uk
wenanwhere - Member
Some of my thoughts on the day as part of the Killer Kielder write up:
Absolutely fantastic effort. I was chatting with you on the start line (I'm just to the right of you in the pic) and thought you were nuts!
😀 Amazing......
I luckily missed the Newcastleton cut off by seconds. The conditions were not the best. Thanks for helping with brake pads! It took nearly a grand total of 1 hour to fit them. How can they sell something that doesn't fit?? Anyway after that I got to the 50 miles check point with a bit of pace (Thinking to my self that I was not expecting to be riding through up rocky streams, I was expecting fire roads, the Kielder trails and a few fire breaks.) Anyway got to the piper and I thought I had missed the cut off but was told the cut-off for Newcastleton was 3pm, plenty of time then. Got to the fire road, one mile of bliss then someone shot me. Well there was a huge bang and my tyre was gone. A massive 4 inch rip in it (Thin walled Small block 8 tyre were not appropriate for the course) and I biked the last 7/8 miles with no tyre. Got to Newcastleton and was extremely tired but got a new tyre and then some lube and missed the cut off by seconds. Ah the relief, hot soup, fantastic rice crispy cake and a tent then a lift back to Kielder in the forestry mini bus.
Hats off to those that finished. Bet they don't have 900 entries next year! There were some good bits of trail but I can't remember much enjoyment only pain and cold. Oh yes nearly forgot that my chain broke as well but that was my fault.
mrlugz,good to speak to you how did you get on? Spoke to loads of people and really helped give me a boost to get through
13h 25m. 175th..
Going for sub 12 next year.
Good stuff a friend of mine must have been just around you at the end on a gary fisher 29er
Wow! Some achievement - well done! 😀
After washing my bike, I discovered that 3 out of 4 chainring bolts were incredibly loose. I think missing the cut off might have been a blessing in disguise as they'd probably not have made the border crossing and that'd be a long walk with a folded chainring.
Bit of a long shot but ... I left a heart rate monitor strap in the shower at the Kielder campsite on Saturday (shower nearest the door in the ladies block).
The campsite hadn't had it handed in on Sunday, I don't suppose anyone on here managed to scoop it up with their gear?
Its a Garmin strap but you could barely see the N on the front before the race, there's a good chance that didn't survive. No doubt it wiill say Garmin on the back somewhere.
Just to add to the lost and found 🙂
Endura Stingray glasses with orange lens - somewhere between 23 and 50 miles
I lost the will to live somewhere before 51 miles if anyone found it 😆
Bet they don't have 900 entries next year
I bet they do, the harder it is the more of a rep it gets and people will want to enter to see if they can conquer it.
I'll be back in year 4 after pulling out at 65 miles in year 1 😀
haven't had an MTB for a year now, but going to build up a cheap 2nd hand 29er single speed for it.
More lost and found - I lost my old Casio watch, on an Animal velcro strap, somewhere after halfway round. Not worth a penny but I've had it years, would like to see it again - will have to look out for it next year.
[I lost the will to live somewhere before 51 miles if anyone found it ]
This made me laugh a lot, a lot of will's were lost and found again that day!
