[Closed] Red Kite XC

I suspect the "XC" tag might put a lot of people off, even though it was essentially just a short-course Dyfi Enduro.

I though it was great to see so many "ordinary" riders there, with a real mix of abilities, right down to beginners. I think many of the serious racers were doing the Welsh cyclocross champs up the road in Builth yesterday, which was an unfortunate clash, so maybe more of them will turn up next round.

It was good muddy fun, very informal, and really nice to have a warm cafe at an XC event! I really missed having a presentation though, as it's not often I get to finish in the top three...

For anyone dithering about Jan 13 and subsequent rounds, you also got to choose between two distances: one hour plus one lap or two hours plus one lap (which translated into either four laps or six laps of a 6 km course).

looking to do a number of xc races over spring/summer.

brother in law enjoyed it and said it was a well run event, enjoyed it even more so as he won it. Git

Yes I imagine winning would help, I just wouldn't know!!!
Gareth is frighteningly quick though.

Got a link to it please?

[url= http://www.redkite-events.co.uk/ ]CLICKY[/url] - here you go Drofluf

Yes Chris he is ridiculously quick. Riding with him is far from stress free!

Yes was a good event. Apparently all rounds are going to be at this venue now. Cafe was a life saver - another lap or two I would have been in trouble.

Chrispo were you the guy in yellow who chased me for the last 3 laps? (Jonny in Loco Tuning kit). Were we 2nd and 3rd ? I would like to have found out on the day.

Yes was a good event. Apparently all rounds are going to be at this venue now. Cafe was a life saver - another lap or two I would have been in trouble.

The cafe was great, but how are they going to get *five* courses out of those three short trails?!

Chrispo were you the guy in yellow who chased me for the last 3 laps? (Jonny in Loco Tuning kit). Were we 2nd and 3rd ? I would like to have found out on the day.

No. I was all in black. Were you with Gareth Hayes who was parked behind me? I stopped after 90 mins and was told I was 3rd over the short distance. Was too cold to carry on. Dylan Stephens and one other beat me on the short course. I spent a while chasing a guy on a single speed who must have done the long course, which Gareth Payne won by a mile. Dunno if that helps. I hate having to wait for results like this - much better straight after the event, or at least the same night.

I did the 2 hour plus a lap.my cateye computer recorded 2hr43min ride time and 38km.Threw up on second lap,Totaly knackered at finnish,reduced to a shivering wreck.In bed for 7pm with sick bug.
Still worth the effort though."got to get up hills faster"

Taff - Member
CLICKY - here you go Drofluf

Yes Chris he is ridiculously quick. Riding with him is far from stress free!

Thanks

Chrispo, apparently there are loads of other trails in the valley.

Yeah that was me with Gareth - nice to beat him for once! I was aware that there were some people ahead and that some stopped after the first hour race, but really not sure if I came 2nd/3rd/4th! On the facebook site they've said results will be ready on Friday night - bit frustrating! I did 6 laps over 2hr30ish.

Well the "results" are finally out, but Neil's only got first, second and third for each race, and even then he's got them wrong... Plus there are no finishing times or lap times. Oops. Good job the race itself was fun!!

He does seem to have some good ideas for getting help with sorting out the timing for the next round, though, so fingers crossed. Oh, and there will be prizes for this time next time.

He's also looking for feedback in general on race length etc. Go to Red Kite Events on Facebook.

Gasyz: "got to get up hills faster"

Shame the results weren't better,would have been nice to know finnishing position after all that effort.Even a finnishing time would have helped a bit.Hope it's better next time.

Thankyou for the feedback. The XC format was a new format for us at Red Kite Events, and I admit we under estimated the complexity of counting riders doing laps. The two distance format did not help. We will be sorting out this issue for round 2 and we will have a working solution. The aim is to have lap times and placings down to last place.

We will be staying at Coed Trawllm for all the remaining rounds - it is a great winter venue (warm and dry cafe with nice food to hang out in after the racing is done), the owners love having the riders there, it has a lot of route options, bike wash, toilets etc etc. It has to be better than a forest car park in the mid winter. We will be changing the course every round so you will not be racing the same course each round.

The feedback I have had so far points to a 90 minute race.

Hopefully the numbers will support two races at each round i.e. the average riders go first and the fast boys/girls will start 90 minutes later. I am sure that will give everyone a better race.

The car parking will also be improved or the next rounds.

If anyone has any other ideas comments then please email me at events@redkite-events.co.uk.

We will also be running a summer series as well as our 'normal' challenge events.

neil
www.redkite-events.co.uk

Great to see RED KITE listening to riders and looking to improve.All in all a really enjoyable event which needs supporting.Lots of effort goes into organising events, and all for a tenner entry.Shame I can't make 2nd round but will be back for the others.Summer series sounds good aswell.

midwales - have a chat with Gareth Hayes (he entered the redkit XC) - he's a XC veteran.. if not old enough to be in the vets category, but he will be able to provide some really good advice for XC racing if you fancy someone to help.

He may be too busy, but worth pinging him an email 🙂

The 4th Round of the Red Kite Events XC series - report written by Cycle Tec, Builth Wells.

At a crisp -1c at 8am, it was set to be a cold one and with frost after frost this week, the ground would definitely be hard but slippy at today’s Red Kite XC round 4. A sprinkling of snow had fallen overnight but no more than a dusting and the odd flake continued to fall through the morning. A strong field of riders from near and far gathered on the start line and at 10:45am the race was off with a long leg-burner climb followed by a steep, rooty, off camber descent with stumps and dips. At first pass under the bridge through the brook, Cycle-tec rider Johnny Pugh had a steady lead over XC Racer’s Phil Morris with Cycle-tec’s James Nixon and Dave Evans close behind. At the end of the first lap the order remained steady as Johnny Pugh increased his lead. As the laps continued to pass, the order of the leading group was constant although Phil Morris managed to extend the small gap on James Nixon. The technical sections took more and more skill to traverse cleanly as each rider passed through, polishing the race line into an icy challenge. Johnny Pugh finished his 5th lap seconds short of the 90 minutes so embarked on his final lap – pushing others to continue on a further lap where they thought they were on their last! Final result: 1st: Cycle-tec’s Johnny Pugh, 2nd :XC Racer’s Phil Morris, 3rd: Cycle-tec’s James Nixon, 4th: Cycle-tec’s Dave Evans, 5th: Towy Rider’s Carwyn Davies. Fantastic to see so many having a go in the freezing conditions, especially those who had such huge smiles and words of encouragement as they were being lapped, keep it up all!!! Red Kite Events – well organised events at superb locations.

Next round of the XC series is on the 17th March at Coed Trawllm. Check out their website www.redkite-events.co.uk for more info on the winter XC series and Red Kite Events summer events.

**Shameless plug alert**

These races are great fun even for the more casual rider and I really recommend them!

For a taste of what to expect, why not read my blog about the fourth round at [url= http://www.29gears.blogspot.co.uk ]29gears.blogspot.co.uk[/url] ?

well done Crispo,good blog