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2016 XC racing thread.
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ferralsFree MemberPosted 8 years ago
finding out just how bad I am at XC racing
Probably significantly better than me, despite xc racing being my main interest in cycling 😳
Really enjoyed all the Pembrey winter series and the welsh xc race there last year so think the national at Pembrey will be excellent if a bit brutal on the heart rate given the lack of hills to recover on!
ferralsFree MemberPosted 8 years agoCouple of pics from Pembrey:
british xc postThis drop was super hard for the Welsh round due to the soft sand and the dog leg after, been made bigger but looks straighter. I’ll still probably be riding the b line 😳
stylishFree MemberPosted 8 years agoA year on the sidelines for me in 2016, injury at the last MSG and a few stern words from the surgeon have seen to that means I get to don the BC hat at several MSG rounds, the National at Dalby and the Junior World Cup race at Hadleigh.
Good luck everyone, and if you’re at Dalby see you there.
mtbmattFree MemberPosted 8 years agoThis drop was super hard for the Welsh round due to the soft sand and the dog leg after, been made bigger but looks straighter. I’ll still probably be riding the b line
The drop had worn away quite a bit over the year – so its been braced and hopefully won’t slip back any further.
The turn is still there, but the drop into it is a little further back and is around 2ft drop.B-line will still be in place. More (new) technical sections like this will be included as well.
kingkongsfingerFree MemberPosted 8 years agoDid around 20 XC races last year, will do around the same this year.
ferralsFree MemberPosted 8 years agomtbmatt – Member
The drop had worn away quite a bit over the year – so its been braced and hopefully won’t slip back any further.
The turn is still there, but the drop into it is a little further back and is around 2ft drop.B-line will still be in place. More (new) technical sections like this will be included as well.
Are you going to fit in those slightly loamy, bomb holey bit at the far end, thought they were really fun.
Last time I was there I rode a really good slightly twister, rootier bit of singletrack, can’t remember where it was though, somewhere nearish the car park
mtbmattFree MemberPosted 8 years agoAre you going to fit in those slightly loamy, bomb holey bit at the far end, thought they were really fun.
No, unfortunately that has all been felled. Some of the older singletrack survived, but the bombhole section is covered in felled trees and would take a lot of work to put back.
A new chute/drop is planned for the far end though.
There is felling in progress at present, so plans are changing constantly which is a little frustrating.ferralsFree MemberPosted 8 years agoAh gutted, that is a shame. Can imagine it is a bit frustrating. Still, so many good bits of trail there sure it will be great 🙂
Edit. Let me know if you want a mediocre test monkey 😆
ks562Free MemberPosted 8 years agoNice thread! My first racing XC with some proper training this year. Riding the Scottish Series and aiming to ride all the British Series bar Rd1 (family commitments) bit of a trek from Scotland but hey ho. Really looking forward to Dalby – second place I ever rode 5 years back and I remember crying most of the way round… 😆 as I was a)not fit and b) it was raining. Hopefully the race will be better!
Racing in female expert, very excited!
Kryton57Full MemberPosted 8 years agoAnyone here doing the G8 rounds at Hadleigh this weekend? I don’t recognise any names.
Its a very low amount of pre-entries – 16 in 2hr Vets, I’m assuming its the pricing – £25 plus admins fees for the payment mechanism of your choice!
I’m only going becuase its close, and for a pre-season fitness test, and to play with 1×11 & oval for the first time in a racing scenario. At least I’ll finish top 20!
adshFree MemberPosted 8 years agoI wish you luck – Hadleigh had a reputation for breaking people but has changed? 34T is hardcore – I don’t spin out on 30T in Gorricks 😳
Kryton57Full MemberPosted 8 years agoI’ve raced Hadleigh before, yes it’s hard, basically racing around a bowl up and down the sides – feels like 10secs down, 5 mins up 10 times a lap. I suspect the 42 at the back will see some use!
I’m about to find out if my choice of 34T was silly.
Cheers.
bianchiboyFree MemberPosted 8 years agoYep enjoy Hadleigh the scene of my one & only mtb injury,a cracked rib last summer after a off on one of the rock gardens. Must get back soon.
My 1st outing next weekend in the Antifreeze at cyb during a 5 day break in Wales then its another spring/summer doing Beastway at Redbridge in sunny Essex
My 2nd ever
season after starting out at grand vet age!bianchiboyFree MemberPosted 8 years agoCool,i’m gonna give singlespeed a go this year…a Rocket red Specialized
What are you on?Kryton57Full MemberPosted 8 years agoI’ll look out for you – black Anthem 29, I’m a young ‘un – in Vets.
Kryton57Full MemberPosted 8 years agoPhew! You know that feeling when you approach the line and see its two minutes to the end of the race and you COULD do another lap? 😀
So 6 laps 34km and 1500m climbed at Hadleigh, always hard work. 13th vet though, not bad for my first race since September, and that I wasn’t riding for a result. Yet again I was behind a crash on the start – aaaargh!
On the 34T oval, I found it just right – I wouldn’t want 36 nor 32 either, and if I can spin away with a 42 rear at 90rpm on a 9% singletrack climb that’s good enough for me. I can however vouch for oval, when you get tired you can really feel the lack of a dead spot on the climbs as your grinding away and – all other differences notwithstanding – I appeared to have more grip and avoided wheel spin induced spin out whereby others didn’t. Also re the dreaded “One bye” chain drop issue – never happened once.
padkinsonFree MemberPosted 8 years agoI’m planning on going at the XC pretty hard this year while I still have time, (some) money and fitness before going to uni. I also want to make my time in expert as short as possible – i.e. getting promoted to elite next year. I haven’t got a confirmed calendar in place yet, but my vague plans:
– At least one of the remaining Gorrick spring series
– Some regional XC, probably a few MSGs, and a couple of Southern and Midlands
– All the BC national series, and the national champs
– As many of the Benelux* (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) series as possible
– Some more C1/HC class racing in Europe, hopefully Bike the Rock in Hebauch and a couple in Portugal.
– And possibly an enduro!I’ve set myself a few goals for the season too: winning at least one national in the expert cat; getting on the podium somewhere in europe; and a top 5 at the u23 champs.
*These are actually all closer to my house, both as the crow flies and in driving time (ignoring ferry time), than all but one of the British National series! One of the rounds is only 1 hour worth of driving away.
everyoneFree MemberPosted 8 years agoI’ve got to wait till next weekend as well ferrals. First round of the Midlands XC, I’m so excited it’s unbelievable!
ferralsFree MemberPosted 8 years agoYep I’m getting pretty excited too, just been out in the garage fettling, new cable and new chain fitted 😀
Just starting to worry I haven’t trained sensibly and despite all the hours put in I’ll find I’m slower than last year when I just rode my bike when I felt like it 😳
Jonny5Free MemberPosted 8 years agoI’m having a go at the MSG events this year. Probably the Gorrick 100 as well, I enjoyed it last year.
rsvktmFull MemberPosted 8 years agoWife and I going to have a go at that Midlands first round as well, been at Sherwood today for a quick go as not been for a while. Thunder burts were interesting in the mud after a lot of rain this morning !
Anyone know what the course is normally like ?schmikenFull MemberPosted 8 years agoHopefully my new grips will turn up in the next couple of days so I can build the race bike up again!
Then the first proper race (did the 5by3 a couple of weeks ago) is the Midlands in a couple of weeks as well.
padkinsonFree MemberPosted 8 years agoI’ve made a last minute entry to the MSG, I figured it’s only 15 minutes away so I might as well! There’s actually quite a few good experts entered, so it should be a good race.
Apparently there’s some decent elevation available at the venue, so could be a good course.windygFree MemberPosted 8 years agoLooks like you’ll have quite a race Paddy some good riders in there, I expect Liam will be flying.
Kryton57Full MemberPosted 8 years agoFor those in / around London, Beastway entry has opened with series discounts available:
Enter the whole series in advance by 1 April and save up to £59.
We’ll waive the £3 number board charge for full series entrants. Series entry and payment from here. https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/eventsCoursebashing Day from noon on Saturday 2 April.
Bring gloves, workwear and your favourite bushwhacking tools.Series info
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events
http://www.beastwaymtb.com
beastway@btinternet.comTradervan Beastway 2016 Series
Saturday 9 April
Round 1 Series opener cross-country.
– Beastway normally starts in late May – but why wait!? Extra daylight with an afternoon start means a longer race, making it more attractive for anyone wanting those early season ranking points. Watch out for the new sections of course, made specially to give you a longer race! Enter the full series before this round and save money.Full series entry closes on 1 April.
XCO FORMAT (min 4km, max 6km course. 1hr30mins seniors)
12h00 Open practice
12h30 u12 race (short course target 15-20mins) 12h55 Course closes
13h00 Juvenile & Youth (target 30mins)
13h35 Practice
14h00 Seniors start
16h00 PodiumWednesday evenings 18 May thru 29 June – rounds 2 to 8.
The full-blast usual Beastway format on a different course each week.
XCC FORMAT (Different short course each week, 1hr seniors) 18h00 Course open for practice
18h30 U12 race (short course target 15-20mins)
19h30 Seniors start
19h50 Juve/Youth start 20h30 FinishSaturday 2 July Round 9
The Tradervan Beastway Decider and Series Prizegiving. Our second full cross-country length race followed by a special celebration and reunion ten years after Eastway closed.
(min 4km, max 6km course. Target 1hr40mins seniors)
14h30 u12 race (short course target 15-20mins) 15h00 Practice
15h25 Course closes
15h30 Juvenile & Youth (target 30mins)
16h00 Practice
16h30 Seniors start
18h30 Podium and series prizegivingadshFree MemberPosted 8 years agoPity it’s East London – probably a 3hr plus round trip which isn’t feasible.
Any midweek racing closer to Bucks, Oxford, Berkshire? Only think I can see is the Banjo midweek CX.
Kryton57Full MemberPosted 8 years agoOh I don’t know – from there is the “wrong” (less busy) way around the M25. I can do Henley (work office) to there in 1:05.
stayhighFull MemberPosted 8 years agoThe Beastways series look interesting but what is the format of the races? Is there a set number of laps like the Saddle Skedaddle series or is it the most laps started in the time period like Brass Monkeys?
Sorry if this is obvious to those more on point with this than me but all I could see on the site was that its a XCO or XCC race which doesnt mean much to me 😳
WallyFull MemberPosted 8 years agoI signed up for MSG and now have bad cold. Feel exhausted but will amble around. Open category, but that still attracts really fast serious chaps.
theotherjonvFull MemberPosted 8 years agoThe Beastways series look interesting but what is the format of the races?
I believe it’s CX style. Once the first lap is done they work out how many laps it’ll be for the race to last an hour give or take, and then that’s how long it is. Except if you’re a slower rider and get lapped, then you finish on whatever lap you’re on once the leader finishes.
Means that timings can be more controlled rather than waiting for slow riders to finish.
Kryton57Full MemberPosted 8 years agoI believe it’s CX style. Once the first lap is done they work out how many laps it’ll be for the race to last an hour give or take, and then that’s how long it is. Except if you’re a slower rider and get lapped, then you finish on whatever lap you’re on once the leader finishes
.
Yup, thats it.
bombjackFree MemberPosted 8 years agoDefo some of the FNSS races in the East Mids this year. Only managed 1 last season due to work and kiddie commitments. Didn’t come last though so that was mission 1 accomplished. Still utterly shocked at how fast old fat guys can be!
stayhighFull MemberPosted 8 years agoExcept if you’re a slower rider and get lapped
That’ll be me then 😆
What are the courses like, I’ve previously only raced Gorrick BM/SS series.
RoterSternFree MemberPosted 8 years agoUsed to race the Beastway series back in the day at the original venue at Eastway. Can’t recommend it highly enough. Really friendly organization and great fun. Being able to ride there from central London was always a big plus but AFAIK the new venue is more of a trek.
The whole XC scene seems to have died a death in the this part of Germany. The regional series has folded because of lack of participants. The bureaucracy is unbearable and the amount of money the organizers have to put up front prohibitive (someone told me the other day that you have to pay 7 grand to the BDR (the German national cycling body) just to have the race accredited.
The marathon scene is much bigger though and TBH the amount of travelling you have to do to get to venues I would much rather be racing for three to five hours than the hour that German XC races take.
rp16vFree MemberPosted 8 years agohave 2 local club xc races under me so far this year but need my fix anyone traveling from around the bristol area??
booked up so far is
HOTS (less of a race)
bikefest
oktoberfestlooking to hit somthing next month would be nice to try and do one a month over the summer travel depending as i only have a little 1.2 corsa so long motorways can be a drag
anyone els finding this abit of an issue?
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