[Closed] 2017 XC Racing Thread

I'm busy trying to either get my hands on an Orbea Oiz or find something else to race this year.

Bit concerned I might have left it a bit late to get a test ride then buy a bike before racing starts!

My season kicks off at battle on the beach although I'm doing that on a tandem so it's more for fun (the captain might have other ideas though...). I'm planning on doing as many midlands and nationals as I can and maybe throw in some FNSS rounds if I get chance.

I'm racing sport so I should see you at midlands jimbob!

My plan is to do some Gorrick racing potentially and maybe an XC Rampage or 2. Training as per the Zwift thread is going swimmingly, although due to the rubish weather i have to admit i'm not getting out on the XC stuff as much as i'd ideally like. However when i am riding, i'm doing FoD/Swinley/BPW etc so trying to get the skills as sorted as i can.
I always wonder if it's skills or fitness that holds me back at XC Racing and i think it's fitness more so.

Mid field to back marker in Sport here. In fact given current fitness, certainly a back marker this year.

Planning on doing all the Welsh XC races except for the one at 'degla. Would like to do that too as enjoyed it last year but its a bit too much of schlep this year.

Also doing the two nationals in wales and the one at Wasing. Might negotiate doing Dalby as I loved that last year, but highly unlikely.

I promised I wasnt going to take racing seriously this year and not think about training till it got towards CX season because we've got too much on. However, I'm already excited! My fitness is really poor at the moment, managing to turbo a bit but can't remeber when I last rode outside 😥

Dalby is a fantastic course and there's a chance i'll be there twice (Nutcracker and Nationals).

I've had a decent start to the year fitness wise. Plenty of turbo hours. I've also bought a CX bike recently which certainly gives a good workout on the rougher stuff! I reckon i'm on par with where my peak fitness was last year. I'm happy with that and plenty of time to increase my fitness further before racing begins. A week in Tenerife at the end of this month should help!

Just turned veteran but CX is my focus so if I do any XC it'll just be local stuff as I can't be faffed with the travel for national MTB racing anymore.

I'm training hard but races are fairly few. Gorrick 100 and Brighton Big Dog are A events for me. I'd also like to revisit Erlestoke 12 (the 6hr) and Summer Monkey if it's on. Thereafter I'm not sure.

I am still mentally scarred from TIYS so not planning on any 12hr racing. Might possibly try some long distance ITTs after BBD.

Proper xc racing? Probably nothing as there's none close enough to me to make it worth while. Got a solo place at 24/12 and may do a pairs again at mayhem. I'd like to do torq in your sleep again but will see nearer the time.
@adsh I see your name down for the Braunton150. Make sure you bring your climbing legs!

I've got a bike that weighs less than 30lbs again, so I'm planning to enter Hit The North and the Midweek Madness series.

Anyone aware of anything else in the North West?

Im in the mud sweat and gears series again, ill be riding Beastway in London, the Scott Marathons and 12 hour Solo at Pivot 24/12.

Training is middling. I seem to have improved sustainable power for climbing & sprint power, not improved overall power, and currently have burning quads everytime i interval. First race 25th Feb so ill see how winter went.

Probably the rest of the soggy bottom winter series.
Probably the soggy bottom summer series.

Got a pivot 24/12 24solo entry but having second thoughts at the moment.

Has anyone done the MAD xc races in Stroud? Any good? Much climbing? Any tech?

not really made my mind up yet, but could well do a few midlands and some midweek stuff.new turbo came today after it was nicked at bradford cx

Have done Mud n Sweat night series and now started soggy bottom winter series. Just getting into the xc scene but have a bike probs far too heavy (30lb) so looking at lightening it or getting a 2nd one.

I did every round of the Mad xc series last year and one this year so far, well organised and a good course, last race was about 12 miles and 2000ft of climbing. The downhills are all single-track quite steep and muddy/off camber in places but nothing too tech. First race this year I had ideas above my station and shot off like a rat out a drainpipe and then went backwards quickly 😳

adsh I see your name down for the Braunton150. Make sure you bring your climbing legs!

I'm a maybe atm. Lots of race training but sod all miles. Will decide on the next couple of weeks.

Thanks tomvet. Sounds good. Prob be there Sunday week. Will see how I get on (haven't raced xc for a few years) and then maybe do the Welsh series. Fed up with coming last in enduro 🙂

BC Bike Race for me this year so skipping all the smaller stuff.

I want to keep my racing mojo hungry!

I’m in the midst of training and my 2017 aim is to race as many of the [url= http://www.langloppscupen.se/mitsubishi-mtb-challenge/hem__1 ]Mitsubishi MTB Challenge[/url] rounds as possible; some rounds are far up north and too far for me to go with a young family at home. This is called the Langloppscupen in Sweden which could be called Marathon MTB racing in English; basically between 80-100km XC racing.

In addition I intend to race the [url= http://www.vasaloppet.se/lopp/cykellopp/cykelvasan90/ ]Cykelvasan[/url] which is an MTB race over the Swedish classic XC skiing course.

Aim is to improve on my times and positions from last year.

Nutcracker + Midweek Madness for me and youngest son, plus eldest lad and Mrs will also be doing a few NPS rounds and National Champs.

I might actually be a bit faster, as the eldest keeps dragging me out on weekend road rides (this is the first winter he's done "proper" training).

Bream - would you mind me dropping you an email sometime? Looks like we'll be in South Sweden for a couple of weeks in summer - probably doing a bit with http://www.ridgecycling.com/

In an act of madness I've entered the 6 day Andalucia Bike Race with three others at the end of this month, 6 days of marathon distance stages :oops:! Training has gone well so far with some big miles in January, looking forward to a taper!

If I survive that it will be Midlands XC and National XC in GV.
Iain.

Mick, I did a half-day with Lonnie from http://www.ridgecycling.com a few years ago. Nice chap. Enjoyed apart from the steep bit where I forgot the Euro brakes and landed on my head... Bear in mind Southern Sweden's not the hilliest of places so not much in the way of big descents. Better to head further north!

I'm starting with the Cannock Winter Classic later this month in fat bike class, probably preceded by HTN the day before.

I'll aim to do the Mid Week Madness series too, but not much in June as that's all about Mountain Mayhem solo again, would like to go better than 9th overall this year.

May well do a round or two of the Welsh XC and possibly the Midlands, but definitely a couple of MTB Marathon series rounds.

Non competitive wise I'm doing the Trans Cambrian for my 40th and planning on riding the 140km to the start and then the 140km back home after we've finished the event, then it's Mayhem taper time.

Cheers Chrispo. Last few summers have been alps / pyrenees so flatter will make a change 🙂 would really like to be riding further north but ferry options limited and don't want to be driving forever (family of 4 with bikes and gear is hell on a plane). Are there any rocky bits that far south? Flat-ish with rock outcrops was fun around Stockholm when we did sswc.

Most of Sweden is littered with random lumps of rock but the ride we did was very English - open woodland finishing with a jumpy trail centre type descent under a ski lift. It was fun, just not Alpine. I don't know the south of Sweden well enough to give you any advice I'm afraid. I lived up north near Åre, which has a bit more elevation. I'm sure you'll still have fun given that you're reading the 2017 XC thread not the 2017 Gnarduro thread 🙂

Is there a how to get started in XC racing thread at all?

Could do with a bit of a challenge but not sure where to start?

Cheers

Could do with a bit of a challenge but not sure where to start?

find your nearest race.

bite the bullet and enter.

get dropped, get lapped, try not to throw up.

repeat.

Making a return to some racing after a few years out.
Not looking forward to being thrown back into expert!

Got the Sudety mtb challenge in July - 6 days of racing in Poland and Czech.
Alongside some Scottish Xc series and a few other longer things. Always preferred marathon type racing over out and out xc.

Hi Mick,

I know Lonnie and Nellie and even did some guiding for Lonnie a few years back, albeit road stuff with groups of Danes at that time. Lonnie and co will look after you well and show you around Hallandsåsen, he knows the area very well. There isn't a lot of height there but there's a lot of up and down with very natural trails.

Southern Sweden is pretty flat but there some wonderful riding to be had. Are you alone or a group, I could also take you out if you had time and even lend you a bike etc.

I was one of the original trail builders at Vallåsen and organised the Swedish cup DH race there, so I have a close bond with that hill.

Hi Mr Bream. Thanks for the info - I'll drop you a mail over weekend to avoid derailing the race thread 🙂

Talking of races, looks like hit the north is almost open for business (on bc website but can't enter yet)

Racing for 2017 starts tomorrow and keeps going all week. Will also be doing Big Dog, some Gorrick events and anything else that catches my eye.

Hopefully I will be fit enough.

Sold my racey xc frame, now got a hankering to try a race, it'll have to be on my Solaris though....

Will hopefully do all the Scott MTB Marathon events, then depending on fitness throw some XC races in. 2 yrs ago I managed to 'place' top 10 on the MTB Marathon at Rhayader, short route, 25k so reckon I'd be [i]alright[/i] in short xc races fitness being similar.

Is anyone doing that cotswold job next Sunday?

Friday Night Summer Series, Leics/Warks/Northants area.

What sort of weight are people getting 29" race hardtails down to?

Just weighed my Solaris at 27.5lb (with pedals, bottle cage, and Garmin) with a 2.4 front tyre, that's 2x10 with 100mm reba.

Oh dear.

Mines 21.5lb with a new seat post arriving on my birthday that'll take the .5 off. I could still lose weight on the stem, saddle, top cap & spacers also.

Reba also, 1x11 but I left my Garmin off 🙂

Garmin must be 3lb 😆

I'm best part of 15st mind, so a few pounds in the frame are hardly an issue tbh.

I also hope to manage most of the[url= http://www.xcup.se ] CX Cup[/url]; short course XC racing = pain/bleeding lungs/death etc...

Anyone know of a race around Bedfordshire? I'd like to go and watch to see if it's within my skill set, I know I'm not fit enough to race. I promised myself when I made veteran class, I'd pin a number on again.

The XC race acene has died on its arse in this part of Germany it's the marathon races that attract the numbers these days. Got my first race in March which could either be a mud fest or a snow fest. Doing it fully rigid singlespeed to see how I get on then got some Rebas to put on for the rest if the season. I've been invited to join a local club which means I can get a German racing licence so I might do a few more road races this year and my new mtb/cross team wants to enter a few races in the Czech Republic and Poland as the courses are supposed to be a lot better than those in Germany as they have less strict access laws.

Anyone know of a race around Bedfordshire? I'd like to go and watch to see if it's within my skill set, I know I'm not fit enough to race. I promised myself when I made veteran class, I'd pin a number on again.

Usually at least one race in Beds.:

br />
[url= http://fnssmtb.com/ ]FNSS[/url]

None confirmed for Beds, yet, see the AGM for confirmed venues, one at MK, others in Northants, so not far from you.

Excellent, thank you!! Mk is only an hour from me.

On XC race bike weights, about 9kg is the norm for a HT and 10kg for a full suss, give or take a bit.

If people are looking to start racing and live somewhere near the midlands then the Friday Night Summer Series is the easiest way to start. They begin in May, there is one nearly every Friday night, £10 to enter on the day and good racing where there will always be someone in front of you and someone behind you! Races last about an hour.
It's a better way to spend Friday night than in the pub and probably cheaper.

Www.fnssmtb.com

I've raced against Solares and they didn't seem out of place. I happily race my Niner MCR when it's muddy though I've got that down to 23.5lb

Anyone doing the Mad Dash race in Stroud this weekend?

And has anyone raced there before- what's it like??

They are very well organised. I'm not sure what the venue is like though. I'm just wondering about these tyres!

Cheers,

I ran a 2.0 inch maxxis beaver front and a 2.3 racing raplh rear double defense rear at MAD xc last time. If I had the money and time I would swap the rear for another beaver or similar. The climbs are all weather and the descents are all tight twisty off camber single-track and good fun !

I might stick a rocket ron on the front then. It looks dry running upto it though. Cheers Tom.

Anyone aware of anything else in the North West?

Look up crank it cycling/racing on Facebook,
They ran 2 excellent rounds last year at Clayton vale and gisburn forest, and are back this year with 3 rounds Lee quarry, gisburn and a venue in the lakes.

 

The climbs are all weather and the descents are all tight twisty off camber single-track and good fun !

Sounds good, finally put my entry in last night so will see how it goes!!

I did the first MAD dash, good course, fireroad climbs (over 900m!) and singletrack descents. I ran beavers front and rear on my solaris, and got 3rd in Vet (4th overall). If you're racing them also look at the wickwar series, they've only had one so far and that was fun - that was my first race for 4 years and I got 2nd in vet, again on the solaris - shorter and less climbing than the MAD races, but still a decent course (both were much better than I was expecting)

I was going to race this season, but then foolishly entered the highland trail, so the training has changed a bit!

If it's all weather, why run mud tyres?

The uphills are all weather, the down hills are unsurface singletrack on some of the Cotswolds finest slippiest clingiest clay, but great fun none the less.

Weather looks dry for the weekend, if a bit cold but racing ralphs should be ok!

I've also entered Hit The North this year for the first time. Sounds good fun

I've entered Hit the North also, looks like it could be interesting

Must admit to feeling a bit down in the dumps. Training hard but for what. G100 not happening this year, no mention of summer monkey, Erlestoke still provisional. Where are all the longer races?

This might be the year...

Bike needs newer fatter tyres.

Likewise a bit down in the dumps though for different reasons, less than 2 weeks till first welsh xc and i feel horrifically unfit. Not really surprising as am in base phase of TR and playing the long game for cx but am worried about being slaughtered!! This time last year I was frothing, right now I'm unsure I'll even turn up.

My legs have felt full of training for two weeks, I barely rode last week as felt too much fatigue, can't work out why, not been doing a massive amount. Only thing I can think is the lack of sleep at the moment is hampering recovery. TR plan says intervals later so half hoping that might jump start me. Thinking about sacking off TR and just riding for the commute and mixing in various intervals as pretty de-motivated.

Where are all the longer races?

Have you consideres the Scott Marathons, Pivot 24/12?

With my first MTB Reg A MSG race on Sunday, I'm not feeling it either. With Saturdays 101k on the TT bike average 29.5kmh in the winter AND with 28k of that stop start through north London Traffic I was impressed with my power/pace/endurance, and came home thinking maybe I am significantly fitter and stronger after winter training, only to fall sick with a "malais" (weak aching body & headache) Sunday and yesterday. I now spend all week in hotels struggling not to put weight on.

I'm nervous, I don't know how its going to go and am in desparate need of some positive thinking.

Sounds like perhaps you should just ride for fun for a bit. You'll probably still end up hitting a few climbs, but it'll be because you feel like it rather than because you have to. The whole idea of schedules and intervals brings me out in a rash...

I'll be at Afan but I'm not really feeling it for XC after Stroud mudfest. Need to have a word with myself.

[That was aimed at Ferrals, but sounds like he's not the only one]

Is the Gorrick 100 definitely not happening?

There's a Welsh XC series?

^^ If you look at the page it's [i]'taking a rest for 2017'[/i]

@Molgrips: [url= https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/wales/mtb/article/20170124-wc-mountainbike-Venues-and-dates-confirmed-for-2017-Welsh-Cyclign-MTB-Cross-country-Series-0 ]"Venues and dates confirmed for 2017 Welsh Cycling MTB Cross-country Series"[/url]

@ Chrispo, you're [s]probably [/s] certainly right. Originally was going to ditch training for th first half of this year but bad habits die hard! At least Afan shouldnt be muddy, think its using bits of the wall according to BC.

edit. I'm not sure I actually get any fitter doing turbo stuff anyway, given that my default is to ride as fast as I can

🙁

Usual fire road slog interspersed with bog at Llandegla then Ferrals?

Nah can't make that one this year, newborn means long trips away to race are frowned upon 😕 Will do the rest.

Pleased to see for the Welsh series they've dropped the requirement from all races to 4 out of 5 - even if it does mean my appearance on last years series podium by default (only two of us did all the races) is unlikely to happen again 😆

Was Llandegla shit then? I had high hopes for that one...

Dunno what to expect from the new Aber venue but I'm not the biggest fan of the Pembrey and Builth CX courses.

I thought Llandegla was fun, bar one poorly flowing bit of Singletrack

Aber was good last year, loads of nice rooty singletrack, a decent climb and small sections of a DH track. Looking forward to that one.

What are the courses like for the Welsh series? Any sloppy mud ones? Or will I get away with all-rouder tyres?

First real XC season after my injury so have trained a bit over the winter and in my enthusiasm I have entered, 10 under the Ben as a 100 plus pair (I am the junior in this needless to say :-), not by that much though), Selkirk MTB, Glentress 7 (solo) and also as a wee holiday am going to do the Sudety 6 stage race in Poland in July.

Have had good reports from friends who have done this one, looking forward seeing a new bit of the world to me. Have bought a new FS KTM (Scarp sonic) to replace the Scott Scale 700, hopefully be a little more forgiving on the old body.

Will likely ride a few of the SXC races and would like to do K101 again and not have an hours mechanical. All in all I can't wait for spring to appear up here in the NE of Scotland (usually around June!).

@molgrips, shouldn't need mud tyres. Only one I can imagine there being a posibility of mud is aber at the end of May if a lot of rain. I've got rocket rons on at the moment, will be switching the rear to a racing Ralph soon

There are a few mentions from some of you about doing the Nationals, if you fancy a practice at the Wasing round the first round of the SouthernXC will be on the same course. I have been working hard with the organiser of the nationals round to develop the course further so we have added some new parts that ride really well and alter the configuration quite a lot.

The information and pre entry for SouthernXC is is at www.eventrexuk.co.uk, just scroll down and click on the SouthernXC logo.

There seems to be loads of great racing around this summer, we really struggled to get dates that didn't clash with other events when we were planning the SouthernXC schedule at the end of last year. It seems to be a great mix of traditional events like Big Dog, Pivot etc along with the established regional XC series' and the odd new events coming through or back from the past. Loads of choices...

I've got rocket rons on at the moment, will be switching the rear to a racing Ralph soon

Think I'll order some 2.2 RRs as per my other thread about ZTR Olympic rims.

Well it's just 3 and a half weeks until my first race of the year. I'm like a coiled spring ready to go! I'm off to Tenerife on Friday for a week. Can't wait.

My current fitness is definitely at an all time peak. I ramped up the training volume for the last two months and feel pretty damn good. Quite a contrast to last year when sickness brought me tumbling back down to square one just weeks before racing begun.

Does anyone know if there are any Midweek Madness races happening this year? It's been growing in popularity for the last few years (based in the NW).

Just entered Singletrack 7 at Catton Park in the solo cat, will give me a nice workout before Mayhem.

So Rons are a bit chunkier than Ralphs in terms of tread, and slightly better in mud?

Thinking I want all-rouders I can leave on - I can't be arsed messing around with tyres any more.

Rons more versitile and, IMO, not signifcantly slower unless proper hardpack or on tarmac.

Rons do have bigger (but fewer) knobs. Carcass same or slightly less thick than a Ralph (which is fractionally heavier).

By no means could you call them a mud tyre. Were it me wanting a leave on solution I'd go Ron front and Ralph rear - it's what I have on my 29er. Ralphs though sparse in the middle have fairly decent side knobs to catch things when they let go.