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2017 XC Racing Thread
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iain65Free MemberPosted 7 years ago
On XC race bike weights, about 9kg is the norm for a HT and 10kg for a full suss, give or take a bit.
iain65Free MemberPosted 7 years agoIf 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.adshFree MemberPosted 7 years agoI’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
alwillisFull MemberPosted 7 years agoAnyone doing the Mad Dash race in Stroud this weekend?
And has anyone raced there before- what’s it like??
matt-lewisFree MemberPosted 7 years agoThey are very well organised. I’m not sure what the venue is like though. I’m just wondering about these tyres!
Cheers,
tomvetFull MemberPosted 7 years agoI 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 !
matt-lewisFree MemberPosted 7 years agoI might stick a rocket ron on the front then. It looks dry running upto it though. Cheers Tom.
aanddyFree MemberPosted 7 years agoAnyone 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.alwillisFull MemberPosted 7 years agoThe 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!!
ianpvFree MemberPosted 7 years agoI 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!
tomvetFull MemberPosted 7 years agoThe 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.
matt-lewisFree MemberPosted 7 years agoWeather looks dry for the weekend, if a bit cold but racing ralphs should be ok!
r8jimbob88Free MemberPosted 7 years agoI’ve also entered Hit The North this year for the first time. Sounds good fun
steve_b77Free MemberPosted 7 years agoI’ve entered Hit the North also, looks like it could be interesting
adshFree MemberPosted 7 years agoMust 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?
ferralsFree MemberPosted 7 years agoLikewise 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.
Kryton57Full MemberPosted 7 years agoWhere 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.
chrispoFree MemberPosted 7 years agoSounds 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]
ferralsFree MemberPosted 7 years ago@Molgrips: ”Venues and dates confirmed for 2017 Welsh Cycling MTB Cross-country Series”
@ Chrispo, you’re
probablycertainly 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
steve_b77Free MemberPosted 7 years agoUsual fire road slog interspersed with bog at Llandegla then Ferrals?
ferralsFree MemberPosted 7 years agoNah 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 😆
chrispoFree MemberPosted 7 years agoWas 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.
ferralsFree MemberPosted 7 years agoI 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.
molgripsFree MemberPosted 7 years agoWhat are the courses like for the Welsh series? Any sloppy mud ones? Or will I get away with all-rouder tyres?
triguy100Free MemberPosted 7 years agoFirst 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!).
ferralsFree MemberPosted 7 years ago@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
Adam_BucklandFree MemberPosted 7 years agoThere 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 http://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…
molgripsFree MemberPosted 7 years agoI’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.
r8jimbob88Free MemberPosted 7 years agoWell 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).
steve_b77Free MemberPosted 7 years agoJust entered Singletrack 7 at Catton Park in the solo cat, will give me a nice workout before Mayhem.
molgripsFree MemberPosted 7 years agoSo 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.
ferralsFree MemberPosted 7 years agoRons more versitile and, IMO, not signifcantly slower unless proper hardpack or on tarmac.
adshFree MemberPosted 7 years agoRons 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.
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