I was down for solo, but been asked to race mixed pairs to try and podium for Hunt Wheels…. so down for that!!!

And just entered my 4 year old (who can only ride a balance bike!!) and my 9 year old (who is a sore loser!!)….

Bring on the sunshine funshine!

DrP

As you won’t be allowed to wear *that vest* this year I’ll be there.

Ahh… loophole…
I can wear full riding gear when RIDING… and go absolutely start b****ck naked the rest of the time..

That’ll show ’em..

DrP

carry a brolly:

It’s looking like a stormy end to this week. On Thursday night / Friday morning we are expecting a band of persistent heavy rain followed by heavy showers and thunderstorms during the day on Friday. Torrential rain is possible with some places seeing 30mm of rain in a few hours

They’re forecasting gusts of up to 50mph, so I’d only put the brolly up when you’re heading east.

Super news on the weather front. I’m marshalling this year. 😑

August is a write off these days, we need to shift the school holidays to July.

Ming coming!  Team of two, I’ll either be on the Curtis bling speed (if it’s ready) suffering from lack of fitness or the White Enduro struggling with draggy tyres😁. I will of course be wearing my Fox Racing pyjamas.

im going to really try and not break my wrist like I did at big dog 2 !

Mixed pairs, as usual. Not expecting to exceed our high water mark of fourth, it’s not been a fast year! Waiting to see how many have done every year this time around!

Looking forward to it, tbf I think we must be due a wet one.

Singular team of 3 with the DS.

Yep in for vets pair.

Vets pair here, with a partner who’s a relative beginner so I’m not hunting for results.  Would be nice to get get 4 or 5 hard laps in.

Most likely will be Oneder Dogging (edit, now called CLiffshot lap which has far less innuendo bingo opportunities) as I have zero competitive instinct but need a new mug..

Will also be bringing sunglasses as I have seen Ming’s Fox racing kit before and it caused a major league migraine

Team of three for me, always a great day out on and off the bike. See you all there.

5 in my team racing x2 vets pairs and one doing solo

In! Another one lapper or two here.

My 9 year old will be racing yours @DrP. He’s almost as excited as I am (but doesn’t have any friends he can discuss tyre choice with).

In for pairs here. Going up Thursday for a few laps- weather should be interesting!
Did solo last year and loved it but looking forward to being able to go for it a bit more rather than survive!

I’m in! Pairs.

My little one (5) wants a dabble. What age brackets are the kids races? And at what time?

Solo for me. Have ridden in the past as part of a three and love this course. 2012 it started muddy and slippery which was great fun then progressively dried through the afternoon until the grip was amazing. Lap times got faster which is a really cool feeling.
First race of the year for me after taking time out from all the madness. Looking at the start list I’ve seen a fair few friends from the cx scene so am looking forward to catching up.

My little one (5) wants a dabble. What age brackets are the kids races? And at what time?

9am and under 8s for a 5 year old… http://www.brightonbigdog.com/categories

I’ll be making tea for you all

Dont forget to enter the Cake Competition…

What’s the cake competition?

Big Dog Cake Pledge:
We all love a nice free cuppa and a slice of home made cake at Big Dog…. but where do all those delicious home bakes come from??
…. from good folks like yourself.

We would love your cake donations please. And remember if you make it nice/decorated you can enter it into the Big Dog Bake Off Competition. Voted for by our spectators and racers, the winning cake gets one of the last exclusive Big Dog Tea Pots plus two of this years Mugs.
All competition entries are then sliced to be enjoyed after 3pm.

So how about it? Get the kids round the mixing bowl and have some fun with it. Please pledge to help your event and let others enjoy some o your home baking….let’s show our visitors again what makes Brighton Big Dog such a fun event. Please encourage others. Deliver your cakes to Nicky at the Tea Tent on Saturday 10th.
Thankyou 🤗

I’ll be there, with GF and brother in mixed triples. I hope we do better than our other attempt at mixed triples, me and bro have managed solid enough performance (against our expectations anyway!) in pairs previously.

A little worried about the wind causing issues at the weekend. And also, on our final recce last night there were a load of travellers pitching up. Not on the arena side, but where the carparking for the teams is (as you enter the park through the gates on the right hand side).

Fingers Crossed.

Not to be judgemental, but £1000’s of bike kit in cars and vans, Storm whatever and Met office “do not travel unless necessary advice” going on.

The organisers have posted that gazebos and tents will not be allowed on the day and that they are monitoring weather conditions.

Last time there were Travellers there a couple of days before the event an ’emergency’ eviction was carried out.

note re travvellers from big dog FB account:

We have a request in with council and police. Hopefully can be politely moved on. Also looking at added security on Saturday. We will all need to be vigilant and remind everyone near us in parking etc to be same.

There’s still a massive pile of stuff left at the end of Rollercoaster from a month or so back! 🙁

Music festivals cancelled in both Newquay and Norfolk for next weekend – it’s not been a good few weeks for outdoor events in the UK.

Good luck to the organisers for this one.

Rode the course last night but with all the rain and wind who knows what it’s going to look like tomorrow at 12! The bridges over the A27 are very exposed going across a valley, with 50mph winds, will make those barriers feel awfully low! Could easily adapt the course to miss that section out, a shame as it’s a great part but may well be sketchy getting across.

Reckon it’ll be muddy with the forecast in mind? I’ve got fast summer tyres on so may need a last minute swap out..

It’s going to take a lot of rain to make it muddy (which we might well get). Unfortunately it doesn’t take much rain to make some parts of the course quite difficult to ride, never mind racing with a couple of hundred others.

Good luck to everyone. I’ll hopefully be riding over to watch and take some pictures and videos.

Does anybody know anything about entering on the day? Especially for the kids in the morning. Suddenly available but with the impending weather want to make a call tomorrow morning. Is on the day entry for the kids still possible (I’m sure it was in the past)?

I’ve seen people hang around with signs saying “rider available” before… no idea how successful they’ve been.

Am so hoping it’s on. 50mph wind isn’t that bad. Unless you’re trying to erect a registration tent obviously!

There’s still a massive pile of stuff left at the end of Rollercoaster

The new lot of travellers are using the woods at the back of the park (where the cross races take place) as a toilet area. Fortunately we spotted the toilet roll before we rode through it 🙁

Agree with muggomagic it doesn’t have to rain much to make it a very tricky course – I used summer tyres last year when it was a bit damp for the first couple of laps. Despite being a regular at Stanmer I really struggled and ended up with a faceplant on the Coldean bit after my front wheel washed out on an off camber root.

Last year the rain was biblical the night before the race, way wetter than the forecast this year. The course was fine, I’d recommend tyres in the racing ralph category. The roots will be wet which no tyre will help with and the top layer a bit sticky, you want open tread and it will clear fine.

I did see a few people WAY out of their depth because of the wet roots (including one lass in floods of tears 😔) but it’s a great course, plenty fast and fun. It’s an MTB race, stay off the brakes, take the highest line you can and eat cake. You’ll be fine. 👍🏻😎

I wash out in moderately dry conditions.

Which tyres shall I run for a mixture of water, wind and that clear p1key poo quickly?

There’s some new lines where trees/bushes have been cut back on some of the rootier sections giving some easier ways through I noticed yesterday. It was all running beautifully yesterday that’s for sure, as you say last year was worse- so my ardent races will be ideal 👌🏻

this came from the organisers but ended up in my spam folder;

Weather:

You may be aware there is a “yellow” warning for wind in the South-East on Saturday. Although this is the lowest weather warning level, there is a risk of disruption to transport and outdoors events. The event will go ahead as planned however we want you to know we may need to make adjustments on the day to the race course, facilities and possibly a later start and shorter race should we need more time for registration. With high winds expected we may not allow any rider tables and team tents that could cause a hazard. Please work with us on this on the day and understand this is a safety precaution to protect racers, supporters and other park users. Further information will be provided on the gate as you enter the car park and via PA announcements.

Security:

Please be vigilant about your bike security and personal property, especially when by your car in the parking area or going to the toilet. Please repeat remind others around you on the day.

We are near a major town and events are potentially vulnerable to theft.

Stanmer Park is a public space and with permission of the council we share it other park users. Always respect other park users and be polite even when racing.

Follow the Brighton Big Dog Facebook page for any further messages.

We are looking forward to seeing you on Saturday.

Though… the weather report for Worthing today was meant to be grim..as i sit here looking out the window at glorious sunshine…

Hmm… will see how tomorrow goes!!

DrP