After a very long break from xc racing I’m back on it this summer and will be racing the MSG series for starters but have just noticed there’s a round of the National series at Hadleigh in March I’d like to do too. Is it worth a trip to get some practice in what with all that rocky stuff there and bearing in mind the last time I raced mtb I was on a rigid Klein Attitude!? I’ve got myself a new Spark so hoping it will get me round.

How far would you need to travel? I’ve been once but was in the area anyway. There’s probably a couple of hours entertainment there, and there are a couple of steep descents worth riding before racing. However if you’re there for a couple of hours you will be doing most of the circuit 3 or 4 times as there isn’t much to it.

I’m only about 60 miles away in sunny Ashford, Kent. A couple of hours riding will enough and happy to just do laps. Do you know if the Nationals will use the ‘A’ lines?

Nationals usually does the a lines. Worth checking out if possible as practice on the day at nationals is pretty limited.

Not rocky, but there’s probably some drops of similar size in Kings Wood near you, or Covert woods nearer Canterbury. There’s also a small rock garden at Bedgebury. But if you’re happy with laps for a couple of hours at Hadleigh, then worth the drive in my opinion. Though there’s not any massive hills like up naurf, it is exhausting at a fast pace.

Just make sure you factor in delays on the flyover approaching the Dartford crossing. I made that mistake once and completely missed the race (was just a thing I did for fun a while back).

thanks @sirromj, I was going to wait for Kings Wood and Covert to dry out a bit. (My stomping grounds for many years.) After a very muddy cx season the gravel trails at Hadleigh sounds a little more attractive!

Hadleigh is all short, sharp ups and short, sharp downs.

I did a couple of laps there a while back, 1200ft of climbing over 7.5 miles.

There’s a couple of steep rock rolls that looked proper dodgy in the wet, I’d say it’s well worth a practice.

Bedgebury and covert aren’t really similar at all, the man made rock gardens/drops at Hadleigh are far bigger than bedgebury, covert is mostly ‘natural’ singletrack, some small drops, bomb holes etc.

Covert is still rideable now, the left side is pretty dry, and just the top of the right side and some of the transfers being boggy.

Even if the nationals uses A-lines the B-lines will be accessible. I’d agree it’s worth getting some practice in if you can.

TBH I haven’t been out on the MTB to any of these areas for a while so forgot about how wet they’d be right now.

Thought there was a couple of drops at Covert at least handlebar height or just over, and similar at Kings. I know they’re not rocky, but if not confident sending drops, not practising on rocky drops would be a little safer… let’s just pretend there’s no flint there eh.

I raced the Nat Champs there a couple of years ago and was really glad that I’d been on a 2 hr tuition course beforehand. Pretty well all the features of the Olympic course were used and there’s a few that are quite intimidating. Leap of Faith and Tripple Trouble spring to mind. There’s no way I’d have ridden off the top of tripple trouble without a coach talking us through it first. Was a real thrill doing it in a race situation on the big day. (Before anyone chimes in with “that’s easy”, remember we’re talking about doing it on a 100mm bike with 70 degree head angle here, dressed only in Lycra).
There were also features like the rock garden which repaid practicing different lines. There were fast lines but also better lines when you were exhausted or someone was in your way.
All in all it’s a good day out. 3 hours sees it all worked through but there’s a nice cafe and the trails are rock hard.
I need a refresher so could be up for meeting up. I’m mid forties now and getting more fearful of breaking myself by the day. Am wavering about doing the National this year for that reason which is a shame as it’s a fantastic course to race on.

Hadleigh is fine when your fresh, when hyper ventilating & a few laps in on an xc bike it’s very unforgiving. I have never seen so many broken riders as at the first national held there.

Practice sessions on race weekend are pretty useful – lots of opportunity to watch how other riders do stuff smoothly. If you find someone that looks nice and steady / controlled then ask if you can follow them down it – that sorts out your speed and line choice.

The features are generally designed to just be ridden. The people crashing are usually trickling off at crawling pace or deliberately trying to jump and hucking way beyond the normal landing.

Probably going to give it a go this week, Tues probs. Good thing will be no one will be around to see me flouncing over the rocks. Bad thing is no one will be around to pick me up when said flouncing goes wrong. One question;
are the black runs and olympic black runs one and the same?

I live around 30 minutes from Hadleigh so have visited a few time when trying to avoid the mud of winter. I tend to treat the place like a giant skills loop rather than a trail centre, there are two/three options on the technical ups and downs so you can go around stuff. How difficult is it? On an xc bike with ridged post – very, on a trail/down country like with a better geometry and dropper – not that bad. I would say it’s worth going to get an idea of what it’s like if you have never rode north wales trail centres with hard rocks and foot high drop offs into more rock (where line chose is important).

Ps some of the chicken lines are harder than the main line

????

Hadleigh Parkes Are yo saying he is a jeyboy?