Hurrah! it’s time for the 2018/19 CX racing thread!

Well, #crossiscoming is definitely upon us.. the weather has turned with plenty of rain even if the ground is still hard. In fact, with a lot of leagues  having their first race in the first weekend in Septemeber its pretty much #crossisboss time. The season seems to have appeared pretty quickly!

Only my 4th season but cx is definitely the highlight of the year for me.

Where are you racing, what goals do you have for the season etc?

Welsh league again for me so I have another 3 weeks until the first race. After a really good second season I set myself unrealistic goals for last year (top 10 in series) I was a fair few places off so I’m not setting any goals this year. Plus I don’t feel like I’ve put in the training intensity required this year (I was always planning on a slow burn approach but I haven’t even lit the candle) . Welsh league is pretty full on this year – a race every weekend from mid september to mid december with only one weekend break so I’ll probably have to miss a couple.

I’ve still a hankering to get anihilated at a national trophy so might give Shrewsbury a crack to extend the season after christmas but depends on how results go. I’d love to go up to Irvine as I ride sand and dunes a lot at home but its too far and too early to know how embarrasing my fitness.

Post up race reports, pics, videos, thoughts, equipment changes etc and hopefully we can get a good thread going like previous years.

In the meantime, let hope for a few races like this..

I’d love to go up to Irvine as I ride sand and dunes a lot

You’d probably be disappointed! I raced the new course at the end of last season, there isn’t really that much sand involved (nice course though, the off-cambers were quite something!)

I’m back for my second season – not got a clue where my fitness is compared to this time last year. Think i might be a bit stronger but basically guessing. Aiming to solidify my standard upper-mid table obscurity, maybe even get a cheeky grid spot if all goes well. Lopping 700g off the bike just by changing wheels will definitely entitle me to a 10 position bonus anyway.

Starting in the middle of next month with SCX1 on Bute, then will probably still be a little picky avoiding some of the more “meh” courses from last year. Should be good for 8-10 races I think, the calendar up here is a bit woolly at the moment though

Just looking at the Welsh league – first round is local to us.  I’m wondering if my 9yo daughter would enjoy it.  What are the kids’ courses like?  Anyone know what the Cardiff one is like for kids?

for u10s i think its 15 minutes of cycling round an approx 2minute mini lap – normally using some of the adult course but gnerally the easier bits. Lots of kids do it, lots of abilities and super friendly so give it a crack! Llanishen is one of my favourite courses, classic round the playing fields stuff. It seems due to building work they have less space to work with than previous years but I’m sure it will still be good.

Anyone know how I embed youtube videos as clearly I still failed despite about 5 attempts earlier :-(

Wahay, about time!

Broke my collarbone at the end of May so have been fixated on CX season for the whole summer…

Managed three races last year, and looks like I should be able to make a minimum of three this year, based on the current Scottish calendar.

Fitness is good I think, despite collarbone, as have been doing some slightly more focussed turbo stuff. Still have 5 or 6 weeks till the first race I’m targetting, so should manage some more improvement.

Still haven’t committed to an actual CX bike, so will continue making do with my Trek Superfly. Hoping some new Limus tyres will give me a wee edge over last year, my current Contis were fine but a bit toothless! Fitted an oval ring as well, general consensus is that they offer a bit of improved traction…

Biggest improvement will be in my warm ups, in every race last year I had to stop before my third lap then soft pedal a lap whilst the wheezing abated and my airways opened up again! Pretty scary at the time but apparently quite common if you go 110% from standing in cold conditions…

Legend, I think I can guess which course you considered ‘meh’ after all the debate about it on ScottishCX FB :wink:

haha yeah they can stick in all the spirals they want but I can’t see me ever loving it! Looking through what I did last year that’s the only one I’m not fussed about, the other ones that are likely to be a no-go for me are Knockburn and Mull just because of how far away they are.

I’ve been looking at second hand rollers (but not actually done anything about it). Reckon they’d be good to have once you get used to falling off them

Aye, I’m strictly central belt for now, missing Lochore would only leave me two that I could make.

Plus I loved the Spiral :lol:

Rollers are great but I think they need a lot of practice before you can just set them up anywhere, wonky uneven car parks were my downfall last year, hence thinking about packing the turbo + spare bike…

Can’t you just warm up on a nearby road?

Aye, I’m strictly central belt for now, missing Lochore would only leave me two that I could make.

Hopefully some more will pop up, the calendar definitely needs filling at this point. We were looking at holding a SQ race in Mugdock but sadly the ground isn’t as good as hoped. Anyway there should (hopefully) still be; Calendar, Strathy Park, Rouken Glen and Plean. Rozelle Park (Doonbank Trofee) is easy to get to as well depending on where you are

Three rounds of the Supermarine evening/night cross series entered :-)  Now i just need to wrestle the TriCross back off my daughter and convert it back to the cross version

Tempted seeing as the first two Wessex rounds are local, but:

a) already got two racing weekends in sept/oct so there’ll be clashes

b) despite saying I’d get fit, I didn’t

I’m working on the assumption that they’ll let me race on my MTB.  Otherwise I’d need the commuter bike which is not ideal!

yes mtb is fine.

No bar ends (and no panniers, which I remember someone turned up with previously)

Ferrals, I tried foing up and down the road at races last year but didn’t really feel it worked for me, nervous about getting back to car and getting back to start line etc. plus was too focussed on traffic and other riders on the road to get a proper warm up!

Legend, I’d forgotten Strathclyde Park, missed it last year, strange the SCX series doesn’t appear to be using it this year? Hoping Plean makes it onto calendar somewhere after your enthusiastic recommendation last year. Don’t forget Fife College!

I wonder if it’s worth putting some ‘mud’ CX tyres on the 29er?  Better than MTB mud tyres?  They seem cheaper.

Fife

No chance are we including Fife as being Central Belt :)

Hoping to have a bit more of a go at the Welsh league this year and make the most of my last year in seniors. Managed to have a reasonable year on the bike so far in non-cx stuff so will see how that translates into cx racing.

Also looking forward to the burgers afterwards.

Oh and I’ve got a pair of Hope-hub tub disc/rim brake wheels for sale if anyone’s interested? £100 pair plus post

No chance are we including Fife as being Central Belt

Ooops! What was I thinking…

Also looking forward to the burgers afterwards.

Kept promising myself a visit to the Burrito Van at the Scottish races last season, never made it, stomach like a walnut after an hour of racing… : (

I’m not racing the full series in the North West League this year as I’m concentrating on the WEMBO 24hr Solo champs up in Fort William on the 20th & 21st October, and the two disciplines don’t really mix. I will make some races at the back end of November and into December, but that’s about it.

This season will be all about mini-me No.1 having a serious tilt at the overall podium in the U8’s, he came 8th overall last year (at 5 yrs old) and this year appears to have grown rather a lot and is now on a 24″ wheeled cross bike, and having won the Welsh Go-Race Junior series this summer, can climb hills he couldn’t get anywhere near last year and has developed a handy sprint too; the little sod can also do running remounts.

Ah, my daughter now says she doesn’t want to race round in circles, she wants to race *to* somewhere.

Will look out for Steve and junior again at the NW series – meant to come and say hi at the prize night but you were both pretty busy :-)

We’ve got some very long days this winter – youngest is in youth 1st race, Mrs is in lunchtime race, I’m in the next race and eldest has moved into juniors which is last race of the day.

Bikes might also be a faff – youngest really wants to use flat bars for CX but needs to use the same bike for midweek road circuit stuff until end of September (which needs slick tyres and drop bar).

Kept promising myself a visit to the Burrito Van at the Scottish races last season, never made it, stomach like a walnut after an hour of racing… : (

Ditto that 😕 being last race doesn’t help either

West Midlands league for me, really looking forward to it. CX is really the only organized/competitive cycling I do these days as it seems to fit in with family and work commitments pretty well. Also I do like a bit of mud.

Please don’t be saying things like that! I’ve not done anywhere near enough training yet!

Can’t wait though, best sort of racing there is :)

I am planning on doing the Welsh league this year. Hopefully the DIY around the house will be finished this weekend so I can try and get a bit of fitness before Llanishen.

I always find Llanishen tougher than it should be!

Have been scoping out potential training grounds near my house, looking for the ideal blend of grassy surface with mud underneath. There’s a couple of horsey looking fields with no horses in them, but Scottish access law or no I’d feel a bit cheeky using them without asking the owners, and am pretty sure I can guess what the owner’s response would be if I asked politely to train in their field!

There’s a nearby bunded oil storage depot, the ‘bund’ is effectively a massive earth embankment covered in grass, satellite view suggests it has been grazed by sheep or something, but there’s no sheep there now. Could be perfect for some running practice and off-camber practice…

Amazing how difficult it is to find flat muddy terrain when you want it…

Oh dear, the combined power of boredom whilst injured and anticipation of cross season, made a few modifications to make the MTB more CX until I can afford an actual CX bike (Cinellie Zydeco is in my sights…)

New quasi-drop bars with mandatory horrible stem to achieve the proper position.

New egg-ring. Couldn’t go bigger than a 36 tooth as it has the equivalent largest diameter as a 38 tooth, any bigger would hit my chainstay or result in a stinky chainline. Pedalling felt great although it’s been so long since I rode this bike that pedalling might have felt like that anyway… I had read they helped with traction though which is why I fitted it, will have to wait until I find some mud to test that out!

Am awaiting a slightly smaller XT 11-40tooth cassette, would have saved the money but the shifting seems a bit off on the existing cassette and it slips on some cogs, think it was more worn that I thought and isn’t playing well with new chain. New cassette is eating into new tyre budget, had planned on some nice Limus Pros to achieve correct tan-wall colour scheme and some actual grip on the Loch Gelly death spiral!

The handlebars might prove a bit a waste of money, can’t get over the looks (it looked much better with flat bars) and my hands were actually a bit sore after 25km, not sure if that’s the shape or maybe they’re a bit stiff (or maybe buying the 2.5mm Lizard Skins tape for purposes of colour matching was a mistake… :oops: ). Good position on the hoods though, such as they are.

Anyway, all fun and games, first race entered, Oct 7th, so time to polish up the fitness a bit and do some cornering drills, have a playing field and some marker cones all ready…

I signed up for the first round of the East Kent series, just to dip my toe. My fitness is pretty off compared to this time last year and I’ve pretty well handicapped myself as the most suitable bike I have is an old Trek 850 SS set up with some 26″ Schwalbe CX pros. Been trying to do a couple of weeks of faster, hillier routes into work by way of “training. I am seriously wondering if I’ve made a ridiculous mistake.

Anyone compete in the Yorkshire Cyclocross senior men’s race at Middleton Bike Hub today?

If so, I took some photos so let me know if you want any of them sending over. I’ll have a look through the ones I took so would need your race number (and preferably bike/ jersey colour).

Really looking forward to the start of the NWCCA Season this Saturday. Not looking forward to any bad weather and the standing around last year! No doubt be seeing Twinklydave fly past at least once, too!

It’s a shame my daughter lost interest, but she’s happy throwing herself around a mat in gymnastics at least :)

1st race of the Yorkshire points in Leeds yesterday under a very hot sun. Start line nerves were high as usual, I avoided the 1st corner pile up and got my head down, finished in front of my usual rivals and came in 6th V50 :-)

A good start to the season, looking at the weather forecast for the remainder of September I’m tempted to get some file tread tubs??

@ Andytheadequate if you managed to get any pics of me that would be great, arm number 709, pale blue Velo Club Beverley kit.

Ta

I did the night enduro CX at Abingdon on Saturday night.  Great event once again, and the addition of an on-course bar was genius.

Although given that I’m still hurting two days later I really should have spent a bit more time at the bar.  Three hours on a CX bike round that course was brutal.

Yorkshire League V40 here. Although i probably wont get to race until October due to various commitments. This years goal is to finish at least 1 race in the top half.

Intending on doing a full calendar of the NW series. Sat on me hoop for the past two months for various reasons so only goal right now is to get some races under the belt in September, bikes working reliably, and go from there.

Daughter will ride some of the U8 races but the boy has informed me he’s retiring at age ten from CX as the race format stressed him out – quite ear-opening to hear, as much as you try to emphasise it’s just for fun, only 15 mins round a bit of grass, the whole pinning on a number, lecture from the Comish race environment must feel onerous for some kids.

Sweamrs has her first race on Saturday (in Canada). She’s about 55kg and running 32cc tires. Thoughts on pressure? (I’ve no idea)

It really depends on the course but a rough starting point is weight in lbs / 10 + 5 gives psi for a tubular. So 17psi for your missus. Take that out on a practice lap and see how it feels – for a hard early season course it may well be too low. It’s fine to feel the rim once or twice a lap but if you’re consistently doing so then it’s too soft. Likewise if the ground is firm and the tub is getting really folded in the corners then that’s not good either.

If it’s a clincher tyre with tubes then it will need more pressure otherwise she’ll pinch flat – don’t know what that might be, 25psi maybe as a starting point?

For tubeless I just use the same pressure as for tubs, but I’m way weightier. 17psi in tubeless sounds really low and might start burping air in the corners, but it depends on the setup.

Wow. That low… Good job I asked as I’d have been a lot higher….

First Supermarine CX race is next Thursday, so went out for a practice last night at roughly the same time as the race will be

Dark out there! Maybe the series is later this year, but I thought the first one last year was in the light.  Going to try the light on the helmet next.

And reduce my tyre pressures based on the above…

Stayed up late rebuilding the CX bike then didn’t even ride it!

First round of the Eastern league today at Langdon hills. I did one lap on the cross bike, then abandoned it in the tech zone and pulled the mountain bike out the van. The course was dry, hilly and rough, which combined by me being much more comfortable on the mtb made it the faster choice.

I didn’t have any ambitions of winning, especially as the junior world champion Ben Tulett was racing, but fancied a good race to see where I am fitness wise after a summer of endurance training.
Was riding in second for a bit, but got overhauled, then settled into third (second senior). Good fun putting the hurt on some CXers on a full sus with 2.4″s, and won my entry cost back, so a mint day all in.

Now for the last Eastern XC tomorrow!