Took part in my first xc race in the sport category on sunday. It was the 1st round of the southern xc series at checkendon.

Prep wasn’t ideal. I went on a 4 hour ride the day before (i chose checkendon because it was close to where my mate lives and he wanted to ride on saturday) also drinking 6 pints the night before wasn’t the best!

Anyway, I warmed up for 10 minutes or Got to the start line and lined up with the rest (shaved legs a plenty). Sprinted from the line and tried to stay with everyone. My 1st lap was horrible. I was breathing out my arse.. felt like i hadn’t warmed up not nearly enough. Couldn’t get any traction on the short sharp climb (then again i was running a furious fred on the back)

2nd lap came and i settled down a bit.. my breathing got better and i felt more warmed up. this is where it started to go wrong. Looked down and realised my bars were twisting in the stem (you might have seen my other thread about breaking an on one stem due to over tightening).. Also I realised the rear brake was going to the bar. I had no rear brake! the reach adjust screw had loosened out.. so riding with just the front brake was very interesting to say the least.

Chain dropped a couple of times which really got to me. You lose so much time with things like this.

I got half way round the 3rd lap and my tyre split and didn’t seal.. so my first race a DNF. Was pretty demorilised about it and frustrated with myself.

Last night i looked at my lap times and felt a bit better. Despite what molgrips said I Certainly don’t feel out of my depth in the sport category and took a few places on parts of the course. ( i was comfortably behind the 9th placed guy on my last lap)

i know i need to warm up properly next time (perhaps those guys on turbos have got the right idea).

So looking forward to my next one to try and finish this time

I do wonder how people get on without a helper at these races. I ran out of water on my 2nd lap and had no one to pass me a bottle

poor preparation = p*ss poor performance 🙂

I just chuck a bag of food/drink near the start/finish line. Though I do tend to ride with a camelbak if it’s a longer ride…. you get funny looks from the proper racers though

Always important to make sure the bike is running well, if it can go wrong it will.

Sucks that you DNFd but looks like you handled yourself in the race so well done.

XC starts always feel insanely fast to me but like you say you settle down* after a while

Good luck next time.

*and by settle down I mean only going at 95% as opposed to 110% 🙂

Despite what molgrips said I Certainly don’t feel out of my depth in the sport category and took a few places on parts of the course

🙂

Well done for keeping up then, you are clearly more ‘core than most and more core than me.

Re drink – I use a camelbak if I’ve got no-one to bottle for me – whcih I don’t.

i know i need to warm up properly next time (perhaps those guys on turbos have got the right idea)

Personally I think a practice lap is a good way to warm up (even if it’s an hour or two before) then find some bits of trail to sprint about on close your start.

Rest a few days before is clearly good, but a short (10-15min with a couple of minutes of sprint) sharp workout the day before seems to really help.

Agree with DT78, just leave a spare bottle in the feed zone, changing takes about 5 seconds.

Best way to warm up, is to do a lap of the circuit…..

Best way to warm up, is to do a lap of the circuit…..

Do you give it full beans towards the end?

This is the thing. I ride quite hard.. harder than i should i think and pay for it until i’ve warmed up.

All good experience for the next one. Thanks for the tips everyone

Njee do you not have a helper?

Njee what did you think of the course and how does it compare to the others?

+1 on doing a lap to warm up.

You need to time it right though. A good warm up for me would take my heart rate up to 90% so I’d effectively be doing a lap at race pace. You’ll settle back into it much quicker and minimise the time spent during your first lap where you feel like youre blowing out your arse!
If it’s cold you don’t want to be sitting around at the start for more than ten minutes, warm weather you can leave about thirty minutes between warm up and start.

Agree with DT78, just leave a spare bottle in the feed zone, changing takes about 5 seconds.

5 seconds could lose you a podium finish!!

Oh and the rocket ron on the front is an awesome tyre.. so much grip (felt like a nobby nic but much lighter)

The furious fred on the rear was very fast.. pick up was amazing and it was handling amazing… until the latter half of the last lap when it split 🙁

The other option being a Camelbak which, IMO , will cost you more than 5s a lap in the weight you’re lugging round.

Personally disagree with a race pace lap as being good warm up, that’ll just knacker you. A lap of the course is excellent to get to know it, but I’d far sooner do it the day before as per the nationals. Your warm up can then be a steady spin, with a few intense efforts, done on the turbo or the road. I like to keep my cadence high during the warm up too.

Obviously that’s not practical at most events, I’d rather do it as early as possible and keep my warm up separate.

+1 njee. When I said a course lap I meant a bimble with maybe a few short sprints.

How much time do we think a camelbak would cost us?

Don’t think i could race with a camelbak. Next time i’ll get my GF to come along and hand me bottles

I’ll probably bring the rollers and road bike along.

What should I expect in terms of course length and time it will all take? I’m going to do a few Eastern/Southern events this year as a Vet, I know I wont enjoy the first one…..did one in Scotland a few years ago which was a brutal eye-opener…..

not sure about the others but this course the lap was 5 miles (3 laps in total for sport)

1st lap I got 23.50 which i was pleased with

full results of all categories are here:

http://www.southernxc.net/files/SouthernXC2011_R1.pdf

not sure about the others but this course the lap was 5 miles (3 laps in total for sport)

That sounds very short actually.

Was at the same race yesterday but in ‘open’ managed to place 13th, wich i was quitre pleased with, but still quite slow compared to some of the lap times. Just checked the times and would have also placed 13th in sports!. Nice course, mcboo think most laps at southen xc are around 5miles.

Mcboo, you might get a nasty surprise if you enter the Vet’s class, I know I did in my one and only XC race.

I was something like 52nd out of 59 in the 4 lap Vet’s race.
My same lap times would have got me top half in the 3 lap Sport race or top third in the 2 lap fun race.
Vet’s are not all the chubby old duffers like me that I was expecting, they are the guys who were racing in Elite class 20 years ago. 😕

Hear you…..just turned 40 though not ready yet to drop a lap ’cause I’m a duffer 🙄

My Sunday morning club rides are 2-2.5hrs…..EVERY week I feel like dying for the first hour, then find myself and finish strongly. Longer better for me…..

Why bring the road bike? Put the mtb on the rollers. Can you sprint on them too? IMO you want a few hard efforts in there to get your HR up.

They’re not the longest races, but they’re run in line with BC regulations, so they’re a similar length to the nationals. Gorricks and other indepedant series may well be a different length.

Vets contains some v quick riders certainly, but it always tends to taper off toward the back, you’ll be fine McBoo.

Why bring the road bike? Put the mtb on the rollers

i’d have to swap tyres or wheels for that.

I’m semi considering buying a cheap turbo for the job. Not sure if everyone is different but we get some people at the club time trials that don’t warm up much whereas I suffer badly if I don’t

Any club ride we do i always finish stronger at the end.

Yesterday i felt i could have put in a quick lap when i finished as my lungs had opened up

What are MTB tyres like on rollers?

I’ve been thinking about getting a set for CX warm up but I’m not sure, are they smoother than a turbo with MTB rubber?

What are MTB tyres like on rollers?

All over the shop is my experience

They’re fine, just use the mtb. Like I say, the bigger issue is likely to be whether you can sprint without falling off! IMO though either a turbo or rollers is overkill, YMMV.

The categories are a bit confusing. Am sure there is a reason for them all but are an awful lot of them no?….Vets/Super Vets I get, 40+, 50+ and Elite speaks for itself. Someone do a quick summary on who the different categories are aimed at? Open, Expert, Master, Sport?

“I’m semi considering buying a cheap turbo for the job.”

What do you call cheap? This one is what I have got and for the money its fantastic http://www.wiggle.co.uk/elite-crono-fluid-elastogel-trainer/?&source=MaxiFeed&id=5360026397 £140.

The downside is that as the wheel is not fixed on the trainer, out of saddle sprinting isnt that good.

The only time I tried an XC race I didnt warm up enough and was amazed with the speed off the start, tried to keep up but blew my legs apart. Odly towards the end of the race I started catching quite alot of people up… bit late really.

Perhaps its an age thing? Maybe a young whipper snapper like njee only takes 15 minutes to warm up

Im pushing 33 next week perhaps it takes longer?

trickydisco – Member

Best way to warm up, is to do a lap of the circuit…..

Do you give it full beans towards the end?

This is the thing. I ride quite hard.. harder than i should i think and pay for it until i’ve warmed up.

All good experience for the next one. Thanks for the tips everyone

Njee do you not have a helper?

Njee what did you think of the course and how does it compare to the others

If you ride at about 60% for the majority, it gives you oportunity to assess the lap, i.e. difficult sections etc….. then give it about 80% for the middle section warming down with a spin (low gear) a few stretches 10 mins before start.

Njee do you not have a helper?

Njee what did you think of the course and how does it compare to the others

I nearly always get someone to do it, on the very odd occasion I’ve not been able to I just stop and swap bottles.

On a personal level I didn’t think much of the course, not keen on all the off camber stuff. It had less flow than a lot of courses, it was quite unusual having the climbs together like that, and there was more field stuff than usual. Most courses are more of a mix of climbing and descending. Most of the other Southern venues also have much faster singletrack, less of the twisty stuff!

I think you’re worrying about your warm up too much too, your first lap was significantly quicker than your second, even factoring in problems that’s no indicative of not being warmed up properly, you’re probably just not used to going so hard from the gun.

Most courses are more of a mix of climbing and descending. Most of the other Southern venues also have much faster singletrack, less of the twisty stuff!

excellent.. I need to get on xcracer and sign up to some more races. Perhaps some of the welsh one’s or the british series

any time i used bottles i just ended up not drinking. it might sound odd but i found it too much faff when your racing to reach down and to replace the bottle. you can get away without drinking but its not ideal so i use a small camelbak.

You get used to it. I was drinking 2/3 of a bottle per lap yesterday, and it wasn’t an easy course to drink on!

I find that camelbaks help you over heat though so can see why best not to use one, but no bottle mounts on my frame 🙁

What kinda race bike is that?! 😉

i find myself thinking i’ll drink when i’m on a fire road but when i get there just try and pick up the pace and don’t bother. i tried putting bottles on when i’m training to get into the habit, then had problems with them falling out:-)

Better bottle cage! I’ve never dropped a bottle, and I use them all the time. And yes, I have an answer for everything! Did try racing with a Camelbak ages ago, just wrong! And yes, I do have an answer for everything 🙂

“just wrong” ha ha maybe your right, thats why i’ve tried. what bottle cage then…..and i expect it to weigh less than a nanogram?

I use Tacx Tao Carbon and Bontrager Race X Lites, find both v good. Alternatively you can’t beat alu cages that you can just bend if you’re losing bottles.

You used a Furious Fred round there??!! You’re mad. Those are only for courses with no rocks – and certainly not Checkendon where there are loads of flints (as you discovered). I saw someone – must have been you – riding around with a Fred on the rear and did have a little giggle. Brave, but not the best decision..

Checkendon is a tough lap – loads of accelerating, braking and steep hills. The other venues are a lot more flowing as Nick says.

Don’t give up and always check out your bike beforehand – it amazes me that even in Elite people don’t know how to properly maintain their own bike…

GB

Oh – and Specialized plastic MTB Rib Cages are excellent and only £7. Never had a bottle fall out of one.

GB

I too find it hard to drink from a bottle on XC races – can’t fit it in! I also find it awkward on a road bike tbh. Then again because I’m so slow on the climbs I’ve developed a technique where I have to go relentlessly flat out on anything flat or down to try and make up time (which I do usually).

Re tyres, Ralphs for me but I suspect I may be behind the times somewhat 🙂

Re pre-riding, it’s worth ‘sessioning’ the tricky bits to figure out the right line, so you can hit them full on on the first lap. Worth trying both routes if there’s a chicken run, cos sometimes the chicken runs are not slower.