Come on Joe… You can drop out after 3 laps along with me !

I’m still figuring at this stage on being a non-finisher…. Anything better than 25% race distance in the pack will be an absolute bonus !

I’m racing in Bath (odd down) this weekend so I’m not doing Abingdon this week. I’ve not raced in Bath yet so looking forward to a new track.

Looks like Saturday may be wet for the Crit. So I’ve got 1 or 3 options

1. Don’t go
2. Do go, use the Conti’s I have on there
3. Do go, buy something more appropriate

I’m not massively worried about the getting wet aspect of things, it’s only an hour, I won’t die of exposure. I am though slightly concerned about grip levels etc… Especially as I’m less experienced on road bikes/tyres than most.

Weeksy, just ride what you’ve got and use your MTB bike handling skills to catch the slides 🙂

(Seriously, just ride whatever you have, won’t make much difference.)

It’s pretty much my only option 🙂

I had a look around Wiggle and none of them have what i’d call a ‘tread pattern’…. there’s just nothing at all.

i’ve only got to last 1 lap anyway, so i can say “been there, done it…”

weeksy, gp4000s is really one of the most grippy tyres around – road tyres don’t need a tread pattern to displace water, as given the contact patch you’d need to be going 200mph to start aquaplaning.

There are a couple of cold/wet specific tyres with softer compounds, but I wouldn’t bother, you’ll be just fine.

Normal road bike tyres usually grip pretty well in the wet – there is a theory that because they’re so narrow having a tread pattern on them doesn’t make much difference. Certainly the Conti Gatorskins I normally use have worked well on wet roads.

I’ll be racing on Conti 4seasons again.

https://www.radialcycles.co.uk/continental-gp-4-season-folding-road-tyre-twin-config.html

Pressures are probably more important than the tyre choice to be honest, grip isn’t the concern – it’s the flints.

Thanks guys…. So just my legs/lungs/HR as my only worries then 🙂

I’m either excited/scared, not sure which really. It reminds me of my old days of racing motorbikes again…. whihc is a good memory (mostly).

I’m not generally this nervous coming into XC Racing, but i guess that’s because i know what to expect and where i’m going to fit in within the grand scheme of things.

My toughest part apart from that is the group riding… i’m not exactly used to lots of people around me, nor wheels in front/behind.

Eurgh it’s going to be raining tomorrow afternoon too!

I might bring the commuter instead so I don’t have to clean the racing bike for Saturday lol.

My advice weeksy is to not overthink it. Follow the guy in fronts line but don’t focus on his wheel it’ll make you sketchy – use your peripheral vision – focus on the front and where you want to go your bike will follow. If you think someone is about to cut you up shout “on your left/right (insert number)”. Hide from the wind as much as possible to save energy – looks like we have 16mph winds again. Most importantly enjoy it 🙂

Eurgh it’s going to be raining tomorrow afternoon too!

Won’t be a problem…. i’ll be on Zwift if it’s raining 🙂

I better memorise my number then if people are going to be shouting at me 🙂

It’s a pretty large field which will make it interesting in the positioning context. I was thinking, should i try and stay close to CH… or Nath… but the clear answer seems to be, no…. Because you never know what can or will happen and how the pack will move, split or break. It will be a case for me mostly i think of finding the correct gear for each section depending on wind and just using the one thing i have in my arsenal, power…. just picking a gear and grinding it out to the best of my ability…. then seeing where it takes me.
I’m the big Audi diesel estate compared to most riders out there, so just suck it up and keep powering.

Yeah I may bail too if it’s crap weather – I’ve got to lug my laptop home from work so I cba getting that wet 5 weeks before I leave 😆 Will make an assessment tomorrow morning.

Yeah it’s nigh on impossible to stick with someone for longer than 20 seconds or so – the pack is very fluid and you’ve got to stick to 30cm from the guy in front otherwise you’re wasting energy (particularly against that wind!!!!). Store that diesel the best you can, spinning is normally the best way to combat that wind without burning yourself out.

Weeksy, I suspect it’ll be an initially bewildering experience 🙂 I’ve not done many but I still remember my first race, a 34 round Thruxton. Had no idea what was going on, why the pack would seemingly randomly switch from one side of the track to the other, why it would suddenly accelerate or slow down, and I spent pretty much all race worrying about crashing into someone, on the periphery, and in the wind. Does take a few races to get comfortable with it all.

Does take a few races to get comfortable with it all.

I think that’s where i’m different to both Nath and Crosshair… i have no intention at all of ‘a few races’ this is without doubt a one-off experience for me. It’s more a ‘lets see if i can’ and a ‘tick off the bucket list’ sort of thing for me, than a progression/goal longer term.

without doubt a one-off experience for me

You say that now 😉

LOL you can’t grasp how little road bikes interest/inspire me… Don’t get me wrong, i love watching the racing, a good chunk of my weekend was wrapped up with watching it, but from a riding context, i’m very meh.
It’s only the competitive aspect that sort of sucked me in via Zwift and Crosshair…. I don’t actually like the twitchy and seemingly dangerous aspect of road bikes 🙂

It’s a bit silly to bail on tomorrow if it’s raining- it will be your best chance of hanging on Saturday by getting some pointers and practicing your bike handling.

Your tyres will be fine- again, you should use tomorrow to play with pressures.

As I said before- it’s a fine line between contesting the sprint and getting dropped. And that line won’t be decided by how many watts you put out but by how few you have needed and how low your HR has been thus far.
It was amazing how strong the draft of 80 riders was and even if your ftp was 400w- you ain’t going to be catching back on to a 24mph bunch in a 17mph headwind 😉
It literally took me 550-600w to maintain the gap to them last week.

If you go back to the beginning of this thread and read TiRed’s pointers (and others) it’s all there- it just may take a few goes to realise he was right 😉

The opening couple of laps were crazily slow last week- you’ll hang no problem. But if you’re hanging in the wind, riding solo effectively, you won’t have the reserves when the pace inevitably ramps up.

Also, take the pressure off mentally by having a clear plan. If this happens- I’ll do that etc etc

It’s chess on wheels and thinking straight at max HR is more than half of the battle.

It’s a bit silly to bail on tomorrow if it’s raining

It would be even sillier to be in A&E with a broken collarbone 😉

Have a word! If you can’t do a few sighting laps of Hillingdon at 80% effort without crashing then you shouldn’t even be thinking of entering a Crit IMO.

You’re supposed to be a rad-core MTB’er 😉

I don’t do 80% 😉

Re: plan.

My plan these days is simple. Stick with the main group, keeping an eye on the front for any attacks which may stick (the majority don’t). 35-40 mins in I’ll move up to the top 1/3 under the disguise of an attack ( 😆 ). Sit & recover for a couple of laps, then get ready for the sprint. DID NOT expect it to be a 60 second sprint!!

I think you’ll enjoy it weeksy, I’d be very surprised if this is your first and last go at it!

It’d be good to get out at Hillingdon – if you can handle those corners at pace then you’ll be fine for the weekend.

I don’t do 80%

If you haven’t raced a Crit, you don’t know what 100% is 😉

LOL fair call 🙂

Seriously though, you can have as many layers on as you like, have a flask and towel on standby in the car and do as little or as much in a session as you like but I think you’ll get something out of a bit of formation flying.

Nath is good for that because he’s usually so busy looking at his reflection in his head-unit glass that he veers all over the road 😆

crosshair –
Nath is good for that because he’s usually so busy looking at his reflection in his head-unit glass that he veers all over the road

😯

Is this because I was asking you where the pics are loaded too?

I just wanted to see my sprint – what position I was in. I was SO tired by that line I was intrigued what mess of a position I defaulted to when not thinking straight. 😆

😉 😀
Yes- just carrying on last nights banter 😆

Not to mention your talk of decals and gold chains 😀

Is this round his ankle ?

I just wanted to see my sprint – what position I was in.

Just got sent this by a rather pleased with himself winner 😉 You the last rider in that photo on the stealth bike Nath?

Judging by the flag on the finish line, it looks like quite a headwind!

Nah, that’s 7th. There’s a parked up bike at the back so think. Nath was only just out of shot….

7 riders in that photo CH. Is Nath the 7th or (out of shot) 8th?

Not to mention your talk of decals and gold chains

Are gold chains forbidden? I was considering one to clash with the camo bar tape 🙂

Out of shot 8th……

I was just winding Nath up about being vain but I can’t really talk as I’ve been checking the FB page every couple of hours 😆

Just want to bling up the bike a little, the race bike is close to 1k miles so nearly ready for a new chain 😆

Yeah I’m out of shot, navy jersey/cap castelli longs and a black/white kask.

I’ll probably be the numpty stood up like a sail against the wind 😆

P.s. I thought saddles had to be flat!!
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69OzE3KB2IY&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Edit: they changed the rules from 3 degrees to 9.

Edit 2: longer stem in the post 😆

^^^ most of that is just because pro’s are now mostly riding off the peg framesets which are often not long and low enough. I ride a ML TCR to get a low enough stack height, which I then have to stretch out with a 140mm stem to get the reach I need (and I’d probably go a bit longer and lower if there was a better stem choice for Giant overdrive steerers.)

Just bought a 120mm stem to stretch out a little, mine’s 110mm at the moment so not a huge difference. Be interested in what you think of my positioning at the weekend 😆

Lol and you boys told me not to over think things? Nath has made 490 adjustments in Feb.

It all started because of the UCI rule on seat position & then knee pain 😆

But the don’t overthink things is aimed at the race, not the bike 🙂

We’re racing UCI rules? Do I need to check my seat for something then?

From the BC Rules book:
“3.4 Other than as set out in this Regulation, the Board requires cycles to comply with UCI Regulations covering bicycles. SEE APPENDIX 1 OF THESE TECHNICAL REGULATIONS”

Nah you’ll be fine, my seat was at a dodgy angle 😆

@CH, pics are up: https://www.facebook.com/steve.cartmell.54/media_set?set=a.264201390682256.1073741846.100012771910147&type=3

I was vaguely in the shelter at that point 😀

I was vaguely in the shelter at that point

May have been if elbows weren’t locked out to ensure the largest frontal area possible 😛